Chapter 20
TWO WEEKS LATER
“I can’t believe y’all muthafuckas got engaged two weeks ago and getting married today,” Deuce fussed, adjusting his tie. “I know this shit with them niggas is pressing, but goddamn.”
“What the hell are you complaining for? You didn’t have to do shit.”
“Nigga, I showed up. And I look better than you at your own wedding.”
I shook my head. They’d been on my ass since we announced the wedding date. I understood. I knew it was quick, but shit, what did we need to wait for? Once we gave Salima the date and my card, she made the calls to the vendors she worked with… after cursing us both out for making her have to work extra hard for the last-minute plans.
Then we had to hear Deuce’s mouth about the same shit. He said he didn’t need his wife stressed while he was actively trying to give her baby number two. To alleviate some of the work, he’d offered to have LeAnn help her, but Salima shut that down. There wasn’t really beef between the two women anymore, but Salima didn’t fuck with her based on their history.
“Over my dead body will that woman come into my shit, telling me what to do. I don’t work for you anymore, so there is nothing stopping me from kicking her ass this time.”
He conceded but demanded I pay her extra for the inconvenience, which I had no problem doing. Even though she was family and Shar was her best friend, I’d never stiff her on a job. If it would make Stanley Jr. be quiet, I’d pay her double.
Speaking of quiet, things had been quiet… too damn quiet, and it led me to believe that some shit was going to pop off soon. Blane nor Charity had been spotted anywhere. Not a slipup. Not a peep. Not a hair left behind. Nothing. We had our street team heavy on the lookout for their faces or his car, but nothing had been reported.
I was getting anxious to put a bullet in both of those bastards. On top of that, Zeno was still missing. I’d lost all hope of him being found and returned to his family. It was a sad case, and I just prayed like hell that the rest of the guys were being safe. I’d invited them to the wedding, but I wasn’t sure if they would show up.
“Look alive, muthafuckas!” Smoke said, coming through my front door. He had a bottle of liquor in one hand and a blunt in the other. “It’s your wedding day, so I’ma let you live, but once this shit is over, I’m on your ass for throwing this together so damn fast. You know I’m a big nigga. It takes time to find a good suit that fits me.”
“Then get your fat ass in the gym, big boy,” I said, slapping his stomach.
“I’m sure one of the women has a pair of Spanx he can borrow,” Steel said, cackling.
“Why don’t you ask one of your women,” Smoke shot back. “You know you like ’em plush.”
“I sure the fuck do,” Steel said. “Ain’t nothing better than a plush pal. My girls don’t need shapewear. I was built to handle every pound, you feel me?”
Smoke laughed. “I feel you, man. You know I don’t discriminate. If my lady wanted to wear that shit, I’d be right there pulling on that bitch to help her get it on. Suck it in, bae!”
“Y’all are ignorant as hell,” Deuce said, snatching the liquor bottle from Smoke. “That’s why neither one of you have a woman.”
Both of my brothers scoffed.
Steel pointed at Deuce. “This man. He gets married and acts like he wasn’t a ho too. A trick ass ho at that. Aye, man, how is Santana?”
Deuce hurled a pillow at his face. “Fuck you.”
We all shared a laugh. This was how it went every time we got together… well, when we weren’t arguing. Most times, we were laughing at each other’s expense. It was all in good fun, though.
I finished putting on the rest of my suit and turned to face them.
“Do I look ready to walk down the aisle or what?”
“You casket sharp,” Smoke said, slapping my shoulder with a laugh. “Nah, for real. You’re a handsome nigga.”
“He a’ight,” Deuce said, grinning.
I flipped him off as he poured us all a shot. With glasses raised, Deuce offered a speech.
“All right, y’all niggas, get serious for a second,” he said. “I know we bump heads. Sometimes I wanna put a bullet in y’all’s asses, but I’d lay down anybody over each of you. We ain’t too far apart in age, but I take my role as the oldest brother seriously. I love y’all. At the end of the day, we’re family. Ain’t nothing more important or deeper than that.”
We all nodded in agreement as we clinked our glasses and took the shot to the head. Steel put on some music to get us in the zone for the day. The sounds of “Fireman” by Lil Wayne blared through the speaker as we sparked up another blunt. It wasn’t long before our father pulled up on us, along with Uncle Blake and his sons.
It was like a party in my living room, minus the girls. I was genuinely happy right now. I was surrounded by family, and in less than two hours, I was going to be a married man. If that wasn’t worth a celebration, I didn’t know what was.
The wedding was set to start in about an hour, so we piled into the cars and headed to Iconic . Salima said the decorators had been working around the clock to make sure everything was perfect. She’d been here most of the morning to oversee the process. Even though we had an impeccable wedding planner, she knew Shar best, so of course she wanted to make sure our day went without a hitch. When we pulled into the parking lot, there were already a few cars there.
Climbing out, we all gathered together.
I had to admit that we were a bunch of handsome ass niggas. I’d heard women compliment us on several occasions, saying, “Damn, the whole family fine as hell.” The shit always made me laugh. One wouldn’t think that behind these expensive suits were a whole lineage of savages.
“Y’all, bow your heads,” my father instructed. “We’re gonna say a word of prayer before we walk in here. I know that’s funny coming from me. I know I ain’t the blueprint on marriage?—”
Uncle Blake snorted. “How are you gonna be the blueprint for something you never had?”
My father glared at him. “How is Tisha, my nigga?”
Tisha was Uncle Blake’s on and off again jump-off. She’d been around for years, and everybody knew about her, including my aunt Jeanie. She stayed around and had been loyal for too many years. Quiet as it was kept, Jeanie had a side nigga of her own a little while back. That was until my uncle caught wind of it and put a bullet in his head. Now he and Jeanie were beefing. She’d moved in with my grandparents and everything.
“Fuck you,” Uncle Blake said.
“Nah, you wanna be funny? Let’s be hilarious, or shut the fuck up. You get on my damn nerves. Got me being hostile when I’m trying to speak to the Lord about my son.”
We were all cracking up. He fussed at us about always fighting with each other when we got it from them.
“Y’all chill out, man,” I said, holding back my laughter. “Go on, Pops.”
“As I was saying,” he continued. “I know I’m not the blueprint on marriage or women in general, but I want my sons to be better than me with their wives. Deuce, you’ve really stepped up with Salima, and I’m proud of you. Maceo, I know you will do the same.”
“He doesn’t have a choice,” Steel said, grinning. “Shar got this nigga by the balls.”
Smoke laughed. “Any woman that makes a man propose twice knows she has the upper hand.”
I raised my hands in mock surrender. “My baby can have whatever she wants. Luckily, she’s marrying a man with the means to provide her every want and need. I take care of her, and she takes care of me.”
“As it should be,” my father agreed. “Bow your heads.”
As we went to bow our heads, I saw a car roll up out of my peripheral. I looked up as it came to a stop. My hand went to my waist for my gun, until the doors opened, and out stepped Tiny, Sloan, and Miko.
“Who them niggas?” Deuce asked.
“The crew,” I answered.
“So you invited our opps to your wedding?” Smoke asked.
“They ain’t the opps. We’re on the same side, just different teams. They are legit, and they’ve been loyal to me, so show them some respect, man.”
He kissed his teeth. “Go on and bring the niggas over.”
I shook my head as I made my way toward the car. As I was approaching, I got this weird ass feeling. Something in me felt off. The sound of an engine revving caused the four of us to turn our heads. A blacked-out SUV came barreling down the street. Before I knew it, bullets started flying, and people were screaming and running. I ducked behind a car and retrieved my gun from the holster.
From my peripheral, I could see my family had taken cover and drawn their weapons too. The SUV came to a screeching stop, and once again, it was raining bullets. Looking over the car, I saw about five masked men with AK-47 shotguns. I silently cursed when I saw Miko and Tiny’s bodies on the ground riddled with bullet holes right in front of their car.
“Fuck!”
One of the masked men went for Sloan, who was trying to drag his body to safety. Aiming my gun, I gave him a headshot, causing his body to drop to the ground. The return fire from my side was just as heavy as the bullets flying at us. Three more headshots followed, but I wasn’t sure which of my family members got them. The last remaining gunmen ran back to the SUV and jumped inside. I thought they would have pulled off instantly, but it sat there for a moment.
The next thing I knew, something was thrown from the back before the car screeched away. With my gun at my side, I made my way over to Sloan, who I was sure was bleeding out. He lay against the back of the car with shallow breathing, clutching his stomach. Blood poured from his mouth as he struggled to speak.
He grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly.
“I got you, man,” I said, knowing he wasn’t going to make it through this. “I’m right here with you.”
My chest tightened as moments passed, and he took his final breath. Swallowing hard, I closed his eyelids and stood to my feet. My brothers were busy checking the masked gunmen as I walked back over to them. That was when I noticed what was thrown from the SUV. Slowly walking over, I peered down at the body of a shirtless Zeno, severely mutilated.
By looking at him, I could tell they’d tortured the man for days on end. His eyes had been removed from their sockets, and fingers were missing. There were several gashes and burns riddling the exposed skin. The long gash traveling the length of his chest and stomach told me his internal organs had been removed as well.
“Shit…” Deuce mumbled, standing next to me.
I took off my suit jacket and placed it over Zeno’s body. People were already standing around looking, and I didn’t want him seen like that.
“Fuck, man,” I mumbled, kneeling over his body.
“We are gonna get these muthafuckas, bruh,” Deuce assured me, resting a hand on my shoulder.
I shook my head. I wasn’t a heartless man. It was fucking me up that minus Shar and me, my whole team was dead, and their blood was on my hands. True, they knew what dangers we were up against, and they could have said no to joining me, but I recruited them. I knew what kind of people they were, and now they were dead because of me.
All of a sudden, I heard ringing coming from beneath the jacket. My brows furrowed as I lifted it and pulled out what I knew was a burner phone. A blocked number flashed across the screen. I looked from the phone to my brother.
“Answer it,” he said.
I pressed the answer button and placed it on speakerphone. For a moment, the line was quiet before the sound of giggling came through the other end of the line.
“Did you like my gift, handsome?”
“Charity?”
“Awww, you recognize my voice. How sweet. You know, you looked so damn good in that suit. I hated to have to bloody it up.”
“You’re a dead bitch. When I get my hands on you, I’m gonna make what you did to Zeno look like slight work.”
She laughed. “Oooo… that made my pussy wet. Don’t tempt me with a good time, love. I knew there was an animal inside you.”
“Why don’t you tell me where you are so you can see just how much of an animal I really am?”
“Mmmm… nah. I don’t think so. Not just yet. I haven’t had my fun playing with you just yet. I mean, your team is gone, so that just leaves you and Shar. I have special plans for that loudmouthed bitch. You can watch if you want. I love an audience.”
“Just tell me. Where do you fit into all of this?”
She laughed again. “You’ll find out soon enough. Bye, darling. Oh, and if you don’t want to join your little friends, I suggest you back away from the body.”
The phone line went dead, and immediately following, I heard beeping coming from Zeno.
“Yo, we gotta fucking move,” Deuce said, snatching me up. He damn near dragged me away while yelling for everybody to follow suit. No sooner had we made it to a safe distance was there a loud explosion followed by screams and people fleeing the scene.
“Was that a fucking bomb!” Smoke yelled. “They put a fucking bomb in a body!”
I looked back at the scene as I tried to catch my breath. The impact looked like some shit straight from a movie. I’d seen a lot, but I’d never seen some shit like this. For the first time, I felt like we might be in a little over our heads.