Thicker Than Water (22 page)

“He’s home, baby.”

Tatum changed the subject by asking them what they wanted for breakfast. She wasn’t at all surprised by the answer, always pancakes! She hopped out of bed as they all made their way downstairs, however the ringing phone interrupted the journey.

Tatum closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip, quivering at the sound of Ree so vulnerable. She didn’t know what to say so she didn’t say anything.

“I take that back. I know what to do, I just can’t do it. I can’t let you go, Tatum. I know I should, and you know you should let me go, too. But I can’t. But at the same time, I can’t let him go either.”

She knew what he meant by him. Chris. Her brother. Her blood.

“Ree, I - I can’t be with you. There is no way that I can be with you. If you do anything to my brother, I would never forgive you. Never. You gotta understand that.”

Ree contemplated what he had been contemplating since he left Tatum at the hospital. Could he give Chris a chance to explain himself? The mere thought of it angered Ree. This nigga took his money and bounced, and everyone knew, and he couldn’t make an example out of him? He wouldn’t even be able to continue on if he didn’t. Niggas would be testing him left and right. Nah, he couldn’t do it.

“Can I come over to talk to you?” He asked, praying she would say yes. After a pause she agreed, and then she went downstairs to make enough pancakes for the four of them.

Chris and his girl pulled up to the hospital and parked in the covered deck. He told her to pull the car up to the side door in exactly 15 minutes. He couldn’t stay long and he couldn’t take any chances. He put on the shades and hat that she gave him and walked head low into the side entrance, between two empty parked cars.

Or what seemed to be empty parked cars.

“Nigga shut up I got the Egg McMuffin, you got the McGriddle, dumb mothafucka.”

Deets and Fats argued over the contents of the McDonalds bag, almost unaware of Chris walking right past them. Almost. Right when a young female came to the door and opened it for Chris, Deets caught a glance of the man in the shades and hat and knew immediately who it was. He dropped his food in his lap and fumbled with the glove compartment.

“Oh yea, I got you now mothafucka!” Deets said, taking out his .45 with a wicked smile on his face. He picked up his phone and tried to dial Ree, but it was no answer.

Fuck it, I’ll do it on my own. The nigga Ree will be proud of me, real proud.
Deets thought, as images of taking Chauncey’s now vacant spot played in his mind while he waited for Chris’ exit.

When Chris got inside of the hospital he was immediately taken to Neli’s room by his young girl’s cousin.
Kinda cute.
He thought, looking at her in her scrubs.

He walked into Neli’s room and his heart immediately dropped. She looked so bad, in fact, unrecognizable.

“There’s a man that has been staying with her but he left to get some breakfast. He should be back shortly,” the girl said, studying Chris and wondering what he was doing with her not yet legal cousin.

“I won’t be long,” he whispered, almost inaudible.

He was in shock at the number Chauncey had done on her. The girl left him and Neli alone as he made his way to the side of her bed. She was hooked up to all kinds of tubes and I.V.’s, her face was swollen and black, and she had casts on both legs and her arm. She looked horrible.

He sat with her, talking for about ten minutes. Although he knew she couldn’t talk back, he was convinced that she could hear him. So he spilled everything, he even told her how scared he was that he would die soon. Before he knew it, 15 minutes were up and it was time to go. He blew her a kiss and headed out the door. As he headed back to the side door that led to the enclosed parking lot where his car would be waiting, he thought of how happy he was that he’d gotten a chance to visit with her.

“Go! Go! Drive!” Chris shouted at his young girl, as he ducked bullets and jumped into the passenger seat. She took off speeding before he could even close the door with Deets and Fats right on they ass.

“What the fuck is going on?” She screamed, terrified. Tears began streaming down her face.

“Just drive!” He shouted.

He pulled out a 9 millimeter, the only gun he had on him when he went to the safe house that day, and starting wailing shot after shot at the car pursuing them. Bullets were flying everywhere this early morning as the people of Newark took cover from the two speeding cars and deadly exchange of gunfire. Fats made sure to stay close on the small 95 Mazda, but it wasn’t hard, it was obvious the chick didn’t know how to drive. She hit about 5 parked cars and was swerving out of control.

“Oh my god, I’m gonna die! I’m too young to die!” She screamed.

“Shut the fuck up!” Chris shouted, firing again behind him.

Her heart was racing, pounding out of her chest. She was only 17 years old and she didn’t know why she was being shot at. She didn’t know anything about the man sitting next to her other than just 24 hours ago, he had told her that he loved her. Now he was the reason that bullets were chasing her. She had been warned time and time again about messing with these kind of men, and she knew that once this was over, if it was over, Chris was getting out of her house.

She made a sharp right turn and slammed right into a car pulling into their driveway. The impact hit her hard but she was still conscious. She turned to look at Chris but he was already out of the car running on foot. Bullets were still flying and she saw Chris shooting back at the car that was now stopped beside her, but they sounded so far away. Everything did. She went to try to duck down or climb into the backseat, but she couldn’t move. She didn’t understand because she wasn’t stuck or anything. She didn’t understand until she looked down at her bloody tank top and felt the burning in her chest. 17 year old Shakira Greene, better known as Chris’ young girl, died from a gunshot wound to the chest that bright August morning.

Chris continued on foot running down the small street, ducking behind cars and shooting back at Deets who were also on foot, in pursuit of him. Chris continued to run, turning around frequently to see how close Deets was. Suddenly he realized that he was out of bullets.
Shit!

He turned around preparing to run until his sneakers smoked, however when he did, he was met by three cop cars that had cut him off. The cops jumped out with their guns drawn.

“Freeze motherfucker! Drop the gun and put your hands on your fucking head!”

He immediately dropped his weapon and threw his hands in the air as they ordered, and when he looked over his shoulder, Deets and Fats had gotten away.

Kim took her time getting dressed, not at all excited about the job she was about to do. She and Lizette had agreed to entertain some guys from Cali that Neli had set them up with about a week ago. They were on their way out heading back to the West and they wanted a full show at their hotel room.

Neli insisted that they were paid so Kim gladly accepted. She was in the bedroom of the suite putting on her leopard print hot shorts and black bustier, wondering where the hell Lizette was. Although she was far from eager to see Lizette, she also wasn’t feeling being in this hotel room full of out of town niggas that she didn’t know. Although they were friends of Neli’s and they seemed cool, you just never knew with niggas. Especially when alcohol and pussy was involved.
Fuck it.
Kim thought. She was just ready to get it all over with. After another ten minutes, she figured she would just start without Lizette, shit at least she could get some extra money.

She came out of the room and immediately took a liking to Bennie, the dude that Neli seemed to be the closest to. She briefly wondered if Neli was fucking him but then thought of Neli’s present condition, she wasn’t fucking nobody now.

Kim walked straight up to Bennie and grabbed his Corona, careful to wrap her lips completely around the bottle as she drank. Once she was sure that she had his attention, and everyone else’s, she put on a show all by her damn self. She danced and freaked, making more money from them than she usually made in a work week. These dudes were paid.
Thanks Neli!

After she was done, she decided to chill out for a minute, no need to rush home. As far as she was concerned she had nothing to rush to, she had cut Blair off since the episode at the hotel. Well, she had slipped once a couple of days ago, but it was different. It was sex with no emotion.

She sat on the couch sharing a blunt with Bennie and one of his boys as they all talked about Neli.

Truthfully, Kim was surprised that with all that happened; these dudes still wanted a show. You would think that they would be at the hospital. But as Kim had learned throughout her whole life, aint nothing more important to a man than pussy. Some may even say money, but that’s not true. Cause men get money, so that they could get pussy. They bought cars, dressed nice, bought nice houses, and flaunted money, all for the pussy. It’s the strongest and most powerful thing in the world, that’s what Kim was taught.

The more she smoked and drank with Bennie the higher they became and the more they talked. By the time they had a done a couple pills, smoked a couple blunts, and downed a couple bottles of liquor, Kim had Bennie’s manhood in her mouth and all of his secrets in her ears. He asked her did she know Chauncey, or Bennie referred to him as the puto that almost killed Neli. Kim told him that she couldn’t stand him, and in all actuality it was coming from how upset she was as to what he did to Sasha. She didn’t necessarily hate Chauncey, but she thought him and Neli were fucked up. However Bennie must’ve taken it literally and once he realized that Kim was no friend to him, he spilled it all.

He was going off about how that nigga lucky he in jail or he would've killed him, and Kim was just trying to ease him so she said “don’t worry, Chauncey will get his.” Bennie looked at her smiling and all his friends started laughing.

“A couple of months ago, Neli had told us about some chick that was holding her man shit at her crib. So us, being the niggas we be, we talked to our NY niggas to go check the chick out and see what she got, and the chick ended up being his girl.”

Kim suddenly realized they were talking about Sasha. The time those guys that had broken into Sasha’s house and knocked her out, Neli had set that whole shit up! Bennie continued not noticing the fire in Kim’s eyes.

“So anyway, after niggas run down on the chick, this nigga Chauncey runs down on my niggas at the strip joint over on Broad. My nigga that actually did the shit got killed, the other one got paralyzed.”

Good.
Kim thought.
Get em Chauncey.

Just when Kim thought he was done Bennie kept going.

“Fucked up thing is my nigga that died didn’t even kill the bitch. He thought he did but he didn’t, I wish he would’ve. Bitch wasn’t nothing but a bird anyway, Neli used to always tell me bout her.” Kim couldn’t sit there any longer and hear them talk about Sash like that. She couldn’t believe that Neli set that up, she actually wanted Sash dead!

Well, at least those two niggas got what was coming to them. Kim got up from the couch, holding onto the walls, and headed to the bedroom feeling fucked up and faint. She was gonna make a phone call and then she was getting the fuck outta there. She knew exactly who to call too.

She went into the bedroom and closed the door behind her and then she went into the bathroom and closed that door as well. She took out her cell phone and went into contacts.
Please let me have it. Please. Bingo!

As the phone rang and rang she prayed that E would pick up his phone. Disappointed when he didn’t she began leaving a message. She tried to be perceptible as well as quiet. She put on the water to try to mask her talking.

“E, its Kim. Listen I’m at the hotel with these niggas. The Holiday Inn next to the airport, room 512, these are the niggas that tried to kill Sash that day they ran up in her crib looking for Chauncey’s money. They said that they set up some other shit too, some shit I don’t know about, they robbed him or something. Yall need to come up here and get em. I’ll call you back in a minute with all the details.”

She wanted to say more, but for now that would do, next step was getting the fuck up out of their room. She flushed the toilet to make it seem like she had used the bathroom. Then turned off the water and she opened the door slowly with her mind set on getting the fuck up out of there, but was met by an angry Bennie on the other side of the door.

The Star Ledger

The funeral services for Kimberly Elesia Williams will be held on August 17, 2007 at the St. Andrews Funeral Home…Kimberly was only 19 years old...Cause of death strangulation and stab wounds to chest…

Sasha couldn’t read anymore. Everywhere she turned it was some news of it, of everything. Nineteen year old exotic dancer killed in hotel prostitution scandal. Alleged drug lord severely beats innocent woman in Motor Lodge Motel. Seventeen year old girl dead and boyfriend arrested after drug war shoot out in broad daylight. It was all too much.