by Erica Dyer
“What are we doing here? Didn’t you hear me say Kei’ needs me now?” I asked as we pulled up to a row house on Lorraine Ave.
“We won’t be here long. I need you to meet the DMV crew,” he said, opening the door.
When we walked in, there were at least 20 niggas in the living room.
“As y’all know, my oldest daughter has been kidnapped and transported to Cuba. This young man beside me is her husband and will take a seat at the head of this organization. Dam and Kris are well aware and will continue to run the Baltimore/ Maryland region; Bankz will now oversee all other regions.”
“Fuck out of here OG, I’ve been second in command behind Dam and Kris for three years. How this nigga come in and take over? Why because he’s sticking dick to your daughter?”
The lil disrespectful nigga said with his chest stuck out.
Boom! Mr. Williams shot the lil nigga in his head.
“Now any other concerns?” he said, putting his gun back in his waist.
“Nah, we good OG,” a few others mumbled.
“Bishop, let's go. Y’all niggas clean this shit up and make sure you send him away nicely. Give my nephew the best funeral money can buy.”
“Your nephew?” I asked, shocked.
“Yeah, his mother is my daddy’s daughter.”
“You killed your nephew for being disrespectful?”
“And I’m going to cry at his funeral sitting beside his mother,” he said, hunching his shoulders. “One thing we don’t do in this family is disrespect, now lets’ go. “
The rest of the ride was smooth. Mr. Williams told me a little about the operation. Once we get Kei’ back, we would sit down and figure out how to bring my smaller organization into their much bigger organization.
We pulled up to BWI, and Dam, Kris, and Sin were standing at the terminal.
“Fuck y’all niggas going?” I questioned.
“Nigga we going get lil sis, you coming?”
“Say less.”
Paul
These niggas were getting on my fucking nerves. Bishop walking round with his bottom lip poked out like that isn’t my fucking sister missing. Fuck him being her husband. Then that big ass nigga Sin was on some other shit too. Sorry, y’all, I’m Paul, Kei’s big brother. I grew up in Miami with Gisella and my dad’s crew when moms moved to Baltimore. I took over the operation fully when I turned 18. It wasn’t what I wanted, but by the time I was 18, I had two kids and a wife. I met Keema when I was 13, and she was 14. Keema lived in the group home around the corner from our house.
I met her one night when she had run away from the group home because one of the older boys was trying to touch her. The first night I met her, I knew she was going to be my wife. I used to hide her in our basement every night, and then when everyone was asleep, she would come sleep in my room. I gave her the bed and slept on the floor. We were doing good with hiding until one day, Kei’sha saw her in her one-of-a-kind Mickey Mouse leather coat. Kei’sha didn’t trip or say anything. The next day Kei’sha had clothes on my bed for Keema. I gained so much respect for Kei’sha after that. She was the first person we told Keema was pregnant. On my fourteenth birthday, Keema surprised me by getting us a room at a hotel. Kei’sha helped her set it up and make a cover story of why I would be out all night. My parents knew Keema was my girlfriend, but they didn’t know how bad her home life was.
She would stay with me 3 to 4 days out the week and have to go back to the group home so they wouldn’t report her as a runaway. The days she was not with me would be the worse. Anyway, on my birthday we lost our virginity to each other. That one night changed our lives forever. Keema found out she was pregnant with my daughter; she was 15, and I was 14. Kei’sha helped us hide it until she was too big to deny it. My dad gave me a job in the organization, and Gisella went and filed paperwork to be her foster mother until she turned 16. Keema gave birth to our daughter Paris two months shy of her 16th birthday, and once she turned 16, she went to court to get emancipated. That same year I caught my first charge, attempted murder on this nigga that owed me money. He tried to play me cause I was a youngin, shot his ass right in the throat. He lived, but that nigga will never talk again. I ended up getting five years because I was a minor but got out in 18 months.
When I got out, I stayed with my mom for six months on house arrest. Keema and Pairs were back in Florida with Gisella. Soon as I got that shit off my ankle, I moved back down there with my girl and seed. On Keema's 18th birthday, I proposed to her. Now we got years in and three kids, two girls Paris and Kennedi, and one boy Amaru. I put Keema through medical school. She’s now a Nurse Practitioner at the leading pediatric hospital in Southern Florida. She’s on leave right now because of the situation with Kei’sha. My family is the only family Keema has, so this is hurting her just as much as any of us.
Honestly, I respect Bishop, but I don’t like his ass. All I know is my sister went missing the day she married his ass and has been gone for three months. I’m not going to hold y’all for too long just wanted to introduce myself. You’ll read more about Keema and me later on.
Kei’sha
The phone died in the middle of my conversation with Bishop, but I was confident he would find me. I just have to survive until then. Looking around the room, I knew I had to do something with this mess. Somebody was going to come looking for this dick head. I walked out of the room and started creeping around the house. There were two bedrooms and a bathroom back here, in the front of the house, there were one big open space and a kitchen. Two of the three girls were still chained up in the front room.
“Do any of y’all speak English?” I asked in a hushed tone.
“We all do. I’m not from Cuba. I came here with my school for my senior trip. When I went to the local market one morning, the dude that brought you here grabbed me. The girl over there has been here the longest; she’s dying. The little girl that brought you clothes is her daughter. She’s Tom’s daughter as well,” the girl explained.
“Look, I’m getting us out of here, but you gotta help me. I found a phone in one of the bedrooms and was able to call my husband. He’s on his way, but I don’t know how long it’s going to be. We have to make it until he gets here okay,” I told her, still looking around to make sure no one is coming.
“How do you expect us to do that? A guard comes here every hour, and according to the clock on that wall, a guard should be here in 30 minutes.”
“Shit! Where is the third girl that was here?”
“She in the back with that fat man,” she said as I used the key, I found in John's pocket to remove the cuffs off of her.
“I’m going in the back and get the other girl. You look for a charger for this phone, find any weapons, money, anything that can help us get the fuck out of here!” I ordered, moving towards the back of the cabin.
In the other bedroom was another man and the girl that was chained when I first got here. I walked in there as quietly as I could. The guy was so focused on what he was doing he never saw me coming. While he was on top of this little girl (she had to be about 16/17 and half his size), I took the lamp off the dresser and broke it across his back. Yelling out in pain, he fell to the side of the girl. She hurried and ran to where I was standing.
“You stupid bitch, I’m going kill your black ass,” he cursed, lunging towards me.
I moved to the side, and he fell to the floor. The other girl came running into the room with a charger, three knives, and a thing of bleach.
“Hey, I found this stuff. We should be able to use it,” she said, breathing heavy.
“Who’s the bitch now, you fat motherfucker! Get your fat ass up and on the bed.”
I was sick of this shit, tired of niggas touching me, putting their hands on me, disrespecting me, like I’m not Kei’sha fucking Williams! When fat ass got on the bed, I had Jessica and Miracle (that’s the girl's names) tie him up with the bedsheets.
“Now, you fat bitch open your fucking mouth!” I screamed
while pulling his greasy nasty hair.
“You will never get out of this cabin alive,” he said, still trying to save face.
“Kei’sha, we do need to hurry this up; another guard will be coming shortly,” Miracle pointed out, sounding nervous as hell.
“Open your fucking mouth, and I’m not going say it again!”
He slowly opened his mouth, and I poured the entire bottle of bleach down his throat. “Fat fuck! Let’s get out of here,” I said, climbing off the bed.
Walking out the room, Jessica picked up the little girl from out the kitchen and some food from the refrigerator “she’s coming with us,” she said, walking towards the door.
“It’s a jeep outside, and I found 10,000 pesos.” Miracle started walking towards the jeep.
“Where the fuck can we hide until my husband get here? Once that other guard gets to that cabin, he’s going to know somethings up.”
I was trying to be calm and collected, but I was freaking out. “We can go to my family’s house; it’s in Pinar del Rio, we are about two hours away from there,” Jessica said, sitting in the back seat with the little girl whose name was Maria.
“How can we get there undetected? These motherfuckers are cops, I’m sure they’ll have everyone looking for us and this jeep,” Miracle asked, looking around as I continued to drive.
“This is what we are going to do; we take Central de Cuba towards Calle San Benigno to Route 400, down to Autopista Oeste, then keep going until we get to Artemisa. There are only two gas stations we can stop at without being noticed. I sure hope we can make it with that.” Jessica broke down the way to get to her family’s house. “Oh, and I found this in the kitchen,” she said, handing me a .45 Glock.
“Jessica, you drive since you know your way. I’ll sit in the back with Maria.”
We pulled over and switched seats as fast as we could.
“Kei’sha, shouldn’t you call your husband, let him know what’s going on?” I picked up the cell phone and dialed Bishop’s number. He picked up on the first ring.
“Kei’sha, we are at the airport now, baby. I’m on my way.”
“Bishop, I got out. We are going to Pinar del Rio, Cuba. I don’t know how far that is from an airport, but I had to move fast,” I said.
“Kei’ who the hell is we, and where the fuck is Pinar del Rio? Look to see if that phone you are using is a smartphone?” he asked questions back-to-back.
“Yeah, it’s a smartphone; it’s an iPhone 4,” I said, looking at the phone.
“Kei’ go in the settings and turn on the ‘Find my iPhone’ thingy. Keep that phone on as long as you can. I’ll find you Kei’, I promise I’ll find you.” Bishop sounded like he was on the verge of tears.
“Bishop, I love you. Hurry up!” I said, screaming into the phone and hanging up.
The drive took five hours in total because we had to take back roads. We pulled up to this nice size house that sat by itself. Jessica walked up to the house and rang the bell. A lady opened the door and started screaming and jumping up and down. Jessica turned around and waved for us to come inside the house. Jessica’s family home was beautiful, and her whole family welcomed us with open arms. I learned that Jessica had been missing for three years. Since she was fucking 13!
“Kei’sha, I want to thank you for helping my daughter get back home. You don’t remember me, do you?” Jessica's dad asked. I was trying to remember him, and all I could think was, Lord, please don’t let this be another situation I gotta fight my way through.
“No, I don’t,” I answered with a little attitude.
“I’m Miguel Jose, and I sit at the table with your father.”
“Wait, you know my father?”
“Yes, I know him and your godmother, Gisella. I’ve called both of them.”
“You talked to Gisella?” I asked, confused. “No one outside of the family knew that Gisella was still alive.”
“The whole table knows Gisella is alive. Your husband Bankz, I think, is what they call him. He’s an alright guy?”
“He’s one of the realist men I’ve ever met,” I replied with pride.
“Good to know, he’s going be sitting at the table soon. Anyway, your father and husband are in Florida. We are going to take my boat to Key West and meet them there. None of you guys need to be boarding planes, trains, or anything that you have to use an ID or passport. Also, those Cuban Police will be taken care of.”
“Thank you. I just want to get home to my family.”
“I understand. We will leave in an hour,” he said, then walked away.
“Hey Miracle, are you staying here or going back with me?”
“Actually, I called my Dad, and he’s flying out here to get me, then we are going back home to California.”
“Well, if you ever need anything or just want to talk, make sure you call me,” I said, tearing up a little bit.
“I will, Kei’sha; thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, I would have died in that cabin,” Miracle said, wiping tears from her eyes.
We hugged, and I walked towards the boat. It had been a long three, almost four months; I was so tired mentally and physically. I was going home!
Bishop
If I could fly the plane my damn self, I would have been got to Florida. I tell you this; it’ll be a cold day in hell before I get on another damn plane. Kei’sha was the only reason I got on this plane. As we were boarding the plane, she called me again. This time we were able to track down her phone. At first, we were flying into Florida than taking a boat to Cuba, but Mr. Williams got a phone call from this guy named Miguel Jose saying that Kei’sha was safe and with him. He was bringing Kei’sha to Key West, FL, and we were meeting him there.
“Who is Miguel Jose?” I asked as we were sitting in this restaurant called Seaside Café at the Mansion.
“Jose is the leader of the Cuban Mafia, you will meet him at another time, but he’s a good guy, down to earth, all about his money and family,” Mr. Williams replied as he sipped from his water bottle.
Dam, Kris, and Sin were here with us. Gisella was at Paul’s house down in Ponte Vedra Beach. The rest of the families were flying down here as well. I talked to and met mostly everyone over the phone. With the exception of Naheem, he was still locked up but was being released as we speak. Gisella made some moves and got him an early release. I knew about him and Trevor from lockup; Naheem was the guy you go to get shit moved around the jail. He was about his money and didn’t give a fuck about the politics of the jail. Trevor, I found out was Kei’sha’s god sister’s husband had got out of jail while I was still in a coma, but he was back home in Baltimore because Eboni had their twins a little early.
I spoke with Kei’sha’s cousin Tiffany as well. She was the family's accountant and was good with computers. She helped trace Kei’sha’s phone until we got the call from Jose. Thinking about everything that had happened in the last four months, I didn’t hear Dam calling my name
“Bankz’s!” Dam screamed.
“Nigga fuck you calling me for?” I said, looking down at my phone.
“He’s calling you for me.”
I looked up, and there she was, my wife.
“Kei’ baby, is that you?” I couldn’t believe it. She was standing there right in my face, within arm's reach. When she ran into my arms, I almost lost it. I didn’t care that she jumped into my broken arm. All I cared about was that I had my Kei’ back.
“Baby, I missed you so much. I was dying out in these streets,” I said, kissing all over her face. “Kei’ I wanted to come to get you so bad, shorty I was dead out here without you. I was in a coma for three months. I was sick when I woke up, and you weren’t by my side.” Y’all, a nigga had tears coming down his face.
“Bishop, I missed you so much. You don’t know the hell I went through trying to get back to you,” Kei’ cried as she buried her head in my chest.
“Girl, lift your head. I’m right here, I got you, and you will never go through that shit
again, you hear me?” She shook her head yes. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
I decided we all needed a vacation before heading back to Baltimore. I figured that a few days in Florida with Paul and his family would be good for Kei’. While we were here, I took advantage of this trip and met the Florida region of my new family’s empire. I wanted Kei’sha to go to the doctors, so Keema, Paul’s wife, took her to the clinic and did a full physical and checked Kei’ for everything. Sure, enough she was pregnant. Kei’ had what they call Vanishing Twin Syndrome.
Vanishing Twin Syndrome is when one twin dies in the first trimester because it’s so early in the pregnancy. Kei’ didn’t have to like push it out, or anything, Keema said Kei’ or the other baby just absorbed BJ.
Honestly, that was the least of my worries. I was nervous as hell when they ran the test for STDs, HIV, and Syphilis. I love Kei,’ but I didn’t know if I would be able to handle any shit like that. Luckily all her tests came back negative. Pulling up into the driveway of Paul’s house, I was impressed, and it takes a lot to impress me. This nigga lived in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. His backyard was the fucking beach. The house was huge. He had nine bedrooms, ten bathrooms, three living rooms, two kitchens, a movie theater, an indoor and outdoor pool, a few maids, and a dope ass car collection.
“Hey Bankz, you and Kei’ will have the upstairs area. There’s a master bed and bathroom up there, a sitting area, and fresh linen,” Keema spoke up as we walked into the foyer.
“Thanks, Keema,” I said. I started walking up the stairs to the area Keema said we would be staying. Kei’sha had gone into silent mode right after we got her back. I couldn’t get her to talk to me for anything. She still kissed me and hugged me, but that was it, no words were spoken, and I didn’t even think about sex.
After making sure Kei’ was good, I met up with Paul and his crew.
“Sup lil bro?”
“I’m coolin, who you got me meeting?” Paul still wasn’t my favorite person, but the nigga was my wife’s brother, so I was going to be cool for now.