H.E.R.

Twenty-Five

It was a gangster's paradise.

As Omar stood in the hidden room of their shared Harlem townhome that housed various military-grade weapons, bombs, and grenades, he felt like a father looking at his child taking his first steps.

The first gun Omar owned was a 9mm his father gave him when he was 14. Rodney and Santiago took all of the boys – including Roman – to the gun range. Once a month, they all learned how to shoot various weapons and how certain guns made a significant impact.

Omar smiled when he saw his second-favorite, a sawed-off shotgun. He could remember blasting his way through an enemy's home when he didn't want to pay for the drugs he sold. The man wasn't killed, but he surely can no longer feel his legs.

Omar finally walked over to his favorite, a 9 mm with a built-in silencer. Completely undetectable in every level of security. A pat-down wouldn't feel it. Metal detectors wouldn't spot it.

Not only did it contain untraceable bullets, but they also exploded within the body. The bullets bounced around, piercing each major organ until it finally shattered. A person would be dead before 911 was called.

It was the perfect gun for Romeo.

He didn't want to kill his friend, who he'd considered a brother. Omar could remember the fun times he had with Romeo. They used to hang out and play video games before they headed out for some pizza at a little café around the corner.

When Romeo went into fashion design, he always tested his clothing on Omar and Keith because they were in the streets. Romeo built up his street cred before Hollywood caught on. The pieces Omar and Keith had were already considered classic.

Now the brothers were given direct orders from their father to take out the son of his enemy.

The brothers silently disagreed with their father and knew his real anger was rightfully towards his former best friend. They also knew better to argue with Rodney. Once he was set in his beliefs, nothing was going to change. He never killed anyone just because nor did he have a hot temper.

If someone needed to be murdered, Rodney believed, it was because they deserved it.

Keith knew that wasn't always the case but Rodney said went without discussion. Keith did wonder how his father's stance were now that Vanessa was murdered, when he was the target. He knew better to ask.

Keith walked downstairs to the wine cellar that was turned into a weapons depot. The temperature was comfortable, yet there was a frost in the room. Omar had already undergone his metamorphosis of being a killer. Keith never tried to change his brother's mind.

"What's the weapon of choice?" He quietly asked after a few moments.

"That one," Omar nodded towards the silencer. "I can kill him before he falls to the ground."

Keith nodded. He knew his brother was only taking orders and it was nothing personal. "Escape plan?"

"Working on it," Omar said with a sigh. "He's in the middle of fashion week right now so there's a lot of security and celebrities surrounding everyone. I need to make it clean."

"Pose as a model or a photographer. If you're a photographer, they'll let you into any show. You might need to attend a couple of shows so no one thinks otherwise."

Omar looked at his brother. His eyes scanned him from his head to his toes. "You could be an up and coming model. You can pass for it."

"I can get my GQ on," Keith smiled. His model good looks also gave him the added bonus of having a harem of women he'd nicknamed queens. They were all over New York and L.A., knew about each other, and respected their roles within the harem. "I know I can do it."

"We need to make this smooth and quick. I'm sure Pops doesn't want us in London no longer than 24 hours." Omar rubbed his hands together. "While we're there, we need to get Jules back."

"We knew for sure she's there?" Keith asked. Omar pulled out his phone and showed Romeo's personal page. A picture of him and Julia was the most recent post with a timestamp of just a few hours ago. "Wow."

"Yeah." Omar stared down at the picture. He'd never seen his older sister so happy. All of the other boyfriends she's had seemingly sucked the life out of her. Romeo brought out the best within her. "We need to get her and keep her safe."

"Not a problem. She doesn't need to go back to L.A. She'll be an easy target there." Keith added. The doorbell rang and the brothers looked up on the camera to see who was the special guest star. They weren't even the least surprised when it was their old friends, Mateo and Alejandro Torres.

"And what in the hell do they want?" Keith asked.

"I don't know," Omar licked his lips, "but I'm curious to find out." He pulled the same gun he marked to kill Romeo and tucked it into his waist band. Keith picked out another gun and tucked it in his. "Let's go."

The men walked upstairs and Keith nodded to Omar to stand back. He blew out a small breath before he opened the door. "Well," Keith greeted his former lifelong friends, "if it isn't the rejected members of Menudo. How are you fellas today?"

Mateo blankly stared as Alejandro spoke. "We're doing well. How are you Migos doing? Or should I say, Negroes?"

"Yo, I got your Negro right here..." Omar began to pull out his strap before Keith stopped him.

"Why are you two here, man?" Keith asked. "We got no beef with you whatsoever."

"Oh, but you might," Alejandro let himself in and Mateo followed behind. The brothers briefly looked around at Omar's home and nodded. "Impressive for an unemployed accountant's salary."

"One more insult and our mother won't be the only funeral you'll attend." Keith stated.

Alejandro grinned. Keith with his model-gorgeous looks reminded him a lot of his grandfather, Pablo. No one would ever think Mr. GQ with the nice fade would ever be convicted of slaying the daughter of a prominent politician because he targeted their father.

The heat on Rodney seemingly died shortly afterward. "We're here to talk business."

"What business?" Omar narrowed his eyes. "We have no business with you Puerto Potties."

"Puerto Potties, huh?" Alejandro nodded. "How original."

"Not as original as Mother Nature taking out so many of your kinfolk during that hurricane." Omar smiled. "Making America great again, bitch."

Alejandro pulled out his 9mm and the other three men followed just as quickly. "Now, that's all out of the way," Alejandro cocked his gun, "we're here to discuss business."

Omar cocked his gun. "I'm listening, bitch."

"Your sister is currently in London with our brother. She has no business being there and I do believe our fathers told them to stay away from each other." Alejandro spoke as Mateo cocked his gun. "If you care about your sister, she will stay away form our brother."

"I could say the same about you." Omar replied as Keith cocked his gun. "The feeling is mutual."

"If something happens to our brother and your sister is the result, I'll kill every black person I see on sight." Alejandro warned. "Don't test me, motherfucker."

"If something happens to our sister, we'll destroy your entire family." Omar calmly replied. "What's a few niggas to me when I can take out your entire legacy?"

"I'm warning you, O." Alejandro stared him down. "You don't want this smoke."

"I'm promising you, Ali." Omar smiled. "I'm not the motherfucking one, two, nor three."

Alejandro kept their guns on the brothers as they walked backwards to the front door. "We'll be in touch." They quickly left.

Keith watched the brothers leave. "What do you think?"

"I think," Omar uncocked his gun, "we need to be on the first flight to London tonight."