Chapter 3
THREE
Iso
Liora: No, what’s up?
Me: Come thru.
I gave the message I had sent Liora a onceover then dropped my phone and focused on the road. I was slightly frustrated and needed a little bit of a distraction from my lack of motion with my situation. The other night Liora proved to be just that in the best way.
I’d spent the last few days watching Bo, then out of nowhere, he disappeared. He didn’t know I was watching him, because I was careful as fuck, but that didn’t mean somebody else wasn’t watching him.
My phone vibrated again in my lap. I lifted it and Liora responded with a question.
Liora: you got food?
I laughed at her response and didn’t bother responding. I wouldn’t invite her fine ass over if I didn’t have food. Well shit, I didn’t have food, but she didn’t need to know that yet.
When I pulled into my driveway, I just sat there thinking for a minute. Moving in the shadows had become a norm for me and I didn’t know if I should be so comfortable about that. Then again, what else could I have done? For starters, I can get this shit finished so I can go home to my son.
In the morning, I needed to move on Bo. Apparently, he wasn’t going to lead me to who he directly answered to .
The fucked-up thing was I knew it was Rich Junior.
I just couldn’t fully prove it. Why the fuck did I need to prove it though?
Street law didn’t need proof. You either handled that shit or got handled yourself.
I got out of the car and moved toward the door. With my keys in hand, I unlocked the door and entered the house. I’d spent long enough in the car thinking before I decided tomorrow morning I’d be seeing Bo.
My phone vibrated again before I reached the living room. It was only one person. Besides Lee, only one person had this line. Liora.
I put the phone to my ear and answered. “Yeah.”
“I’m outside.”
I grinned and moved toward the button in the kitchen to open the garage. “You got here ’bout quick as hell, didn’t you?”
She sucked her teeth. “I was already this way, so don’t flatter yourself.”
“Too late lil Killa. I’m already flattered.” I pressed the button and moved to open the door that led to the garage.
She laughed.
Once she was inside the garage, I pushed the button to close the big door and continued to undress. I tossed my hoodie on the stool at the island, dropped my wallet and piece on the island, and pulled my tee off as she walked through the door.
“I didn’t ask if you had food because I didn’t think you could get it. I asked because I was around a lot of food and could have picked it up,” she said from behind me.
I shrugged. “Probably should have led with that.”
More laughter escaped those full, pretty lips. “So what are we eating, Iso?”
The way she said my fucking name enough to have me staring at her.
She didn’t back down but stared, waiting for an answer.
“Order something. I eat just about anything but fish.”
“Why not fish?” she asked.
“I can’t get over the smell.” I shrugged and led the way into the living room.
“Um… Okay.”
She didn’t say anything else, but found comfort on the couch, scrolling through her phone.
For a minute I just watched her. This was only her second time here and she was comfortable.
She had this “secure in every space she stepped into” type of energy that caught me by complete surprise because I didn’t understand it.
With the life she lived, how could she be?
She was so relaxed around me that she’d told me I was her friend.
Like I ain’t even have a choice. Fuck it, did I want a choice?
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Nigga goes missing. Where he at if not his mama or grandma’s house?”
“Simple. If he isn’t smart enough to be crossing somebody’s border, he’s somewhere stinking.”
I tilted my head to the side. “You think so?”
“I mean, unless there are tunnels you don’t know about, yeah. You want a burger or a Philly?”
“Philly, with mayonnaise. I don’t play that Miracle Whip shit.”
She nodded.
I left her in the living room to find my slides.
I hated walking through the house in socks and sneakers even more.
The entire time I looked, I couldn’t get my mind off what she’d said.
If Bo was dead, what the fuck was next? Instead of overthinking my move, I needed to see Bo.
I needed proof. I wouldn’t dare make the same mistake he’d made with me. It would be dumb on my part.
When I made it back to the living room, Liora was on the phone.
“I told you I was leaving, Lauryn. That man is annoying and you know it. I think you get a kick out of having me come to your events just to shut him down. No I am not at home and yes I’ll come by the shop tomorrow.” She hung up after that statement.
“You good?” I asked, not minding my business, instead minding hers.
“Yeah, I dipped out on my sister and she called to chew me out.” She laughed aloud to herself.
I nodded then took a seat on the sofa.
“The guy from the file slipped you?”
I shook my head. “Shit, I don’t know. One minute I got him and his whole routine down to the dates and stops and the next he’s like a fucking ghost. I even sat in front of his baby moms’ house for a couple hours. Niggas don’t go that long without seeing their seeds.”
She nodded. “And you’re watching him because of what?”
My eyes were on her, those wheels in her head seemingly turning.
“Just because he pulled the trigger doesn’t mean it was his idea. Tryna see who he interacted with, scope the situation.”
“Okay.”
I studied her, waiting for her to say anything after okay, but she didn’t. Her phone had her attention again.
“Okay what?” Impatience got the best of me and I had to ask.
“Okay, you got what you needed. Now stop playing with your vegetables, handsome.”
“Playing with m—”
“My cousin used to say it. It means handle that shit and clear the plate.”
“And you think it’s just that easy?” I asked, watching her now stand to her feet. Her eyes were locked on me.
“It absolutely has to be,” was her response as she unzipped her black athletic jacket, showing a black lace bra underneath.
I wanted to ask what she meant by that, but less than a second later her hands were at my knees, pulling them apart. The distraction part was here. Shit, no more thinking about revenge… more about release.
I woke up in the middle of the night, Liora next to me on her stomach, knocked out with the light from the TV getting on my fucking nerves. She must’ve turned it on when I fell asleep. I was about to turn it off when interesting news coverage caught my attention.
The infamous Rich Jordan is going to trial. Racketeering, RICO, and murder charges leading all the way back to the nineties. More evidence has been found. Will he spend life in jail or escape these charges as well?
The reporter stood in front of the courthouse in downtown Briar at the crack of dawn, reporting.
It was five in the morning, so this was big shit…
Had to be. This was news to me because I wasn’t aware Rich even had a case on him.
Last I’d seen, he wasn’t in jail but at my gravesite. Damn, that happened fast.
I was up too early and knew sleep wouldn’t come back around until later tonight. With Liora’s words echoing through my brain, I got up and started getting dressed. We didn’t do much talking last night, but her words stuck.
I was in the middle of getting dressed when I heard her voice. “Shit, what time is it?”
“’Bout six. Go back to sleep, you good.”
She didn’t respond, but turned around and looked at me then the TV. She sat up before she spoke again. “I have a shift in a few hours.”
She was up, moving around before I could contest.
“I’ma see you tonight?” I asked like a straight bitch.
“Are you asking or telling?”
“Asking, because if I’m telling, you’ll be on some anti-authority shit. So, you're gonna come through?”
She laughed hard as fuck. “Yeah, after my shift. And this time I’ll bring the meal, because last night wasn’t it.”
That was the first and only thing to bring a laugh outta me. “You’re blaming me, but that’s the shit you ordered. Bet.”
We talked until we were both dressed, leaving around the same time. I opened the garage door for her to exit, given I was already parked to the left in the driveway.
Before pulling out, she lowered her window and looked at me. “Remember, don’t play with the veggies, handsome.”
“Aight, shorty.”
She pulled out of the garage and took a left, heading out of the cul-de-sac speeding like a motherfucker, but she had told me she was a speed demon. That shit was sexy as fuck.
I pulled out of the driveway right after her, headed to Bo’s spot. Dropping off the face of the earth didn’t necessarily mean dead, not until I saw that shit for myself.
It was still early when I pulled up to Bo’s spot. I parked around back and watched the space. I had a good vantage point because his spot was on a corner.
About thirty minutes after I was settled, a blue Grand Cherokee pulled into the backyard.
The door opened and Wiley, Bo’s brother, climbed out.
Then he went around to the trunk and opened it.
He had headphones on and wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings.
It was early as fuck in the hood, which meant niggas were still asleep from last night’s festivities.
I watched him pull a roll of industrial plastic and a plastic store bag out of the trunk before he slammed it shut and started toward the house.
I checked my piece before pulling my hood over my head. Then I got out of the car and approached briskly, following him in. It was risky, but I didn’t have shit to lose at this point. Something told me he was here to clean up a mess.
I followed him into the house and the moment I stopped the door from closing, the most pungent smell filled my nostrils.
It smelled like settled death in a home without a central air unit—thick, sour, and heavy with a must that only meant one thing.
I had to catch myself before I nearly threw up because whatever was in here had been sitting for a while.
“Damn it, Bo. Look what the fuck you did to yourself,” Wiley said aloud.
He wasn’t paying attention to anything around him but his brother who was dead on the floor.
He set the roll of plastic and the bag down, but by the time he went to stand, I had the chrome against the back of his head.
I reached forward and snatched the gun from the back of his pants before nudging his head forward.
He turned around with his arms up in surrender. “What the fuc—” When he saw my face, his expression changed. “No fucking way.”
“Don’t fucking move or I swear I’ll splatter your shit all over this motherfucker.”
“You gotta be a fucking ghost.”
“Nope, I ain’t. What happened here?” I motioned toward Bo’s body sprawled out on the floor.
Wiley looked from me to his brother. “The fuck you care. This is all—”
“Answer the fucking question and make it quick. I don’t have all day.”
“Fuck, man! Fuck! It was you. He had the work at Adrian’s house, then the night she got killed, the house burned down. You burned it down, didn’t you?”
“So you killed your blood over work?” I asked, never mind his question.
“I ain’t have no fucking choice, man. You know how it is. It was me or him. I’m dead anyways. If not you, then Junior.”
“And that means?”
“Junior paid fifty large for your head. Bo already did that shit messy, but the fact that it was confirmed on the news that you were dead was the only way we got paid. Used that money to buy the work and he still fucked us, being careless.” He shook his head, sweat rushing down his face.
“Junior who?”
“Rich Jordan Junior. He’s taking over Watertown and wanted to remove all the competition before he did. You think that shit with Sr. popped out of nowhere? Junior has been planning this for a while. Pete said this is just the beginning.”
I nodded, taking in all he said. I knew Junior had a part in my death. I felt it, even if the streets were quiet about it. It all made sense. He’d put money into the hands of a man who already had a gripe with me. He was fucking my baby mama, so it wouldn’t tie back to Junior.
“What am I going to tell my mama?” His question took me by surprise. The fucking audacity.
“The same thing a motherfucker told mine. Nothing.”
I didn’t hesitate to squeeze the trigger, dropping him right next to his blood in an eternal rest. I gave him a onceover, peeping the blood seeping from the back of his head before I left. Who the fuck was I to give anybody’s mama comfort when nobody gave it to mine?