Chapter 8
Rico Briggs
Lurking In The Dark
It was ten at night, and I was camped out in the hood, ducked off in the back of the parking lot in the apartment complex where I knew Toby lived. I was in a beat down whip that didn’t belong to me, that had dark tents, so I didn’t have to worry about anyone spotting me out.
I came out here tonight with the sole intention of killing this nigga.
I had to. He left me with no other choice.
I had a game coming up in a few days, and I couldn’t take that chance, where Toby was expecting me to play a certain way, and when I didn’t do it, he was going to pull up on another one of my family members.
I could hear Tank’s voice in my head, telling me how I wasn’t a killer. He was right because the entire time that I was sitting here, camped out, with the car off, my legs were shaking up and down, and I kept wiping sweat from my forehead.
I didn’t fear Toby. I feared the outcome.
I feared this shit pointing back to me, and now I have to spend the rest of my life in prison, away from my loved ones, and never being able to play football again.
Those were the things that I was constantly worried about, but it wasn’t like me to get someone else involved and handling my dirty work for me. I had to do this shit on my own.
As I was sitting in the car, my body perked up when I noticed Toby’s hellcat cruising into the lot.
Even though the tents on the whip I was in was dark, I still made sure that I was planted down as low as possible, so that he wouldn’t be able to see me.
My eyes stayed on his whip, watching as he found a spot that was parked towards the middle of the lot.
That’s when I quickly opened the door, kept my gun in my hand, and Toby opened his driver’s side door.
I was under the impression that he was alone, but out of nowhere, the passenger side door opened.
My eyes left Toby, and they skipped over to the passenger side, seeing that it was a small figure.
It was a little boy. I could only see him from behind.
I knew that it wasn’t Toby’s kid because Toby didn’t have any children.
I couldn’t kill no fuckin kid. I also had a heart, so I couldn’t kill Toby in front of a kid, so I quickly got back in the car, closed the door, and I slumped back down, checking out what was going on between them from inside the car.
Suddenly, the trunk opened to Toby’s car, and Toby, along with the little boy went for the trunk, and with the little boy turned around now, I had a visual of him, and I immediately remembered him.
I just saw that little nigga a few months ago at his school.
He attended Libert City elementary. My team and I had gone out to the school, so that we could talk to the youth boys.
Our college put on this big event that took place outside, and I remember that little boy coming up to me, telling me how I was his favorite player, and how he looked up to me, and shit.
Handsome little nigga, so there was no way that I could forget him.
Those big, hazel eyes, with his long, sandy brown hair, and his caramel-colored skin wasn’t something that was forgettable.
I also remembered him because of his skills. He was quick on his feet, had good hands, and his ability to have good focus at his age was great. He was only nine years old.
I sat here with my leg bouncing up and down, really trying to make it make sense on why he was with Toby.
They took groceries out of the trunk. I watched as Toby took most of the bags, while the little boy took about two bags.
Toby closed the trunk, and then they walked through the parking lot, and they went for a door that was right on the first floor.
They disappeared, causing me to no longer see them.
I was driving myself crazy, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on.
Ten minutes later, the same door that they just went inside opened, and I thought that it was going to be Toby walking out, but it was the little boy.
He was holding onto his bike, and once it was out of the house, he rode it.
It was late at night, on a school night, and he hopped on his bike like it was nothing.
I wanted to catch his ass, so I got out of the car, and right when he got to the parking lot, I whistled for him.
“Yo! Come here!” I called out for him.
I couldn’t remember the lil nigga’s name.
He paused on his bike, squinted with his eyes, trying to see who I was, and once he realized that it was me, I watched the smile appear on his face, as he jumped off the bike, left it right there in the middle of the road, and he raced over to me, putting his hand out once he was in front of me, so that I could slap it up with him.
“Yo, Rico! What’s up, man? What you doing over here?” he asked, excitement dripping in his voice.
“I know a few people that stay over here. Why you out here riding your bike so late?” I wanted to know.
“My mom’s boyfriend stays here. We just moved in with him a couple of weeks ago.
She said that the two of them had to talk about something, so she told me to come outside, and ride my bike for a little bit because I guess she didn’t want me to hear what they were talking about.
Can you come in the house with me? I want to show my mama that you’re here.
She knows that your my favorite football player,” he went on to say, and I was shaking my head, knowing that the things he was asking me to do, I wasn’t going to be able to do them.
“Who’s your mama’s boyfriend?” I asked, just to see if he would say Toby.
“Toby. You know him?” he asked.
“Nah. I don’t know who that is,” I lied to him, and he nodded his head.
“He cool. Him, and my mama have been dating for a little bit. We been struggling for a while because my mom lost her job, so Toby has been helping us out. My mom couldn’t pay the rent at our apartment, and her and my grandma don’t get along, so we moved in with Toby.
I hate this neighborhood, so I hope that we don’t have to stay over here much longer.
Our last apartment was bad, but this one is even worse.
They be shooting and stuff over here,” he said, telling me all his business in under one minute.
All I could think about was how, when I was his age, I used to do the same shit. I stayed telling everybody my mama’s business, and she would get mad as hell about it too.
In all seriousness though, I didn’t know who his mom was, but I knew Toby, and he was the last nigga that she needed to have around her kid.
Nothing about him gave that he was a man that would be a good father figure on any young boy’s life.
I couldn’t help but to wonder what Toby was getting out of this shit though because I personally knew that he didn’t like kids.
He’s been saying for years that he never wanted to have any children of his own.
To hear this little boy stand here and tell me that Toby was helping him, and his mom out, allowing them to move in with him, I couldn’t help but to wonder what Toby’s motive was behind his actions.
It was something. I just didn’t know what.
“What was your name again? I forgot,” I said.
“Sebastian, but everybody calls me Bash. How you forget Bash?” he asked, and that question made me laugh a little bit.
“I met so many of ya’ll that day at your school, so I just forgot.
Don’t take it personal. Go back in the house though.
It’s late, and you don’t need to be riding your bike up, and down this parking lot.
This isn’t the best neighborhood for you.
Just sit in front of the door until they tell you to come back in.
Better yet, go knock on the door, and tell them to let you in because your tired, and you need to get ready for school.
Do me a favor though. Don’t go in there and tell them that you were out here talking to me.
Can you do that?” I asked him, and he nodded his head, while sticking his hand out, letting me know that that was fine.
“I got you, man. I won’t say nothing. You ready for your game on Saturday? I’m ready to see what you’re going to do out there,” he let me know.
Hearing him ask me that just made me realize that I didn’t come out here, and handle what I needed to handle with Toby.
“I’m ready man. Go back in the house,” we shook it up one last time, and he moved fast, going for his bike that was lying in the middle of the road, quickly hopping on it, and he peddled back over to is apartment.
I watched him as he knocked on the door, and it was Toby that answered it for him. I’m not sure what Bash was saying to Toby, but he eventually stepped out of the way and let him come inside the house.
I camped out for as long as I could, sitting out here for over an hour, thinking that Toby was going to come back out, but he never did.
I was just going to have to go back to the drawing board, so I pulled out of the parking lot, and I headed back in the destination of my apartment.
I was about five minutes away from my crib when my phone started ringing.
It was my baby mama hitting me. I now had PTSD whenever she called me late at night because I didn’t know what kind of bad news, she was going to hit me with.
I rushed to accept her call, waiting to hear what she had to say.
“Promise, what’s up? Where Romy?” I asked, and I could hear my daughter crying in the background right after I asked it.
“Right here. She was in bed sleeping with me, and she’s burning up.
I don’t have any more Motrin here. It’s too late for me to leave out.
Can you run to the store and bring it? If you’re going to make a big deal about it Rico, I can just go and get it myself,” she said, and I sucked my teeth.
I only sucked my teeth because of the shit that she said at the end.