Page 4

Nyoka

The moving process was indeed stressful. It didn't matter that I had only picked up and left with two suitcases and one duffle bag. The best thing I had done over the years was move all my contract earnings to a different offshore account in my cousin's name. That ensured that I would be financially stable through whatever. I never thought about if someone ever robbed me because I knew I would surely kill them, but a home invasion was something that I couldn't control.

"This shit is so lame. How the fuck did we get cleaned out like this, and we were only gone for the weekend?"

I rolled my eyes as I swiped my hand over the empty hangers in her closet.

"Why don't you have a security system here?" Moving in so quickly, running around getting a new car and phone, and then getting bombarded with her vacation plans, I didn't even think to ask or to look for one. "Knowing what I do, you're supposed to move better than this."

I sighed because Talia and I both knew that she knew better.

"This is Winder," she defended in this bratty rich girl tone that pissed me the fuck off.

"You better stop acting like you ain't from the slums, mama."

Talia knew I was right, so the best thing for her to do was to change the subject.

"I can't even believe that the muthafuckas took the damn air fryer."

"Well, guess who is gonna have some fire-ass chicken tonight? Not us…" I joked.

I found the shit funny as fuck because who the fuck was even robbing houses anymore?

"It's not funnyyyy…" Talia whined and even did a little stomp to stress the brat shit she was on.

I didn't even go into my room yet because I already didn't have shit. Somebody taking the nothing that I already brought pissed me the fuck off, but I was big on protecting my peace. Certain things in life we had no control over. This home invasion was definitely one of them.

The only thing Talia and I could have done to prevent this was to be vigilant by setting up a Ring camera.

"Well, stop moping and just put on something from your suitcase. It's good that we went shopping out there. We gotta get some security for this house," I instructed before shaking my head and then exiting her room.

I had to see what damage was done to my shit. If they took the damn clothes out of Talia's closet with the damn hangers, I knew they had done me dirty. I probably made the job easier for whoever had done this because I didn't even unpack one of my suitcases. I turned the knob to my bedroom, and when I did, I could see that by the cracked closet door, like Talia, I was cleaned out as well.

The long dresser in the room that held a sixty-inch plasma on it was bare. I didn't even bother to go through my drawers because most of them were pulled open. When I looked at the nightstand, I saw that the necklace I had placed there was gone.

"Fuck…" I hissed under my breath.

I had no business not having it on me at all times or at least somewhere safe. I shrugged off my worry when I realized I was no longer a part of The Heart Mirage. Only the top assassin of each initiated class, if any, was given this unique necklace. It symbolized hard work and top skill and also let other assassins know you were at the top of the top. You were a Supreme when given a necklace, and it was rare that the title be given. That symbol dangling on the neck alone would have a muthafucker second-guessing trying something. Now that the hunter was the one being hunted, I didn't see the importance of the necklace besides the emotional value it held to me. It was a show of something that I had worked hard for.

"I'm about to call the police."

"Don't do that!" I quickly turned around and said before Talia could even make the call.

She just stared at me with her cell phone in her hand. I had told her everything that had happened to Edward, but I never disclosed that I now had a bounty on my head.

"The police cannot come here because The Heart Mirage is looking for me."

I plopped down on the naked mattress, and she came and sat next to me. The muthafuckas even took the sheets off the damn bed.

"Why are they looking for you, Ny?" she asked.

For the next thirty minutes, I explained to Talia exactly how contracts were given out with the agency and what happened if any contract was not fulfilled.

"So, the same damn people that taught you are now looking for you?"

"Yes."

"Well, damn… well, you are definitely paying for us to get everything back since I can't call the police and use my home insurance policy."

I smiled before hugging her. I thought that her scary ass would have kicked me to the damn curb once she found out that there was a bounty on my head.

"I intended to anyway. Let's make a day of it."

Shopping was tiring as hell, so I already knew that it would take us all day to get clothes, and then we had to get furniture as well.

"Let's start with a furniture store because they will have to deliver anything we get. That couch you had was ugly as fuck anyway," I teased.

"Whatttt?" she dragged. "I loved my purple couch."

I laughed because Talia's style was so off the wall that it was insane. I was going to give her a crash course in home décor.

"Let's take my car since we just put a whole bunch of miles on yours."

"Is ya car even still here?"

Because I always parked in the driveway, we hadn't opened the garage doors as of yet.

"My shit better still be!" Talia took off, running toward the stairs. "Whew! Thank you, God!" I could hear the relief in her tone as she yelled from the lower level.

I was relieved as fuck, too, because it was one less thing that I had to replace. I made my way downstairs so I could back out of the driveway so that she could pull her car out. Once I parked my Jeep in the garage, I got into her car and headed to start our long day.

Adonis

I had already driven to different pawn shops, turning most of the jewelry we had taken from the robbery. I lay in my newly purchased bed and played with the medallion to the necklace in my hand. It was a peculiar piece that I had only seen once before, and that was on the neck of my mother. The orange hue on the part of the sun and crescent moon piece glistened under the sun's rays that peeked through my blinds.

"Aye muthafucka, let's go get some wings." Dom stood in the doorway of my room.

"Nah, I'm good."

I had been lying low since we hit that house a couple of days ago. If I weren't making moves driving around pawning my winnings, I would stay low in the crib.

"I'll call, and we can pick it up. This weird staying in the crib shit is unhealthy, gang."

Dom wasn't letting up on trying to get me out of the house, so I finally agreed.

"Aight, give me a minute, bruh. Let me throw some shit on."

"Bet."

He walked his ass downstairs, and when he did, I headed toward the bathroom to brush my teeth. I placed the stolen necklace into the empty soap dish as I handled my hygiene. Georgia had that weird ass weather where you had to be winter-ready in the morning, but by noon, bring out the shorts and slides. I settled for a pair of Nike Tech sweatpants and a white t-shirt with a matching pair of Nike slides. I was able to add to my wardrobe with my earnings, too. Judging by how Dom chose to spend his money, I could see that we would have to hit another lick soon. That muthafucka done put down on a new truck and bought some jewelry and some other bullshit.

I spent money on shit that I needed. Before moving to Georgia, I didn't have many clothes, so I loaded my closet and got some bedroom furniture because I was tired of sleeping on the couch. The rest of my funds went into a savings account because, being a nigga that learns from his mistakes, there was no way that I was ever gonna go broke again. I didn't even waste money on turning the service to my phone on because that would be a monthly expense I didn't need. As long as I was connected to Wi-Fi, I could text, talk, and be on FaceTime. Besides playing basketball, Javier didn't do much, so whenever I wanted to talk to Joy, I would FaceTime his phone. She refuses to toss out that damn Android and walk on over to the dark side of iPhone land.

"Aight, gang, let's go," I announced to Dom once I made it down the stairs.

That muthafucka was designer-dripping just to run to a wing spot. He wore a pair of distressed jeans and an Off-White shirt with some Off-White sneakers to match.

"Are you going to the club or something?" I asked with a raise of my eyebrow.

"You never know where you gone run into some new bitches."

"You be worried about these females, and that's the problem," I said as I held the front door open for him.

Dom pressed a button on his key fob that started the engine on a new smoke-gray Trackhawk he had just gotten. I already knew those monthly payments were about to bust him in the ass.

After sitting passenger side, Dom pulled off. Moneybagg Yo was snapping, and I was glad that we had similar taste in music. Getting cool with Dom wasn't hard because I remember him visiting Joy's house a couple of times growing up. He was always a cool dude, and that didn't change with age. What shocked me was that I wasn't much of a people person, and he and I connected fairly quickly. I had a good handful of my niggas back in Lima that I would consider my day ones but other than being with them, I rolled around solo. Joy heavily expressed that Dom was family, and it damn sure felt like it. I could tell that he fucked with a nigga because of how fucked with Joy, so I appreciated it.

"You coming inside, my boy?"

"Nah, I'm good."

I stopped speaking when a white Lexus pulled up beside us, blasting music.

"Mobbin' schemin' lootin' hide your bodies…"

The bitches in the car next to us were singing their hearts out. I couldn't see what they looked like, but with the driver's side window cracked, I could hear two different voices singing over SZA's fine ass.

"The weather gets nice, and bitches start blasting the music and cutting up."

Dom complained like he was annoyed, but we both knew that he loved himself a little ghetto bitch.

"I'll take a couple of bitches cutting up in a Lexus than in an Altima any day," I joked.

Dom laughed before turning our music down.

"What kind of wings you want, bruh?" he asked.

"Honey hot."

"Bet, you sure you don't want to come in?"

"I'm good."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and started playing this trivia game while waiting for him.

When he opened his door, the driver's side of the white Lexus opened. I leaned back in the seat to see if I could get a look at whoever was on the passenger side, but I couldn't. I could only get a glimpse of her hands on her phone. The driver was pretty as fuck with a big ol' ass. I squinted as she slowly started walking. The thigh was matching the behind, so I wasn't sure if that wagon was homegrown or if she had gone under the knife. Either way, it looked good on her. She had a long, slick-back ponytail like how the girls wear. I rolled my window down a bit when I saw she had caught Dom's attention.

"When I'm with youuuuuuu. How can I snooze and miss this moment?"

This muthafucka started singing and pointing to the girl that had just hopped out of the car. He even put his own little spin on the lyrics. She looked his way and started smiling. I couldn't believe that goofy shit worked for his ass. Just like a light skin nigga, I thought as I watched as he held the door to American Deli open for her. He looked back at me with a grin that belonged to a Cheshire cat.

I looked over to the Lexus again to see if the passenger was ever gonna get out, but she didn't. I busied myself with my little game as I waited for Dom. I hadn't even realized when he had left out of the restaurant. I just looked over and saw him opening the driver's side door for the girl. When he finally got back to the truck, the smell of the food made my stomach growl instantly.

"I ain't gone lie, my boy. I'm in love…"

I laughed out loud.

"Oh, okay, you Lil' Durk now? Nigga, shut up."

He handed me the food bag, and I placed it on the floor of the car as he pulled off. When we reached the exit of the parking lot, the white Lexus made a left, and we made a right.

"Well, I hope you got her number with all that in-love shit, tender dick ass nigga."

"And didddd," he jokingly said, "Aye bruh, she got a cousin that stays with her too. She showed me a pic. She's pretty as hell she just looks mean as fuck, but you a mean-looking nigga too, so it might work."

"I don't need you pulling hoes for me. I got this."

"Too late, bruh, we're getting together tonight."

"Who the fuck is we?" I turned my head in his direction as he turned into the complex that we lived in.

"Me, you, her, and her cousin. Umm, I done forgot the cousin's name."

"Getting together where?"

"At our crib."

I sucked my teeth as I took my seatbelt off.

"Nigga, you don't know these bitches, and you invited them to where we lay our head?"

"I got guns, and I know you do. I wish a bitch would try to move sly on us. Pretty or not, her big forehead ass will be in the dirt."

"Now you wanna talk about the girl's forehead," I said with a wave of my hand.

"I love bitches with big foreheads. They be having the best pussy. You see the forehead on Rihanna's sexy ass, and I know my nigga Rocky is banging the walls off that muthafucka."

I wanted to laugh, but I just sighed in annoyance as I snatched the bag off the floor and exited the car. I was a private ass person, and having strangers where I lay my head just didn't sit well with me. I was king of not putting myself in weird situations when I didn't have to.

"You really in ya feels. I didn't even text her yet. I'll just make some other plans to link her then."

"Nah, you good. This ya shit, do ya thing," I responded as we walked into the house.

I grabbed my platter out of the bag and headed for my room.

"This ya shit, too," Dom called out behind me.

I kept walking but stopped at the top of the stairs when he continued to talk to me.

"Aye, we can just toss something light on the grill and catch a vibe with these bitches. Thugs deserve happiness, too. I'ma run across the street to Walmart and then the liquor store. You want something from there?"

"Espolòn, the big one, too, just in case her cousin is fucking ugly. I feel like I'ma be taking one for the team tonight," I responded before closing the door to the bedroom behind me.

Nyoka

"I am not going to some nigga's house that you let bag you up outside of a wing spot."

"Ny, come on. He has a cousin for you."

I watched earlier as the bald-headed nigga used his little smooth singing tactics to get right to my cousin's vulnerable ass. That's why I couldn't stand a bald head ass man. They always tried to be too damn smooth like their smooth-ass heads. I rolled my eyes as I pulled my legs into my body so that I could sit Indian-style on our new couch. The furniture store we went to offered same-day delivery. I took a bite of my honey hot wing before offering her a response.

"I don't give a fuck about him or his cousin. We don't know these niggas."

"Not the assassin sounding scared."

I gave Talia's ass the Ike Turner meme look. If nobody else knew, she knew I wasn't scared of shit. What I was trying to get through her thick ass head was to be cautious of the current situation that I was in. To try to get to me, anybody would use her ass.

"Don't give me that face, Ny."

"Don't play with me then."

I licked some sauce off my fingers before I continued, "What does the cousin look like?"

"Umm…"

"You don't even know what this muthafucka looks like? Talia, if that man is ugly, I am leaving."

"Well, let's pray that he isn't."

"Where do they live?"

"Umm…"

"Girl, what do you know?" I asked as I busted out laughing.

"He didn't text me yet."

"Girllllll," I dragged. "We might as well find us some other plan."

DING.

Talia smiled as she looked down at her phone.

"I just got the lo. It says Lawrenceville."

"Damn, his ass gone live a long ass time. Well, have fun," I teased with a smile.

"Come on, Ny," she whined.

"Fine." I rolled my eyes. "What time are we leaving?"

Talia looked into her phone and started typing a bit before responding.

"He said they're about to start grilling, so maybe we should leave here by like eight."

I looked at the time on my Apple watch and saw it was already six in the evening.

"Okay, bet."

Out of all the clothes we purchased today, I was trying to think of what outfit I wanted to wear. We were basically going to a kick back, so I figured it should have been something comfortable. When I saw Talia emptying her makeup items from Sephora, I already knew she was about to beat her face. She was only doing it for the nigga. I didn't care to put makeup on, but she wasn't about to go looking like the glam queen, and I just looked like her around-the-way-ass- cousin. I grabbed what I had purchased from Sephora off the counter and then grabbed some of my bags off the floor before heading to my room.

I took out these black jeans with this black crop top. I was glad I had taken my silver Gucci bag on vacation with me, or those thieves would have had that, too. I tossed my silver Birkenstock slides to the side and then looked over my outfit to ensure everything went together nicely. When I was pleased, I jumped in the shower and then started on my makeup. I settled on a natural beat. Within two hours, Talia and I were walking out of the door.