Chapter 11 Whodie
Pain or not, I wasn’t sitting still. That wasn’t in me.
Besides, a week had gone by, and I was starting to heal good.
My mind was on a mission. Finishing the shit so we could all move on.
By the time the sun dipped and the city lights started coming on, I was already dressed, guns tucked, and my mind on one fucking mission.
Hollow had my leg wrapped so tight that every step I took felt like I was cutting my blood supply off.
Pain had never stopped me before, and it damn sure wasn’t about to stop me now.
Hollow had someone sitting on the truck. Mazi rented an Airbnb on a lake. As we got closer, everyone killed their lights. We already knew we all couldn’t just drive down in there. I left Reese with Adore in the car.
“Adore, look at me,” I told her. “Do not get out of the car. You have yo’ gun on you. If you see that muthafucka come out of that house, you take his ass out. Don’t think, just shoot. You hear me?”
She nodded her head in agreement.
“Reese, my nigga, don’t let shit happen to her. If I don’t make it back out, you take her straight to Hollow.”
“I got her, bruh.”
I made the walk down the trail to the lake house.
It was always him and a driver, so I wasn’t expecting a house full of muthafuckas being here.
The men we had should be enough to all make it out alive.
As we approached the black truck, I felt the hood, which was cold.
Let me know they hadn’t been anywhere for a while.
Nigga was probably laying low after killing that kid. A kid from the same hood I grew up in.
We all separated to surround the house. I had no idea what the fuck we were about to walk into, but I was determined that me and my boys were going back home.
Tone stood behind at the back entrance. Once I gave him the cue, he kicked the door in, and we rushed in.
The driver was scared when the red dot hit his chest.
“Where he at?” I asked.
“Where is who?”
BOOM!
His body hit the floor. I wasn’t in the mood to talk if my questions couldn’t get answered. The rest of the crew was now roaming the house and came back clear.
“Any black bag you see, grab that shit and let’s get the fuck outta here.”
Since he wanted to kick in my trap and still my shit, I was taking everything from this nigga.
He was a fucking coward and scared to face us.
He’d rather have everyone on his team take the hit than him.
After clearing out all the bags, we headed back to the cars, and something told me we were being watched.
When I made it back to the car, an ambush of bullets started flying.
I snatched Tone down, but he was already hit.
“Fuck man!” I got behind the car and waited.
My heart was thumping so loud that I could hear it in my ears.
A few feet away, Adore and Reese were ready to shoot.
Tone was done, and all I could do was look over at him, staring back at me.
I sat there, breathing, trying to gain my composure so I could listen.
Time wasn’t something that was on our side, being that I needed Adore to make it out alive.
Looking at Tone laying there with his eyes open broke my heart.
Before I could make any moves, I needed to snatch him out of the way so his body wouldn’t take anymore bullets.
The rest of the 239 Boyz were already shooting back as I moved his body.
Reese stepped out and got a clear shot of one on the roof.
The gunfire was slowing down, meaning their side had more bodies dropping.
It still didn’t make me feel better. I came for Mazi and I wasn’t leaving until I knew his pussy ass was dead.
“Everybody get in the car and go. Reese, help me get Tone in the car so I can get him back to his family. And Adore, if anything fuckin’ move, shoot it.”
Tone wasn’t a light nigga. He was well over six feet and weighed around two-fifty.
Now that he was all dead weight, he was really heavy.
Leaving his ass here wasn’t an option. We dragged his ass to his empty car and threw him in the backseat.
Our backs were turned, but the shot that came from Adore’s gun made me slam Tone’s foot in the door.
“He came from behind the tree,” Adore said.
“Stay right here!” I told Adore. “Reese, watch my back. I can bet this nigga is Mazi. He’s the last one standin’.”
Slowly, I walked up to him, where he was struggling to breathe. Adore had hit him in the neck. Adore was aware that most of us niggas wore a vest, so hitting a nigga in the chest wasn’t going to kill him. It’s either a head shot or neck shot. I kneeled and pulled the mask off his face. It was him.
“I came in yo shit bare face, nigga. Every time you stepped in my hood, you had to hide. I want you to look me in my eyes as I pull this trigga,” I told him as I put the gun to his head.
One squeeze and his head exploded. I got up and walked back to the car with peace. Finally feeling like we can get back to enjoying our lives. But first, we had to get Tone back to his family and deal with the heartbreak of his family.
“He’s gone!” I let everyone know.
Adore’s shoulders relaxed for the first time since this nigga stepped on the scene.
“I’mma drive Tone’s car back. Reese, make sure Adore gets back to my condo safely.”
“No, I’m going with you.”
“Adore,” I warned.
“Whodie,” she warned right back.
“We all gonna go and show some respect. Might as well let her ride witchu,” Reese said.
Four cars deep pulled up to Tone’s mama’s house.
I just sat there for a minute, lost in my thoughts.
Tone was my nigga. His mama fed me when I was hungry.
Shit wasn’t supposed to happen like this.
How was I supposed to look this woman in her eyes and tell her that her son didn’t make it?
She knew the lifestyle we lived, but that didn’t mean this shit was supposed to happen like this.
“How I’m ‘posed to do this shit?” I said lowly.
“I’m here,” Adore said softly. “I know this shit is hard.”
I looked in the rearview mirror at Tone’s dead body.
Typically, you take the body to the hospital.
Where we come from and what we done, we had to lie.
Damn sure didn’t want to take the cops back to the scene of the Airbnb.
I reached for the door and opened it. It was late as fuck, and I knew his mama was asleep.
My boys and I grabbed Tone and walked up to the porch to ring the doorbell.
When she opened the door with the pink rollers and netted bonnet on her head.
“No! Noooo! Whodie, please! Not my baby!” she cried.
I had to let him go. I had to get away because I was breaking, and that was the last thing I wanted to do in front of anyone.
For as long as I could remember, I was the strong friend since I was the one who had been through so much.
This, though, had broken me. It was wrong to walk away, and once my mind was right in a day or two, I would come back and pay for everything.
Back at the condo, I went straight to my bathroom and turned the shower on.
Adore tried talking to me, but my mind had shut off.
Yeah, I was used to losing people in this game.
When it came to your closest homeboys, the shit just hit different, and I didn’t know how to handle it.
I stripped out of everything and got in the shower.
I didn’t know how long I had been in there until I heard Adore come in, grab my clothes, and put them in a bag.
She then stripped out of her clothes and stepped in the cold shower with me.
Not a complaint. Adore grabbed my soap and washcloth and started washing my body.
This was the first time in my life since I was a baby that I cried.
Years of pain was running down my face and I had no way to stop it.
When Adore noticed, she wrapped her arms around me.
She let a nigga bawl with no judgment. Just silently held me like I was the only nigga in the world she loved.
Adore let the little boy in me cry. I cried because I ain’t have to be strong when I was with her.