Chapter 33 Darius
Darius
Jermaine’s phone rings and he shows me the number. It’s one of our girls in prison. It’s late so it can only mean one thing. Trouble. I nod and he answers.
He doesn’t say much, and the call ends within seconds. He can barely meet my eye and I’m getting real sick of it.
“Tell me.”
“Amelia came close to getting jumped after dinner. We intervened and nothing happened to her.”
“Who?”
“The Six-Nighters. They knew who she was to you.”
“You think that’s why it’s been so quiet, they knew she was in there and this is how they were going to attack this time?”
“Could be.”
My body thrums with useless energy that I can’t vent. This is bullshit. I’m distracted by my phone ringing and wondering why Mr. Haynes would be calling me at this hour.
“Darius?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“I spoke to Amelia this afternoon. She finally checked in.”
“She okay?” I ask, even though I’ve heard what’s happened since dinner.
“She sounded jumpy, unsure.”
“I’ll go see her, take Elsa in, it should help her.”
“No, she doesn’t want her in there, and she doesn’t want to see you. I tried talking to her, but she wasn’t listening.”
“She’s not thinking straight, she’ll want to see her soon enough.”
“I’ll take Elsa in, if we show up there’s no way she’ll refuse to see her.”
“No, if Elsa goes to that place, it’s with me.”
“Don’t be stubborn, it’s not about you, it’s what’s best for Amelia at this point.”
“This isn’t me being stubborn, Mr. Haynes.”
“She needs something to focus on…”
“Then I’ll go see her and make her see sense.”
I hang up and the first thing I hear is Clare’s shrill laughter coming from upstairs. Her and Tariq disappeared up there a few hours ago.
Jermaine and mine eyes meet, he heard it too.
“Your girl got two years because of her, when does that bitch get her comeuppance?”
Swiping my tongue over my bottom lip, I fucking snarl. Like a dog. A Dog of Dog City.
“Tonight.”
Jermaine jumps up from the chair and rushes the stairs. Moments later, I listen to him banging on Tar’s door and the laughter stops.
“We’ve got somewhere to go,” he says vaguely. “Get your girl ready and let’s go.”
I don’t catch what Tar asks him. I lean back on the couch and tuck my gun into the holster strapped to my chest.
Jermaine comes down the stairs with Tar and Clare close behind him. Rising from the couch, I ignore her as I have been doing. I don’t want to give her reason to feel uneasy and run off. Or worse, make a scene and bring unwanted attention to us.
“Where we going?”
“There’s trouble over at Haver’s place,” I lie.
“Why’s Clare coming then?”
“She wants in, she can prove herself. I thought that was what you wanted?”
Not another word is said as we head out and not until we pass Haver’s bar and head for the city limits.
“What the fuck, Dar?” Tar snaps.
Jermaine sat in the back and pulls out his gun, aiming at the two of them to keep them under control.
“You fucking liar,” he snaps but I keep my mouth shut.
I drive for over an hour until we’re no longer in view of anyone. The clock ticks over to midnight and I cut the engine.
Throwing open the door, I climb out and open the back door. Grabbing Tar by his hoodie, I drag him out and he lands on the ground with a thud.
Jermaine shoves Clare out and for the first time ever, the bitch is too scared to say a word.
To Tariq, I say, “You know how this goes down. You’ve always known.”
Climbing to his feet, he pleads, “It doesn’t have to be this way. Don’t make me do this, bro.”
“Until this is done, I’m not your bro. I’m the head of the Dog’s Blood Crew and you’re the one who has brought a rat into our lives.”
“If you don’t, it’ll be the both of you. Rules are rules,” Jermaine reminds him.
Clare finds her voice. “What rules? What’s going on?”
Ignoring her, I focus on Tariq.
“Are you going to step up and do what should be done or not?”
“I love her,” he pleads pathetically. “She won’t make the same mistake twice. She knows what’s what now.”
“Once is once too much. There’s no coming back from this.”
Taking out my gun, I release the safety and aim it at Clare. Her shrieks are loud enough to wake the dead. Jermaine grabs her and slams his hand over her mouth, muffling her screams.
“We’ve known each other our whole lives. Don’t…”
Cutting him off, my patience has worn out.
“Rules are rules for a fucking reason!” I bellow, spittle falling from my mouth. “You brought her in, you either put her rat-ass in a grave or I will, and you’ll join her.”
“Don’t act like you didn’t know this was coming. Anyone else would’ve been dealt with by now. You have thirty seconds to end her,” Jermaine hollers.
Tariq’s shoulders deflate and he pulls his gun from the back of his jeans. His eyes water but I feel nothing of his pain.
This is his mess, and he has to deal with it, it’s our law.
Jermaine shoves Clare forward and she stumbles over to Tariq. She latches onto his hoodie, and he wraps one arm around her and kisses the top of her head.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” he cries.
“You can’t kill me, my dad…”
A shot echoes around us and he falls to the ground with her. Her blood and brains splattered over his face, neck, and hoodie.
I meet Jermaine’s gaze and walk to the trunk. Grabbing the shovel, we’ll be here all night if we force Tariq to dig the grave himself.
I use the pent-up frustration I can’t seem to shake and make a start. Sweat pours from me as I keep going, deeper and deeper.
She can’t and won’t ever be found.
Tossing the shovel up and out of the grave, I hold my hand up and Jermaine helps haul me out. My legs feel like jello and I brace my hands on my knees to catch my breath. Tariq hasn’t moved from her side.
“Is this going to be a problem?” Jermaine asks quietly.
“I’m sure we’ll find out. We know what to do if it does.”
I take slow steps approaching Tariq. I know what we’ve made him do tonight will rock him, but rules cannot be changed and bent for him or his trashy ass girlfriend.
The streets are already filled with anarchy but without our rules, it’d be chaos, and that brings a new level of heat down on us. So rules are rules. And one day he’ll remember that again.
“Let her go, Tar. It’s time to finish this.”
He looks up at me and his cheeks are stained with tears. I’ve never seen him cry before. He must really have loved her. Not that I give a shit. The woman I love is locked up for something she never even dreamed of doing.
Jermaine’s patience has run dry and he hauls Clare’s lifeless body from him and drags her over to the grave. Her body lands with a thud and it rocks through Tariq. He jolts up to his feet and bounds over, yanking the shovel from Jermaine.
He fills the hole while I dust myself off.
I wouldn’t have hesitated to end him if he hadn’t followed through and took her out.
Loyalty and respect for the street is what gets you far in this world, friendships when rocked…
doesn’t. He’s spent the last year proving our friendship wasn’t as tight as I thought it was.
When he’s done he turns to me but hangs his head. He’s covered in dirt and blood and it’s nothing he doesn’t deserve.
“If you have something to say, say it now. Once we get in the car, it’s time we get back to who we are.”
“I know the rules, but she…”
“If you say she didn’t know our ways, don’t. The only thing I want to hear is your fucking apology and that this isn’t going to be a problem going forward.”
“Dar, you know I’m sorry about what’s gone down with Amelia, it’s some messed up shit.” He looks down at the fresh patch of dirt. “There won’t be any problems.”
The three of us climb in the car and we drive in silence.
Some might say the world would be a better place without the likes of me but in my world, shit is flipped and to me, the world’s a better place without the likes of Clare Burley.
Repositioning the rearview mirror, I watch Tariq in the back. Silent tears stain his cheeks.
“I knew she was trouble, but I liked that shit. She liked me, no one’s liked me like her before.”
“There’re other bitches,” Jermaine pitches in.
I don’t think it’ll help but I find this shit amusing. A sniffle comes from the back and while I choose to ignore it, it gets Jermaine’s back up.
“Shut the fuck up, she was a coke head who fucked your dick, bitches like her are everywhere,” he snaps, pulling up in front of the house.
“She was more than that,” Tariq argues.
“And now she’s dead, and we’re forgetting about her.”
Getting out of the car, Tariq kicks the gate open and storms into the house.
“He’s going to be a problem.”
“Let’s hope he surprises us.”
Like fuck am I going to let any comebacks hit us. Clare has already messed up Amelia’s life and in turn, my daughter’s. She isn’t going to fuck us from the grave.