B00BNB54RE EBOK (18 page)

             
After securing Angelique’s spot at the drug resort, Dallas and I hit the city to spend some money. She wanted to look at furniture for her beauty shop, test drive that new Camaro and of course hit the mall. I wanted to go to the jewelry store, buy some shoes, shop for Khari and buy Gloria a new refrigerator because hers was on its last leg. I didn’t tell my mom I was buying her one because she would just tell me not to. My plan was to pay cash and have it delivered to her house out of the blue.

             
I wasn’t the only one out spending money in the world. Sway and Ranae were at Disney Land with their kids and Peck called me from the airport when he was on his way to Puerto Rico with his girlfriend. He had a two week vacation planned that ended in Hawaii. He told me he’d bring me back a pair of Jordan’s as a souvenir.

             
With the trunk full of bags and our stomachs on empty, me and Dallas sat down for some good ole fashion soul food. Tonight, dinner wasn’t at some fancy high priced restaurant on the pier. It was at M & M soul food restaurant in Inglewood and I couldn’t wait to eat.

             
The place was packed as usual, but we were seated at a table in less than ten minutes. As soon as we sat down the waitress came by and we started ordering right away.

Welcome to M &M, can I get you two started with some drinks tonight?” The young lady in her early twenties asked politely.

Dallas looked up. “Sweetie we’ve been waitin’ for this all day, so we already know what we want. Is that okay? Can we order now?”

“Ummm yeah, that’s fine. What would you like?” She whipped out her pen and pad.

“Okay, I would like an orange soda and the fried chicken meal with mac-n-cheese, muffins, yams, fried okra, oh and some peach cobbler.” Dallas leaned back in her chair.

“Okay and
for you sir?”

“I feel the same way
, so jus’ double that order.” I made it easy.

“Okay, I’ll put that in right away.”

She spun on her heels and headed to the kitchen. I looked around the restaurant for a second, but my gaze eventually fell on Dallas’s sexy face.

“Thank you for my shoes. I love all six pair of them the same. I’ll model them for you when we get home.” She batted her long eyelashes.

“You mean you’re gonna try on all the outfits you bought to go with them?” I put my hand on the table.

“No, I’m gonna take my clothes off and walk around in my shoes.” She winked sexily at me.

“Awww shit. I might need to stop and grab some Visine cuz I wanna see this clearly.”

She tapped my arm. “You’re so silly.”

I looked out of the window of the restaurant and noticed that it was getting dark. Angelique hadn’t called me all day. I patted the pockets of my jeans and realized that my phone was still in my truck.

“I left my phone in the truck.
I’ll be right back.”

“Okay, hurry up before the food gets here.”

I made my way to the front doors and walked out into the warm air. I normally liked to park where I could see my shit whenever possible, but I had to get a spot in the back because it was so crowded that evening. I was starting to worry about Angelique as I got to my driver side door. I shook my head even more after I grabbed my phone and saw that she hadn’t called me yet. I rubbed the light facial hair on my cheek as I wondered where the hell she was. I decided to call her. I made the call from the parking lot because the restaurant was too loud. I put the phone to my ear but instead of a ring I heard a loud bang!

             
I felt a strong burning sensation in my back. I dropped the phone to the ground and stumbled against the truck. I braced myself on the hood to keep from falling over. A searing pain shot through my upper body as I heard another loud bang! That time I could no longer hold my own body weight and my legs gave out underneath me.

“Yeah muthafucka! I know you didn’t think you could humiliate me and get away with it! I don’t play that shit!
Look at you now, big bad ass Tyce bleedin’ on the fuckin’ ground!”

“TYCE! TYCE! TYCE!”

I think I heard Dallas scream my name and then I think I heard footsteps running away.

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG.

“GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HIM!!”

My eyes were closed
, but I heard more shots being fired. My back felt warm, but the rest of my body was getting cold. I told myself to open my eyes, but I couldn’t lift my eyelids.

“Tyce, Tyce, baby say something’! Say somethin’! Oh no no no no no no! Not you baby! Not you baby! Tyce! Look at me! Open your eyes! Open your fuckin’ eyes!

I could feel her slapping my face and I wanted to look at her so badly, but I couldn’t move my eyelids. I was so tired and cold. My ears heard a phone being dialed, but I just laid there and listened unable to speak.

“Yes my boyfriend’s been shot! M & M restaurant in the parking lot! I need a fuckin’ ambulance right now! Yes! Yes! He’s breathing
, but barely! He got shot in his back, I think! Twice, but I’m not sure. I don’t wanna move him!”

Did Dallas just tell somebody I got shot? Did I hear her right? What the hell was going on? Who the fuck shot me? I’m muthafuckin
’ Tyce Adkins…who the fuck shot me?

“Hold on baby
, jus’ hold on. Stay with me, stay with me. I got you, I got you. The ambulance is on the way. Jus’ keep breathing.”

I felt her stroking
my face and her tears splashed on my forehead, but for the life of me I couldn’t move, or tell her not to cry.

“Please God don’t take him. You hear me? You can’t have him yet! You can’t have him!”

              I saw Tyce calling me, but I let it go to voicemail. He was probably with that bitch and wanted to make sure I wouldn’t spoil their fun by popping up unannounced again. They didn’t have to worry about me going anywhere tonight. I was good. I had my vodka and my white girl and that was all the company I would need for the night. If I did want some entertainment, I would call up a professional woman or a man depending on my mood.

             
The coke had me feeling real ‘bout it. I was on some fuck everybody type shit and the more lines I took to the face, the better my mood became. With each line I snorted, the pain in my heart seemed to decrease. With each line I snorted, I began to stop beating myself up for cheating on Tyce. With each line I snorted the past weeks seemed to just fade away from my thoughts.

             
Three hours later I was coked out of my mind and in my own little world dancing to Janet Jackson’s Pleasure Principal on my I Pod. My heart was racing, but I couldn’t stop grooving. My solution to my racing heart rate was to do another six lines. So, that’s what the fuck I did. I took half a dozen thick ass lines to my muthafuckin’ face and then I plopped on the bed to enjoy the wonderful rush.

             
I sniffed hard, leaned my head to the side and grabbed my phone to check the time. I narrowed my eyes as I saw the text message icon. I must have missed the message, because it was over two hours ago. I tapped the screen, saw that it was from Dallas and immediately erased it without even reading it. I didn’t want to hear a damn thing that bitch had to say. I closed my eyes, exhaled real deep and then my body started shaking like a spin cycle. My chest got tight and it hurt to breathe. I could feel my toes tingling and my left arm felt numb.

“Oh shit.” I huffed. “Oh shit.
”

I thought about Khari as my mouth tightened up.

I thought about Tyce as the room went black.

THE END

TYCE 5

DEAD OR ALIVE

THIS SUMME
R  

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Shareef Jaudon

TWITTER:@shareefjau

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First and foremost I’d like to thank Allah for giving me the determination, energy, and talent to complete my fifth novel! God is good. I’d like to shout out my son Shareef and my daughter Karese, daddy loves you both up to the sky! I owe a special thanks my lady love Melanie who helped me several ways with this project. I love you dear. Thanks to Nika Michelle for all the hard work and editing. I gotta give a shout out to T.J. Anderson of New Vision Marketing & Design for all the cover work. You got talent man. My cover is that new hotness for real. I gotta show love to my Admin Shantelle Brown. Every author should have an admin like her. She’s the best!Ok, next up is the list of folks that had my back, support me, and gohard.com…all the ladies and gents of Black and Faithful book club, Readers R Us, Black E book club, FUN4daMental, We Read Urban Lit, Divas & Gents, Locksie of ARC book club, Author Treasure Blue, Author SK, Lisa Tyrell Perry-Amos, The Temptress Precise, Author David Weaver, Darlene Guerrero, Kayla Scurlock, Denise Gilliam, Jennifer Martin, Carla, Shikira, Foxxy, Love Jones, Marissa Palmer, Tamika Davis, Brandi, Senobia, Angela Day, Knook, Karma, Author Angel Michelle, Nicole, Ashley, Chell, Chica, Lisa, Shaquita Hudson, Dcbookreviewer Rawls, Kelia, Natasha, Cleopatra, Sharon, Char Foxx, Michelle, and all the readers that I haven’t had the chance to interact with. I love each and every one of you!!! It’s too many to name here…that would be another book. Lol. I love all the readers on my fan page! I gotta thank my family, starting with my parents Rose and Willie and my siblings, Jameelah, Ayesha, Wali, and Ameenah…you guys keep me motivated and focused. I want to thank all the authors who are pulling for me and continuing to write bangers. Keep em coming, I know I will. I wouldn’t be here if you didn’t go hard for me! THANKS A MILLION. A special shout out to all the readers who took the time to give me a review on Amazon.com or Barnes and Nobles.com-you don’t know how much that means to an author. Thank you soooo much. Thanks again for checking me out….until next time America.

This is a work of fiction. Any character references or likenesses to persons living or dead are completely coincidental. Actual people and places have been added to give the story a sense of reality. No parts of this story may be reproduced or copied without the expressed written consent of the author.