Right when Halleigh spoke, Tasha finally managed to unlock the door.
As it opened, Halleigh backed away, hoping her prayer was answered and that Tasha would walk through that door. When Tasha entered the room, Halleigh was standing in the middle of the room, worry and fear written on her face.
“Oh, Hal,” Tasha said as she and Halleigh ran toward each other. They hugged like the long-lost sisters they were. Any animosity Tasha once held for Halleigh was out of the window. “Are you okay?”
Halleigh, flooded with relief when she saw Tasha's face, was too emotional to respond, but she nodded her head.
“We have to get out of here,” Tasha said. She knew there was a possibility someone could come to the house at any moment, and she didn't want to be there if they did. She didn't want to have to kill again. She would if she had to, but if she could avoid doing so, that would be better.
She quickly wrapped her arms around Halleigh and guided her down the steps and toward the door. “Wait,” she said, stopping in her tracks before they exited the house.
“Tasha? Come on, let's get out of here,” Halleigh pleaded.
Tasha went and grabbed the bag of money and took the gun she'd used to kill the dude. After taking one last look at the body, she ran to the back door, helped Halleigh to the car, and then got ghost into the night.
“Tasha, I have to find Malek. He's going to kill him,” Halleigh said as she rode in the passenger's seat.
Tasha shook her head in disgust. She couldn't believe the only thing on Halleigh's mind right now was that nigga Malek. She was the one who had come to her rescue, not Malek. If he was all that, how did she end up being held hostage in the first place? There had to come a time when Halleigh got over her addiction to Malek, and how Tasha saw it, the time was now.
“Halleigh, tell me one thing. You know Malek killed MauryâI know you're not stupid. I've been here for you since I've known you, and you said fuck me, to be with this nigga. When you were trapped up with Manolo, Malek never came for you. He was doing it up with Jamaica Joe while you were being pimped all over the city. You were just kidnapped behind this nigga's bullshit, I'm sure, and when I come save your ass, once again, the first thing you say is not âthank you, Tasha,' but you on some âsave Malek' bullshit. Why?”
“Because I love him. I've always loved him. You know that, Tasha,” Halleigh explained. “I know you don't understand. I don't expect you to.” Halleigh stared out of the window. “But it's always about him, from the beginning, and you know that. Nothing has changed. No matter what Malek and I go through, that will never change. My life without him equals death.”
Halleigh's answer floored Tasha. She had never felt love like that before, but it was at that moment she realized Halleigh, following the same script from the very beginning, hadn't changed up on her.
Halleigh had always been about Malek. From the very first day Tasha had met her, she was addicted to him like crack. If things ever came down to Halleigh having to choose, Malek would win every time, and Tasha knew that.
Unfortunately, Tasha had opened her heart and found a dear friend in Halleigh, only to be disappointed because Halleigh's loyalty lay with Malek first and foremost. Tasha felt it was impossible for her to ever love another person on the level that Halleigh loved Malek, but it wasn't her place to judge. The only thing Tasha had was her word, which she'd kept by getting Halleigh out.
“Just get some rest, Hal. We're going to go back to my crib, so I can grab some clothes and personal things. Mitch is going to come looking for me because Keesha will tell him she sent me to the house. It's not going to take him long to put two and two together. So it looks like I'm going to be on the run again.” A sad disposition took over Tasha's tone. “I just wish I had Maury to run to this time.”
Halleigh looked over at Tasha and rested her hand on top of hers.
“I love you, Hal, but I can't forget or forgive what Malek did to my brother,” Tasha told her. “I love you, not him. I'll help you get yourself together, but after that, you're on your own. I'm getting out of town as soon as possible.”
Chapter Nine
“
A
ghh!” Keesha screamed as Mitch slapped her with brute force, sending her head jerking to the side.
“Bitch, what the fuck were you thinking? You don't change my play. You just play your fucking position.” Mitch paced back and forth in a rage. “You told this bitch where my stash spot was? Are you out of your fucking mind? Now one of my niggas is in the dirt, I'm out of a hundred grand, and Halleigh escaped!”
Keesha could see the hint of red flecks of rage behind Mitch's eyes. She cringed as he raised his hand to her once more, knowing that this ass-whupping was not going to be a short one. “Please, Mitch,” she said, attempting to block one of his blows.
“Please, Mitch, my ass!” he barked as he continued his pacing.
Keesha wiped the back of her hand across her lip and looked down at the blood from her busted lip. “I'm sorry. I didn't know. I was just trying to make us some money, baby. I was doing this for you,” she lied, thinking quick on her feet. She had no intention of giving Mitch a cut from any of the money she'd made with Lamont and his boys. She screamed, “I had no idea she was going for Halleigh!”
“It doesn't matter if you knew or not! Bitch, use deductive reasoning. It's fucking common sense!” Mitch put his hands around her small neck and squeezed tightly.
Her eyes bulged as she felt Mitch threatening to end her life. He wasn't choking her, but the threat of death was fresh. He pushed her against the wall and lifted her feet off the ground a bit, applying more pressure to her fragile neck. She instinctively brought her hands up in an attempt to get out of his hold.
“Bitch, you gon' work all my fucking paper off. You no longer come and go as you like. You belong to me until further notice. Halleigh may have gotten away, but, bitch, now you gon' take her place.” Mitch let Keesha go, and she fell to her knees.
“Okay, daddy, I'll work it off for you right now,” she whispered desperately as she grasped at his belt buckle. She would do anything to keep her spot. If she could just put her head game on him, then his anger would lessen, but the familiar language of “bitch slap” brought her back to reality.
“Bitch, get your hands off of me and get your worthless ass out there and make my fucking money. I don't give a damn if you got to get it penny by penny. You bring it all back here. And if I have to come looking for you, then that's your ass. I won't be doing all this talking next time. I'ma dead your ass.” Mitch dragged her out of the house and slammed the door in her face.
“Fuck!” he screamed, knocking a lamp off his end table. He collapsed on his couch and put his head in his hands. He couldn't help but laugh to himself. Halleigh had slipped out of his clutches, and now his hold on Malek was non-existent. Both his money and Halleigh were gone. Mitch wouldn't have even been as pissed if Tasha had simply just gotten him for the bag of money. With the ransom he would have made off Malek, he wouldn't have even missed that, but now he no longer had a “marker.”
Mitch pulled the .45 pistol from his waist and set it next to him. He had to be careful. Even with Halleigh gone and probably back in Malek's arms, Malek wasn't going to let this shit ride. He knew he'd started a war when he took Halleigh, so his intentions were to put a hole in Malek's head after he handed over the money anyway. He had to stay on his A game because he'd vowed to himself that he would never be caught slipping again. Especially not by Malek.
After a few more minutes of shooting off a string of expletives to himself, hoping this was all just a nightmare, that Keesha hadn't been so stupid, and that he'd wake up from it any moment, Mitch realized that it was all too real. Deciding that he wasn't getting anywhere by sitting around thinking about the situation, Mitch got up and headed over to his spot on Seneca Street. He needed to drop off his re-up money. He also had the money that he owed to his connect with him.
Mitch called his sister on her cell phone and let her know he was on his way. He'd always made this particular run solo, never wanting anybody to know where he kept the mother lode at.
Mitch pulled up to the small brick house and hopped out with the bag full of money. He entered the house through the back and walked in. Hearing the sounds of the running money machines, he instantly got mad. His sister was slacking. He'd instructed her to have all the money counted up a week ago.
Mitch regretted paying her beforehand. He whispered to himself, “That's why I should have paid her after she was done.” He entered the room, and the smell of the purple Kush graced the air. His sister and two of her friends were wrapping the one-dollar bills into rubber bands, passing the blunt around.
“I hate these damn ones,” one of the girls said.
“You scared the shit outta me!” Ree took a deep tug of the blunt.
“What the fuck is going on? I thought I told you to have the money counted up days ago?”
Ree removed the blunt from her mouth. “Damn, bro! Relax.” Ree exhaled and a ring of smoke floated from between her lips as she spoke. “You had so many damn ones in this batch! If you stop letting muthufuckas break into they kids' piggy banks to pay your ass, we'd get done a lot faster.”
Mitch's two cousins chuckled.
Ree wasn't about to let him blow her high with his attitude. “But don't get your boxers in a bunch,” she added, brushing Mitch off. “We are almost done.” She smiled.
“Well, I got some more. I need it all counted up tonight. I have to go see Fredro this weekend, and I need to know where I am as far as the count. Got it?” He walked over to her and pecked her on the cheek. When it came down to business, he stayed hard on his sister, but he loved her more than anything and would do whatever to protect her.
“Got it, bro.” Ree grabbed the duffel bag from his hands.
Mitch, a whole lot on his mind, left the house, not even acknowledging his cousins.
Chapter Ten
M
alek and Scratch had on black masks as they tied up the three girls who they'd caught off guard inside Mitch's stash house. The girls never saw them coming as they crept in through an unlocked window in the back of the house. For Mitch to be as strategic and on point as he was in the game, Malek had anticipated more of a challenge. He thought for sure Mitch would have his main spot on better lock than that.
Both Malek and Scratch had scoped out the house, looking for any signs of cameras or whatnot. When they didn't notice any, they almost assumed that Grady had misled them. No way would anybody of Mitch's stature, with all the money he was making, not at least have cameras. Little did they know, Mitch purposely didn't have any cameras set at his stash spot, thinking that cameras would be a dead giveaway to someone who was trying to stick him for his paper. So, he made a business decision to try to make the house appear inconspicuous, as though it was just another house in the neighborhood.
Once Scratch and Malek had made their way into the unlocked window, they caught the ladies slipping with ease, engaging in the latest street gossip, smoking blunts, and counting money. Now Scratch held them at gunpoint, while Malek ran upstairs to where Grady said the money would be.
“In and out, youngblood!” Scratch yelled out to Malek, reminding him about robbing etiquette.
Scratch had schooled Malek to stay focused in a robber y. “Don't let your eyes and your mind wander onto anything else that might be of value or worth taking,” Scratch had told him. “Greed is the surest way to fuck up a robbery. If you plan on knocking somebody over the head and taking their wallet, do just that. Don't get distracted by that shiny gold necklace hanging around their neck or that watch on the wrist. Take what you set out to take and keep it moving. It's always that last split second that can fuck a nigga up.”
Following his own advice, Scratch stayed focused on the girls, who were trying to get out of their restraints. He told them, “Just stay calm and let us do what we came to do. Don't try screaming or anything, and it will all be over before you know it.”
They did what he said, but he could tell by the look of fear in their eyes that they had doubts about making it out of the situation alive. “Look, baby girls, we ain't here to hurt nobody, so relax,” Scratch coaxed the women. “I'm pretty good at tying knots, so I don't think you can wiggle yourself out of them there ropes. So just relax, baby,” Scratch said smoothly, as if he weren't pointing a gun at them.
“Do you know who the fuck you robbing? Huh?” one of the girls spat, not able to keep her mouth shut, even though Scratch was standing there with a gun to her head. “You are a dead man walking. You're not even going to get a chance to enjoy that money, nigga!”
Scratch figured that was Mitch's sister, Ree. Her mouth alone was indication enough. She seemed to be the oldest of the trio and had braids straight to the back and a gold tooth in her mouth. Obviously she was ringleader of the girls, as she was the only one who decided to be hardheaded and get to running her mouth.
“And you can pull off that damn mask,
Scratch
. I know that damn walk and voice!” Ree yelled.
“Whatever you say, baby.” Scratch glanced upstairs and wondered if Malek had found the money yet. “You all right up there, youngblood?”
Just as the words escaped Scratch's mouth, Malek came running down the stairs, skipping two steps at a time and carrying a duffel bag almost too full to even zip up. Bills fell out of the side of it. Scratch smiled. They had hit the jackpot.
“Yeah, I got it. Let's bounce!” Malek rushed toward the back door, followed closely by Scratch.
Scratch knew he wasn't playing the game right, being a halfway crook. The girls they were leaving tied up should have been dead, because they knew exactly who he was. Back in his day, Scratch would have smoked them without hesitation, but he couldn't bring himself to kill the young girls, so he headed out with Malek, knowing everything he'd just participated in was going to come back to haunt him, probably tenfold.
Just before Malek and Scratch reached the back door, a loud gunshot erupted, startling Malek. He looked back and saw Scratch's eyes get buck and his lips shiver.
“Scratch!” Malek said, a confused look on his face. He was no longer confused when all of a sudden he saw blood seeping through Scratch's chest.
Scratch had taken buckshots to the back, and tiny holes began to appear through the thin material of his shirt as the tiny bullet fragments tore through his insides. Scratch's face told of his excruciating pain, and he fell into Malek's arms.
Shortly after that, another shot rang out.
BOOM!
Malek ducked and moved Scratch to the side as he went for his gun. He had no idea where the shots were coming from. For a split second he thought maybe Mitch or someone had run up into the house, but it wasn't long before he realized that the loudmouth girl had freed herself.
Ree was now blasting at him with a shotgun that had been hidden under the couch. The petite girl tried her best to hold the large firearm and point it at Malek. She was relentless, and it was obvious she was going for blood, trying to take his head off.
Malek quickly fired two shots into the girl's abdomen, and she dropped instantly and yelled out from the burning heat of her wounds.
“Aghh!” she screamed.
Malek silenced her with another shot, this time to the head. Blood began to seep out of her mouth. Malek ran over to her and kicked the shotgun away from her body. He could hear the other two girls crying in horror as they'd just witnessed their girl shot to death.
Malek looked down at the body of the dead girl and shook his head. “Why did you have to do that?” he asked her, almost in a pleading tone. Like Scratch, the last thing he wanted to do was to kill any of those girls. All he wanted was the money, and now, because of her trying to play Rambo, two people were dead.
He looked back over to Scratch, who was lying on the ground in a puddle of his own blood. Malek rushed over to his side and picked him up. “Hang in there, Scratch. I'm going to get you to a hospital. Everything's going to be all right.”
Malek knew he was telling Scratch a lie, giving him false hope, but he couldn't bring himself to tell him he would never make it. Nor could he just leave him there to die without even trying to get him help, not as long as he still had life in him. Scratch had become more than an accomplice in all of the madness. He was a friend who loved Halleigh. And because of that, Malek would always have endearment in his heart for Scratch.
Before Malek could even carry Scratch to the door, Scratch began to choke on his own blood, and his body began to tremble. Although dying, he still managed to unleash his infamous smile.
Scratch stared into Malek's eyes. “Youn-youngblood, I haven't felt this alive in years. You made this old man feel young again.” Scratch, his life slipping away, took a swallow of his own blood and gripped Malek's arm. “You made Scratch feel important. Didn't even look down on me. You let me ride shotgun with you, baby boy . . . like a gangster, ya know. I haven't ridden in a front seat of a car in years,” Scratch said, reflecting on his life as a junkie. “I was yo' potna.” Scratch gasped and then began to shake even more. He still continued to smile, though he knew his life was ending. He could feel his body temperature dropping as a cold chill took over his body. Not even Malek's words could give him any hope now.
“Yeah, that's right, Scratch. You my mu'fuckin' partner.” Malek's eyes began to water, but no tears fell. It was hard to look at Scratch dying, but he tried to remain strong.
Scratch said in almost a whisper, “Go get my baby girl and get her home safe. Hear me? Tell her that I'm sorry for everything and that I never got a chance to tell her, but . . . I'm . . .” Then his voice trailed off.
“I'ma get her, Scratch. Just stop talking, man. Save your energy.” Malek nodded his head up and down.
Malek felt Scratch release his grip and watched the old man take his last breath then look away aimlessly. Malek shook Scratch and called his name, but it was too late. He was gone. Malek closed Scratch's eyes and whispered, “I'll tell her how much you loved her, fam. I'll tell her how much you helped.” With those last words, Malek kneeled down and laid Scratch's lifeless body on the ground and folded his arms over his chest.
Malek rose to his feet and left, leaving the other two girls tied up and alive. The same thoughts Scratch himself had had just moments ago about knowing better than leaving eyewitnesses alive crossed Malek's mind as he headed out. But too many people had already been hurt behind the bullshit, and Malek wasn't going to contribute to the death of yet another individual, unless it was Mitch or anyone standing beside him. But the two girls' lives he would spare.
Making his way back to his ride, Malek knew he needed to go somewhere and get his head together. Plus, he would have to change his clothes to avoid suspicion, because he was covered in blood. He stopped at Hallwood Plaza and went into Champs to get himself some sweat pants, a clean T-shirt, and a hoodie. He then headed across town to check into a nearby hotel. He needed to get his head together and calm himself before he went to see Mitch. With or without the half-million dollars, he was going to get Halleigh.