Dirty DNA (G Street Chronicles Presents) (17 page)

Unfortunately for me, the streets weren’t
talking and that was a rarity. No one knew what the fuck was going
on and that was driving me crazy. I was lucky that my father had
employed loyal folks who would ride or die for us all. They were
still putting in that work while I was free to grieve. The only
person I had made contact with in regards to business was
Caesar. I had to prove to him that it was still
business as usual, and that the money was to keep flowing. I had to
keep his greasy ass on my radar, because for all I knew, he could
have been the one who had ordered the hit on my family. It was so
strange that I was in charge of everything on my own. It was easy
dealing with business. What was hard was dealing with burying my
Daddy.

I decided to have the funeral even though
the police suggested that we shouldn’t have it in the area being
that the crime was so horrific and they didn’t know if whoever got
Daddy would get me next. I thought they were crazy for even
suggesting that my Daddy be buried somewhere else. He loved the
city. He loved it for everything the place had to offer and
everything it had become. I knew the police didn’t really give a
fuck what had happened to him. The only ones who cared were the
ones that Daddy employed. I had already sent word through Epps, who
was second in command under Oscar, that it was still as it had been
before the untimely passing of my father.

I buried my Daddy on a
Wednesday afternoon. I asked anyone that was attending to please
wear white because black and dark colors were too damn depressing.
The limo was to pick me up from the hotel I had been living in for
the past week in under an hour, and I had not even begun to
motivate myself to move from the safety of the hotel room. I didn’t
think I was going to be able to. The day had come too fast, and I
kept telling myself that I was going to be strong. I kept hearing
Daddy’s voice telling me to
toughen
up
.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and
stood. I felt the plush carpet between my toes – not wanting to
leave the sanctuary of the hotel. I showered and got dressed in my
peach-colored suit. I had asked everyone else to wear white and the
family was to wear pastel colors. I did this for more than one
reason. I needed to be able to identify everyone. Only friends knew
to wear white, family knew to wear pastels. If you were wearing
black or dark colors, my security team was going to keep an eye on
you closely. I could not take any chances.

After looking myself over, I pulled on a
pair of shades. No sooner than I had pulled them down over my eyes,
I got a knock on the suite door. I peered out of the peephole to
see Epps on the other side of the door and quickly opened it to let
him know I was ready. I grabbed my handbag and walked back to the
door to step into the hallway where the elevator was. In the
hallway there were two other armed bodyguards posted up on the ends
of the hall.

“Ms. Clayton, we have already picked up your
brother and he is waiting in the limo.” Epps said dryly. I nodded
my head to acknowledge that I had heard him and stepped into the
elevator. Once we reached the lobby, Epps stepped out in front of
me before signaling me to exit.

Escorted by Epps, we
walked out of the lobby and to the limo where Neko was dressed in a
white
Hugo Boss
suit with a lavender shirt on under it and a white
Hugo Boss
tie. He looked
like he was struggling with coping with the loss of Daddy too. I
couldn’t imagine how he was feeling. First Mommy’s disappearance,
and then Daddy’s untimely death. He had to be torn up at all the
loss he suffered. As soon as the limo door closed we
embraced.

“YaYa, I can’t stay cooped up at
NiQue’shouse for too much longer. I am starting to go crazy just
sitting in there doing nothing. I want to go home YaYa.”

“Neko, I haven’t even been home yet.
Anything I needed from the house Epps has gotten for me,” I
said.

“Well, at least let me come and stay where
ever it is you have been. I cannot do this without at least having
you close by.” He said trying to get me to break down. Honestly it
wasn’t hard to have us both posted up in the hotel and secured by
Epps and his team. It may have proved to be easier than having us
separated, but now was not the time to even worry about all of
that. The ride to the funeral home was in silence. Neko and I
exchanged glances, but no words. When we pulled up there was a sea
of people wearing white on white out of respect. I took a deep
breath grabbed Neko’s hand and exited into the afternoon sunshine.
I was more than thankful for the invention of sunglasses because as
soon as we entered the funeral home and approached Daddy’s casket,
the tears began to pour freely.

I took steps slowly up the aisle and what I
had been dreading become reality. My Daddy was laying there dead.
All the money in the world could not bring him back to me, but he
looked peaceful in his white, velvet-lined casket. Daddy’s casket
had the Lord’s Prayers etched into the head of the casket so he
could forever be in peace. The trim was laid in platinum and the
assortment of carnations and roses lining the entire funeral home
were beautiful. The amethyst and ruby spray with a rosary of roses
that lined the inside of the casket were breath taking. It was such
a shame that something so beautiful was going back to where it
came, but not as gracefully as it had come. Into the earth.

I stood over top of my father’s casket
wondering how it had come to this. He had a slight smirk on his
face, like he knew a secret and was not in the business of sharing
it. I kissed his face and felt the coldness of his lifeless body
against my lips and pulled away from the casket because I was
becoming too overwhelmed with emotions. I took a few steps back and
Neko held on to me for support. He took a few steps up to the
casket and said his own goodbyes. You would have never known that
Darnell Clayton and Neko Reynolds had no blood relation. Neko was
heartbroken and crying. I slid my arm around his shoulders and we
embraced for everyone to see. I cupped his chin in my hand and
wiped away his tears. We finally started to make our way to the
pews. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw NiQue and her brother
in the front row accompanied by Dread, Crack, Queen, Shaq, Kimya
and NATO who were seated a row behind them.

Seeing Dread there surprised me being that I
didn’t know if he was there for me or for NiQue. I made my way to
my seat and avoided making any eye contact with him. During the
service I could feel him watching me and I wanted so desperately to
talk to him and see what he knew about what was going on. Just
because I didn’t want NiQue to know how deep my friendship was with
him, I refrained from making any eye contact with him at all.

The service was nice. Well…as nice as a home
going could be. The preacher, who had never met my father, said so
many wonderful things about him that you would have thought they
were old friends. He only spoke on the good things we had told him
my father had done for the community such as providing the funds
for the new Boys and Girls Club to be constructed and the soup
kitchen he donated thousands of dollars to each year. Not one word
was spoken about his profession as a bonafide gangster and drug
lord.

After the services were
over, we were escorted out by our security detail and into the
waiting limo. The pall bearers, dressed in white with white kid
gloves, walked my father’s body out into the waiting hearse.
Daddy’s body was then taken back to the hood where he grew up. He
was to be buried in Mount Olivet in Trinidad Northeast. I
watched them take my father’s body from the hearse and place him
over his open grave. Daddy was to be lowered into his grave while
we were there. I wanted to leave nothing to chance. We exited the
limo, and seated right in front of the casket followed by friends
and family. That’s when I noticed them. There were several men
dressed in black that stood far off enough that they wouldn’t be
noticed, but close enough to tell that they were there for someone
in our funeral party.

I started feeling my heart beat quicken. I
knew something with those niggas wasn’t quite right. First, they
were dressed in the wrong color to be a part of Daddy’s home going
and secondly, I didn’t recognize any of them. Epps must have sensed
there was something wrong because he instantly got on point. He
made eye contact with the rest of the goons we employed, and they
started to move towards the uninvited guests. Right before they got
close enough to the strangers, I saw the men dressed in black pull
out high powered machine guns. I froze in place. Fear took over my
body and I couldn’t move from the place I was seated. Epps saw
everything unfolding and pushed me and Neko to the ground.

There was madness unfolding all around us as
the men dressed in black opened fire in my direction. I struggled
to see what was happening as I was then rolled into my father’s
open grave by Epps. From the pit of the open grave I could hear all
of the screams and running of all of the people attending the
funeral. I didn’t want to move. I couldn’t move. I just waited. I
could hear babies crying and women screaming. I could hear the
gunfire ripping through flesh. I could smell the very familiar
scent of gun powder and hot flesh wounds. As much as I thought I
was a bred killer, I could never get used to the sounds of death.
Bodies dropping, and the gurgling of a wounded bystander fighting
as they take their last breath, was something I could never get
used to.

When it seemed as though the hail of gunfire
finally ceased, I took a deep breath. I could smell nothing but the
cool earth that I had been forced into. I had remained still for
what seemed like hours. I silently prayed that my friends and
family were ok. Just as I was about to move to see if it was safe
for me to call out for help, I saw Neko’s face over the side of the
open grave.

“YaYa, are you aight?” He almost whispered.
I knew we weren’t out of immediate danger just by the sound of his
voice.

Next to him appeared Epps and the funeral
director. They were lowering down jumper cables to help get me out
of my father’s tomb. I jumped for the cables when they were within
my reach and dug my feet into the sides of the enclosure. Once I
was pulled free from my father’s grave, I lay there. I lay there on
the side of the opening and just stared at the madness that had
unfolded. My father’s casket was turned over and there were bodies
of members of the funeral party sprawled around.

I was brought out of my semi-trance by Neko
who pulled me up to my feet and Dread had grabbed me around my
waist, guiding me to the limo that had been driven over to the side
of the grave to act as a shield. I got in and I vowed I would never
be the same as we sped away. I knew there was a war brewing; but
the question was, who was I battling?

Upscale Ballroom

Suitland Road

Suitland, MD

Once we arrived back at my hotel, I let Epps
know I would be fine. I stepped into the suite and took off my suit
jacket. I was startled by who was staring at me in the mirror. I
was a mess. I had dirt caked all over my face, and my peach dress
was stained from the grass and dirt from my roll into the
grave.

I walked into the bathroom and turned the
shower on until the bathroom was consumed in steam. I disrobed,
then stepped into the hot water and felt every scratch and
soon-to-be-bruise from the fall. I let out a gut-wrenching cry. I
cried for my father. I cried for Oscar. I cried for my mother. I
wish she would have been a real mother so I could have had her for
strength. The thoughts of not ever having a mother made me cry even
harder. Thinking of being in the world truly alone was enough to
rock my very being. I had never given any thought to being without
Daddy. I had just lived my life never knowing being alone until
now.

The water was stinging my body as it beat
against my tender skin. I stayed there for the better part of an
hour before the water ran cold and I emerged a different woman. I
went in confused and drowning in my own thoughts and sorrow. I got
out on some different shit. That bitch in me was kicking some
knowledge in my ear and I was ready to listen to her. She was on
some revenge shit. I didn’t give a fuck about what anyone thought
of me from then on. I was gonna’ seek revenge. I would have my day
and I was gonna’ have all that I wanted. Someone was playing a hell
of a game and I had to be the winner if I wanted to walk away with
my life.

I wrapped the soft, over-sized, towel around
me and headed for the bed to lie down. That idea was quickly
interrupted by a knock on the door. Grabbing my purse, and
retrieving Chase, I inched to the door as quietly as I could. After
seeing it was Epps I opened the door. Epps wasn’t alone. Dread was
standing to his right. He was still in his suit from earlier that
day and he looked worn out. Epps finally spoke up after watching
Dread and I eye each other.

“Ms. Clayton, he insisted that he needed to
talk with you. I checked him. He is unarmed.” Epps said.

I stepped to the side and let Dread enter
the room. I informed Epps that I would be ordering room service and
that no one else should bother me unless it was my brother. He
shook his head and backed away from the door. Pushing the door
closed, I turned to face Dread who was standing watching me.

“You know you could have told me who you
were and what you had going on before I started giving a fuck about
you YaYa.” He scowled.

I couldn’t believe he was going to actually
stand there and try and give me the third degree after all that had
gone on. I felt like I was living in a real live episode of
“Snapped.” Before I could unleash my pent-up fury on his smart
mouthed ass, he moved to me and kissed me. His mouth was warm and
inviting. It tasted the same way it did the first time we kissed.
The hint of cinnamon was dancing around his tongue and I started to
feel all of the tension leave my body. I knew I was wrong, but I
didn’t care. I didn’t give a fuck because I had already decided to
live each day as if it was my last. I kissed him back.