28. Mercy #3
“I’m not even in a creative mood,” I said as I stood. I looked at Krude and Fire, sitting on the back patio, talking. Fire gave me a nod that I returned before he went back to talking to Krude.
Krude lifted his head from the book he was reading and narrowed his eyes at me. “Sister-cousin!”
“What?” I yelled back.
“What y’all plotting?” he asked, and I exchanged looks with everyone before starting to laugh. “Don’t start lying, either. What y’all about to do?”
“Can I borrow your car?” I asked instead of answering his question.
His eyes narrowed again, and he asked, “Why?”
“Cuz we gotta do something,” I answered.
Krude kissed his teeth, then mugged me. “Which car?”
“The black Chevy,” I quickly answered. Krude had six or seven cars, and there were a few that I knew he’d never let me touch. The black Chevy was never one, though.
“The old school?” he reared back, and I nodded.
I put my hand out and smirked. “Give me the keys, Genesis.” I had to pretend it was a joking situation so he wouldn’t ask too many questions. “I’ll bring it back with gas in it.”
“Man, the keys are in my room on the dresser,” he said, shaking his head. “Whatever the fuck you about to do better be worth it, too.”
I laughed because he had no idea how much it was, and then dropped a kiss on his forehead. “Come on now, brother-cousin, you already know I don’t half-ass shit.” I quickly turned around and called for Corinthians to grab the keys from his room before he could change his mind.
“Which is why I’m letting you borrow my car,” he said, nodding. “Whatever y’all planning better not have y’all in jail.”
“We aren’t y’all, big cousin,” I said, patting his shoulder. “Plus, if we do, we’ll have a cop with us.”
Krude sat back and pointed to Purpose. “She’s black and a woman, her ass is going first.”
“Don’t talk about my friend,” I said, shaking my head. Corinthians returned to the living room and lifted the keys to show me she got them. “Welp, that’s my signal that it's time for me to go. Don’t wait up.”
“Have a good time,” he called out as I walked away.
“Always, big cousin!” I turned to face him. “Now that I think about it, y’all should steer clear of East Park for the next few hours.”
“Noted,” Krude replied, then returned to reading his book.
Xoey circled the park three times as I checked over my gun. For the most part, it was empty except for the few stragglers and the SportsCenter crew working there. I looked at Purpose, who pulled masks from her purse and passed them out.
“I took the plates off the car before we left,” she said, and I nodded.
“This shit is so old school,” Corinthians said as she pulled on her mask. “But I love it.”
“I told you I wasn’t in the mood to be creative.”I shrugged.
“Can we at least drop the top?” Cross asked as she pulled on her mask. “We are crammed back here, and I don’t see this working if we don’t.”
“Nah,” Xoey denied. “I plan on getting some pictures of this shit later, so I need us to recreate the scene from Boyz in the Hood. We gotta be hanging out the car, guns blasting and shit.”
“Which personality is talking to you right now?” I asked, and she rolled her eyes. “Oh, this is just Xoey, huh?”
“Exactly,” she said as she pulled her mask on and looked to Cross through the rearview mirror. “Your husband's program isn’t going to pick us up, right?”
“It’s conveniently down for maintenance,” she said, shaking her head.
“Good,” Xoey said, nodding. She slowed down as we got closer to Shai. She was on the air, interviewing Javien. “Oh, my daddy is going to be mad.”
“He’ll get over it,” I replied with a shrug. “Now, let's go.”
Xoey hit the gas, and I pulled my body through the window to sit on the ledge.
As soon as we were close enough, I started shooting.
I watched Shai’s eyes get big with fear before she pushed Javien out of the way and started running.
I was intentionally missing just to fuck with her.
She jumped behind her work van, and Xoey pulled the car onto the court.
Without thinking, I slid back into the car, opened the door, and exited the car.
I dropped my gun in the car, walked to the van, and pulled the door open.
Shai was huddled in the corner, her hands covering her head, crying.
I grabbed her ankle and pulled her from the van.
She screamed and tried to fight me, but I was too amped on adrenaline.
When she hit the ground, I lifted my foot and kicked her in the stomach.
If that bitch was pregnant, I was going to stomp that baby out of her.
I went to work beating her ass, only stopping when I heard police sirens approaching.
I grabbed her hair and lifted her head off the ground.
“Bitch, the next time you come after my nigga or daughter, understand I’m going to come after you,” I said into her ear.
“Stop fuckin’ playin’ with me, or the next time, I’m going to take your soul.
” I let her head go, and it bounced against the ground.
“Now I understand why Krude calls you Hell Raiser,” Xoey laughed as she pulled off.