22. As Good as Dead
Twenty-Two
As Good as Dead
DESTINY
AFew Hours Earlier
“Girl, thanks for coming out with me! I’m just so glad all this is behind us now.
I never knew how much I would miss being outside!
” Eden was out of town and as much as I loved being up under that man, I needed time away from the house, especially now, when proof of the worst part of his lifestyle was popping up on the TV every few hours.
“Anytime, friend! Let’s run by the house and stash these bags, then go get something to eat!” she said, giving me a smile that lingered long after her words.
“Oh… okay,” I said, going silent as we rode the rest of the way to her house. Until that second, I had completely forgotten about the weird moment we shared in my living room. I didn’t have the stomach to ask her about it, so I pushed it down so we could continue our day of fun.
“Come on,” she said when we pulled up to her house. Something in my gut was screaming at me to keep my ass in the car.
“I’ll just wait,” I said softly.
“Des! Girl, come on!” she said. Reluctantly, I grabbed my things and drug myself out of the car.
I was dangerously close to saying fuck the whole thing, ordering a ride-share, and going back home to my man.
The only thing that stopped me was that emptiness I felt when I was forced out of church that day.
I couldn’t let my whole life revolve around Brick.
If something happened to him, or he decided he didn’t want this anymore, I would be okay financially.
I was in school, so I could make my own way, but I would still need friends.
I followed her up the stairs and into the house, still ignoring the sinking feeling I had. When we walked into her front door, I saw a man sitting on the couch completely engrossed in his phone.
“Des, boo, this is my man Que!” She beamed as she spoke. We had always talked about her boyfriend, but I’d never officially met him. I looked over at the man with starter locs and a bored expression on his face.
“Hi, how are you?” I asked cheerfully. Honestly, I was just glad that someone was there so Kat and I could avoid any awkward situations. Surely, she wouldn’t offer me another threesome with her man sitting there.
“Good,” he murmured, eyes not leaving the TV. I bit my lip and tried again.
“So, Kat tells me you’re kind of new to the city… You liking it here so far?” She told me that he moved here from down south about a year ago.
“Shit, it’s just a city like any other one, same buildings, same people, same bullshit,” he replied curtly. I took that as my cue to shut up.
“Okay,” I chirped. For the first time, he turned his face in my direction, angry eyes aimed at mine.
“Yeah, I came up here to get into business with my cousin Donte. That shit ain’t really work out, though,” he said, studying my face like he expected a reaction out of me. I just backed up towards the door.
“Oh, okay… Well, I hope that gets better for you. Kat, girl, I’ll just wait for you in the car.
” I continued backing up until I ran straight into another man who had silently crept in.
The scowl on his face let me know right away that I was right for not trusting the situation and should have listened to my instincts.
“Where the fuck you think you goin? Yo’ hoe ass husband killed my fuckin’ brother, bitch!” he spat, looking at me in disgust.
“Sir, I don’t know your brother, but I’m sure we can get Brick over here to verify. Let me—” I tried to reason with him as I slowly pulled my phone out. He smacked it right out of my hands, sending the phone flying across the room. He lunged at me, and I jerked away.
“Don’t touch me!” I snapped.
“Oh, I’ma do more than touch you, bitch!” he boomed as he grabbed my arm so tight I could already feel it starting to bruise
“Get her in the car!” Que demanded. That’s when my panic set in.
I knew enough to know that my chances of being found lowered if they were able to take me to a second location.
Brick could track my car and my phone’s location, but with my phone being broken somewhere behind the couch, I needed to stay where I was.
“I said don’t fuckin’ touch me!” I said, using all my strength to pull away from him.
In my free time, Brick had gotten me into some self-defense classes, boxing lessons, and we had gone to the gun range a few times.
I thought he was being dramatic, but clearly it was for good reason.
I was able to detach his grip on my arm and block a punch he threw my way.
After that I went into offense, hitting him so hard with my fist that I heard the bones in his nose crack and blood immediately started pouring from it.
“Bitch, what the fuck?” he screamed out as his hands went to his face.
My face went completely blank when I saw four more grown ass men rushing down the stairs.
For the first time, Que had a smile on his face, and I knew I was in trouble.
Kat walked up to me with a creepy ass smile of her own, grabbing my chin to force my eyes on her.
“You can’t win, Des. It will hurt less if you don’t fight us.”
“Don’t, please! Whatever it is y’all want! Brick wi—” That was the last thing I remembered before feeling a sharp pain in my head and everything going black.
* * *
The next time I opened my eyes, I was in an empty room.
When I tried to move, I quickly realized that my arms and legs were tied to a chair.
The ties were pulled so tight that it burned where they cut into my flesh.
My head hurt worse, though. I could feel the back of my skull thumping and instantly felt nauseous from the pain.
I closed my eyes again, willing it away, only opening them again once it subsided.
“Hello?” I called out. “Is anyone there? Can someone help me, please?” I screamed loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear me, but quickly realized that was in vain as the loud bass of a rap song seemed to rattle the walls of the entire building.
“Fuck,” I mumbled. Then the door opened and Kat, Que, and another group of men came in.
“Well, look who’s awake. How you feelin’, babe?” she asked with a sick smile. I never wanted to hit a bitch in her face more.
“Why?” I asked, eyes locked on her as if she could feel the hate coursing through me.
“Because my man said so,” she said with a simple shrug. I was more than disgusted. This bitch was willing to do harm to me to please a nigga.
“I…” I stopped to cough, throat still raw. “I thought we were friends! I thought you liked me!” I said through tears.
“You know what I do for a living, right?” she teased, stepping closer. “I sell fantasies to niggas who could never have me, Des. You can’t have really thought I fucked with you like that? It’s just part of the job.” She snarled down at me.
“I can fuck with you like that, though,” the nigga in the corner said, grabbing his crotch as he looked me up and down. I shot him a look of disgust so lethal that all he could do was shrink back into the corner and call me a bitch under his breath.
I looked around, silently assessing the group. They weren’t professionals. They looked like a group of friends who all banded together to do some stupid ass shit.
I chuckled and looked off.
“Bitch, what’s funny?” Kat asked.
“You realize who my people are, right?” I asked.
“You gotta know that you, and all those niggas with you are as good as dead.” I kept my voice steady even though I was scared out of my mind and really wanted to cry.
Regardless, I knew what I said was true.
Between Brick, Eden, Kalida, Kilo, and Pistol, anyone who fucked with me was signing their own death certificate…
I just hoped one of them found me before mine needed a signature too.
“Girl, fuck you!” she spat.
“What’s your endgame?” I asked. I overheard Brick telling his brothers that every nigga who touched a dime of the stolen money or product was six feet under, so I had to wonder what these fools wanted.
“Easy,” Que answered. “I want Lady West’s bitch ass to bury one of hers just like we did… I know she probably don’t give a fuck about you, but you’re the perfect bait to lure in one that she does care about.”
My heart dropped to my stomach as I tried to keep my face even.
“It won’t work,” I whispered. “And when it doesn’t, your people will have even more bereavement days to take.”
“Yours first,” Kat said as she stepped forward and hit me so hard I could feel the fresh blood fill my mouth. “If that nigga even comes to get you. Everyone knows that nigga don’t really fuck with you like that.” No sooner than she said that, did her phone start ringing.
“Hello?… Who is this?… What?… Shit… No, I’ll send my boyfriend home. Thank you!” she said before quickly hanging up.
“The fuck is that?” he asked.
“Brian called from down the street and said that it looks like a fuckin’ crackhead over there fuckin’ up our shit! He threw a brick through my windshield, babe!” Kat yelled.
“Damn…” Que mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. “What you want me to do?”
She looked up at Que with a furious expression. “Nigga, go do something!”
“Shit,” he hissed. “Y’all niggas come on!
” Everyone rushed out of the room, leaving me to struggle against the zip ties anchoring me to my chair.
My eyes burned with frustrated tears when I realized that I wouldn’t be able to free myself, but I refused to let them fall.
The house went eerily silent. The only sounds I could hear were cars driving by on a nearby street.
I didn’t know how long I sat there, but by the time I heard a lot of movement and heavy footsteps approaching me, I knew my fate was sealed.
I wouldn’t cry, I wouldn’t beg, I would make them look me right in my eyes with my chin up. I would make him proud. My breath stopped once the footsteps hit the doorway, and I looked up to see… him. Standing there just as tall and handsome as he was the day I met him.
My husband.
“Baby?” The moment my eyes landed on him, the tears that I had been holding in finally released.
“Peep,” he said softly, quickly making his way over to me. “Don’t start all that crying shit. I’m here now. I got you.” He kissed my forehead and even though he was cussing me out, I still felt the love.
“You put a tracker in my ass for real?” I snapped as he cut the zip ties keeping my wrists behind me.
“I would never violate you like that… It’s in the bracelet,” he shrugged, a noise prompted him to move to the door and scan the hallway again. “How many niggas were in here with you?”
“Maybe seven or eight,” I answered. “And Kat.”
“Yeah, two of them niggas have been dealt with, but as soon as I get you somewhere safe, the rest of them muhfuckas gotta go too.” He came back over and had just kneeled down to free my legs, when another sound caught both of our attention.
“Aww, I guess he does care.” Kat’s menacing voice from the doorway snatched both of our attention. Luckily, she was still alone, but the gun she had pointed at Brick made me gasp.
“Not that it needs to be said, but your services are no longer needed at Dream’s,” he scoffed sarcastically. He went for the gun on his hip, but went completely still when she turned her gun in my direction. That was the only thing that made him throw his hands up in surrender.
“Keep them fuckin’ hands up before I make you a widower. Shit, I’d probably be doin’ you a favor so you can go back to slingin’ dick all over the city,” she spat, eyes on him while the gun was still pointed directly at my head.
“Kat. Don’t be stupid. You still got a chance to make it outta this.
You do some dumb shit, and they gon’ be finding traces of you washing up on the shore of the Sleighton River for the next fifty years,” he said coolly.
I could still hear the slight edge to his voice, but she didn’t. She didn’t know him like I did.
“Fuck you, Brick! Fuck you and your family! Actin’ like y’all so much better than everyone else!
Lookin’ down your noses at us because you were born with it, and we had to get it out the mud!
Fuck all y’all niggas! And ya’ mama too!
” she screamed furiously. She was so mad that her eyes watered and spit flew as she ranted.
“Y’all niggas funny as fuck,” he grumbled, moving his body between me and the gun she had pointed at me.
“Y’all muhfuckas runnin’ around mad, with all this hidden animosity towards me for a life I didn’t fuckin’ ask for.
My people got it out the ground just like you did.
Me and my brothers make sure half the niggas in The West got a roof over their heads and food on their tables.
Everybody eats off us… including you, bitch! Yet, y’all still fuckin’ hate us.”
“Brick,” I whispered, unable to see Kat because his large frame completely blocked her out.
“You good, Baby,” he said in a soothing voice. “Settle whatever beef you got with me right here but leave her out of it. She ain’t got shit to do with why you hate me so much.”
“Gladly. I’ll let her mourn you for a bit before I come back and reunite you two,” she said evilly.
That was the last thing I heard before the gunshot.
“Peep,” he said, turning to me slowly as Kat retreated back down the hall.
“Brick?” My eyes widened when I saw the blood stain on his shirt that was growing by the second.