Chapter 11
The warehouse door was thrown open and I heard boots hitting concrete.
Heavy. Deliberate. Without seeing his ass, I already knew that it was Savage.
The nigga walked hard with a purpose. It was clear that he was angry with me, all behind the next nigga.
Yeah, Grim was his big brother too, but Grim was a fucked up ass individual, and Savage knew that.
I could tell that Sav wasn’t alone now. I’d been hearing the guards outside the whole time, they just never came inside.
He must have gave them orders to stay at their post. The least they could have done was made themselves useful and fed me.
I wondered what was the pleasure of this visit.
Maybe the nigga came to get me, in hopes that I’d lead him to his brother.
I had a few ideas of where Cherish could be.
Still, that didn’t mean that I would lead him there.
Grim hadn’t been shit but a problem since we were kids.
Growing up, he used to protect me with his life, but when I started wanting better, he started to hate my ass.
“Big bro.” His voice cut through the warehouse. “You still alive? Good. Would’ve been a waste leaving your ass here if you died before I got back. I had to make a few moves to try to see if I could get the drop on your bitch on my own.”
He came around where I could see him. Same Savage—gold teeth flashing, dreads pulled back, eyes colder than I remembered.
He had a duffel bag in one hand, bottle of D’ussé in the other.
Nigga looked like he ain’t slept in two days straight.
And clutched that bottle like his life depended on it.
Nothing had changed. This nigga was a borderline alcoholic since a kid, now I’m sure he may be full blown.
He dropped the bag in front of my chair, took a long pull from the bottle, never broke eye contact with me. Then he smiled, but it wasn’t the kind that reached his eyes. This nigga was evil as hell, and it was written all over his face. The time we’ve spent apart must have only made him colder.
“You know what’s crazy?” He started circling me slow like a shark.
“All those years I spent looking up to you. My big brother Grizzley. The nigga who used to carry those big ass guns to make sure me and Grim made it home safe after pops sent his kids to do a man’s job.
The nigga who took beatings from Pops so we wouldn’t have to. That’s what brothers do, right?”
He stopped in front of me, crouched down real close.
“So why the fuck you up and leave us? When shit got sticky, you dipped like a pussy! You ain’t stay and face the music to even see how shit would have turned out. Then when Grim does find you, you betray the nigga by letting this bitch go, after receiving direct orders to kill her ass.”
I stared at him. Couldn’t do shit else with this tape across my mouth.
My wrists were burning, shoulders screaming, but I ain’t let none of that show in my face.
My baby brother, the nigga that I loved and protected with my life was standing over me like he didn’t know what I’d do to his ass if I was loose.
Savage was hunting for fear, for regret, for something he could use against me. I wasn’t giving him shit.
He stood up, took another drink, then ripped the tape off my mouth in one motion. Felt like my skin came with it but I just rotated my jaw and spit the little bit of blood on the concrete between us.
“Fuck you,” I said, voice rough. “You picking a side Sav, and you know once you cross that line with me, lil ass nigga, you gotta stay there!” I barked through clenched teeth.
One thing I never allowed was a nigga to play with me or try me.
I didn’t give a damn who his mammy was. Savage was treating me like a stranger off the streets, and that’s where we would stand.
No brother of mine would have pulled this! Not with me.
Savage laughed, but it was cold. “There he go. That’s the Grizzley I know. Even tied to this chair, knowing I could end you right here, you still got that same energy.” He shook his head. “I always respected that about you. I knew you still had it in you, fuck nigga!”
“Then untie me so we can handle this.” I said. I wouldn’t kill my brother, but I would definitely beat his ass and show him who big brother was.
“Nah.” He took another swig. “See, that’s where you got me fucked up.
You think ‘cause I got respect for you, I’m supposed to forget you lied?
That you let that bitch Cherish live when Grim specifically told you to murk her?
That because of your pussy ass, our brother, who’s the only nigga I give a fuck about in this world—is out there right now getting tortured by the same bitch whose family he bodied? ”
The smile dropped completely.
“Nah, Griz. We way past that ‘handle this like men’ shit. You made your choice when you decided to save that girl and lie to us about it. Now you gon’ deal with the consequences.”
He walked over to the duffel bag, unzipped it. I heard that sound—money. Stacks of it.
“You know what I been doing for the last twenty-four hours while you been sitting here?” He still wasn’t looking at me.
“Running around this bitch like I lost my goddamn mind trying to scrape together ten million dollars. Ten. Million. Dollars. You understand how much fucking money that is?”
“I know exactly how much it is.” I smugly said.
“Do you though?” Now he turned, and I saw something I ain’t expect—he looked exhausted.
Defeated almost. “I don’t think you understand what you put in motion when you decided to play Captain Save-A-Hoe with this bitch.
She was supposed to be dead. Her whole bloodline was supposed to be erased.
That’s what Grim wanted, and when Grim want something done, it’s for a reason.
He don’t move off emotions. He calculated.
Strategic. Every move he make got purpose.
He knew some shit like this could eventually happen if she was left alive.
Yo tender ass didn’t care about that though.
You must was just thinking with the wrong head. ”
Savage started pacing, that bottle still gripped tight.
“But you?” He pointed at me. “You moved off your dick. Saw a pretty face, heard a sad story about her dead family, and decided to grow a fucking conscience. Now look where we at. Grim missing. Probably getting done dirty by a bitch who watched him kill everybody she loved. A bitch who been planning this shit for who knows how long. A bitch who smart enough, connected enough, and ruthless enough to actually pull off snatching the most dangerous nigga any of us know.”
He stopped pacing, looked dead at me.
“You know what that tells me, Griz? That tells me she ain’t working alone.
She got real muscle. The type of muscle that can move on Grim and actually succeed.
The type of security that can snatch a nigga like him without leaving a trace.
So as much as I wanna just pull up on this bitch with every shooter I got to my name and light that whole shit up, I can’t.
‘Cause I don’t know what I’m walking into.
Don’t know how many people she got. Don’t know what type of setup she running.
And most importantly—” his voice cracked just a little, “—I don’t know if my brother even still breathing or where the hoe holding him at. ”
That last part hit different. I could hear it—the fear hiding under all that anger. Savage ain’t care about much in this world, but he cared about Grim. Always had.
“He alive,” I said. “And I’m sorry to tell you this, but you sound pussy!
Nigga, is you Grim brother or his bitch?
Pick yo nuts up cause this shit is out of hand now.
Be your own man Savage! You don’t have to dick pull that nigga to have your own identity.
What the fuck happened to you?” I asked with a raised brow, knowing that I hit a nerve, but damn I was tired of hearing about muthafuckin Grim.
“Oh, now you got jokes?” Savage snapped, stepping closer.
“You know I’ve been my own man, and standing on all ten!
But I’m still my brother keeper! You know, the brother that never left?
Don’t play with me right now, you ain’t in no position to be playing with me.
Now, how do you know for sure he’s alive? ”
“Yeah, alright nigga!” I said through clinched teeth as I stared a whole into Savage.
This nigga really must have forgotten who I was.
“Think about it. If Cherish wanted Grim dead, she would’ve killed him already and sent pictures of the nigga dead body.
She had the drop. Had the perfect opportunity to blow his brains out and run off into the night.
But she didn’t take it. She snatched him instead.
That means she want more than just his death.
She want him to suffer. Want him to feel every bit of pain she felt watching her family die while also receiving compensation for it. ”
Savage stared at me hard, then nodded slow.
“You right. Which make this shit even more fucked up. A person looking for revenge don’t think straight.
They are emotional. They are reckless. They are unpredictable.
If she got him tied up somewhere, ain’t no telling what shape he in.
No telling what her people doing to my fucking brother right now. ”
He rubbed his face with both hands, and for the first time since he walked in, my little brother looked like he was about to break.
Savage had daddy issues and since Mayhem hated us, he looked to Grim to be his father figure.
Now, I’m seeing things for exactly what they are.
And I almost feel bad for his ass. Savage can’t survive without Grim because he looks to Grim to guide him. This shit was sad as fuck.