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  Dirty Black sat behind his desk bobbing his head to the Papoose mixtape that flowed through the speakers as he counted money. He separated his big bills from the small ones. “You ready?” He’d counted out one thousand singles as him and Amazon got prepared to go to the strip club.

  “I’m always ready to see some ass,” Amazon replied.

  Dirty Black grabbed his 9 mm and stuck it in his waistband as he stood up. He’d been so busy, he hadn’t been out in a while. So tonight he decided to go out and enjoy himself, and some of his money.

  Dirty Black stepped outside with his foam cup filled with Grey Goose and a pinch of orange juice in one hand. In his other, he held his cell phone up to his ear as he spoke to one of his many women. As him and Amazon strolled to Amazon’s Range Rover, he looked over both shoulders before hopping in the passenger seat.

  Amazon hopped in the front seat, popped a Young Jeezy CD in, then pulled out into traffic. “Did you ever holla at Kendu and see if he made it away from the police okay?”

  “Yeah. I holla’d at him the other day. I gave him a few days off,” Dirty Black told him. “He been putting in mad work. I don’t want to drain him, you know.”

  “I can dig it.” Amazon pulled up next to two fine women at the red light. Immediately his window rolled down. “Yo’, ma, where y’all headed?” he yelled out the window.

  “We about to go home,” the passenger yelled back.

  “Y’all want some company?”

  The cars behind Amazon were beeping their horns, because he was holding up traffic now that the light had turned green.

  “I don’t think our boyfriends would like that,” the passenger replied.

  “I can respect that,” Amazon said. “But I’ma give you my number anyway.” He reached in his compartment and removed a piece of paper. He scribbled his number down and handed the paper to the passenger. “Holla at ya boy,” he said with a wink.

  He then turned to Dirty Black. “Look like she got a fat ass, right?”

  “Couldn’t really tell. She was sitting down. Her face was straight though.”

  “Yo’, fam!” an angry voice barked, coming from Amazon’s left. “You holding up the muthafuckin’ traffic!”

  Amazon looked at the man like he was crazy. “Nigga, don’t you see me talking?”

  “Fuck all that!” the man huffed. “Move this shit now, or it’s going to be problems!”

  Dirty Black smiled and looked at Amazon. “Handle your business.”

  Amazon hopped out the Range and fucked the man up like he was a woman. After he knocked the guy out, he stomped him out until his leg got tired, leaving the guy laid out in the street a bloody mess.

  “Bitch-ass nigga got a lot of nerve,” Amazon huffed as he slid back in the driver’s seat and pulled off.

  For the rest of the ride Amazon and Dirty Black laughed about how bad he had beat the man up in the middle of the street.

  Ten minutes later they pulled up in the strip club’s parking lot. Amazon quickly drove past two men talking to two women outside in the parking lot.

  “Hold on. That looked like that nigga Big Time.” Dirty Black turned around to get a better look.

  Amazon slowed the truck down, so he could look too.

  “I think that’s him,” Dirty Black said as he pulled his 9 mm from his waistband. “Circle this bitch. We gon’ ride around and air this whole shit out.”

  Amazon sat his MAC-10 on his lap as he drove around the building.

  Big Time and Action Jackson leaned up against his new white BMW talking to two off-duty strippers. “I’m saying, y’all trying to make some money tonight or what?” Big Time asked the ladies.

  “How much money you talking about?” the dark-skinned stripper named Hershey asked.

  “I’m saying we ain’t no tricks or nothing, but we’ll give y’all a couple dollars,” Big Time countered.

  The other stripper named Almond Joy asked Action Jackson, “You don’t talk?”

  “I talk,” he said. “But y’all bitches ain’t talking about nothing.”

  “Bitches?” Hershey echoed, rolling her eyes. “Don’t disrespect us like that. We just out here trying get our money like everybody else.”

  “He ain’t mean it like that, baby.” Big Time noticed a Range Rover pull up into the club’s parking lot. At first he didn’t think nothing of it, but when he saw the truck slow down then circle around the building, he knew something was up.

  He looked over at Action Jackson, who was on point, his hands on his twin .45s.

  “Yo’, come give me a hug,” Big Time said, pulling Hershey close to him.

  As soon as he saw the Range Rover bend the corner, he quickly threw Hershey in a choke hold from behind as he pulled his .40-cal from the small of his back and began firing at the truck.

  Amazon and Dirty Black quickly ducked down as the bullets ripped through their windshield. Dirty Black quickly hopped out the truck and fired four shots in Big Time’s direction before he took cover behind the Range Rover. Two of the four shots hit Hershey in the chest, killing her instantly.

  Amazon aimed his MAC-10 at the two men from the driver’s seat and let it spit, Pat! Tat! Tat! Tat! Tat! Tat!, firing shots from the inside of the truck.

  Action Jackson ran through the parking lot popping shots from his twin .45s, not caring who he hit. When Big Time heard the machine gun ring out, he also took off running, ducking down behind cars.

  Dirty Black sprung up from behind the Range Rover and sent five more shots in Big Time’s direction.

  “Yo’, we out!” Dirty Black yelled as he hopped back in the passenger seat of the Range.

  Once Dirty Black was back in the truck, Amazon threw the truck in reverse, and backed up out of the parking lot, going full speed.

  When Action Jackson saw the Range Rover start to back up, he ran toward the truck popping shot after shot, trying to take off a head or two.

  Once the Range Rover was out of sight, Action Jackson quickly turned to Almond Joy and popped her head off right in the parking lot, getting blood all over his face. She had seen his face, so she had to go.

  Action Jackson then quickly jogged to the awaiting BMW just as people began coming out the strip club to see what had just happened. Big Time peeled off, leaving tire marks throughout the parking lot.

  “I tried to take that nigga head off!” Amazon said as he pulled over on a side road. He hopped out the Range Rover. He removed all the papers from out of the glove compartment and wiped away all of their fingerprints before he abandoned the truck. It wasn’t in his name, so he could care less.

  Dirty Black reloaded his 9 mm before he left the Range, just in case they bumped into Big Time and his man again. “You got more bullets?”

  “Nah, my shit empty,” Amazon replied as him and Dirty Black walked over to the corner and flagged down a cab.

  Kendu and Crystal sat at the kitchen table eating some steak and mashed potatoes that she had whipped up. “I’m so glad Jessica is over at my mom’s house for the night.” Crystal took a sip of wine.

  “Can I ask you a serious question?” Kendu asked, looking down at his plate.

  “Sure.” Crystal gave him her full attention. “What’s on your mind?”

  “Your baby father, the next time I see him, I’m going to kill him. I just hope—”

  “Let me stop you right there. I could care less about that jackass. Truth be told, if I could get away with killing him myself, I would.”

  “Music to my ears,” Kendu said with a smile.

  “But even though I care nothing about him, that doesn’t mean I want to lose you in the process of getting rid of him.”

  “I ain’t going nowhere, baby.” Kendu grabbed her hands. “And I just want you to know that you never have to worry about that chump putting his hands on you again, you hear me?”

  Crystal nodded her head yes. Then she leaned over the table and planted a few soft kisses on her man’s face. She knew Kendu and Big Time would wind up clashing
. She just prayed that, whatever went down, Kendu would end up the one on top.

  “Come here,” Crystal said as she finished her glass of wine.

  Kendu walked around the table with a smile on his face. “What’s up, baby?” he said, already knowing what she wanted.

  Crystal returned his smile. Then she disappeared under the table, pulled Kendu’s love tool from his shorts, and went to work. Kendu just threw his head back and stroked the back of Crystal’s head as she pleased her man. Crystal sucked her man dry then sent him upstairs to bed.

  The next morning Kendu woke up to his cell phone ringing off the hook. “Yo’,” he answered in his sleepy voice.

  “Yo’, wake the fuck up and get down to the spot right now. It’s on and popping!” Amazon hung up in Kendu’s ear.

  “Everything all right, daddy?” Crystal asked.

  “Yeah, everything is fine,” Kendu answered as he stretched. “Just gotta go handle a little business.”

  “Be careful.”

  “You already know.”

  Kendu got dressed in all-black then headed out the door. “I wonder what it is now?” he thought out loud as he hit the highway doing twenty miles over the speed limit.

  Fifteen minutes later he pulled up to the spot, crowded with a bunch of goons ready to put in work. Kendu gave dap to the guys that he knew as he made his way to Dirty Black’s office.

  “Glad you could finally make it,” Dirty Black said with a head nod.

  Kendu helped himself to a seat. “What’s goody?”

  “Shit got crazy last night. Me and Amazon ran into that clown Big Time,” Dirty Black said like it was nothing.

  “Word? And what happened?”

  “We had a muthafuckin’ shootout,” Amazon butted in. “What you think happened?”

  Kendu was about to tell them that he too had run into Big Time, but he decided to keep it to himself. “A’ight, so what y’all need me to do?”

  “We just got word on where one of these clowns’ stash spot is at,” Dirty Black told him. “I need you to go and hit that shit.”

  “How many people they got holding down the spot?” Kendu asked, massaging the bridge of his nose.

  “Just one, I heard,” Dirty Black replied.

  “Who gave you this info?” Kendu asked.

  “What the fuck difference does it make!” Amazon barked. “When it’s time to go to war, you don’t ask no questions, you just ride.”

  “I’m ready to ride,” Kendu said. “I just like to know what I’m getting myself into before I jump out the window. Smell me?”

  “I need you to go and bring me back that money,” Dirty Black said in a cool tone. “I wouldn’t send you on a suicide mission.” He smirked.

  Kendu left the spot with a nasty taste in his mouth. He didn’t like going into things not knowing everything. He hopped in the car and just sat there for a second so he could get his thoughts together.

  Crystal stood in the kitchen making herself some breakfast, when she saw Kendu walk through the front door. “Hey, baby. You hungry?”

  “Nah. I need you to do me a favor,” Kendu told her.

  “Anything, baby. What’s up?” Crystal asked, ready to hold her man down.

  “Get dressed. I need you to take a ride with me real quick.” Kendu watched Crystal disappear upstairs so she could throw some clothes on. Deep down he didn’t want to bring her along with him on a job, but right now she was the only person he felt he could trust.

  Five minutes later Crystal returned downstairs wearing all-black just like Kendu. “How I look?”

  Kendu smiled. “You look wonderful, baby. Now come gimme a kiss.”

  The two kissed then headed out the door.

  Crystal hopped in the driver’s seat, while Kendu slid in the passenger seat and punched the address in the GPS. For the whole ride the two talked and laughed like two high-school sweethearts.

  “Right here is good,” Kendu said, pointing to the curb.

  Crystal leaned over and kissed him on the lips. “Be careful, baby.”

  “I got you, baby,” Kendu said, hopping out the car. He leaned his head through the window. “If you see anybody pull up who looks like they might be a drug dealer or anything like that, I need you to call me immediately, a’ight?”

  “You got it.”

  Crystal watched Kendu walk towards the building and disappear inside, and immediately she began to worry.

  Once inside the building, Kendu pulled his hood over his head. He took the stairs to the floor he was looking for. Soon as he came out the staircase, his .45 already in hand, he saw a young lady standing waiting for the elevator.

  He smoothly crept up behind her, placing his gun to the back of her head. “Scream and I’ll blow your brains all over this hallway!” he threatened as he escorted the woman down the hallway. “All I need you to do is knock on the door, and that’s all.” He pushed the woman in front of the door and stood over to the side.

  The woman swallowed hard as she raised her fist and knocked on the door. Knock! Knock! Knock!

  Kendu heard several locks on the door unlock. Once the door even cracked open, he quickly forced his way inside, bringing the woman with him.

  “Get down on the floor right now!” he said with force as he watched the man wearing a do-rag do as he was told. “You too,” he said, turning his gun on the woman.

  Once the both of them were on the ground, Kendu pulled a roll of duct tape from out of his back pocket and quickly tied the two of them together back to back. He then quickly searched the whole apartment.

  He found a duffel bag in the back room in the back of the closet, full of cash and two guns inside. “Jackpot!” he said out loud as he heard his cell phone ring. “Yo’, what up?” he answered.

  “You got company,” Crystal said nervously into the phone.

  “How many?”

  “Three,” she replied as she watched the three men enter the building.

  Kendu quickly tossed the duffel bag over his shoulder and exited the apartment. He made sure he placed his hand in the pocket of his hoody, his hand on the trigger, as he made his way to the elevator. When the elevator arrived, he watched three men step off as he stepped on, and pressed for the lobby.

  Once the elevator reached the lobby, Kendu quickly jogged out the building with a smile on his face. “Let’s go,” he said as soon as he hopped in the passenger seat.

  “Damn! My heart feels like it’s about to come out my chest,” Crystal said as she hopped on the highway.

  “I appreciate you holding me down back there.” Kendu reached down in the duffel bag and handed her a stack of money.

  Crystal refused to take it. “I didn’t do this for no money.”

  Kendu quickly removed three more stacks from the bag and handed it to her. “This is our pay,” he told her as she pulled up in front of their house. “Now go put that money in the house. I’ll be back a little later, a’ight?”

  Kendu headed back to the spot to drop the duffel bag off to Dirty Black.

  Chapter 17

  Diamond looked at her bruised face in the mirror and knew she had to leave Perry. The only problem was, she didn’t have a place to go. She applied makeup on all her bruises on her face, covering them up the best she could. As she exited the bathroom in her bedroom, she saw Perry getting dressed, to head to the club.

  “You all right?” Perry asked, his back turned.

  “Yes, I’m fine,” she replied as she turned up the volume on the TV to hear a report about another woman being tortured and brutally killed. “I hope they fuckin’ catch this fuckin’ psycho,” she said in a disgusted tone as she rolled her eyes at the TV.

  Perry just continued to get dressed as he whistled an old-school tune. “When we get to the club all I want is to have a few drinks,” he told her.

  Perry was in such a good mood, because tonight was the night he was going to kill Diamond. His mind was made up, and she had to go.

  “Baby, can I have your keys? I th
ink I left my purse in your car.”

  Perry tossed her the keys to his car. “Hurry up, ’cause we gotta get going.” He continued to whistle.

  Diamond stepped in the garage and quickly popped the locks to search Perry’s car for her purse. “I know I left it in here somewhere,” she said to herself as she popped the trunk. “Maybe he put in there.” She searched the trunk.

  Inside the trunk she found a duffel bag. Her curiosity getting the better of her caused her to open up the duffel bag. Diamond’s mouth hung wide open when she saw what was inside the duffel bag—duct tape, all types of tools, and a few sharp knives. Also she found an album full of photos. As she flipped through the pages she saw that all the pictures inside were of women, some black, some white.

  “Fuck this shit! I’m leaving this crazy muthafucka tonight,” Diamond said to herself as she slammed the trunk closed. She didn’t know why all those women’s pictures were inside of a scrapbook, and she damn sure didn’t plan on finding out.

  Kendu walked up in the spot and handed Dirty Black the duffel bag.

  “How did it go?” Dirty Black asked.

  “A piece of cake. You need me to do anything else tonight?”

  “Nah. Why? What you got planned for tonight?” Dirty Black asked.

  “Nothing—about to go to crib and chill with my girl. Probably order some food, and watch a movie.”

  “I think I’ma do the same thing,” Dirty Black said, liking how that sounded. “What you got planned for the night?” He looked over at Amazon.

  “Fuck all that lovey-dovey shit.” Amazon poured himself another drink. “I’ma probably hit up a club or something.”

  “A’ight. I’ma get up with y’all later.” Kendu slapped hands with Amazon and Dirty Black as he made his exit.