Chapter 44
“Uh uh,” Reign buzzed playfully, swatting his hand away. “I’ve been trying to get stuff done all day, and you keep creeping up behind me.”
“Can’t help it,” Markus groaned into her neck. “Am I ovulating?”
“Emilliano, get off of me!” Reign laughed, wiggling him off of her. “What is wrong with you?”
“I’m happy as fuck,” he chuckled into her hair. “Ain’t felt this shit ever. You put something in my coffee?”
“Nooo,” Reign crooned, putting the cover on the dish of lamb chops. “I put something on your face, but I don’t fuck with people’s food. Can you make yourself useful and wash those dishes, and stop rubbing on my booty? Your aunt wants lamb chops, and we’re going to be on time.”
“Oh, you run a strict program,” Markus teased as he moved to the sink. “That shit starting to poke out more. Hips keep calling a nigga to lay in it.”
“I think I’ve spoiled you, and honestly, I didn’t know that was possible,” Reign quipped back. “That or you’re just horny as hell.”
“How you figure?” Markus asked, starting to tackle the minimal amount of dishes Reign hadn’t had a chance to wash due to his constant need to touch her.
“I’ve been entitled and shit since I took your foot as my security blanket.
Now I got the whole thing every night. I’ve been spoiled. I’m not as bad as you, though.”
Reign finished packing the rest of the food and frowned. “What do you mean, as bad as me?”
“You ain’t spoiled, Speechless?” Markus posed, knowing something she didn’t.
“I mean, I might be a little bit.”
He smirked. “How about a lot of bit. You want me to show you how much?”
“Uh uh, I’m already walking funny,” she quipped. “You’ve made me mess up two outfits already. And I’m going to have your aunts giving me the look.”
“You act like I’m above messing up a third. Why can’t we just have everyone come over here?” Markus posed.
“First off, you’ll want to sneak off, say fuck them, and have me pinned up against something.
Second, Aunt Lucille cannot walk down all of those steps,” Reign said.
“Trust me, I’ve thought about it. She hates being stuck in the house.
I’ve made it a point to go over every week and help her do whatever, sit and talk to her, do her hair. You’re blessed, you know.”
“I know. She took in two badass kids and then got Svyn as a participation trophy. Her, Slim, and Aunt G are the reason Nia and I are like this,” Markus stated, and Reign made a silly face. “What?”
“Crazy? All three of you, crazy,” Reign joked.
“Hi pot, I’m ya nigga kettle. I might shoot guns and do a whole lotta shit, but my lil’ baby is quick with a knife.”
Reign rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I was put into a position and I had to do what I had to do.”
“And that’s some honorable shit. Protecting yourself like that and not feeling bad about it. You cold, Speechless.”
Reign hummed. “I’d rather not be cold. I want to be warm and soft. I don’t want to be cold, but I also don’t want to be tried, so I guess it’s a good quality to develop.”
“Only use that shit when you need to. Outside of that, stay warm, stay soft.”
“I hear you. You ready? I want to get this over there while it’s still hot.”
“Yeah,” Markus said. “Get your shoes and grab those keys for me.”
Reign moved toward the foyer, picking up a pair of keys and looking at them oddly. “These aren’t the right keys.”
“They are. They’re yours.”
“Emilliano,” Reign gasped. “No.”
“Yes,” he said with a grin. “I told you I was.”
“When do you have time to do – how?” Reign couldn’t even get the full thought out of her mouth as she jogged to the door, stopping to slip her feet into a pair of slides. “Milli!”
Markus was on her trail to walk out of the house in front of her.
He never knew what was waiting on the other side of the door, and if someone was out there wanting to take his heart from him, they would have to hit him first. The briskness of the air bit his bare arms, but the happiness oozing from Reign was warmer than any sweater.
She fumbled with the keys to unlock the door and climb in. “I love it! I love it! I love it!”
Markus got in on the passenger side. “You’re going to be driving me around now.”
“I’m not even going to complain,” she said, taking in the plush leather, new car smell, and spaciousness of her space gray Mercedes-Benz GLS. “Thank you. I love you.”
She leaned over to kiss him. A laugh rumbled against her lips. “I love you too.”
“That back seat has some space,” Reign hummed. “Maybe after we leave, we can figure out how much space there is.”
Markus didn’t respond, just looked at her with stars dancing in his eyes.
“What?” she mused.
“I want to keep you, just like this. Happy, thriving, weightless.”
A soft smile curled her lips. “I want to keep you happy, too. I want us just like this, right now.”
“Our love, our way. Come on, let’s get going before I really shut it down.”
Reign playfully rolled her eyes and laughed. “You always want to keep me to yourself.”
“Damn right. I’ll lay on the couch all day with you on me if I could.”
Forty-five minutes later, they were pulling up to Aunt Lucille’s.
The women were in the house catching up as if they hadn’t been spending time together while Markus and Svyn were out handling business.
He couldn’t complain about it. He’d always wanted a woman who would love his family like he loved his family, and he wanted her to be loved back.
He’d gotten that. He’d gotten to see his aunt light up with Reign walked in.
He’d gotten to see her and Nia sit at her feet and go through old albums.
Markus and Svyn stood on the back porch watching the women through the window.
“Nia, okay?” Markus asked, studying her barely there smile and puffy eyes.
Svyn swayed her head before answering. “No. Cyn was talking to a detective. The detective and Neveah were hit in a drive-by by and Cyn is in a landfill.”
Markus turned to Svyn. “What the fuck do you mean drive by?”
“I’ve been ears to the streets all night. That detective had a lot of disgruntled informants.”
“You believe that?” Markus posed. That warm and fuzzy feeling he had was vanishing, only to be replaced by uneasiness. “If that were the case, her ass would’ve been taken out. She tell you anything else?”
“Nothing worth repeating. Neveah and the detective were scraped off the sidewalk late last night. Blood stains as faint as possible. Cyn is gone. Angel been in and out his spot all week. The nigga been playing with his nose.”
“No wonder his stupid ass was popping off random shit. I can’t catch a break behind these niggas,” Markus huffed. “You sure Angel was the shooter?”
“He didn’t aim at Cyn. Angel might be a fuck up, but the nigga barely made a bad shot. Outside that kid shit. And you know why you can’t catch a break behind these niggas,” Svyn spoke. “Auntie ain’t gonna be around much longer. I find it easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission.”
Markus turned to look at him, and in the brief second, everything snapped into slow motion.
“MARKUS!” Reign shouted, leaping from her spot on the floor to catch Aunt Lucille and move her to the floor.
Bullets whizzed through the air into the house.
They broke out in a sprint inside, through the living room, down the hall, and out the front door, firing shots at the black car speeding down the block.
Behind them was Aunt G and Ophelia unloading clips into the car.
“Auntie!” Nia screeched.
“No, no, no. No. No!” Reign cried out. “No, please no! Aunt Lucille, look at me. Look at me!”
“Don’t move her!” Nia shouted.
Everyone ran back inside, finding Aunt Lucille gasping for air, with a bullet wound to the chest. Reign’s hands were pressed against it, trying to stop the blood spouting out. Aunt Lucille, whose eyes danced in agony, clawed at Reign’s hands, pulling them away.
“No,” Reign huffed. “No. I’m not going to let you do that!”
Aunt Lucille used what energy she had left in her body to look at her family. “Let me go.”
Markus shook his head, joining his sister, aunt, woman, and best friend on the floor. He attempted to remain as cool as possible. Ophelia and Aunt G held Aunt Lucille’s bloodied hands as if they agreed when the time came not to fight it.
“No,” Markus protested. “Fuck no! No!”
Nia looked at him, sadness breaking her spirit. “Yes.”
“Money…go do what you need to do,” she ordered as if she knew who fired her fatal shot. “Ours… this … city is ours.”
Reign sniffled, watching the life leave her eyes and her blood seep into her lap through her clothes.
From chaos and screams to silence. They just listened until the gasps went silent and the light left her eyes. Reign took her bloodied hand and closed her eyes. She looked up at Markus, her strength unmatched, her fire a fury in her eyes. That’s what his aunt was talking about.
“Go make this right,” Reign spoke. Not to Emilliano, her lover, or Markus, her protector, but to Money, the beast. “Whatever hole he crawled out of, you find it and you make this right.”
Nia dropped her head on Aunt Lucille’s lifeless body and sobbed.
“Svyn take him. Go,” Reign urged while the women around her silently mourned. “I got them. Go.”
Markus walked backwards as if he were in a daze.
He was. He watched many souls depart regardless of their eternal destination, but Aunt Lucille?
This was bound to gut him and pull at the seams until he unraveled.
That weight he’d become comfortable with seemed like it was crushing him. He couldn’t break. He couldn’t fold.
He moved to Svyn’s car and climbed into the passenger seat. “Call every nigga in this city and tell them Angel’s head is in fuckin’ mine.”
Svyn nodded and sent the word out before taking Markus to every spot in the city Angel was known to frequent before ending up at the trap Markus shut down months before. The black car was parked haphazardly in the back.
“That’s the same car Nia saw last night,” Svyn pointed out. “You think that nigga smart enough to get the fuck out of the city?”
Markus reached into his boot, grabbed another gun, and shook his head. “Nah. These niggas want my spot, I’m not handing the shit over. Take the back.”
As Markus stepped out, every shooter he had in the area had arrived and was waiting for his order. “You see that muhfucka, you bring him to me. I want to be the one to put the bullet through his chest.”
“We got you Money,” Bullet assured as Markus climbed the steps and kicked the door in. Immediately, shots rang out. Markus took cover and fired through the tattered walls.
“Come out bitch,” Markus growled. “You killed your momma, what kind of bitch ass nigga are you?”
“I’m the nigga about to be sitting on the throne! Fuck all you niggas.”
Markus peeped around the corner, finding Angel and the droplets of blood he left behind every step he took. He eased closer.
“All y’all did was overlook me and son me. I ain’t fuckin’ dumb. I’m a fuckin’ king and I’m going to show all y’all who the fuck I am!”
Markus fired a shot.
“Agh fuck!” Angel growled as Markus came into view.
“What you say? You? A king? Be a king and shoot me nigga. Stand up like a fuckin’ king and shoot me. Right here!” Markus pointed to his chest. “Do me like you did your moms. Do it!”
Markus’ bellow shook the house. Angel groaned and grunted as he inched his body over to the gun he dropped. Markus picked it up and then kicked him in the face repeatedly until his teeth were missing, scattered on the dirty floor, and his mouth bloodied.
“When I kill your bitch ass brother, I’ll let him know you went out just like the bitch I knew you were. See you in hell nigga.” He wrapped the handle of the gun in Angel’s hand, curled his finger on the trigger, and pushed it underneath his chin. “Night, bitch.”
One shot put Angel’s lights out, but the series of shots to follow were the floodgates of Markus’ composure giving way.
Svyn stood by watching until the clip was gone. “I don’t want them niggas seeing you like this.”
Markus stood over his cousin’s lifeless body, tears uncontrollably falling from his eyes.
“I’m sending them away.”
Every word Svyn spoke and every sound he made sounded like he was in a vacuum.
Loud and muffled at the same time. Heart heavy in shattered pieces for what?
Hunted by the blood he put on for what? He was the most wanted and not by any entity other than the one he shared space left.
For Markus, it felt like hours from the time he walked out of the trap to the time he arrived at his cold, empty home.
He couldn’t be around Reign. Not like this.
He couldn’t offer Nia any solace. And his guilt of prolonging the inevitable wouldn’t allow him to look at Aunt G or Ms. Ophelia.
His demons needed him in isolation. So that could gnash and pull him away from his path.
So they could kill him the way every enemy he had wanted.
What they didn’t know or understand was that Markus had life in the making.
One soul had to exit to usher in the next.