Page 36

Massai

I was so pissed off I was literally seeing red.

No, I was seeing black, and I knew my vision wasn’t going to be clear until I could actually make that nigga and bitch bleed.

They’d already fucked up by disrespecting me with that bullshit stop, but to scare my wife to the point that she lost her bladder was a whole other level that called for much worse than a simple bullet to the head.

Since Aw’sum was still out on a job, he wasn’t going to be able to help out until the next week, but I needed to handle this shit tonight !

That meant I’d have to pull Cruz away from the crib and Keyani for a while, but he had that shit locked up like Fort Knox just so she’d feel comfortable.

I went back to the same chop shop that I’d dropped my car off at to pick up a beater to handle my latest spree in.

Next, I picked up Cruz, and he came out dressed just like me in all black, but he’d added a ski mask.

Normally, I would’ve been wearing one too, but I wanted them to see my face, so there wasn’t going to be any disguise for me.

“What’s the plan?” was all he asked from the passenger seat as he loaded his clip with gloved hands. My nigga always came prepared to put in work and never had too many questions, which was why I fucked with him.

I grit my teeth just thinking about how scared Avery had to be to have peed like that. “Shit, catch them muthafuckas slipping. I got the rest,” I assured but felt his eyes on me.

“This ain’t just a pump and dump?” He raised his eyebrows in the dark car, and I shook my head slowly.

“Naw, these muthafuckas gotta suffer.”

I refused to let them make it with some easy shit like killing them on sight.

Honestly, if I felt like my baby had the stomach for it, I would have brought Aves with us.

After what she’d gone through today, she deserved to experience her revenge, but I knew she wouldn’t like that shit.

Hell, she didn’t even want me to do the shit, so I knew it was a no for her.

“Damn, that bad?”

“Worse, nigga,” I admitted, blowing out my breath in frustration.

I wasn’t going to put my baby’s business out there.

She’d already been embarrassed enough, and even though Cruz was my nigga, Avery was my wife, and she would always be my first priority, at least until our baby was born.

The fact that what happened could’ve affected them both had me even more heated.

The only good thing about the shit was that I’d finally discovered who the mystery detective was.

Thirty-year vet Bryce Winter. He’d been so thirsty to get something on me that he’d sent those rookies in just to get me down to the station.

The trouble he’d gone through wasn’t even worth it in the end, considering I didn’t answer shit, and now his cover was blown.

“What the fuck? And you ain’t gone sue them niggas?” Cruz turned in his seat, face covered in disbelief, after I told him what happened.

“Naw, money ain’t enough now.”

“Shit, I feel you.” He nodded, finally attaching the clip to the gun with a loud click. “Sometimes it’s like that. That’s definitely how I feel about Raya’s crazy ass. After all the shit she’s done, she gotta go.”

I already knew he was ready to kill that bitch, and I didn’t blame him at all.

She’d killed one of his hoes, some little old lady, and shot up Keyani’s crib all over a nigga when she was already married.

I’d told his ass that hoe was crazy, and he should’ve known when she was still trying to hook up with him after finding out her husband was in the hospital.

Shit, she’d even made Avery mad enough to be talking about murdering her and Cruz’s ass, which is what I told him.

“Yeah, ’cause Aves already planning to kill yo’ ass,” I told him, finally pulling over behind some hole-in-the-wall bar.

“And I believe you too. Shorty be having that crazy ass look in her eyes. I hope it ain’t the pregnancy that got her like that, or else I’m gone have hell with Key.” His face was filled with worry, and despite the seriousness of what we were there to do, I had to laugh.

“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with my wife, fool. She just be lookin’ out for the people she loves.”

“Yeah, well, you just better make sure you keep yo’ fuckin’ guns locked up until I get on her good side,” he warned, reaching for the door handle to get out, and I shut the car off, doing the same.

“You keep talkin’ shit, I’m gone tell on yo’ ass.”

“Then I’m gone tell her that you made me give you a bachelor party, muthafucka!”

I stopped walking and pointed at him where he stood across the alley from me.

“You do that shit, you ain’t gone have to worry about her shootin’ yo’ ass ’cause I’m gone do it for her!

” The threat didn’t do anything but make his ass chuckle like he wasn’t at all worried about the consequences.

The closer we got to the location that Captain Barey had given me earlier, the quieter we grew and the more stealthily we moved.

Both the cops that had pulled us over today had been put on a stakeout mission as punishment for the bullshit they’d pulled.

Since Captain Barey was on my payroll, he’d set the shit up, choosing that they would be the ones to die instead of his family.

Just like he said they would be, I spotted them in the same unmarked car parked in the cut, and I smiled sinisterly.

I didn’t know what they were doing that stopped them from paying attention to their surroundings, but that shit worked perfectly in my favor.

We crept right up, and while I yanked the driver out, Cruz handled the passenger.

As soon as I had dude on his feet, I threw him against the car and flashed my teeth at him.

The look of horror that filled his eyes had my adrenaline skyrocketing.

Pulling out the knife I had on me, I stabbed his midsection, making sure to hit the spot under his vest. He didn’t even get a chance to scream, and I let his body drop carelessly.

I backed away from him and looked up in time to see Cruz shooting the bitch in the head.

“Didn’t I tell yo’ ass they had to suffer, nigga! A head shot is too quick and easy.”

“How the fuck I was s’posed to know you was going all fruit ninja and shit? You saw me loading my gun and ain’t even say shit!” he said, meeting me around the back of the car and looking down at dude’s body.

“Since when I gotta plan shit like that? At least when I said messy you coulda shot her ass all over and let her bleed out.”

His eyes narrowed, and he shook his finger at me with a smirk. “Yo, Keyani be callin’ me crazy, but you’re the real-life nut here. I’m starting to see where Avery really get that shit.” He poked at his temple with narrowed eyes, and I flipped his stupid ass off.

By the time we cleaned up and I dropped that nigga back off at home, it was going on four in the morning. I’d already showered, so once I stripped out of my fresh clothes, I crawled in the bed behind Avery and took my ass straight to sleep.

I woke up a couple hours later to Avery nudging me and complaining about my phone ringing.

As soon as I tried to open my eyes, the sunlight had me shutting them right back, and I felt around for my phone until it was in my hand.

“What!” I croaked, not even daring to open my eyes to see who was calling.

“Sai! I’m at this bodega and I just saw Jamo!” Maagic’s voice filled my ears, and I instantly sat straight up.

“What? He still there?” I asked stupidly, obviously still half asleep.

Even if the nigga was still there, I wouldn’t be able to get to him in time, and I damn sure wouldn’t put my sister in harm’s way just to get at him.

She sucked her teeth in my ear, and without even seeing her, I knew she was rolling her beady ass eyes.

“Now why would I be calling you talking this loud if he was still here?” she asked smartly and began going back and forth with somebody in the background.

“Maagic! Focus!”

“Don’t yell at me! I’m tryna get some food, dang. Yeah, thanks Manny!” I groaned inwardly and stood up, already tired of her.

“Where you at exactly? Maybe he lives around there?”

“He didn’t look like he lived over this way—” I could hear the frown in her voice as I moved to throw on some pants.

“Maagic, I’m sure you look like you don’t live around there. What the fuck you doin’ at a damn bodega anyway? I know it ain’t one nowhere near that expensive ass school!”

“Ughh, I told you I was getting something to eat. My friend Andrew from school put me on. I’ll ask him where we at.” The phone shuffled around, probably because she had it between her ear and shoulder. “Andrew! Andrew!”

Boom! Boom!

I froze in the middle of the floor as my sister started screaming in my ear. “Maagic! Maagic, what happened!” I shouted. There was some more shuffling, and then my heart dropped as Jamo jumped on the line.

“Well, well, well, it’s little McCarter.”

“Nigga, where the fuck my sister at! You better not fuckin’ touch her!” I turned my back, feeling Avery’s questioning eyes on me.

“Oh, she’s as good as touched, but if you want her back, I think I could help you out for a finder’s fee.” He cackled maniacally, and I sighed.

“What you want, man?”

“I’m not sure yet,” he mused like this shit was a game. “I’ll call you back, stay by the phone.”

“Don’t you fuckin’ hang—” My sentence was cut off as he hung up in my face. “Fuck!” I shouted, running a hand over my head before jumping into action. I wasn’t sure what type of money the nigga would be asking for, but I was just going to start getting some together.

“Baby…what’s wrong?” Avery called out softly behind me, voice shaky as I moved to my closet.

Snatching down one of my duffle bags, I opened my safe and started removing stacks of rubber band-wrapped bills.

There was at least $200,000 inside, and I knew I had about $70,000 at the warehouse for my re-up. “Maasai! Maasai!”

“What—” I caught myself, realizing that she didn’t know what was going on, and as pissed as I was, this shit wasn’t her fault.

Sighing, I stood up since she was now right behind me.

“Bae, I’m sorry, but Jamo got Maagic, and I need to get some money together to go get her ASAP.

I need you to get dressed so I can take you to Armand, or shit, to Cruz’s with Keyani.

” That was one of the safest places for her to be since he had it full of security since Keyani and the kids were there.

“But…but how?” I held her face, seeing her about to have a damn panic attack, and kissed her softly.

“I don’t know, but I’m going to get her back, don’t even worry. Just go get ready to leave.”

Nodding, she rushed off to her closet while I resumed what I was doing and tried to call Aw’sum’s ass.

My call immediately went to voicemail, so I knew he was on a job or in the air, which was the only time he didn’t fucking answer his phone.

Cursing, I called Cruz next, knowing that I need some type of back up, and surprisingly, he answered on the third ring.

“Nigga, what the fuck you want already?” he snapped, voice groggy like I’d just woken him up.

“Jamo got Maagic.”

“What! How?”

“I don’t know. He must’ve been hiding there all this time, ’cause it didn’t seem like some planned shit.

It seemed like he just ran across her or something.

” My jaw tightened as I told him what happened and continued packing money in the bag.

“You know he talkin’ about some money, he just ain’t told me how much. I’m emptying my safe and?—”

“You know I got you, bro. I got a couple hundred thousand.” Cruz was already up and moving around as he spoke.

“Bet, I’ma hit you back,” I told him, hanging up. Once I had the safe completely empty, I carried the bag back out to the room, sitting it on the floor so I could quickly handle my hygiene.

“Baby, I’m ready.” Avery appeared at the door dressed and with her own bag in hand. “And I want to go to Cruz’s.”

I nodded even though I barely heard her as my fingers moved across my screen, trying to get some niggas together along with a flight out tonight.

There was no way me and Cruz could go out there without some type of back up.

Even though I was sure Jamo didn’t have a team, it was still better to be safe than sorry.

“Maasai?” Avery stopped me as I came out from brushing my teeth with a hand on my chest. “Do you want me to get some money from Armand? I could?—”

“Bae, I got this. I just need you somewhere safe while I handle this. I’m gonna get her back,” I said, brushing tears off her cheeks.

My baby was already sensitive, but this pregnancy had her crying and stressing a lot more than usual.

After the shit with the police, I had to make sure she stayed calm, but that shit was starting to be easier said than done with everything we had going on.

“Okay, just make sure you get her,” she said with a nod.

“I will. Now where your bag at?” She pointed to where it was on the chaise, and I went to get it and grabbed mine too as we headed for the door.

With the bags tucked in one hand and my phone in the other, I continued making preparations.

The whole time, I was also calculating how much liquid money I had available.

Jamo hadn’t set a number yet, but I knew it was going to be ridiculous, and I wanted to make sure I had it so my sister wasn’t in his presence no longer than she had to be.