Chapter 25 #6
A white fur ball stood a few feet from the truck that was now slowing down.
I was panicking because the puppy and me was in danger.
When another lion walked from the grass shadows, I tried to jump into the driver’s seat to get the truck to pick up speed again.
The lion sauntered to the other lion, and side by side, I could see these were mating lions.
These niggas were about to tag team me.
Arf Arf
Well, they may maul the dog first, I thought as I looked back and forth between the lions and the white furball.
I wanted to shout for the dog to shut the fuck up, but Scarlett hollered through the truck speakers first. “Oh my God! How did a puppy get in there?”
“Get in here? Da fuck you mean, cuz. Somebody left dey dog out here. Probably did it runnin’ from dese big muthafuckas! What I do know is dis lil’ nigga betta run!”
Both lions began to walk, then trot, and then broke into a full gallop in the direction of the miniature dog.
The puppy was as clueless as my ass was when I woke up in the copter, racing across the savannah.
It must’ve thought it was vacation with the way it looped around the trees and in and out of the tall grass.
The truck began to accelerate, again, matching my racing heart.
My pants felt wet, and it had to be from that salty ocean water because I knew I hadn’t peed on myself.
Shit, I hoped I hadn't peed on myself. The truck drove into the tree line, and when I was about to curse, it kept driving. It didn’t stop, going over a bridge that went across a big-ass river.
I prayed the fucking truck didn’t stop or slow down again.
After dodging those lions, we rode through the fucking deserts out of The Mummy, and when my ears started ringing from the sands singing, I passed out.
When I woke up, I was covered in sweat from the heat.
I was mad as fuck that the expensive-ass truck didn’t have any fucking air conditioning.
I stripped down to my damn boxers and immediately regretted the shit when the truck rolled into the tundra.
I had never shivered the way I was in the truck as it glided over ice.
I struggled to get my pants back on, and when four polar bears spotted me, another chase began.
Scarlett was still asking if I saw the puppy, and I told her ass that I wouldn’t be able to find no damn white puppy on ice and snow.
The polar bears were able to knock the truck across the ice a few times, and I was positive that I’d pissed myself this time more than once.
Whatever money Don paid for this truck, though, was well worth it.
After every tumble, the truck rolled back onto its wheels and raced forward.
When we began rolling up a steep hill, I was ready to say fuck all this shit again.
We’d been in the damn Jeep an hour, and I was done being the prey to all these predators.
I ain’t even have my brothers or the Cuppacios to help me navigate this shit.
The truck started fighting to grip the rocky terrain, the engine whining like it had been through enough, just like I had.
The altitude fog started to surround the beat-up truck, too thick to see through, blinding me to the road in front of us.
I knew we were ascending a winding road from the way the truck jerked from left to right, and I was low-key praying that this bitch didn’t tilt wrong because I knew it’d be endgame for my ass.
Just when the engine gave way, the truck dropped.
“Oh fuckkkkk! Scarletttttt!”
“I’m here, cousin. Just eating my fruit bowl. Everything is fine. You should be at the school… Right about… Now!”
The Jeep bounced as it hit the pavement, the fog evaporating as the surroundings now showed we’d made it back to civilization. Gawking at what appeared to be a school building that the truck had landed in front of, I sat still on high alert.
Did my ass just fall from a fucking mountain?
The doors to the vehicle popped open, and I slowly scanned the area, unsure of what to believe. However, I wasn’t taking any fucking chances. I’d seen too much shit within the last few hours and multiple habitats.
“We have come to the end of the training. You may enter the school for debriefing, Tunan.”
All I had wanted to do was scare Stella’s ass, and in turn, I’d gotten turned every fucking which way but loose.
I’d been the motherfucker that bitch niggas were scared of, but I was skittish as hell during whatever the fuck this shit was.
I should have kept my black ass at the fucking gender reveal instead of trying to get even with that skank.
Knowing Don, though, he would’ve snatched my ass from wherever I was, just as he’d done when Shio had to go in that pyramid.
Easing out of the truck, I scanned the areas again before pulling my pants, shoes, and socks from the truck floor.
I was in my damn drawers, running into the building, not knowing what I was running to.
The waxy scent of crayons and the chemical smell of markers filled the air.
Cool air brushed my skin as the metal door shut behind me, causing me to jump.
The lighting wasn’t as bright as outside had been, but it was stark enough against the white walls.
Making a left, since that was the only way I could go, I began the trudge down the hallway that was lined with mini burgundy lockers.
Ssssssss
“Ahhhhhhhhhh! What da fuck!” My fucking soul jumped out of my body as I hit the ground and backed against the locker. “Ahhhhhhhh! Fuck nawl! We already been to da swamp!”
Icy fear twisted around my heart as a massive anaconda dropped from the ceiling with its mouth wide open, looking as if it could fit my entire body inside.
My throat was sore and hoarse from screaming since I was dropped from the plane.
I was swearing like a bitch in this school, but I didn’t care.
A fucking anaconda was right in front of me like it lived here.
Arf Arf Arf
I know that ain’t that fucking white furball from the savannah.
The puppy trotted down the hallway, jumping in front of me as if he wasn’t running through the grasslands just hours ago.
Using my foot, I nudged his ass in front of the anaconda.
I didn’t know how he’d escaped the lion and made it all the fucking way in the same building I was in on those short-ass legs, but he'd been an offering from God to save myself.
The puppy leaped forward, and I was already gagging because I knew the snake eating his ass was going to be gruesome. When the puppy jumped onto the snake and landed on his feet but appeared inside the snake, my mouth clammed shut.
“What da–“
Clap Clap Clap
Don appeared in the snake’s mouth, clapping as he walked forward, toward me.
“It’s a holographic. See…” He swiped his hand, and the snake disappeared.
My eyes shifted from him to the puppy, who was looking at me as if I was the fucking crazy one.
“Dat shit looked real as fuck! Like, what da fuck is wrong witcho ass, mane!”
Don stuffed his hands in his pockets as if his ass didn’t just push me off the plane hours ago. The thought of that shit had me ready to square up with his ass, but the thought of more animals appearing from the cut made me cringe, so I remained on the floor against the lockers.
“Congratufuckinglations. You have made it out alive, fuck nigga. Welcome to the mob.”
“Shiddd, you already welcomed me, I thought. All dis shit wasn’t even necessary.”
“I welcomed your wife, nigga. You had to pass these fuckin’ challenges first, like the other Cuppacios. And I added on a few other shit to test out what Preston been working on.”
I slowly stood, not caring that I was only in my underwear. Finally allowing myself a moment to calm down, my body instantly began to ache and burn from all the cuts and bruises I’d gotten through the challenges, as Don called them.
He chuckled as he bent down and picked up the puppy. “I didn’t think you had it in ya, but you Cuppacios gotta be made of gorilla balls because y’all continue to beat destiny. Somebody should’ve died by now.”
“Dat shit ain’t cool. I almost fuckin’ died ’bout seven times.”
“You know what ain’t cool, nigga? You leaving a fuckin’ mob event to go do some shit that could’ve got your black ass sent back to prison.”
“I ain’t know I had to clear my personal affairs with you.”
“You wanna be rich?”
“Duh, nigga.”
“Well, you gotta clear that shit through me. Anything you do can come back to me, Payne.”
“It was a fuckin’ gender reveal with dicks hangin’ errwhere.”
“And titties slangin’ too. It was still mob shit, and you went to see bout that sour-ass hoe.”
Arf Arf
The puppy barked as if it were agreeing with Don.
Leaning against the locker, I closed my eyes. I couldn’t believe what the fuck I’d just gone through, and now I was standing here, damn near naked, being lectured like a fucking child.
“Aye.”
“Yeah, nigga?” I said, keeping my eyes closed. I was done using these bitches for today.
“Leave that hoe alone. You ’bout to end yo’ freedom for them cloudy-ass diamonds she stole and stale-ass pussy she toting. Lock the fuck in, twin.”
Don turned on his feet, dress shoes clacking on the waxed floors.
Arf
The puppy was basically telling my ass goodbye because when I finally opened my eyes, they both were gone.
All I could do was thank God that I’d made it out alive.
Thinking back on everything, I didn’t know what obstacle had scared me more, but I knew now that I had no reason to fear man.
If I’d learned anything, I learned that man was prey no matter what habitat you dropped that motherfucker in.
I was still mad with Shio, but I should’ve known after the pyramids that Don was bound to do some shit like this.
Pushing off the lockers, I limped my ass back out of the school building. The parking lot was empty, the beat-up Jeep was gone, but sitting directly in front of the doors, the engine already cranked, was the Ferrari that Don refused to take back.
“Dis muthafucka,” I said, opening the door and slowly dropping myself inside. “Fuck nigga swear he dat nigga—I’m dat nigga.” I adjusted the rearview mirror and got a good look at my face. Instead of grimacing at how horrible I looked, I smiled as if I had just won the lottery. In a way, I had.
“We in dere!” I was officially in the Rinaldi Mob, and I could smell the money already.