Fifty-Eight
The gas pedal is touching the floor beneath my foot as my man holds on to the oh shit handle for dear life in the passenger seat beside me. Dylan is shouting for me to slow down from somewhere in the back of the car, but I barely hear him.
My mind is far away from here, and I’m back in New York.
My heart is racing a mile a minute, and I’m breaking every traffic law.
I have a million reasons to hate Valentine already, and she just added another bullet point to the list. I know that she and her hockey boyfriend backed out on purpose to fuck us over.
They never had any intention of following through with our deal. I promised them that I’d shoot her, and I’m going to make good on that shit now. She may not keep her fucking word, but I sure as hell do. I gave them a chance, and to be completely honest, that bitch has been on borrowed time.
I can see Alvino’s shop up ahead, but there’s no light on in the building. I don’t know if they’re too chicken shit to show themselves or if Val has disappeared again, but I head there anyway.
“Mama, slow down!” Gabe shouts. He’s reaching for the wheel and demanding that I stop the car, but I’m too far gone.
She’s taken EVERYTHING from me. My dad, years with my man, my money, and my life–now I’m going to take hers.
I don’t care that she’s his cousin. She sure as fuck didn’t care when he got locked up.
She owes me for everything she’s stolen from me. Today, she pays one way or the other.
I slam on the brakes, and the tires seize up as I see a black silhouette moving in the shadows of a building just down the road from the tattoo shop.
I saw it in her eyes, the moment that the game ended.
She thought that she could get away from me again, but there’s nowhere she could go to hide from me this time.
I’d chase her back to New York if I had to.
The back passenger door opens behind me before I even come to a complete stop, and my hands start to shake.
I don’t know who Dylan thinks he is, trying to steal my retribution, but he needs to get in line.
Loyalty is important, but from the body-cam footage we all watched, his friend deserved what he got.
Val and I have a score to settle that goes back for years, and I’m here to win.
“You fucking bitch!” Dylan screams out into the night as he sprints to the back of the building. Gabe and I are on foot, following them both now, but he’s further ahead. We make it to the back alleyway, just as a motion sensor light flips on at the back door of the building beside us.