The Hearts of the Killers

by Niecy P

  “That bitch was talking about taking me in the bathroom. I didn’t know if she was important to any of you guys, so I let her live. But, I did give her one more chance. She was doing too fucking much man,” he said.

  “I knew it. Her ass was looking for a suga daddy.” I joked.

  “Ain’t nothing sweet about this daddy.” Truth said. I laughed and started my car up. JoJo jumped in the backseat and gave us the location to go to.

  “I thought that Truth should be over the East and Westbound shipment. We don’t have to worry about people fucking with him nor our shit coming up short.” JoJo said

  “That’s sound cool with me. What do you think, Truth? Do you think that you can handle a bunch of little niggas?” I asked Truth. He nodded as he stared out at the window. Damn my brother went through some stuff. We rode to both territories and introduced them to the crew. I felt the ugly looks shooting from Juice when I introduced Truth. They started mumbling shit under their breath. Truth caught that shit and addressed it.

  “If you got something to say, nigga, say it. I don’t know what you muthafuckers think this is but I’m not the one you want to fuck with. It’s clear to me that you niggas don’t respect y’all life. Last warning to all of you muthafuckers.” Truth said and walked out the door. JoJo and I looked at each other then shook our head. Without talking, we both came to an agreement that Truth was going to kill a couple of those niggas before he settled in.

  “What type of product do you guys ship off?” Truth asked us when we walked out of the building.

  “We have solid gun runners that we get our weapons from. They put in the order through us, and we retrieve for them. This family had never been about selling any type of drugs. We do have businesses that we invested in. Cops, judges, and some FBI agents on our payroll.” I answered.

  “Why don’t they cut out the middleman?” Truth asked.

  “Because DWs don’t sell to anyone but us. They are not accepting new clients at all.” I told him.

  “Word. I didn’t know that you guys were affiliated with DWs. Don’s baby girl, Lottie, is my cousin.” Truth revealed.

  “Get the fuck outta here. Are you serious?” JoJo asked. Truth nodded again and jumped in the car. I checked my phone for the time and saw that it was close to picking up Marley. I knew that there was a lot to get to done, but I didn’t want to break my promise to him.

  “Hey, I’m going to check you guys later. I have to pick up Marley from school.” I told them and dapped them off.

  “Pass by the boxing ring,” JoJo jumped in the driver seat.

  “Cool,” I answered. I turned to Juice and asked him for his keys. He tossed them at me and was ready to jump in the car with me. “Nah, you good,” I told him.

  “I wanted to talk to you about something.” He pressured. I stared at that nigga like he was clowning.

  “I don’t have time. You can hit me up later.” I told him and drove off.

  I knew what he wanted to talk about and I wasn’t going to entertain that shit. He thought that because we were cool that he got a pass. That wasn’t how I operated. I treated all the members of the crew the same. No one stuck out in the group to get promoted. I wasn’t going to place our business in anyone’s hands that we didn’t trust. I drove up to Marley’s school and saw him standing in the front of the school. The nigga looked as if he wanted to smile, but the coolness in him didn’t allow it. He jumped in the SUV and dapped me off.

  “What’s up Mace?” He greeted and threw his book bag in the back seat. Marley ass was smart as a whip. He was graduating early because of it. Mom and Dad gave him the option to go to school or get homeschooled by Mom. Of course, his ass picked a school because he knew that Mom didn’t play. She would have smacked his ass across the head if he got something simple as C=59(F-32).

  “Nothing. What are you ready to get into?” I asked him.

  “Man I’m hungry. Can we go get a Philly?” He asked.

  “Yeah,” I answered and made a U-turn and headed towards Jim’s. It was our favorite spot to get our Philly’s from. Mom wasn’t big on them. She liked her Poboys from New Orleans better. “How was school, bruh?”

  “It was alright. I got my grades back from my test that I took a week ago.” He said and reached for his book bag. He opened it, and I noticed an Intro to Statistics. I snatched the book out of his bag and held it up.

  “What the fuck is this? I know damn well they are not teaching y’all this shit in high school.” I asked. Marley snatched the book out my hand and frowned.

  “Damn, man. I wanted it to be a surprise. You are going to tell Maddie, and her big mouth ass is going to tell Mom.” He stuffed the book back in his bag, forgetting about the test papers he wanted to show me.

  “Look, I am not going to tell Madison shit. Aight. You can trust me. What’s going on?” I asked. He nodded his head, knowing that I was going to keep my word.

  “I entered the Dual-enrollment at the school. It gives the juniors and the seniors the opportunity to work on their college degree while they are in high school. I will walk across the stage in May as a high school and college graduate, earning an Associate degree in business from Temple.” He answered.

  “That’s what I’m talking about nigga. You are about to be the favorite in this muthafucker.” I cheered for my little brother. “My dude, I’m proud of you. You had me worried for a minute. You were running around here with Jeremiah doing stupid shit. I thought I was going to have to fuck you up for real.” I confessed.

  “Nah. It wasn’t like that. Jeremiah out here all reckless and shit. I wanted to have his back, you know. JoJo got you and Maddie, so I wanted Jeremiah to know that he wasn’t moving out here alone. I tried to make it my business to be where he’s at.” Marley said.

  “I know what you saying and I get it. But, you gotta let that fool know when he wrong, Marley. You can’t be following behind that nigga not knowing shit.” I said, sounding like my father.

  “Yeah, I hear you, Mace. But you haven’t been around to show me the business. I don’t know what is right or wrong when it comes to that shit. I thought that JoJo gave that fool some elbow room to do his thing. If I would’ve known, you know I would have said something. I am not trying to be out here destroying the name that our uncles and grandfather worked hard to keep at the top.” Marley spoke that true Davis shit.

  “So, you want to know the game,” I asked him. I pulled up to Jim’s and cut the engine off. I needed to know if he was ready to learn. As his big brother, I didn’t want anyone else teaching him but me. Dad could say his peace, but at the end of the day, times changed. The way they ruled back then, ain’t got shit on the moves we are making now. We were the new Davis’ crew. After thinking for a couple of minutes, Marley looked over at me.

  “Hell yeah. I’m ready.” He told me.

  “Gud.” I dapped him off and got out the car. We walked to the door, and I started off with his lessons with a few rules.

  “Rule 1: Never be another muthafucka’s fool. If you were born to lead. Lead. Don’t follow behind anyone that can’t fit or sustain the crown that was made for you.” I told Marley.

  “Damn, nigga. That sound like a verse from one of those rappers Dad used to listen to.” Marley responded.

  “They were some real niggas.” Pops or my uncles didn’t let us listen to anything that didn’t have meaning to it. That was what was wrong with the so-called men. They were all trying to show out for the moment. Niggas these days never thought about the impact that their decisions would have on their future. I schooled my little brother about the business as we ate our food. Marley was like a fucking sponge. He soaked that shit and was ready to put all that he learned to the test.

  “Are you ready to go to the range?” I asked, thinking that he wanted to spend more time with me.

  “Nah, bruh. I want to hit up the gym.” He told me. I nodded and drove to the gym where the rest of the men were. JoJo was introducing Truth to the rest of the crew and businesses.
I hoped that we were able to help him with his troubles. I would hate to see how that nigga was when he was let loose. We were pulling up to the gym when Madison called my phone. I hit the answer button on my steering wheel to put her on speaker.

  “Hey, my sweet brothers. What are you guys into or is it a boys’ thing?” She asked.

  “Ain’t nothing sweet about us, Madison. And if it was a boys’ thing, your ass ruined it.” Marley told her.

  “You are whoever I want you to be, and that is sweet. Where are you guys right now?” Madison responded.

  “We are at the gym. Where are you?” I asked her.

  “I am leaving Dad’s office. Toronto killed two of our judges because they didn’t want to be involved in their drug shit. He wants us to go over there and show them no mercy.” Madison told us.

  “He doesn’t want the massacre if he’s sending yo ass,” I said and got out of the car. I pulled my phone out to continue the conversation.

  “Shut up. Anyway, Daddy thought that it would be a good idea to bring Truth to the job so that he could see how we handle things. We can meet up at eleven. That’s the time his crew meets up for their meeting.”

  “Alright. We won’t be at the Ring long. I got other business that I need to take care of after this.” I remembered the number in my pocket of the woman that wanted to meet her hero.

  “Oh, I should pass by.” Madison thought that was a good idea. Marley was shaking his head.

  “No, Maddie. Muthafuckers confidence goes up when they see you. They feel like they gotta prove something to you by challenging us to a fight and I ain’t with the shits today. Stay your Michael Myers, Dr. Phill mentality ass away from the gym. They will see you later on.” Marley answered for me and hung up my phone. I shook my head because he was right. They were always trying to look like the most dangerous person in the room, thinking that that shit turned her on. It was fucking annoying.

  “You know she is going to fuck you up for hanging the phone up in her face,” I told Marley. He hunched his shoulders.

  “That’s your phone, bruh. She is not going to believe that you let me touch your phone,” he said and walked in the building. I stopped and called Madison back.

  “Aye, that was Marley,” I told her when she answered the phone.

  “Hmm-mm. I will get his ass later. Before you walk in the gym, how is Truth doing?” she asked. When we were younger Truth was just as overprotective of Madison than JoJo and I. He didn’t play behind her, and I had to warn Juice ass because Truth wasn’t going to tell that nigga anything. He was going to let his actions speak for him.

  “He good right now. Nobody ticked him off yet. Well, Mina did earlier. The way that he scared her was going to have her looking for another job soon.” I responded.

  “Mina at it again, huh. I will have to have a talk with her. She is doing too much.” Madison said, which surprised the shit outta me. I told Madison about that shit before, and she laughed at me. Now, Mina was going after Truth, it was a problem. Fuck outta here.

  “Yeah, alright. I will talk to you later. Love you.” I said and hung up the phone. When I walked in the gym, Truth was talking to Marley and JoJo. They were watching two fighters in the ring, criticising them about their technique. Marley pulled out money and started placing bets on the fight.

  “Nigga, you don’t know shit about boxing.” Truth told him and pulled out his money.

  “I know enough to know that Moonie is going to knock Cam ass out in the next round.” Marley was confident in the fighter. Moonie was smaller than Cam, but Moonie was faster and more skillful. Marley knew that because he gave Moonie pointers when he visited.

  “I’m in on this,” I came in and was ready to place my bet.

  “Stay out of this, Mason.” Truth said while staring at the fight. JoJo shook his head and cheered Moonie on. Cam swung a hard right hook and connected to Moonie’s left jaw. His head snapped hard to the right, which made it look like he was done. Cam rushed Moonie with another right. Moonie blocked and countered it with a left uppercut. Cam stumbled into the ropes. Moonie went at the body with some hard shots. Cam folded, and Moonie swung his own right hook. Cam dropped down to the ground clutching his stomach.

  “Ohhhh!” The men around the ringside yelled. Marley held his hand out for Truth. “Donation,” he told him. Truth slammed the money in his hand and shook his head.

  “This some Diggstown shit,” he mumbled. Marley smiled and counted his money. The door opened, and a beat-up Jeremiah walked in. I was still pissed off at his ass, so I had no words for him. JoJo turned around towards the ring.

  “What are you doing here, bruh?” JoJo asked him.

  “What? I'm not allowed to go nowhere, now.” Jeremiah responded. Marley turned and saw Jeremiah walking up.

  “Yo, my nigga. What’s up with you?” Marley held his fist up to dap Jeremiah off. Jeremiah looked at Marley with a stank face. He looked at his hand and dismissed him.

  “My nigga, my ass. If I was your nigga, you wouldn’t have done what you did, my nigga.” Jeremiah spat at him. Marley waved him off like what he told him wasn’t shit.

  “Man, that was a minute ago,” Marley responded.

  Jeremiah spun around and got back in Marley’s face. Marley and Jeremiah was the same height. Marley didn’t find a reason to be on guard for Jeremiah to swing. He looked like he was hurting.

  “Nigga that was yesterday! The fuck is you talking about.” Jeremiah yelled in Marley’s face, which was the type of disrespect that pushed Marley over. Marley looked at Jeremiah and smirked. He put the money that he had in his hand in his pocket and rotated his shoulders.

  “Tha fuck you mean. You was on some fuckboy shit yesterday with my Aunt. You should’ve been lucky that my Aunt was in that fucking house to save you from being a cripple. I ain’t apologizing for shit. You was wrong and got checked about it; if you are going to hold that against me then nigga that’s you. But, you got one more time to step in my face like you are ready to get your ass whooped, again.” Marley warned him. I wasn’t going to stop it either. I looked over at JoJo and nodded my head. JoJo walked over to Jeremiah and pulled him out of Marley’s face. He knew that Marley wasn’t going to stop until he killed Jeremiah. He would have grieved him but wouldn’t regret killing him.

  “Let me talk to you,” JoJo pulled him towards the office. Marley was staring off after him and waited for him to clear the area. He turned around, and I saw death in his eyes. At that moment, I knew that he saw Jeremiah for what he was.

  “Jeremiah turned into a whole hoe outcha.” Truth voiced his unpopular opinion. But, it was sad that he saw the shit from one simple interaction. Truth was with us when we were beating on Marley and Jeremiah when they were kids. We knew them niggas was going to be tough, but also peeped how easy Uncle Jo was making it for Jeremiah. He always kept Jeremiah in the office while Marley was in the field with us. Uncle Jo thought that he was slick and wanted Marley to work as a bodyguard to Jeremiah. That was another reason why Pops wanted me to be more involved. Pops didn’t know that Marley wasn’t a dumb ass nigga.

  “Yeah. They better get him right quick though.” I said and pulled out my vibrating work phone. It was the number I recognized from the messages. I made sure to forward all my calls to my cell phone before I left the office. I walked away from the group of men and into a quiet area. “Hello,” I answered.

  “Hi, Mason. Uhm, you may not know me, but my name is Beauty. You saved me three years ago from being sold. I just wanted to tell you personally that I appreciate you and what you did. If it isn’t too much trouble, I would like to take you out for dinner.” Her smooth voice came through. I didn’t believe that I can fall for a chick by the sound of her voice. I found myself wanting to keep her talking to hear her voice again. I wondered if her voice matched her face.

  “It won’t be any trouble at all. Where would you like to meet up at?” I asked her and pressed my phone to my ear harder.

  “Wherever you want to go. This is yo
ur neck of the woods.” She responded.

  “What time are you trying to meet up for?” I asked.

  “Eight will be fine with me. I have to meet with my counselor for school.” She responded. Good. I had other things to keep her talking.

  “There is a nice Jamaican restaurant downtown. It may not be as good as the food back home, but it’s close. I will text you the address.” I told her. She okayed our plans and hung the phone up. I walked back out into the gym area. I looked around for Marley, and he was talking to Truth. I walked over to them to see what they were talking about. I needed to get Marley home so that he could get his car. He had to go to his night classes at Temple University.

  “Aye, we gotta bounce. Pops want us to go and see some people later on tonight. I will scoop you up at the apartments. If you need some supplies, let me know. I can call up our weapon’s expert.” I told Truth. He dapped Marley and me off before we left. JoJo was talking to Jeremiah still. I was going to text him about the situation with the Toronto. I didn’t understand why muthafuckers felt that they needed to test our gangsta every now and then, but they were going to learn today that we weren’t the ones to fuck with.

  Five

  Beauty

  I was nervous as hell to meet Mason. Juice told me that he was a ruthless dude that didn’t care for no one but his family. I was hoping that he was kind enough to meet me. I couldn’t help but to think that I put myself in the situation to be saved. When I was younger, I always knew that I wanted to design my own clothing line. My mother bought me a sewing machine when I was six. I started making clothes for my dolls at first. I used a lot of old clothes that I couldn’t fit and patches from my bed sheets and curtains. Mama didn’t notice until it was time to wash them. She got tired of replacing the items that I kept destroying and started buying me material.

  Daddy wanted to take Mama to an important business dinner. He told her to get something nice to wear, but Mom didn’t have time to shop. I saw her looking at one of the dresses that I made one of my dolls and decided to make her one. I came home from school and locked myself in my room. I surprised her with the dress at the dinner table.