by Roy Glenn
Chapter Twenty-one
Barbara had been on lock down since the war began, and to everybody’s surprise, she was good with it. And that was only because Barbara had everything that she needed to be good with it. Now that she knew what was really going on, she understood the situation and accepted that this was just the way it is. So, Barbara spent her time texting, facetiming and snapchatting with her friends. There were movies she hadn’t seen and TV shows to binge watch on her tablet and then there was her music. Knowing how much Barbara loved music, Scarlet had been sending her demo tracks from The Regulators recording session that she was producing, so she had plenty to occupy her time.
But even though Barbara was good with being on lockdown, she still insisted on going to school. So, each morning, Treshaun took her and Kayla to school and picked them up.
The day that she spent with Tenikka was eye opening to say the least. And with that knowledge, came enlightenment. Naturally there were the things that had once made no sense, now suddenly made perfect sense, like why Pam needed a driver when she never went anywhere and Shy coming back from the dead being no big deal, but it was more than that. Barbara knew who she was now so everything that she knew took on new meaning.
After Tenikka left the house that night, Barbara went into the basement to talk to her father. She told him where she had been that afternoon and what she had been told. Bobby looked at his daughter, shook his head, took a deep breath and thought about where to start.
“What she told you is true. Me and your Uncle Mike …” Bobby paused, and a little smile crossed his lips. “We were bad boy’s back in the day. I’ve done a lot of things that I am not proud of, but I did what I had to do to make my way in the world and to take care of your mother and you kids.”
“Why didn’t you tell me, daddy?”
For Barbara, that was the part that bothered her the most. She was kept in the dark when everyone else knew.
“It wasn’t the type of thing that you tell your kids, especially your little girls.”
And that was another thing that bothered her. That RJ was treated differently. It felt like they thought that she couldn’t hold her own if need be. But she wouldn’t address that, not now anyway.
“At first, it made me feel like you and Mommy lied to me. That you two had lied to me my whole life.”
“You’re right … in a way. But we didn’t lie to you. There were things that your mother and I felt like we had to keep from you. It’s a very dangerous world that we live in, Barbara, your mother and I just wanted you to be safe and have as normal a childhood as you possibly could.”
Barbara laughed. “Normal for a gangster’s daughter.”
Bobby laughed with her. “I’m sorry that we felt like we had to lie to you, Barbara. But I don’t apologize for the things I’ve done to take care of you. I just wanted to protect my girls.”
“I have to admit that when she was telling me all that stuff, I didn’t want to believe it at first, and then I was mad about it. It was like … like …”
“Like your life had been based on a lie,” Bobby said.
“Yeah. That I was a gangster’s pampered little princess.”
“How do you feel now that you know?” Bobby asked and waited to hear what his daughter had to say.
“Honestly, daddy, I felt a little betrayed,” Barbara told her father.
“Betrayed? Why betrayed?”
“Maybe betrayed isn’t the right word, but I feel like it’s something that you should have told me.”
“I’m sorry, Barbara, and you’re right. I should have been the one to tell you the truth about our family, and not Tenikka.”
“You aren’t mad at her for telling me, are you?”
“No,” Bobby said and shook his head, but he was mad. Mad as hell. He thought that it wasn’t up to Tenikka to tell Barbara anything about The Family or its business. And even though she was safe at Jelly’s, Barbara had no business there. “I am not mad at her,” he lied.
“She just thought that I needed to know since … since I’m out there in the world,” Barbara said instead of telling her father that Tenikka had promised to show her the world that everybody had been hiding from her.
Barbara paused and thought back to the night when Jahquil tried to force himself on her and she took a cab to the Bronx Park Motel where RJ was running his game.
“I guess it’s something I should have known, seeing what RJ’s doing, and he said that you knew about it.”
She remembered asking her brother if Daddy and Mommy knew what he was doing, and RJ said, Pop and Uncle Mike know everything. She should have put it together then or at least asked questions. Barbara laid her head on Bobby’s shoulder and he put his arm around her and kissed her forehead.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Have you ever killed anybody?” Barbara asked, and her stomach tightened as she waited to hear his response.
“Yes,” was Bobby’s simple answer.
“How many?” Barbara wanted to know.
“Alot, and we’ll leave it at that. Just know that I love you and everything that I did, right or wrong was to protect you …” Bobby laughed. “Protect you from that world your sister was dying to show you.”
“What about Mommy?”
“What about her?”
“Has she ever killed anyone?”
It was a question that Bobby wasn’t expecting, and certainly didn’t want to answer.
“I think you should talk to your mother about that.”
And from that, Barbara figured that the answer was yes, that her mother had killed somebody and that was a story that she was dying to hear, and she couldn’t figure out why. Instead of being repulsed by not only one of her parents being a murderer, but both, she was fascinated.
What did that say about me, Barbara wondered.
But nothing could have prepared her for what happened at Cuisine at Nick’s wedding reception. She had never been so scared in her life. It let her know that the world that she was a part of, the world that she was pampered princess of, was a very dangerous place. And it was a world where there was no place for a pampered princess. That was why Bobby didn’t want her to stay, he knew what was going on in The Family and wanted his baby girl to be safe. It let Barbara know that from that point on she would do what her father says.
No questions asked, Barbara thought as her cell rang.
It was Ram calling.
“Hello,” she said and tried her best not to sound excited. But Barbara got excited every time that Ram called her.
“What’s up, Cutie,” Ram said. The sound of his voice made Barbara squirm when she thought back to their date and how good his lips felt against her skin.
“I’m fine.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ve seen you before, so I know how fine you are. I just wanna know when am I gonna get to see you again,” Ram asked.
“I don’t know. There’s a lot going on in my world right now,” Barbara said.
“Tell me about it,” Ram said and laughed.
“With everything going on, it may be a while before I can see you.”
“A while? What’s a while?”
“I don’t know, Ram. You were there, you saw what happened at my Uncles wedding.”
“Yeah, that was wild. What was up with that?”
“My family has enemies,” Barbara said proudly claiming her family.
“I see.” Ram laughed. “I would have protected you.”
Barbara laughed. “Really?”
“Yeah, I would have. If your brother hadn’t grabbed you, I would have gotten you outta there,” Ram said confidently, and Barbara laughed again.
“Did you have a gun?”
“No.”
“Then I was with the right person.”
“So it’s like that,” Ram said.
“I didn’t mean anything by it. I just meant that RJ and Marvin had guns and they shot their way outta there.”
&
nbsp; “I’m just playing,” Ram said, but he was a little hurt that Barbara laughed at him.
“So how you been doing?” Barbara asked, and the conversation took off from there and it was an hour and a half later before she knew it.
“Wow, look at the time. It’s getting late and I got school in the morning,” Barbara said.
“So, I guess I should let you go then, huh?”
“You should.”
“You should let me come see you,” Ram said.
“Where, here?” she asked, but she knew that wasn’t happening even if the thought of it did thrill her.
“Anywhere. I miss you and I just wanna see you,” Ram said sweetly, and Barbara melted.
“I miss you, too. But I can’t.”
“I could come up to the school to see you.”
“No. I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“Because it just wouldn’t be,” Barbara laughed.
“Please.”
“No.”
“Please, Barbara. I promise that I won’t stay long, I just wanna see you, hold your hand, maybe give you a kiss on the cheek, that’s all.”
“No,” Barbara may have said but she wanted to see him just as much as he wanted to see her, because she wanted to give Ram more than just a kiss on the cheek. She had thought long and hard about it and Barbara had decided that Ram was the man that she wanted to give herself to.
“Please.”
“Okay. I have a free period in the afternoon at one. Text me when you’re outside and I’ll come out.”
“Now that sounds like a plan,” Ram said, and they said good night to one another, each looking forward to what was to come.
The following day during her free period, Barbara got the text from Ram that she’d been waiting all day for. After getting permission to leave the room, she snuck out of the building and went to meet Ram. When she saw him, he was standing in front of a sweet black Yukon which was parked down the street.
He must have gotten it since the last time I saw him, Barbara thought and didn’t think much more of it.
Ram began waving when he saw Barbara coming. She hurried to him because she had to get back, but that was when Barbara saw Ram’s car parked across the street, but by then it was too late.
The Yukon doors swung open, two men in masks got out and one of them grabbed Barbara. She looked at Ram terrified as they tried to get her in the Yukon.
“Help me!” she screamed, but Ram turned his back and started walking away. “Help! Somebody please, help me!” Barbara struggled and screamed as they put her in the backseat of the Yukon and drove away.
The day after the reception, Ram was approached by individuals that offered him one hundred thousand dollars to set up Barbara to be kidnapped. After receiving half the money on the spot, Ram agreed, thinking that with that kind of money he could get out of the city and start over someplace warm.
As he walked back to his car, Ram felt kinda bad.
I really liked her, he thought as he reached his Lexus, unlocked the car and laughed. But I got a hundred thousand ways to get over her.
Before he got in the car, Ram saw a woman walking quickly toward him. She looked good, so he stopped to admire her. He smiled at her, she raised her nine and shot Ram in the forehead. She bent down and quickly took the keys from his hand. She got in Ram’s car, tossed her backpack in the passenger seat and then she went after Barbara.
Chapter Twenty-two
Her name was Tahanee Stevens. She was an ex-army infantry soldier that served two combat tours in Afghanistan, and she was Barbara’s bodyguard.
The night that RJ had to send Pills to find Barbara when their father was shot, and Black left him at the hospital, he had a lot of time to think. RJ thought about something that Black had told him at his sixteenth birthday party.
You’re a man now, RJ. Easy is just a little boy, so the responsibility falls to you. I expect you to look out for and protect your sisters and my children.
I won’t let you down, Uncle Mike, RJ promised that night.
It was a huge responsibility and one that he took seriously. So, that night when Black was getting ready to go after the people that shot Bobby, the weight of that responsibility came down on him.
“Where’s Barbara?” Black asked.
“I don’t know,” was one of the hardest answers RJ ever had to give. Black looked RJ in the eye and he felt like he had failed him.
“Find her,” was all Black said before he left with Rain and Nick that night. As he sat there waiting for word about his father, Black’s words haunted RJ.
It’s not just you and Easy that are going to take over all this. It’s Michelle, and Barbara and Belinda, and Bonita too.
I won’t let you down, Uncle Mike, RJ remembered promising and Black saying, I know. I have confidence in you, RJ.
It left him feeling like he was not worthy of the confidence that his Uncle, the Boss of The Family showed in him and he vowed then and there that it would never happen again. He would always live up to the commitment he made that day.
You can count on me. I’ll die before I let anything happen to any member of my family.
RJ knew that Barbara and her girls were out in the streets, doing who knows what, with who knows who and nobody had any idea where. How could he protect Barbara if he had no idea where she was? So, when things quieted down, he asked his Uncle Mike for some advice on how he could protect his sister.
Black laughed. “If she is anything like your Aunt Wanda when she was Barbara’s age, she’s borderline buck-wild and thinks the city is her own personal playground to do with as she pleases.”
“That’s pretty much Barbara.” RJ laughed. “How did you and Pop keep Aunt Wanda safe?”
“We didn’t really have to,” Black said and thought back to all the arguments they used to have about Wanda and her gun. “Wanda could take care of herself,” he laughed. “Besides, everybody knew me, and your Pops would kill somebody over her.” Especially after Vickie died.
“I ain’t got that kind of rep, Uncle Mike.”
“Hire her a bodyguard,” he said and told him about the bodyguard that he hired to protect Carmen. “Her bodyguard blends in to the background and stays out of sight, so Ms. Taylor has no idea she has one. That’s what you need to do with Barbara.” Black gave RJ the number to their security company and the name of a person to talk to. “Her name is Maggie Breaux. Tell her I sent you.”
After weeks of interviewing candidates, Maggie sent Tahanee Stevens to see him, and RJ knew that she was the one the second he saw her. Despite being a decorated army veteran, Tahanee had the kind of girlish face that made her look like a teenager and that made her perfect for the job. She could be around Barbara and blend into the background like Black said and she would never know that she had a bodyguard. The fact that she qualified as marksmen with her firearm was a plus too.
Once she was hired, Tahanee was enrolled at Forten and she began the process of getting close enough to Barbara to protect her without it being obvious. It had been an easy gig; she went to school every day and hung out the places that Barbara did. That all changed that day as she floored Ram’s Lexus, weaving in and out of traffic trying to catch up with the black Yukon.
Barbara was screaming and doing the best she could to try and fight off her kidnappers until one put a gun to her head. She froze, and her eyes were opened wide.
“That’s better,” the one with the gun said. “You move or make another fuckin sound; I will use this. Understand?”
Barbara nodded her head quickly as tears began streaming down her cheeks.
“You a fine ass mutha fucka,” the one that was holding her said, and began feeling Barbara. “Nice juicy-ass titties,” he said and squeezed them before forcing Barbara’s thighs open. “And this fat cat.”
“The lady said not to hurt her,” the driver said.
“This don’t hurt, do it, Sexy?” he asked and continued feeling Barbar
a’s body. “Me and you definitely gonna have some fun.”
Barbara sat paralyzed as her kidnapper felt all over her body. She felt gripped by her fear, but more by her anger. He doesn’t know whose daughter he’s fucking with. You’re all gonna die for this, Barbara thought as his hands traveled all over her body.
When the kidnappers arrived at the warehouse where they were told to take and hold her, they got out and took Barbara inside. With the gun pressed against her temple, there was no more struggle in her. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to overpower them, so she had to endure it and hoped that she’d survive whatever was about to happen to her.
Tahanee arrived at the warehouse just in time to see them take Barbara inside. She got the Mac 10 from her backpack and went in after them. When Tahanee got inside, the one with the gun to Barbara’s head was taking her in a room, while the other two were making themselves comfortable for what they assumed would be a long stay.
“Don’t worry, Sexy, I’ll be in in a minute and then we gonna strip you naked and see that fuckin’ fine-ass body,” one shouted.
“Yeah, I’m sure she’s looking forward to that,” the one holding her said as they got to the door.
Tahanee raised her nine, took aim and fired. Her shot hit him in the back between the shoulder blades. When he went down, she opened up on the other two and they returned fire. When Tahanee emptied the clip on her nine, she broke out the Mac 10 and opened fire. Now faced with superior fire power, the kidnappers ran for better cover.
Tahanee rushed up to Barbara and kicked the gun away from the kidnapper.
“Tahanee? What are you doing here?”
“I’m your bodyguard, Barbara.”
“What?”
“I’ll explain later,” she said as the kidnapper moved and Tahanee put one in his back. “You all right?”
“I’m okay,” a wide-eyed Barbara said.
“Wait here,” Tahanee said and rushed off.
Barbara watched Tahanee go after her abductors knowing that this wasn’t the time to think about how and why Tahanee, of all people was her bodyguard and why she never knew about it. She needed to focus on her surroundings, where she was and what was going on around her.