Chapter 14 #2
He shook his head. “Nah. You found love and I fuck with that. It’s about time you stopped running through bitches like Scott’s.”
I nodded, slightly taken aback that he didn’t have a joke.
“After all that shit with Pynk and it finally being over, I started moving unlike myself. Seeing this side of me makes me feel like I need to get back to me, who knows, probably see what else is to myself besides this death business.”
Now I was really put off, because who was this nigga a few inches away from me talking about life after death. Hell nah, this wasn’t my twin. “You feeling aight?”
“Yeah man, this is me. I’m just considering different avenues. Shit life is too short, and in the case of mine, I’ma go out one way or ano—” he started but I interrupted his spiel.
“Nope, we ain’t about to go there. You want to change, do that shit.” I wasn’t up for hearing him tell me about death… his death. I knew we all had a time, and at some point that time expired, but it didn’t mean I had to sit here and listen to it. “What are you thinking about getting into?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know yet. Probably something with this T-shirt line I’ve been passing time with.”
I nodded. “You sleep on yourself, but you could really eat with that.” Reminisce had a brand called Killer Apparel. It was basically an online T-shirt company that ran itself. All he did was supply the designs, all of which he drew and created himself.
“Yeah. I’ma probably fuck with that.”
I wanted to ask him what brought this on, but didn’t. Rem wasn’t the type you asked a lot of questions. He’d shut down so fucking fast the questions would be statements. Our mother had fucked us both up, but Reminisce always felt like he had to save something, maybe him more than me.
We pulled up in front of the two flat in no time.
I was out of the car with him behind me.
Good thing Grandma didn’t have a camera or anything.
Three knocks at the door later I heard somebody yell, “I’m coming.
” This ghetto ass shit didn’t even have a doorbell.
It was a regular two-flat, nothing outstanding or beautiful about it.
Shit was aged, and uncared for, spray paint on the bricks, chipped paint, and a nasty ass lawn.
Debby and the HOA would’ve died at this fucking scene.
The door opened and Juicy looked like she wanted to slam that motherfucker back shut when her eyes landed on me. She stood there barefoot in a pair of leggings with an oversized T-shirt, body just as disproportionate as it was when she was at the club.
“What’s up, love? How you been?” I put my foot in the door, knowing she was about to try to close it.
I was right because she damn sure did. With little effort I forced it open and stepped across the threshold with my brother behind me. I pulled my gun from my side and aimed it in her direction. “Back the fuck up.”
Reminisce closed the door behind us and moved around me to scope the scene. It didn’t take long for him to walk the first floor apartment while Juicy stood staring at me with her hands in the air. “I didn’t kno?—”
“Shut the fuck up too,” I demanded, deeming now not to be the time she spoke.
“You clear in there.” Rem walked past me out of the door, then I heard him ascend the steps.
“Who lives up there?”
“Nobody. It hasn’t been rented out,” she said through the tears racing from her eyes.
“Clear.” Rem reentered behind me, tapping my shoulder. “Where is your grandmother?” he asked, stepping to the side of me.
“The hospital, she had a stroke.” She spoke to Reminisce but her eyes were locked on me.
Rem shook his head. “Sorry to hear that. You probably the cause, out here stressing her out and shit. You know the big mamas be knowing shit is gonna happen before it happens. She probably already knows you’re about to die in this bitch today.”
She cried harder, but silently. “I didn’t know.”
“Now that’s disrespectful. To lie to my face when I know it was you who broke that fucking camera.”
By this time she was crying profusely and I didn’t wanna hear that shit. “Rennix, I needed the money.”
“Shorty, all this crying shit isn’t gonna get you nowhere because the bottom line is you gonna die in here today.
Even if he don’t kill you, I’ma do it because you can’t begin to fathom where my mind went when I got the call that my brother was shot.
So tighten the fuck up and be real about your shit.
” Rem’s voice was so cold I felt a shiver down my own spine.
“Rennix, I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it.”
“Nah, sweetheart, you plotted that shit, but what I’m interested to know is for how long?” I leaned back against the wall to give her the floor to talk.
“From the first day I started. We had to make sure everything was perfect. It was just a job, nothing personal.”
I nodded.
“Who shot me? You?”
“No. My brother. Cee was just standing there as lookout or in case Josiah needed help getting you into the trunk.”
“Y’all was finna kidnap my brother, bitch?” Rem rushed her but didn’t touch her. “The fuck was y’all gonna do to him?”
“I wasn’t gonna do anything to him. I just help them get the marks.” She shook her head profusely.
“Bet.” I had honestly heard enough, now I was ready to get this shit over with and find the brother. “Aight, so where is your brother?”
“I don’t know.” Her tone trembled with each word. “He said he was leaving town and not coming back.”
“Stop lying. It’s respect to you for not telling us where he at, but then again, fuck respect when you plotted against my blood.” Rem pulled his own gun from his side.
“I’m serious. I don’t know. Everything went bad when you shot Cee.”
Rem laughed, aiming his piece.
I was about to respond, but my phone began vibrating. The last thing I wanted to do was get it, but it could’ve been anybody, so while Reminisce had his gun trained on ol’ girl I fished my phone from my pocket. When I saw it was Kinga calling, I answered, putting the phone to my ear.
“Yo, bro, it’s a bad time. Let me hit you back.”
“Nah, I think it’s a great time. I got you a present, since you’re my kids’ godfather and shit. This one is nice too.”
“Aww, yeah.”
“It’s something you been looking for. Red Prius, sits low. Turns out everybody needs their tires rotated every once in a while. It just so happens the owner is willing to let it go for dirt cheap.” Kinga’s statement was in code, but I knew what he meant.
I laughed. “That’s good looking out. I’ll be to see you in a few.”
“Bet.”
We hung up and I looked directly at Juicy, Jennifer, Joy whatever the fuck her name was at this point. “I thought you said that nigga left town.”
“He did. I swear. I didn’t kno—” She started sobbing and shit which further irritated me, because how the fuck did you admit to setting me up, but couldn’t deal with what came next. That type of shit irked me, because if you did dirt, you had to be able to deal with the consequences.
“Turns out we don’t need her after all. As a matter of fact, that’s dead weight.” She looked petrified, but that didn’t matter to me. She made her bed now it was time to lie in that motherfucker.
“You sure?” Reminisce asked, eyes never leaving Juicy.
“Yup.”
“Bet.” He tapped the trigger two times, sending two slugs into her chest. I didn’t flinch and neither did he.
“Good gift to get my kids’ godfather, huh?” Kinga asked, standing directly in front of the badly beaten man hanging from the ceiling like a light fixture.
“Damn good gift,” Rem said, walking up to Josiah. About five seconds later he put his fists up like he was boxing and began throwing punches I knew were breaking ribs and everything.
“Ol’ violent ass,” I muttered. I didn’t know why I was less interested in beating Josiah’s ass.
As a matter of fact, a bullet to the dome would have been enough for me, but here we were and I was ready to go my ass home.
I meant it when I said I left this life behind.
There wasn’t anything in it for me anymore.
It drained me, an exhaustive list of shit to do just for some get back and more bullshit.
I’d transformed right before my own eyes and I wasn’t mad about it.
I was mad I was here because a few goofy motherfuckers tried to set me up.
Hopefully this was a sign to anybody else in this city that I wasn’t to be fucked with.
My eyes left the beating taking place and landed on the blue Liberty sitting to the left of us. It was Caya’s. I could tell because not only did I know her car but she was the only person I knew who was okay with driving her ass around in an electric blue truck.
“You able to fix it?” I asked aloud, stepping toward the car.
“Hell nah. Every time I fixed one thing on it, some other shit popped off. Her best bet is to junk this motherfucker and get something else. Not only is it running hot, but the computer on this motherfucker is done.”
I nodded then we turned back around and Reminisce was still throwing haymakers in this nigga’s direction. He had long since stopped screaming through the duct tape on his mouth.
“Why it seem like he had more pent up stress than you did with this shit?” Kinga looked puzzled.
“Because he did. While I be all for letting shit go, Rem carries it. This is stress relief for him.”
About an hour and a half later, Rem and I were on the way to the club so I could get my car. Once I was inside, I breathed easy for the first time in a while. I hated that the intentions of others weighed so much.
I dialed Caya’s line and put the phone on speaker before pulling out of the parking lot. She answered on the second ring.
“You’re on your way?” she asked as soon as she answered.
“Yeah. Talk to me on the drive, baby.”
“Okay, I missed you today,” she admitted, making my fucking heart overflow.
“Missed yo’ ass too. I feel like we need some time to just be laid up, so I can work on my daughter.”
She giggled. “That’s all. You just tryna get me pregnant.”
“Nah. I want you to give me a daughter who looks just like you. Probably don’t act like your rude ass, but easygoing like me.”
“Um, sir. Aren’t you the same man who set my living room on fire?”
“That’s one instance, and lowkey, you gotta blame yourself. When it comes to you I don’t think straight. I just be doing shit, baby,” I admitted honestly.
“Honestly same, but I didn’t light your front room on fire. I just bug up on you. I be wanting to pull up at the club, but I feel like I’ll end up acting up so I don’t set myself or you up for the bullshit.”
I laughed hard as hell because I believed her. “Promise yeen gonna have to do none of that. Baby, I don’t need you getting out of character on my behalf. I’m on you, sweetheart, you only.”
“And I believe you. Thing is, I don’t trust those bitches. That’s a different story.”
“Course it is.”