Page 4

CHAPTER 4

EARTH

“Somebody is following me,” I said as soon as Fire answered the phone. There was no time for greetings or anything like that; it was straight business. I glanced in the rearview mirror to ensure the black Escalade remained behind me. I’d tried ditching it for the last thirty minutes, but every corner I turned, there it was, not even five seconds later.

“Where you at?” The sound of a chair scraping against the floor echoed through the speakers. I knew Fire was at his office, but I was on the other side of town. He wouldn't make it in time if something were going to go down. “Huh, Earth? Where are you?”

“Moving south,” I vaguely answered. I wasn’t about to make him panic. Fire lived up to his name in more ways than one. He’d burn down this city without a second thought if he thought it would help me or Breeze.

“Drop the location,” he replied.

I sucked my teeth and ran my hand over my beard. I wasn’t dropping shit. “Look, get to my house and check over my security camera. Call Nine if you got to.”

“The fuck am I doing all that for?” Fire questioned. “The fuck you not tellin’ me?” The call switched to FaceTime, and I chuckled at the look on my twin's face. His locs covered his face, but I knew just like I knew my name, his left eye was twitching as he tried to control his anger. “Huh? The fuck you not tellin’ me?”

“Nothing, nigga,” I answered. Truthfully, I was hiding enough. This wasn’t my first time seeing this Escalade. I’d noticed it following me for the last two months but didn’t think twice about it.

Since Prince’s death, I’d been moving nonstop. Killing niggas, snatching bags, making my presence known. I knew, eventually, someone would make a move on me. I was just waiting so I could kill that nigga too.

I glanced through the mirror again before making a right at the last minute. “One, two, three.” The Escalade turned and followed me. I chuckled then. Yeah, this nigga was coming for me, and now whoever it was wasn’t hiding it.

“Drop yo’ location, Earth!” Fire barked. “Stop playin’, nigga, and make it happen.”

“It ain't gonna matter.” I reached into the passenger seat and grabbed my duffel bag. I quickly opened it and stuffed a small knife in my pocket before taking two Glocks out. Shit wasn’t typically my style, but I planned to make it home tonight. “Call Nine and have that nigga find out who the fuck been following me.”

“He ain't your brother!” Fire yelled. I cut my eyes to him for a quick second to see him staring at the phone. His dark eyes shined with anger. “Tell me what the fuck to do.”

When I was about to answer him, another Escalade cut me off. “Fuck!” I yelled as I slammed on my brakes. I threw my truck in reverse and hit the gas, but the first Escalade was on my bumper. I thought I was leading them on a wild goose chase the entire time, but they were two steps ahead of me. “Ain’t this some shit.”

“Where the fuck are you, Earth?” Fire yelled in a panic. I put my truck in park, picked up my blunt from the ashtray, lit it, and took a pull. “Earth!”

“I hear you, Fire,” I answered, then picked up the phone. I blew the smoke out and watched as four more cars blocked me, all the same make, model, and color. It wasn’t just one; that was why when I turned, they were on my ass. They were waiting.

The block was empty. I was going to die, but I was going to go out on my terms. “Look.” I took another pull of my blunt. “Tell Breeze it’s alright. Love, nigga. He ready. She’ll understand what I mean.”

“Nigga, what?” Fire questioned. He pushed his locs out his face and shook his head. “Nigga, the fuck are you talkin’ about?”

“Get you a woman, nigga.” I chuckled, then took another hit. “One that’ll calm your mean ass down. Money ain’t going to keep your ass from being cold at night in that big ass house of yours.”

“Earth, man.”

“Chill, Fire,” I said, shaking my head. I pulled my locs into a ponytail. “Tell Mama she raised a nigga right, I was just hard-headed. Pops, too. Nigga gonna swear this shit his fault, and it ain't.” I started checking over my guns. “LaLa pregnant.”

“By who?” Earth questioned.

“Prince,” I answered. “She found out a couple of days ago. She ain’t taking the news good, though, ‘cause she still mourning that nigga. Whatever you do, have her raise that little girl right. Keep her from the streets but under DBB protection.”

“She’s having a girl?”

“Something tellin’ me she is.” I turned my truck off and took another pull of my blunt. “Prince wanted a daughter, and you know that nigga got whatever he wanted. It’s only right his only seed on this earth is a girl.” Out of nowhere, the sky got dark. God knew to make it rain to clean the blood off the streets. “Fire?”

“I’m comin’, bro!” Fire yelled. He’d thrown the phone on the seat, so all I could see was the ceiling of his truck.

“Fire, pick up the phone, little bro,” I said calmly. “Fire!”

“Yeah?” He picked up the phone and looked at the screen. Unshed tears sat at the brim of his eyelids. They wouldn’t drop, though. Fire had already lost Prince, and losing me was going to break my brother, but he was a survivor and would use this pain to push himself harder. “I’m coming, Earth! I swear, bro! Just drop the location.”

“I’m good.” I chuckled. “Know I love you, man. It’s been an honor to be your big brother.”

“Earth, dog, I swear after all this shit over, I’m rockin’ yo’ shit for being emotional.”

“Tell me you love me, little bro,” I calmly replied.

“I ain’t tellin’ you shit, Earth! Fuck that shit!”

“Fire.” I chuckled and shook my head. “We the Duffel Bag Boys, right?”

“Always about money and never scared of shit!” Fire repeated the motto we’d made up when we were younger.

“Til death and then some,” we said in unison.

“I love you, Fire,” I repeated.

“I love you, Earth,” he finally replied.

I hung up and stepped out of my truck. The doors to all four Escalades opened, and niggas stepped out. I chuckled and wiped nonexistent dust off my clothes. “Who the fuck is in charge?” I called out.

“We can do this shit the easy or hard way, Earth,” one of the niggas in front of me answered. The fact they all had guns in their hands let me know they knew who the fuck they were dealing with. “I’on care. Either way, this shit a paid job. The boss said to bring you in alive. Leave your phone and keys in the truck.”

I chuckled, then nodded my head. They wanted me to be alive. Good. That meant whoever was dumb enough not to kill me would die by my hands. I grabbed my duffel bag from the truck, dropped my keys and phone in the driver’s seat, closed the door, and headed to the Escalade in front of me. “Tell your boss he just signed his death certificate,” I said as I climbed into the back seat.

I was sitting in a chair in the middle of a warehouse a while later. I leaned back, getting comfortable, and waited. I wasn’t a nigga that liked to be rushed, and whoever the fuck had me snatched up wasn’t rushing either.

The ride here took almost two hours, and the entire time Marco, the head nigga in the car I was in, kept checking in. Whoever McCoy was was running a tight ship. He had Marco nervous as fuck each time the phone rang, and not one of those calls was from McCoy himself.

“Stand up,” Marco said, walking into the room I was being held in. I mugged the hell out of him and chuckled. “Look, you either stand up or I snatch your ass up.”

“You could try,” I replied, then ran my tongue over my teeth. I was itching to knock his weak ass out. “I dare you to try.”

“Alright, don’t,” Marco said with a slight chuckle. He mugged me like he knew something I didn’t, then stepped into the corner of the room, leaned against the wall, and crossed his arms over his chest. “I hope when McCoy is done with you, I can knock all your fuckin’ teeth out your mouth.”

“I got thirty-two of these bitches; I’d love to see you try,” I replied, and Marco grunted.

The door opened back up, and two niggas stepped inside. I squared my shoulders, preparing to kill my way out of the room, but stopped at the sight of the third person walking into the room. She probably wasn’t even five-three, shapely as hell, dark, golden, sun-kissed skin, curly, wavy black hair, oval face, full lips, small nose, and slanted dark eyes. Dressed in a matte green jogger, black fitted tee, and on her feet were a pair of sexy ass heels. She was fine as fuck. Her toenails were painted the same color as her pants, and her jewelry was minimal. She had a black watch, a necklace with an M, and diamond earrings in her ears.

“Earth.” She said my name, then nodded her head.

“Baby girl, as fine as you are, and trust me, you are fine as fuck”—I looked her up and down, then licked my lips—“Tell the nigga sending you in here ain’t gonna soften the blow for when I kill him.” I stood and adjusted my pants. “Send McCoy in here so we can get this shit together.”

A small smile spread across her sexy ass lips, and I had to hold my groan back at the sight of her diamond-encrusted fangs. Shorty was checking every box on my list of a dream woman. Marco and the other men around me laughed softly.

The woman walked toward me, her perfume filling my lungs, and my dick started to brick up. She ran her hand up my chest, then around my shirt collar, and pulled me down. Her lips brushed against the shell of my ear. “If I didn’t need you, you wouldn’t be here,” she said softly. She pushed away from me before her words could sink in.

“Yo’ nigga know you bold like this?” I questioned as I stood up. She walked around the table and sat down.

“You haven’t seen bold yet,” she said. “Sit down so we can talk.” She pointed to the chair I once sat in.

“Talk?” I roared. “We lost all opportunities to have a civil conversation when yo nigga had me snatched.” I chuckled and shook my head. “State what the fuck you need so I know whose name is gonna be on the headstone after I kill you.” I looked her up and down. “Shit, you fine enough, I’ll probably drop a couple of flowers at your grave site from time to time.”

Her small hand extended across the table, and a smile tugged at her lips. “McCoy Toliver, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Her hand dropped when I didn’t move, and she stood from her chair. “Damn shame. I thought you had better manners than that.” She mugged me before turning to Marco, who was still behind me, laughing. “Show him to his room. I’ll talk to him when I get back.”

I couldn’t even front, I was too stunned to speak. She was the reason I’d been snatched. I wiped my hand over my mouth and smirked. Shit had just gotten interesting.