Chapter 5
Chapter Five
SIMMY
That’s fine.
Today, I’m finna make these niggas talk.
These niggas already know they fucked up.
They tried to erase Chauncey, and he’s still breathing.
I put that shit on me. These niggas are going to fucking see me.
That means they signed their own death wish.
I got a few moves to make this morning, and after that.
It’s time to get down to fucking business.
True, cut the radio.
Silence fills the truck.
I glance over.
“Aye, Simmy,” True says, jaw tight, “why the fuck is Tamika still breathing while Chauncey is in the ICU?”
There it is.
I choose my words carefully.
I don’t want to say it, but Tamika is part of the reason Chauncey got shot. I felt some way about him pulling up on Tamika. That hoe lowkey knew she was playing games and shit.
It didn’t sit right with me that Rhy already had to get on her ass because she was running her fucking mouth like she was more to Chauncey than somebody he used to fuck on.
Little things matter.
“Aye, True. Tamika’s days are fucking numbered. She’s the least of my problems right now.”
“She gotta go too, though,” Coop says.
“She will,” I say evenly. “Not yet.”
True leans forward. “Nah, I’m saying today.”
I take my eyes off the road for half a second.
True without Chauncey around?
Dangerous.
These two niggas are the same. True is a hothead. This nigga has been ready to kill something since Chauncey pulled off in the ambulance.
“I’m visiting her today,” I say. “That’s why y’all are with me. I don’t want her dead yet. If she’s involved, she’ll lead us to the shooters. Then she’s disposable.”
I don’t pull the trigger without purpose.
True exhales through his nose. “We gotta make some fucking noise. Niggas can’t touch Chauncey and think it’s sweet.”
“There ain’t a nigga brave enough to gloat,” I reply. “They know how I’m fucking coming.”
Then I finally say what’s been weighing heavily on me:
“Chauncey was set up.”
Silence.
“Ain’t no way all of us got blocked. Road closures. Accidents. Traffic. Every route we would’ve taken? Obstructed. I made it to him on foot. That’s no coincidence.”
Coop nods slowly. “They only wanted him.”
“Exactly,” I say. “The question is why.”
We ain’t beefing with nobody loud. So, who orchestrated this? They’re lying in the cut.
“I’m looking at everyone sideways,” Coop mutters.
“As you should.”
True shakes his head. “I still can’t wrap my head around it.”
“It ain’t for us to understand,” I say. “It’s for us to dismantle.”
True cracks his knuckles. “I wanna walk into Tamika’s spot and start asking questions.”
“You will,” I say calmly. “But you ain’t killing Tamika unless I say so.”
He stares at me.
“She knows something,” I continue. “If she doesn’t, she knows someone who does.”
That’s when I lay it out.
“Manny and Bra said they heard static. We’re linking with them niggas after we holla at Tamika. I’m also wrapping with Mayor Kaine Friday.”
Coop looks at me. “You are going political?”
“I’m going strategic.”
The city doesn’t move without permission. And if this was a coordinated play, somebody high up blinked first. What the fuck was Chauncey thinking about when he decided to start fucking with Tamika’s ass? That’s the problem. Chauncey wasn’t thinking.
We turn onto Tamika’s block.
Busy.
Too busy.
I slow the truck, scanning windows, rooftops, and parked cars.
“Stay sharp,” I say quietly.
I pull up to the curb and cut the engine.
True and Coop step out behind me.
Tamika’s building sits there as if it doesn’t know what’s coming.
And today?
I’m done knocking.
My security team pulled up behind us and posted on the block. Early morning, but the Street was already breathing. Too many niggas moving for this hour.
I knocked on Tamika’s door.
Nothing.
True looked at me.
“Aye, Simmy, I’m finna kick this bitch open.”
“I know.”
The door flew open on the first strike.
We flooded the apartment as we owned it. Tamika was lying in her bed—face swollen, lip split, one eye damn near shut. True and Coop looked at me. Rhy did her thing at the hospital, but not like this.
Somebody else beat her ass. True slapped her across the face.
“Wake the fuck up. You know why we’re here?”
Tamika blinked up at us slowly.
“Can I at least get myself together?”
True leaned in close. “We ain’t checking for you like that, hoe. Start talking.”
She rolled her eyes.
Wrong move.
True cups her chin hard enough to make her gums bleed. Tamika rolls her big-ass eyes at True. I need Tamika to chill because this nigga True is on one. And fucking around with him, she’s liable not to have any fucking eyes left.
“What do you want to know?”
“We want to know everything.”
“I don’t know shit,” she snapped. “Chaun-Cey had me call Simmy after he noticed someone following us.”
That part was true.
He did call me.
But details matter.
“Aye, Tamika,” I said calmly. “Walk me through it, step by step.”
She swallowed.
“We left the abortion clinic. Chauncey said the car started following us as soon as we pulled off.”
My jaw tightened.
“What abortion clinic were y’all at?” True asked.
“Y’all don’t know which clinic Chaun-Cey takes his hoes to?” Coop and I both burst out laughing. True didn’t find this shit funny at all. True and Chauncey lowkey be on the same shit. I’m sure he’s been to this clinic before.
“We don’t know shit, so that’s why we are asking you, HOE?” True argued.
I knew True would have some shit to say. This nigga gives zero fucks.
“We were at the clinic on 19th Street… It’s some girl who works there and who Chaun-Cey also has dealings with. Her name is KORI, I think. Y’all know that HOE?”
She said her name was too smooth.
She knew exactly what she was doing.
“What else?” True pressed.
“I think one of the niggas following us was driving an old-school Monte Carlo or Cutlass. That’s all I saw, but I hit record on my phone, so maybe y’all can recognize his voice.”
“You recorded?”
“Yeah.”
If those shooters left her alive and didn’t check her phone, they were sloppy.
“Good looking out, where yo phone at?” True asked.
“Right here.”
True snatched the phone and forwarded the video to us.
Then I asked the real question.
“Y’all ain’t got to be so damn mean.”
“We don’t, but what nigga came through here and roughed yo ass up anyway?” True asked Tamika.
I want to know too… A nigga ain’t beating a hoe’s ass just because Tamika had to do something.
She hesitated.
“He is not relevant?”
She hesitated.
“He is to us because he could have something to do with Chauncey getting popped.”
“Calvin Mapp.”
Tamika gave us the name of the nigga who roughed her ass. I plan to visit Calvin’s ass, too.
“Why?” True asked.
“He thought I was terminating his baby.”
There it is.
Layer on top of layer.
“And how did he know you were at the clinic?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know, but everything started happening after we left the clinic. Chauncey had gotten shot. I’m sure it was that Kori bitch who told him I was there with Chauncey.”
She was pushing that Kori angle hard.
Too heavy.
“Y’all need to visit that clinic,” she said. “Something ain’t right.”
Maybe.
Or maybe she wants us looking left while something else moves right.
Then she did what Tamika always does. “Y’all got some money? I gave y’all a lot of information, and my rent is almost due. The nigga that was paying it ain’t going to pay it this month.”
True stared at her for a long second.
“What I heard, y’all got a bounty on the nigga’s head?”
True, then counted off a stack and tossed it at her.
“That’s it.”
Her mouth opened.
Wrong move again.
True’s hand went to his burner.
I stepped in front of him.
Not to save her.
To control the moment.
“Yes. That’s it,” I told Tamika. “Unless you want a bullet in your fucking skull.”
Her eyes flicked between us.
“You’re the reason we’re here,” I added quietly. “If you hadn’t lied about being pregnant, Chauncey never would’ve pulled up. I’d still be in that car.”
That part sat heavy. Because it was true. Tamika rolled her big ass eyes at us; I didn’t react. I didn’t need to.
But I noted it. Women like her don’t roll their eyes when they’re scared. They roll them when they think they still have leverage.
We walked out.
The door hung off the hinges behind us. As soon as we hit the sidewalk, True exhaled.
“She is lying about something.”
“I know,” I said.
The Monte Carlo. The clinic. Calvin. Kori.
Too many threads. And somebody pulled all of them tight at once.
“Next stop?” Coop asked.
I slid my phone back into my pocket.
“19th Street.”
Because if this were a setup.
It started before Chauncey ever got into that car.
True, Coop, and I headed back to the Maybach. I tossed the key fob to Coop.
“I need to review this video and make a few calls.”
Whoever orchestrated this hit thought they were making a statement. I’m trying to understand their endgame. These niggas are either amateurs or bold because somebody bigger backed them.
“Aye, Simmy,” Coop said, tossing the key back. “I ain’t trying to drive. I got calls too.”
“Same,” I said.
The key landed in True’s hand. He looked sideways at both of us.
“And y’all think I ain’t got shit to handle?”
This nigga has been simmering since the ambulance pulled away.
“True,” I said calmly. “Do me a solid and drive. We’re pulling up on Manny and Bra.”
“I ain’t doing solids,” he snapped. “We’re paying security for what?”
He wasn’t wrong.
True flagged down Primo and yanked him out of the Escalade.
“Drive,” True told him.
Primo nodded. No ego. Just business.
We slid in.
Traffic was ridiculous getting out West. It took damn near an hour to reach Emerald Clove. And the moment we crossed that bridge, I could see it.
Money.
Motion.
Redevelopment everywhere. Manny is fresh home from the Feds. Bra is still running plays like Remy never tried to clip him. Telly and Mills holding court.
Price went up out here.
We pulled up to Soul in a Bowl on Stephen’s Road. Bra’s black-and-gold Porsche sat outside like a statement. Security stepped out, with choppers visible in the background.
Bra’s security team wasn’t fucking playing.
I rolled my window down.
“What up, Doe?”
“What’s up, Simmy?”
“Here to holla at Bra.”
“No guns. Bernice shut the spot down for y’all.”
Fair enough.
We left the Glocks in the Maybach. I scanned the block once more. Even when you’re “good in this hood,” you still watch. Inside, it was airtight.
Bra and Manny sat in the back. Telly and Mills flanked them. Charlee and Imani were near the booths, which caught my attention. Bra stopped Imani before Imani could leave.
“Let me holla at you.”
Charlee rolled her eyes. Manny smiled as if he already knew something.
Interesting.
My phone started buzzing.
Wifey:
I love you, Simmy. I miss you.
That grounded me.
Me:
I love you too. I’ll be home soon. We got a few leads. You hear from Rhy?
Wifey:
Be careful.
I’ll see her later. I slipped my phone away.
Time to work.
Bra leaned forward.
“Sorry to hear about Chauncey. How is he holding up?”
“Breathing,” I said. “That’s enough for now.”
Bra nodded.
“Keep your eyes up. Aye, this is what I heard.”
The table went quiet.
“A few months ago, some young niggas approached Chauncey about getting down with y’all team. He turned them down. Hard. Hurt their egos.”
I already didn’t like where this was going.
“Shit happened at Palisades. From what I’m hearing, Chauncey had dealings with one of their sisters or a cousin.”
Of course.
Always a woman somewhere in the equation.
“I spoke with the owner at Palisades—Lucky—locked in with me. I’m getting footage. We ID them, then we move clean.”
True leaned forward. “Clean?”
Bra’s eyes didn’t blink. “No face. No case.”
That’s how grown men move.
“Y’all slide the worst way if you need to,” Bra continued. “But don’t make it sloppy. And from now on, Chauncey doesn’t move without security.”
Facts.
Because this wasn’t random. This hit was solely about ego. Young niggas embarrassed in public. Sister involved. Alliance rejected.
And if that’s true?
They didn’t just want money. They wanted status. I leaned back in my chair.
“Get me that footage,” I said. “Once I see the faces, it’s over.”
Because if this were pride. Then someone mistook arrogance for immunity. And that’s a deadly mistake. Bra didn’t blink when he said it.
“That goes for you too, Simmy. Coop. True. Y’all are making major moves. Niggas want in without putting in the work. As soon as they catch one of y’all slipping, they want to make a name.”
“I know,” I said.
And I did.
“We got some shit in motion.”
Bra leaned forward. “Aye… I need y’all eyes-up, 20/20 vision at all times. Dead them lil niggas ASAP. Silence anyone affiliated. Get at ’em sideways.”
No warning shots.
“Good looking out,” I said. “The intel you gave us matches what we heard earlier.”
That made it official. We weren’t guessing anymore. We were circling. We locked B’s with Bra, Manny, Mills, and Telly and headed toward the exit.
“Handle that shit,” Bra called.
“Bet.”
Me-
I love you, wife… I’m on my way home to you.
Wifey-
I love you, too, husband. I’m home waiting for you.
Me-
I might need you to do me a favor, but we will talk about it when I get home.
Wifey-
Okay, are you hungry?
Me-
I can eat.
Wifey-
I love you, Simmy. I will see you soon. Please be careful.
Me-
I will.