13. Someone For Me
SOMEONE FOR ME
While brushing her teeth, Bull stepped into the bathroom and slid up behind her as she gargled and spit the mouthwash out. The only thing she wore was a long t-shirt as he knelt to kiss her neck.
“Good morning,” he greeted her.
“Mmm, you mean afternoon,” she responded with a grin. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“I tried. You was dead to the world, ma. We have had breakfast and lunch. I told the kids I would take them to the park a little later. I need to run to the office and handle a few things. I already put it in your phone. I gave Breeze and Jou some snacks, and they are set up in the TV room.”
“Look at you, on yo’ Daddy shit.” She put her toothbrush in the holder and faced him.
Draping her arms over his shoulders, she pulled him in for a kiss, and Bull lifted her from the ground onto the sink. Stepping between her thighs, he reached down to give them a squeeze and slid his tongue in her mouth.
“Mmm.” Toni moaned.
Bull’s phone going off tore them out of their moment, and he pulled back to retrieve it from his pocket. When he checked the screen, he saw that it was Eazy calling and swiped the bar to answer.
“What’s up, bro?”
“Yo, Braxton popped up over here on some weird shit.”
“What you mean?” A grimace hardened Bull’s face.
“He was talking some shit about not moving shit through his territory, and if we take anything to Sudan, he wants a percentage. The fuck wrong with him?” Eazy questioned.
Bull swiped his beard and released a frustrated sigh.
“Nigga said if we move anything without his knowledge, it’s gon’ be a problem. I don’t have time for this shit.”
“I’ll talk to him. It’s about time I dealt with another matter anyway,” Bull disclosed.
“Aight, just wanted to give you a heads up. I know that’s your pops and everything—”
“Nigga ain’t been that in a long ass time, though,” Bull muttered. “Yo, do me a favor though.”
“What’s that?”
“Send me Lotus’s number.”
“Nigga, the fuck. Why?” He could practically see Eazy’s face balled up on the other side of the phone.
Bill chuckled. “Nigga, it’s for Toni. She wants to talk to her about something. Calm yo’ bitch ass down.”
“Fuck you, aight.”
“Oh, she got you in yo’ feelings for real,” Bull jested.
“Now ain’t the time, B.”
“Just send me the number, fool,” Bull said before hanging up.
“What was that about?” Toni pried.
“Eazy being Eazy. Lotus really got him fucked up in the head.” He tittered.
“I thought I heard him mention Braxton.” Her brows drew together, and she swept some lint from his shoulder.
“That ain’t for you to worry about,” Bull assured her, cuffing her chin and leaning in for a kiss.
“Well, I wanted to go to the store today and grab a few things. I want to make dessert and take it to dinner Sunday. I think the kids would love to get out of the house.”
His brow furrowed, forming a frown across his handsome face. Toni gave an eyeroll and nudged him away so she could hop off the counter.
“I don’t like that shit. Why can’t you just order groceries?”
“Because I want to take the kids out of the house, Bezai. They go stir crazy in here, just like me. If I’m going to be working, they need to get used to it anyway,” Toni disputed, strolling into their bedroom so she could figure out what to wear today.
“Look, I know you just want to live a normal life, baby, but ain’t shit about us normal.”
“We also can’t walk around fearful of everything around us. I don’t want Breeze and Bijou living like that either.”
He could see the determination in her eyes and knew she was only going to keep pushing back until he agreed.
Texting one of the guards, he let him know that his assignment today was to keep all eyes on Toni and the kids.
When he was done, he slid the phone back into his pocket and approached his wife before she stepped into her walk-in closet.
“I’m sending Frank with you.”
“Fine, Bezai. We’ll deal with a babysitter,” she reluctantly agreed.
“Aye,” Bull snatched her closer and lowered his tone before planting a soft kiss on her plush lips, “don’t make me an asshole for wanting to protect what’s mine. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Once Toni showered, Bull left for work, and she tended to the kids.
Taming Jou’s wild hair was a challenge. She wouldn’t stop moving around, and Toni finally had to lock her between her legs just to get two ponytails in her head.
She changed her out of her pajamas into a cute little two-piece jogger set that matched the one she slipped into after her shower.
Breeze was ready in his jeans and Burberry sweater with little wheat Timbs on his feet.
She pulled the top of his locs back away from his face, packed Jou’s diaper bag, and they were out the door within forty-five minutes.
Frank got out of the Suburban and opened the back door for them.
Toni buckled both kids in and sat in the back row by herself while Frank climbed into the driver’s seat.
“Where we heading, Ms. Toni?” he checked with her from the rearview mirror.
“I want to run to the Whole Foods and Costco,” she told him, buckling her seatbelt and reaching into her pocket for her phone.
It was a little after 3:00 p.m. now, and her stomach knotted anxiously as Frank pulled off down the driveway.
Once they reached the store, Frank helped her load the kids up to take inside, and Toni appreciated it.
She and the kids rarely went anywhere outside of family dinners occasionally and doctor and dentist appointments.
Bull made sure they had every amenity they needed at home, including their own playground.
Needless to say, they were very happy and chatty as she pushed them through the aisles of Whole Foods and they pointed at things they wanted.
Being the sucker she was, to keep them happy, Toni compromised on a few things.
After an hour and a half of shopping, they left, and Frank loaded the back of the car with their things. Toni and the kids got settled, and her phone rang. Her heart leaped happily when she saw that it was Bull.
“Hey, baby.”
“Y’all good?” he asked, exhaling weed smoke on the other side of the phone.
“We’re fine. Heading to Costco now and then back to the house.”
“Okay. I’ll be done here in about an hour or two. I’ll meet you at the house so we can unpack everything, and then head to the park.”
“Oh, we can have a picnic!” Toni cheered up giddily.
“Yo, you corny as hell, wife.”
“Whatever. You love me.”
“Indeed, I do. Kiss my babies,” Bull said before hanging up.
Frank started the car and pulled off the lot. He didn’t get far when the back tire blew, causing the mobilization to become wobbly. He checked his side mirror and slowly wheeled the truck over to a less populated section of the lot. Cutting the engine off, he peeped Toni and the kids in the mirror.
“What was that?”
“Tire blew. Give me a second to get a spare, and we can get moving,” Frank assured her, pressing the driver’s door open and climbing out.
“Okay.” Toni sighed and reached for her phone.
“Mama, I hungwy,” Breeze complained, kicking his little feet against the back of Frank’s seat.
“Okay, baby. I got some snacks in Jou Jou’s bag.” She unzipped the bag and shot a text to Lotus at the number that Bull gave her, told her who it was and that she had something she wanted to discuss with her.
The back compartment opened, and Toni located a couple of bags of Famous Amos cookies.
She opened one for Breeze and handed it to him and did the same for Jou Jou.
Both children ate happily, and Toni peered around, checking outside her window to see what was going on with Frank.
There was an odd pop sound near the back of the car before what sounded like a body hitting the ground followed.
Spinning in her seat, fear instantly immobilized her when she saw the large, masked figure rush past the side of the car and pop open the passenger door where Jou Jou sat.
Met with the barrel of a silencer attached to a nine-millimeter, Toni’s hand fell against her chest.
“Please don’t hurt my babies!” she shrieked.
“Mama,” Jou Jou whimpered, teary eyed with her arms in the air, wanting to be picked up.
“It’s okay, baby girl.”
“Nah, pretty girl.” The assailant shook his head, his voice sending an arctic chill up Toni’s spine.
It wasn’t just what he said, but how he said it.
There was something so familiar in his movements.
With his free hand, he reached to unlatch Jou Jou’s car seat.
Toni lunged forward, and he waved the gun in her face.
“Aht aht! One wrong move, and yo’ babies watch mommy get a hole in her pretty ass head,” he threatened in a low growl.
“Please! I’ll do whatever you want. Don’t hurt my babies!” Toni pleaded.
By then, both Breeze and Bijou were screaming and crying at the top of their lungs, and it was the most horrific sound Toni had ever heard.
“I knew this bitch was gon’ be a problem,” a familiar, reckless voice chimed in from behind.
Chai pushed past the gunman. Shock was an understatement, and Toni didn’t have time to react before she injected a syringe into her neck.
The fast-acting agent left her head spinning and surroundings swirling.
The world went dark as her eyes rolled back, and the sound of her babies’ screams echoed until she drifted off.
It took Eazy a couple of hours to work up the nerve to go talk to Lotus.
He wasn’t sure what he would even say. He just knew they had some things to discuss.
Before stepping out of his car and entering her building, he blew a whole blunt.
By the time he reached her door, he stood on the other side, second guessing even being there.
Eventually, he raised his hand to knock.
Listening to the slow movement on the other side, he shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. The door suddenly flung open.
“What are you doing here?” Lotus narrowed her close-knit eyes.