Bonnie sat quietly and listened to Lotus venting as they sat inside his Midtown Manhattan office. Lotus had been coming here a lot recently. To either meet with his close soldiers, to connect with the other side of the law to track Zeus and his crew down and to just have a quiet space to check up on his legal businesses.
Luckily, they had a hit on where the stripper Patricia "Juicer" Hemmingway lived and some sort of idea that William "Watcha" Olsen was somewhere in Harlem. They would use the stripper to lead them to the rest of the Prophets crew. And would also stakeout Harlem to look out for Watcha.
But while the Hunter soldiers were already on top of that, Lotus was taking the time to explain to Bonnie what had recently happened between him and Noelle. He told him about her hanging up the phone on a three-hour phone call right when he was about to get Kawsu's location. Lotus ended up reaching out to Andre West after, who had connections in Africa and would most likely find him, but still. The whole ordeal had been annoying.
He told Bonnie that Noelle left the house and took the girls, going to her parents. He didn't stop her either feeling it was best.
Bonnie sat in a leather swivel chair around an oval shaped desk, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. He eyed Lotus the whole time, watching him occasionally down Whiskey straight from the bottle while he spoke.
He finished explaining the story in ten minutes, but he wasn't done ranting.
"How do you have the gall to do what you did and you already know you're on thin ice with me, you know? I haven't even told anyone in my family that her brother is partly the reason why all of this is happening. I've been keeping it to myself this whole time and you're still going out of your way to piss me off?!"
Bonnie had a blank face, just watching his friend. When he took another swig of the alcohol, downed it but didn't say anything else, Bonnie figured he was done.
"You know you're also wrong, right?"
"Me? I'm wrong?" Lotus said looking at his righthand man. "Are you kidding me right now?"
"No. Noelle is wrong, but so are you. You're telling me this because you're hoping I'll tell you how you reacted wasn't wrong, so it would erase your guilt for how you handled the situation. But I'm not about to do that. Just like I told you with the Egypt situation, even though she was not the best child you were wrong for the way you use to speak to her. Same thing here, you're wrong for a multitude of reasons, it's not just her."
Lotus put the bottle down and wiped the back of his mouth. Honestly he felt Bonnie was still salty about the time he told him off for trying to school him about family—when he pointed out he left his brother in foster care. So Lotus felt he was just trying to do the same now to feel better about himself.
"Another reason this whole situation makes you wrong is because you know that woman knows you want her brother dead. So why would you even be having a conversation about tracking her brother down in the house, knowing she's right there in the house with you? Then wanna be mad she did what she did? She was scared, she didn't know what to do. She suppose to stand there and let you get the information to kill him? You shouldn't have even brought that to the house." Bonnie looked up at him, pointing his finger like he was talking to a child. "You mad disrespectful and I been telling you that."
Lotus almost said he didn't give a fuck where he was at. But it would prove Bonnie's point, so he let that one go.
"Wow. So she helps her brother who attempted to get me killed and I'm wrong. Cool, keep going Bonnie, what's reason three?" Lotus said sarcastically, leaning over his desk, placing his palms on the cold surface.
"You should've never involved this girl in asking her to give her brother up. You don't put somebody in a position to choose when it comes to somebody they love. Because let's be real...you're not hurt Noelle didn't tell you where her brother is, you're annoyed. There's a difference. You're Lotus Hunter you don't need her to tell you where he is. You can find him yourself. You just want to tell that man when you find him that his sister was the one that gave his location. Asking someone to give you their brother to be murdered as if it's nothing is crazy. Because you're not thinking about how that would affect her. You're just worried about how you feel. Yes, you don't have any personal connections to Kawsu but she does. It's her brother and you're not taking that into consideration. And that's what makes you wrong about the situation. Not that you're upset with her, you have a right to be. But it's the fact that you're not seeing why she feels differently from you. It's like you don't care how her being in the middle of you two is mentally affecting her as long as you get what you want."
Bonnie noticed the sarcastic look Lotus was giving him. Blinking as he spoke. His loved to be rude as hell to other people. But he didn't like when somebody put him in his place. But Bonnie didn't care, he could have his tantrum, he wasn't gonna do shit.
"You know that girl ain't built to be no drug dealer's wife, Lotus. None of the women you messed with were. But especially not Noelle."
"I never asked her to be."
"So then stop expecting her to move like one. You acting like this girl live by street code. Like she in her head like 'a'right, my brother did something wrong, so it's the cartel way, he gotta go.' That is her brother. I keep saying it because you're not getting it." Bonnie said tapping her index finger against the side of his temple. "It's not like she hiding her brother from law-enforcement. She's hiding him from you, because she knows that he's going to die if you get to him. You are taking your family dynamic where y'all could turn on each other at the drop of a dime and try to take each other out and thinking that she should be able to do the same with her family. Noelle is a regular civilian woman."
"I know."
"No you don't know because you would've never involved her like I just told you."
"You got a crush or something?" Lotus smirked. "Because you didn't tell me one thing yet that Noelle did wrong, but you can sit here and list fifty things I did even though her brother started this by putting a hit out on me. And I didn't involve Noelle in anything. She involved herself when she decided to help her brother get away."
"No I don't have a crush, you just want somebody to cheerlead and kiss ya ass. And I'm not doing that. And as much as I don't like her brother, no he didn't start this. You did with your mouth."
"I thought he was talking about my dead son."
"And that's understandable but this is not the first incident where you've said something hella wild and out of line. Like I said, I don't care for her brother at all. But I would never talk about somebody's sexual assault. You gotta remember you have three daughters. One who's a preteen that's at that age where she's bout' to start being interested in boys and boys are gonna be interested in her. You never know what can happen in the future, watch what you say."
"Okay Bonnie."
"And yes Noelle involved herself, but again so did you by directly asking her for her brother, when you could've found him yourself. But that wasn't good enough for you. You wanted her to do it to hurt him and it ended up hurting you because she chose her brother. But because you did involve her, there were ways to go about it. Not the wild ass aggressive way you did it. You don't know how to handle Noelle. She's soft and innocent, way too soft and innocent for this type of shit. And it's something you do all the time. You have this heavy attraction to these non-cartel type women and then expect them to move like cartel women."
Lotus knew Noelle was innocent, too innocent. It's like she didn't even understand the repercussions of what could've happened to her. Had this been any other man in the field he worked, they would've killed her for helping the other person. So he knew just how deep her naivety ran, he didn't need Bonnie to tell him. But it didn't mean he didn't have a right to be mad at her for what she did. Innocence did not make her stupid. She knew what she did.
And at this point, Lotus swore Bonnie had a crush. Because even in admitting Noelle was wrong, he still sounded like he was taking Noelle's side fully. As if it was his fault she did what she did.
"Since you know her so well and since you know how soft and delicate she is, tell me...how should I have gone about her brother linking up with my enemy to take me out."
"By simply going after him yourself, I just said it. Or another alternative was meeting her halfway. Prime example, when you asked her to tell you where her brother was, did you tell her what you were gonna do to him when you found him?"
Silence.
"Exactly, but she supposed to just give him up to you and she don't know what your plans for him are? You're married, but you're moving like a dictator. You were supposed to meet her in the middle. If you want her brother, let her know what's gonna happen when you find him. You can't just ask and then leave her in the dark and be upset when she don't wanna take the risk of telling you. She does not want to be responsible for him dying."
"I told her if she told me I would be nice when I caught him." Lotus said.
Bonnie smacked his teeth and gave him a look. "And she knows you're lying dummy. Ya'll both know you just said that hoping she would give him up."
Lotus was getting about tired of this conversation. He reached for the control system on the wall and turned the air conditioning off. It was Summer so outside was scorching, but in here was like a meat freezer. "I get some of the things you're saying, but we're married. I expected a little more loyalty on my end."
Bonnie laughed in his friend's face having no idea if he was serious or if it was the liquor. He couldn't tell if he was serious because Lotus was a little tipsy. He wasn't laughing at him because he brought up marriage as a point. He was laughing at him because Lotus himself did not follow marriage code, but expected her too.
Wiping a lone tear from his eye, Bonnie put his hands up to show he was done laughing at Lotus's expense. "Look...i'on know too much about marriage bruh, but what I do know is no sane woman in her right mind is going to pick a man she only knew for a year over her own family she's known her entire life, just because she's married to him. Unless she's mentally ill, desperate for a ring, or just doesn't get along with her family, then sure. But be realistic, y'all are still learning each other while her family already knows her. Not everybody can just reduce the love they have for people they've known their whole life to put somebody else in first place who was not there the whole time. She has to get use to you."
Lotus was by his computer desk when he suddenly pulled the chair out and let out a big sigh as he sat in it. Bonnie didn't know if it was an irritated sigh from what he was saying or if it was because he was actually listening to him now and just taking into account what he was saying.
"Noelle is being smart about this marriage shit." Bonnie said tapping the side of his head. "She's being cautious and shit...I don't blame her. Not to be negative, i'm just keeping it a stack but most marriages don't even last long. So maybe she's thinking what makes you worth it to put you first in front of her family when you might not even be her husband eight months from now. Rings and marriages end all the time but you always have your family. She's being one of the smart ones. She's not jumping into this headfirst acting like divorce could never happen to her. Because like I said, I don't know a lot about marriage, but I've seen women who have acted like their marriage could never go bad and you know what they ended up being rewarded with in that marriage they went so hard for?"
Bonnie could see this time Lotus was actually listening to him. The sarcastic look was gone and he actually seemed interested in what Bonnie was saying. Bonnie could see something he said had gotten through to his friend and he was actually starting to see his perspective.
"They got husbands who turned around and ended up cheating on them, beating them, making babies out of wedlock on them and giving them STDs. I know situations where women have stopped talking to their own family, just because the husband didn't like them and he comes first. Just for that same husband to leave her anyway. And most of the times for another woman. Then in the end that woman's left with no husband or family."
Lotus was rubbing his temples stressfully, but he didn't say a word.
Bonnie turned his rotating chair directly toward Lotus and sat up, putting his hands together. He gave him full eye contact so he could process the seriousness behind his next set of words.
"And friend, I mean this in the most absolute, respectful way to try and make you a better person, not to put you down. You're my homeboy and i've known you since I was fourteen. So I'm trying to help you, not hurt you. But truthfully, if I was Noelle, I would not put you first either. Look at how you treat her when you get mad. I've seen the way you are with Noelle on several occasions. When you're in a good headspace, best husband in the world. It's like something out of a Disney movie. Let that woman piss you off though. You turn into a different person. Why would she put you first when you can't even control your mouth when you get angry?"
That got Lotus slightly agitated. "I do treat her right."
"You don't, because you do it only on condition. Look how you just handled her because she stopped you from getting the information to go hunt her brother down and kill him. Niggas would kill for a woman like her. Street dudes, nine-to-fives, athletes, all types. With a woman like her you have to be delicate at all times. You can't treat her like a queen, but then when you get mad, flip out on her and wonder why she can't fully acclimate to you."
"You a marriage counselor now?"
"No I just have sense."
Lotus found this funny he was giving all this advice when he had a girlfriend he literally slapped around and treated like shit. But he left it alone because he didn't want to start another argument. He was tired hearing Bonnie's mouth.
Bonnie stood, indicating he was getting ready to go and Lotus was grateful. He was aggravated by his friend's presence today.
"Just so you know, Noelle is also at fault. Don't just think I'm saying all of it is you."
Lotus pretended to be surprised. "Wow, because I could've sworn this whole hour you spent here was to put me in my place."
"Well you're my homeboy, so I'm gonna check you. She's wrong for giving her brother your fifty thousand and wanting you to have leniency on him because he's her brother, yeah. But her being wrong for helping him? No. You woulda did the same thing. Remember, you begged her to give you another chance. So you asked to step into her world. Think about that, bro. She didn't ask to come back to your drug cartel and your chaos. She was ready to walk away with her daughters. You asked her to be apart of her life again. Your peace away from this cartel stuff. So her allowing you into her world means you treat her according to how her world runs. So you should've treated that whole situation delicately. There were ways to get answers out her without doing it the way you did it."
Lotus stood to walk his annoying, preaching ass to the door. To be honest he did see some of Bonnie's points, he wasn't gonna act like he didn't say anything valid. But his anger was valid as well.
The two men dapped up and Lotus shrugged. "I hear some of the things you're saying, I do. But the issue is this is not only revolving around me. When my family finds out her brother was involved, their gonna not only want his head, but her's too."
Bonnie looked him dead in his eyes. "And if they do, that says a lot. Which is exactly why you should protect her even more."
Lotus was stunned and he couldn't wrap his mind around what Bonnie was saying. He usually figured things out pretty quickly, but this one had him drawing a blank. Maybe it was the alcohol distorting his ability to receive things, but his words surely would stick to his mind until he figured it out.
But they would start moving in on Zeus' crew tonight and for now, that was all Lotus was worried about.
****
Patricia sat crying in the back of the automobile like a child did when they were told no Mcdonalds. She was scared and underdressed in a sports bra and mismatched leggings with a big ass hole in the back, showing her black grandma panties. She felt and looked dumb.
The cartel had snatched her out her apartment just how they found her. She knew it was super silly to be thinking about the way she would die if they chose to kill her. But she would be so embarrassed if she went out like this. She had 67,000 followers on Instagram. She always looked expensive and done up online, so she couldn't go out like this. The internet would destroy her.
It was just Allele and Keshawn on this mission. Seven other Hunter goons were in Harlem, prepared to find Watcha. Keshawn and Allele had taken her from her apartment pretending to be UPS asking her to sign for a package. Greed got her, because she knew she didn't oder anything but still risked it all to take someone else's property.
She already knew these men were allies of the queenpin woman in the recent attack that was all over the place. It didn't take Patricia ten seconds to snitch when asked about the Prophets. But she kept Kawsu's name out of it, saying her only involvement was setting up the meeting between the Prophets and "some guy". She pretended not to know who the man was and only set it up because she was paid too. She liked Kawsu so she didn't say too much. They'd been sleeping together for two years now.
Patricia didn't know where all the Prophet members lived. She only spoke to two of them. Watcha and Xan. But she didn't know where Watcha lived, only that it was somewhere in Harlem. But she knew where Xan was because they use to sleep together. So she was going to lead them there.
Allele fixed the center mirror to see the stripper in the back. He was trying to catch eye contact with her but she was too busy crying.
"Shut up." Allele said.
Patricia kept quiet not wanting to test him. Keshawn sat in the backseat next to her keeping his head out the window. He wasn't paying her any mind. Allele glanced at his brother in the mirror before putting his eyes back on the road. Keshawn didn't speak much anymore since the death of Dion.
Patricia only opened her mouth when asked for directions and nothing else. Allele finally pulled up at the back up at the building of Xan's apartment complex where Patricia freely volunteered that the backdoor was never closed. Keshawn got out the car and rolled his mask down, yanking the girl out by her hair. Allele did the same, getting out and rounding the front of the car to get the M16A1 rifle on the floor of the passenger seat.
Like Patricia said, the backdoor was open.
Keshawn pulled the girl inside with him, Allele following after. They took the stairs, going up three flights. They were short sets of steps so the trio made it up pretty quickly.
"Three-twenty." Patricia reminded them of the door number.
They covered the hallway quickly, ending up at the end in seconds. The plan had been once they got there, Patricia would knock on the door pretending to have news on the Hunter cartel. It made sense she might since she set up the meeting.
But that plan went out the window for Allele once he got in front the door. Lifting the machine, he placed the butt to his shoulder and held it firmly. Laying his finger down on the trigger, hundreds of rounds ate away at the door and tore away at everything in its sight. Furniture, glass and human bodies. No matter what it was, things exploded as the automatic sounded like a drumroll.
Patricia dropped down and screamed, covering her ears.
"Oh shit!" Xan yelled, fortunate enough to have just been coming from the back when the bullets started. Luckily for him, he was able to turn around and run back toward the room.
He invited his niggas over for a night of fun on the Xbox Series X and to smoke weed. So he knew his four boys who were out front weren't so lucky.
Allele moved in and started from one end of the apartment, sweeping through it. The men tried to scramble, most getting hit as it was inevitable to escape hundreds of bullets at once.
Allele was out for blood. One unlucky man who'd been sitting on the couch centered at the door never stood a chance. He and the couch absorbed the bullets. The bullets making his chest look like craters on the moon and exposing the premium polyester fiber on the top of the couch.
Allele eased his finger off the trigger only to listen for any sounds of life.
"C'mere." Allele commanded the stripper.
Keshawn quickly dragged her over, holding her by her hair. She was crying and panicking so loud Keshawn thought she might get a heart attack.
"Where the nigga that live here? This him?" Allele knew he probably just killed him seconds ago, but just in case he wanted to know.
Patricia was hyperventilating.
Keshawn slapped her down then yanked her back up. "Speak!"
"I-I don't know!"
"You don't know?!" Keshawn snapped, looking like he was ready to slap her again.
"He barely has a face! I don't know!" She cried.
Allele bypassed a man on the floor in a pool of blood to follow a distinct sound he was hearing. He saw it was only another man on the kitchen floor clutching his neck from getting caught with a bullet in his throat. He was choking on his blood. Allele stepped over him and kept going.
Keshawn walked behind his brother and finished the job, putting a bullet in the man's head, executing him. Patricia shut her eyes and squealed wondering what the hell she got herself into. The Prophets were tough, but this cartel was ruthless, and now she was involved for being guilty by association.
Xan felt like he had the worst luck in the world. He never thought about the bar grills over his bedroom window. He actually looked at it as keeping someone from breaking him into his apartment. Now it was the very thing keeping him trapped inside. He had nowhere to go.
He loved being high and although he was in the moment, he had sobered up rather quickly. Xan ran for his gun by the nightstand the same time the bedroom door came crashing down. He spun with the gun in his hand only to be met with a high-powered M16A1 automatic assault rifle. He dropped his gun without having to be told too.
"Move away from the bed." Allele said. From where he was standing, the bed was blocking Xan's bottom half. He wanted to be able to see him in full view.
Xan did, now noticing Patricia. His eyes were steely on her. This bitch set me up! He thought.
"Xan help me..." She cried.
"Fuck you! After everything —"
"Did you shoot Dion?" Keshawn asked, no time for the lover's spat.
"What?" Xan asked. He shot a lot of people, he would have to be more specific than that.
"The guy..." Keshawn swallowed, "that went through the Starbucks window."
"Oh." Xan said. Zo did it, but he was no snitch. He would go out like a solid nigga. "Doesn't matter who did it, he's dead now. Might as well just do what you have to do."
"If you tell us who pulled the trigger on him, we'll leave you alive to send the message back. If you tell us that information and who stabbed the little boy." Allele lied.
Xan shrugged. He was a little more comfortable now, knowing they would have to hurry up and make their choice. Police sirens were getting closer so he knew his death would be quick. "Sorry fellas, can't help you."
Keshawn shot Xan, silencing him forever. He collapsed and hit the ground with a hard thud. The two brothers left out, taking Patricia with them. Back in the car she was even more scared. What would they do with her?
They discussed it back on their way to the meeting point where Keshawn's car was. Allele would return home, but Keshawn would keep the girl with him and in the morning he would inform the Hunter siblings about her.
He knew they would work their magic to get her talking. Especially with White Locus's methods, they would probably figure out who was behind it all within the same hour.
*****
Allele pulled the car into the garage. He'd been calling Cilia for the past twenty minutes to get the door for him. He was trying to see if the kids were awake because he didn't want to walk past them with his clothes caked in blood. But she wasn't answering.
He was irritated and because he didn't want to chance the kids seeing him come in all bloody, he got out the car and decided to strip in the garage. He had to hide the gun as well, so he found a corner to stash it in. None of the kids were ever in the garage anyway, but he'd seen stories, so just in case he played it safe and put it behind some tall shelves and put white sheets over it.
He stripped down to his Ethika boxers, hiding the clothes that had splashes and specks blood on them and eased into the house from the garage entrance.
All the lights were off except for the one in the lounge room. It wasn't out of the ordinary, sometimes someone would forgot it on and in the middle of the night if he or Cilia came downstairs for something they would turn it off.
Allele was very sly in approaching, just to check and see if Cilia had fallen asleep in there or something. He barely peeked inside and everything happened so fast in that one second.
Allele's hand went over the mouth of the unfamiliar woman before she could scream and backed her against the wall. It only took him two seconds to realize it was Journi. They had both startled each other. He removed his hand immediately and backed up. The whole war with Zeus had him on edge.
"Journi?! What are you doing here?"
Journi didn't say anything. Just sank to the ground with a hand over her chest. She had to catch herself before she could answer. She thought someone had broke into the house and was about to kill her.
She huffed and looked at him seeming to be annoyed with him for the first time ever. "I was asked by your wife to come over here. She wanted me to babysit the kids."
If he was shocked then it showed. "...Cilia asked you?!" He asked, incredulously.
"Yeah." She shrugged. She was surprised herself when Cilia reached out. But she thought he would know that. She saw they were back to doing that thing they did where they didn't tell the other one what the plans were.
"Where is she?" Allele asked.
Journi was now noticing he was half-naked. Her eyes roamed his chiseled physique and the print against his boxers. The material looked vacuum sealed over his Johnson. Her scare a few seconds ago was at the back of her mind as she low-key caught glances of his well endowed member.
She looked up at him. "How would I know? And why you ain't got no clothes on?" She said skinning her face up even though there was a clear smile on her face.
She assumed he was coming in the house on some freak shit and trying to surprise Cilia but obviously didn't know she was here.
Allele didn't even know what to say because he clearly came from off the street with no clothes on. "I took my clothes off in the garage, was trying to check my gas tank for something and the gas spilled all over me. I guess it's faulty. Had to take my clothes off so I don't spread oil everywhere."
She would've actually believed that but he didn't smell like gasoline. It was an earthy, musky smell and a little smokey—which she didn't know was gun-smoke.
"How long have you been here?" He asked, checking his wrist like he was wearing a watch. He put his arm down when he realized.
"From like twelve this afternoon."
"And you sure Cilia asked you to come here?"
Putting her hands on her hips, Journi sucked her teeth playfully, tilting her head. "Who else is going to give me permission to come to your house?"
Allele was just thrown for a loop on why Cilia would ask Journi of all people. He got not asking Ophelia because she was morning and maybe not even Faith because maybe her granddaughter was over today or she just didn't wanna overwhelm the old lady. Lotus was busy in the field with the war himself and White Locus was not a babysitter. But still, Cilia would've hired a stranger before she hired Journi again. So something said this was an emergency and something was going on.
"Did she give you a duration? How long did she ask you to stay? What was she wearing when she left?" Allele said leaving the lounge room.
Oop! Journi thought, This bitch cheating? Not some shit finna go down! She thought, following him out the room. At one point in time she'd been crushing on Allele hard, but she was happy in her current relationship now. So she wasn't hoping Cilia was out there creeping, she just wanted to see some drama.
"Umm...she didn't give me a time she just said most likely until late. But she did say I might have to stay overnight. And I'm not gonna lie I didn't really see what she was wearing, didn't pay attention to that." Journi shrugged.
Allele said a few curses in his head. Cilia had him standing here looking dumb. He didn't even know about his wife's own whereabouts right now. They talked about this and she was still playing with him.
Allele took the stairs and silently peaked his head in Casi's room. She had a tiny little bed. They had gotten rid of her crib. She was asleep with the nightlight on and some pink pajamas. He pushed open the door and checked on the boys. Jaxon and Phenix were sleeping as well head to toe.
Allele exited the boys' room and went into his bedroom trying to call Cilia again. It went straight to voicemail. He didn't know whether to tell Journi to stay or go.
They hadn't really spoken much since the argument at the hospital where he told her he was the only parent that wanted Alix. She would come up there just to see Alix, but would barely talk to him unless it was about the kids despite he apologize for what he said.
Then it hit him, what she had said to him that same day.
"...When Lotus and Locus start finding out stuff about Zeus's crew and it's time to get into the field, I am not your wife. Don't ask me to stay home and be Susie homemaker, don't ask me to babysit no kids and stay inside with the doors and windows locked. I'm going to do whatever I want since you're doing it right now. Marriage is only a team thing to you make the rules, but I'm gonna make my own."
Allele grit his teeth, knowing damn well she did not do this. He was going to get in the shower, but he knew that probably would make no sense because he was most likely going to be drenched in blood again this time forreal, if stumbled onto some shit he didn't like.
Grabbing a black hoodie and black jeans, he put the clothes on and came right back down the stairs.
"Yeah, this one's an overnight job." Allele told her, walking right back toward the garage. "Get comfortable, you'll be here overnight."
Journi squealed quietly as she clapped her hands together. Because she knew she would be paid handsomely by time morning came.
Opening the garage door and starting the car, Allele loaded the M16A1 rifle right back in the car before he got in and left into the night.
****
Cilia's phone was off and she was focused as she rode in the van full of Hunter cartel members. Energies were high in the pearl white Ford E-series van.
It looked like it could be a company van that maybe had construction workers or cable guys inside. But it was a van full of killers with all types of weapons, ready to put in work.
The van of ten men in total and Cilia making the eleventh person, put a certain aura in the air. Some of the men were uneasy about wanting her with them, but only one was openly letting it show by occasionally grilling her.
Some of the men wouldn't dare, knowing it was Lotus's sister while this one didn't care. Unlike his pussy ass teammates, he was letting it be known he didn't like the idea of her riding with them. This was serious business and although they were a team, everyone would also have to be sharp and look out for themselves. He didn't have time to be babysitting any woman. If this girl came back dead, then they would be responsible when they didn't even wanna roll with her in the first place.
"Is there reason you keep looking at me?" Cilia demanded, her voice sharp.
"Yeah, you should be home mopping the floors or somethin'. I don't have time to be wearing no cape."
"Did I ask you to look after me?"
"Did you ask your man to come out here? Allele got his bitch riding out with the big boys? You a gangster like that lil' mama?" He smiled.
"Chino chill..." One of the guys next to him mumbled.
He wasn't even Spanish, Chino was just his name. His mother named him that because her great great great aunt's older cousin's uncle had been Hispanic back in the 1920s. So she thought she was Hispanic too.
Cilia looked at the man and saw a dimple in his smile. She instantly thought of Breeze and she wasn't gonna lie, but it made her sad. She was here ready to get revenge for her son, but then it hit her again that Dion was dead. They would never argue again, she would never see his dimpled smile, hear his voice, see him playing with his niece and nephews or watch him and Allele hang out. He was gone.
"Alright, I'll chill out before you go snitch to your brother and husband miss tough girl." Chino chuckled, watching the gloomy expression on her face. It's not that he disliked her, this was his first time meeting her. He was just highly annoyed. He did not want to be responsible for looking after anybody.
He didn't realize her expression was not because of what he said though, but she just had her mind on her deceased brother-in-law. Cilia looked up at Chino, her eyes glowing in the darkness of the car. Her lip turned upward and her eyebrows met at the center of her forehead.
"Nigga shut the fuck up! I could handle myself. Keep testing me and bullets from the Prophets ain't gonna be only ones you gonna be dodging tonight."
Chino was unamused, he didn't like to be threatened. But he left the girl alone. They got the drop that it was a Prophets member birthday party tonight. A high ranking one. A nigga named Zo. Which meant other high ranking members were probably in attendance. Maybe even Zeus if his punk ass came out of hiding.
Allele didn't take this mission because it was only rumored it was a party for a Prophet. With the stripper girl she had actual legitimate info that could take him to an actual Prophet. He didn't want to risk getting misinformation and miss the opportunity while he had it. But Cilia didn't care, she would go off the rumor and see for herself.
Traveling took a while because they were trying to avoid tolls to get into the city where the party was being held. Plus tollbooths held a paper trail with receipts for travel and cameras. There were cameras galore in Manhattan, but less of a paper trail to the destination would make things better.
They already had a plan. They didn't have to worry about getting into the club. They had an inside man that would let them in without being checked. They would storm in catching the enemies off guard and gun them down.
Apparently, the birthday bash was being held at Wonderland. The whole club was rented out so the streets could come and celebrate. The Prophets had become a rising crew. Mainly because they had the balls to go against a cartel. They were getting so popular the police and FBI was starting to pay attention to them.
Everyone in the van was dressed down in dark neutral colors. Cilia with a half face covering that resembled a Covid mask, her hair pulled back into a low bun with the hoodie over her head and her .35 already cocked and ready to go. She wore black leather boots similar to Doc Martens.
Pulling up across the street from the strip club, they could hear the music infiltrating the walls of the van they were in. Casanova was playing.
"Aight, ya'll ready?" Jordan requested, looking around at everyone. He was the leader.
Cilia was fine with that. She didn't tag along to try and run things. She was only here to lay the niggas down that hurt her child. Everyone answered or gave head nods.
Everyone got out the van, the cool air caressing them. The closer they got to the club, the music became more intense. The plan was to be back in the van in three minutes else you would be presumed dead or too injured to make it back on your own and get left.
Just as planned, the inside man let the entire Hunter cartel crew in, letting them know the Prophets were on the second level in V.I.P. Not wanting to be too obvious, the eleven man crew of Hunter soldiers split into three, maneuvering through the crowd instead of going straight toward the upper level in a single file. That way everyone would just look like a bunch of random people. Music, the packed environment and the darkness hid the weapons of the Hunter's intentions.
It was Zo's birthday and because he liked attention, everyone was invited out. He didn't really care who it was as long as he was being celebrated. Victor and Xan couldn't make it but he wasn't surprised. He didn't really get along with Victor anyway and Xan liked a more slow paced environment.
Zeus had also come out but he left early. He never liked to stay out too long. Zo didn't know if it was the paranoia of the world thinking he was dead and him wanting to keep the rumors true; but it gave Zo a chance to turn up without Zeus acting like an old man in his ear about keeping a low profile.
At least he had Watcha with him. He glanced at his homeboy sitting on a couch pouring himself a drink. Watcha raised his cup and Zo returned the gesture.
Wonderland was a sophisticated club, so there was more than one way to get to the second level. There were staircases on both the left and right side of the club and even elevators.
Hunter members took each route. They didn't wait to get the party started. As soon as the three-man team Cilia was on, on the left side staircase got to the platform, they caught the V.I.P area completely off guard when gunfire erupted.
Watcha was the only one to notice them when they entered the room. He stood but fumbled to get his strap.
People screamed as bottles of champagne in buckets exploded. A bottle girl holding two bottles, one in each hand with sparklers on top got hit, the impact spinning her around toward the gunfire making her catch more lead.
The second team on the right of the staircase came in and joined, this set was with Chino leading. Then the elevator doors opened exposing the rest of the cartel members. The Prophets crew were trapped inside the V.I.P section. They had to get pass the Hunters to escape or jump off the balcony which was high enough to kill or cripple.
Some Prophets members tried bussing back but they were too confused to gather their bearings. Some couldn't even tell if the ones shooting was part of their crew or the enemies.
Chino was quick and efficient, hitting anyone that wasn't dressed in the dark colors his team was wearing. The V.I.P room was one entire floor so it was packed with more than enough people to catch rounds from his twin Rugers.
Watcha hid behind a couch, down on one knee as he readied his heat. He heard someone running toward him, assuming they knew he was there and was coming toward him. Cilia had no idea a man was behind the couch and that she was running straight toward him.
Watcha stood to his feet quickly and he and Cilia caught eyes. She halted and both started letting off. Cilia bucked her Glock at Watcha as he popped back at her.
Is that a chick? He asked himself, ducking back behind the couch for cover. He couldn't tell because the bottom half of the face was covered and the hood was on showing nothing but deadly eyes. But the physique and a natural softness to the visible part of the face said woman. He didn't have time to play gender reveal though because he honestly didn't care.
Watcha came back up and kept firing, the V.I.P area sounding like a gun range.
The moment he peeked up again Cilia sent a few rounds his way.
"Agghh!" He shouted, feeling two slugs tear into his arm. Cilia's two shell casings hit the ground as she moved in on him.
His gun fell out his hand when he got hit. She pointed her's at his face. "Who shot the kid?" She asked.
"Fuck you bitch nigga!" He yelled. "Zeus is gonna kill every last one—"
Cilia sent a hollow-tip through the center of his head turning him cross-eyed. A stream of blood flowed past his hairline, traveling straight up the center of his head and creating a pool of red above him.
She ran off to go hunt down other members of the Prophets.
Zo was furious. How did this happen? Everyone was suppose to be checked at the door. Sure he knew he didn't know everyone in the building. But no one was suppose to have weapons but him and his crew. He was hiding inside the cabinet of the bar inside the room.
Cilia's eyes were on the move, counting down the time in her head. The plan was three minutes so she had to stick to that. She saw another man about to shoot a Hunter member who was sneaking up from behind him, but she got him first. Her and Chino.
They both pumped the man full of shots and left him smoking before he collapsed. The two looked at each other then Chino looked away.
"Yo' we out!" Jordan called to the crew.
"It's still one more of em' in here!" A Hunter member shouted. He was talking about Zo. The area was big so they would have to search for him for at least a minute before they found him. But they didn't have time.
"We can't! We out! We out!" Jordan told him.
Everyone retreated back to the van. Only one guy from their eleven man team got hit. He got hit in the leg but it wasn't serious.
Chino took off his shirt and tied his leg off, turning on the backlight to see how bad the wound was. The bullet hadn't been embedded deeply. He could see it. He dug his two fingers in causing the man to holler out. The rest of the guys held him down and got the bullet out within less than ten seconds.
"Da fuck is wrong with you?!" The guy hollered, soaking wet with sweat. "Man get ya'll assess off me!"
Chino chuckled, ignoring the swinging of the van as they drove away from the scene. "Man up nigga it was a flesh wound!"
Then he looked at Cilia who was peeling off her mask. She had took her hoodie down and shook her hair out.
Chino couldn't lie, she was impressive. "You did good out there lil' mama. Guess I ain't have to babysit you after all."
"My name is not lil' mama. And I told you I didn't need a babysitter."
He smirked and shook his head. Turning back to his boys, he showed his dimpled smile. "We did it!"