Page 37

ADIR

The next evening, I strolled into the dungeon pleased by the faces that met me.

“Good evening, everyone,” I spoke.

Auntie Maddie’s face was rife with concern.

So was Heir’s. I hated my baby cousin had to see this.

This was her first time being in the dungeon.

Even if she’d heard about it, witnessing it was something totally different.

Walking up to her, I lifted her chin until her watery eyes met mine.

“Hey, baby.”

Heir was just twenty years old and still had the mind of a woman wise beyond her years.

Those wise eyes held so much fire behind them.

“Hey.” Her voice broke.

“I’m scared.”

Even in fear, she exuded so much power.

“I know, lil’ baby. You’re safe, though. Aight?”

She nodded.

“This is ya family. This family protects its own. We have a bond. Do you understand?”

“Of course, I do, Adir.” A tear rolled down her face which I dashed away.

“I’d never go against my family.”

I smiled.

“I have no doubt about that, Heir. If it gets too much, Humble is right here.”

She glanced at Humble, who assured her that he was right by her side.

“Why are we here?” Auntie Maddie questioned.

She was afraid, too.

“I made you a promise,” I told her.

She glanced at me and exhaled the breath she held trapped in her chest. Her hand gripped Heir’s for dear life.

Whatever happened down here, they were resigned to it.

“Now… We wait,” I stated.

Ten minutes later, DJ descended the steps with a smile on his face.

His smile faded as he beheld his mom and sister standing amongst me, Alli, Dothan, Pops, and our uncles.

On the floor were his and Uncle Duval’s entire security team tied up and gagged.

“The hell’s goin’ on?” he questioned.

Aunt Maddie held her daughter’s hand tightly and held back tears.

Seconds later, Uncle Duval descended the steps, smoking a cigar.

Bypassing everything before him, he took one look at his wife and grilled her hard as hell.

He stalked towards her.

“The hell you been?”

It turned my stomach the way Auntie Maddie recoiled as if any of us were going to really stand here and let this nigga put his hands on her.

Pops stepped in front of Uncle Duval, blocking him from advancing on his wife.

Uncle Duval looked my pops up and down, then chuckled.

“Move outta my way,” he growled.

“Wait, Ma. Why the hell you actin’ like you scared of him?” Confused, DJ’s eyes bounced between his parents.

“You tryna turn my wife against me?” Unc glared at my pops.

Pops merely chuckled.

Unc couldn’t fuck with him on any day.

“We have a problem,” I said to my cousin.

He was still focused on the energy bouncing between the two people who made him.

So, I snapped my fingers in front of his face to gain his attention.

Once his screwed up face turned to me, I placed a picture in front of him and asked, “Who killed Hakeem?”

DJ’s face marred even more as he viewed the picture of him with Marco, the elder McAroy, and this family’s fucking product.

The distinctive branding of the Bell brand was right there for him to see.

There was no denying it.

I signaled for Antonias to bring out our next guest. Marco’s hands were bound and his face covered by a sack cloth as Antonias wheeled him into view.

I’d had this nigga in my possession since the night of the shooting.

His arms were bandaged where the burns were, and his IV line was still intact.

I had to keep him alive until the party.

Antonias removed the bag, causing Marco’s eyes to rapidly blink against the brightness.

He’d lost weight, and his eyes were sunken in from lack of food and water.

A gag over his mouth prevented him from speaking.

“I’ma ask you again. Who killed Hakeem?”

DJ cocked his head and mugged me.

“ You killed Hakeem,” he said to me.

Peering around at the faces who represented the Bell family, I said, “Out of everyone standing here, you really think I killed Hakeem?”

DJ’s eyes danced between me, his father, and Marco.

“Ask the question you wanna ask,” I prompted.

A few minutes passed with him clearly confused.

So, I took the floor.

“I’ma tell you a lil’ story. There was this father and son. The son thought he and his father had the best relationship.” I paced, recalling Hakeem and his father’s relationship.

“Meanwhile, the father was plotting his son’s downfall. I’m sure you wanna know why, right?” I didn’t need him to confirm before I continued.

“Well… Jealousy and envy are a deadly combination. A man gets up in his years and can no longer move like he wants. He sees his son as competition. So, to knock off the competition, he concocts a plan to kill his own son. Instead, the very poison he was supposed to feed his son, he unknowingly fed to himself.”

DJ’s gaze briefly dipped to the concrete floor beneath us.

Then, he was back to dividing his attention between his father and Marco.

“Fast forward a few years, and here we are,” I continued.

“Father… Son… and Marco.”

Uncle Duval sputtered as if what I said was ludicrous.

Incredulously, he balked at me.

“What the hell are you talkin’ about? Get your son!” he blasted to my pops.

Disappointed, Pops simply looked at his younger brother.

The sadness in my pops’ eyes didn’t supersede the anger or death written there.

“You put a hit out on my shawty,” I spoke lowly, although a volcano erupted inside me.

“You nearly cost my shawty some important people in her life. You nearly took my best nigga’s life. And you nearly cost me every- fucking-thing.”

DJ’s head shook, vehemently denying the allegations.

However, I advanced on him.

When he thought he was about to run, Alli and Dothan were there to snatch his ass up.

“You owe me… Since you have no wife or children, there’s no one for me to spare.”

DJ’s face fell as his gaze darted to his father, who looked both unfazed and a little apprehensive.

With his brothers flanking him, his arrogance spoke in volumes as he knowingly eyed his son.

Auntie Maddie cried and held onto Heir for dear life.

DJ stuttered as he admitted, “I have a son…”

Auntie Maddie and Heir gasped.

I chuckled. “A son? Shit, that’s news to me.”

Peace came from one of the back rooms carrying Baby Bell.

He walked Baby Bell past DJ, then proceeded up the stairs.

“Why the hell is he here?” he thundered.

“Leave my son outta this!”

“My cousin has every right to be here,” I said as Peace disappeared out of the door.

Everyone’s eyes bored into DJ.

They were all stunned at the turn of events.

“Genika isn’t here to tell her side, but Baby Bell is proof enough. DNA doesn’t lie.”

“You stupid nigga.” Unc shook his head with disgust.

“Naw, now,” I stated.

“DNA doesn’t lie, remember? Baby Bell is my first cousin.”

The room rumbled with murmurs.

I didn’t miss the subtle vindication on my auntie’s face.

She saw her true freedom nearing.

Loyalty was everything in this family.

Going against that was death.

DJ’s face was stuck in time as he stared at the man who’d raised him.

Disbelief was heavy in his eyes.

Unc chuckled. “This is all a misunderstanding. I never slept with that slut.”

“Oh, you did,” I countered.

“Not only did you sleep with her, you conspired with her and your son to kill my wife.”

“That’s preposterous!” Unc blasted.

Glancing at Dothan, I signaled him.

He produced a tiny recorder and pressed play.

“Why you lookin’ so sad?”

“I just have a lot on my mind, DJ.”

“Like what?”

“Like the fact that you won’t drop this issue with Adir. I except my part in this foolishness, but now I'm letting you know that I don't agree with this. Is being the head of your family that damn important that you're really willing to kill your own cousin and his wife? Plus, getting hooked up with Marco was not the move. He’ll find any way to double cross you.”

“Nah… He’s not gon’ make it outta that hospital. I’m good.”

“You don’t know that DJ. You need to be careful.”

Dothan switched the little cassette inside the recorder to another one and pressed play.

“What changed you?”

“My son.”

“He’s the offspring of a man like Adir. Don’t get ya hopes up.”

“If you don’t need anything, I’d like for you to leave.”

“You’re really gon’ protect him? After all he’s done to you? I’d be surprised if he even takes one look at the child y’all made.”

“ We made.”

“ We? That’s a lie!”

“It isn’t! My due date is in less than two weeks. If I try to petition him for child support, he will find out that this baby does not belong to him. I’d rather bow out gracefully and leave that man alone.”

“It’s not that fuckin’ simple, Genika!”

“Why the hell not? Ahh!”

“Dumb bitch! This was never the fuckin’ plan!”

Once it was quiet enough to hear a pin drop, I turned back to DJ. He was red with anger as well.

“That was ya father's voice on that last recording, right?"

DJ's face wore every emotion he felt.

"So… Back to my original question. Who killed Hakeem?”

Unc’s eyes cut toward Marco.

DJ’s face contorted into another spell of disbelief. “You said Adir did that shit!” he yelled at Marco. "Fuck!"

"You killed Jamaine and his crew?" I asked DJ. "I mean… You needed to force my hand, right?"

"I fucked up." He hung his head, prompting Marco to attempt to say something. At my urging, Antonias removed the gag.

“Genika was right.” Marco’s voice sounded scratchy, and he proceeded to cough for a spell. Then he shook his head in disgust. “Out of all the people you could’ve ran yo’ fuckin’ mouth to, runnin’ to yo’ pops was your downfall.”

“You made a deal wit' the fuckin' enemy and look where it got you." Although a part of me hated the bind my cousin put himself in, he touched my family in the worst way. There was no coming back from that.

“You was the one cool wit’ the enemy, nigga!” he retorted. “What about you and Hakeem? Huh?”

“When his father attempted to kill him, I saved his life!" I growled. "It’s the same shit I would’ve done for you,” I informed him.

Realizing I was being honest, DJ crumbled. “Pops said you killed Hakeem’s OG ‘cause he owed you a lot of bread.”

“And you went back and told Marco?” I surmised.

He nodded. “Marco went to Hakeem. Hakeem denied it and defended you. Ever since you went to see Hakeem about takin’ the money off Quilo, he’s been suspecting some shit was up between you and Hakeem. Marco came to me and told me what he felt. That's when I told him you killed his OG.”

Unc made a noise that sounded somewhere between a laugh and a growl. “And you wonder why this nigga never made you anything other than a do boy,” he said to DJ.

DJ shook his head.

“You should’ve been head of this family!” Unc shouted. “Ever since he got those damn boys, he’s been soft as fuck! You sit back and let the streets have at it! No one respects you anymore! No one respects this family anymore! Now that you’ve got that bitch you’re even weaker!”

I laughed at Unc calling Pretty a bitch. I laughed so loud and long everyone looked at me like I was crazy. Sobering, I produced my heat. Auntie Maddie and Heir were the only ones who reacted. Everyone else knew what was up.

Turning to DJ, I said, “You owe me two. Who’s it gon’ be?”

Green in the face, DJ shuffled his eyes between his mama, his daddy, and his baby sister.

“Mama… Heir… I’m sorry,” he finally mumbled tearfully.

Aunt Maddie shook her head, realizing who her son, the nigga she’d carried for nine months, chose to save. Her startled and frightened eyes met mine.

“No,” she whispered.

Disgusted with this nigga, I said, “Auntie said you’d choose ya pops…no matter what.”

Unc chuckled arrogantly. “Of course, he would! I’m his father—”

Without blinking, I put a bullet through Unc’s head. Heir screamed in shock. While my gun was still smoking, I put the barrel against DJ’s head. Resignation clouded his eyes as he beheld his father’s dead body.

“Try again!” I hissed. “You called me out, nigga! Here the fuck I am!” Pulling the trigger was too fucking easy.

DJ’s body hit the floor with a thud as Heir and Aunt Maddie sobbed. I stalked to where security was bound and gagged. One by one, I handled them niggas. And not one person said a fucking word. Niggas played in my face. Retribution had to be paid.

I trained my gun on Cooley. His eyes held mine. There wasn’t an ounce of fear in him. I fucked with that.

“Remove his gag,” I ordered. Dothan handled it quickly.

“You went into Genika’s house and found her tapes?”

He nodded. “He came out of the house panicking, so I went in there to clean up what I could. I saw those tapes and just knew.”

“You took the pictures, too?” I surmised.

“You fuckin’ right,” he growled. “My loyalty has always been to him. Then he found out DJ was workin' with Marco. He had me takin' pictures of his own fuckin' son, just so he could set him up. That's when I knew I had to start watchin' his ass. I couldn't trust him anymore. But in case Maddie ever got the courage to run, I was gon’ give her a reason not to look the fuck back.” His gaze shifted to Aunt Maddie’s. Something unspoken passed between them.

“I owe you forever,” I said to him.

He shrugged. “You don’t owe me shit, Boss. You took care of the problem.” His eyes raked over Duval’s lifeless body. Emotionless, he shook his head.

I saved Marco for last. Standing in front of him, I glared at him with disdain.

“Hakeem loved the fuck outta yo’ ungrateful ass. He would’ve done anything for you. And you turned around and stabbed him in his fuckin’ back. You the worst type of nigga I never wanna know.”

I finished him with a knife that severed his head from his body. He deserved to be beheaded for breaking the universal code of blood brothers.