Chapter 27
Suited and booted, I stood in the courtyard with my brothers and Mia, smoking a blunt. We were about to ride out to the farmhouse and were waiting for everybody to get here. It would be great if Charity’s ass was there, but Jaeda had been surveying the house all day, and she hadn’t shown up. She overheard one of the guys say she had to go out of town to meet with someone that knew her father.
I wasn’t sure if she was trying to secure a new contract or what, but when she came back, she was gonna be assed out and in these streets alone. I’d been hoping to be able to track her, but it looked like she’d gotten rid of the phone she used to call the burner with.
“I need the rest of these niggas to hurry up,” Smoke mumbled, lighting his own blunt.
“You got somewhere to be?” I asked.
“I might have something to slide up in when we’re done,” he said, grinning. “I’m not trying to keep her waiting.”
“Hos don’t mind waiting,” Mia said. “That’s all you and Steel mess with, anyway.”
“Why are you bringing me into this?” Steel asked. “I ain’t even said nothing.”
Mia rolled her eyes. “You’re sneaky about yours, but we know you love these thots.”
“See, that’s why Titan doesn’t like your ass. You don’t know how to be a lady.”
Mia punched him in the arm. “Fuck you, and fuck Titan too.”
As though she had talked him up, he walked out of the house with Pops and Ms. Maddie, who were both dressed to go.
“Here we go,” Deuce said, rolling his eyes.
Mia scoffed. “Mama! Daddy! What is he doing here!”
“He offered to help,” Ms. Maddie said. “I mean, he’s the reason you all got the live footage. I figured he’d be of good use.”
“Daddy, what happened to not working with outsiders?”
“Titan isn’t really an outsider. I know his people.”
Titan smirked as he walked over to us. “I guess you’re stuck with me, princess.”
Mia glared at him. “I’d rather eat ass.”
She stormed away, leaving the rest of us shaking our heads. Titan pulled the blunt from behind his ear and lit it.
“Y’all’s sister is too damn uptight,” he said.
“Nah,” I said, shaking my head. “Mia has her faults, but if she doesn’t like you, it’s a reason.”
Smoke nodded. “Yeah. She doesn’t fuck with too many people to be having beef with anybody.”
Titan laughed. “I get it. That’s y’all sister. You’ve only had her a few years. I’ve known her practically her whole life. She ain’t innocent.”
“Maybe, but what did you do to her?” Deuce asked, pulling out his gun.
Titan looked down at it, then back to my brother before pulling out his own gun.
“This what we doing?” he asked, with the blunt hanging from his lips.
“It is what it is. Answer my question.”
Titan chuckled. “You don’t know your sister, my nigga. Not like I do. She might be able to play y’all for fools, but she and I both know what it really is. Furthermore, I’m not answering questions from another grown ass man about what me and my dick do.”
Deuce pointed the gun at his head. “Watch ya fucking mouth.”
“I’m not watching shit, and I’m not ducking no smoke. Mia’s grown like the rest of us. Trust me, your sister doesn’t need a savior. She wears those big girl panties very well, you feel me?”
Smoke pulled his gun out next. “The fuck you just say? Did you forget where you were? You gon’ fuck around and not be able to leave this compound. Don’t end up another missing face in the news.”
Titan laughed. “That’s a war you don’t want.”
“Just like you, we don’t duck no smoke.”
“All right, that’s enough!” my father snapped, coming over and pushing them apart. “Put the damn guns away. This isn’t the time for a dick swinging contest. We have shit to do.”
Deuce and Titan glared at each other, but both tucked their guns away.
“Don’t speak to or on my sister,” Deuce warned him.
“Please. Nobody is worried about Mia’s petty ass. Tell her not to speak to me . She hates me, but she can’t keep her ass out of my space. Don’t let that fake shit fool you. And let me make one thing clear. The next time you pull a gun on me, my nigga, you better be ready to bust that bitch.”
“You ain’t said shit but a word. I’m always down to shoot.”
Ms. Maddie came over and pulled Titan away. “Let me talk to you.”
“I don’t like that nigga,” Deuce said. “I’ma put a bullet in his ass before it’s all said and done.”
I shook my head. I could agree with him. There was something off about Titan. I could see the recklessness Ms. Maddie described. Here he was in a pack of wolves, all by himself, ready to show his ass with no fear in his heart. He might be a little crazy, and that seemed to be right up Mia’s lane.
“All right,” Pops said, pulling on his skull cap. “Load up. Nobody in that house or on those grounds walks away alive. Tonight is the beginning of the end of this shit.”
We all nodded in agreement. As we headed for the vans, I just hoped this shit didn’t backfire.
Thirty minutes later
We left the main highway and veered off onto a backroad. The farm sat on five acres of land, all fenced in. The back road ran behind the property and was the perfect place to park. It was around eleven and pitch-black outside. The tall brush behind the house made it easy to conceal ourselves.
Jaeda confirmed that every face we’d seen on camera was inside, and there were about fifteen of them. As we hopped out of the vans with our weapons, we saw another vehicle we didn’t recognize approaching.
Everyone drew their guns, prepared to fire one off on the intruders.
“Relax,” Titan said, going toward the blacked-out SUV. “It’s just my team.”
“You scared to be out here with us by yourself?” Mia taunted.
“Never that. The fuck I look like being scared of a nigga that bleeds the same as me? You know better than that. Just like your people are protective of you, mine are protective of me. That includes your grandfather. He sent them.”
Mia mumbled something under her breath. Five men got out of the SUV and approached us, all of them giving us a head nod. They dapped Titan and gave Maddie a hug as soon as she went over.
She introduced them. “Y’all, this is Romero, DaVinci, Silas, Noah, and Booker. These are my babies. I trained them all.”
“Nice to see you again, fellas,” Pops said.
“Good to see you, Senior,” DaVinci said. “Mr. James sends his regards.” He tapped Titan’s arm. “Yo, Q’s been watching the cameras. He said if we’re gonna move, it’s now or never because they are about to load up. That woman gave them orders to pick up a shipment.”
Just as he said that, Jaeda came through on our earpieces with the same message. She also let us know that she had the local police dispatched to the location provided.
“Showtime,” Pops said.
We all dapped each other up before making our way through the brush. As we got closer, I could hear voices out front. Scaling the side of the house, I made out about five men headed toward the barn. Maddie and Mia got in to position to take them out, but before they could, Titan and his boys lined them up and laid them down, one by one.
“Show off,” Mia mumbled.
“Only for you, baby.”
Pops motioned for us to head inside. Titan and his crew took the back while we took the front. Without hesitating, Deuce kicked in the front door, and we stormed the place. Frantic footsteps could be heard scattering about. We spread out to cover the space. The only thing I could hear was body after body hitting the ground with a thud.
“The fuck you think you going!” I yelled at one of the men trying to hop out of a window.
Grabbing him by his shirt, I yanked him back inside and threw him to the floor.
“Please, man. I’ll tell you whatever you want. Just don’t kill?—”
I popped him in the mouth with the butt of my gun. “Shut the fuck up. Since you wanna be a snitch ass nigga, I’ma take you up on that offer. Get the fuck up.”
I grabbed him up from the floor and dragged him into the dining room. Shoving him down in a chair, I trained my rifle on him.
“Where is that bitch?”
“She ain’t here?—”
I hit him with the gun again. “I know she ain’t here, nigga! Where the fuck is she!”
“She went back home to Johnsville. Something to do with her dad.”
“When will she be back?”
“Two days,” he answered as everyone filed into the room.
“Y’all got them?” I asked.
Pops nodded. “Everybody that was in the house. Titan and his boys are sweeping the grounds for strays. What’s he talking about?”
“He offered to tell us whatever we wanna know.” I turned back to the guy. “Where does she rest her head while she’s here?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. She was always with Blane. She-she killed him.”
“You got access to her?”
He nodded frantically as he reached into his pocket and produced a cell phone.
“She only communicates with us through text when she’s not here.”
“Bet.”
I snatched the phone, then put a hot one in his head. Pulling out my phone, I called our connect down at the police station and let him know to keep the bust quiet. I didn’t need anybody tipping Charity’s ass off. Titan walked in through the back door.
“Anybody else out there?” I asked.
“There was one trying to hide, but I got him. Y’all might wanna see this shit, though.”
We all looked around at each other before following him out back. He led us down a short trail to where his crew was standing around what looked like an old storm shelter in the ground.
Upon looking inside, we were greeted by the eyes of six women looking back at us in total fear. The women all looked like they were going to or coming from the club. I could tell they’d been down here a few days. Makeup was running. Hair was matted. The smell coming from below was unpleasant, to say the least.
“Shit,” my father mumbled. He squatted to address the women. “What are your names?”
They looked from him to each other but remained quiet. Maddie came through with that motherly tone and went down into the shelter with them.
“My name is Maddie,” she said softly. “These are the good guys, I promise. I know you’ve probably been through something traumatic, but it’s all over now. We just want to get you out of here. Can you tell me your names?”
One of the girls went to speak, but the others shook their heads at her.
“I want to go home,” she told them. She looked back at Maddie. “I’m Alyssa. That’s Charlette, Sierra, Michelle, Jerika, and Casey.”
Maddie smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, given the circumstances.”
“I heard gunshots…” Alyssa said. “Are they all dead?”
Maddie nodded. “The woman too?”
“Is that who brought you here?”
She nodded. “We don’t know each other; we just have the same story. We met her in the club at separate times. She said she was celebrating her birthday alone and invited each of us to join her. She seemed so nice. I guess she slipped something in our drinks. All I remember was feeling lightheaded. She offered to help me to the bathroom, and the next thing I knew, I woke up in the back of a van with them.” She pointed at the other girls.
“Well, don’t worry,” Maddie assured them. “We’re gonna get you out of here and back home. Do you want to come out or wait until the police get here?”
The girls all looked at each other.
“We’ll wait for the police,” Alyssa answered.
Maddie nodded before climbing the stairs back up. Pops was already on the phone, making the arrangements, again, ensuring it was kept quiet.
“She’s got to be desperate,” Smoke said. “Snatching up locals?”
“And nobody is reporting these girls missing,” Mia added.
Maddie shook her head. “I bet they are. They just aren’t getting the coverage they would if their skin was another color. You know how many of us go missing and it’s never shared on a national level? This is why your father does what he does the way he does it.”
Everybody nodded in agreement. We were unorthodox like a muthafucka, but there was a very clear reason why we moved the way we did. You didn’t accumulate power by playing nice, and it damn sure wasn’t by playing fair.