44

Wilmington is at the north end of Delaware and about a forty-minute drive from Philadelphia. Wilmington is a prime location because it’s geographically centered between Philly and Baltimore. It’s where people go to settle down when they’re tired of the city life.

It was a temperate, serene morning and the suburban, tree-lined street, West Lea Boulevard was the new home for Bubbles, Danielle’s cousin. She’d been living in Delaware for about a year and loved her new life, which included her new house and her new job as a nurse at a nearby hospital. She always wished that her younger cousin could have obtained the life that she now had, but Bubbles knew that Danielle had to change certain things about herself first.

Bubbles, whose real name was Karen Little, hadn’t spoken to Chaos in almost a year. Bubbles did miss her cousin, but she had her own life to live and her own worries to deal with. She didn’t miss Philly much, especially with the crime being up. Plus, there were things about her past that she wanted to forget. So she moved to Delaware, where she met a guy, fell in love, and was planning to have a family. Her life had definitely changed for the better.

A dark blue Yukon was parked discreetly under a giant oak tree, a few feet from Bubbles’s home. Harlem and Crown were inside the truck.

Crown was in top shape again and trying to get back on track with his pimping and running shit in the streets again. He had his bottom bitch Cherish by his side along with Casper, but Midnight had flown the coop. She moved back to her hometown in Kentucky a few weeks after the shooting.

Crown had to restock his hoes again and get that money right. After he was finished dealing with YB and Chaos, he would be back out there once more on the streets, pimping his chicks even harder this time. He was full of rage and clenched his teeth and fists every time he thought about that bitch Chaos and YB.

He sat in the passenger seat of the Yukon with a .380. He wore a black and white tracksuit and had his head shaved bald, which was a different look for him. Losing the braids and the perm made his image look harder, more thugged out. He’d lost a little weight but was slowly regaining it. He had scars on his chest from where the doctors performed surgery and some nights, it was hard for him to sleep. But Crown felt satisfied to know that Harlem took care of the majority of his troubles. He watched the news about Rufus’s murder. The media said it was one of the most gruesome killings that the city had ever seen, next to that of YB’s mother. It gave Crown some satisfaction to know that they were close to wiping out everyone who was involved with or connected to YB.

Morning crept gradually over the neighborhood. The information that the two men had was viable—money got you whatever you wanted, and knowing the right people in the game allowed them to find where Bubbles was living her new life.

Crown definitely remembered Bubbles since her thick, curvy figure and voluptuous tits could make a nigga cum just on sight alone. Bubbles was a beautiful woman and three years ago, Crown had her working a corner for him. Like Chaos, she had been fresh out of New York, looking for a chance to make some serious money for herself. Crown was there to talk her young ass into the game. She sold crack and pussy for Crown in the early days and at night she was Crown’s personal play thing. Her pussy was so good that it was on the same level with Cherish.

Bubbles had two miscarriages by Crown because he beat the babies out of her when he found out that she was pregnant. When Crown got locked up, she found a way to escape his grip and restart her own life. She was one of the fortunate ones to escape from Crown.

Crown smiled at the thought of seeing Bubbles again.

“It’s been a long time,” he said to Harlem. “She was definitely one of the baddest bitches that I had on the block.”

Harlem nodded. “Word.”

“Yeah, her body was ridiculous. Shit, it’s hard to find a good ho like that today. Bitch always had my money right, ya know? And that pussy was like muthafuckin’ platinum baby! Shit, put that bitch on a street corner and moments later, it would be paved wit’ gold; that’s how lucrative that pussy was on the block. Bubbles had niggas lined up for blocks just to get wit’ her. The bitch was somethin’ else,” Crown proclaimed with a smirk on his face. “Now I see this bitch is wannabe Suzie muthafuckin’ Homemaker . . . tryin’ to live like the Brady Bunch.”

Harlem just sat patiently and listened. He looked at the time and saw that it was five-thirty in the morning. “Yo, you ready to do this? The sun is comin’ up all the way soon,” Harlem said.

“Yeah, it’s time that me and her have this reunion. It’s been too long since I’ve seen the bitch.”

Crown and Harlem picked up their guns. They both looked around for a quick moment and then got out the truck. They walked coolly to the four-bedroom split colonial house with a manicured lawn and silver Benz truck parked in the driveway.

Harlem was dressed in all black, holding his gun to his side as he looked around and moved toward the backyard. Crown was right behind him.

The driveway was lined with thick bushes that restricted view from the street, and was a plus for both men. Harlem twisted on the silencer, ready to go inside. He examined the back lock when, suddenly, the motion light came on and they heard movement inside the house.

Harlem and Crown both took cover in the shadows. A clean-shaven white man left the house in a dark gray suit, carrying a black leather briefcase. They watched him lock the door behind him and walk to the Benz.

Too easy, Harlem thought. He leaped from the shadows with his gun aimed at the man’s head, startling him. A look of terror crossed his face.

“Shut the fuck up, white boy, or I’ll kill you now,” Harlem threatened. He pressed the .45 to the man’s temple and asked, “Who else inside?”

“Just me,” the man lied.

Crown appeared behind the man and said, “Why the fuck you lying for, white boy? We know about Bubbles.”

“Who?”

Harlem quickly hit him upside his head with the .380. The white man cried out and took a few steps back, bumping into Crown.

“Get the fuck off me, cracker!” Crown said.

The man looked terrified. He didn’t know the name Bubbles.

“Bubbles, she in there?” Crown asked.

“Listen, I got money. Take whatever you want, but please, just leave my family alone. I’m not a threat,” the man pleaded.

“I know you’re not.” Harlem was insulted at the very thought.

Knowing that they had to get out of public view, Harlem and Crown forced the man to open the back door of the house. They shoved him back inside the house and closed the door behind them. The kitchen was dark and the sunrise seeped through the kitchen shades. The man watched Harlem and Crown, terrified, as he figured he would try to negotiate with them. “Look, I have $500 on me right now and you can have the truck. Just take what you want and I promise that the cops will not get involved.”

Crown chuckled. “Nigga, we ain’t here for your fuckin’ money or your truck. We here for Bubbles. Where she at?”

“I don’t know any Bubbles,” the man repeated. He was unaware of his wife’s past with Crown. He only knew her as Karen.

“Man, fuck talkin’ to this muthafucka! He ain’t no use, anyway.” Harlem pointed the gun at the man’s head and shot him. He fell to the floor and blood oozed from the back of his head.

“You a ruthless muthafucka,” Crown stated.

“I just know how to get shit done. Let’s just go talk to this bitch and see what she knows,” Harlem replied.

Crown nodded and they both moved farther into the house. They heard the shower running upstairs, indicating that Bubbles was probably in the bathroom. They assumed that she probably hadn’t heard a thing that had gone on downstairs.

Bubbles was in the shower listening to the news on the portable radio she kept on a shelf over the toilet. As she let the steaming warm water cascade off her brown skin, she listened to the reports of crime in Philly. She sighed after she heard about the killing of four people on Mantua Avenue and said to herself, “Damn, I’m so glad to be out of that city! People are so fuckin’ crazy today.”

She checked the time from behind the shower curtain and saw that it was a quarter to six. She was getting ready to start her seven-am shift at the hospital and saw that she had enough time. Her job was only fifteen minutes away and all she needed to do was change into her scrubs, make herself a cup of hot tea, and be on her way to work.

She figured that her husband would be on I-95 already, on his way to a business meeting in Baltimore. They had only been married for six months, but, for her, it felt like a lifetime. She was in love and happy and knew that Jason was the man for her. She hated keeping her past from him, especially about what she been through in Philly, but Bubbles knew that Jason loved her no matter what. She wanted to leave her past like yesterday—her past was history.

She finished showering then brushed her teeth, combed her hair, and wrapped a towel around her shapely figure. She walked toward the bedroom, leaving the radio on so she could hear the news from her bedroom.

The house was quiet and still. Bubbles loved living in Delaware and wished that she had moved there earlier. She felt that it was about time that she had something to call her own in life. Bubbles walked into her bedroom, smiling, and was devastated to see Crown lying on her bed. She immediately noticed the .380 next to him.

“You miss me, bitch?” Crown mocked.

“Oh my God! How the fuck did you find me? And what the fuck are you doin’ in my fuckin’ bedroom, Crown?” Bubbles shouted.

“Damn, you was always sexy when you got angry, bitch.”

Bubbles tried to turn and leave but Harlem got in her way. He seemed to come out of nowhere. “You need to chill and relax, shorty. We’re just here for some information,” Harlem said to her.

Bubbles stood helpless in her own bedroom, her body wrapped in a towel, unsure of what these two Philly thugs had in store for her.

Crown rose from the bed and approached her with a smile. He loved the way she looked wrapped in a towel and thought about that pussy again. He brushed his hand against her shoulder and said, “Damn, you still look good, baby. Really good.”

Bubbles jerked her shoulder away from his touch and glared at Crown.

“Why are you here?” she asked heatedly, feeling her heart beat faster.

Crown stared at her for a moment admiring everything he missed about her.

“I’m just here to talk, that’s all. Now we can make this really simple and I can be on my way or I can get into some wicked shit and make it fun for me and my friend here. Oh, I’m sorry, you never met Harlem. Well, let me officially introduce the two of you. Bubbles, this is Harlem and Harlem, Bubbles. See, Harlem here used to be a very hostile dude, but I’ve helped to calm him down.”

Bubbles looked at Harlem. Harlem looked back at her with a grim look. He didn’t say a word, but his dreadful presence spoke loudly for him. His face was stone and his eyes were cold and distant.

“So far, he’s behaving himself but if anything was to piss him off, well—shit, I don’t know what the nigga might do in this room if I left him alone with you,” Crown warned.

Bubbles was really nervous. Knowing Crown’s dangerous and deadly temper, she feared that she might not leave the room alive. She then thought about Jason. “Where’s my husband?”

“Oh, that white boy? He a’ight. We put the iron to his head and knocked that faggot out cold,” Crown said.

Bubbles gasped.

“You was always fond of them light-skinned niggas, but, damn, you wit’ a white boy? Who would have thought? But then again, you was always that kind of bitch who thought white was right,” Crown joked. “But yo, we can leave out here with everyone in one piece and still breathing. Or, if you act up, I can guarantee you it will get ugly in here. We got all day to stay and think of all kinds of enjoyable shit we can do to you.”

Bubbles tried to keep her composure. She stared Crown directly in the eye and asked, “What do you want from me?”

“Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about,” Crown replied.

Harlem took a step back, keeping his eyes on Bubbles’s shapely, semi-nude figure, and felt his dick getting hard. He definitely liked what he saw and hoped that Crown gave him the go-ahead to have his way with her—because he was dying to.

Crown brushed his hand across her breasts and ran his fingers under her towel. “I need a line on where your cousin Chaos might be staying in New York. The Bronx, I think.”

“Chaos? What do you want with her?” Bubbles asked.

“Look, she’s your cousin, but that’s my bitch and I need to get up wit’ her.”

“I haven’t spoken to Chaos in a year, maybe more. You should know that, Crown.”

“Bitch, just give me her last known location, address, or somethin’ that can link me up wit’ the bitch!”

“Why should I help you, Crown? If my cousin is free from you, then so be it. But—”

Crown cut her off by saying, “Harlem, I see she wanna act up now. Go see about her husband. If he’s awake, shoot that muthafucka.”

Harlem began to leave the room. Bubbles, not knowing that it was a bluff, said, “Okay, okay. I’ll try and help.”

Crown smiled and said, “See? When you open your mouth just make sure you’re sayin’ the right thing to me. You dig?”

Bubbles nodded.

“Now, I need a line on your cousin. If she’s in New York, where do you think she might be? I know you know. Y’all been family long enough and I remember you used to write that bitch letters when you was turning tricks for me.”

Bubbles took a deep sigh and thought about her options and her life. She hated to give up her cousin but it was something that she was being forced to do. “If I’ll tell you, do you promise that you won’t kill her or me?”

“Look, Bubbles. I don’t care about you. If you wanna live like Mrs. Brady and be a dumb bitch for that white boy, that’s you. I’m only here for your cousin. She took somethin’ from me and I want it back.”

“Money?” Bubbles asked.

“Look, bitch, my patience is wearing thin wit’ you! I ain’t got time for games. I want information and no more questions from you. You talk out of turn again and we gonna reminisce about the good ol’ days, wit’ my goon hand coming across your fuckin’ face!” Crown exclaimed.

Bubbles knew he was serious. She took another deep breath and said, “She used to stay with this lady, I think her name was Mrs. Joseph. She lived over by the Grand Concourse and East 181st Street,” reluctantly informed him.

Crown smiled. “You still got them fuckin’ letters she used to write you?” he asked.

Bubbles thought for a moment. “I only have one.”

“Let me get that letter.”

Bubbles didn’t want to give it up, but she knew that Crown wasn’t taking no for an answer. She slowly opened her dresser and dug through a few clothes. She pulled out a white envelope that was addressed to her from three years ago. It had the address that Crown needed.

Bubbles passed it to Crown who snatched it from her hands.

“You did good, girl,” Crown said.

Hearing those words from Crown made Bubbles feel like shit. She didn’t trust him and felt in her heart that something was wrong.

“You happy?” Bubbles asked with attitude.

“Bitch, don’t get cute,” Crown warned.

Bubbles was terrified. The look that Crown gave sent chills of uneasiness down her spine. “I wanna see Jason,” she cried out.

“I told you, bitch, he a’ight,” Crown lied.

“I wanna see him!” she screamed.

“Look at you, gettin’ all loud and shit, caring for that white boy. He be fuckin’ you as good as I did?” Crown asked. “He be deep up in that pussy, like I used to do?”

Bubbles began to cry, knowing that her fate was in their hands. Crown and Harlem hesitated to leave after they got what they wanted. She thought that they still wanted much more from her—something that she saved only for her husband.

“You know, you still look good, Bubbles. How about I get a quick peep at that body for old time’s sake? Let me see if you kept that body in good shape.” Crown leered. He looked over at Harlem and saw that he wore a devilish grin.

Bubbles tied the towel around her tightly and took a step back from Crown. Her body language said “no,” but Crown was unkind and harsh. He approached Bubbles, licking his lips and pulling at her towel.

“C’mon, Bubbles, let me get that peek. Your husband, he probably didn’t appreciate what he was fuckin’. I know that white boy couldn’t handle you ’cause you definitely did like to get buck wild on a nigga.”

Crown tried to wrap his arms around Bubbles, ready to get a taste of her goodies, but Bubbles bolted from his grip and smacked him hard. “Get the fuck off me, Crown! I ain’t wit’ that shit anymore!”

Crown became angry. “Bitch, you must be fuckin’ crazy to put your fuckin’ hands on me! I’m gonna kill you like I did your fuckin’ husband downstairs.”

Bubbles’s face flushed with both anger and resentment. She charged at Crown, swinging and screaming, “You heartless bastard! Why you do that? We ain’t do shit to you!”

Harlem quickly picked Bubbles up in his strong grip. Crown walked up to Bubbles and punched her in the face.

Bubbles glared back in defiance and spit in Crown’s face. “Fuck you!” she cried as tears streamed down her face. “I hate you! Go to fuckin’ hell, you callous muthafucka!”

“Bitch, I had love for you and you do me like this? What I told you, Bubbles? Ain’t never no escaping me. But yet, y’all bitches always try and then we end up where I gotta fuck y’all bitches up and teach y’all a fuckin’ lesson, even if it means death.”

Bubbles stared at Crown, knowing that the worst was about to come. All she could do at that point was curse and spit at Crown.

“Now, where were we?” Crown said in a calmer tone. He ran his hand up Bubbles’s thigh and positioned it underneath her towel. He grabbed her shaved snatch and fondled her while Harlem smiled.

Bubbles squirmed and tried to free herself, but Harlem wasn’t haven’t it and clutched her tighter. “Yeah! Damn, Bubbles, I still see that you take very good care of yourself down there.” Crown pushed his index finger and middle fingers into her pussy.

Bubbles begged him to stop but Crown kept on stroking.

“Yo, before we leave here tonight, you gonna remember what it felt like to have a true nigga in you,” Crown said, unzipping his jeans.

They tore the towel off Bubbles and forced her on the bed as she fought and screamed. Her resistance was useless. Harlem punched her in the head repeatedly, trying to shut her up and held her down as Crown climbed in between her legs getting ready to rape her.

Crown gripped his dick in his fist and told her, “It ain’t gonna hurt much, bitch. Shit, if you shut the fuck up, close your eyes, and relax, you just might enjoy it again the way you used to.”

Crown showed her no remorse. He thrust into her like an animal while Harlem stood by and watched. Bubbles just stopped fighting and let her ex-pimp have his way with her. When he was done and came in her, he pulled out, and zipped up his jeans.

Bubbles just lay in a fetal position, crying. The pain was unbearable and she grieved for her dead husband.

Crown stood over her. “Yeah, your pussy still good, bitch. You missed me, huh?” He looked over at Harlem and nodded.

Harlem walked up to Bubbles and raised the gun to her head. She turned to stare death in the face and pleaded, “Please, no! Please, I don’t wanna die! Let me bury my husband. Please, give me that.”

Harlem looked into her eyes and watched the tears flow down her bruised and beaten face. He wished that he had a chance to get with that. He hesitated and then looked back at Crown.

Crown said to him, “Hurry up and kill the bitch!”

Harlem fired three shots into Bubbles’s head at such close range that her forehead exploded. Blood and brain matter decorated her sheets and pillows.

Crown nodded. “Stupid bitch. C’mon, we gotta make a trip to the Bronx, my nigga.”

Harlem followed Crown, leaving Bubbles a twisted mess on her bloody sheets. Crown couldn’t wait to see the look on Chaos’s face when he came knocking on her front door, his guns cocked and ready to murder everyone. It got his dick hard just thinking about it.