I snickered quietly. “Shame on your dear friend for not telling you about my son that died because I was attacked whilepregnant. See, you don’t know muthafuckas stories, but you got a loud mouth.”
“Lucas, do something,” Sophia begged. She took her eyes off me for a moment to find her husband. If they left this alive, I hoped she divorced his pussy ass. “Oh my God! You’re supposed to protect?—”
I sucked my teeth. “His ass can’t protect shit. I would tell your puss-ass to go somewhere, Lucas. I can’t guarantee that you won’t call the law.”
He waved his hands from where he cowered on the ground. “I promise I won’t call anyone. Her mouth is always getting us in some shit. I’m sick of her.”
“That’s a damn shame.” I lifted my arm and pointed the gun toward the couch. “Both of y’all sit the fuck down over there.”
It took a minute or so for them to get there. They moved slowly like I would shoot them in the back. After they sat down, I took a seat across from them, then set my gun on my lap. “Now, Mrs. Bitch, say that shit again.”
Some Time Earlier
An Unfortunate Event . . .
“Blakeney, go the fuck back to my place. This is not up for a debate.”
Her head turned slowly toward Seneca. He avoided eye contact with her, as he should have. “You betta listen to your man, Blake. This ain’t the time. We got shit we need to handle here.”
My woman had a hard head. You had to be stern with her, and it only mattered if it was someone that she respected. That was not a doubt for me. I knew my woman respected me. Yeah, she stomped her hardheaded ass out of here.
My eyes fell on this little nigga that was still in my arms. I sighed because this shit was sad, and I knew how it needed to end. “Let’s get the hell outta here so we can talk to this lil boy and see if he’s past redemption.”
We moved to the living room to let the team get into the room to handle their business there. They were already finished with the yard and the front. I never asked how they did what they did. What I did know was that this part of the team was connected to a company out of Charleston, South Carolina, that specialized in handling these types of situations. The company on the top of the table owned multiple mortuaries. Under the table, they were what we referred to as cleaners.
“Let’s move to the warehouse. I told Blake about a year ago that something was changing in this lil nigga,” he said as we walked to his car. “You could see it in his eyes, you know? You know, Blake, though. In her eyes, kids are pure.”
Yeah, I did know that. Her soft spot for children was a direct contrast to her street side. I knew there was a reason for it, but I wasn’t sure why. “Yeah, when he called, I knew some shit wasn’t right. The call just didn’t make sense. A PS5 though? These kids are entitled like a muthafucka these days.”
I sat in the back seat with Travis just in case he woke up. The warehouse was on the outskirts of the city in a place called Monroe. It took a little second to get there from where we were. Once we got there, I lifted him out of the car. He shifted in my arms before his eyes popped open. He immediately fought against my hold. “Let me the fuck go!”
This was the first time I’d met this little boy. I wasn’t sure how he previously acted around Blake, but this little boy right here could not be who it was. He was one hell of an actor if he acted in a way that softened my woman’s heart.
I smacked his ass on the head. “Boy, shut the fuck up. Stay still, with your bad ass.”
“Fuck you! That bitch killed my mama. I hate her! I’m gonna get that bitch!”
There it is!That was what I waited for. He intended to cause future harm to my bloodline. That was the tough part of this street shit. There were times when shit happened, and an entire bloodline had to be dropped so no one from it carried out their vengeance later. Yes, the kids too.
It was the part of this life that I hated. It was an unfortunate situation, but in this life, you had to know what came with it. When you jumped off the porch into the street life, you had to know that you could put your entire family in danger. There were niggas that wanted to be in this street life when they needed to stay their asses on the sidewalk and, most of them, on the porch.
When we got into the warehouse, Grady, who I called and told to meet me here, and Stitch took Travis to tie him to a chair. I wanted to have a talk with him. The entire time, he talked shit. I’d give his young ass credit. He had heart.
“Aye, shut the fuck up. Understand that you caused this shit because your young ass felt entitled to something you didn’t deserve!” Seneca bellowed. “Just last week, Blake was up at that fuckin’ school because your ass was in trouble, but you’re out here asking for a PS5.”
Travis wore the hardest mean mug I had ever seen. It looked like it hurt. If he had the chance to get out of that seat, he would try to beat all our asses, like he really could. The bridge of Travis’s nose scrunched, then he took a deep inhale and hocked spit at us.This lil nigga is on one.
Stitch took his belt off, then moved toward Travis. He took him from his restraints. Like I knew he would, he started to fight Stitch. He was crazy. I would have tried to get the hell out of here. Sometimes, having heart wasn’t enough when the heart was stupid.
We watched Travis scuffle with Stitch for a second before Stitch backhanded the shit out of him. Travis’s body flew back a little until it landed on the floor with a thud. For his age, he was actually a big boy.
“Damn, Stitch. You’re out here pimp slapping the kids,” Seneca jested. He walked toward Travis. When he got close to him, Travis popped up, ready to fight again, which caused Seneca to grab him by the throat.
Man, this is enough for me.“Aye, Travis, we not here for this. It doesn’t have to go this way,” I said as I walked toward them.“Look. This shit doesn’t have to be like this, lil man. This was your fuck up, and you gonna have to eat that shit.”
“I ain’t eating shit! That bitch could have given me the PS5. She didn’t have to kill my mama. Wait. I’m gonna kill that stupid bitch!” The truth of Travis’s words was in his tone, eyes, and tears.
My sight connected with Seneca. His stare was soft for a second. This was the crossroad that we both hated to be at. “Aye, why don’t you go ahead and head out. Take my car. I don’t want to put this shit on you for the sake of your relationship with Blake. I’d rather her be mad at anyone else but you.”
