Riding Dirty on I-95 (36 page)

“I gotta pee,” Mercy said, “and I don't think I'm going to be able to hold it.”

“You can't wait till we get to your mom's house?”

“Nope, I really got to go. I got this baby right on top of my bladder.”

Cleezy hopped off on an exit on I-95 and decided to take a shortcut through the hood. As he sat at the light, Deonie asked, “Auntie, are you and my uncle Cleezy going to get married?”

Cleezy turned to look at Mercy as she answered Deonie. Out of nowhere—
boom, boom, boom
—gunshots were fired.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

Cleezy reached for his hammer, but it wasn't there. It had slid down to the back floor of the car. “Oh shit! Get down, get down,” he screamed as he took off and put the accelerator of his Audi A8
to the floor. But the swervin” Burban that was beside him was too high up, and the shots rained down on his vehicle.
Boom, boom, boom.

Cleezy kept reaching for his hammer until he was finally able to grab it. Once he felt the cold steel in his hands, he was about to shoot back, but as he lifted the gun, he glanced over and saw Mercy on the passenger side of the car with blood gushing out of her wounds. He froze, slamming on the brakes as he bent the corner, causing the swervin' Suburban to keep going. He headed straight for the hospital. He knew there was no time to call an ambulance. “Baby, just hold on.”

“Okay, Cleezy.” She nodded. “I love you!”

“I know,” he said, tears rolling down his face along with the balls of perspiration. “I love you, baby!”

“Take care of the baby and remember I love you,” she said in between breaths. She wanted Cleezy to know that it didn't matter what her destiny was, if she lived or if she died. It was forever for them. She would always be in his heart, and he was everything that she needed and longed for. “Until …”

“Baby don't talk.” He interrupted her as he rubbed her hand as he tried to keep his eyes on the road. He didn't want to hear those words from Mercy, “until death do us part,” because those words, the same words Paula had uttered to him before she took her last breath, seemed to be a curse to him.

Cleezy knew there wasn't much time. She had been hit by bullets meant for him. They were no. 22 bullets; they were assassin's bullets.

“Hold on, baby. Please, please hold on. I'm begging you,” Cleezy pleaded as tears ran down his face. “Deonie,” he called out while glancing to the back of the car.

“Huh?” she said, her little voice trembling.

“Stay down. You okay?”

“Yes, but what about Auntie?”

“She's going to be okay.”

“Yes, baby. I'm okay” Mercy said in a weak tone. “I love you. Auntie loves you.”

C
leezy pulled up to the emergency room, screaming for the doctors. Two attendants rushed out and took Mercy away. While the doctors fought for Mercy's life, Cleezy paced the hallway. His mother had not heard from or seen Cleezy since he'd found out the truth about her. But bad news travels fast in the hood, and as soon as Lolly found out what happened, she came to his side to comfort him.

But her thoughts were only for herself, as usual.
I know he doesn't want me here, but I feel I should be here
, Lolly thought as she stood there watching Cleezy pace back and forth.
Plus it looks good. I've never seen him love anything or anyone, not even his money, like he loves this girl. So I'm going to sit here as long as it takes. If she dies, I'll stick around and be the supportive mother and can reestablish our relationship. And with her being gone, he'll feel bad and want to draw closer to me. When he does, it will put me closer to his money again. Times sure have been hard without him, I know that much. And if she makes it, I'll be at her bedside waiting on her hand and foot. He'll see that I really care, and that will get me back into his good graces.

Pearl, Mercy's mother, also showed up. When she heard what happened, she fell to her knees and cried, begging God to have mercy because she had spent so many years of her life taking her daughter's life for granted.

“God, please forgive me,” she prayed. “God, please don't take her away from me. Don't punish me. I will never be able to live
with myself if I can't make the relationship right with her. God, take me instead.” She began to whimper silently.

Nayshawn was down in the hospital lobby with Cleezy's cell phone, calling around town to find out who was responsible for the shooting. He wasn't supposed to be using the cell phone at the hospital, but with that look of murder written across his face and in his eyes, none of the hospital staff dared say a word to him. He hung up the phone and then decided to go outside and take a smoke. He exited out of the automatic doors, lit, and took a pull off of his Black and Mild.

Whoever the fuck did that shit is going to fucking die
, Nayshawn thought as he took another pull.
They say this nigga Cleezy is supposed to be a stone-cold killer. This nigga is going to have to kill these niggas or be killed. That's how it's going to go down. Punks thought he was getting soft 'cause he was scaling back his business. They didn't know shit. Now they got to deal with both of us crazy motherfuckas.

Zurri was nowhere to be found, but Chrissie was there in the chapel praying.
God, I know for years my dear friend ran up and down I-95 carrying them packs and breaking the law, but she has finally gotten herself together, and now things are coming together for her. Please don't let her die. God, I promise I will give you my soul and my heart. I will never sleep with another married man. God, right here and now I give you my life. I will dedicate my life to you, my God. I feel this was a wake-up call for me and the lifestyle I have been living. But please don't take her. If it meant that I never get another dollar from another man, I'll sacrifice for Mercy and her baby to live. Please, God, please.

Although Ms. Pat wanted someone to take Deonie home, De-onie refused to go, so Ms. Pat told her that she would just have her daughter take her down to the cafeteria to get something to
eat. Deonie was young, but she knew what was going on as her own thoughts filled her head.

I sure hope that God lets my auntie Mercy live
, little Deonie thought.
If God takes her away, I am doomed. My auntie is all I got. My momma, all she wants to do is rip and run the streets, the streets that Auntie promised that over her dead body will I end up in. I am trying to walk slow, dragging my feet, taking my time so I can hear what the doctors are saying or see how their faces look, but Ms. Pat's daughter Teisha keeps pulling me along My aunt said that God only hears fools' and babies' prayers, so therefore, God, I hope you are listening. Please keep my auntie in your care. She promised me that my life would not be anything like hers. I believed her, but if she dies, my life will crumble. I can feel my heart breaking now. I'm only ten years old. I've learned so much from listening and watching her that I know she has so much more for me to learn. I know that my auntie always said, “You never know what hand God is going to deal you and never question God, ” but God, I'm begging. I'm pleading with you to please spare my auntie's life, if not for her or her baby's sake, then for me.

Cleezy's thoughts were of revenge.
If it take everything in me, I swear to God I am going to get the motherfuckers who did this shit to Mercy and our baby. I can't believe this shit. Motherfuckers gonna die around this town. Richtown is about to be Redtown, all the blood that's about to be shed. Motherfuckers' mommas, daddies, grannies, kids is going to die. Motherfuckers gonna pay. Even if it means my life, I don't give a fuck.

Every time the nurse walked by, everyone looked at her trying their damnedest to read the look on her face. Cleezy looked like he was about to grab the nurse and take her hostage to get information from her. After Ms. Pat told him that he was frightening the nurse, he decided to go smoke a cigarette.

As Cleezy left the building the room continued to be filled with
prayer, hopes, and wishes that everything would be all right. Two women had been sitting in the waiting room for the last hour. Everyone assumed they were waiting on loved ones to come out of surgery, but then one of them said to Pearl, “So you are Mercy's estranged mother?”

Pearl acted as if she didn't hear her, but Lolly gave the lady an ugly look. “And you are?” she asked in a nasty tone.

“I am Wanda Juve, and I work for Channel Six,
Insider
, and we are covering the story of Mercy—”

And before she could get it out, Chrissie had slapped the cowboy shit out of her. “Get out of here. You fucking people are out of control.”

The woman took the pimp slap like a champ and headed to the door, but the other lady began to rattle off questions as they left. “Who could want to kill your daughter? Does she have a lot of enemies? Who will the profits of Mercy's movies go to if Mercy dies? Are there any more screenplays she has finished that no one has seen?”

I
t had only been several hours since the doctor informed Cleezy that it would be at least twelve hours before Mercy was out of surgery. He never did promise that she would come out of it alive.

Since then Cleezy had tried getting into the operating room three times. He needed to see her. He was fully aware that this might be his last chance to see his soul mate alive. He needed and wanted to be by Mercy's side. On the third attempt a security guard told him if he didn't calm down, the hospital would be forced to call the police and have him removed. Cleezy really didn't give a fuck if they called the fuckin' National Guard, but he didn't want to distract the doctors from doing their jobs. Saving Mercy's life.

He needed some fresh air again so that he would be able to think straight. He and everybody in that waiting room knew he had to regain his composure if he was gonna be of any help to Mercy. Before leaving, Cleezy gave the guard a mean look. He knew the toy cop was just doing his job, but Cleezy also knew that if he ever ran into the rent-a-cop outside of the hospital it would take more willpower than he possessed to keep from tearing into his ass. The guard would have to pay for keeping him away from
Mercy and his unborn child. It might cost him a little, it might cost him a lot, but it was going to cost him and he was going to pay every iron dime.

Cleezy walked into the parking deck of the hospital, where he spotted Nayshawn on the phone, smoking weed.

“You probably need this.” Nayshawn handed Cleezy the lit blunt. “How's Mercy?” Cleezy inhaled the high-powered smoke before answering.

“It's bad. Doctors ain't sayin' shit, but it's real bad.” Neither of them spoke for a minute. Both men were thinking of fond moments they'd shared with Mercy in the past. Cleezy broke the silence first.

“Have you heard anything?” Cleezy probed. “I just can't sit round like this and do nothin'. Somebody gotta pay” That's exactly what Nayshawn needed to hear. Nayshawn didn't really know Cleezy, but he'd heard, while incarcerated, that the nigga took care of his business. It was time to find out for himself.

“I heard you had put money out on the streets but was coming up with lint. But I managed to get the names of the two chumps that pulled the trigger. They go by Lil' Ali and Baby Hova.”

“I never heard of them.” Cleezy had a puzzled look on his face.

“I didn't think you would've. They both are 'bout twelve or thirteen years old, lil' wil'-ass twins from the Westend. They supposed to be Bloods or some shit.”

“Bloods!” Cleezy echoed.

“Word is,” Nayshawn said, “it was a red-light special on you. Another OG Blood red-lighted you for death.”

“Do you know who place the hit?” Cleezy had done so much wild shit it could've been anyone.

“Naw, not yet. But the two that tried to execute you are now in hiding. They were just tryin' to make a name like their pops had.” Nayshawn saw a murderous glare appear in Cleezy's eyes.

“Well, they 'bout to get their names in the obituaries,” Cleezy said in a death tone. “I'm goin' to kill two people in both their family every other day, until they come out of hiding. If I run out of family members, then I'll start with friends of the family.” Cleezy took another toke of the blunt filled with hydro and exhaled. “They just made the biggest mistake of their lives.”