“Whatever. What you call me here for? I ain't in a good mood today,” I said, brushing past him and going into his refrigerator to grab a beer.
“Damn. You could at least speak, nigga.” He limped over to his chair and extended his hand for me to sit.
I took a seat and popped the top on the beer, guzzling half of it down. “What you want, Damien?”
“Well, I need you to get Truce to move back to Detroit.”
I frowned. “For what?”
“You know what for.”
“No, I don’t. I need you to enlighten me.”
“Him being here is going to fuck up everything you've been working for and building here. Did you know he has ties to the Renegades?”
My brows pinched deeper because that was a rival gang that we had been beefing with recently. They were a crew of upstanding citizens that was trying to push all the drug dealers out and flush the drugs out of the city. Juan, the head of the gang, had a personal vendetta against drugs, so he was trying to clean up the city by coming for my territories. The nigga didn’t even live here, yet he was making moves like he ran shit. While I wasn't scared of them niggas, it was a known fact that they could be ruthless—and so could I.
“Who told you that?” I asked.
“I hear shit. Law is a part of that gang.Lawis your brother’s best friend.”
“Okay? Just because the nigga friends with a Renegade don’t mean he’s on their side. Here you go on that bullshit again,” I said, pointing my beer bottle at him.
“Nigga, I’m trying to protect you! You think his ass walks on water, and being loyal to him by default gon’ fuck you over. You ain't gon’ be satisfied until he shows you just how unloyal his ass is.”
“Mannn, fuck you, Damien! If your reason for inviting me here was to talk about my brother, then I promise you, I’ma cut yo’ ass off. You been doing the same shit for years. Just tell the truth. You scared of my brother, ain’t you?” I gave him a mischievous leer as he scoffed.
“Fuck Truce. And if you don’t want to listen to me, then fuck you too! Get the fuck outta my shit.”
I stood abruptly, crashing the beer bottle over his head and giving him a blow to the face. He fell out of the chair, cowering on the floor while holding his head. I grabbed him by his collar, pulled my gun from my waist, put it to his temple, and looked him in the eyes.
“You better be glad I got a little sympathy for your bitch ass. Otherwise, I’d send you to your ancestors. Don’t call my fucking phone no more. We’re done.” I shoved his head into the floor, then stood upright and headed toward the door.
“You’re stupid! And you're going to regret not listening to me.”
“Fuck you.”
I walked out the door and reached into my pocket for my phone to call up Whitney. Jela’s crybaby ass was getting on my nerves, and Brittany was on bullshit, so I was choosing the next in line.
Realizing I must have left my phone in her car, I took out my burner phone to call Brittany and got inside my car.
“What?” she answered on the third ring.
“Aye, where the fuck you at?”
I rummagedthrough drawers and closets. I looked for loose floorboards or hollow walls. I was getting the fuck away from Damien Jamel Murphy, even if I had to die trying.
The way he just lied to his brother with a straight face made me wish I had spit in his orange juice. I know Truce didn’t know that his brother had taken me away from my family, but I couldn’t help the sadness that washed over me every time they were mentioned. I missed them so damn much; the pain was equivalent to giving birth to Scottlyn.
I knew that bastard kept some cash around the house, but the house was so big that he could have been hiding it anywhere. He was already putting Scottie and me in danger by being in the streets. Every day, I feared the police coming and breakingdown the door, or a rival gang coming and killing us all. On top of his abusive ways, I had to deal with the many bitches calling my phone, sending me photos, and trying to check me about keepingmyman away from them.
Like, the fuck?
I didn’t deserve to be treated like this. If he didn’t want me, he could simply let me go. But that sounded too much like right for Damien. It was the thrill of control he had over me that kept him being the abuser he was. He knew I was helpless, so he played that to his advantage. But I was leaving this fucking house, and I was going to use Truce to do it.
I didn’t know if I could trust him yet, so I was going to befriend him to feel him out. I knew he was attracted to me, but that meant nothing if all he wanted to do was fuck and not help me. Somehow, I felt that wasn't all he wanted from me, though. His aura seemed genuine, so I was going to put my plan into action starting today.
After coming up empty in our bedroom, I gave up and started to get dressed. I honestly didn’t want to meet with the planner because all of this shit was about to come to an end. It was only a matter of time.
