Chapter 14 Teo
fourteen
Teo
“Wake up.” The barrel of my gun tapped against the nose of the man stupid enough to play with my girl’s life. “It’s time for you and I to have a little chat.”
Jeremy’s eyes fluttered open, blinking rapidly, adjusting his vision to the darkness. He settled his confused gaze on me, then on Keem, who was guarding the bedroom door even though I didn’t believe Jeremy would try to run. Or that anyone would come try to save his ass.
I’d done my research.
Jeremy’s family was from New Jersey, relocated to Georgia when he was ten.
Started running with a small crew in Cobb County at age sixteen.
His parents wanted nothing to do with him by eighteen.
And now at twenty two, he was in over his head with so many niggas, running back to his childhood home seemed like a logical choice.
“T-Teo.” He sat up quickly, stammering as if he had seen a ghost... or the fuckin’ devil himself.
The once perplexed frown disappeared from his lips as the color drained from his face leaving only a mask of fear.
“Oh shit… hang on, man. If you just give me a minute, I can explain.” He lifted from the mattress so fast that he nearly fell from the bed. I nodded towards Keem who had been sitting idly by, waiting for the green-light.
In two quick strides, Jeremy was lifted by his neck, and then forcibly thrown to the floor.
His knees hit the thin carpet violently.
I was sure it was painful. The loud crack reverberated off the walls.
Keem’s grip held him firmly in place while I calmly pulled the worn chair from the corner of the room, dragging it to the middle of the floor so we would be eye-to eye.
Taking a seat, I leaned back, my posture relaxed—one hand resting on ,my thigh, while the other casually trained my pistol in his direction.
“Now, I’m gonna ask this shit one time, and you are going to tell me everything I want to know.
Or you see my friend here?” I nodded my head toward Keem, who was standing there with a death grip on the back of Jeremy’s neck, with a look just as menacing as mine.
“I’m gonna let him do what he does best. Do you know what that is Jeremy? ”
He swallowed hard, still not answering, prompting Keem to tighten his grip.
The loss of air to his lungs, and the sheer fear forced him to stammer, “N- No. This was not what I signed up for. I-I swear. You gotta believe me,” he cried out instead of accepting his fate. Like this wasn’t his doing after all.
Pathetic.
His tears began spilling over, and uncontrollable sobs filled the room. I tilted my head, considering him for a moment, wondering where the fuck my enemies were finding these soft-ass niggas.
“Jeremy… Jeremy…” I drawled, shaking my head. “Tears won’t move me.”
“I swear! This was not supposed to happen!” he cried out.
I cocked the pistol and fired a shot into the wall just over his shoulder. The bullet whizzed by his ear, the shot barely audible.
Jeremy flinched. His wide, bloodshot eyes darted to the weapon, then back to me and I shrugged. “Slipped?”
He tried to collapse to the floor but the grip Keem had on him prevented him from moving.
“Pussy,” I couldn’t help but mumble, tilting the gun slightly, examining the fire hot tip of the suppressor. Without warning, I gripped the back of his head with one hand and pressed the sizzling steel to his forehead. The smell of burning gunpowder, flesh, and fear filled the air.
“Please, please!” he screamed as the heat singed his skin. “I don’t know anything. I was set up. That nigga set me up,” he screamed as spit flew from his lips.
“Now we are getting somewhere. Who?”
He scoffed, even in his pain and fear. “If I tell you…” he stopped mid-sentence, then darted his eyes around the room. “He’ll kill me.” The hiss was full of desperation.
Tilting my head, a humorless smirk curled at my lips.
“If you don’t tell me, you’ll beg for death long before he…
whoever that is can find you. I am a lot of things, but patient ain’t one of them.
” I pressed the hot ass steel further into his flesh, lowering the hammer with the intention of breaking his resolve.
A scream ripped from his throat. It was guttural.
.. and desperate. His howls turned to hiccuping gasps as I pulled the gun away leaving a small circular mark.
Which was already turning an angry shade of red.
“Please, enlighten me. Who,” I asked, as he whimpered, and trembled in the floor. His hand brushed against the new wound.
He didn’t answer immediately, which only made me smirk. “So, you do have a bit of heart,” I said, slightly amused. “Or is that still fear holding your tongue?”
I holstered my gun, ready to rely on methods I knew worked well. My fingers moved methodically to my pocket, pulling out my trusty knife. A hunting knife with a serrated edge, a well-worn handle, from years of use. With a slow flick of my wrist, the blade snapped free.
“You see... I prefer knives... dismemberment.” I nodded my head toward Keem, telling him to guard the door. Just in case this nigga grew some nuts and tried to run.
“The gun was me being merciful. But you are leaving me no choice, Jeremy.” I ran the tip of the blade from the corner of his eye to the middle of his jaw.
“I don’t like disloyalty or weak men. And you Jeremy…
you’re both.” The serrated edged pressed into his flesh and the crimson stream of blood began to flow down his cheek
“It’s something about the way the flesh splits and peels from the bone that leaves a lasting impression.”
“I don’t wanna die.” He whispered.
My tone dropped to something you can only describe as menacing. “There’s freedom in death. It strips away lies and reveals truths.”
“But I told you I don’t know nothing. I’m just a runner, man.”
“Maybe, you just need a little encouragement.” My blade made two quick shallow slices across his torso.
Jeremy hit the floor with a loud thud, curling into himself as he tried desperately to hold his wounds closed.
It wasn't enough to end his life. But it was painful. “You crossed a very delicate line. Fucked with something that is precious to me. And I don’t take kind to it.”
That fast the anger consumed me. My closed fist met Jeremy’s jaw with brutal force the minute he tried to get back up. The loud crack echoed in the room as he crumpled to the ground, clutching his face. I was sure I’d broken his jaw.
“Now.” My voice dripped with malice. “Tell me what you fuckin’ know?”
Jeremy squirmed on the carpeted floor in agony, his wild eyes darted around the room, searching for an escape as he tried futilely to scoot away. A mirthless chuckle escaped my lips.
“There’s nowhere to run. No one will hear your screams. No one will come to your rescue. Matter of fact no one will even remember you fuckin’ exist by the time this is over. You’ll be wishing for a quick death. So, let’s make this easy for the both of us. Shall we?”
Blood-stained tears streamed down his face before he finally shook his head and acquiesced. So, I asked, “Why weren’t you at your post?”
His voice quivered as he tried to speak. “I... I was in over my head. I owed money. A lot of money. To someone really powerful. The Haitians.” He looked at me with pleading eyes, begging me to understand.
However, his lack of business acumen didn’t move me. Nor did his lack of loyalty to my girl’s family...hell, my family now. When I said nothing, only offering him a menacing look that promised there would be no mercy, he swallowed hard and continued.
“I thought I could manage it, but things spiraled out of control. Got caught up in some bad deals trying to... trying to make something happen for myself. When shit went left, I needed quick money. Money… that couldn’t be made working for the Reeds.
” He swallowed hard, wincing at the pain radiating from his jaw.
“Roland, a nigga from Orlando’s crew... found out about my debt with the Haitians.
Knew I was in over my head with them and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. ”
I leaned back in the chair, my eyes narrowing at the name. “Roland.” I repeated. “The Moccasin’s family?”
“I guess. I just know him from around the way.”
“What does he have to do with any of this?”
Jeremy hesitated petrified. “He... he offered me a way out. Said he could help clear my debt, give me product to push. At a price no one else could match. And he did for months.”
I said nothing, just tilted my head slightly, silently commanding him to continue.
“Then about a month ago when I met to get my product he said his boss had connected him to a better supplier. Someone pushing real weight, and had that pure. I thought... this is finally my come up.”
“What this got to do with Ayanna’s boutique?”
“Roland promised to front me ten keys. All I’d have to do was make a run for him whenever the time came. I got the text the day M-Miss Reed’s store was attacked.”
My grip tightened on the knife. “What time was that?”
“E-Early. Probably eight or nine.”
“Hmm,” I hummed thoughtfully. “And, you thought abandoning your post was smart?”
“I thought I would be back before anyone would notice,” he admitted. “How could I know I was being set up to be the fall guy.”
I nodded, piecing together the timeline, all the players, and their motives.
The text came a full day after I already had Roland.
At eight that morning he was bleeding out in one of my stash houses, tied up and terrified.
He hadn’t sent any texts, which meant someone else had.
Yanna’s boutique was hit well in the afternoon giving someone time to move her security.