Chapter 3
Kannon
“Kannon! Who the fuck do you have in my house?”
The hostility in Junior’s delivery made my belly become a sinking stone. I had been calling and texting my brother for two days. The last thing I expected was for him to curse me out once I got him on the line.
“Why are you yelling? I did you a favor. That nigga owes you money, and I delivered him to your spot on a silver platter.”
“No, you didn’t. He’s a Sinner, but that’s not Levi!”
“Yes, it is! I checked the file. I saw the picture.”
“Kannon.” He breathed out my name, his tone laced with disappointment. “The person who owes me isn’t in the states. That’s the only reason he’s still breathing.”
“Hold on a second. I’m going to share my screen.” My fingers moved a mile a minute, skimming through my photo gallery. When I landed on the picture I wanted, I added it to the screen. “See. Look. That’s him. They have the same birthmark.”
Junior shut his eyes and shook his head. “He has a birthmark like the dude in the picture?”
“Yeah. That’s how I know it’s him.”
“I know who you’re talking about. Their birthmarks are similar, but they’re not the same.” He grimaced. “You’re a dumbass, bro!”
“Boy, mad and all, don’t disrespect me!”
“You started it when you went through my shit. You’re always getting into something I have to bail you out of, but this time, I’m not cleaning it up. Get that crazy muthafucka out of my house, Kannon!”
The confident attitude I sustained over the last two days had shattered into pieces. All the work I had done was pointless, and now I was getting cursed out for having good intentions.
“Okay, I fucked up, but I’m still your little sister. Aren’t you going to call someone to kill him or to come get him?”
“Hell nah. You got it. You’re going to tell Daddy too!”
Of everything Junior said, his speaking of our father triggered my worrisome mind.
I was the baby of the bunch, but just like with everybody else, the old man got on my case when he thought I was playing with his business or his money.
When I was still in school, he would show up and sit in the back of my class if he thought I was off my square.
His presence made me feel like a disobedient student who needed a chaperone.
Junior knew there weren’t many people who could sway my reckless ways, but our father always made me second-guess my actions.
“Are you really going to leave me hanging? You act like I did this on purpose.”
“You did! You just didn’t do a good job. You’re hardheaded, and you don’t appreciate being placed on a pedestal. You want to be in the streets; then figure it out.”
I rubbed my hands down the front of my pants, trying to rid myself of my nerves.
I had been in the house with the stranger for two days, and I had never felt uneasy about being in his presence, even after my girls left.
Once I steadied my breathing, I made a few calls.
My first call went unanswered, and the second call went straight to voicemail.
Yari and Nola weren’t a choice, because I told them Junior would send someone to take over.
After I dragged them into my burnt mission, I knew they wouldn’t speak to me for days.
“You can do this, Kannon. You can figure this out,” I muttered. “You’re the big dawg in this bitch.”
Now that I knew I’d screwed up, I felt the need to see the man.
I wanted to study his face to see how the hell I confused him with someone else.
I pumped myself up to enter the room and swallowed hard when I saw he was up.
His eyes were low, and his clothes were damp, but neither stopped the menace from grinning when his gaze latched onto mine.
“So you found out who’s the big dawg, huh?”
“You’re still not running shit.”
His brows raised. “From what I heard, you ain’t either. You fucked up. It sounds like you fuck up all the time.”
“Then you should know one more won’t hurt anyone except you.”
A blunt was calling my name, but something urged me to smoke where I stood instead of going to the living room.
Unlike the other times we were together, the captive seemed relaxed.
I didn’t know if he no longer had the strength to challenge me, or if he no longer saw me as a threat, but his shoulders were no longer bunched up.
The second a draft of smoke filled my lungs, I felt my tense brows fall.
My head fell back as I forced a brass breath from my lips.
There were many ways to handle my mistake, yet I couldn’t land on one.
Sweet-talking the menace was an idea, but after he expressed his desire to choke me, I figured that approach was pointless.
Pussy popping on the big man could have worked, but as fine as he was, I wasn’t na?ve enough to believe he needed some coochie.
“Kitty Kat.”
“Kannon,” I corrected him.
“Whatever. Do what your brother told you to do. If you follow directions, I’ll let your family live long enough to bury you.”
“Fuck off.”
Though I was reluctant, I sent a text message to one of my father’s workers.
The favor would add to the list of things my daddy would go off on me about, but at least the Sinner would be back where he belonged.
After the drop-off was set up, I wandered to the front of the house and waited for Smash and his crew to arrive.
I sat around for forty minutes, twiddling my thumbs, before I heard a truck pull up.
Smash said very little when I greeted him at the door, and I could see a hint of amusement dance in his eyes when I directed him to the guest room.
When he returned, he pushed the big dawg out in a wheelchair.
“What did you do to him?” I asked, noticing the man leaned forward in the chair.
“Nothing worse than what you did. Unlike you, I know who this nigga is.”
I sucked my teeth. “Ugly niggas always have to be funny.”
“Yeah, and spoiled brats can’t do shit alone. The next time you hit a mission, be sure not to pick up the son of your father’s enemy. Neptune Sinner is the last person you should have snatched up.”
Once I was alone, I sat in the house for all of ten minutes before the calls started rolling in.
Junior called to say our daddy was on his way to me.
Then my sister, Kasey, called to be nosy.
Without a doubt, I knew the old man filled his princess in on the mess I made.
I may have been the youngest, but Junior and Kasey’s mom was married to our father.
Ever since she died, Kasey and the old man had been attached at the hip.
He claimed their closeness resulted from grief, but I believed it was favoritism.
Since I needed a clear head to speak to my father, I stretched out on the couch until I dozed off.
My catnap lasted so long that I opened my eyes and saw my daddy had texted me two hours ago.
Other missed calls were from Nola, Yari, and a blocked number.
Whoever it was called three times, but they didn’t leave a message.
The longer I looked at the red letters, an overwhelming sense of dread drove me to my feet.
I groaned when I realized Nola and Yari drove my truck back home.
It would piss my brother off when he found out I drove his F-150 to the city, but I refused to ask anyone else for help.
I grabbed Junior’s keys from his stash spot before I made sure I shut the house down, then I got on the road.
Visions of Neptune being wheeled out of the house filled my mind when I merged onto the highway.
I recalled how he didn’t beg for his life when we interacted.
He didn’t offer his dignity for freedom, and I questioned whether that was because he was noble or a nutcase.
I made it thirty minutes into my drive before my phone vibrated in the passenger seat. My first thought was to ignore the call, but I didn’t want to worry the old man to the point that he showed up at my house.
“Hi, Daddy.”
“Little girl, sometimes I think your birth was my karma.”
“Well, that isn’t nice to say. Things aren’t as bad as Junior probably made them seem.”
“Kannon, you went through his office, then pulled a move that could start a war.”
His comment prompted me to sit up in the driver’s seat. “Wait. What do you mean?”
“I used to be tight with one of the niggas that runs shit over there. I won’t go into detail, but just know, we don’t fuck with them. When we split ways, we agreed to stay out of each other’s way. Your fuck up could start a damn war!”
A barbed laugh fell from my lips. “Then maybe we should’ve killed him.”
“Ain’t shit about this funny, Kannon!”
“Okay! I get it. What do you expect me to do to make this right?”
“Apologize.”
The word echoed, even after the silence fell.
“Daddy, I’m not doing that.”
“Yes, you are. I don’t have time for a fucking war. Fix this shit!”
Three Hours Later
“What the fuck?” I sat still in my bed, hoping it would help me hear better. A second crash followed, leading me to grab my phone and the gun under my pillow. I opened the Ring camera app, expecting to see a raccoon on my porch, but a phone call interrupted my inspection.
Blocked.
Typically, I didn’t answer blocked calls, but considering the person had been blowing me up since earlier, I picked up.
“Who is this?”
“So I have to call you blocked in order for you to answer the phone?”
Relieved and bothered, I discharged a tense breath. “Trent, what can I do for you?”
“You can tell me where you’ve been for the last two days. I’ve been calling you.”
“I’ve been . . . working.”
“Bullshit. I stopped by your job.”
“Did you stop by my house?” I asked, recalling what jolted me from my sleep.
“Kannon, you know I don’t know where you live. You always make me meet you at a room like I’m a fucking escort.”
“Well, you show up to drop off dick. It shouldn’t matter where you deliver it.” I slammed my back into a nest of pillows. “Trent, I’m tired and cranky. I don’t want to take it out on you, so I’m going to hang up.”
“Don’t dismiss me, Kannon. At least let me come over to keep you company.”
I growled then ended the call. Trent was harmless, but he was a headache.
Six months ago, he came up to my job to visit his grandmother, and he sparked up a conversation on his way out.
We went on a few dates, not enough to make him cross a boundary I set for us.
Out the gate, I was frank about not committing to a man with kids, but the more I let the mail carrier eat my pussy, the more I had to remind him we would never be more than that.
I was back in dreamland for what felt like a second before my phone went off again. This time, I smashed my finger on the answer button with no hesitation.
“What the hell did I say?”
“Calm down, Kitty Kat.”
I almost choked on my spit hearing the name. “Who is this?”
Like an idiot, the caller started barking like he had done in Junior’s guest room. Now that he was no longer tied to a chair, I wasn’t confident that Neptune couldn’t touch me. There wasn’t anything keeping him from beating my door down and fulfilling his promise to take my life.
“You’re playing on my phone. Were you playing on my porch?”
“This ain’t a fucking game, Kannon.” He emphasized my name. “I left something on your doorstep. I’ve never had to kill a bitch before, so I thought I should get you a parting gift.”
With my gun in hand, I slowly journeyed to the front of my house. On the porch was a bouquet of black roses. Flowers weren’t something I received often, but I thought the color was an interesting choice. I didn’t reach for the arrangement, but I used the tip of my toe to spin the vase around.
“Are these supposed to be a threat?” I spoke into my phone.
“Not at all. I’m a man of my word, and I promised you I would kill you or fuck you. I just wanted you to know how easily I can find you.”