“Where you at?” she asked, tryna keep her voice from breakin’.
“I’m at the crib,” he said. “With Myke and Zah.”
I ain’t say nothin’ right away, but I looked down at Yunique while she still had the phone in her hand, and the way she ain’t question shit or hesitate to give these niggas up, let me see all this shit clearly for what it was. Somethin’ told me Kwest, Myke and Zah was the three niggas we was lookin’ for. I could just tell by the way Yunique was actin’ that we had the right people.
This bitch wasn’t just caught up in it. She helped line all this shit up with them.
Now all three of them niggas was sittin’ in one spot, comfortable as hell, not knowin’ what was already on the way to ’em.
She finally hung up, and I snatched the phone out her hand before she could even think about doin’ anything else with it.
I grabbed her by her hair and yanked her up, and she gasped, tryna balance herself while I dragged her toward the door.
Once Pressure snatch Yunique’s keys, I glanced at Sha’Nelle again.
“We’ll be back in a few hours… if that,” I told her.
She nodded without lookin’ up.
Pressure stepped out first, and I followed behind him to Yunique’s car, keepin’ the gun right on her ass while we moved to the car.
I got in the backseat with her, pressin’ her down beside me while Pressure pulled off and Kay’Lo followed behind us in the rental.
“Tell him where to go,” I said, lookin’ at her.
She started givin’ directions, her voice shaky but clear enough, and I leaned back in the seat with the gun still pressed against the side of her fuckin’ head.
“If you lie to me,” I said quietly, “I’m gon’ blow yo’ shit off before we even to park this muthafucka straight.”
She nodded fast, and we kept drivin’.
“Damn… why all y’all muthafuckas out live in poverty?” I asked as soon as we pulled into the apartment complex Yunique took us to, lookin’ around at the cracked pavement, dim lights, and cars sittin’ on flats like they been there for weeks.
She ain’t say nothin’, and I ain’t expect her to. She was already scared, and the gun pressed against the side of her head kept her exactly where I needed her to be.
Pressure parked smooth, cut the engine, and stepped out without sayin’ a word. I grabbed Yunique by the arm and pulled her out right behind him, pressin’ the gun up under her jaw just enough to remind her what type of situation she was in.
“Listen to me, bitch,” I said low in her ear as she stumbled a lil’. “If you scream, run, or do anything that ain’t got nothin’ to do with what I’m tellin’ you, I’m gon’ drop you right here in this parkin’ lot and keep it movin’. You understand me?”
She nodded fast, her breath already uneven.
Behind us, Kay’Lo pulled in, easin’ into a spot like he wasn’t walkin’ into the same situation we was. When he stepped out, he already had that look on his face. It was calm but off just enough that you could tell his mind was somewhere else. He had my duffel bag, and that bag mattered. Everything we needed was in that bag.
We started walkin’ toward the buildin’ together, all three of us armed, and the only sound was Yunique shoes draggin’ ’cause she ain’t know how to hold herself together.
“How many kids you got?” I asked her outta nowhere.
She flinched before answerin’. “Three.”
“Where they at?”
“With my mama… for the weekend,” she said, her voice shaky.
I nodded once and kept walkin’, then leaned closer to her ear again.
“If you love them kids and you wanna make it back to ’em, you gon’ do every fuckin’ thing I tell you to do tonight,” I said, my tone even but serious.
“I am,” she whispered. “I am.”
