Nathaniel #3
A ghost of a smile came across Maalika’s face but she didn’t take her eyes off old boy on the ground.
It wasn’t until I heard the death rattle that escaped him that she finally tucked her knife back into her pocket.
She took a deep breath and all the tension from her face released and she was right back to business.
“I guess that will have to do. Are we dragging or lifting him up outta here?” She looked between the two of us and I wondered how the hell I was in it. They were the professionals and I was just going to follow their lead.
“Whatever y’all think is best is what we’re going to do. Me and Angel should be able to carry his ass outta here without problem. Y’all are okay with setting things up at his house?”
The plan was to make it look like this piece of shit was into autoerotic asphyxiation.
No one would question his death because the position he was in now and the rope marks would line up with him having done this to himself.
Even the blood pooling would have the appropriate patterns for him accidentally pulling the rope too tight.
“We’re good, fam. We don’t have a problem handling it from here.” I couldn’t help but frown because I was never one to not pull my weight.
“It ain’t a problem—”
“We’re the professionals. It would take too long to go behind you and ensure you didn’t leave something behind.
Get him loaded up and we can move on from here.
Besides, it was just a favor to let you murk this nigga.
We would’ve been happy to take care of it ourselves.
” Angel laid out the reasons and I agreed.
“Makes sense. Don’t mean I gotta like it.”
“Respect. Any man that goes that hard for his lady is alright with me.” They weren’t touching but they sure as fuck moved closer to one another without realizing it when he spoke.
I didn’t have time to hop in between the murder-for-hire versions of a soap opera so I was carrying my Black ass back to Texas where shit made sense.
“I’ll get out of your way. If you ever need a hand, I owe you both.”
“Nah, this is what we do.” Maalika’s ass seemed genuine but Angel seemed to be thinking. He didn’t speak up but I had to wonder if he was going to need us to help him in the future. Whatever it was, he’d get it.
I grabbed my hat from where I’d laid it down not wanting to get it dirty.
I’d spent all morning in meetings in Manhattan for the contract Billy had gotten for me.
A Black denim brand wanted me to be the face of their latest cut.
Denim had originated as clothing for our enslaved ancestors but leave it to the colonizing muthafuckas to take even the little we had.
Being the face of a Black owned brand that specialized in shit that we made hot meant a lot to me.
The partnership would be lucrative as hell and included outfitting not just me, but the entire team.
We’d done fittings today and despite missing Charmy I still had one more move to make before I got to see her.
“Thank y’all again. Hopefully next time we link up it won’t be so that we having to end somebody’s life.”
“I think it’s a great way to build trust, personally.” Maalika moved to get one edge of the tarp but Angel shooed her away. I grabbed the other side because I was ready to be done.
“Peace can be a beautiful thing when you find it. I know it doesn’t seem like that shit is possible given what y’all do but I’m sure it is. Might just take extra work.”
I spoke what was on my heart when I thought about my Charmy and it seemed like they needed to hear it. They’d obviously been trained to keep their emotions close to the vest but the air got less tense so I had to count that as a win.
“Out of left field but I can tell it was from the heart. We’ll let you know when it’s done.” Angel was trying to blow me off but I knew it was more for Maalika’s benefit than his own.
“Y’all got that. The last thing I need is to check up behind the pros. I appreciate y’all handling this. I got one more move to make before I get back to my girl.”
I was gonna have to give Billy a bigger cut for this favor.
Having someone close to the family that had a private jet was some serious shit.
I’d handled my business in New York and was now in the fake South to tie up loose ends.
Sampson had looked into one for the business but he didn’t want the stress and maintenance that went into it.
Mama and daddy were still using airline points they’d accrued since the 90s so they didn’t see the point in the expense.
My nerves were screaming at me to rush but I didn’t want to.
I wanted to savor this because I would never be here on this type of time again.
Once I left these swamps, I was done. If this nigga didn’t understand I wasn’t the one to be fucked with after this then he’d get a bullet and his mama and daddy would have something to do in a few days.
This dumb nigga, Trent, had actually reached out to Charmy begging her to get her dad to reconsider pulling all his business from his parents consulting firm.
When he needed to explain why a client for over twenty years was leaving, Mr. Reed told them to ask their son.
Why he thought Charisma was going to lift a finger to help his ass was beyond me.
I guess he thought she’d feel some type of sympathy for him but just like she’d said, he was only reaping what he’d sown.
I took another swig from the expensive ass bottle of wine I’d cracked open when I broke into this nigga’s house.
This place was nice as hell. Probably nicer than he could afford so I’m sure his parents were supplementing his income.
Everything was top of the line from the marble floors that didn’t fit the neighborhood to the blue agate counters that didn’t match shit in here.
He was the type of nigga that got shit for the price tag and not for how it would actually look.
This nigga had the nerve to be out late as hell and it made me even more annoyed to be wasting time waiting on him. The meeting with his lawyer had ended an hour ago. He apparently thought he had a wrongful termination suit against his parents despite his flagrant moral violations.
I heard the garage door lift and it was only a few minutes later that the door opened.
“Hey, Trent!”
He flipped on the night jerking from side to side like that video of Lil Kim dancing to Quiet Storm.
That shit had me dying laughing ‘cause he looked absolutely ridiculous but I was glad that he knew my ass wasn’t wrapped too tight.
Greeting him at the door with bullets wasn’t outside of my wheelhouse.
Especially since I’d broken into this muthafucka.
“You’ve already fucked up my life, what more do you want?” His skin looked pale and he wasn’t as buttoned as he normally was. His clothes were still expensive but he looked like he’d slept in them. A visit to the barber needed to be on his to do list cause his line was all fucked up.
I sat the wine bottle on the counter completely at ease with his anger. “Truthfully? I think you deserve to suffer. For lying to my girl for as long as you did and threatening her like that. If this was the old me your ass would be stinking in a ditch somewhere.”
“For a lie?”