5. Saniyah
Saniyah
Istayed close to Crue as we walked over to the table and took a seat.
Just this dining room was bigger than my entire apartment.
Inside, I was nervous as hell, more so about it being Crue that I was with than anything.
Crue intimidated me; however, when he told me that I would be paid double to come with him tonight, there was no way that I could pass that up.
But the moment we pulled up to the mansion, I felt out of place.
We didn’t have shit like this in the hood, nor had I ever been around such luxury.
However, for tonight, I would pretend to fit in.
The long black table stretched down the center of the room, decorated with candles, crystal glasses, and white floral arrangements, everything glowing under the chandeliers overhead.
Crue sat beside me, relaxed and alert at the same time.
The staff moved around the room, placing something they called an amuse-bouche in front of us.
“What’s an amuse- bouche?” I whispered discreetly to Crue.
“It’s just a starter meant to awaken the palate. This is caviar on a blini. It’s good.”
I nodded then took a bite. I had never had caviar before, but Crue was right. It was delicious. Next, they brought out a soup that was equally delicious as well. Next came an all green salad that looked like it didn’t have a lick of dressing on it.
Picking up my fork, I picked through the salad, hoping that mixing it around a bit would help bring out some flavor.
When they brought out a mint sorbet, I was confused.
Crue must have seen my confusion because he leaned over and whispered to me, letting me know that it was only a palate cleanser before the main course.
All these different courses and names for food was too rich for me.
Hell, you could give me a meat and two sides and I was good.
The main course was brought out, which was grilled salmon and vegetables on a bed of cream sauce.
When the servers removed our dinner plates and placed a plate of cheese and grapes in front of me, I knew I was way out of my element.
Why the fuck is it so much food being served?
How much do they think one person can eat?
I thought to myself. I had to use the bathroom, and if I sat here any longer, my bladder was going to give out.
“I have to use the ladies’ room,” I whispered to Crue.
He nodded his head and motioned one of the servers over to him.
She was a tall, dark-skinned woman with long braids that she had placed in a ponytail.
I instantly recognized her from Blackline; however, I didn’t know her name.
Crue asked her if she would show me to the bathroom, pretending not to know exactly who she was.
I stood from my seat and followed her out the dining room and down a long hallway.
“I’ll stand outside the door and wait on you to come out,” she informed.
“Thank you. I’ll only be a minute,” I replied as I walked into the bathroom.
The half bathroom I walked into was just as elegant as the rest of the house, decorated in gold and cream.
Once I was done using the bathroom, I walked over to the sink and washed my hands before drying them on a paper towel.
I walked out the bathroom, and just as she said, she was standing right outside the door.
“You ready?” she asked.
I nodded, and we began walking back down the hallway.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know your name. What is it?”
She chuckled a bit before answering. “It’s Destiny.”
“I’m Saniyah,” I replied.
“I know who you are, Saniyah.” She smiled as we continued to walk.
Before I could say another word, a loud pop echoed through the mansion.
My body froze instantly as another one followed.
I had grown up in the hood all my life, so I knew exactly what that sound was.
For half a second, my brain seemed to stop working then popped back in, scanning the hallway for a way out.
Destiny pulled a gun from her waistline with one hand and grabbed me with the other.
Shots continued to ring out as glass shattered, and people screamed.
“Oh, my God, they shootin’,” I whispered, clearly frightened.
“Get down!” Destiny snapped. Her voice had changed completely. Not friendly anymore, she’d went directly in professional mode.
Destiny walked down the hallway, staying close to the wall, as I damn near crawled right behind her.
I didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but I knew I didn’t want to be shot by any stray bullets.
So, I was going to stay as close to the ground as I could.
I could hear the footsteps of the people running, trying to get to safety, and I prayed that Crue was okay.
Gunfire erupted again, this time non-stop.
“Oh, my God,” I whispered breathlessly.
Destiny stopped at the end of the hallway, peeking from behind the wall, trying to see if the coast was clear. She looked back to me and motioned for me to stand up.
“Listen to me, Saniyah. We gotta get the fuck up outta here. I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but we gotta make sure we get outta here safely.”
“But what about Crue?” I asked.
“He gon’ be okay.”
More shots rang out, and this time, I heard men’s voices yelling; however, I couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying. Destiny peeked around the corner again briefly before pulling back fast.
“Shit.”
“What?” I asked, eyes wide.
“It’s several armed men in here. I just counted five, and they standing right around the corner.”
Everything began to blur together as I thought about the chances of me not being able to get out of this mansion alive. The smell of smoke was thick in the air, and I knew it was due to all the gunshots that had been fired.
“We gotta move. We gon’ die if we stay here,” Destiny spoke.
Both my legs and hands shook as I nodded my head slowly.
I watched as Destiny peeked around the corner once more.
She grabbed my hand, and we took off running.
I had no clue where we were going, but I knew Destiny knew the layout of the house more than I did.
Just as we reached another hallway, two men dressed in black tactical gear with guns in hand turned the corner.
My stomach dropped when one of the men noticed us instantly.
Destiny shoved me back just as the men began shooting.
Destiny fired back immediately, fearless.
Meanwhile, I was shaking so hard that I could barely move.
My heart slammed against my chest so bad, it damn near hurt.
I had never been so scared in my life. Although I had heard a lot of gunshots throughout the years, I had never been so close to them.
Destiny hit one of the men in the head, dropping him, while the other one continued firing shots as he walked toward us.
I crawled behind a couch that sat in the room, trying to shield myself from the bullets.
For a moment, I really thought that I was going to die.
I peeked my head out just a little in time to see Destiny drop the other man.
Then, I heard Crue calling out to me. I looked out immediately and saw him standing there, gun in hand.
I stood up and rushed over to him, damn near falling into his arms.
“Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”
“No, I’m not hurt,” I responded.
His jaw loosened a bit as relief flashed across his face.
He looked over to Destiny, making sure she was okay, and she nodded her head.
Crue grabbed my hand and ordered me to stay behind him as he led us out the house.
We were able to get to the front door without anyone seeing us.
The hostess that was once standing there was now on the floor with a bullet to the head.
I almost screamed out loud but quickly placed my hand over my mouth to muffle it.
The second we stepped outside, the cool air hit me, assuring me that what had just happened indeed wasn’t a dream. My chest was still tight with fear, and my ears were still ringing from the gunshots. My hands were shaking so fucking bad that I could barely feel my fingers.
“We gotta move fast,” Crue informed, his hand staying locked with mine. “I gotta find my truck, so we can get the fuck outta here,” he continued.
The entire mansion behind us sounded like a warzone as gunshots continued to ring out.
There were people jumping over dead bodies, trying to get as far away from the mansion as they could.
Luxury cars sat abandoned in the driveway, doors hanging open, as if the owners of them thought it would be faster to run than drive.
Destiny ran behind us, her gun raised as she watched our backs.
“My truck right there,” Crue announced as he pointed in the distance.
We moved through the chaos fast, running toward the truck.
We were only a few feet away when Destiny yelled that men were coming out the front door.
Gunfire erupted immediately. I screamed instinctively as bullets tore through the night air.
Crue jerked me down hard behind one of the parked cars as him and Destiny shot back at the men.
Are they only after us? Because that’s what the fuck it feels like.
“Stay down!” Destiny yelled to me as she fired several shots at the men right along with Crue.
One of the men ducked behind a pillar, while the others kept firing toward us. Bullets slammed into the cars around us, crashing metal and shattering glass. I screamed every time a bullet hit something.
“Let’s move!” Crue ordered.
He grabbed my wrist again, and we began running. My legs were weak, but I didn’t stop. My heart was beating so fast that I thought I might pass out, but the adrenaline kept pushing me forward. Crue hit the button just as we made it to his truck, unlocking all the doors.
“Get in,” Crue yelled.
I practically threw myself inside, ready to get the hell away from this mansion.
Destiny fired another round behind us before climbing into the backseat.
Crue slammed his door shut, and the engine roared to life instantly.
Crue pulled out immediately, the truck jerking forward hard enough to shove me into the seat, as bullets cracked against the side of the vehicle. I gasped loudly, ducking instinctively.
“They right behind us!” Destiny yelled as she reloaded her gun.
Crue kept his hands steady on the wheel, not even flinching.
The gate came into view just a few moments later.
When we got up to it and it didn’t open, Destiny quickly got out, stepping over the two guards that were lying dead on the grass.
She pushed the button, and the gate opened just as she hopped back into the truck.
Shots were still coming toward us, as if these muthafuckas had never ending bullets.
I screamed at the top of my lungs when one of the bullets hit the back windshield, shattering the glass.
I ducked all the way to the floor in the front seat, while Destiny fired shots out the car.
Crue swerved onto the street, turning the corner at a high rate of speed, in an effort to get us to safety.
All I wanted to do was go home where I knew that I would be safe.
However, when Crue merged onto 75 instead of 94, I knew that he wasn’t taking me to my apartment.
I was also too scared and shaken up to question him about where we were going.
As long as he got me safely away from the gunfire, that was all I cared about.