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Zonyai pulled to a red light and looked to Marbella. She was resting her chin on her palm with her elbow on the armrest of the door panel. He could see the worry etched across her face. He couldn’t say that he blamed her being what had happened between her and her husband. She had every right to be worried; there was no telling what Franklin had in store for them.
Zonyai thought back to the day he’d ran into her. It was after her and husband had gotten into it. He was on his way to get his clothes out of the cleaners when he just so happened to run into her.
****
Franklin had treated Marbella to a shopping spree and a day of pampering at the spa for her birthday. Once her special day had come to a close, she hit him up to come pick her up but he didn’t answer. After several texts and calls she walked outside and saw his Benz. When she walked upon it she found him laid back in the driver seat getting slow neck from one of the girls that worked at the spa. She opened the driver side door and started punching and kicking him. The girl that worked at the spa hopped out of the car and ran, leaving the Trombones tussling. Franklin finally managed to get Marbella inside the whip where they argued back and forth. Things had gotten heated and before she knew it he had hauled off and smacked the shit out of her.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you but you will show me the proper respect, ya got that?” Marbella didn’t respond right off because the pain of his assault had her thoughts occupied. This enraged him. His head snapped from the windshield to her, face balled up and jaws squared. “Do. You. Fuckin’. Hear. Me?” his nostrils flared and his cheeks puffed up. He was pissed off and balling his fist so tight that his hand turned white at the knuckles.
“Yesss.” she whimpered, sliding down in the front passenger seat holding her cheek as hot tears came bursting through her eyes and spilling down her face. His red palm imprint was showing and stinging her left cheek. Her jaw felt numb and she believed that it was broken.
“Watch where the fuck ya goin’ asshole!” Franklin hollered out of the window at the driver of an approaching car that had nearly side swiped him. His eyes were red webbed and glassy and his face was rose petal red. Heated, he pressed the pedal to the medal and his cedes accelerated. He flew in and out of lanes, driving recklessly and nearly crashing into other vehicles, causing them to honk their horns and shout disrespectful shit at him.
“Fuck youuuuu!” The irate driver yelled as he sped past.
“Oh, yeah? Well, fuck ya motha!” he yelled back, continuing to speed like a demon, occasionally glancing at Marbella who was just sitting their sniffling and crying. The more she wept the more the tears flowed down her face.
Franklin took a deep breath, shutting and opening his eyes. He felt bad like all of the times he did when he went upside her head.
“I’m sorry, sweetie, sometimes I...I let my anger get the best of me.” he said sorrowfully. “I apologize for hittin’ ya. Oh, shit!” his eyes almost jumped out of his head when he looked to the windshield. He slammed on the brakes seeing that there was a traffic jam ahead. “Jesus Christ.” he sighed with relief, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, thankful he hadn’t crashed into the back of a Toyota pickup truck. “Are you okay, hon...” the words died in his throat when saw the front passenger door open and Marbella hauling ass, running so fast that her heels were hitting her buttocks. “Marbellaaaa,” he called out after her as loud as he could, turning red in the face. Throwing the whip in reverse, he threw his arm over the passenger headrest and mashed the pedal to back out, but a car came to a screeching halt behind him and a couple of others to his left and right. “Damn!” he gritted, slamming both of his fists on the steering wheel. His head whipped back around to find his wife was long gone; she’d changed into a dot she was so far away.
“Haa! Haa! Haa! Haa!” Marbella huffed and puffed, face, shoulders and chest slickened from sweat. She was running as fast and as hard as she could, occasionally glancing over her shoulders to see if her husband was on her trail. “Ugh!” she stumbled, falling to the sidewalk and scraping her knee, losing one of her flip flops in the process. Grimacing, she pushed up from off of the ground and kept it moving, nearly getting hit by an oncoming car. Luckily, the vehicle slammed on its brakes. She stumbled again but quickly righted herself, fleeing from the intersection. She made an ugly face as she continued her running, tears flying from her eyes, looking like diamonds under the hot sapphire in the sky.
“Aye, Marbella, Marbella!” she heard a voice calling after her.
“Help me somebody, anybody!” She hollered out but the people she came across just looked at her like she was crazy, or shoved her away. They didn’t know what trouble she was in, but they didn’t want any parts of it.
“Marbella, Marbella, wait!”
“Oh, God!” Marbella hollered out, chest jumping because her heart was raging behind her left breast. She could hear a car screech to a stop and a door being thrown open. Right after, there were hurried footsteps coming up behind her. She was exhausted as hell and was slowing down. The heat and her being tired had gotten to her and her eyes had become hooded, her breathing growing hoarse. Suddenly, a strong hand grasped her arm and out of fear, she balled her hand into a fist. Spinning around, she swung as hard as she could. He ducked it and grasped her other arm, staring into her eyes with furrowed brows.
“Calm down, it’s me, Zonyai.”
“Zon...Zonyai?” she asked, panting out of breath, eyes hooded from exhaustion. She sighed with relief and hung her head. He looked all around trying to see what she was running from, but he didn’t see any visible threat.
“What’s going on? What happened to you?” Zonyai reached under his shirt and gasped his chrome .45 automatic handgun. His freehand held her arm as he walked her back to his Maserati which was double parked in the street with its driver side door open. His head was on a swivel, taking in all of his surroundings in case shot shit jumped off.
“Franklin, he’s...he’s after me!” her head snapped all around, trying to see if he was anywhere around them.
“After you? For what?” Lines of concern went across his forehead.
Marbella gave him the rundown on her and Franklin’s marriage, not leaving a single thing out. She painted a picture of what appeared to be a loving, caring, romantic man that had somehow transformed into a monster before her very eyes. Zonyai already didn’t like the nigga, but after getting an earful of how he was treating his wife made him hate his fucking guts. He knew little about Marbella but she seemed like such a sweetheart from the very few interactions they’d had over the years. He couldn’t see how a man could treat her like she was the scum of the earth. In his heart he knew that if he had someone like her as his he’d spend every minute of the day showing her how much he loved and appreciated her. He shook his head, thinking of how some niggaz could have the woman of their dreams and still not know how to act with them.
“Where do you want me to take you?” he looked from the windshield to her.
“How about your place?” she inquired, wiping her eyes and nose with the napkins that was in the glove-box.
“No can do,” he shook his head like that was a big mistake. “If word was to ever get out that you were seen at my place it would be the beginning of World War III. Mufasa and Franklin’s families bumping heads is something these streets aren’t prepared for. I’ll take you to a motel. A place he wouldn’t think about coming to look for you at. Trust me, a nigga with bank like your man will think about looking for you at some big, fancy five star hotel.”
“Okay. That’s fine.”
Forty Five minutes later
The sun was setting when Zonyai finally pulled up in the motel parking lot. He killed the engine and looked to the right, finding Marbella fast asleep. She finally looked at peace, even with the dry tears sprawled down her cheeks. He watched her chest slowly rise and fall for a second. Slightly smirking, he opened the door and hopped out. Moments later, he woke her up and retreated to her motel room. After opening the door and flipping on the light switch, he took a scan of the sleeping quarters. It was a modestly made up room with an old box TV set and a full size bed with white linen. The nightstands were Oakwood and scarred as well as the dresser which had a crack down its glass.
“A home away from home.” Zonyai grinned, shutting the door shut behind them.
“I’ma take a shower. Do you mind staying for a while, just until I feel a little comfortable?”
“Uh huh.” he pulled up his slacks and sat down on the bed. Picking up the remote control, he turned on the television. All of the channels were filled with static so he adjusted the antennas until he got the picture to show how he wanted. When he went to turn around, the bathroom door was clicking shut beside him. He lay back on the bed watching TV until he eventually dozed off. He stirred awake at nightfall frowning, he peeled his eyelids open to find Marbella lying on him with her arms around him. He raised an eyebrow wondering what had happened. He knew he hadn’t had sex with her because he would remember since he wasn’t drunk. Feeling his movements, the mob wife peeled her eyelids apart and looked up at him. She sat up in bed quickly.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized sincerely. “It was cold in here and the heater wouldn’t turn on. I figured the best way for me to keep warm was to snuggle up to you. I would have covered up with a blanket, but they’re as thin as sheer.”
“It’s...it’s alright.” he sat up stretching and yawning, hearing his bones cracking and adjusting. Grabbing his .45 from off the bed where he’d left it when he’d sat down on the bed. He tucked that thang in the small of his back and addressed the De Lucci family’s First Lady. “Listen, It’s getting late, I’m gonna gon’ and get outta here.”
“Wait,” she jumped to her bare feet, looking as scared as she was earlier that day. He turned around with a furrowed forehead hearing her timid voice, “Can...Can you at least stay the night and keep me safe?”
He shook his head and said, “I don’t know. I...”
“Oh, please, just for tonight.” she put her hands together like she was praying, begging him with pleading eyes.
Zonyai took a deep breath and nodded. “Alright, but just for the night, in the morning I’ll take you to get your money and drop you off where ever.”
A look of relief crossed her face and she jumped up and down, clapping her manicured hands excitedly. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.” she ran over to him and kissed him on the cheek. When she pulled back they locked eyes, slowly they angled their heads and moved forward. Their lips swept up against one another and their tongues met, French kissing deep and sensually. She reached around his back and pulled out his gun, dropping it on the floor. Next, they were undressing each other and peeling off their under clothes. Whilst she was sliding his silk boxers from around his waistline, he was moving her towards the bed, unsnapping her bra and sliding off her panties. They fell back on the bed, still kissing as she spread her legs open. She reached down between his legs and grabbed his grown man. As they continued to kiss, she slid his dick head up and down between the slit of her V. He removed her hand and tapped the head of his member on her clit, driving her crazy, causing her to whimper and beg for him to put it in. He obliged her, pushing himself inside of her until he was halfway in before interlocking his fingers with hers and pinning them to the bed. He licked up her neck and began sucking underneath her chin as he gave her slow passionate strokes. Hearing her gasps and raspy breaths, he started stroking her pussy faster and faster, making her hot liquid spill from between her thighs.
“Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh!” she called out as she threw her head back, eyes rolled to their whites and her long hair sprawled all over the sheets. He licked her straight up her throat, underneath her chin, then brought the tip of his tongue between her lips. He pierced them and then kissed her while he long stroked that beautifully shaved vagina of hers. She clenched his girth with her internal walls, sucking him deeper inside of her. He grunted and tossed his head back, eyes narrowed into slits. He kept his hips into rotation. She wrapped her legs around his waist to keep him deep inside of her. Then she slid her fingers from between his, clawing at his back leaving red streaks from the intensity of his passionate love making. He sneered, showcasing his teeth but keeping the paste of his powerful thrust. He hissed like a snake feeling her tongue encircle each of his areolas before sucking on his nipples.
“Ahhh, ssssheeiiit!” he felt the blood of his dick shoot through its veins and caused the head of his penis to swell to twice its size. He sped up feeling that he was about to get off. Zonyai and Marbella both moaned and groaned after one another, enjoying the plane of utopia that they were on but rushing it to near its landing.
“Ssssssss.” Zonyai gritted, forehead deepening with creases.
“Ssssssss, ahhhh!” Marbella called out and licked her lips.
“I’ma ‘bout to cum!” he confessed.
“I’ma cum, too.” she retorted.
He pulled out of her and she grabbed his member, looking down at it.
She jerked his meat up and down until hot jizz squirted out of its hole, plastering her stomach. He shuddered and hung his head, looking down at the mess he’d made on her toned abs as he panted out of breath, sweat causing his face to shine. He dropped off on the side of her on the bed, he crawled over to the side of the bed where he grabbed his slacks and pulled out a pack of Newport 100s. He pulled a loose one from out of the pack along with a lighter, tossing the pack on the nightstand. He’d just cupped his hand around the square and lit it up with the lighter when Marbella came walking past him, ass cheeks jiggling. He watched her through the dresser’s mirror as she turned on the dials of the shower, adjusting the temperature of the water. Seeing her enticing shapely body caused his manhood to get slightly erect again and he hopped out of bed. After mashing out the Joe in the ashtray on the dresser, he journeyed into the bathroom. He backed her up against the wall and kissed her, before wrapping her legs around his waist and stepping into the tub with her, one foot at a time. He fucked her up against the shower wall as the hot water from the shower head laid her hair down and cascaded down both of their forms.
Zonyai and Marbella pillow talked that night, telling one another about their upbringings and the paths they’d chosen in life that led them down the road they was traveling now. They told each other their deepest darkest secrets and felt a connection that they’d never felt with anyone ever before. It seemed to them that somehow they were meant to be together. That Lord Almighty had tailor made them for one another. It was crazy to them that just after one night that they both felt that they were truly in love. No one could convince them otherwise. Eventually they fell asleep hugged up with one another, eyes shut and smiles etched across their lips.
The next morning they got dressed and went to Wal-Mart where they purchased two shovels and some workman’s gloves. They drove out into the woods where Marbella had buried the money and dug up a small trunk full of loot. Since Marbella didn’t have the keys to it with her, she used the butt of Zonyai’s gun to bust the lock open. Removing it, she lifted the latch and flipped it up. Lifting the lid of the trunk, she revealed stacks on top of stacks of dead presidents she’d saved over the years. The money was in case of an emergency. She’d planned to use it in a situation like this and now she was happy that she’d stashed it way out in the woods. Slamming the lid shut with a smile, she placed the busted lock on the trunk. She then hugged and kissed Zonyai for helping her. Afterwards, they both grabbed an end of the trunk and carried it to his luxury vehicle, dropping it off inside of the trunk.
Zonyai took Marbella to Metro PCS where she copped a cell phone. The next place he took her was a used car lot. She bought a burgundy ‘98 Buick Lasabre. She tried to bless him with a few bands but he refused. He had plenty of money of his own so he didn’t need a red cent from her. Zonyai opened the door of the Buick and slammed it shut behind her. He stuck his head in the window and smiled, dimpling his cheeks as he casted that million dollar kisser of his.
“Well, this is it until we meet back up in Georgia.” he said, hand resting on the roof of the car.
“Yep,” she smiled back and held up three fingers. “In three days we’ll be reunited...forever.” She placed her hand on top of his. He took it into his own, lifting and kissing it tenderly as he stared up into her angelic face, admiring that breath taking smile of hers.
“Forever,” he replied meaningfully. “Our phones are linked through GPS so if something should happen before you reach your destination. You find a way to contact me and I’ll come running. Me and this pretty lil’ thang of mine.” he patted that imprint of his gun that was under his shirt.
“Thanks...for everything.” she told him with serious eyes.
“You’re welcome.” he kissed her hand again and locked lips with her. Their kissing wasn’t like two people who had just met and got it in. Nah, it was that of two people who had fallen deep in love with plans to spend the rest of their lives together. When they pulled back, she caressed the side of his face, staring into his eyes lovingly.
“I don’t know what it is about chu but it feels like I’ve known you in another life, where we were very much in love with one another; an era where you were the king and I was your queen. Our people worshipped you and we worshipped each other.” she shut her eyelids and peeled them back open, her eyes were teary. And so was his, having grown tired of holding back how he truly felt for her. “I feel this...this connection with you that I don’t wanna break. Even now that I’m leaving, and I know we’ve planned to meet back up, something is telling me not to. It’s telling me to stay here with you. It’s telling me to say fuck Franklin and his goons. To stay here and ride it out with you.” the tears came jetting down her cheeks unevenly. He swept them away with his thumb before cupping her face and pulling her close, kissing her romantically. She wiped away his tears with her fingers and he kissed her lips one last time before pulling back.
“I feel the same way. And just as soon as I wrap up some thangz here I’m coming out there. We’re gonna be together just like we’ve planned.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.” he kissed her forehead. Patting the roof of the vehicle, he stepped back and watched as she resurrected the engine. Kissing her palm, she blew him a kiss. He caught the imaginary kiss and smacked it over his heart, grinning. Marbella slid on her sunglasses to block the intense rays of the ember in the sky before pulling off. He watched the back of her whip until she disappeared down the street into Los Angeles traffic.
Marbella was going to make her way out to Atlanta, Georgia. There wasn’t any reason why she’d chosen this state particularly. It was a game of chance, she laid out the map she’d gotten out of the motel lobby, had Zonyai spin her around and when she stopped, she brought her finger down. Boom, there it landed on, Atlanta, Georgia. This was where she was going to start her new life. Now here she was, doing a buck on the freeway on her way to the dirty south. By the time she got off of the highway, the sun was going into hiding. She knew it would be a few days before she’d reached her destination, so she decided to stop off at a motel for the night, Marbella procured a room and dipped off to it. As soon as she crossed the threshold into her room, she tossed her keys onto the nightstand and began peeling off her clothes. Turning on the shower, she stepped inside, drawing the curtain closed. Soaping her hair with the cheap bar of motel soap, she stood under the spray of water, allowing it to slick her hair back and cascade down her back.
Thirty minutes later, the bathroom door came open and Marbella came strolling out, trying to keep her towel upon her bosoms. Fog rose from out of the bathroom and rolled out onto the floor, leaving the mirrors cloudy. As soon as she stepped her bare foot out onto the carpet, she was grabbed hard by the back of her neck and jerked aside. Before she knew it, she was being thrown across the room. She went flipping over the bed, losing her towel in the process. Her head whipped all around the room, eyes bugged, mouth open and chest twitching from beating so hard.
“Haa! Haa! Haa! Haa!” She breathed heavily as her head snapped from left to right and then back again. She heard heavy footfalls. She didn’t know who they belonged to but she had someone in mind. “Franklin.” As soon as that name was mentioned, the lamp light clicked on and all that could be made out in the darkness was Franklin Trombone’s scowling face and clenched jaws. Marbella gasped and swallowed the ball of fear in her throat, backing up from him on her palms and the balls of her feet until she bumped up against the wall. Hearing the sound of metal, her eyes zeroed in on his waist. She trembled with terror seeing him unbuckling his thick leather belt. He pulled the belt free from his waistline and wrapped it around both of his knuckles, coiling and uncoiling it, causing it to make a smacking noise. “Oh, God, no... pleeease!”
“Fuck a please, ya disrespectful ass bitch!” he snarled. “You know what daddy does to unruly ass broads, right?”
“Franklin, please.” she begged, her eyes teary and her bottom lip trembling. Whack! Swhack! Slackkk! Shrackkk! His hand swept up, down and all around, striking her wet flesh and leaving welts all over her arms, chests and legs. She cried out begging for mercy, but he continued to beat her unmercifully. “Pleeeease!” her tears and snot ran as she held up her arms and bending knee to shield her face from his brutality. “Ahhhh! Gahhh! Aaaahh! Whyyyy? Ah! Ah! Gah! I’m sorrrry!” He grunted louder and louder with each swing of the belt, welding it like it was a leather whip.
Whack! Swhack! Slackkk! Shrackkk!
New welts appeared while the other ones opened up and bled, smearing blood over her limbs. When Franklin finally stopped, she lay there as naked as the day she was born, chest heaving as she bawled. He wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and pulled his belt around his waistline, buckling it. Afterwards, he placed the hat on his head he’d sat on the dresser when he entered and slipped on his overcoat. He threw Marbella’s clothes on the floor beside her. His chest leaped up and down and his nostrils flared as he continued to take husky breaths.
“I guess you’re wondering how I found you, huh?” he pulled a cell phone from out of his coat’s pocket and held it up for her to see. It belonged to Zonyai. Her eyes lit up with recognition when she saw it. “Yep, we caught up with your little nigger boyfriend, found the GPS in his phone that led us straight to you.” he pointed his plump finger at her. Suddenly, the cell rung and vibrated, he looked down at the screen. It was Mufasa. Before he pressed answer, he told her. “Get up and put on your fuckin’ clothes, before I catch a homicide charge out dis mothafucka.”
Those commanding words shot Marbella to her feet, grabbing her clothes. She hastily got dressed while her husband chopped it up with Mufasa. “He’s still in one piece, but that’s on the strength of our relationship, ‘cause otherwise I woulda had one of my guys put ‘em out of his misery. Good. I’m coming out now.” He disconnected the call and stood to his Mauri gators, stashing the device in his coat’s pocket.
“Let’s go.” He threw his head to the door and she moved out with him following closely behind. When Marbella stepped through the door she found Mufasa and Zeus standing in the parking lot by his Maybach. They were standing beside Franklin’s Lincoln Town Car which she saw Jackie Needles and Joey-T sitting inside. She turned to her rear, hearing the door shut behind her. She found Franklin looking across the way at the motel’s office window. He gave a nod to the clerk who’d obviously given him the key to enter her room for whatever amount of money.
“Come on,” the big man grabbed her arm so tightly that she winced, nearly stumbling and falling as he pulled her along toward his vehicle. She narrowed her eyelids as she saw someone with a black pillowcase over their head. She figured it was Zonyai seeing as how Franklin had just finished talking to Mufasa.
“Is that my boy there in the backseat?” Mufasa inquired with a no nonsense attitude, adjusting the collar of his trench coat.
“Yeah, that’s him.” Franklin said seemingly getting angrier thinking about the young black man that was fucking his wife. He let his wife’s arm go and pulled Zonyai out of the backseat. He gave some resistance not knowing where he was being that he’d ran dick up in the wrong man’s wife. His entire body was trembling and he was jerking back and forth with his wrists zip-cuffed in front of him.
“Huh, unh, fuck are y’all niggaz doing, man? Let me go! Let me the fuck go!” he continued to struggle, whipping his head from left to right, frightened.
Zeus took him from the big man and yanked the black pillowcase from off of his head. Mufasa and Zeus cringed seeing how bloody and swollen his face was. The only way they could tell that it was him was the sound of his voice and mannerisms. They looked to Franklin who wasn’t fazed by the damaged he and his crew had done to the youngster.
“It could have been worse. In fact, it should have been worse.” he mad dogged Mufasa, hoping that he acted up so he could have the perfect excuse to waste his street son right in front of him.
“Jesus, Zonyai, what did they do to you?” Marbella broke down slobbering and crying, hands cupping her face. The sound of her voice brought his head around, surprised to know that she was still alive. He thought for sure that her husband was going to put a bullet in the both of them.
“Bella, is that really you?” He asked, lowering his head and narrowing his eyes into slits. Through one eye he saw through red vision being that he had blood in it.
“Yes, baby, it’s really me.” she whined, her voice cracking under her emotions. She went to embrace him but her husband stepped between them and smacked the shit out of her. She stumbled back and bumped up against his Lincoln.
“You disloyal whore!” Franklin sneered, peering through vindictive eyes.
After seeing the big man strike his lady and the welts and smears of blood on her, Zonyai went ape shit trying to fight him. He couldn’t punch him because his wrists were bound so he tried to kick him.
“You fat mothafucka, I’ll kill you! I’ll fucking kill you!” he hollered out through busted lips, looking out through a nearly swollen shut eye. When Franklin went to draw his steel from his waist, Mufasa held up both of his hands letting him know that they didn’t want any trouble. The De Lucci family’s don stayed his hand but uttered a stern warning, wagging his finger as Zeus shoved an unruly Zonyai into the back of the Maybach.
“From now on, you keep ya dog on a leash ‘cause should he come sniffing around in my backyard again, there’s gonna be consequences and repercussions. Got that?”
Mufasa looked from his hateful eyes to the finger he held in his face. He was tempted to bite that mothafucka off, but instead he smirked and said Humph, before walking around to the front passenger side of his Maybach. Once he’d gotten into the car, Franklin’s head snapped to Marbella who was holding her stinging cheek. He looked from the side of her face to where she was looking and found Zonyai at the end of her line of vision. His temper flared up again and he snatched her by the arm, nearly pulling it out of its socket. She winced, feeling the pain around her shoulder blade. Franklin threw open the back door of the Lincoln and stashed her inside. Turning around, he adjusted the collar of his overcoat and mad dogged Zonyai who was looking out through the backseat window of the Maybach. The crime boss harped up some phlegm and spit on the ground, glaring up at him. He then made his way around to the other side of the vehicle, pulling open the back door and hopping inside.
Zonyai and Marbella peered out at one another through the backseat windows of their respective rides. She was crying her eyes out and his eyes had become teary, obscuring his vision. When their whips came alive and began their departure. She fogged up the glass of the backseat window with her hot breath and wrote I Love U. Seeing what she’d done, he fogged the window with his breath, too. With his wrists still bound, he wrote with his finger, I Love U 2. The vehicles drove in separate directions with them kissing their fingertips and blowing kisses at one another. The further they got apart from another, the harder they sobbed, tears sprawling down their cheeks. Once they could no longer see each other’s faces, they turned away from their respective windows and bawled as quietly as they could.
“Here, let me get those for you.” Mufasa pulled a switch-blade from his back pocket and triggered its blade. Zonyai hastily wiped his face so that the kingpin wouldn’t see he’d been crying before turning around to him. Mufasa grabbed the man he’d affectionately called son by his wrists and held them, slicing him loose of his restraints. Finally free, he rubbed his wrists and grimaced, seeing the lines and bruises that had formed around them.
“Let this be a lesson to you, son. You stay the fuck away from that woman.” Mufasa told him, closing the knife and slipping it into his back pocket. “She almost cost you yo’ life.” There was silence as Zonyai stared out of the window, still rubbing his throbbing wrists. He was focused on the back red lights of the Lincoln until it was swallowed by the darkness.
“You hear me talking to you, Yai?” Mufasa grabbed him by the chin and jerked his head around to him. For the first time he saw the pain and tears in his eyes as well as his flaring nostrils. This caused his forehead to furrow and that’s when he realized that he was indeed in love with a married woman. It didn’t matter though because he couldn’t have whatever he had going on with that woman to fuck up his business. With that in mind, he scowled and his eyes took on a deadly glint to them. “You stay the fuck away from that woman. Do you understand me, boy? I don’t want chu anywhere around her. You stay the hell away from her, do I make myself clear?” There was silence between them as they stared into one another’s eyes, thinking. Suddenly, one of them decided to speak and break it.
“Yeah, you made yourself clear.” Zonyai snatched his chin away from Mufasa and lay the side of his head against the headrest of the Maybach. His eyes rimmed with water and he sniffled, tears jetting down his cheeks.
For the next two years Zonyai had an affair with Marbella until he was eventually caught on the fateful night that he’d lost his leg. Even then they vowed that nothing short of death would keep them from one another.
****
Present
Zonyai interlocked his fingers with Marbella’s. “You okay?”
“Peachy,” She managed a halfhearted smile. He leaned in to kiss her but the sound of tires screeching to a halt beside them gave him pause. He looked over her shoulder and saw a fat masked gunman rocking a ski-mask and clenching his teeth. He could tell that it was Franklin from the shapes of his eyes and mannerisms. Zonyai’s eyes bulged and he gasped seeing him stick a .9mm Beretta out the window of an old Chevy Blazer.
“Get down!” Zonyai called out, pulling Marbella down into his lap and he ducking behind her back just before gunfire erupted. Boc! Boc! Boc! Boc! Copper colored bullets shattered the glass as they shot through the passenger window, raining shards upon him and his lady. As soon as the Franklin ceased fire to reload, Zonyai punched the hazard lights, the A.C and knocked on the dashboard; the stereo popped out like a cash register drawer revealing a secret compartment that held a .45 automatic handgun. He grabbed his piece and threw open the driver side door, ready to get active. Once his Gucci loafers touched the pavement and he brought his .45 over the roof of his car, he saw fat boy smack a fresh magazine into his banger and swing his door open.
Poc! Poc! Poc! Poc! Poc!
Bullets struck the Blazer’s door and shattered its driver side window, broken pieces raining to the ground.
“You think you just gon’ take my wife, nigger? Huh?” Franklin hollered out, sticking his black thang back out of the window.
Urrrrrrk! Boc! Boc! Boc! Boc!
He sped away from the shootout, turning his head and arm still letting his heat go the fuck off. Boc! Boc! Boc! Boc! Boc! Holes exploded in the hood of the Maserati and imploded its windshield. Zonyai chased behind him as fast as he could on one good leg, firing his .45 as he went along. He managed to shatter the back window but he was sure the crime boss went unscathed. Right then, he ejected the spent magazine from his smoking gun and injected a new one.
“Are you Okay? Haa! Haa! Haa!” Zonyai breathed heavily, approaching Marbella. “Were you hit?”
“I’m okay.” She cried, being held in the arms of her one true love. “Franklin’s not gonna stop, babe. He’ll send his men and they’ll chase us to the end of the earth and gun us down.” She looked up into Zonyai’s eyes. He blew hard and massaged the bridge of his nose. He looked up the street in the direction the Blazer sped down. He knew he had to do all that was in his power to protect the woman he loved.
An hour later
“Yeahhhh, so I was thinking we hit up the movies tonight.” Wayne said into his cellular which he was cradling to his ear with his shoulder and rolling up a swisher. He was perched on the couch, eyes going from the task at hand to the television screen. Empire was on.
“Yeah, Straight out of Compton, I can fuck with that.”
Knocks at the door brought his conversation to a halt. He told old girl that he was on the jack with that he’d chop it up with her later. Before he got up to answer the door, he fired up that good, good and took a couple of draws. Once he placed the L into the ashtray, he grabbed his burner from off the coffee table and approached the door. He looked through the peephole to see who it was on the other side. Identifying who it was that had come through; he tucked the banger in the front of his gray Dickies. Once he’d let Zonyai inside, they dapped each other up and exchanged a brotherly hug.
“What’s up witchu, boy?” Wayne’s forehead crinkled having seen the concern on Zonyai’s face.
“Where that nigga Brolic at? I need to holler at y’all real quick.” He looked about in search for his brother from another.
“Pops is in the bathroom, man. Hold up, I’ll go get ‘em.” The young nigga retreated down the hallway.
****
Brolic stood before the medicine cabinet mirror looking over his muscular physique. Every part of him was toned and bulging. There were veins everywhere. The hoodlum loved his body which was the reason why he didn’t have any tattoos on him. He felt that getting inked up would ruin what he spent years sculpting, but now he was having second thoughts. He was honestly thinking about getting something done going straight across his chest which was why he was looking himself over thoroughly. See, he wanted to make sure that he was getting the work he wanted done in the right place.
“Yeah, I’ma get that shit right here,” Brolic swept his hand across his bulging pecks where he’d planned on getting his tattoo. “Right across my chest in old English letters; that shit is gon’ be hard, on mommas.”
Knock! Knock! Knock!
“Hold up.” He said, still looking over his tattoo.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
He looked over his shoulder and called out, “Who is it? Shit.”
“That nigga Yai drop through.” Wayne’s voice boomed from the opposite side of the door.
He looked back to the mirror, slipping his wife beater back over his head he said, “Alright, I’m coming out now.”
Brolic gave himself the once over one last time before taking his leave.
****
“What’s up with it, Yai?” Brolic came from down the hallway, dapping up his man. The muscle bound thug plopped down on the couch. He picked up the blunt that Wayne had abandoned in the ashtray and took a couple puffs, blowing out a cloud of smoke.
“I gotta situation.” Zonyai didn’t waste any time getting to the point as he sat down on the arm of the couch. His body was position at the television but his head was turn facing his nigga.
Brolic shook his head like something was a shame, rolling his eyes and blew hot air. “And I bet my left nut it’s behind that bitch, right?”
“Watch cho mouth, nigga!” Zonyai’s brows meshed together, not feeling his homie’s lack of respect for his lady.
“I knew it, I fucking knew it!” Brolic swung on the air and sat up on the couch.
“What happened?” Wayne asked, before taking a couple of puffs from the blunt.
“The fat man found out about us fucking around again and got at me, dawg.”
“Whaaat?” Wayne looked alive, mashing the L out in the ashtray.
“Fasa know about this?” Brolic inquired, forehead wrinkling.
“Hell nah, if he finds out I’m still fucking with Bella, I’ma dead man. Told me that when I finally woke up from outta my coma.”
“Y’all niggaz know it’s about to be some shit now.” Wayne looked between both men. If there was going to be then he was ready, he was with the shit.
“Most def’.” Zonyai nodded.
“It’s a pretty open and shut case to me. Them niggaz got at chu, now it’s time that they get got, straight up.”
“When this shit gets out I can expect to get it from both sides; Mufasa and Franklin. Cats from both sides will be gunning at me. I wouldn’t know who was friend or foe, besides you two niggaz.” He threw up a finger. If no one was down for him the two thug ass niggaz sitting before him was. That he was positive of.
“Well, what chu plan to do?” Brolic questioned.
“I think the best thing for me to do is get outta town and lay low for a while. I need to figure out my next...”
“What? Don’t tell me you thinking of tucking your tail between your legs and running off like some bitch! It’s time to get active with these niggaz, show’em your heart don’t pump no Kool-Aide, Cuz.” He slammed his fist into his palm repeatedly for emphasis, face scrunching up causing him to look like an angry dog. “You know my gangsta is international. I got hittas all over the globe. I got niggaz outta ATL, Chicago, Virginia, Miami, Milwaukee, Kansas, and Tennessee.”
“True that, my pops ties runs deep.” Wayne spoke from where he was now standing, folding his arms across his chest.
“Still, I think I should lay low for a while until I figure out how to get at these niggaz. I mean we’re talking about to families coming at me and I don’t know if we’ve gotta ‘nough...”
“You old Muhammad Ali ass nigga, scared to go to war,” A balled up face Brolic waved Zonyai off.
“Don’t chu ever disrespect me again, mothafucka, that best friend shit will only getchu so far,” Zonyai shot to his feet, stepping to the thug with a finger in his face. “You as well as anybody should know how I give it up out here in these streets. My G should never come into question.” He glared at him with a pair of twisted lips.
“You see that?” Brolic looked to Wayne smiling fiendishly, who was oblivious to what he was talking about. “I know you see it ‘cause me and you are right here,” he motioned two fingers between their points of vision. “That’s the mothafucka that we need out there in the field when we bring it to these other mothafuckaz. A general, ready to lead and order deaths, you feel me?” He looked to Zonyai, seriousness bleeding from his eyes. “I don’t know who you are, but fuck Yai. Yai ain’t my nigga no more. You my nigga now, and I fucks witchu the long way.” He pounded his balled fist against his chest.
Zonyai took a deep breath as he shook his head, throwing up a hand he said, “I’m outta here,” He pulled open the door and turned back around, “I’m leaving Cali tonight; y’all got my number if you need me.”
He slammed the door on the way out and the impact rattled the portraits hung on the wall. As soon as he was gone, Wayne focused his attention on Brolic.
“Fuck was all of that about?” Wayne asked with furrowed brows.
“Ain’t shit,” Brolic relit the L that was lying in the ashtray and leaned back on the couch, throwing his muscular arm over the top of it, “niggaz gon’ get dealt with one way or another.”