“I don’t know! I’m not feeling this shit. I don’t want to leave you.”
I couldn’t believe I was debating it. The thought process only took long enough for me to think about Trina.
“When?” I asked.
“Dyami.”
“When Marcos?” I snapped.
“Tomorrow morning.” He said just above a whisper. I was so frustrated, and I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I pushed him again. It was like pushing a boulder, but it didn’t stop me from trying repeatedly. He turned me with my back to his chest and braced my arms in front of me.
“Stay with me tonight.” He bent down to speak into my ear. I shook my head.
“Please, Dyami. Stay with me tonight. If this is our last night together, I don’t want to leave you until I absolutely have to.” When I still didn’t respond, he added, “Please.”
I crumbled. Fuck my mom and her plans. I would probably get into so much trouble, but it would be worth it. I would at least have one last night with Marcos, and I prayed that it would be everything I thought it would be in my dreams.
When the boy becomes a man…
Chapter 1
Terror
9 months ago
What would you do in the back of a car tasked to kill another man, or death would be yours? That was the exact situation I found myself in. It was crazy how shit could turn upside down at lightning speed. I was a hustler through and through. A damn good one. No one could beat my work ethic. My only problem was that I was sitting under a nigga who failed to respond to another man. A nigga named Slash and his goons came out of nowhere and wanted to take over our territory. They came in with guns blazing, and for the last few months, there were bloodbaths on the street.
Instead of my boss, Brick, facing that shit head-on, he ignored it, while blood painted every corner. Niggas I loved and even family members lost their lives. I wanted a truce. An alliance. Anything to stop the bloodshed, because if blood kept spilling, no one would make money. So, I did what any man would who just wanted to keep his family fed. I approached Slash, and he said he would somewhat honor my wishes. Mytruce with Slash came with one stipulation: Kill Brick or I’m dead.
I had so much to live for. I was only 25, and my son needed a father—a live one. So, as I sat in the back of the blacked-out Navigator behind Slash’s goons, my adrenaline soared to levels unknown. They’d picked me up to do the deed. We sat outside of Brick’s house waiting for the cue to move. I didn’t feel fear, though. It was an incredible urge to get myself out of the shit I was in, in my own way. I would kill Brick for this nigga, then what? Brick may have been my boss and been on some bullshit lately, but his brother, Smoke, was the one who had my loyalty. He looked out for me when no one else did. He had no reason to take me on and let me start making money. I couldn’t cross him by ending his brother. Brick had me fucked up. We fought and he came out on top, but I was man enough to take my L. I would live to fight again, and I hoped that Brick would too. Ambushing him? Killing him like a snake in the grass? That shit wasn’t right.
“Time to go.” Big-headed Lou, Slash’s favorite goon, said from the front seat.
Hell nah. I wasn’t a bottom nigga who took orders. That’s precisely what Slash was trying to make me. I heard of niggas attempting to come into another man’s territory and try to push them out. They would keep the people in place doing what they do best. I was a distributor. I ran up money like crazy. Not a hired killer. He was right, though. It was time to decide. Today, I was on the verge of becoming exactly what they were pushing me into. That was the only way out. I wrapped my hands around the nine, screwed my silencer on, and before taking a second thought, I pierced Lou’s skull. The second goon in the driver’s seat reached for his weapon. Before he could get it out, he met the same fate.
I hopped out of the vehicle in no time, tucking my weapon. I would tell Brick one last time what that nigga Slash was on, but after that, I was separating. I would be my own man because, really, I already gave him more than I owed him by trying to get his attention multiple times. Had he not been so negligent, we wouldn’t have gotten to this point.
I tried to cross the street to Brick’s place, and a car whipped past me. I jumped back. Muthafuckas were flying so fast in the residential area that they damn near flattened my ass. I saw the window roll down and Brick and his female stepped out of the house simultaneously. It was like a scene from a movie. Everything slowed, and I saw a hand reach out of the vehicle and start spraying. She mowed Brick and his chick down. Loud popping sounds filled the entire neighborhood before the tires screeched, and the car pulled away. All I could make out was that it was a woman.
My heart pounded in my chest. There was no way they made it through that. Damn, Brick had more enemies in one. I realized then how cold this fucking game was, and if I wanted to make it, I had to be colder than any of these niggas were willing to be.
Two minutes passed, and I heard sirens blaring. I couldn’t be anywhere around that shit when they pulled up. I jogged through the backyard of one of the neighbors and hopped a fence. I couldn’t be caught with this gun on me. It may not have had Brick and his girl, but it damn sure had two other bodies at the scene on it. I couldn’t get caught with this, and they were damn sure going to be on that stop-and-frisk shit. A nigga like me didn’t stand a chance walking the streets after something like that happened.
The sirens got closer. I walked back and forth, knowing I had to make a move. I didn’t wear gloves, so the gun residue wasstill on my hands. I wasn’t going to prison. Not today. Not any day. My phone rang in my pocket. It was Bars.
“Yo! Did you hear that shit on the scanner?” He was amped up.
“Nah. What happened?” I played it smoothly.
“I can’t even drop that shit over the phone. Where you at?”
“Man, over here by a chick’s spot. I got so drunk I let her drive me. Now I’m on my feet. Meet me at the Kroger on Corunna.”
That was just far enough away that I could get there if I hurried and far enough away from the scene not to seem directly involved. Bars was my nigga, but the way I just saw that shit happen, I couldn’t trust anybody fully.
“Damn, how the fuck did you let that happen, bro? She must have been bad as fuck.”
“Slippin, nigga.” I replied, hearing the sirens die down.
