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Twenty minutes later Kendu stepped foot inside his house and saw Crystal laying across the couch wearing nothing but a red thong.

  “Hey, baby. I was waiting for you to get here.” Crystal hopped off the couch and slid in Kendu’s arms. “I got everything all set up for us.”

  Crystal had planned a nice romantic evening for her and Kendu, since Jessica was already in her room ’sleep.

  “What you got planned, baby?” Kendu said with a smile. From the look on Crystal’s face he could tell that she had probably been planning this all day.

  “Well, first you have to get out of them clothes.”

  Crystal went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of wine, along with two wineglasses. When she turned around, Kendu stood in his boxers only.

  “Okay, come on,” she said excitedly. She opened up the patio leading to the backyard where the Jacuzzi was. Inside the water were red rose petals.

  Crystal smiled. “You like it?”

  “I love it, baby.” Kendu watched Crystal hop her sexy ass up in the Jacuzzi first then followed her lead. The warm water and the massager jets inside the Jacuzzi was just what he needed.

  “All I want you to do is relax and just enjoy tonight,” Crystal said as she handed him a glass of wine.

  Kendu sipped on his wine as he watched her tie her hair up in a ponytail then go down on him.

  Perry stepped in the club, and immediately the heat and bass from the speakers slapped him and Diamond both in the face. As usual the club was popping, which meant it was packed.

  Diamond snaked her way through the crowd, trying to keep up with Perry as he made his way upstairs to his office. When she finally made it upstairs, she knew she had to come up with a plan and do it quick.

  “Come sit down and have a drink with me,” Perry said as he twisted open the top on a bottle of coconut Ciroc, his favorite drink.

  “I can’t,” Diamond replied.

  “Why not?” Perry asked, a strange look on his face.

  “Because I’m pregnant,” she lied. “I been trying to wait for the right time to tell you,” she said, laying it on thick.

  “Are you serious?”

  Diamond noticed he didn’t look too happy about receiving the news. “Are you mad at me?”

  “No, of course not,” Perry said, forcing a smile on his face.

  Really, Perry was disgusted because he wanted to kill her tonight, but now that she was carrying his child, he had to re-think things.

  “I haven’t been feeling too good all day, but I didn’t want to say nothing. I’m sorry for just dropping this on you like this.”

  “It’s okay,” Perry said as he poured himself a drink.

  Diamond pressed. “Is it okay if I go back home and lay down, ’cause I’m not really feeling too good? And this loud-ass music ain’t making it no better.”

  “Yeah. Sure, baby, go get some rest. You want to take my car?”

  “No, baby. I’ma just catch a cab.” Diamond kissed Perry on the lips then made her exit.

  Big Time and his crew stepped inside the club like they owned the joint. Each man in his crew was fresh, and definitely shining.

  “Yo’, let me get some bottles over here,” Big Time said to the bouncer, as him and his crew piled into the VIP section.

  Immediately Action Jackson and a few other goons invited a handful of women to party with them. The party went crazy when one of Drake’s songs came blaring through the speakers. Big Time grabbed a tall, thick, dark-skinned woman by her waist as the two of their bodies flowed to the beat. While Big Time got his party on, a few of his goons started tossing money in the air, causing all the other partygoers to start going crazy trying to catch the bills.

  Perry came downstairs to get a better look at was going on. “Fuck!” He hated drug dealers. To him they were so ignorant. He walked up to one of his bouncers and tapped him on the shoulder. “Keep a close eye on those animals. I don’t want them to destroy my club.” He headed back upstairs.

  The bouncer just continued to look on as Big Time and his crew had a ball.

  “Keep the change,” Diamond said, handing the cab driver a fifty-dollar bill. She quickly hopped out the back of the cab.

  Once inside the house Diamond quickly ran up the stairs to her closet. She grabbed a duffel bag and piled as many clothes as she could inside. Once it was full, she grabbed a book bag and went into Perry’s closet and filled it up with his cash.

  “This is for all the times you put your hands on me, muthafucka,” she said out loud as she grabbed her two bags and made her exit.

  Outside, Diamond tossed her bags in the trunk of her Audi, slid in the driver’s seat, and backed out the driveway like a madwoman. She hopped on the highway and just drove. She had no place to go, but she knew she couldn’t stay there any longer.

  Chapter 18

  Amazon pulled up in the club’s parking lot with two soldiers, his music blasting. He slid out his truck looking like an animal, his rugged beard making him look older than he really was. On his feet he wore a pair of crisp construction Timbs, True Religion jeans, and a tight-fitting white thermal shirt, and his Yankee fitted sat at a forty-five-degree angle on his head. Him and the two soldiers he was with walked straight to the front of the line.

  After talking to one of the bouncers, Amazon and the two men he came with were allowed inside the club. “This what the fuck I’m talking about,” Amazon said, rubbing his hands together as he squeezed through the club over to the bar, bumping some girl in the process.

  He ignored the woman’s attitude as he ordered three bottles of Grey Goose. Amazon took a swig from the bottle before snaking through the crowd, headed for the dance floor.

  The club went crazy when the Rick Ross song, “B.M.F.” came on.

  “I think I’m Big Meech, Larry Hoover” the whole club chanted.

  When Big Time heard that song come on, he bobbed his head as a fine-ass Spanish chick moved her body like a snake in front of him. As he took a swig from his bottle of Rose, he saw a cat that looked real familiar.

  “Hold up!” Big Time pushed the Spanish chick out the way so he could get a better look. Once he was sure the man he was looking at was Amazon, a smile appeared on his face. He quickly notified Action Jackson on what was about to go down.

  Amazon stood in the middle of the dance floor as two women sandwiched him with their asses as the trio grinded to the beat. In the midst of all the fun he was having, he looked up and saw Big Time and his crew headed in his direction. He quickly pushed both of the women off him.

  “Hey, what the fuck is your problem?,” one of the girls huffed.

  Seconds later all hell broke loose. Big Time walked up on Amazon and swung on him.

  Amazon blocked the punch and busted his Grey Goose bottle over one of Big Time goons’ head. The two goons who came with Amazon immediately went head up with Big Time’s soldiers.

  In the middle of the dance floor Amazon and Big Time went at it like professional boxers from back in the day, both men landing vicious blows on one another, each man’s pride and ego too big to submit, the whole time Rick Ross’s voice booming through the speakers.

  As the fight went on, Big Time caught Amazon with a right hook to the chin, causing the big man to stumble backwards. Amazon quickly regained his balance as he ran full speed towards Big Time and tackled him like a linebacker. The two men landed in the middle of the dance floor as the crowd shifted out of their way.

  Perry came running down the stairs when he heard all the chaos. Just as he reached the dance floor, several bouncers were finally breaking up the brawl.

  “Get these fuckin’ animals the fuck up out of my club!” he yelled as he helped toss a few of the men out.

  Once outside Amazon was still a little dizzy from the choke hold that the bouncer had him in as two of them escorted him out the club. He was about to head to his truck when he saw a man walking through the parking lot carrying an AK-47.

  “What the fuck?” Amazon said out loud as he took off ru
nning.

  Action Jackson walked through the parking lot holding his AK like it was a newborn baby. As soon as he spotted Amazon, he aimed the AK at him and let it rip.

  Rat! Tat! Tat! Tat! Tat!

  Action Jackson waved the AK in the direction that Amazon ran in, hitting anybody in the way. Women, men, bouncers, it didn’t matter.

  Amazon ran as fast as he could. Once he heard the AK ring out, he started running in zigzag fashion. He felt a bullet rip through his shoulder then the back of his thigh, and his big body hit the ground and slid across the concrete.

  Action Jackson popped a fresh clip in the base of the assault rifle as he moved in for the kill, but two uniformed cops interrupted his plans. He looked at the cop car pull up and come to a complete stop. Immediately he aimed the AK at the cop car and squeezed the trigger.

  “Come on, we gotta go!” Big Time grabbed Action Jackson and pulled him towards the getaway car that awaited them.

  Kendu and Crystal sat on the couch sipping on wine and just chit-chatting to the sounds of Alicia Keys flowing through the surround-sound system. Kendu sat at the end of the couch massaging Crystal’s feet, while she went on telling him about her and Big Time’s past. Kendu couldn’t believe how bad Big Time had treated her, but at the same time he was thankful, because if he hadn’t treated her that way, the two of them wouldn’t have been together right now.

  “Well, I just want you to know that you never have to worry about being treated like that ever again,” he told her.

  “I know, baby.” Crystal refilled her glass with some fine wine. She felt as though her prayers had been answered when she’d met Kendu. For the first time in her life, her relationship just felt right. “I love you.”

  “I love you too, baby.” Kendu heard somebody knocking on his door with authority. He quickly looked up at the clock on the wall. It read 3:15 A.M.

  “Who the fuck is knocking on my muthafuckin’ door at this time of night?” Kendu said out loud as he grabbed his .45 from off the coffee table then headed towards the door. He looked through the peephole and immediately lowered his gun.

  Kendu opened the door and saw Diamond standing on the other side with two bags with her. Just by looking at the bruises on her face, he already knew what time it was. “Come in,” he said, stepping over to the side so she could come inside.

  “Sorry for coming by so late.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I need somewhere to stay, and I don’t have nowhere else to go,” Diamond told him.

  “I have no problem with you staying here,” Kendu told her. “But I don’t live by myself anymore,” he said, looking over at Crystal.

  “Please, I have nowhere else to go,” Diamond looked over at Crystal.

  “Girl, come on in,” Crystal said, waving her in from the couch. Even though Crystal didn’t care too much for Diamond, the look on Diamond’s face was the same look she had on hers when she had asked Kendu, and her daughter if she could stay with him, so she totally understood the situation.

  “Thank you so much.” Diamond ran over and hugged Crystal tightly. “I’ll even sleep on the couch if I have to.”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Crystal said. “You can take the extra room.”

  “Hold on, hold on,” Kendu said. “I need to know everything that’s going on.”

  Diamond sat down and explained everything from how Perry beat on her, to how he always kept his basement locked. She even told them about the money she had stolen from him.

  “Damn! That’s crazy,” Crystal said, shaking her head.

  “That’s not even the half of it. I also think he’s the serial killer that the cops been lookin’ for on the news.”

  “Do you have proof?” Kendu asked.

  “No. But I found a bag in his trunk full of pictures of different women. I think those were his past victims.”

  “A’ight. Get you some rest tonight, and tomorrow we will come up with a plan.”

  Kendu watched Crystal show Diamond through her own house towards the empty bedroom. Of course, Diamond didn’t like it, but what other choice did she have? Besides, she was grateful to have a place to rest her head, and somebody close by that she knew would protect her.

  When Perry stepped foot in his home, immediately something didn’t feel right. The house was way too quiet. He ran up the steps, skipping two at a time.

  When he made it inside his bedroom and saw his closet door left wide open, he knew Diamond had left him. A devilish smile quickly appeared across his face as all kinds of sick and twisted thoughts raced through his mind. He slowly walked down to the kitchen and poured himself a shot of vodka. He sat in the dark thinking about how stupid he was for believing that Diamond would be any different from any of the other women he had murdered.

  “Silly me,” he said to himself. He tried his hardest to remain calm, but this was the first time Perry had ever let a woman get this close to him. Now Diamond was going to have to pay for that. With her life.

  The next morning Kendu woke up to his phone ringing off the hook. He reached over on his nightstand, his eyes still closed, until he felt his cell phone. “Hello?”

  “I need you over here ASAP. It’s an emergency.”

  He recognized Dirty Black’s voice. “You need me there right now?”

  “Right now!” Dirty Black ended the call.

  “Fuck!” Kendu cursed as he stretched. He slipped out the bed and quickly threw on the same clothes he wore the night before. He kissed Crystal on her cheek then headed downstairs.

  When Kendu made it downstairs, he saw Diamond on the couch watching TV. “What you doing up so early?” he asked as he went to the fridge to grab himself some orange juice.

  “I couldn’t sleep. Got too much on my mind.”

  “You gon’ be all right,” Kendu told her.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t be here for too long. I know you two need y’all space,” Diamond said. “I don’t want to come in between that.”

  “You fine. Take as much time as you need.”

  “Thanks. I really appreciate it.” Diamond watched Kendu walk out the front door. She realized that she should have never left him from the beginning. That mistake she would have to live with for the rest of her life.

  Kendu walked in Dirty Black’s office, and by the look on his face, he knew something bad had happened. “What’s good?” Kendu gave Dirty Black dap then took a seat.

  “These niggas must die!” Dirty Black slammed his fist down on his desk.

  “What happened?” Kendu asked.

  “They caught Amazon slipping. Got him laid up in the hospital. Word on the streets is, some clown named Action Jackson clapped him up.”

  “Action Jackson?” Kendu echoed.

  “Yeah, he supposed to be some big action freak or something like that.” Dirty Black smirked. “I’m gunning for him personally.”

  Kendu sat there while Dirty Black gave him the rundown on everything going on. He was really taking Amazon being in the hospital hard.

  “Whatever you need me to do, just let me know,” Kendu said.

  “You seen those three soldiers sitting outside?”

  “Yeah,” Kendu said, remembering seeing them on his way in.

  “I got word on where this clown and his crew hang out at,” Dirty Black said. “I need you to ride over there and let them know what time it is.”

  “Not a problem.” Kendu got up and walked out into the hallway to inform the three soldiers on what was up. Now that Amazon was in the hospital, Kendu was Dirty Black’s right hand.

  Kendu stepped outside and took charge. “All I need y’all to do is follow my lead,” he began. “It’s broad daylight, so we just going to do a simple drive-by.” And he and the three soldiers all climbed inside the old Chevy and headed out.

  The ride was a quiet one. Kendu stared blankly out the window as the Uzi rested on his lap. A million thoughts ran through his mind as he sat in the backseat, but now was not the time to be worry
ing and thinking about other shit.

  Once the Chevy got close to their destination, Kendu tied a red flag around his face to hide his identity. “Slow this muthafucka down,” he said from the backseat as he rolled down his window. He spotted the house he was looking for and saw at least ten to twelve people on the porch.

  Without hesitation, he stuck his Uzi out the window and squeezed the trigger, along with another soldier who rode along in the car.

  Action Jackson stood on the porch shirtless talking to a well-known freak from the neighborhood, while a few other goons sat on the porch playing spades.

  The young lady admired the two chains that hung around his neck as he spoke. “That is unnecessary,” Lisa said, touching Action Jackson’s chains.

  “I worked hard to be able to wear this,” he told her.

  “You ain’t scared that somebody might try to rob you?” she asked.

  “I’m willing to die for this.” Action Jackson looked down at his chains that hung around his neck. “Besides, I keep something that will make a nigga think twice about taking anything from me.” He nodded towards his SKS rifle that rested by his chair.

  As Action Jackson stood on the porch talking to Lisa, he noticed an old-school car coasting down the street. Immediately he knew it was on. He quickly grabbed his SKS from the side of the chair as a loud series of gunshots rang out in broad daylight.

  Kendu watched his bullets rip through several soldiers that stood on the porch. He waved his arms back and forth, trying to hit anything moving.

  Warm blood splashed on Action Jackson’s face as he saw Lisa laid out face down in the grass. Action Jackson jumped off the porch as he pressed the trigger on his assault rifle. The gun rattled in his hands as shells popped out the chamber back to back.

  Kendu quickly took cover in the car as the bullets from Action Jackson’s gun riddled and rocked the car. “Punch this shit!” he yelled out to the driver.

  Action Jackson watched as the Chevy bent the corner. Immediately he ran to his car and tossed the SKS in the backseat as he hopped in the driver’s seat and left the murder scene.