Chapter 29 #2
Now all three of them niggas was sittin’ in one spot, comfortable as hell, not knowin’ what was already on the way to ’em.
She finally hung up, and I snatched the phone out her hand before she could even think about doin’ anything else with it.
I grabbed her by her hair and yanked her up, and she gasped, tryna balance herself while I dragged her toward the door.
Once Pressure snatch Yunique’s keys, I glanced at Sha’Nelle again.
“We’ll be back in a few hours… if that,” I told her.
She nodded without lookin’ up.
Pressure stepped out first, and I followed behind him to Yunique’s car, keepin’ the gun right on her ass while we moved to the car.
I got in the backseat with her, pressin’ her down beside me while Pressure pulled off and Kay’Lo followed behind us in the rental.
“Tell him where to go,” I said, lookin’ at her.
She started givin’ directions, her voice shaky but clear enough, and I leaned back in the seat with the gun still pressed against the side of her fuckin’ head.
“If you lie to me,” I said quietly, “I’m gon’ blow yo’ shit off before we even to park this muthafucka straight.”
She nodded fast, and we kept drivin’.
“Damn… why all y’all muthafuckas out live in poverty?” I asked as soon as we pulled into the apartment complex Yunique took us to, lookin’ around at the cracked pavement, dim lights, and cars sittin’ on flats like they been there for weeks.
She ain’t say nothin’, and I ain’t expect her to. She was already scared, and the gun pressed against the side of her head kept her exactly where I needed her to be.
Pressure parked smooth, cut the engine, and stepped out without sayin’ a word. I grabbed Yunique by the arm and pulled her out right behind him, pressin’ the gun up under her jaw just enough to remind her what type of situation she was in.
“Listen to me, bitch,” I said low in her ear as she stumbled a lil’. “If you scream, run, or do anything that ain’t got nothin’ to do with what I’m tellin’ you, I’m gon’ drop you right here in this parkin’ lot and keep it movin’. You understand me?”
She nodded fast, her breath already uneven.
Behind us, Kay’Lo pulled in, easin’ into a spot like he wasn’t walkin’ into the same situation we was.
When he stepped out, he already had that look on his face.
It was calm but off just enough that you could tell his mind was somewhere else.
He had my duffel bag, and that bag mattered. Everything we needed was in that bag.
We started walkin’ toward the buildin’ together, all three of us armed, and the only sound was Yunique shoes draggin’ ’cause she ain’t know how to hold herself together.
“How many kids you got?” I asked her outta nowhere.
She flinched before answerin’. “Three.”
“Where they at?”
“With my mama… for the weekend,” she said, her voice shaky.
I nodded once and kept walkin’, then leaned closer to her ear again.
“If you love them kids and you wanna make it back to ’em, you gon’ do every fuckin’ thing I tell you to do tonight,” I said, my tone even but serious.
“I am,” she whispered. “I am.”
We reached her door on the first floor, and Pressure stepped in front of her and held her keys out.
“Unlock it,” he told her. “And if you pick the wrong key, I’m gon’ kill you my damn self before this nigga even get a chance.”
She nodded, her hand tremblin’ while she grabbed the keys and fumbled through them, then finally slid the right one in the lock.
Before she even pushed the door open, I could already hear what type of time them niggas was on in there ’cause the music was loud enough to bleed through the door and the walls, and over it I could hear them laughin’ and talkin’.
The smell of weed was pushin’ out through the cracks too, and all that told me was they felt safe, like whatever they did wasn’t about to circle back on them.
That part sat with, ’cause niggas only got that comfortable when they thought they got away with somethin’, and the way they was movin’ behind that door let me know they wasn’t expectin’ nobody to come knockin’.
The door cracked open, and the second it did, Pressure and Kay’Lo rushed in first with the big shit up, movin’ fast.
“Lay the fuck down, bitch ass niggas,”Pressure barked.
“Nigga, lay yo’ ass down,” Kay’Lo added, his voice cuttin’ through the room like it wasn’t no question behind it.
Everything flipped in seconds. Niggas that was just sittin’ there smokin’ and laughin’ dropped straight to the floor with confusion all over they faces while they tried to figure out what the fuck just happened.
I walked in behind them with the gun still pressed to Yunique head.
“Everybody be cool,” I said, lookin’ at ’em one by one. “Don’t make this shit harder than it gotta be.”
The smell of weed hit me as soon as I stepped all the way in and was thick enough to sit in the back of my throat. I hated that shit too.
When I looked over at the table, I saw everything laid out like these niggas ain’t have a care in the world. Blunts was half burned, bottles was open, and money was spread out.
My eyes stayed on that cash a second longer, ’cause I already knew what I was lookin’ at, and the more I looked at it, the more that shit registered for what it really was.
That wasn’t just money sittin’ there for them to smoke around and laugh over.
This was Kay’Lo’s money, and they had it out in the open like it ain’t come from runnin’ up in Sha’Nelle’s spot and puttin’ her life on the line.
Kay’Lo shut the door behind us and locked it, then moved off without sayin’ nothin’, checkin’ every part of this raggedy ass apartment.
He opened doors, checked behind shit, made sure wasn’t nobody tucked off somewhere waitin’ to jump out, and when he came back, I could tell it was just these four fools.
Three niggas and the bitch that set it up…
They was talkin’, and beggin’ for they worthless ass lives, but I ain’t give a fuck about none of that.
I pushed Yunique down to her knees and stepped back enough to look at all of ’em laid out on the floor.
“Lay down with them,” I told her.
She dropped down next to them, cryin’ harder now, beggin’ me to let her live under her breath, but I wasn’t hearin’ none of that shit.
I looked at all four of ’em and shook my head.
“Y’all look like some hoes right now,” I said. “All that energy y’all had when y’all ran in my girl shit gone, ain’t it?”
Ain’t nobody say nothin’.
“That’s what I thought,” I added. “Y’all robber and almost killed a real important person to us, and on top of that, y’all took money that wasn’t supposed to be touched.”
Nobody was talkin’, and that’s what made me step forward.
“A’ight,” I said. “Since don’t nobody wanna talk, I’m gon’ start with the one that got this whole lil’ plan movin’ in the first place.”
I turned to Kay’Lo. “Aye cousin… let me see that bag.”
He tossed it to me and I caught it clean, unzippin’ it while I stood over her Yunique.
Then I reached inside and moved shit around just enough to grab what I wanted, lettin’ her hear everything shift inside the bag so she could understand this wasn’t no bluff or no scare tactic.
All this shit in here had a purpose, and I ain’t pack none of it for show.
I pulled out the blade I knew would cut the cleanest and held it low at my side for a second before I crouched down behind her.
At this point it wasn’t about what was in the bag, but about what I was about to do with it and how far this bitch was willin’ to let it go before she finally told the truth.
Pressure and Kay’Lo kept the other three covered while I dropped my knee into Yunique’s back, and grabbed her by her throat.
“Open yo’ fuckin’ mouth,” I told her.
She cried harder, shakin’ her head.
“Please… please—”
“That ain’t gon’ help you,” I said, pushin’ my knee deeper in her spoke, just enough to make her listen. “Open… yo’… fuckin’ bitch ass mouth.”
She hesitated, so I forced it, pressin’ my fingers against her jaw until she had no choice. I grabbed her tongue and leaned down just enough so she could hear me clear.
“You better start talkin’,” I said. “Or I’m cuttin’ this shit out since you act like you don’t know how to use it.”
She started panickin’, tryna shake away, but she couldn’t move.
The second the blade touched her, and she tasted her own blood, she screamed.
“Okay! Okay! I’m sorry! I’m so fuckin’ sorry!”
The room went quiet after that. Even them niggas on the floor looked at her different now, like they was pissed that she folded.
“Yeah,” I said, lettin’ go of her. “That sound about right.”
I stood up and looked down at all four of ’em laid out in front of me, then wiped the blade clean slow before speakin’ again.
“They say when you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes,” I said, lookin’ from one face to the next. “And y’all muthafuckas just won a one-way trip to Trill-Land.”