Chapter 29
When I said I was going to terrorize Derrick Mathis, I meant that shit with my chest. He needed to feel what it was like to have a muthafucka invade your space and be on your ass just because they thought they could. He had his fun, and now it was time for me to have mine. It had been two weeks since Patrick’s funeral, and I hadn’t fucked with him yet. I wanted to give him time to let the paranoia settle in or for him to think he was safe before I struck the first move.
Currently, I was sitting in the parking lot a few spaces down from his car. With me were Kaylynn, Jaeda, and Mia. For what I had planned for this nigga, I needed them. Mia was always down to cause a scene, and Kaylynn was along for the ride, just because.
Jaeda was here for tech support. While I wasn’t worried about being arrested, I still needed her to disable the cameras so nobody would come to this nigga’s rescue any time soon.
“I wish he would hurry his ass up,” Mia said, checking her phone.
“You got somewhere to be?” Kaylynn asked.
“Me and Titan are in the middle of a fight right now.”
Me and Kaylynn rolled our eyes.
“What else is new?” Kaylynn asked. “Y’all are always fighting.
“I wish you would leave that nigga alone, Mia,” I said, looking over at her. “You ain’t tired of that toxic shit?”
Kaylynn snickered. “It’s the toxic dick that’s got her in a chokehold.”
Jaeda rolled her eyes. “No dick is that good.”
“Fuck you,” Mia snapped. “You’re a virgin, remember? You don’t know what dick feels like if it’s not plastic.”
“It’s lamb skin,” Jaeda shot back.
I covered both of their mouths. “I don’t wanna know that shit!”
Mia slapped my hand away. “Look, y’all wouldn’t understand, okay. I’ve known him since we were kids. We’ve seen a lot of shit together. It’s not that easy to just cut him off.”
“How is it hard to cut off a nigga you claim you hate?” I asked, genuinely confused.
“I…” She sighed heavily. “I don’t hate him.”
“So you love him?” Kaylynn asked.
Before she could answer, I caught sight of Derrick walking off the elevator. He looked around nervously as he made his way to the car.
“Showtime,” I said.
“Cameras are down,” Jaeda informed us.
Everybody except Jaeda got out of the car as Derrick went to his driver’s side door. Swiftly, I walked up on him and grabbed the back of his neck.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Slamming him into the car, I twisted his arms around his back.
“Get your fucking hands off me!” he demanded.
“Shut the fuck up.” I turned him to face me. “Didn’t I tell you this was coming?”
He glared at me. “Go to hell. If you’re gonna kill me, do it now.”
Pulling out my solid gold beretta, I placed it under his chin. “Nah. We not gon’ do that just yet. I’m gonna have my fun with you first.”
He looked like he was gathering spit in his mouth until Mia put her gun to his head.
“I wish you would spit on my brother. Swallow that shit.”
His eyes pinged from her to me.
I chuckled. “I’d listen to her if I were you. She’s almost as trigger happy as I am.”
Derrick swallowed the contents in his mouth. I backed up, my gun still trained on him.
“Strip,” I demanded.
He looked confused. “What?”
“You hard of hearing? Strip!”
Derrick looked around at the three sets of eyes on him before slowly removing his clothes. As he went to take off his boxers, Kaylynn stopped him.
“Leave those on. Nobody is trying to see your wrinkle dick ass naked. I might just throw up.”
Derrick glared at her. “Fuck you.”
“No, thank you. I’m strictly pussy. Keep talking to me crazy, and I’ll make it my mission to fuck one or both of your daughters. Both of them are just my type.”
While we waited for him, Jaeda pulled up pictures of the whole Mathis family, just in case we had to snatch them up at some point too. Other than Patrick, he had two daughters, ages twenty-five and twenty-nine, and a son, age twenty-one. The nigga also had a wife and a few side chicks.
“Tie his ass up,” I directed.
Mia and Kaylynn made haste in bounding his hands and feet while I duct taped his mouth.
“Just in case you get any ideas about spitting,” I said, giving the side of his face a hard tap.
Once the girls were done, we dragged him over to the bed of my new F-150 and tossed him in. After enclosing him with the retractable covering, I closed the bed, and we climbed in the truck. Cranking up, I backed up and peeled out of the parking lot.
“What are you gonna do with him?” Jaeda asked.
“Leave him to be found until I’m ready to snatch him up again.”
Smoothly, I drove through the city. It was getting late, so there weren’t many cars on the road, which was perfect. Getting off the next exit, I pressed the button to the device I’d installed to conceal my license plate. I pulled over into the darkness of an underpass and got out. Rounding the back, I retracted the covering and let down the back of the truck. Grabbing Derrick’s feet, I pulled him out of the back and dragged him over to the brick wall before ripping the tape back.
“What are you doing? You can’t leave me here!”
“Watch me.” I put the tape back over his mouth and tapped on the back window. Mia stepped out. “Cut the boxers off,” I said, handing her a switchblade.
Derrick’s muffled pleas fell on deaf ears.
I grabbed him by the neck and slammed him into the wall.
“Cut ’em off.”
Mia made slight work of cutting the fabric from his body. When she was done, I released him.
“Since you like to do bitch nigga shit, I’ma leave you assed out like a bitch. Good luck getting home.”
I closed the lift before hopping back in the truck with my sister and driving away.
“I can’t believe you left that man out there like that,” Mia said, laughing. “Damn, I hope they don’t get his old ass.”
“Fuck that nigga,” I said, pulling the blunt from my cupholder. “Somebody else getting ahold of him before I do would be mercy.”
Little did they know, I already had that covered. I never made moves without having a plan in my pocket. The street team was already in place to watch him tonight. They would make sure nobody did anything to harm Derrick Mathis. His life was mine in every sense of the word.
I stood in the doorway of Juri’s room watching Romi going through her things. She’d been in here for hours the last couple days. There wasn’t much for her to do, but she always managed to find something to occupy her. It was either rearranging her closet or the changing table, putting together outfits, putting up pictures and taking them down… something.
I was starting to worry about her.
I’d spoken to my mother about it, and she said she was probably feeling the loss of not being able to have the nesting moments. Her pregnancy had been abruptly sped up, and she didn’t get the chance to do any of this. I felt bad about taking it upon myself to have Juri’s room set up for her. Even though my intentions were good, I didn’t include her.
“Baby?” I said from the door.
She looked over her shoulder and offered me a faint smile. “I’m okay,” she said, softly.
“Come here.”
I motioned her to me. She placed the onesie she was folding down and came over to me. I led her to the chair and sat down, pulling her into my lap. She rested her head against my shoulder and snuggled into my body.
“I miss her so much, Devin,” she whispered.
“I know, baby. She’s doing great, and she’ll be home soon.”
“I’m so angry that she was subjected to so much trauma. She should have been able to grow and thrive inside me until it was her time to come. How could anybody hurt the mother of their child the way that man hurt me? He didn’t give a fuck about our child or her well-being as he drug me up those stairs.”
She was on the verge of tears. Cupping the side of her face, I kissed her cheeks.
“That’s exactly why that muthafucka got what he deserved when it came to you and baby girl. He’s never gonna hurt you again. No fucking body is ever going to hurt you again, you understand me?”
She peered at me, nodding slowly. “I know. Thank you for being so good to me, Devin.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I’m nothing if not a protector and provider. I got you.”
She pressed her lips to mine with a sweet kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you too. I need to say something to you.”
She pulled back and looked into my eyes. “Is something wrong?”
“No. I just need to apologize. This…” I motioned around the room. “I should have included you. I feel like that’s part of the reason you stay in here for hours at a time, fixing things.”
“Devin. You gave me a wonderful and beautiful gift with this room. I’m in here because it helps me feel closer to Juri. Like… I want her to feel like she was thought about every day that she’s been away. I know she can’t understand that feeling, but it gives me comfort. If I could be with her all the time, I would, but I can’t. I still have Korri, and she deserves just as much of me as her sister. I’m just ready for her to come home. It doesn’t feel complete without her here.”
I nodded. I got that. In the time that I’d been spending the night here, it definitely felt like something was missing. When the four of us were together, that didn’t exist at all.
“Our girl will be here before you know it,” I said as I kissed her temple. “I don’t call her my lil’ soldier for nothing.”
She smiled softly. “Did you think we would be here when you met me?”
“Hell no.”
“Devin!”
“I didn’t mean it like that, love. If you knew Smoke before then, you would understand. Like, ten minutes before you came in the shop, I was getting my dick sucked.”
Her mouth dropped. “Are you serious?”
“That’s why I didn’t take you in my office.”
“Well, who was she?”
“A client.”
Romi placed her hand on her hip. “Oh, so you were just out here being an office slut?”
I laughed loudly. “I guess you could put it like that. The night I pulled up on you?—”
“You mean the night you did a drive-by and scared me to death?”
“You’re being dramatic, baby. Anyway, that night, I was supposed to pull up on her.”
“You gave up getting some pussy to watch TV with me? Even after I threw up?”
I chuckled. “Yeah, woman. You had me in a chokehold. I won’t cap about that.”
“So how long did it take you to end things?”
“Right after that. Funny story. She came in the shop, tried to suck me off, and when I dismissed her, she threw a dildo at my head.”
Romi burst into laughter. “No, she didn’t!”
“I swear she did.”
“I can’t wait to tell Renay about this. You’re never going to live it down.”
“Don’t tell her loud ass nothing, man.”
“Oh, I’m spilling the tea!”
She got up from my lap and went to grab her phone.
“Romi Michelle,” I said firmly.
She laughed. “Oh, you’re using the middle name on me? I’m really gonna tell her now.”
She started clicking away on the phone as I stood.
“I got something for your ass.”
She squealed as she took off running out the room. I shook my head because she was crazy if she thought she could outrun me. I was a big man, but I was also fast. I took off running behind her. Just as I made it outside the door, Korri stepped out of her room.
“What’s going on?” she asked, curiously.
“If you help me catch your mother, I will buy you the biggest Lego set you can find.”
That was all it took. Her giggles echoed in the hallway as she ran full speed behind me. Romi darted around the corner to the living room.
“We’re gonna get you, Mommy!” Korri yelled as we entered the room.
She ran around one side of the couch as I ran around the other to block her mother in. Korri slammed into her legs, wrapping her arms tightly around Romi.
“Get her, Mr. Devin!”
I playfully took her down to the couch in a bear hug. Korri didn’t need any instruction as she dove on with tickles, causing Romi to laugh obnoxiously loud. I didn’t even know she was this damn ticklish.
“Stop! I’m gonna pee on myself!” she pleaded through her giggles.
Korri scrunched up her face. “Ew! That’s nasty!”
“Alright, alright, let her up, KoKo,” I said as I released Romi.
She playfully smacked my arm before settling at my side. Korri climbed onto her lap and made herself comfortable. I smiled to myself as I relaxed with both my girls.
I liked this shit… Yeah, I liked it a lot.