Soulja walked upstairs and sat on his bed after picking up his mail. He wanted to use the phone, but he lost his phone privileges for 30 days due to making a few three-way calls. Three-way calls were restricted in federal prison. So Soulja hadn’t spoken to anyone, and because he was all the way in Louisiana, he only got visits once every 90 days or so. He was happy to have some mail because he’d been out of touch for a minute and needed to know what was going on. Most of his letters had been crayon drawings from I’sa. He saved and cherished each one.
He got two letters today. One from Nasty and one from Moon. He opened the letter from Moon first, and it disturbed him. Moon explained that I’sa’s teacher might be a bigger problem than anticipated. Anything regarding Soulja’s daughter was a sensitive issue for him. He already had a hard time dealing with not being there to physically protect her. He did all he could do from afar. He made sure she went to a private school and lived outside of the city perimeters. He was no fool, and he knew that the business he’d been in breeds the desire for revenge. The only way to really get to Soulja was through his family, specifically, his daughter. He vowed never to let that happen.
He wasn’t really worried about his mother or his other siblings because everybody in that household carried a weapon and knew how to use it. He kept a man on his house at all times for extra protection. Just in case. One could never be cautious enough. He and Nasty had done many things in their younger days that they wouldn’t do now as more mature adults. So to protect his family, he made additional efforts to ensure their safety.
Moon had the teacher followed for a few weeks and hired a private investigator to do some digging into the man’s background. Turns out this Mr. Rosario is related to the El Domino Cartel out of Brazil. The question was, is this a coincidence or something more?
There are hundreds of members of the El Domino Cartel. Soulja had a reputation of overreacting and jumping the gun, but he’d rather be safe than sorry. He needed more information, but his antennae were definitely up. First things first, I’sa being taken out of his class wasn’t enough. He wanted her out of that school. His mind was going to murderous thoughts. So to distract himself, he opened Nasty’s letter.
After reading the first line, Soulja realized something was wrong. His heart began to speed up. His eyes had turned bloodshot red. He could feel the pain rising from each and every word on the page. He could not believe that Von was dead. He had to read the letter over and over. Von?
Soulja had a different level of knowledge about Von’s death than Nasty did. Soulja knew that Rodney was responsible for her death. And there was no way he was going to let him get away with murder. Soulja closed his eyes and prayed to Von asking her to forgive him because he was going to seek revenge on Rodney. It was the only honorable thing to do.
Soulja waited an excruciating 3 more days to get his phone privileges back. He called Nasty’s cell phone, hoping that he had it. He didn’t get an answer. But he tried all day until he got through.
“Yo!” Nasty said.
“So there is no turning back for you, huh? I got your letter, brother. I know this is the worst possible thing that could have happened. But don’t throw away your future. We worked too hard. You giving up on your dreams is not going to bring Von back.”
“You know me better than anybody, bro. To go on as if things are all good would be fiction. I’m numb, and how do you ignore not wanting to live anymore?”
Soulja could hear the hurt in Nasty’s voice. He remembered that pain from when they were children, and Nasty showed up at his house with Von, scared to death because their parents had been found dead. He remembered the look in their eyes.
“I understand your pain. I do. But what would Von want you to do? You gotta go on, man. The children are gonna need you. You have to get through this and do what you gotta do.”
“Do what I gotta do? There is nothing I can do.”
Soulja was getting angrier and angrier that Rod had done this. He listened to Nasty speak with pain surrounding each word. Each syllable. Nasty continued, “Nothing can ease this pain, fam. What could ever fix such a loss?”
“Revenge!” Soulja said coldly. “Revenge!”
“What you mean revenge? There is nothing to avenge. My sister died because she wouldn’t stop bleeding. Why would you say revenge?” Nasty asked with a recharged attentiveness.
Soulja bit down on his lip. He hated to be the one to drop the truth. If only Soulja didn’t have life, he would get out and fix this problem called Rodney himself—with a vengeance that mankind had never seen before. But he had no release date. He was doing life, and he was stuck. The men were quiet on the phone.
Nasty knew that Soulja would never use the word revenge unless there was a reason. And the venom in Soulja’s voice was undeniable.
“What would you say if I told you that Von may have lived if it wasn’t for other complications that someone may have inflicted on her?” Soulja asked.
“I’d say, you’d be releasing the devil himself from hell and condemn many people to death,” Nasty answered.
“Is that really what you would say, brother? Is that all that is important to you? I gave Von my word I would keep silent. But for the first time in my life, I will break my word if you are willing to sit still and operate under my instructions.”
Nasty was hurt to hear that Von had confided in Soulja about something so serious and not him. His mind raced, and all of these crazy possibilities of what could have happened to his sister began racing through his head.
“Why did she share with you what she feared to share with me?”
“She came to see me.”
“She came to see you? When were you gonna tell me this?” Nasty asked, fuming.
“Listen, she’s my sister too. Maybe not by blood, but is love not a factor?”
“Man, fuck all that. So now me and you are keeping secrets from each other? What could she have said to you to make you forget your honor? To say fuck the code? They said you was getting soft, but I had your back. Maybe they were right. Because these antics right here got me questioning your integrity.”
Soulja was delivering the information in a way that suited Nasty’s best interest. He was protecting him, but Nasty didn’t see it that way. His grief was causing him to be disrespectful.
“I’m going to give you a pass, Nasty, due to the circumstances.”
“I don’t need no muh’fuckin’ passes from you. I need to know what happened to my sister. I played the role as her father. Not just her brother.”
“Unless you can vow to put it in on your honor that you won’t move on the information you have, then I cannot give it to you. You get out in a few days. I want you to be free in a few days, not dead. So I need to know what you choose. I sacrificed my life so you could be free. I don’t want you to spend your life in prison because you moved too fast. I want to tell you everything, but you have to promise me that you won’t make a move outside of what I order.”
“Nah, I can’t promise you that. But what I can promise you is that one way or another, I will get the information I need from you or my loved ones. I no longer have a heart, so like I said, I will get the information out of you or anybody else—by any means necessary.”
Soulja tried to suppress his anger. “Nasty, I love you. You have always been a brother to me. But I’m starting to think you are threatening me.”
“Don’t think—know! It seems that your promise to Von is more important to you than death itself. So, now, things will be done my way!” Nasty then hung up.
Soulja sat there looking at the phone in disbelief. He and Nasty had never had a fight—ever. It broke his heart. And he did not want to have to show Nasty how strategic his mind had become.
Soulja placed the phone on its hook and went back into his cell. He sat down and took out the pictures of him and Nasty and the family before any of the tragedies that brought them to this point had taken place. So much pain. So much misfortune. The game took so much from everyone.
He thought about Nasty. He loved Nasty like a brother. But everybody had a line that can never be crossed. He was in a bad mood after talking to Nasty. He hated that his man was losing his mind. His irrational thinking was turning into threats toward him and the family. He knew Nasty well enough to know that if he started making threats, he would make good on them. He was determined to find out what else went on surrounding Von’s death. And to get that information, Nasty would do anything. Like he said, he no longer had a heart or a God, so nothing else mattered. Soulja did not want things to get as bad as they could get.
A few days later, Soulja got another letter from Nasty. He was outright threatening him and anybody he loved, that if he didn’t get what he wanted, everybody and anybody would pay.
Would he hurt I’sa? Would he go to those depths? Soulja was unsure. His boy was losing his mind like a rabid dog, and he did not want to have to put his man to sleep. He decided one last attempt. And he could only hope that this next scribe would make it to Nasty before he left. He decided to write him a letter and let the cards fall where they may.
Dear Brother,
Your words came to me as a surprise. I thought that maybe you would calm down after you had a chance to think things over. But I see you wanted to further vent your frustration and anger toward me. Your threats hurt like hell. And now my heart feels two kinds of ways. And I know we know each other well enough to understand what that feeling is. I won’t play these games with you. It is as simple as this: You still have a life. And I know that regardless of what you say, you value that life. A life that can be taken from you. I like to keep any war in the street, but if you don’t snap out of this trance you’re in, you’ll end up getting smoked the day you step out of the pen. It kills me to have to speak to you this way, but you are not yourself. Don’t become a victim of your own stupidity. It’s as simple as that, brother. You draw first blood, and I will keep spilling it until it’s over. Keep your head up. I understand your pain. But we are supposed to keep standing, even when we’re down. Don’t forget about 55’s brother. I did that for you. I am not the enemy, and I humbly ask you not to turn me into one.
Soulja
Soulja sealed the letter and dropped it in the mailbox. He could not believe that everything had come to this. This was a new low for them. But life had a strange way of turning you upside down and inside out. As Nasty prepared for his release, Soulja prepared for possible war with his brother. Only the future could determine what would happen next.
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