by Nikki Brown
“Baby, what’s good?” I asked her.
“Oh, I’m fine.” She gave me that little half smile shit. I didn’t believe that because I knew her, and something was up.
“So, we lying to each other now?” I asked her, and she smiled.
“You see that guy over there in the green polo?” She pointed to one of the regular lanes. We had paid for the private bowling so we could chill and talk freely.
“Yeah, what about him?” I folded my arms over my chest.
“That’s my dad.”
“Oh, that’s that nigga, I need to go holla at his bitch ass.” I started that way and she grabbed my arm.
“No Omari, that would just make everything worse.”
“Fuck him, he ain’t gonna say shit to you. I will fuck his ass up with no problems.” I was starting to get pissed because she was acting like she feared the muthafucka. Just seeing the look on her face made me want to kill his ass and I might just do that shit.
“LYNDON!” She screamed ignoring what I just said. I followed her eyes and looked right into the eyes of the male version of her, down to the chinky ass eyes.
“Zee!” He smiled and ran toward her and swinging her around off her feet. I smiled at their reaction because I knew how much she missed her brother.
“Oh my God, it’s so good to see you.” She leaned back to look him over and then hugged him again. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I missed you too sis, but can you let up on a nigga, I swear you gonna suffocate my ass.” He laughed and so did I.
“Shut up punk.” She hit him in the chest and then looked at me. “Baby, this is my little brother Lyndon, and Lyndon this is my boyfriend Omari.”
“I’m ya got damn man, ain’t nothing boy about me.” I mugged her ass. She knew I hated that shit, I was starting to think she did that shit on purpose.
“Anyway,” she rolled her eyes. “What are you doing here?”
“Nothing,” he said looking around avoiding eye contact with Zemia.
“Oh, you’re with him.” He nodded. “Okay I will let you go, but here take my number and keep in touch.” They exchanged numbers but right before he could walk off, up walked her bitch ass father. Now Zemia asked me not to approach him and I didn’t, because those were her wishes, but he was in my space now and I was free to do what the fuck I wanted.
“You are here because?” I asked when he got close enough, I wanted to make sure that if he said something I didn’t like I could reach out and touch his ass.
“What I’m doing here is none of your concern,” he said in a calm tone. “My beautiful daughter,” Zemia immediately froze when he said that, and I didn’t like that shit. She told me that they stopped speaking because she told her mother about him cheating but her facial expressions and body language were telling a whole different story.
“Zemia, what the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Nothing, I’m just not feeling well, can we go?”
“If you—” I started but this muthafucka had the nerve to cut me off.
“What, this man ain’t taking care of my princess?” Tears immediately started to stream down her face.
“What the fuck, Zemia?” I yelled and grabbed her arms and made her focus on me. I looked her in her eyes and what I saw broke my fucking heart. I knew there was more to the story because she was too nonchalant about the whole thing. It was like she had blocked something out and whenever the subject was brought up, it would threaten to bring those thoughts to surface.
“I hate him.” she whispered. “I fucking hate him.”
I don’t know where the hell she got the strength from, but she broke away from me and started swinging with everything in her at her father. Zemia’s fists were small but when she connected you could hear that shit. It was like she was taking all the anger and rage that she had in her out on him and I just sat back and let her. I felt as though she needed it. It wasn’t until he acted like he was gonna hit her back that I jumped in and hit him dead in his fucking jaw.
“Muthafucka, I will kill you if you ever fucking touch her.”
“What the fuck is going on, Zemia?”
She just started shaking her head and saying no with tears clouding her face. I wrapped her in my arms and just held her. She was shaking and the more she broke down, the more pissed I became. I looked at her bitch ass daddy with murder in my eyes.
“I see nothing’s changed, she’s still trouble. Lyndon stay away from her.” Her daddy said as he picked himself off the ground.
“I’m trouble because I kept your secret all these years?” Zemia finally spoke up.
“What’s going on Fin?” The woman that was with her father approached and asked.
“Your man here likes to rape little girls.” Zemia yelled and my body shook. Lyndon’s eyes grew wide and so did everyone else’s who were within earshot.
“You’re delusional, you were nothing but a troublemaker then and you’re one now. Let’s go honey, let’s go Lyndon.” He blurted out, but Lyndon didn’t move, neither did that woman that was with him.
“No! The reason I told mom that lie all those years ago was in hopes that she would leave you and you would hate me enough to leave me alone. The day you walked out of my life was the best thing that ever happen to me. Oddly enough, I still loved you because you were my father and somewhere in the back of my mind I wanted to have a relationship with you. So, I buried all those things you did to me in the back of my mind so I wouldn’t hate you.” She cried. “I was your daughter, bad enough what you did to mom, but you had to ruin me too.” She then turned to the woman whose mouth was covered with tears streaming as well. “If you have little girls you may want to keep them away from this sick bastard, people like him can’t stop at one.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lyndon walked over to hug Zemia.
“I didn’t want you to hate him because he actually loved you, I never told anyone—”
“Because it never happened, you lying bitch.” Her dad yelled out and I hit him in his muthafucking mouth this time. “Fuck.”
“Keep fucking talking and the next thing yo’ bitch ass gonna feel is a fucking bullet piercing your fucking skull.” I said calmly. Zemia grabbed me and pulled me back.
“He’s not worth it.” She cried.
“No, but you are.” I looked her in the eyes. “Get the fuck out of here real talk.” I warned, and he took heed to what I had said because he took off, but he was by himself. The woman he was with and Lyndon both stayed there with Zemia. The woman whose name was Susan asked Zemia a few questions and the more she told her the more she cried. Turns out the lady had three daughters ages 10, 12, and 15. I hoped like hell he hadn’t done to those girls what he did to my baby.
“I’m ready to go.” She said leaning on my shoulder.
“Yeah ‘cause we got a lot to talk about.” I looked her in the eyes and she nodded her head. I invited her brother to come with us and he accepted. I told my brothers that we were out, and I apologized for fucking up their night and they assured me that it was all good. I grabbed my girl and we headed to the house so we could talk about everything.
The whole ride to the house I couldn’t help but think about how Zemia felt holding all that shit in. I knew the shit I witnessed as a child fucked me up, so I can only imagine what she was going through right now. I wanted her to know that I was here for her. Her brother was quiet as fuck, I wondered what the fuck was going through his head. The man that he idolized was a fucking child molester. I shook my head at my thoughts and turned up the music. The only thing that was on my mind right now was murder and I was trying to drown that out, but it wasn’t working.
When we got to the house, I showed Lyndon to the guest room and Zemia went straight to the bathroom. I was gonna follow her, but something was telling me that she needed a minute to get her mind right. So, I headed to the kitchen to fix me a drink.
“I’ma kill em.” I heard Lyndon say from the living room, I didn’t even hear h
is ass come in here.
“You didn’t know?”
“Nah, if I would have known something like that I would have deaded his ass way before now.” The anger in his voice was evident and I knew exactly how he felt. “How could he do that to his own daughter?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” I shook my head. “Beer? Shot?”
“All of the fucking above.”
I grabbed two glasses down and filled them with Crown Royal Black, grabbed two Coors Lights from the fridge and joined him in the living room. Nothing was said we just sat there and let the alcohol numb us. Once we were done I went and grabbed the whole bottle and sat it in between us.
“You love my sister?” Lyndon said out of nowhere.
“More than I care to admit.” I laughed. I was never one to do the relationship thing, better yet the love thing. The only women I’ve ever loved were my mothers. But I loved Zemia and I couldn’t see my life without her. I don’t think I ever told her that, but I knew my actions showed it.
“I love you too.” I heard from the hallway and there she stood, puffy eyes, tear streaked face even after the shower which let me know that she had been crying nonstop.
“Come here.” I told her and she walked over to me. She was dressed in some grey leggings and a big white t-shirt that I was sure belonged to me. “You good?” She nodded. “Don’t lie to me woman.” She shook her head and then placed her head in her hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I convinced myself that it didn’t happen. When I told my mom that he was cheating and she left him, that was my out. I made myself forget, until he opened his mouth tonight, then it all came rushing back.”
“You should have told, Mom.” Lyndon said letting a lone tear run down his face. The love that he had for her reminded me of the love that I had for my brothers. “You could have told me, sis.”
“I couldn’t Lyndon; I didn’t want to even think about it. I was disgusted, I was ashamed, I blamed myself. I couldn’t live through those thoughts again.”
“I’m gonna kill him.” Lyndon told her.
“No, you are not, you will not get into any more trouble, and he’s not even worth it.”
“He hurt you, Zee.” She nodded.
“And it would hurt even more if you got to jail over him.” she told him.
He nodded his head, but I could look in his eyes and tell that he was not about to let this go. He was going to avenge his sister and if he let me, I was going to be right there with him. There was no way that I would be able to let that muthafucka live with what he did.
I pulled Zemia into my arms while she told us about the bastard she called father. The more she talked the more I knew that her dad wouldn’t be breathing too much longer, and I put that on both my moms.
Chapter Sixty
Perry
I hated the position that Krista put me in. I didn’t know what the fuck I was thinking driving that fucking car around knowing I was dirty as fuck. Trying to please her ass and I didn’t even know if she was worth it. Now look, my ass about to be labeled as a got damn snitch. I didn’t have a choice though, if I took this charge it would have been my third strike and I knew it would have been over for me and I wasn’t ready to live my life behind bars. So, if all it took was telling on some niggas that I barely knew, then I would just have to do that.
I didn’t even know how big the fucking Barnes brothers were until I went to check into Denari, and when I did working with him was a must. I knew that with his name in my pocket I would rise in no time. I was making noise in South Carolina, but it wasn’t enough, I needed to really get with it and they were the way to do it. I had every intention on working with them but now I got to do what I got to. Maybe after I get them gone, I can take over.
I heard that they had been asking around about me and shit, but I knew that was coming. The niggas were smart, and I knew that I had to make shit look good for them. I couldn’t let them know that I was working with the cops, because that would be the end for me and family.
They finally called me to meet up and that shit was music to my ear. I was starting to think that they would never call, and my ass was gonna be up shit’s creek. If I could get Krista to stop calling my ass, shit would be okay. I don’t know why she felt the need to keep calling me. If I didn’t answer the first time, why in the hell you gonna keep fucking calling? Aggravating ass bitch.
“What the fuck do you want?” I yelled into the phone.
“Why you gotta be so got damn rude?”
“Because you on my got damn nerves that’s why. What do you want?”
“I’m calling to see where everything is at?”
“Why?”
“Cause my life is on the line too.”
“You think I give a fuck about that?”
“You got me in all this shit and you gonna say something like that.” I had to pull the phone away from my ear and make sure that I was talking to the right person. This bitch had lost her got damn mind, if she hadn’t of been running her got damn mouth and demanding that we drive my car, shit wouldn’t be so fucked up.
“You are a piece of fucking work.”
“Look, let’s not act like this, we need each other.”
“No, that’s where you’re wrong, I don’t need you for shit. I could run and leave yo’ ass for dead.” And that shit was the reality of the situation.
“Okay okay, let’s just talk about this.”
“Nah, right now I gotta go, I’m meeting with Kayson and I don’t need you in my ear. I need to have a level mind.”
“Okay,” she said sadly. “Just call me and let me know how it goes.”
“Yeah, aight.” I said with no intentions of calling her back. Fuck her!
I turned my ringer off so that I could concentrate on the task at hand. I needed to make sure that I said all the right things when it came to them. If I said one wrong thing that could be it for me. I drove to the place where they told me to meet them. The more I drove I noticed it was in the middle of nowhere. I turned on a long ass driveway and drove until I saw a building that was all fucked up, like it had been burnt or something.
I sat in my car for a minute until I saw Denari pull up. He smiled at me and I knew he was gonna be on his shit about me going over his head but his ass was playing too many games for me and like I said this was strike three and I wasn’t ready to live that prison life.
“Perry, what up nigga?” He said approaching my car.
“Nothing much.” I shrugged. “Where everybody at?” I looked around and I was starting to feel uneasy.
“They inside, come on.” He waved me inside.
I followed behind him and there the rest of the brothers were just chilling the middle of what I take as the warehouse. Something was telling me that this was not where they did business, but they were testing me first. I get it.
“What’s up fellas?”
“What’s good?” Kayson greeted me.
“Not shit, I didn’t think y'all were gonna call.”
“We almost didn’t.” He shrugged; the streets said he was the asshole. “So, we checked you out and you seem legit.”
“I heard, my people were wondering why niggas was asking personal shit about me.” I smirked.
“We needed to know where yo’ family lived and shit just in case.” Kayson smirked. I nodded my head and had a seat. “So, what you talking?” I looked at the other two that were just sitting there not saying shit. I didn’t trust niggas that didn’t talk.
“They gonna say something?” I asked and Denari laughed.
“Perry, that ain’t what you here for.” Denari said. I folded my arms across my chest. “You still wanting what you were getting from me?”
“Nah I need more, my people blowing through that shit I need to up it, I need 20 keys.”
They all looked at me, but shit was true though, the shit I got from them flooded the streets and flooded it quick, I had niggas coming to cop from me all the way from Georgia, so I need
ed that much weight.
“You can handle all that?” Kayson asked.
“Yeah.”
“You pay up front.”
“Of course.” I don’t know who these niggas thought I was. I didn’t need them for shit, I had money. They were starting to piss me the fuck off.
“Aight we will call you and let you know about pick up and drop off times and places it will change every time and you won’t know until one hour before it’s time to meet and you will have exactly one hour to get there. Call this your probationary period. Denari will be handling your account, you good with that?”
“I ain’t really got a choice do I?” I laughed but no one else thought the shit was funny.
“Yo, I don’t trust that nigga.” Omari finally spoke.
“I don’t really trust you either.”
“Difference is I don’t give a fuck, and we don’t need yo’ ass, you need us.” He glared at me.
“Cool it, bruh.” Kayson smiled. “You can leave.” He looked at me.
At first, I thought he was joking until he asked me if I heard him. Who in the hell did these niggas think that they were? Just dismissing niggas like they some Dons or some shit. I got up and shook my head and headed for the door. I was starting to feel better about what I needed to do. They needed to be knocked down a few notches.
I got in my truck and pulled out. I grabbed my phone and called Special Agent Milgram.
“I’m in,” was all I said and then hung up the phone and headed back to my neck of the woods to wait on these cocky bastards to call.
Chapter Sixty-One
Denari
“Yo, I really don’t like that nigga.” Omari said when Perry was out the door.
“Yeah, it’s something about that nigga.” Jaako chimed in.