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Chevy pulled up at a red light and a black van skidded to a halt before her. Her eyes nearly leaped out of her head and her mouth dropped open when the vehicle’s sliding door was flung open. Two masked up niggaz, holding choppas, approached her car, the business end of them thangs pointed right at her. Her heart was beating so fast that she thought that it was going to jump out of her chest. Chevy released the steering wheel and lifted her trembling hands, palms showing dampness. She closed her eyes and peeled them back open having swallowed the extra spit in her throat.
Her head turned as the men rounded her vehicle counter clockwise, AK-47s poised to leave that ass as bloody as ground beef. She was visibly shaken and scared. This had never happened to her before and she didn’t know exactly what these fools wanted. At first, she thought that maybe they were there on Tiaz’ behalf, but that idea was dispelled. If it were him then he would have come alone. He wouldn’t have sent anyone. Not to mention the only nigga she knew that he fucked with like that would have been Threat. He didn’t move with a band of niggaz. Not to mention, Faison said that he was dead. At that moment, it dawned on her that these dudes had to be part of Majestic’s organization. That was it. It made perfectly good sense. Mothafuckaz hopping out of vans with assault rifles on some Mexican cartel shit.
“Get out da car! Bitch, get out da car!” the tallest of them barked, startling her. “’Fore we blow yo’ fucking head off!”
She went to open the door, but another bark scared the life out of her.
“Hurry up!” the shorter one barked, cocking the hammer on his weapon.
“Okay! Alright, I’m coming.” Chevy’s heart was beating so hard that she could feel it bumping up against her ribcage. Her legs felt like cooked noodles, but somehow she managed to use them to get out of the car. The tallest one looked up and down the block making sure no one was watching or coming. The coast was clear. It was late and the streets were naked of anyone or anything. He shoved Chevy up against her vehicle and pressed the choppa against her cheek, indenting her face, causing her to turn her head. She squeezed her eyes shut and mashed her lips together hard, waiting to hear the weapon fire and end her life.
“We know you were da one dat killed Majestic and his people.” Her eyelids snapped open and her eyes darted to him. “Oh what, you think we didn’t know about that? We were staked out down the block, hoe!”
“Fuck all dis talkin,’ leave dis high-yellow bitch where she standin.’”
“Right.” He went to pull the trigger.
“Wait!” The shorter one, was studying something in the backseat. He looked to Chevy. “What’s in that bag?”
“Not. Nothing. It’s just a couple of bath towels.” She quivered with fear.
He gave her the side eye and twisted his lips. “Fuck outta here! What I look like, Boo Boo the Fool?” He hit the locks and recovered a Gucci duffle bag. He lifted the towels that were inside and found racks on top of racks stored. A smile spread across his big ass lips.
“What chu smilin’ for? What chu come up on?” The tallest looked from Chevy to his partner, still holding that Kay to the side of her face. His man opened the bag and held it out for him to see. When he peered inside, he smiled too. “Sweet.”
“How much is dis?” The short one questioned her.
“Three. Three. Three hundred grand.”
They whistled, liking the sound of all of those dead white men.
“That’s lovely right there.”
“Sho’ ya right.” He closed the Gucci bag.
“Good lookin’ out, lil’ momma, shame we gotta kill yo’ fine ass.” The tallest molested her with his eyes and licked his chops. “Mmmmmm.” He said like she was delicious. He went to pull the trigger, but the shorter one grabbed his wrist, snagging his attention. He frowned and looked at him like ‘What’s the big idea?’
“Nah, let her slide,” he told him seriously.
“Really?”
“Yeah, we done already robbed the bitch, now you wanna kill her?” He looked at him like Damn, nigga, have some mothafucking compassion. “One L’s enough for the night. Besides...” He held up the Gucci duffle bag. “...we got plenty of loot to count up.”
“Right.”
“Let’s go.” The shorter man nudged him and sprinted to the van, climbing inside. “Come on!” He waved him over, watching him slowly back away from Chevy with his AK-47 trained on her. Abruptly, he spun around and hauled ass toward the van, gripping his assault rifle with both hands. He leaped inside and slid the door closed, locking it in place. Chevy watched the back tail light drive away until they were two bright red orbs and had eventually disappeared into the night.
With her head hung, she trekked back to her whip and climbed in, pulling the door shut. She looked at her hands and they were shaking badly. Her eyes misted and tears sprawled down her cheeks, rolling over his lips.
“Oh my God,” she rasped. She was scared as hell. That was the second time Death had tackled her door, and that time he’d come close to getting inside. “Shit.” She curled her fingers into fists and closed her eyes, trying to get a grip on her emotions and rattled nerves. Suddenly, she felt the bile rise up her esophagus and she hurriedly unlocked the door, throwing it open.
“Bwahhhh!” She hurled.
That night’s dinner came splattering against the pavement in the form of a pinkish green goop. Just when she thought she was through, more came up. Bwahhh! Her head bobbed as she unleashed what was left inside of her stomach. More tears danced at the corners of her eyes and she wiped her mouth with the back of her fist. Afterwards, she retrieved a couple of napkins out of the glove-box to wipe off her tongue and chin. She balled up the napkins and threw it out of the window. Then she wiped her face with the inside of her shirt. Sniffing up the snot that threatened to drip, she licked her lips and dialed the number to her brother’s contraband cell phone. As the phone rang she was overwhelmed with sadness and depressed. She felt like a complete failure having gotten the money for Savon’s lawyer stolen. She didn’t know what she was going to do to get that money again, so she could only pray for a miracle.
***
She bit down on her panties as he thrust in and out of her wet, creamy hole. She tried to climb the walls like she was half a spider, but he held her in place and roughly fucked her, just how she liked it. Each stroke of his love muscle caused sweat to dash on her big, luscious titties.
“Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh!” Her eyes were rolled to their whites and her arms were wrapped around his neck as he dug up in them guts. He clenched his jaws and stared into her face. It was twisted into a mask of pleasure. This let him know that he was handling his business, and damn well, that night. He pumped longer, faster, harder making her voice go up a few octaves before the sound left her.
“Uh! Uh! Uh!” He grunted, face coated in perspiration, as well as the rest of his body. Feeling her legs shaking, he looked down just in time to see her juices spraying his beaded nest of pubic hair. “Sheeiiiiit!”
“Shhhhh!” He stole a glance to see if someone was peeking in through the rectangle window, there wasn’t anyone there.
“I can’t help it. Damn, you got some good dick, nigga, shit.” She licked her tongue at him like the freak she was, grinding up on his full potential, enticing him to keep fucking her. Old girl loved the way he felt inside of her opening and wanted to feel his one-eyed snake tickling her G-spot. She’d gotten hers off, so he went ahead and wrapped up his performance.
He rose from off of the bed and stuffed his red bandana inside of her mouth. Right after, he was pressing her up against the wall. Eyelids tightened, arms wrapped tightly around her, he grunted and ravaged her middle. She looked like a demon was trying to possess her as he galloped at her center, her white cream sliding down his swollen member. She was so wet that his hardness sliding in and out of her sounded like a nigga greasing his hands with Vaseline. He looked up at her face and cracked a smile while he worked his hips in a circular motion. The bandana fell out of her mouth as he pumped her full of raw dick. A tingling sensation greeted the head of his steel. As soon as he met it, he snatched free of her and jerked his dick on her washboard stomach, plastering it with pearly white jizz.
“Ughhhhhh!” Relief crossed his face and his tongue hung at the corner of his mouth. He went along jerking his meat until he was sure all of his children were freed from the juvenile hall that was his balls.
“Good looking out.” Savon smacked the C.O. on her bare ass. He wiped off his dick and pulled up his pants. After that he kicked back on his bunk and lit up a cigarette, watching his fuck-buddy get dressed. He took casual pulls from the cancer stick as he studied her. Her face was kind of strong, but she had ass for days and titties for weeks. It helped her case tremendously that her V was some of the best he’d ever encountered. Other than her smuggling contraband into the prison for him, that was the reason he fucked with her. He hadn’t been down that long, but the homies from the hood came pouring in a couple days after he’d gotten there. There were a total of twelve of them, excluding himself. Given that the Outlaws weren’t the largest set there, they were one of the biggest. It was strength in numbers, so they were good on the muscle end of things.
“Well, I better get back to work.” She leaned down and kissed him sensually. “See you later, handsome.”
He blew out a cloud of smoke and said, “No doubt.”
The correctional officer drew the sheet back on the string that stretched across the cell. As she was opening the door and leaving, Savon felt a vibration underneath his pillow. Switching hands with the cigarette, he reached under his pillow and recovered the cell phone. He smirked seeing that it was his sister. After pressing answer he brought the cellular to his head and his ear was assaulted with what had happened to her that night. The news prompted him to sit up on his bunk, concerned lines running across his forehead.
“You all right, sis?” He went to stand in the corner where no one could see him through the window. “Good, good, good. You make it to Steinbeck’s yet? No!” A shocked expression emerged on his face. “Wait a minute, they took you for the whole shit? Oh no, oh no, this is bad, real bad.” He paced the floor, running his hand down his face while in motion.
“Grrrrrr!” He growled like a lion, going berserk in his cell. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” He kicked and stomped on the bunk in a rage, showing his natural black ass.
“I’m sorry, Savon, I’m so soorryyy.” Her voice blared and she broke down sobbing, hearing her baby brother get crazy. “I’m so sorry.”
Savon threw his cell phone against the wall, the screen cracked and it skidded across the floor. Breathing hard with teary eyes, he slid down the wall. His knees were up at his chest as he brought his hands to his face bawling. “Haa! Haa! Haa!” His head bobbed as he broke down crying, teardrops splashing when they hit the cool, filthy floor. “Ahh! Haa! Haa! Haa!” He cried long and hard, all the while hearing his sister on the opposite end of the cellular.
“Savoooonn! Forgiiive me! I’m sorryyyy! Haa! Haa! Haa!” She wailed into the cell phone. “I’m sorrryyyy!”
Savon was washed up, done for if he couldn’t get his hands on some money to pay his lawyer for a good defense.
***
Chevy finally managed to pull herself together from what she thought was the final night of her life. She understood now that it was best to have her antennas up more now than ever. Them fools had caught her slipping and could have very well had her brains plastered on the inside of her Caprice. Thank God one of them felt for her. He convinced the other to let her keep her life, because had it not have been for that she’d be lying on a cold metal slab getting her body slit open during an autopsy.
Chevy pushed the thoughts into the back of her mind. Right now she had to focus on the most serious one at hand and that was finding her baby boy. She was beginning to feel like a shitty parent, having lost her son not once but twice now. All she could do was scrape her knees up to the Lord and pray that he was safe and sound. Because one thing was for certain, she wouldn’t be able to live if harm came to a hair on his head. Te’Qui was her world. To her the sun rose and set on him. He was her little man.
Chevy bent the corner with an Urrrrrrrk! Tilting the pretty black on black thang, chrome rims spinning like Wheel of Fortune contestants. As soon as the vehicle came back down on the pavement, she floored it and it accelerated. She was staring straight ahead. The window was down and the wind blew against her face, disturbing her dyed blonde hair, causing it to ruffle in the air. She blew the excess smoke from her nose and glanced down at the ashtray, mashing out what was left of the cigarette. Seeing her driveway coming up, she made a sharp right and drove upon the lawn. She threw open the door and hopped out, leaving the driver side door open as she ran around the car. Coming upon the porch, she jogged up the steps in a hurry.
“Te’Quiiiii! Te’Quiiiiii!” She called out her son’s name as she went through the keys until she found the key that she was looking for. As soon as she unlocked the door and stepped inside, she took a clean scan of the living room. Her eyes were wide and her mouth formed an O. Tucking her keys into her pocket, she moved throughout the house calling her son’s name and checking each and every room.
She came back inside of the living room. Stopping at the center of the room, she placed her hands on her hips and her brows bunched together. “Hmmm.” She bit down on her bottom lip and that’s when the thought hit her, she was hurried out of the door. Crossing the threshold and leaving the front door wide open, she made her way over to Baby Wicked’s Aunt Helen’s house. She jogged up the steps and knocked on the front door, glancing over her shoulders in case she saw him wandering about. It was a long shot that her baby boy would be over his best friend’s aunt’s house, but it was worth checking out before she went any farther.
It was taking a while for someone to answer so Chevy went to knock again. That’s when the porch light came on stinging her eyes like bumble bees and causing her to wince. She heard the door locks coming undone and the knob being turned. Next, the door was being pulled open and she found a wide silhouette standing before her. From the big curly hair and the roundabout shape of the face, she could tell that it was Helen.
“Uh, hey, Ms. Helen,” she started off. “Te’Qui wouldn’t happen to be over here, would he?”
“N...” Helen cleared her throat with a fist to her mouth, holding a hand at her back, clutching a gun. “Excuse me, no I haven’t seen him, Chevy.”
Chevy dropped her head disappointedly, she hated to hear that. “Oh, uh, when was the last time you seen ‘em?”
Helen blew hard thinking on when the last time she’d seen her neighbor’s son. “That was a couple of days ago. He was playing basketball out there with a couple of the neighborhood kids. You seen ‘em, you were out there that day, remember?”
“Yeah, I...”
“Heeelllp!”
Chevy frowned and looked up at Helen, still only able to see her silhouette. “What was that?”
“Oh, that’s the TV, I’m sorry.” She tucked her banger at the small of her back and stepped out on the porch, pulling the door shut behind her. The burly woman folded her arms across her ample bosom, tucking her hands underneath her armpits to keep them warm. It was kind of cold that night. “Jesus, it’s chilly out here.”
“Yeah, it is.” She agreed wearing a saddened expression across her face. When she looked up at her, she saw her eyes rim with tears that threatened to overflow. She didn’t have any kids, but her nephews were as good as her own children. The loss of the youngest one had crippled her greatly, the night before she was lying in a tub of warm murky water attempting to slit her own wrist with a Gillette shaver. She’d written a suicide note and left it on the bathroom sink. If it hadn’t been for Wicked knocking on the door, interrupting her with his plan to murder the men responsible for his younger brother’s death and needing her assistance she would have gone through with it. That’s when she decided to fall back and kick it on earth just a little while longer to guarantee that her nephew’s executioners were brought to justice.
Helen knew exactly how Chevy must have been feeling at that time and her heart went out to her. Helen, ol’ girl you need your fucking head examined, she thought. She decided she was about to tell Te’Qui’s mother that he was being held captive down in the basement by her nephew until he gave up the name of the man that had given them the drugs to sell.
“Listen,” Helen began, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I...” The words died in her throat when she saw Wicked driving up from down the block, headlights and music blaring. Dr. Dre’s Xxplosive was serenading his journey.
Fuck a bitch
Don’t tease bitch,
Strip tease bitch
Eat a bowl of these bitch,
Gobble the dick
Hoes forgot to eat a dick can shut the fuck up!
Gobble and swallow a nut up,
Shut up and get my cash
Backhanded, pimp slapped backwards and left stranded
Just pop ya collar, pimp convention hoes for a dollar
Six-Deuce in a plush, six-deuce Impala
Pimpin’ hoes from Texas to Guatemala
Bitch niggaz paid for hoes, just to lay wit hoes
Relax one night, and paid to stay wit’ hoes...
The presence of loud music stole both women’s attention. When Chevy turned back around, Helen cleared her throat and focused. “Like I was saying I could get a couple of Missing Persons flyers printed up and post them up in the neighborhood if you’d like.”
“Please.” Chevy wiped her dripping eyes with a curled finger. “Something like that would definitely help. Thank you. I’m gonna go down to the police station and see about filing a police report. I know it’s supposed to be 48 hours before you report anything, but screw that. I can’t sleep at night knowing that my child is probably in his drawers and chained up inside of some psycho’s basement.”
Helen raised an eyebrow. She found it eerie that she’d guessed that right on the nose.
“I hear you. You do whatever you have to do to find your boy.”
“Okay.” She moved to head down the steps, but froze once she was called back. She turned around.
“Whatever you have to, you hear me?” She gave her a stern look, eyes glassy with seriousness. “You don’t want the heartache that comes with losing a child. Believe me, I already lost one of my boys.”
“Alright.” She went on about her business.
Helen closed the door shut and headed back inside of the house. She wanted to tell Chevy that Te’Qui was down in the basement, but feared what Wicked would do to her if he knew that she’d ratted him out. For now, she’d play it cool until she found an opening that would allow the boy to walk without her nephew even knowing. All she had to do was get that goddamn key off of his neck. She could relieve Te’Qui of his restraints and allow him to escape. Next, she would break her own nose and make up a story. She’d tell Wicked that the kid had picked the lock of his shackle and cracked her across the bridge of her nose with a blunt object of some sort.
That’s it, that’s the plan. I got it, Helen thought as she headed down into the basement.
When Chevy was coming down the steps Wicked was murdering the engine of his BMW and hopping out. He locked eyes with her, but kept a neutral face.
“Hey, Wicked, sorry for your loss.” She said as they crossed paths.
“I’ma be sorry for yo’ loss, too, if Te’Qui don’t tell me something,” he said under his breath.
Chevy froze. Her brows furrowed and she turned around. “Excuse me?”
“What’s up with it, Chev’?” He raised his eyebrows and threw his head back.
“Did you say something?”
“Just what’s up?”
Chevy narrowed her eyes and nodded, before keeping it moving to her ride, thinking nothing of it.
***
“Uuuhhhh.” Te’Qui slowly came to groaning and rubbing the lower half of his jaw. His eyelids peeled apart and he looked around with blurred vision, trying to focus. When his 20/20 finally adjusted, he saw Baby Wicked’s Aunt Helen sitting in a chair before him, gripping a handgun firmly. Her face was still partially hidden by the shadows and he couldn’t make out her eyes. He hadn’t a clue of what she was thinking or what her facial expression was. This made him uneasy. He kept an eye on her hand as she placed a cigarette into her mouth and fired it up. She took a deep pull and polluted the air with smoke. Te’Qui gagged and coughed with a fist to his mouth, inhaling the smothering fumes. He’d always hated the smell of nicotine. It was the equivalent of a noose tightening around his throat anytime he came into contact with it.
Te’Qui’s coughing ceased when he saw Helen rise from the chair. This sight set off a panic alarm inside of his head. His heart pummeled against his chest bone rapidly and he scrambled backwards on his hands and bare feet until he bumped up against the wall. His head whipped from left to right looking for somewhere to escape. Jumping to his feet, he ran to his right, moving shit out of the way and kicking it aside. His back was against the wall and he was desperate for a haven to flee to, no matter where it may be. When he didn’t find anywhere to hide, he raced over to his left. He knocked boxes out of the way, pushed furniture aside, and flipped tables over, scrambling to get away.
“Haa! Haa! Haa! Haa!” His shoulders and head bobbed as he breathed hard. Looking up, he saw Helen’s shadow moving up the wall as she advanced. The little nigga gasped and whipped around, zeroing in on the gun in her hand.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
His heart rate jacked up and his eyes bulged. He swallowed the extra spit that had accumulated in his throat as his eyes searched the room again for something to defend himself with. They located a dusty lamp off to the corner on top of an old tattered end table. He darted toward the end table, feeling her right on top of him. All he had to do was grab it and clock her ass. Te’Qui was in motion, moving like a track star, when—Clingggg!—the chain snagged him just short of reaching the lamp and he went falling to the floor, hard.
“Huuughhh!” He grimaced, feeling the wind knocked out of his lungs felt like a gut punch. Hearing Helen’s footsteps at his rear, he turned over swiftly, prepared to meet his demise. His brows mushed together and his jaws squared. His nostrils flared as he looked up at his late friend’s aunt, giving her a look that could cause instant death.
“Relax, I’m not gonna hurt chu, Te’Qui.” She outstretched her hand.
The youngling narrowed his eyes at her hand, looking upon it like it was a venomous snake. His head shot up and he locked eyes with her. “I’m not stupid.”
She took the square from her mouth and released a flutter of smoke. “Boy, if I wanted to hurt chu I would have already, trust me. Ain’t nobody here to stop me. Come on.” She motioned for him to take her hand.
Te’Qui weighed her words and figured he didn’t have anything to lose by taking her helping hand. Smack! His palm sounded when it collided with hers, her hand grasped his and she pulled him to his feet. She snatched up a milk crate and planted it in the center of the floor, waved him over and told him to have a seat. Cautiously, he approached and sat down on the crate. She returned to her chair and sat down, tapping her Joe and dumping ashes on the floor. She took another draw and unleashed smoke that drifted in his direction like a cloud. After watching him frown and fanning the smoke away, she knew that it was getting to him.
“Sorry.” She dropped the cigarette near her flat and mashed it out, her shoes spreading black ashes on the floor.
“Are you gonna let me go?”
“Are you gon’ tell me who gave Brice those drugs to sell?”
“Hell n...” He caught himself and cleared his throat. “No, ma’am, I’m notta rat. I can’t tell.”
“I thought my nephew was your best friend.”
“He is.” He nodded in agreement, his face becoming somber at the mention of his deceased best friend. “We were practically the same type of person. I know he’d respect what I’m doing. In fact, he’s one of the people that drilled that no snitching thing into my head. I’m only honoring his wishes and sticking to my beliefs.”
She sighed and shook her head. “You boys and your codes. Not everyone sticks to those street codes, you know. Plenty of people have broken those rules.”
“I’m not plenty of people, I’m Lil’ Q-Ball from the set.”
She looked away and massaged the bridge of her nose. “The ignorance of the youth.” She licked her lips and looked up at him. “So, you’re willing to throw your life away for this?”
“Yes, ma’am, I’m willing to die for what I believe in, just like any other man.”
Her forehead deepened with creases. “You’re a brave soul. A brave, brave soul to be so young.”
“Truthfully, I’m afraid, but it’s like Pac said, I’d rather die like a man than live like a coward.”
“I commend you, young man.”
“So, are you gonna let me outta here?”
She took a deep breath. “If it were up to me I’d unlock that shackle and let chu waltz right on outta here. But I don’t even have the key. Winston took it with him. He wears it on a necklace around his neck.”
“Damn.” Te’Qui cursed under his breath, dropping his head. He looked back up. “You think there’s any way that you could possibly get it?”
“I could try.”
“Thanks.” Things were silent for a time before he spoke again. “Why are you going to help me even though I won’t tell you what you wanna know?”
“Believe it or not, I’ve always looked at you as one of my nephews.” She admitted. “You being killed out there wouldn’t have hurt me any less than it being Brice.”
“Then why’d you go along with kidnapping me? That doesn’t make any sense.” He frowned.
“Winston was so goddamn adamant about finding the guy that gave you guys the drugs. Seeing the hurt in his eyes behind the loss of his brother, I couldn’t turn him down.” She confessed. “I was satisfied with the death of the bastard that actually pulled the trigger. His life being taken was enough for me.” She clenched her fist so tightly that it slightly shook. Her eyes were glassy and glinted with madness. She blinked and opened her hand, and just like that, the hatred dissipated. Helen exhaled and ran a hand down her face. “Unfortunately, the deaths of Maniac and Time Bomb weren’t going to pacify him. He won’t be good until you give up that name. And I assure you that he won’t hesitate to torture you for that bit of info.” She spoke seriously, gazing straight into his eyes. “Winston is not all there upstairs, and I’m sure you’re aware of this. He’s a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic basket, you know? He’s always been off, since before his parents were murdered.”
“Auuntyy!” A voice called out then there was the squeaking of the steps as someone was descending them.
Helen’s head snapped toward the staircase as she made Wicked’s shadow on the wall of the staircase. Her eyes widened and she looked to Te’Qui.
“Oh shit!” He hopped to his feet looking spooked, taken off guard when he saw Wicked’s aunt charging at him. Before he could react, she was whacking him across his dome with her gun. The blow sent him falling back, knocking the milk crate out of the way. He held the side of his head and looked up at her like she was crazy. Helen stood over the young man, looking back and forth between him and the shadow on the wall as her nephew neared.
“Shhhhh!” She hushed him, holding a finger to her lips. “I gotta make this look good, play like you’re hurt.” He nodded and fell back hollering like he was being beaten. She pretended to be kicking and stomping him when she felt her nephew at her back. “Lil’ bitch ass nigga!” she shouted down at him and harped up a glob of spit, hawking down on his face. Breathing hard, she turned around to her nephew, wiping imaginary sweat from her forehead. “This lil’ fucka’s tough, Winston, I’ve been going in on ‘em since you left and he won’t come up off of jack shit.”
“It’s alright, he’ll eventually talk.” Wicked told her, looking over at a sprawled and unconscious Te’Qui. “This lil’ nigga gon’ have to wait though. I’ve got bigga fish to fry at the moment.”
“What’s that?” she asked curiously.
“The less you know, the betta.”
“Don’t go holding out on me now, you’ve already gotten me knee deep in this shit.”
Wicked rolled his eyes and blew hard, not feeling like hearing her pissing and moaning. “I gotta cap this nigga in order for me to be square with this other nigga, the end. Okay? Ya happy now? Jesus.”
“Watch how you talk to me now. I had a hand in raising you.” She wagged a finger in his face with a fixed frown on her face.
“Ahhhh. You’re killing me, woman.” He threw his arm over her shoulders, shaking his head with a slight smile. “Come on, let’s go upstairs to bed.”
“I’m exhausted. I could use a couple of Z’s.”
“Me, too. A nigga tired as a runaway slave.”
Te’Qui kept his eyes closed until he was sure that they were gone. As soon as he lifted his head from off of the floor the light inside of the basement was shut off, leaving him in darkness. He sat up where he lay with his knees at his chest, wrapping his arms around them and resting his chin on them. Closing his eyes, he hummed a song to himself that his mother used to when he was a little boy. A tear descended his cheek and he realized just how much he missed her. That night he made a promise to himself that he was going to do any and everything he had to do to get out of that hell and get back home.