Murderville 2: The Epidemic (23 page)

Po knew that the buyer was federal as hell and that no one in their right mind would take that kind of risk, but he couldn’t pass up an opportunity this large.

“I’m in,” Po said.

“Be sure about this,” Ayo warned.

“Make the arrangements. Put Dahlia on a plane. Send Rocko with her,” Po instructed.

*    *    *

Po entered Dahlia’s room and saw that she was staring out the window deep in thought.

“Everything a’ight?” he asked, startling her.

She turned toward him. “I’m fine,” she assured. “Just thinking. I’ve never put myself on the line for Omega the way that I’m doing for you.”

Po remained silent, unsure of where she was headed with the conversation.

“I would do anything to hold you down, Po. I’m ready to choose you, if you’re ready to let me,” Dahlia said.

Po saw the sincerity in her eyes and knew that she meant what she said. A part of him felt badly because she was Omega’s woman. He was breaking the code by sleeping with her in the first place, but resisting her was proving to be a challenge. Dahlia was ready to invest her time into him, but Po wasn’t ready. She had been good company and
had taken his mind off of Liberty’s absence. He appreciated her for that, but he didn’t feel for her the way that he had Liberty, and she couldn’t hold a candle to Scarlett.

Dahlia was a beautiful woman who didn’t give him a hard time. She was a convenient distraction, but he would never wife her. She had shown that she wasn’t loyal. The way that she had easily cheated with Po meant that she would easily cheat on him.
Bitches ain’t shit,
he thought to himself. He knew that she was a woman who traded up. She chose the winning team, but what would happen when he started to lose? She would be a free agent again, and choosing season would begin. Po didn’t want to distract her from the large task ahead of her. If he denied her now it could fuck up his deal. He had to play her smart.

“You sure you ready for that?” he asked.

“I’ve been ready,” she answered sexily as she reached up to kiss him. The doorbell rang, and Po dodged her kiss, moving his head to the right.

“We’ll talk about it when you get back. Rocko’s here,” he said.

*    *    *

Rocko and Dahlia stood in the Customs line, wedding rings on their left fingers as they pretended to be a doting couple. The two were set to fly into South Korea and then cross the border into North Korea by car. Flying directly into a country that had hostile relations with the U.S. would immediately throw up red flags to homeland security. They had to play their hands more than smart in order to pull off this task. Rocko was more nervous than ever. He was
used to holding it down in the streets and felt that he was in over his head.
This nigga Po on some straight boss shit,
he thought. He couldn’t believe how far up the ladder his man had climbed. They were a long way from Detroit, Michigan.

*    *    *

Liberty threw the covers off her body in a cold sweat as she rushed to the bathroom. The morning sickness was taking a toll on her, and as she hugged the porcelain toilet she closed her eyes in distress. She knew that an abortion would have been the most logical thing to do, but her heart wouldn’t let her get rid of her child. Life was growing inside of her. Every time she thought of it she teared up. How could she destroy a miracle so precious?

Liberty missed Po terribly and needed someone to celebrate with in her excitement, but fear stopped her. Dahlia’s voice echoed in the back of her mind, reminding her that Po was not fit to raise her child. He wasn’t about that life. A drug dealer and kingpin couldn’t convert to a family man.
Or could he?
she thought. Liberty desperately wanted to give her child a safe and ordinary life, but with Po that wasn’t guaranteed.

As Liberty thought of her current circumstance she realized that nothing was ever promised. If so, she would still be with A’shai.
He deserves to know,
she thought. Liberty mulled over her decision as she dressed, but in the end she knew that it was not her place to keep Po out of his child’s life. She grabbed her car keys off the hotel dresser, then hurriedly pulled the duffel bag full of money he had given her out of the closet before rushing out to find him.

When Liberty arrived in Po’s driveway she lost her nerve. She sat in her car, staring up at his house with butterflies in her stomach.
Just tell him,
she urged herself as she finally built the courage to walk to the door. She rang the bell and waited impatiently. She wanted to turn and run away with every second that passed, but her feet felt as if they were cemented to the stoop. When Po opened the door, her heart stopped and she became tongue-tied. There she stood, speechless and afraid. She trembled slightly from the magnitude of his presence. It wasn’t until that moment that she realized how much she had missed him. His handsome face, intoxicating scent, intimidating stare . . . She missed it all and although she just stubbornly stood there, she really just wanted to jump into his arms.

He didn’t speak or even remove the stern look from his face, but the sight of her was like a breath of fresh air. He loved her as she stood before him, unwilling to admit his affection to her aloud. He stepped to the side allowing her to enter. They stood in the foyer, staring at each other. There was so much animosity between them, but in the grand scheme of things Liberty knew that it was petty. The secret that she was keeping was bigger than everything that was stopping them from being together.

Liberty removed the duffel bag from her shoulder and held it out to him. “I don’t want it,” she said. “You take it. You take it, Po, and make sure that you take care of us. We need you. We are depending on you. I don’t want to do this by myself.”

Liberty was rambling, and Po frowned in confusion as
she went on. “We weren’t even going to come here today. We weren’t going to tell you . . .”

Frustrated, Po reached out and pulled her near him, cupping her face in his hands. “Slow down, ma. What are you saying? Who the fuck is ‘we’?” he asked in confusion.

Liberty looked at the floor, and then up at him with emotion in her eyes. She was on the verge of tears as her lip began to tremble. “We is . . . me and . . .”

She could barely get the words out she was so full of nervous energy. She was crying because she was happy, scared, sad, overjoyed . . . She was all of these things, and it made it hard for her to speak.

Po softened at the sight of her so distraught. “What’s wrong, ma? I haven’t seen you in damn near a month. I’ve been calling you, and I can’t get a call back, but now all of a sudden you show up here like this. Talk to me. Are you okay?” he asked.

Liberty looked up at him and knew that he would take care of her. She didn’t know how they would work things out or if he would ever be exactly who she wanted him to be, but of one thing she was certain: he would do right by her. In the short time that she had known him, he had proved himself to be a good man.

“I’m pregnant, Po,” she whispered.

Po took a step back, and his eyes instinctively shifted to her stomach.

“You’re what?” he asked.

“Pregnant,” she repeated.

He turned away from her and put his hands on his head
as he closed his eyes. His heart beat in a rhythm that he had never heard before.. It was in that time and space that Liberty became the love of his life.

“I was going to get rid of it, but . . .”

Po turned around with a brief moment of anger in his eyes. It was quickly replaced with love as he spoke. “Why would you do that, ma? This baby . . . our baby, is all I’ve got. Don’t take that away from me.”

Liberty nodded as he kissed her lips. She had only been away for a month, but it felt as if she hadn’t seen him in years.

“I love you, ma,” he whispered as he picked her up off of her feet.

She paused for a minute, wondering for a second if A’shai would be upset with her. But as she looked in Po’s eyes she realized that Po was the one here with her. He was the one who had put his seed inside of her. A’shai would always live in her heart, but to the world he was extinct and it was time to move on.

“I love you too,” she replied finally.

Po kissed Liberty all the way to his bedroom and stopped as he was about to lay her on the bed. He realized that he had sexed Dahlia in the exact same place, and he didn’t want to disrespect Liberty by placing her in the spot where another woman had slept. He made a mental note to get the bed replaced and turned out of the room.

“Where are we going?” Liberty asked as he carried her back into the hall. Po turned into one of his many guestrooms.

“Make love to me, Po,” she whispered as she unfastened his pants.

Po leaned over her, lowering her down onto the bed and as he ravished her body they both felt different this time. With a baby between them they connected on a different level. After taking the biggest loss that anyone could suffer, they now had the biggest gain. They had found love, and as their bodies became one, so did their hearts. They loved each other without remorse as they sexed until their bodies gave out and sleep took over.

NINETEEN

DAHLIA AND ROCKO ESTABLISHED A CONNECTION THAT
was invaluable to Po. The Asian diamond market was a billion dollar per year business, and Po had just carved out his piece of that pie. The trip alone had been worth $10,000,000. He had definitely graduated from his days on the block, and he finally understood the bigger picture about which Omega had been schooling him. He was getting stupid bread, and as a result of his success, Rocko, Dahlia, and Ayo were coming up with him. Even after Omega took his cut off the top Po still walked away nice. He was becoming untouchable.

Dahlia couldn’t wait to return home. She was sure that after the deal that she had just put in place for Po that he would be eating out of the palm of her hand. She was what he needed in his life; she just had to get him to see that. As Rocko pulled into Po’s estate he said, “Tell bro I’ll get with him in the
A.M
. I’m tired as shit. You can fill him in on everything, right?”

Dahlia nodded, and then exited the car, glad that Rocko had decided to call it a night. She entered the house and noticed that it was pitch-black inside. She dropped her luggage at the door and made her way up the stairs, headed to Po’s room. She was about to wake him up to the best head he had ever received in his life. Dahlia crept down the hallway and into Po’s room, but she frowned when she saw the empty bed. She turned around confused as she stepped back into the hallway.

She knew that he was home because his car was parked in the circular driveway. She headed toward his office, but paused when she saw that one of the guest bedroom doors was closed. Dahlia quietly turned the knob and peeked inside.

Her stomach turned in rage when she saw Liberty lying peacefully in Po’s arms. A fire blazed in her eyes as she cursed Liberty in her head.
What the fuck is she doing here? Does he know about the baby? Did she get rid of it?
Her mind raced, and she could feel herself losing control. She had done everything right; she had everything planned perfectly. She was supposed to be Po’s queen by now. Being with him would have meant freedom, but also power to reign with him over his budding empire. Liberty was family, but family loyalty went out the window the day that they were snatched away from each other back in Sierra Leone. Now they were distant, and although Liberty thought it was all love between them, Dahlia felt more envy then anything. Jealousy could create hostility where there was once love, and Dahlia was the perfect example of that.

She stormed off and went into her room. She was determined to claim the spot where Liberty rested her head. It didn’t matter what it took. Dahlia was not going back to Omega. Her place was not in Sierra Leone.

*    *    *

Po and Liberty held a special brunch at their home to announce the big news to all of their loved ones. As they sat with Rocko, Dahlia, Ayo, and numerous members of the African mafia, they feasted on a catered buffet. Everyone was happy to see Liberty back on Po’s arm. Even Rocko had warmed up to her. He respected her character. She was different than a lot of chickens who could have come after Scarlett, and she made his friend happy. If Po liked it, he loved it and would show his support.

“I’d like everyone’s attention, please,” Po announced as he stood to his feet. “I want to thank everyone here for the role that you have played in my organization. Every player here has an instrumental role on my team. That power move we just made is gon’ take us to the top, fam, and as long as I’m eating, everybody at this table is eating with me. Believe that. On another note, I want to introduce the lady in my life to you. A lot of you already know her, but for those who do not, this is Liberty. In eight months, she will be the mother of my child. You protect her life like it is your life. You do for her as you would do for me. If she puts in a call, then you follow her order. Any nigga that she don’t like gets cut from the team,” Po said with a smile, but only half-jokingly. “So your best bet is to make a good impression on wifey.”

Everyone showed Liberty love and congratulated her on the bun she had cooking. Overwhelmed with the amount of loyalty Po had, she knew that she had made the right choice. It wasn’t a conventional family, but she and her child had love . . . love from Po’s people and love in the streets. It was everything that she didn’t want, but now that she had it, it didn’t seem so bad.

Dahlia sat back watching from the corner of the room as she sipped her mimosa. She didn’t even recognize the sour look on her face until Ayo pointed it out.

“You better fix your face or you’ll expose your hand,” Ayo said, letting her know he was hip to her game.

Dahlia gave him a cold look and replied, “You better watch your mouth before you find yourself in my crosshairs.”

She walked away and put a fake smile on her face as she barely stomached the rest of the brunch. When she saw Po disappear to his upstairs office she followed him discreetly. Sliding into his office and closing the door behind her she took him by surprise.