WHEN LANDI LEARNED of Guru’s death, it was a bombshell for which she wasn’t prepared. The news came from one of her coworkers, who worked as a policewoman on the road. When she identified the victim as Landi’s boyfriend, she immediately called Landi, who had been waiting for Guru to return from handling some business.
Landi had been growing worried and suspected perhaps another DEA sweep, but not death. She had called out from work to clear her mind. The murder was all over the local news, but Landi still couldn’t believe Guru was gone.
She was sitting in a redneck bar in downtown Miami drinking whiskey, shot after shot. She wanted to get away from the world and feel no more pain.
“Let me get another shot,” Landi demanded.
“Ma’am, you’re too damn crashed for another drink.”
“Look here, fucker! Give me a drink before I make you wish—”
“Look here, lady. Don’t you threaten me! The policy says I don’t have to continue to sell you shit beyond intoxication,” the bartender informed her.
“Fuck your policy, you redneck muthafucka!” Landi said as she reached into her purse and removed her fully loaded .380. “I want my drink, fucker!” She aimed her gun at the muscle-bound man.
People in the vicinity slowly began leaving, not wanting to be caught up in the life-and-death situation.
“Ma’am, you’re ready to lose your life because of a drink?” the bartender said as he walked toward her.
“Don’t come closer! I will shoot!” Landi shouted.
The bartender froze in his tracks, afraid to take another step.
“It looks like you’re in pain, lady. Maybe you’ve lost someone. I don’t know”—the bartender shrugged his shoulders, “but it’s not equal to going and ruining your life, whatever the case may be.”
He knew that out of all the people leaving, someone was calling the police. At least he was praying for someone to have done what he would have done in the same situation.
“He was a good man to me. No one had ever treated me the way he did. And someone killed him today,” Landi said, wiping tears from her face.
The loss of Guru was too much for her. She just wanted to be wherever his mind was, at the moment. No one in the bar understood her pain.
On the television in the bar, Landi saw the news update to Guru’s murder.
“That’s him!” Landi nodded her head toward the television. “He didn’t deserve to die. I was at home waiting on him. I can’t even tell him that he was about to be a father.”
When the bartender looked at the news update, he froze and forgot all about his life being in danger.
“That’s a nigga you’re crying for!”
Boc! Boc! Boc! Boc!
Before the bartender could get out his insult, Landi lost it and pulled the trigger. The slugs hit him in his face and instantly killed him.
“Oh my gosh! What have I done?” Landi exclaimed when she saw the bartender fall to his death.
The entire bar went into a frenzy. Landi turned on her heels and fled the bar, stumbling from being so intoxicated.
“Murderer!” someone shouted.
Landi turned around and fired a shot in the air, causing more frantic behavior to erupt outside. Landi found her Altima and ran toward it.
I gotta get out of here! she thought as she reached for the driver’s door.
“Freeze, lady! Put down the weapon! Metro-Dade police.”
“Nooo!” Landi exclaimed as she turned around and saw three police officers aiming their guns at her.
“Why me, huh?” Landi shouted while holding the gun in her hand.
“Landi!” a police officer called out, immediately recognizing her.
When Landi looked at the young officer with her best blurry vision, she recognized him too. He had a crush on her, but he was always turned down.
Chad! Landi remembered his name. “Yes, Chad. It’s me! What? Am I under arrest?” Landi asked, being sarcastic with him.
“Listen, Landi. Just put down the gun. Come on. You’re one of us. We could talk things out and see what’s going on,” he said, trying his best to be a negotiator and get her to surrender.
“Chad, I loved him. I can’t believe that he’s gone.”
“Landi, put down the weapon now!” a sergeant shouted to her.
Landi shook her head.
Sergeant Barns wasn’t taking any chances. Chad wanted to tell Barns that he could handle Landi, but it was now out of his hands.
“Please, Landi! Don’t get yourself—”
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Before Chad could warn her, Sergeant Barns fired his weapon and hit Landi high in her chest. As her body slid down the car, leaving a blood trail, she blinked her eyes twice and then took her last breath.
It was too much for Chad to see, so he closed his eyes to refrain from exploding on the sergeant.
“Suspect down and unresponsive. No longer a threat to the Metro-Dade Police Department,” Sergeant Barns said over his radio to dispatch.
“Ten-four copy, sergeant,” dispatch replied.
Sergeant Barns looked over at Chad, who was bridling his emotion, which Barns could clearly see. Sergeant Barns put a cigarette in his mouth and then spoke. “Are you going to be alright, son?”
Chad looked at Sergeant Barns and wanted to ask him why he killed her, but he knew that his job would be on the line.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” he simply answered as he walked away to question witnesses.
I know you are, Sergeant Barns said to himself as he lit a cigarette while staring at Landi’s lifeless body.
“Damn shame, girl!” Sergeant Barns said as he blew smoke down at Landi.
* * *
When Meka heard the news about Guru, she couldn’t believe that another person she had known in her life was gone. Guru was someone she’d once had feelings for and had sex with, before she put her focus on Smooth. Smooth never knew, but if he had ever asked, Meka would have told him.
She had no clue when Smooth planned to take out Ham.
Maybe he’s waiting for Ham to see the birth of his crack baby, Meka thought.
Since she had kicked out Ham’s teeth, Meka hadn’t been back to his place. Seeing Tina protect him had grossed her out. She was waiting for Smooth to make his move.
Because the sooner Smooth handles Ham, the sooner he’ll be home, Meka thought as she sat on her sofa and ate her TV dinner.
Come morning, Meka planned to go visit Smooth and see if he was alright after hearing about Guru’s death.
Damn! I hope he’s alright! Meka thought as she turned the television to BET, where she watched a music video with Rihanna and Drake.
“Now that’s a fine-ass nigga!” Meka said, admiring Drake.
She stood up and started dancing to the video.
“Work, work, work!” Meka sang the lyrics out loud, pretending to be dancing for Smooth.
Damn! I can’t wait for his ass to get home. I swear I’ma put this pussy on him like never before, she thought as she watched the singers on the screen.
“Soon, baby! Real soon that nigga Ham will be history, even if I have to do it myself!”
* * *
“You ready for this shit?” China asked Sue Rabbit, who was sitting in the passenger seat of a stolen SUV.
“China, I live for this shit! It’s not ’bout us no more. This shit ’bout Guru!” Sue said as he racked his MAC-10.
“Money, let’s go!” China said to him over her walkie-talkie.
“I’m here,” Money said.
China looked over at Sue Rabbit, and they both pulled ski masks over their faces.
“Let’s go!” China announced as she exited the SUV with two fully loaded Glock .45s in her hands.
She and Sue Rabbit ran into the Mexican restaurant on 37th and began hitting random Mexicans.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Money chopped down the men who escaped, and ran out the front door with his AK-47. The restaurant was another one of Juan’s establishments that Mario was still running. Sue Rabbit and China ran toward the back of the place and found the office door locked. Sue Rabbit took a step back and ran toward the door with his shoulder, causing the wooden door to burst open. As he ducked and fired, China released a fusillade of shots, catching three frightened female cookers with deadly slugs.
“What? You bitches thought this was the hideout, huh?” China shouted.
She looked at Sue Rabbit, who pointed at the oak desk. Sue’s signal to her was to take the opposite side of the desk while he took the other end. When China did, a Mexican sprung to his feet with a sword and swung at her head. She ducked on time and gave the Mexican a kick to his stomach. As he flew backward, Sue Rabbit shot him in the face.
“This muthafucka just tried to swipe my head off!” China said as she aimed at him and shot him twice more in his face.
* * *
Sue Rabbit called a meeting back at the trap house for all his lieutenants and sergeants to report with their workers under them. It was requested by China. She wanted to see everyone who was arrested on the 2100 block during the sweep and was out on bond. China looked at her G-Shock watch and saw that it was 4:00 a.m. She wanted to get her point across and then go home to rest.
“People, we are here to discuss some shit that needs to be addressed. Today we lost a soldier—an important soldier. And we’re not done retaliating. Until Guru is laid to his final rest, we will give these Mexicans what they’ve earned,” Sue Rabbit said while searching the faces of more than thirty men.
“Everyone that bonded out, step forward,” China ordered her men.
Everyone in the room looked at one another, a little perplexed.
“I didn’t stutter! Now, like I said!”
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
“Those with bonds step forward,” China demanded, after shooting a worker in his chest and face.
The other men in the room all wished they were never tricked into disarming themselves when coming to the trap house. They all smelled trouble, but the men who were out on bond stepped forward. The count came up to nineteen men in total. They were all workers, except for four of them.
“Smooth was good to all of you muthafuckas, and yet y’all betrayed him!” China said as she walked up to Sue Rabbit, who had opened a black case that concealed an AK-47.
China quickly grabbed the gun, racked it, and then stared at the frightened workers.
“Why? Somebody please tell me why a good man, and you muthafuckas are out trying to bring him down, huh?” China asked as she aimed at the workers and took down ten of them.
Sue Rabbit took down most of the other half and left all the workers slumped. The lieutenants and sergeants were all frightened, but they were solid. Money sat among the ranked men with the same prospect of China running through his head that was running through theirs. China was a coldhearted, serious bitch that no man wanted to be against on the wrong side of the road.
She is nothing like Smooth, Money thought.
“Money! Get this mess cleaned up. I want all of them thrown into the Everglades,” China ordered as she walked out of the soundproof trap house with Sue Rabbit on her heels.
Once outside, China stopped and turned to Sue Rabbit.
“Go home and lay low. The streets are going to be hot. I don’t need you in them to get burned, Sue Rabbit,” China said as she walked off and got into her Benz SUV.
“I got you, boss lady,” Sue said as he departed from the trap house and headed home to his woman and true love.
When China got home, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She had had a long, stressful day. She badly wanted to hear Smooth’s voice and express to him how much she was missing him. She needed him home with her, and out of the game. Seeing Guru get killed was a wake-up call itself, and she was hoping that Smooth saw the same prospect.
China looked up at the $2.3 million mansion and saw that they were living the American dream. Letting the streets take it from them was a waste of hard work.
Smooth, we’ve come so far into this game. It’s time to give it up, baby, she thought as a tear escaped her right eye.
She didn’t want to bury Smooth like she was about to contribute to bury Guru.
Damn it, Smooth! Please don’t let me down!
“Oh shit!” China shouted, frightened by the two raps on her car window.
When she looked, she saw that it was Spencer. He was dressed in all black and wore a black skully on his head. She was pissed as she opened her door and stepped out.
“You must be out of your mind, Spencer! You scared the shit out of me!” China said while walking to her front door.
“Not really! I’ve been worried about you. Are you okay?” he asked.
The way he asked her out of concern put a smile on China’s face. She thought that it was cute of him to be concerned. She knew that he had a thing for her, and to her, it was dangerous.
What does he want? It’s almost five o’clock in the morning! China thought as she put her key in the door.
“I’m okay, Spencer. So tell me, what’s on your mind?” she asked.
“There’s a lot on my mind. I’m going back to Martin on Sunday night.”
“Are you going, or are we going?” China asked, raising an eyebrow.
Spencer smiled impishly, going back to what Smooth had warned him about: not underestimating China.
“Of course we are going, China. I wouldn’t leave you out of the fun for nothing in the world.”
“Do you want to come in for some coffee? You look like you need it,” China offered.
Spencer looked at his watch and then thought about the good offer. He definitely wanted to come inside, but he had a task to get to as soon as dawn rose.
“Thanks, but I have to handle something. Besides, you’re the one who looks like she needs a strong cup of coffee,” Spencer said, judging the redness in her eyes.
“I don’t think so, Spencer. Don’t do coffee at odd hours. Well, I guess I’ll see you around. You know where to find me,” China said as she opened the front door and met a happy Zorro, who was jumping all over her like an excited kid. “See you later, Spencer.”
When she turned around, he was gone. He had vanished into the night like a ghost.
“Damn it, Spencer! You’re a smooth muthafucka!” China said as she shut the front door and set the house alarm.
She walked into the kitchen and refilled Zorro’s water bowl and then fed him two cans of dog food. When Zorro was settled, China walked to the guest room and found her nanny asleep in bed with the crack baby, who slept peaceful yet with a perpetual shake.
“I hate your mama and daddy,” China said to the baby, who she never gave a name.
Seeing him suffer from his parents’ wrong decisions caused her pain every time she looked at him.
“I’ma call you Lucky. Because you’re a lucky baby boy!” China whispered as she walked out of the room and closed the door, making sure not to wake the nanny or baby.
She walked into her bedroom and stripped out of her clothes. She walked into the bathroom and hopped into a hot shower. She was eager to hang with Spencer come Sunday. His presence comforted her and made her feel safe.
“Shit, how am I supposed to feel about a handsome man saving my life?” China asked herself.
At times she felt that she was being unfaithful to Smooth when she thought of how Spencer was making her feel.
But damn, how am I being unfaithful? Shit! When I was in prison, this nigga was fucking any bitch with a phat pussy! Why can’t I have a friend if I decide to? Shit! I’ma ask Smooth just to see where his head is at. Will it be selfish or give me the green light? But, damn! Even if he does say yeah, I can’t fuck the man’s hit man! China thought with a smile on her face as she showered. That’s being too damn nasty, girl, China thought to herself.
When China got out of the shower and dried off, she walked into the bedroom and found Zorro lying on top of her bed. She pulled back the comfy coverlet and hopped into bed nude.
She was so exhausted that she forgot to put her iPhone on its charger. As soon as her head hit the pillow, China was dozing off. In no time, she was dreaming of her and Smooth walking on the beach and holding hands. Her dream switched from the man she loved to the man for whom she was yearning—Spencer. She was in his strong arms and staring into his adorable loud blue eyes leaning toward her. When his lips touched hers, her body betrayed her, and she came to an orgasm.
“Mmmm!” China awoke moaning. “Spencer!” she called out as she continued to cum. “Oh my gosh!” China exclaimed as she shot up abruptly from her sleep, realizing that she had just had a wet dream.
China felt her throbbing clit and felt her wet pussy. She couldn’t believe what she was going through.
“Damn! I need me some dick or a bitch!” China said, then played with her pussy until she came again, moaning out Smooth’s name, wishing that he was giving her the loving her body was lacking.