“Damn,” he said with a leather jacket and jeans on. Hands in his pockets. “I didn't know you were here. I was over at ol' girl's place in apartment 310. She asked me to pick up a package from Red. She here?”
Maybe he had been in apartment 310, but I knew Nate had heard Red coughing. And I was also positive that the look on my face told him something wasn't right. He came inside, suspicions growing.
“Yeah, she's here, but my question to you is, where is Brianna? Before you say anything, I already know that you are aware of what went down between me and Alexis. I don't know if Brianna is my daughter or not, but Alexis told me she was.”
Nate had a cold, disturbing look in his eyes. He tried to cover up his whole demeanor by adding a smirk. A shrug followed, then he stroked his chin. “What do you want me to say, Bones? You hurt me, man. I thought you was my boy.” He started pounding his fist into his hand. “The one chick who came into my life and rescued me from all of my pain, you had to have her. Not only that, but you also made a baby with her. Then . . . every single day, the two of y'all smile in my face and pretend that everything is all good. You talk all that shit about loyalty and respect, and about how much you got my back. Nigga, please. You ain't got shit. Nothing but a bunch of low-class bitches making a big deal about yo' dick. I lost all respect for Alexis. That's why every time I look at her, I want to beat her muthafucking ass! Every time I see you, all I can think about is plotting yo' demise. I want you to feel my pain, and it will be my pleasure when that day arrives. It looks like we're standing in the moment.”
Nate removed a gun from his jacket, then aimed it at me. I didn't know what to do. Felt bad about what I'd done, no doubt. Saying I was sorry seemed inappropriate right now. My eyes shifted to the gun, then over Nate's shoulder where I could see Red standing calmly.
“Stop this, Nate,” she said in a calm tone. “This shit ain't worth it. I don't want nobody to get hurt, and I'm sure Bones regrets all that happened in the past. It was a long time ago, and as boys, y'all need to sit down and talk that shit out.”
Nate swung around and tilted his head slightly to the side. “Bitch, shut the fuck up. Now all of a sudden, this nigga some kind of saint to you. All it takes is some good ol' dick, before you hoes start singing a new tune. And since you want to open yo' big fucking mouth, let me tell Bones what you've really been up to.” Nate pivoted back to me and darted his gun at me as he spoke. “See, you think these bitches be down with you and shit, but all they really want is orgasms and money. Nigga, I paid this ho to fuck you. I paid her to seduce you, and sooner or laterâ”
“Stop lying!” Red shouted. “That's not how it went down, and you know it! I told you that I didn't want anything to doâ”
While still facing me, Nate reversed the gun and put it on his shoulder. He aimed it in Red's direction. “One more word and I swear that I will blow yo' goddamn brains out! Speak again, bitch!”
Red opened her mouth, but no words were spoken. She kept shaking her head no, mouthing to me that he wasn't telling the truth.
Nate turned the gun to me again. The only reason I hadn't made a move yet was because I wanted to hear him out, and I wanted to know where Brianna was. “Anyway,” he continued, “she was going to drug you. Drug you, man, and then call me so I could come finish the job. I've been fucking her ass all along, and the only reason you ain't six feet under right now is because she demanded more money from me. Can you believe that shit? This bitch wanted more money! I hope like hell that you didn't fall for the bullshit. If you did, I'm hella sorry that yo' feelings are probably hurt.”
“Not hardly,” I said. “And if killing me is going to make all of yo' troubles magically disappear, then go ahead and do it. I'm not afraid to die. If anyone should know that, it's you.”
Red was still behind Nate, trying to quietly make a move. He chuckled, and without looking in her direction, he lifted the gun over his shoulder again and fired. The bullet shattered glass on her entertainment center, causing Red to duck and stop in her tracks.
“Don't move!” Nate barked.
I wasn't about to try to talk some sense into him. The damage was already done. And even though he was adamant about killing me, he seemed to want to get a lot off his chest.
“Where's Brianna?” I asked calmly.
Nate swallowed hard, then shut his eyes. He pretended to display hurt, but hidden away in the darkness of his eyes was glee. He touched his chest, then squeezed it. Faking as if he was choked up, his voice cracked. “Ya . . . Y'all made me hurt her. I . . . I didn't want to. I swear I didn't, and she just didn't understand how her own daddy could do something like that to her.” His face straightened, and a tiny smirk appeared. “Then again, I'm not her real father, am I?”
My blood levels boiled over. I didn't know if he was being truthful or not, but his words were enough for me to put his ass out of his misery. But before I made my move, Nate backed up and pressed the gun against his temple. He tilted his head and left me with a crooked smile. “Now, you must live with yo' betrayal, and suffer the consequences of what it caused. See you in hell, my nigga.”
He pulled the trigger and blew his own fucking brains out. I stood for a moment, unable to move. Seeing his brains splatter and his twisted body that dropped back on the couch made me ill. All I could hear was Red crying. She kept yelling for me to call 911, because she didn't know where her phone was. I couldn't do much. Everything was a blur. It wasn't supposed to go down like this. Who in the hell ordered my steps? I was beyond hurt. Destroyed. I staggered over to Nate, barely able to look at him. Red rushed up to me and threw her arms around my neck.
“I'm soooo sorry,” she cried out. “Bones, I never meant for any of this to happen. I wanted to tell you about Nate, but I didn't think you would believe me. I know what you did to him was wrong, but you and I aren't responsible for this. Nate was a bully. He was an animal, and you can't deny what kind of person he was!”
Red hadn't said anything that I hadn't already known. Nate was all of that, and then some. But then again, so was I. I pulled away from Red and removed her arms from around my neck. I searched deep into her sad eyes, then softly rubbed my finger against her smooth, chocolate skin. I rubbed her sexy lips, and when my eyes shifted to them, she leaned in for a kiss. This time, I couldn't resist. I sucked her lips with mine and invited her tongue into a sweet dance. She moaned. I moaned. My hands roamed underneath her silk robe, and I massaged every inch of her meaty ass. I swallowed her saliva, and as my dick began to get hard and attempt to escape from my jeans, I halted our intense kiss. She smiled, and as my hands now comforted her face, she slowly shut her eyes.
“I think I'm falling in love with you,” she whispered, then opened her eyes to receive my response. I responded with a blank expression. Then, in less than a few seconds, I snapped her head to the side, breaking her fucking neck. I didn't stay around to see her body drop to the floor, but I damn sure heard a loud thud. While I believed Red had fallen for me, I couldn't ignore her lies.
* * *
With a heavy heart, I returned to Nate's house with bad news. Alexis saw the look in my eyes as I casually walked up the driveway.
“Please, God, nooooo,” she said, running up to me. “Please don't tell me that nigga hurt my baaaaby! He didn't hurt my baby, did he?”
She pounded my chest, and with no response from me, she dropped to her knees. “Nooooo, Bones, nooooo! Please, nooooo!”
I looked down at Alexis who was rocking back and forth on her knees. Tears streamed down her face. I wanted to console her, but couldn't. I was dealing with too much right now my damn self.
“Sorry I couldn't bring her home,” I said in a whisper, and then walked off.
Alexis hollered after me. “Bones! Whyyyy? Where is she? Did you see her? Did he kill her?”
I wasn't sure yet, but the amount of blood that I'd seen in the trunk of Nate's car implied that he had done something bad to Brianna. If so, I needed to find her body. I also had an urge to go see Theo. Maybe Mango would get his wish. Something inside told me that the rest of my day wouldn't get any muthafucking better.
BONES
Sadness was trapped in my eyes. Brianna was in my thoughts. I didn't know where she could possibly be until I parked my car in front of Theo's house. There Brianna was, running around in the yard and playing with two other kids. A sigh of relief came over me. Thank God she wasn't dead. I wanted to call Alexis right away to let her know Brianna was good. Alive. But instead, I had to let her sweat for a little while. She was the one who had put us all in this fucked-up situation, and even though I took part of the blame, still, if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't be here. Nate . . . dead. Red . . . dead. I had to do what I had to do pertaining to her, but I was still in shock about Nate killing himself. Damn. That was fucked up. The thoughts of what went down would stick with me. I was sure that was his purpose.
By now, I figured the police were swarming Red's place. It looked like a murder-suicide, if you asked me. That was how I intended to spin it, and unfortunately, Nate had to go down as a crazy-ass nigga who couldn't control himself. I was almost sure that Alexis would tell the same story, if she was questioned. And as soon as I finished my business with Theo, the plan was to check back in with Alexis to make sure she told the police everything they needed to know.
I flicked a cigarette butt out the window, then opened the car door. The kids Brianna kept playing with were still running around, but she stopped running to look at me. My heart went out to her. She had no idea what had happened to the man she had known as her father, and it was a shame that she was born into this fucked-up situation. While something inside told me she was my daughter, I still wasn't sure. I intended to get a DNA test done pronto.
“Is my daddy with you?” Brianna asked with a bright smile. “He dropped me off earlier and said he would be right back.”
I took a hard swallow, then reached for her hand. “Naw, your daddy ain't with me. I'ma take you home in a little bit though. I need to go inside and holla at your uncle Theo for a few minutes. Is he in there?”
Brianna nodded. I gave her a piece of gum that was in my pocket and told her to finish playing with her friends. With Brianna around, I wasn't sure how I was going to handle Theo. But he was the one who had spilled our secret and told Nate me and Alexis had been fucking.
The door was already open. I slowly walked inside, and there was Theo to my left, sitting on a raggedy-ass leather couch. The stench of marijuana was in the air, and for a nigga to consider himself a hustler, his crib looked like crap. His hands were behind his head, and with his shirt off, his skinny chest showed. Without a blink, he stared at me from behind his nerdy glasses.
“I already know why you here, Bones. But before you say one word, you gotta take responsibility for what you did too. Nate deserved to know the truth. I didn't feel right keeping a secret like that on lock.”
“If you felt it was gon' be a problem for you to keep our secret, then you should have come to me and said something. Nate had been harboring those ill feelings for a long fucking time. Now it has come to this. I don't know why he brought Brianna over here to you, but I guess he probably told you that he was coming after me.”
Theo sat up straight, then clenched his hands together. A slow nod followed. “Yeah, he told me. I wanted to warn you, but I decided to fall back and stay out of it. Y'all need to handle this shitâsquash it and let's be done with it. All of this over that bitch Alexis ain't worth it.”
Obviously, he didn't know what Nate had done. I had to break the news to him, so I took a few steps forward and eased my hands into my pockets.
“Nate is out. He killed himself a few hours ago in Red's apartment. It's too late for us to squash anything. Had you said something to me sooner, maybe I could've dealt with the shit.”
Theo's eyes bugged. His face twisted. He slowly removed his glasses, then placed them on the table. He sucked in a deep breath while shaking his head.
“Nate wouldn't have ever killed himself, so, nigga, quit lying. What did you do to him, fool? Did you kill him so that you and that bitch Alexis could hook up? He said you would do some shit like this. He sholl told me.”
I didn't appreciate how Theo was getting at me, so my voice went up a notch. “Fuck Alexis. I don't know why you sitting there making this about her when it ain't. Nate did this to himself. Don't blame me for him not being able to deal with his shit!”
Theo's eye twitched. I could tell he was about to make a move on me. “I swear, if I don't do nothing else, I'ma make sure yo' ass go down for this. You going down, Bones, and I mean that shit.”
Theo charged off the couch and tried to rush me. His attempt failed. Within seconds, I had him twisted like a pretzel while yelling for him to calm the fuck down.
“Now, nigga, or else! Chill the fuck out!”
“Or else
what?
” he said, trying to wiggle away from my tight grip. “You gon' kill me too?”
“I damn sure thought about it, all the way here! And if you think I killed Nate, that's too fucking bad. Nigga,
you
killed Nate! The day you told him about me and Alexis,
you
killed him!”
I shoved Theo's punk ass away from me. He stumbled and almost fell on the floor. Catching his balance, though, he hurried to stand up. His narrowed eyes shot daggers at me.
“You ain't shit, Bones. Get the fuck out of my crib before I do something I know I'ma regret.”
I stepped forward and stood face-to-face with him. “I don't do well with threats, and if you keep on making them, I'ma have to do something about it.”
Theo backed away from my aggressiveness. “And I don't do well with niggas who stab their friends in the back, then pretend as if
they're
the victims. Get out of here with that bullshit. I'ma find out what really happened today at Red's crib. And when she tells me how things went down, yo' ass going straight to a jail cell where you belong. That ain't no threat; it's a promise.”
“And I'm about to make you a promise too. You will die before that shit happens. Now, I'ma take Brianna back to Alexis. By then, you'd better have yo' head on straight. You'd better think long and hard about how you getting at me, and about what you're accusing me of. I don't like to be accused of shit that I didn't do, so do your homework well.”
“Well, somebody did something, and I know for a fact that Nate ain't foolish enough to kill himself. Yo' shit betta check out 'cause I straight feel a war brewing if it doesn't.”
This nigga was tripping. War my ass. He wasn't about shit, especially without Nate or me. But even so, I didn't like how he was getting at me. I also figured that I was wasting my time trying to convince Theo that Nate had inflicted his own wounds. That was time I didn't have. I had to get Brianna back to Alexis and see if the police had come by to question her yet.
Ignoring Theo, I made my way to the door. Brianna was on the porch with her friends, so I reached out for her hand.
“Let's go home. Your mama's been looking for you.”
Brianna waved good-bye to her friends. As they left the porch, she and I walked to my car. I tightened the seat belt to strap her in, but as I got in on the driver's side, the direction of my eyes shifted to Theo. He stood in the doorway with a gun in his hand. It was aimed in my direction. He mouthed the word,
“Pow”
while displaying a wicked smile. At first, I thought about squashing our beef. But I was already having a badass day. Maybe it was time for me to put complete closure to the past. Mango had asked me to handle Theo for him before, and I was sure that doing so would be very beneficial to me. Besides, we were no longer boys. Hadn't been in quite some timeâI had been in denial. Theo was down with Nate. Period. That meant he would come after me, just because. The one mistake that I didn't want to make was letting my enemies live.
I started the car, then increased the volume on the radio. Brianna looked at me with a smile. I smiled back.
“I'll be right back,” I said. “I forgot something, so keep the doors locked until I come back.”
She nodded, and as soon as I exited the car, she turned the volume higher. I kept my eyes locked with Theo's as I approached the door. The gun was now by his side. He tapped it against his leg while sucking his teeth.
“I couldn't make out what you were saying,” I said, then shifted my eyes toward the gun. “You got a bullet in that muthafucka for me?”
Theo stepped back as I entered his crib again. “After I make a few phone calls, I may have two bullets for you, instead of one. Until then, get the fuck out of my crib, you fake-ass nigga.”
Talk was cheap. I didn't bother to respond. I kept my eyes on Theo, plotting to make my next move. He backed up again, then raised his gun a few inches. I reached for his wrist to grab it, but in an instant, he pulled the trigger. A bullet went straight through the hardwood floor, missing my foot by inches. I couldn't believe how much Theo had been trying my patience, but he realized how much trouble he was in when I twisted his arm around his neck and forced him to hold the gun steady on the back of his head.
“This . . . This how you gon' do me?” he shouted with spit flying from his mouth. “Kill Nate, then kill me!”
I bent him over to look at the floor. Didn't want to look into his eyes when I blew his fucking brains out. “I didn't kill Nate, but I
am
going to kill you. Then again, you gon' do it.”
I squeezed Theo's finger on the trigger, but it wasn't easy to make him pull it. He used every ounce of strength he had to pull my hand away from his, but eventually, his strength was no match for me. The loud pop instantly dropped him, and the gun with his prints on it skidded across the floor. The hole in the back of his head gushed with blood, and as it began to pour down the side of his face, I felt nothing inside. No pain. No remorse. No nothing. And as far as I was concerned, the past was behind me. Or, at least, that's what I'd thought.