CASE OF THE EX #3
“You agreed. The fuck I look like not going to my girl’s funeral? You think they can stop me?”
She knew he was dead ass because he barely blinked. Frustrated, Essence sighed and tossed her crossbody bag on the bed beside him.
“Looks like you need some help.” She nodded to his shoes and knelt to help tie them.
“What you need from me?” Bull offered his services, and Eazy peered up.
“I’m going to Summit’s to regroup. I’ll hit the funeral tomorrow. After that, we hit the streets and make ’em talk.”
“That sounds like some shit that’s going to get you killed, Eazy. Why don’t you let the police handle this?” Essence finished with his shoes and stood upright in front of him.
“Them mothafuckas don’t give a fuck about Niva, E. Revenge is mine.” Eazy grunted.
“You aren’t going to say anything to stop him?” she asked Bull.
“When have I ever been able to stop him?” he shot back.
Approaching Eazy, Bull held his hand out so they could shake and embrace briefly.
“I’m around. Hit me up. I need to go check on Oracle and some other shit, but don’t leave me out of this.”
“That is not helping.” Essence rolled her eyes.
Smiling at her, Bull rested a hand on the small of her back before leaning in to peck her cheek.
She tucked her arms across her breasts and turned her nose up.
He was trying to butter her up and keep her from spazzing on them.
Essence was in no way meek or soft. She grew up in the hood and had her moments when she dared a bitch to try her, and she would rock they shit.
She handled Eazy’s money for him and made investments since she had a degree in accounting, but over the years she fell back from the street shit so she could try to maintain a normal existence.
She loved her brother, but he wasn’t willing to change.
He was married to the game, and she feared that death would be his final escape.
“Oh, shit. Look at this mothafucka looking like he just hopped out the casket,” Oracle mocked from the wheelchair moments later when Bull neared his room.
His baby mama, Staci, stood behind the chair, gripping the handles and looking him over carefully in his expensive attire with a gym bag slung over her shoulder. He didn’t have time to change, so he was still in his clothes from the funeral, and bitches eye fucked him all day.
“Well, you haven’t lost your sense of humor,” Bull acknowledged.
“Nah, just the use of my legs.” Oracle went on. “Sorry I couldn’t make the funeral. A nigga was kind of… indisposed.” He chuckled.
“Turned into some bullshit anyway,” Bull muttered.
“What you mean?” Oracle questioned, eyes lowering into slits.
“What you know about Bronx’s girl? Some chick named Toni,” Bull put out there.
“You know your brother. Mr. Keep-A-Bitch-On-Deck.” Oracle cackled.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Since you left, Bronx been doing his own thing. Braxton got some other niggas to fill our roles. I didn’t too much deal with him until this recent job.
Braxton hits us up and says he needs the crew.
When he told me what the payout was, I was locked in, and so was everybody else. ”
“So, what happened? How the fuck you and Eazy end up in the hospital and Bronx and Niva are dead?” Bull folded his thick arms over his puffed-out chest.
“Good fucking question.” Oracle rested his elbows on the arm of the wheelchair and steepled his fingertips together.
“Everything went according to plan. Down to the letter. We drop Eazy and Niva off and roll out. Two minutes later, they shoot into the van. The back is suddenly on fire, and me and Jewel are fishtailing all over the road. We flipped a couple of times; it ejected me from it, and during all that, we heard the gunfire around the corner. At the time, I wasn’t even thinking it had anything to do with us. ”
“What happened to Jewel?” Bull pried.
“He ended up with a concussion. A few broken ribs. He’s fine, though.
” Oracle conveyed, his greenish-brown eyes practically on fire.
“Whoever did this knew where to find Bronx and had some kind of inside information about the paintings. As far as his bitch, I got every reason to believe she knew exactly what was going down. Shit too clean cut. Bronx gets murked, but they let her live? A witness?” Oracle shook his head.
“As far as I’m concerned, she had everything to do with it unless I find out otherwise. ”
“I’ll be around. So, whatever I find out, I’ll make sure the crew knows,” Bull assured him.
“You do that.” A flicker of something shadowy flitted through his eyes. “Let’s go, Stace,” he instructed his baby mama over his shoulder.
Allowing them to pass, Bull watched as they neared the elevator doors, mind spiraling.
All roads led to this Antonia chick. He knew he had to find her before anyone else did.
If she was the reason Bronx was dead, she would be handled accordingly.
For some reason, he couldn’t buy into that shit like Oracle or his father.
Like Oracle said, shit was too clean. Something else was going on here, setting off his sixth sense.