Chapter 4
Shio Cuppacio
Solana came out of the house different than when she went in.
Her hair was now pulled in a big ball on the top of her head.
Her makeup had been scrubbed away, leaving her face bare and her nose shiny.
The smeared tint on her pouty lips had been replaced with clear gloss, and the green dress she had worn previously had been exchanged for black athletic leggings and a matching jacket that she had zipped up to the neck.
On her feet were a pair of black Crocs. The outfit looked like she would have to cut herself out of it.
Snapping my head from her fucked up ass, I put the car in reverse before she could hop in since I’d already opened the door.
The softness of her perfume as she closed herself inside the car made me want to tell her to go back in the house and rub it off.
I didn’t want her in my fucking head, and there was something about her scent that put her there.
I didn’t know what Don had going on and didn’t care; I needed to get to my child.
I had a daughter.
I couldn’t help but wonder what she looked like, what her name was, what her birthday was, or what she was like.
Was she more like her mother or me? Bahati and I had some good times, even though I wouldn’t call what we had a relationship.
Her father was our connect, and she was convenient pussy.
Our arrangement should have never ended with us sharing a child.
I wanted to wring Bahati’s neck, but this time, I would succeed in actually killing her ass for hiding my daughter.
I’d hear her out, but only because our last encounter didn’t go so well.
I couldn’t say I blamed her for hiding our child away. The shit was fucked up, though.
The drive was silent, but internally, my thoughts were loud.
I did one hundred miles per hour the entire way there and couldn’t remember most of the drive.
I put everything I’d just learned at Ines’ crib in the last hour to the back of my mind.
None of that was important right now. By the time we made it to what looked like an abandoned shopping plaza, Solana’s sleepy, tweaking ass had dozed off again.
Instead of waking her, I hopped out of the car and grabbed the vests from the duffel bag from the back seat.
By the time I rounded the car and tossed the duffel on the hood, Solana was popping her head up from the passenger seat.
Her eyes were red, and for the life of me, I couldn’t understand how she was tired after sleeping the whole fucking flight.
If it had been me that my father admitted to auctioning off, I’d be spitting nails.
She exited the car, standing a small distance away from me with her arms folded underneath her breast. Her eyes scanned the parking lot, which was void of cars or pedestrians.
There must’ve been nine storefronts connected in the plaza, and all of them had boarded windows and chained doors.
Unzipping the duffel, I removed the Draco resting on top and set it on the warm hood.
Underneath the gun were two vests. Turning to Solana, I opened the vest and jutted my chin.
I could see the fear in her eyes, but she knew better than to speak.
She spread her arms, and I slid the vest on.
Once it was secured, I added my own, removing the leather jacket intended for date night.
I checked my gun and rested it on my shoulder.
With the duffel in hand, I walked up the cracked concrete of the plaza.
Since my legs were longer, Solana had to skip in order to keep up. The brisk movement stirred her scent, and my aggravation peaked. I needed to be focused on what I was about to do. I started to turn to her and tell her to wait in the car, but she beat me to speaking.
“Umm… Do you know which one to go in?” she asked.
Clenching my jaw, I walked past the first two doors that were chained before cutting my eyes toward her. “The one that doesn’t have chained doors.”
From the plaza’s layout, it was obvious that it was the biggest store, sitting dead in the center of all the surrounding stores. There wasn’t but one light pole in the parking lot, and the stars and moon above guided us.
“So, you don’t have any backup? Just us… Walking in the doors that aren’t chained? We go in there and what? Shio, this is suicide.”
Grinding my teeth together, I let Solana’s words go over my head.
I knew this plan wasn’t the wisest, but it was what I had.
I could have easily had her father’s guards accompany us, but if they flipped on Ines, they could very well flip on me.
The most I used them for was to get me these weapons and the car.
“Stay behind me, Solana.”
“You’re not giving me a gun?”
“Can you shoot?” I asked, keeping my stride, and my head swiveled. “Thought so. Here.”
Sticking my hand into the duffel, I pulled out the tool and handed it to her.
“?En realidad? (Really?)”
Instead of replying, I checked our surroundings again as we neared the entrance.
“?Una linterna, Shio? (A flashlight, Shio?)”
Approaching the door, which was worn down wood and burgundy in color, I said in a whisper, “Point it when I say so.”
She couldn’t shoot, and she was coming off a cocaine high. If I handed her a gun, she’d fuck around and shoot her damn self. I wasn’t the slightest bit worried about her shooting me. Solana would never point no toolie at me, and I could bet on that.
Lifting my foot, I rammed it into the door, knocking it off the hinges.
The smell of water, sewage, and something dead hung in the air as I let the gun lead the way.
It was pitch dark inside, but I could sense bodies.
I hadn’t seen the blueprints to know the lay out—another thing that had me feeling off my square.
“Turn on the flashlight.”
I could hear Solana’s breathing as I focused on everything around us.
The flashlight clicked and when she lifted it, I pulled Solana behind me, rotating my gun.
“Cuando mi hermano me dijo que eras valiente, no podía creerlo. Tenía que verlo con mis propios ojos. (When my brother told me you were brave, I couldn’t believe it. I had to see it with my own eyes.)”
The voice got closer, and we came face-to-face with a stockier Felipe.
He looked a year or two younger but just as bitch-ass as his brother.
He wasn’t alone, though. My eyes trailed the appearing bodies.
We were surrounded by about fifty armed Hispanics, give or take a few.
I was outnumbered, as I expected, but I held my head high, kept my spine straight, and my chest out.
I aimed my gun at the ringleader and his weak-ass crew.
Every time I moved my gun, Solana moved the flashlight while staying behind my back.
Looking around, I was pissed that I hadn’t let my team accompany me, but this was my mess.
I just needed to figure out how to clean it up without dying and getting Solana killed.
Pointing my gun back to this chubby, 6ix9ine-looking nigga, I grinned. Felipe’s brother was at least a whole foot shorter than me, with a buzz cut and tattoos all over his face. All he needed was the colored lace front and he’d be closer in resemblance to the rapper than Felipe.
“Me no speak no Espanol, bitch-ass nigga.”
He chuckled, lifted his hand, and snapped his finger.
The lights came on with a low rumble, and I immediately scanned the space to see if I could find Bahati.
Having no sight of her, I mapped out the visible exits.
There was a long hall to the left with closed doors, so I assumed that’s where Bahati and our child were.
Now that there was light, it was easy to see this place had been a restaurant once upon a time.
There were tables with chairs stacked on top of them in a far right corner, and there was a bar behind me to the left.
I could also see a kitchen beyond the bar.
There is an exit in the kitchen. Has to be.
He stared at me with amusement, like I wouldn’t pull this trigger even with fifty other guns pointed at me. That shit didn’t move me one way or another. I noticed when his attention moved from me to Solana. She still had the flashlight pointed at him, and his smile fell.
“Sabes, ?verdad? Que mi hermano se case contigo no va a impedir que todos te follemos por todos los agujeros, ?verdad? (You do know, my brother marrying you isn’t going to stop us all from fucking you in every hole. Right?)”
I didn’t take my eyes off him, even though he was staring at Solana as if she were fresh meat. Her body was still protected by me, but she had her head curled around my shoulder so she could follow me with the flashlight.
“?Eliges a este negro de mierda por encima de nosotros? Vas a desear no haberlo hecho. (You choose this piece-of-shit black nigger over us? You’re going to wish you hadn’t.)”
I could feel Solana tense, so I used my free hand to pull her from my back and brought her to my front, keeping my gun aimed. The duffel was crossed over my chest, so she wasn’t being used as a shield. I needed her to stay focused. If she succumbed to her fear, she’d die in this building today.
“Where they at?” I said before tapping Solana’s hip so that she could translate. His brother didn’t know I could speak Spanish, and I didn’t want his fat ass to know either.
She shuddered, swallowed, and tilted her head as I watched chubster becoming infuriated about our closeness.
“?Dónde están su hija y su madre? (Where is his daughter and her mother?)”
His grin spread again, revealing two open-faced gold teeth. “Solana, esta es tu última oportunidad para venir. De lo contrario, morirás esta noche. (Solana, this is your last chance to come. Otherwise, you'll die tonight.)”
“What he say?” I asked.
Solana cleared her throat. “Nothing… But they are indeed alive.”