Gene's funeral had been extremely rough for all in attendance. He was put in a closed glass casket for everyone to see. On all four ends of the casket were gold angel ornaments. His custom all white outfit was tailor made perfectly for his body. Laying on top of him with his arms crossed over it, was his teddy bear Mr. Pickles.
No pictures of the body were allowed to be taken or was any part of the funeral to be live streamed. It was a private funeral and Ember and Dalton wanted to respect the parents. Lotus had still been catatonic during the funeral service and Ty'kerah had been off her medication. So she wasn't much help going too for advice.
Kutu, Noelle's niece had sung at the funeral. A lot of songs were old songs Gene loved. Even though Kutu had a beautiful singing voice, she couldn't get through most of the songs because she was constantly crying. The crying from the adults added on to her own sorrow as well.
Cilia and Allele attended but left the kids with Ophelia. They didn't want them to witness a baby laying dead in a casket. White Locus and Mark also found a baby sitter and came out to support as well.
Even Keshawn and Breeze came out, but they stayed way at the back, hidden.
It had been an extremely sad experience. Now it was a few days later.
Noelle's eyes fluttered open at 4:30 in the morning. It was habitual these last few days to wake up at random odd hours in the morning. Lotus's unusual sleep pattern had now become her sleep pattern as of late.
It wasn't out of the ordinary when Noelle turned on the lamp beside her and saw the right side of the bed was empty. Yawning, she tossed the covers off her and stood.
The doctor had kept his promise and when two weeks had passed and Lotus still had not broken out of his stupor; he returned and started giving him 1-2mg of Lorazepam every four to twelve hours via intravenous. Within days he was mobile and moving around a lot. But he still didn't react to anything, anyone or talk.
He only moved from one room to the next to stare at nothing.
Noelle, clad in a walnut brown silk robe, got up and went into the connecting bathroom to release her bladder. She decided to brush her teeth as well because this was most likely about to be the start of her day. There would be no going back to sleep for right now.
Noelle exited the bedroom and checked guest rooms along the way. Lotus wasn't in any. She checked his office and when he wasn't in there either, she took the grand staircase and went downstairs.
She immediately noticed the difference in temperature. It was freezing. She folded her arms across herself. Lotus must've manually changed the central air downstairs, because the entire house was usually set on one temperature.
As she walked down the long hallway, she could hear the soft sounds of music. It sounded like Old Soul. She was right when she entered the living room and saw Lotus standing in the middle of the room. The curtains were open so he was being illuminated by the blue water from his backyard pool. The water reflected itself and his shadow on the walls.
She could see he had on a white cotton shirt and black slacks. Noelle wondered why he was dressed in professional attire. He was just in bed two hours ago and he certainly didn't have any kind of business lined up for while.Then again, he just lost his son. He didn't have the most stable mind right now.
In The Still of The Night by The Five Satins played at a decent volume. Arms still crossed from the cold, Noelle took very gentle steps so not too much air would hit her at once. Lotus' back was to her so she couldn't tell what type of mood he was in.
He could be thinking violent thoughts, he could be reminiscing about his son or he could've been hurting deeply and needed someone right now. With his behavior she could never tell.
Noelle could've announced her presence but she didn't.
Swallowing hard, she approached from behind. She would take a chance and see what state of mind he was in. Hesitating, she gently slid her hands around his hips and rested the side of her face against his broad back.
"Hi baby."
He didn't move, didn't acknowledge her. His lack of movement could've definitely fooled a young child into thinking he wasn't a real person. He was as stiff as a mannequin in a retail store.
Not getting an answer, Noelle gently moved to the front of him. She looked to her right and saw on top the fireplace, that the music was coming from Gene's iPod. It was hooked up to a portable speaker.
Noelle looked into his glazed over eyes. He was staring straight ahead at the pool, his face drenched in tears. He cried really often now so the tears didn't shock or make her freeze up.
Softly, she put both hands on his face. She kissed his lips, his wet cheeks and then his lips again. "Hi baby."
He said nothing.
"Lotus."
His eyes slowly moved from the pool to her. He was aware she was here.
Noelle smiled, her hair was pinned up by a large butterfly hair clip. He almost thought she was naked, her nightgown was almost the same color as her skin. She was smiling at him.
"Hi handsome. What are you doing up?" She whispered. "Hm? Why are you dressed, where are you going?"
Lotus didn't respond. He still didn't talk even though the Lorazepam was working. He didn't talk to anyone. Not her, not his brother, his mother, his best friend Bonnie and not his house staff.
"Do you wanna sit?"
Lotus looked back out at the pool. The song ended and a Patti Labelle song started in its place. Noelle used the back of her hand to wipe a fresh tear away, then tiptoed to wrap her arms around his neck.
She knew the song so she began to sing along. She wasn't a singer at all, her voice was shaking and she had a thick accent so the words weren't as crisp. But it caused tears to pour down his eyes like someone opened gates to the ocean.
Lotus's arms were shaking as they slowly came up and locked around her lower back in an x formation. He pulled her closer to him and closed his eyes, listening to her sing one of Gene's favorite songs to him.
****
Allele watched Cilia packing clothes for Disneyland. She had packed all the kids things. Two weeks was a little while to go away. So there was a lot of luggage at the door.
"Sure you gonna be able to manage the kids by yourself?" Allele questioned. "I could always call up Journi."
Cilia stopped packing and looked at him. He was chuckling, a fist up to his mouth as he took in her tight expression.
"That's not even a joke I don't even know why you would say that." She said getting tight for real.
Allele smacked his lips and waved her off, sitting forward as he rested his arms on his legs. He was quiet watching her in his t-shirt and some panties and nothing else as she packed what seemed to be the whole closet.
"Cilia c'mere."
Cilia placed a pair of folded denim jeans in the suitcase and walked over to him. Allele pat the space next to him on the bed. He usually pulled her on his lap but this time he didn't. She sat.
"Question...do you want me to die?"
He didn't want to do this right now. She was literally packing so they could go away for fun; but he had to address it. It was bothering him a lot.
"What? Why—"
"Because you constantly say things like that. Why do you get so angry that that's what comes to your mind? I'm not gonna act like I've never said anything hurtful to you, but no matter how bad we argue I never wish death on you, ever."
"I know." Cilia's voice was small.
"You know what the most fucked up..." He tilted her chin seeing her guilty gaze drift toward the carpet. "You know what the most fucked up thing you ever said to me was? Six years ago when I made you break up with Dion, you know what you said? You said I hope someone shoots you in your head and you slowly die on the sidewalk. After two weeks of knowing that man, that's what you told me."
Cilia's heart sank and her eyes watered. If he could remember something like that after six years it obviously still bothered him.
"I didn't mean that. I was angry."
"You told me when I was painting the boys room and I fell down upstairs that you shoulda left me to die. You also didn't mean that and you were angry at that time too, right?"
"No I didn't mean that either. Of course I don't want you to die!"
"You don't have to get defensive, Cilia. I'm not mad, I just really wanna know if that's how you feel. I'm just asking. Maybe you do and you just don't realize it. Maybe you're tired of me and you don't realize you are."
"I'm not tired of you and I don't want you to die." Cilia said, her voice trembling.
"Then why is that your automatic go-too? You can't ever say anything back on the level I say things, you always go low. Why would you tell me you hope I die knowing I have issues with my heart?"
Cilia's lips trembled, "Because!" She wiped her eyes. "Every time we argue, you say things about me that really hurts me. And it hurts me because other people have said it. Like when you called me miserable. Breeze's girlfriend said that, Ember said that and Scarface called me that. So when you said it, it really hurt because these are not people you know and hang out with. So for you to say something they've said to me in the past, it means you really think that of me. And then Tom use to call me a whore for the whole sex-in-exchange for food, Iris called me a whore and then when I wore that dress for the event you called me gross—"
"Gross is not the same word as whore. I've never called you a whore in my life, don't do that."
"But it's what you wanted to say. If you were complaining I was barely dressed and you didn't like my outfit and then the word you used was gross, then what were you trying to say? You're implying I look like a whore. But you didn't want to go that far and use that word, so you said gross. You say things about me other people have said and it kills me. But I don't have anything I can say about you, so I'm forced to go low because it's the only thing I can say."
"That's the problem Cilia. You don't always have to have something to say back. I don't say these things because I'm trying to be a bully and pick on you. You've been moody since I met you and I never said nothing to you because that's how you are and I know you. So for me to say you're miserable or say something about how you acting, you really have to be doing a whole lot. It's okay to take criticism from someone without feeling the need to say something you know they won't like, just because they said something to you that you didn't like."
Cilia rubbed her eyes.
"I apologize for calling you a miserable bitch and a dumb bitch. The bitch word shoulda never left my mouth. And I also apologize for handing you over to another man when you were barely dressed. And because of that I understand why you went to Dion. I know you didn't go to him because ya'll use to be in a relationship and you were tryna piss me off. You went to him because he was the one who protected you. He did my job. Any woman would go to the man who had their back. So, I'm not mad about that anymore. But I won't apologize for calling you miserable, 'cause sometimes you act miserable. And I won't apologize for calling you out when you on some next shit. And I won't apologize for saying I need a better wife. Because when I said it I was talking in regards to how you talk to me."
Cilia felt a lump in her throat but she stayed quiet. She could hear the kids running around downstairs, playing.
"What I say may hurt your feelings sometimes, but it doesn't warrant you wishing death on me or saying things like you miss being in a relationship with my brother. You need to fix the way you talk to me. Else we do not need to be married. I haven't left you because I love the fuck outta you. But if you gonna talk to me like that I promise imma sign these papers and love you from far away. After today that 'go die' shit dies. You understand me?"
Cilia nodded.
"Cilia."
"Yes. I'm sorry. And I'm sorry for still showing up to the event when you left me home. Even though I felt you overreacted over my outfit, it was an event you were invited too, not me. You were taking me as your plus one and if you changed your mind and left me home, I should have stayed home. But I came there on purpose to make you mad. I'm sorry."
Allele licked his lips, looking her up and down but he wasn't checking her out. Just surprised she was saying it.
"I appreciate you acknowledging that, thank you."
Allele had received good news. After going to his doctor recently it was found he had no issues with his heart. In fact, his heart was healthy and wasn't rejecting. It was just symptoms of other stress related issues.
So Allele decided to tell her, because it wasn't fear she didn't know his behavior recently partly stemmed from the fact he thought his heart was rejecting. So he explained to her everything that had happened and why that may have contributed to his recent hostile behavior toward her.
"Thank you for telling me." Cilia said.
"I'm sorry for keeping it from you. But I didn't want to burden you and the kids with that."
Cilia's eyes were puffy and red. "You can never be a burden. We love you. We'll always be here for you."
Allele kissed her cheek. "Aight, baby. I don't wanna keep you from packing. I gotta drop ya'll at the airport in the next two hours so finish up."
"Um..." Cilia said, looking nervous. "Can Ophelia come with us?"
Allele was shocked. "Ophelia? Forreal? Why?"
Cilia knew he talked to Ophelia occasionally on the phone and that they had established some sort of relationship. He cared for the old lady and she wanted to try. She always felt Ophelia judged her because she use to be with Breeze and then now was with his brother. But Allele cared about her so she wanted to give the woman a chance.
Cilia nodded. "She's the kids great-grandmother and you like her...so I want to try. For you."
Allele smirked and nodded. He kissed her lips, then kissed her again. His cellphone rang just as Cilia got up to finish packing. Allele saw an unknown number on his screen. He usually didn't answer those, but considering the recent business proposal he opened up for a lot of people, there was a strong possibility the call could be about that.
"Hello?" Allele answered.
"We got him." The voice on the other end replied. It was exactly about that.
Allele looked at Cilia who seemed to be in her own world, packing. He then refocused on the call. "Aight, say less. I'm on my way right now." He hung up.
"Everything alright?" Cilia asked.
Allele stood. "Change of plans. Ya'll not flying out tonight. Cancel the flight and rebook it for tomorrow morning. I got something I need to show you, it's important. Call Faith from next door and ask her to come over here. We gotta go."
Faith was their next door neighbor. An older woman who was a retired accountant. Faith was sweet and the kids liked her because she had this puppy they liked to play with. She was trustworthy and loved kids. Her only problem was that she talked too much, mouth was always going on about nothing.
Cilia knew it had to be serious for him not to call Ophelia to come over or drop the kids over there. The fact he was ready to rush out of here now, meant it was something serious.
****
Lisa paced back and forth on the lot of the car dealership, waiting for the car salesmen to give her a price on her Range Rover. She knew she was suppose to get a pretty penny for it, it was the latest model. But right now she was so desperate to get out of New York, she'd take ten grand if they gave it to her.
She wasn't about to go on the run in a car that was registered in her name. She would be found faster than she would know what to do. So she was selling her Range to the dealership and getting a much cheaper and less noticeable car.
Egypt stood behind her mother holding Raisin who was irritable and wanting to get down. He wanted to walk and explore the area but Egypt knew if she did that he would get lost.
Finally, the White guy appeared from inside the dealership and met her outside on the lot where she'd been waiting the last twenty minutes. She was not happy.
"We can take the car for thirty-four thousand." The man spoke.
She paid eighty grand for it, but at this point she didn't care.
"Deal. I want the Ford pickup truck in the corner." She pointed.
The salesman didn't know why she wanted a Ford truck, but it wasn't his business. Of course she would be saving a lot of money, the truck was only $3500 and she was selling her SUV for forty-two thousand, but a more reliable car would've been smarter.
"Okay. You have to come inside first because we have to draw up the paperwork. For the vehicle you're selling to us and then for the car we're selling to you."
Lisa was looking around, thinking cartel was lurking on every corner. "Please that's not necessary. I'll let you keep the Range, you can pay me in cash, take out the thirty-five hundred for the pickup truck while you're at it and just give me the thirty eight thousand five hundred and I can just go."
The man didn't know why she was being so weird. He lifted a bushy eyebrow to the center of his forehead. "You think it's wrong to draw up paperwork? So if something is wrong with the vehicle you gave us or we gave you, paperwork is not important?"
Lisa wanted to slap his ass. She was here way too long, they were taking too long with this whole process. Money or not they needed to bounce. She was ready to go with just the truck and no money, honestly. Forty thousand was a big loss, but there wasn't a price on their lives. She still had the eight grand Yana gave her.
Maybe she could find something else that could make her money in the next city over or something. But for now she needed to go. Deciding not to be too suspicious, Lisa piped down with the fidgety behavior.
She gave a charming smile. "You're right. I'm sorry, that makes a lot of sense. Speaking of things going wrong, you mind if I test drive the Ford? Make sure it's running right?"
"Of course." He said. He put a finger up and disappeared inside for another three minutes before returning with the car keys.
He gave it to Lisa and Egypt got in the back seat. The man was completely unaware she was about to steal it. He didn't think someone would steal a used pickup truck and abandon their luxury SUV. She would be the one taking the lost, not them. But Lisa was on the run for her and her daughter's life, she didn't care.
Lisa pulled out the lot calmly but when she was out of sight, pushed the car to the max speed and hauled ass out of the area.
They would never see her again.
She wished she had the money, but then again doubted they would give her over forty grand in cash. So she would just have to take the loss. At a gas station she pulled over. She and Egypt used the bathroom then she purchased a burner phone.
Egypt wanted to ask for some snacks in the gas station store but knew better. She knew they had to stick to the snacks she packed from the house until they ran out. Sitting in the parking area away from the gas pumps in the four door pickup, Lisa started texting people on her cellphone with shaky fingers.
She was about to destroy it so she wanted to send out final messages to loved ones. Taking a deep breath, Lisa thought about what to say. She would have to say the same thingto everyone and send it to close family and friends.
She didn't want to write something too short and vague. It had to be something that gave enough information. But she couldn't be too long and informative, she didn't have the time.
Between trying to figure out what to say and ignoring that annoying ass cat crunching on his pebbled food, Lisa was losing it. As she was typing her message; Kenneth's name came up on the screen and interrupted her.
Lisa almost threw the phone through the windshield. Of all times his deadbeat ass could call. She was so angry but she just answered to answer.
"What." Her voice was full of venom.
"Lisa? Lisa are you there?"
"What!" She yelled.
Egypt looked up from the backseat wondering who she was talking to like that.
"Lisa I heard about what happened."
"Great." Her voice cracked. "Good for y—"
"Please just listen to me. Where are you? I can help you."
"Help me with what?" She asked. She could've put the phone on speaker and multitasked with the text; but she didn't want Egypt to hear anything.
"Safety."
"Who says I need to stay safe?" Lisa replied, looking out the windows in the car. Does he know I'm on the run? Is Lotus using him to try and find me? She thought.
"Well I know your boyfriend was running a criminal organization. So I know he'll most likely be looking for revenge."
Lisa wasn't even gonna front. Not with their lives on the line, so she admitted it. "I know Kenneth...but if by helping you mean you're gonna hide us at your place? No. They'll find us."
"No not at my place. Remember when I told you weeks ago that I couldn't raise you and your sister because I was running the streets with my half-brother Ricky? The one who married into a crime family?"
Lisa sighed, "Uh-huh."
"That's where you're gonna go. To Ricky's people. They can help you." Kenneth said.
Lisa's heart started racing. "What?"
"Yeah. Ricky had a child with his wife before they split. His son runs the crime ring now. I haven't seen them in decades so I don't know how true that is, but I'm pretty sure it's the son. Haven't kept in contact with them since my brother died."
"Wait wait wait...they divorced before he died, yet you're sending me over there? Your brother divorced from his wife's family and he's not even alive anymore. So why would they help me?"
"Because my brother's child is related to me. Which would make my brother's child related to you. Plus when my brother and his wife divorced, it wasn't one of those nasty, bitter divorces. They went their own separate ways peacefully. So it most likely wouldn't affect your chances of being protected."
Lisa closed her eyes and clutched her head. It was a lot to take in and she felt an oncoming headache.
"I know it's a lot," Kenneth said like he read her mind. "But I know how these crime rings work. They're viscous. Go to them before your ex-boyfriend gets to you. Just tell them your Kenneth's daughter and explain the situation. Let me know baby girl, do you wanna go?"
Lisa doubted he was setting her up. He sounded sincere, "Okay." She sighed, defeated.
"Okay. Before I called you I called up some mutual friends I had with my brother to see if anyone keeps in contact with that side. An old friend of mine has a wife that says my brother's ex-wife goes to this book club called Paper Cuts sometimes." Kenneth started running down the woman's alleged schedule at the bookstore. "Said on those days it's a book club. I texted you a picture of her as well so you know who to look for. The picture is from way back in the nineties though. It was a picture of me, my brother and her. So hopefully she doesn't look too different now."
Lisa wanted to break down and cry. She knew she couldn't outrun Lotus. Not a cartel. But she didn't know how legit this was. She was willing to take a chance and hoping her own father didn't set her up and sell her out to the Hunter's.
The estranged father and daughter said their goodbyes and moments later Lisa got the information to her phone through text with the location of the bookstore and the picture of the woman he had been talking about.
Lisa noticed according to the schedule of the times the ex-wife supposedly went to this bookstore, there was a book club meeting today. Lisa put the car in drive and sped out the gas station parking lot.
****
Allele shut off the engine to their Genesis G70 and walked around it, opening Cilia's car door. She put her hand in his and got out and Allele closed the door behind her.
Cilia noticed the block like they were on was creepily quiet. The sidewalks were cracked and chipped up due to wild grass growing from underneath it, trash was everywhere and it was free of street lights so it made the place pitch black.
"Baby where are we?" Cilia asked, frowning as she looked around.
While his family was suppose to be in Disney World, Allele had been planning on going militant in his search for Tom; that was the whole point of sending them away. To have the space, silence and time to focus and be able to do what he needed to do. But earlier when Cilia was packing, he got the phone call Tom had been apprehended.
He had put out a $1 million dollar bounty on his head only a few days ago and already he was found. His only request to get the money was that he had to be alive. The prize money obviously got a lot of the street niggas moving and shaking to get that cut. Allele had been really worried about two weeks going by and not getting Tom. But shockingly, he had him before the two weeks even started. Allele wouldn't lie, some of these niggas needed to try out for the army with how sharp they were.
Tom had been at a brothel in Palm Springs, California. To think he'd have more common sense to stay away from the very thing that had him in this mess. But it was just like an addict, they couldn't help themselves. Goons snatched him up and threw him in the trunk. Extradited his ass on a forty hour road trip back to New York.
Allele cancelled the Disney trip because he thought it would be backwards to have her go have fun then have to come back to this. When she could get this over with then look forward to having her fun.
"Lil', where are we?" Cilia said again.
Allele didn't want to discuss this outside. Although it was in the dead of night and no one was around, you never knew who was listening. But then he figured he should probably give her some type of forewarning. Let her know what she was walking into.
He faced her, never letting go of her hand. She looked so concerned. Allele was dressed in all black, hoodie on his head.
"I got him."
"Who?
"Tom."
"Tom?" She whispered.
"Yeah. I was sending you and the kids away to Disney World to use that time to look for him. I was hoping by timeyou came back, I would have him. But I got that phone call that someone else got to him. I put a mill on his head and niggas got movin'."
"A million?" Cilia said, her stomach heating. She wasn't angry about the price, she was touched. He could've easily put fifty grand on him and someone still woulda jumped on it. But the million said to everyone how important getting him was.
"Yeah. They found him in Palm Springs in Cali at some brothel. I know the lil' ones at home tight I had to cancel the trip. But I ain't want you to go out there after two weeks of fun and have to come back to this. I rather you deal with this first and purge it from your system, then go and have fun."
Cilia leapt into his arms and Allele hugged her tight, rubbing her back up and down. Allele knew she wanted to hunt Tom down herself, but he refused to let her get hurt in the process of that. Tom might've been much older than he was sixteen years ago, but that didn't mean he was something to play with.
Allele pulled away from her embrace. "If you don't want to kill anyone, if you can't face him you don't have too. You can go sit in the car, I'll handle it for you. But if you want to get to him, he's here and he has to be ridden off by tonight."
"I wanna do it." Cilia said almost instantly.
Allele nodded and took her in the direction of the abandoned home sandwiched between two complexes. They walked down the three concrete stairs and went through a tiny backyard before Allele unlocked the backdoor with a key.
Cilia was behind him, taking hold of his hand again. Walking in cautiously like it was a haunted house and she didn't know what to expect. But the minute she saw her old rapist, her eyes widened and she let go of Allele's hand, speed walking in front of him. She stopped a few feet away once she got close.
Tom was chained to a chair, staring back. He was a little banged up and a ball gag was in his mouth stopping him from talking. Cilia couldn't even see his arms, it was underneath the chains.
In the far corner water was dripping from a crack in the wall. The room was a medium sized place and it was extremely cold. It smelled of mold and a rodent scurried across the concrete and dashed into a hole.
It was so quiet Allele startled her when he spoke. "I have my Glock, there's a tire iron in the corner," He pointed, "I got a knife if you wanna use that or let me know what else you into."
"Okay." Cilia whispered. She took those last steps over to Tom and pulled the ball gag out his mouth.
There was a lick of more silence before she finally spoke.
"Why? Why'd you do what you did to me? I was nine." Cilia finally spoke. She promised herself she wouldn't cry, and she wouldn't. He would never see tears from her.
Tom said nothing.
"I want the tire iron." Cilia said.
Allele went and retrieved it for her. Cilia was definitely not going to play this game with him. She wouldn't be shouting and screaming and stressing herself out—he was going to answer her.
Tom glared at her, his eyes almost looking black. His face saying if he could only get out his restraint he would do to her what he did to her sixteen years ago when she was a child.
"If I swing this tire iron at you, they'll find fragments of your skull stuck in your brain. Answer me."
Tom could tell she was serious about her threat. She was skinny but it wasn't like she was a child. She still had enough strength in her to kill him if she hit him with it a few times.
The backdoor lock was suddenly being fumbled with and Allele whipped his gun in the direction of the door. It was only the two dudes who found Tom.
"Damn, it's like that?" One spoke, hands up. Thinking they were being played.
Allele lowered his weapon. "Nah, never. My bad, didn't know it was ya'll. But come on, I got the money with me."
Allele told Cilia he would be back and he was going to pay the guys their money. Besides, he wanted to give her privacy. He didn't want to hear Tom's excuses for what he did. That might make him kill the piece of shit faster than Cilia.
Once they were alone, Cilia refocused on him. Cilia motioned for him to talk.
"Because you needed something. You needed food and I wanted sex. I never forced you to have sex with me let's make that clear."
"You wouldn't have given me and my sister food if I hadn't."
"And why would I have too? You weren't my foster kids. You were Pat's. You and your sister weren't my responsibility. I didn't have to do shit for you. Just like you didn't have to have sex with me, but you wanted the food."
"I was a child! I was nine you piece of shit. Nine! Not even near puberty. You're the worst kind of pedophile. You opportunistic bastard. You prayed on me because you know I didn't have anybody else to turn too. Why didn't you go to the suburbs and go molest one of those rich kids? Because you know they would set you on fire! So you do it to the poor inner city girl."
"You done?"
Cilia slammed the circular end of the tire iron into his mouth. His teeth ripped straight through his top lip and a side tooth fell out. His eyes were wide, the pain shocking him. He couldn't even say anything. His face was going numb quick, he could see blood spilling out his mouth.
Cilia stared at him, majority of his upper lip was shredded, hanging open. It looked like a mini fire cracker popped in his mouth.
He tried to say something but his lips were swelling and with no upper lip, it was messing up his pronunciation.
He focused on breathing, wondering what his face looked like. He was becoming scared. He had hoped he was gonna get some hysterical, grieving woman.
"You never touched Iris, you know that? It was me the whole time. I would run back to the room and change clothes so you would think it was her, but it was me. You did that to me for over a year, sometimes calling me a whore. After you violated me."
"S'we." He hissed, trying to pronounce sorry.
Cilia kicked him in his chest and the chair tipped back on the two back legs. It wasn't enough to topple him, so she quickly kicked him again and he fell on his back. She clutched the tire iron with two hands like it was a baseball bat and began striking him in his head with it.
Now he was sorry once he saw there was no way out the situation. Literally a minute ago he was staring at her like he wanted to kill her. Like he was the one who had the right to be mad.
Splatters of blood peppered her clothes and face. She beat him until his face swelled, beat him until he was moaning in pain, beat him until she started sweating.
Then she dropped the tire iron with a thud. He was moaning and groaning. She knew he had some kind of internal damage going on inside his head.
"You don't even care!" She screamed. "You don't even care what the fuck you did to me! You ruined my life! You've made me so angry!"
Water dripping in the corner was the only response she got.
Cilia watched him slipping in and out of consciousness. She purposefully postponed his death so he could feel his brain ringing, so he could feel the pain of dying slowly. She let it happen for a good five minutes but knew for him it felt like fifteen.
The door opened and Allele came back in. He had been chopping it up with the men and dividing their cut evenly for them. They each got $500,000. That was also part of the deal, that if anyone chose to partner up the profits had to be split among the group.
Allele was a little surprised to what he walked into. Tom's face looked like mush. He was just fine five minutes ago. Cilia had little spots of blood all over her.
"Lil' the Glock."
He handed it to her and without another word, she put all fifteen rounds into his face and chest.
"Take the car and and go home. I got a way to get home, don't worry about me. I'll clean everything up here and get rid of the body." Allele told her, taking the gun back.
Cilia swallowed down her anger. She was still pumped of adrenaline. But she nodded. She turned and walked out, closing this chapter of her life. She only hoped it reflected in her heart soon.
****
Lisa and Egypt were at the address Kenneth had given them. It was a small little quaint shop nestled between a Checkers restaurant and a tattoo parlor. It was in Far Rockaway, Queens. Lisa could see the front glass door.
The shop was open. The big sign Paper Cuts lit up with white lights.
Apparently Ricky's ex-wife was apart of the book club here that hosted its book discussions on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Saturday's. Since it was Saturday, the woman was expected to be here. Lisa sat across the street in the rundown $3500 Ford pickup truck, watching.
She didn't know what to do. Was she in there already? Was she not coming today? Should she get out and check herself? Did she stay here and wait it out? Part of Lisa's hesitation to get out the truck was because she was scared. Had Lotus recognized they'd run away yet? Had hitmen been sent after them?
Egypt's growling stomach in the backseat made Lisa look in the rearview mirror. She cut her eyes at the child and refocused out the window. That was the last of her concerns right now. She would have to wait.
Egypt sat in the back frowning, but quiet as a mouse. She wanted to know what they were doing here and who they were looking for, but she knew better than to ask questions.
Lisa had the photo of the woman engraved in her memory because she broke her regular cellphone after the call with Kenneth. So she knew what she looked like, but she still had to pay attention to see if she saw her or not.
Just then, a skinny tall White woman in her forties with messy brown hair, holding a Starbucks latte with a green scarf around her neck and coke bottle glasses, descended the few stairs that led down into the bookstore.
Lisa's face was almost pressed against the glass as she watched the woman push the door, but it was locked. She didn't look surprised or shocked though. Just waited. Seconds later someone came to the door and opened it from the inside with a key, hugged her and relocked the door.
The book club must be today, only exclusive to members. Lisa thought. That's probably why they had the door locked. So regular civilians off the street didn't come in. in. It was reserved for the book club today.
Lisa slipped into her thoughts while she watched the door like a hawk.
How would she even approach the woman? What if she denied being apart of any cartel affiliations because she thought Lisa was a fed? That thought hadn't occurred to Lisa. Any normal person would deny that. Especially if a stranger came up to them claiming to be estranged family. But she had names, Kenneth had called these people by name. So the names should be proof enough.
"Mommy."
"What." Lisa said harshly, looking in the rearview mirror.
"I'm hungry." Egypt whispered, lips chapped and feeling dehydrated. She must've put on Vaseline ten times so far.
"Well I can't help you right now." Lisa said, eyes returning to the bookstore.
"Can you go into the Wendy's right there across the street?"
"I'm not going anywhere. You'll eat when I deem it plausible for you to eat. Eat," Lisa scoffed. "That should be the last thing on your goddamn mind. Is that something that happens after you shoot and kill a baby? That bloodlust at the party opened up your appetite?"
Her mother's harsh words had deeply hurt the young girl as she went into a painful sob. Lisa didn't give a damn. She was so angry, so hurt. If they were caught by police she would be jailed too for running. She was not suppose to leave the state. But she was not letting the cartel kill her daughter.
"After everything I did for you. I tried to be the parent that didn't hit you to discipline you. I gave you freedom and allowed you to express yourself without feeling like you lived in a military household. That wasn't enough for you, now you have both our lives in danger. Shut the hell up!" She barked, not wanting to hear the crying.
Egypt clapped a hand over her mouth, forcing herself to be quiet. She felt so alone, like everyone hated her. She had never seen this side of her mother before. Lisa was treating her like a stranger.
Lisa waited about an hour, but nothing happened. No one else went in or came out the bookstore. Anxious, she pulled her burner phone out seeing she had two minutes left. Which was perfect because she didn't need a long conversation. She dialed Kenneth's number only for the automated voice system to tell her the number was no longer in service.
"Dammit!" Lisa yelled out loud in frustration. She didn't know if it wasn't in service because he didn't pay his bill. Or if he purposely cut it off not wanting to get involved anymore than he had.
Lisa waited for a total of an hour and forty minutes when the door to Paper Cuts opened and a small group of older woman exited. The group stemmed from forties to at least late sixties.
At least about twelve women, all different races, shapes and sizes came onto the sidewalk. The moment of diversity would've been so cute had it not been for the fact Lisa was on the run from her ex-fiancé and technically law enforcement.
Lisa eyed all of them quick but carefully as some already started to walk off. Lisa saw her and sat up like a deer when it heard something rustle in the bushes. She watched her father's brother's ex-wife talking to the tall skinny White lady with the coke bottle glasses. Lisa's heart hammered as she saw it was the same woman in the photo Kenneth sent her. She was an actual person and not some made up story.
But identifying her was one thing, Lisa still needed to confront her. Lisa was about to get out her truck, but the woman crossed the street to where she was and dipped into the car right in front of her's. It was modest, platinum white pearl Acura RDX.
She assumed if the woman's father use to be a kingpin and her son was one now, she'd be in something more fancier. Then again based on the dark denim jeans, black ankle boots and causal turtleneck she seemed like a low key woman. The type that didn't flaunt her status and wealth.
Lisa got the idea to just follow her. If she ran up to the car and started rattling all this off she might scare her and cause her to drive off. If she followed her she could just confront her when she got to where she was going.
Lisa drove three cars behind the woman trying to stay inconspicuous. She had never tailed anyone before so she didn't know if she was doing a good job of being low key or not. But it was actually pretty easy to follow her, she wasn't a fast driver.
The woman only switched lanes a few times or sped up to catch a yellow light; but no crazy driving that indicated she knew she was being followed. Ten minutes into the ride Lisa ended up two cars behind her as one went off in a different direction.
Lisa could see into her car a little better now that she was closer. She saw her on the phone, driving with one hand. She didn't know people still did that. Bluetooth was so easy to hook up in a car.
Egypt stared out the back window, a hot tear rolling down her cheek. She felt so depressed. The ride was at least half a hour when the ex-wife's car turned and started to pull onto a block.
Not wanting to be right behind her, Lisa pulled the truck to the side and double parked to see where she was going. She watched the woman park on the street in front of a house, then get out.
The neighborhood was beautiful. Every lawn was trimmed perfectly, the architect on the houses chic and modern. The block had such an elegant, sophisticated look. All the houses looked exactly the same, the only thing differentiating them was the address on the side of the homes.
Lisa watched the older woman like a hawk. She was still on the phone, balancing it between her ear and shoulder. She opened up her back car door and reached in, taking a few bags out and then closed the backdoor with her hip and started to head up the pathway to a house.
Noticing they stopped driving, Egypt finallybroke out of her daydream and looked around trying to figure out where they were. Lisa was trying to decide if she should give the woman a minute to get settled in first so it wouldn't be obvious she followed her; or if she should go up to the door knocking right away so she would know how serious it was.
After two minutes, Lisa decided it was now or never. She drove up on the block and parked right behind the woman's car, blocking the driveway. Then she shut the engine off. She looked in the rearview mirror. "Get out the car." She said. Her tone was stern. Without another word she herself got out as well.
Egypt unbuckled her seatbelt and slid out, shutting the door behind her. The two walked up the woman's walkway. The house was a flat, but Lisa could tell this cost a pretty penny.
Lisa looked all around, feeling like they were being watched. She was paranoid about everything. She even only wore sneakers now in case the sound of her heels would attract attention and someone would recognize her.
Egypt's stomach was growling so loud she knew the neighbors could probably hear it. Lisa raised her hand and knocked on the door. It opened almost immediately like the woman was by the door. Lisa made eye contact with her the same time she felt cold metal touch the back of her head.
"Walk inside." A dark, cold voice told her. There was a hint of an African accent.
Lisa was staring at the woman in shock, thinking it was one of Lotus's goons. The ex-wife swallowed and opened her door wider, allowing the gunman to escort her and her daughter inside.
Lisa couldn't see if they had Egypt at gun point or not because she was standing in front. The man had a grip on the back of her neck, looking at the woman for direction. Had she called them?
"O-Over there." Melissa pointed, at the two couches sitting across from each other in her living room.
These were definitely not Lotus's goons.
The man walked Lisa over and pushed her onto the the couch. He then aimed his gun at her head. Egypt sat next to her mother as well, a gun trained on her too.
Suddenly, floods of men started walking through the woman's door, shocking Lisa. What the hell is going on? Lisa thought. Lisa analyzed how calm the older woman was right now and thought back on when she was following her. She'd been on her phone at one point. Did she notice she was being tailed and called these people up to meet her at her house? She sure opened the door like she knew they were already outside.
Lisa started sweating bullets. "P-please I don't want any trouble. I didn't come here to bring you any harm—"
Lisa stopped speaking when the last man walked in. He stood out instantly and she already knew he was the boss. He shut the door behind him and the whole house was in complete silence. Just the sound of his shoes as he made his way over to the ex-wife.
He was much younger than her. Must've been his mother.
There were two lines in his head. He looked distressed, most likely for her. He put a hand on her arm and leaned in to say a few things. She nodded or mumbled back responses. She put her hand on his face most likely trying to reassure him. He gently pulled her hand away and gave it a squeeze before sliding his hands in his pockets and coming toward her.
"She followed me all the way from Paper Cuts. I saw her in her car when I was leaving. She pulled off the same time as me but didn't think anything of it. Halfway through the car ride I realized she was following me." The older woman exposed.
Lisa was shaking. "P-please let me explain."
The man was staring at her, his eyes like black holes. He never even looked at Egypt, just kept his eyes on her. He said nothing so Lisa didn't know if that meant be quiet or keep talking. She tested it out any way.
"I was sent by Kenneth, Ricky's brother?" Lisa said, hoping the information Kenneth told her was true.
"Okay? So you know my ex-husband's brother. What does that have to do with why you followed me to my house? Having a child with you doesn't make you any less unsuspecting or dangerous." The woman told her.
"Because I need help." Lisa begged.
This time the boss spoke. Suit and tie from head to toe, he was sharp. "You think because you know Kenneth, I should help you? Who is Kenneth to me?"
Lisa felt her blood run cold. He wasn't saying that he didn't know Kenneth. He was saying that he didn't care about him. If he didn't care about his own uncle, then why would he help her? Lisa felt herself getting desperate.
"Because Ricky is your father," Lisa said to the man, waiting for confirmation, but he gave her none. "And Kenneth is my father, which means they're brothers. Which would make us cousins."
Melissa looked at seeming a little surprised, seeming to study her a little harder now. She knew Kenneth had a child, she just never saw her. The man in the suit had an expressionless face, but he ordered the men holding the guns to the two to stand down.
"Kenneth and Ricky were half-brothers. Barely related. They didn't even have the same last name." The boss spoke. "So I still don't understand what the point of your comment was."
It was Lisa's turn to speak. "Ricky may have had the notorious last name West. But it didn't make Kenneth any less related to him just because they were half-brothers. They were still brothers. Just like I also may not have the last name West, but I am still your cousin, Andre West."