Hotline Bling

Chapter 30

*Warehouse on the East side*

Roman paced for a moment, rubbing his chin in thought. Shit wasn't adding up. He was a lot of things but he wasn't stupid.

Dante loaded yet another gun before tucking it onto the nearby table, whistling contentedly as he reached for another.

He and Detective Thomas had been making plans, plotting their next move, attempting to be the first to kill rather than be killed...but the plan...it was shady as fuck.

Dante stood, stretching slightly. "I don't trust him, Roman. Jason called up. He should be on his way now."

Before Roman could comment footsteps echoed on the cement floor and they both jerked in the direction of the sound, weapons in hand.

"Whoa, whoa...chill. It's us."

At the clarification they both dropped their weapons and nodded as their crew walked in.

In Jason's arms was his laptop, something he refused to go without. He plopped down into the nearest seat, pulling his laptop open and clicking away at it.

Brian and Benny made their way in behind him, one taking a seat and the other walking over to give Roman and Dante dap.

"We really doing this?" Benny asked as he pushed his long, shoulder length curly hair out of his face.

Dante nodded, a gleam in his eyes.

"This shit gotta end." Roman said with his teeth grit.

"Ai'ight, cool with me." Brian mumbled as he leaned back in his seat beside Jason.

"We going in and we all coming out." Roman snapped, knowing how reckless his old crew could be.

Dante especially. The dude was constantly on ten.

"What we gone do about, ole boy?" Dante asked.

Before Roman could say anything Jason spoke up, "Simple, we get rid of him too. He must've thought we was dumb."

"He'll get his too. Plain and simple." Roman mumbled as he rubbed at his chin, his fingertips grazing the stubble there.

"Ai'ight, I got King's location. Let's do this." Jason said as he stood, pulling out his phone and typing in GPS coordinates.

Roman nodded, quickly pulling out his phone and texting the detective to meet them. He immediately got a reply back, 'Ai'ight.'

He nodded at his crew and they all headed out after equipping themselves with a few guns.

As they all headed out of the warehouse Dante sidled up beside Roman, stuffing a gun into his waist belt.

"Did you do it?" Roman asked.

Dante nodded, "I told Tonya about the party and she convinced Essence to go. They should be on their way now."

Roman sighed with a small ounce of relief. He had made love to Essence the night before, he had embraced her like he would never see her again and in all honesty there was a possibility that he wouldn't. He had whispered his love for her hundreds of times but last night, he had wanted her to truly know. To always remember.

The party had ultimately been his idea. He had gotten a friend of his to throw a block party. He had then told Dante to tell Tonya. And seeing as Tonya was Essence's best friend it was only natural that she would convince her to go. He didn't trust her being confined to the house, not with the lack of trust and liar's going around. He had guards on her at all times and tonight was no exception, in fact he had upped the ante for this particular night. No one would get near her.

He found comfort in knowing that he knew where she was and that she was, essentially, safe and guarded.

Roman licked his lips before allowing his mind to wander off onto his immediate goal. Getting rid of King.

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Essence stared at the large crowd that steadily continued to grow in front of her. She was dressed in a simple black maxi dress that stopped just above her ankles and on her feet were a pair of studded black sandals. Her hair was in an afro, framing her face. She felt comfortable and for once in her life she didn't care if she attracted male attention. She didn't care because she was content. She had all the affection in the world and thus she would never be on the prowl again.

Her search was over.

Tonya tugged on her arm and snapped her back to reality. "You want a drink?" She yelled over the loud pulsing of music and chattering voices.

Essence shook her head no. "I'm good, I want to dance."

Tonya nodded before pulling her toward the part of the street sectioned off as a makeshift dance floor.

The beat was infectious. The growing crowd on the street was filled with giddy excitement. Everyone danced and sang along as explosive lyrics rang out through the speakers. Hips grinded, legs shook, arms waved, smiles flashed.

Essence let loose, all the stress and worry and longing seemingly gone for a moment. She felt free for the first time in a long time. She relished in the realization that she was. She twirled and burst out laughing when Tonya dipped down low before bouncing back up, throwing up a peace sign.

They danced for what felt like forever but no one really kept track of the time. They were having too much fun to care.

Tonya stopped for a moment, sweating pebbling along her skin. "Let's get something to drink."

Essence nodded, following after Tonya to the section of the street covered with grills and tables littered with hotdogs and burgers. They both grabbed a grape Fanta and slurped at the cans, drinking down the cold liquid with fervor. "Man, this is fun." Essence said after she came up for air.

"Girl, yes! How long has it been since we just had fun?" Tonya asked as she grinned.

"I don't know." Essence drank down the rest of her soda before tossing it into the nearest garbage can. "Tay, I'm gonna head to the bathroom real quick, ai'ight?"

Tonya was already moving to the beat again but she nodded, "Alright."

Essence made her way through the crowd searching for the trademark porta-potty that adorned every block party. She pushed her way past large groups of people as she finally caught sight of the potty. Just as she reached for the nearest empty one she suddenly hit a hard wall of chest.

She gasped with shock before attempting to pull away only to be snatched back. Before she could verbally protest a big sweaty hand clamped over her mouth hard, muffling her voice. Her eyes grew wide and her heart began to pound in her chest with rapid succession. She tried to flail around but to no avail. Her captor had her arms pinned as he dragged her along beside him through the crowd. The sun was on its descent, disappearing down the horizon and as the music grew louder Essence's muffled cries for help went unheard.