Theodore III
Adonis drove the get away car so we can be in and out of here quickly tonight. I'm not playing games with these people anymore. Hopefully I kill some of them, if not all of them, but if some of them just so happen to survive this attack, they'll know not to fuck with me anymore. I'm tired of these niggas playing with the lives of me and my family members and it's time to put an end to this. It's no more playing around. Somebody is going to die tonight, and I'm aiming for EJ and Ava first. Once I take them out, their entire operation will fall apart.
I screwed the silencer to the gun I was using tonight. I don't even know what kind of gun it is but I found it in King's gun vault in the basement. King has a big safe downstairs that nobody knows about but me and him. The only reason he told me about it is in case of an emergency. It's loaded with guns, cocaine, jewelry and money. He told me the only time I'm allowed to go in here is if my family is in danger. And they're in danger now, so I figured it was only right to get a gun and a silencer.
Adonis turned the lights off in the car as he turned down the street where their warehouse sat. There weren't too many people out, only three guys standing around the warehouse but they weren't anything I couldn't take out.
"Get them niggas right there," Donny pointed to the guys. "Then we gon' swing around and light this bitch up."
I rolled down the back window and when it was time to shoot, I shot exactly how Grandpa taught me to in the gun range. We've been practicing for months, so hopefully my lessons paid off. Once we got close enough up on the guys, they weren't expecting anything like this to happen because they weren't prepared for what was about to happen next. I unloaded everything I had in the pistol on them, knocking each one of them off of their feet. Bullets were flying everywhere but none hit me or Donny. Once all three of the guys were down, Donny sped off down the street and took a sharp right turn.
"Where the fuck you going?" I yelled. "Turn back around so I can get the rest of them niggas!"
"Chill fam. We gotta give it some time, let things cool down before we go back around there. I'm sure they heard something so we gotta give it a few minutes before we go back because they'll be expecting us to come back quickly."
I sucked my teeth. "No they won't. They probably didn't even hear anything. The gun wasn't that loud since the silencer is on it."
He sighed. "Trust me. I know what I'm talking about."
"They gon' come after us if we wait like some bitches. Turn this damn car back around and let's finish this shit."
"No," he protested. "We're gonna wait or we're gonna get killed."
"Nah, you can wait like a bitch but I'm about to finish this shit right now. We don't have time to wait."
I grabbed the other pistol sitting beside me and stuffed it in my pants. If Donny wants to go out like a bitch and wait to get himself killed, then he can do it by himself. Obviously I'm the only one who's really going through it because Donny hasn't been here to experience everything I've been through with these people for the past year. I can't wait or sit around any longer. I'm already here and I'm already clear to go in, so I'm going to take this as my opportunity to kill everybody that was in my way.
He sighed. "Man, where you going?"
"I'm doing it on my own."
I grabbed the bottle of alcohol and made sure there was a lighter in my pocket before I pushed the back door open. As soon as I popped the door open, Donny slammed on the brakes.
"Damn! Get'cho ass back in the car. King is gonna kill me if something happens to you. I know what I'm talking about and we need to wait."
"You can wait but I'm not going to. I'll see you back at home, and if not, I'll see you in Hell."
I climbed out of his car with everything I needed in my hands and slammed his door close. Sitting around waiting to get killed is not what I've been training to do. I've been trained to get it done, and get it done quickly. Waiting is only gonna give EJ and his crew ample time to retaliate and I'm trying to ambush these niggas when they're least expecting it.
"Prince! Get'cho ass back in the car!" Donny yelled after me but I jogged off down the street with one goal in mind, and that's to kill off all of these niggas. I continued jogging until I got to the block EJ's warehouse was at. Just like I thought, nobody heard the commotion out here. The walls are too thick and the silencer took away a lot of the sound from the gun. Nobody was able to hear a thing going on out here so everybody I shot is still laying on the ground.
I ignored Donny calling after me and just kept walking up to the warehouse. If EJ and his crew find out what I did, they'll be likely to retaliate so I'm trying to get them before they even get a chance to. The only person I'm thinking about saving is Aubrey, only because I want him to suffer the most out of all of them. He's who I want to have a long, hard, gruesome death. Setting him on fire is making his death way too easy. He deserves a lot more than this.
Donny followed behind me in the car once I got close up on EJ's warehouse. Just like we figured earlier, nobody was really around since this was the time they were supposed to be having their meeting. The three guys standing out here were probably just guarding the building while the meeting was going on. I peered around the side of the building before I made my way to the back. I wanted the fire to consume the building, so nobody would be able to get out. And in the event that somebody does get out, they'll get popped.
I spread alcohol starting from the back of the building, along the sides and to the front door. I made sure I poured the most alcohol near the front door so it would be hard for them to escape. I sprinkled alcohol on the ground in front of the door, around the door frame and even on the door itself. I pulled my lighter out and was just about to light this bitch up when I felt a hand on my shoulder. With my gun drawn, I quickly turned around and pointed my gun at who ever snuck up on me. When I saw it was Aubrey, my finger tightened around the trigger.
"Take off your mask," he demanded.
"Get the fuck outta my face bitch ass nigga."
I looked behind him at Donny, who was still sitting in the car. He had his gun aimed at Aubrey so I really wasn't too concerned. Plus Aubrey wasn't even strapped.
Aubrey's frown turned into a tight smile. "Little Reed, I see you're an arsonist now."
"Man, you better go while you got the chance 'cause you about to get blown away any second now."
"By who?"
I nodded towards Donny who was leaned out of the car with a revolver attached to his hand. "Him, so I suggest you move," I warned him. "I'm tryna give you the benefit of the doubt before I kill you later."
He smirked. "I'd like to see you try but fortunately for you, I'll spare you tonight."
"And for what reason?"
"I came here to do the exact same thing you're doing," he said before he turned to look at the three guys I shot earlier that were sprawled across the ground. "But by the looks of it, it looks like you got shit handled. But if I must add, I think it would be a better idea if you used some of these appliances to barricade them inside of the building."
I scrunched up my face. "And why should I trust you?"
"Because I want these niggas dead just like you. They're getting too crazy and I planned on doing the same thing tonight. I want all three of them dead. You know, I really could give less than a shit about you or that sloppy bitch Jazmine but I don't want your family getting hurt over some petty shit and they shouldn't be trying to kill any children. That tipped me off."
"Yeah, 'cause I heard Kennedy goes to the same school as Daniel."
"Yeah and you need to tell him to keep his hands off of my sister."
"Forget the reunion fam, I'm ready to off this nigga right now."
I was too busy talking to Aubrey to realize Donny had gotten out of the car, walked across the street and was inside of the warehouse with a gun jammed in Aubrey's back.
"It's cool Donny. He wants to help us."
"I don't trust it. You told me all the shit he's done to you and your family for the past few months. Don't trust him. He's only trying to convince you that he's on our side so that he can turn around and stab you in the back again. Let's not forget about how he with held the information about Ava stabbing you, or how him and his friends jumped you and took your chains and shoes or about how he knew Ava tried to kill you for the second time. And King stabbed him in the face. He ain't on our side, so don't fall for the trick fam."
Everything Donny said was registering in my mind the more he bought back everything Aubrey had done to me the past couple of months. He's shown his true colors and he can't be trusted either.
"I'm never gonna be on y'all's side but I'm tired of working under EJ. Believe me," Aubrey responded.
I tilted my head towards Donny. "By any means necessary," I laughed.
Those were the words for Donny to attack. Of course I didn't want him to kill Aubrey but I wanted him to get a warning for fucking with me the past few months. Instead of Donny killing Aubrey or even shooting him, he bought the butt of the gun up to his face and knocked him out. Blood was gushing out of his almost lifeless body as he laid below us but all Donny did was kick him towards the door before I lit this place up.
The flames were growing larger and larger so Donny and I made a run for it. Before EJ was running things, MJ used to fix cars in the front of the warehouse as a front. They don't do that anymore but there's still cars sitting up here and I'm sure there's gasoline everywhere, so there's only a matter of minutes before this entire block burns down. Donny and I hopped into his truck and we took off down the street before we got caught up in the crossfire.
I was in bed and ready to go to sleep within an hour. I came straight home, showered and went to sleep. Lindsey put Princess to bed before I got here so I didn't have to worry about that. All I have to worry about is school tomorrow morning. I wonder how many people from Aubrey's crew will be there tomorrow. I wonder if Aubrey will show up tomorrow. It's all right if they do though. I'm prepared for it. If I can get through the night without waking up from any nightmares about what I just did, then I know I can do this. I know I'm cut out for this life, I just gotta believe in myself.
Majesty
I sat outside of Aubrey's apartment waiting on him to open up the door. He said we were supposed to meet up here tonight at 8 but that was hours ago. It's going on midnight, and here I am, still waiting on him to show up. He's done this to me before in the past and I don't know why he always feels like standing me up. I know his job keeps him busy but it's not like he can't shoot me a text and tell me he's going to be late.
You know what, I'll just let myself inside since he wants to make me wait. I'll be inside all naked and ready for him by the time he gets back home. I'll be the perfect gift for him by the time he gets back from work. And since it'll be so late by the time we're done, maybe he'll let me stay the night with him. I've never spent the night with him before because he always pays me and kicks me out as soon as we're done sleeping together and I hate it but hopefully tonight will be different.
I pulled a hair pin out of my hair and got down on my knees so I could see into the lock. I pushed the hair pin inside of the lock and started twisting it so the lock would unlock. I kept constant pressure on the door handle as I continued to twist the hair pin around in the lock. I pushed the hair pin further into the key hole and roughly twisted it to the left before I heard a clicking sound. I grabbed the door handle and pushed the door open, revealing Aubrey's empty apartment.
I walked into the apartment and I made sure to close and lock the door behind myself so he wouldn't know I was here. I want it to be a surprise when he gets back. I made my way through his quiet apartment until I got to his bedroom. I pushed the door open and slightly smiled once I smelled his cologne. Aubrey always smells so good all the time. I slightly closed his bedroom door behind myself and was just about to start taking my clothes off but I saw his closet door was slightly open. That's weird. He normally has a lock on his closet door. Part of me knew I shouldn't be trying to snoop through his things but the other part of me wants to know what he's hiding in here. And damn. I deserve it for putting up with his shit for this long.
I walked over to his slightly open closet and snatched the door open. I scrunched up my face when I saw shoe boxes stacked neatly against the back wall while backpacks and duffel bags sat in the floor of the closet. This can't be what he's hiding. There's got to be something in here somewhere. I grabbed the first shoe box I saw sitting on top and snatched the lid off and my eyes widened. There were stacks of money in here. I know I shouldn't do this but Aubrey needs to be taught a lesson. I took the three stacks of money out of the shoe box and turned around so I could grab my purse off of his bed.
I snatched my purse off of the bed and started filling it up with as much money as I could fit inside of it and on my body. But I made sure I placed the empty boxes on the bottom, that way he won't be able to tell if anybody stole from him or not. The next thing I grabbed was one of the backpacks sitting in the bottom of the closet. I unzipped it and I smiled once I saw how it was filled to the top with money and jewelry. What's the big deal if I take it? He's got lots more where this came from so I'm sure he won't even notice it's gone. He'll probably over look it. I pulled the backpack up on my shoulder and closed his closet door. I didn't want it to look like anybody was here, even me.
I made sure his bed was neatly made up the way it was before I came in here and I made my way out of his house. The only reason I came over tonight was to get paid, and now that I got paid a hell of a lot more than I could ever dream of, there's no reason for me to stay over and wait on Aubrey. He'll call if he needs my services but for now, I'm going shopping on Aubrey's expense because I deserve it. He treats me like dog shit every single day and I'm done putting up with it. And I'm done letting him push me around and hit on me.
He might be out a couple of thousand but it's going to be his lesson for picking on me. I'm a woman and he shouldn't be putting his hands on me or treating me like I'm scum. He didn't start treating me like a piece of trash until after I cut ties with Theodore. He was always nice to me but that shows you how fake people can be around their friends. Aubrey never once disrespected me or looked at me like a piece of meat while I was with Theodore. I guess it's because he knew Theodore would kick his ass, which he did a few weeks ago. I just wish Aubrey didn't have his crew with him because Aubrey needs his ass kicked. He needs a wake up call, something to remind him that he isn't as tough as he wants to be. He might kick it with some of the roughest people in the area, but he still ain't shit in my book.
I pulled the door to Aubrey's apartment open and looked down the hallways, just to check and make sure nobody sees me leaving out with bags full of money. I quietly closed the apartment door behind myself before I made a run for it down the hallway.
Lindsey
I walked into Grandpa's office and sat down in the seat across from his desk. Grandpa called me in here to talk to him about something that he claims is going to be very important to me and our family's future.
"What's going on Grandpa?" I asked, bringing my feet up under my butt.
"A little birdie told me that I need to keep an eye on you and a close friend of mine."
I scrunched up my face. "Grandpa, you really gotta start explaining yourself better. What and who are you talking about?"
"Well, as you know, I have cameras all around my house and I have body guards for each and every one of my family members. They're supposed to keep an eye on y'all while I'm gone, and if their eyes aren't on you all, then that's what I have to review my cameras for. I mean, I gotta make sure everything is going smoothly at my house while I'm away. Right?"
I nodded my head. "Right."
"Well, I reviewed the cameras since my body guards weren't around at this particular time. I didn't know we had kissing cousins in my house."
I took a deep breath. "G-Grandpa, it's not even like that."
"Like hell it ain't! I saw the cameras. I saw him grabbing all over you and I saw you letting him continue to do it, even though y'all found out y'all were cousins. I saw you kissing Donny outside of my bedroom the other night. That shit is nasty and disgusting. Just fowl," he exclaimed. "That's your cousin, on both sides of your family."
I sighed. "I know."
"What? You like him or something?"
I quickly shook my head. "I don't even know him."
He shrugged his shoulders. "So? That don't mean you can't like him. Look, I've been through this plenty of times and I know how you're feeling. I know you've been through a lot in your life and I know Andre came back and promised you a bunch of shit that made you feel good. And you fell for it because you were desperate for a good man to love you and care for you since you never had parents to do it, but just 'cause you see a good looking nigga don't mean you gotta jump on him, even disregarding the fact that y'all are cousins. If a man is what you're looking for then you could've asked me. I can find you a good man. I know plenty of guys that would be lucky to find a woman like you in the future. You know, right now is a really bad time for our family. My wife was just killed and I'm still trying to get over her death."
I sighed, nodding my head. "I know Grandpa."
"Nah. All of y'all keep saying you understand and how you're sorry for me but nobody understands how much hell I've been through without here here with me. Sincere was my rock. She was the first woman I ever loved, the only woman I ever loved and actually put my all into. She meant everything to me and everybody knew that. She was the only person that I could be myself around, and now that she's gone, I feel like I can't even be myself. I feel like I'm putting on this front for everybody and nobody's even noticed. None of y'all understand how I feel. I was with Sincere since I was 19 years old," he yelled as he banged his fist on his desk.
The pictures on his desk shook each time he'd bang his fist but he just continued talking and I continued to listen. I know Grandpa's hurting. I can see how bad Grandma's death has effected him the past couple of months and I know he can't get through it. I'm still trying to get over Andre's death, but I know it's got to be worse on him since they were together for so long. I just never asked him about how he felt because he'd always shut everybody down when it came to asking questions about Grandma. He never wants to talk about her or even talk about what happened to her because it hurts him so badly. I just didn't ask because I knew it would hurt him because he wasn't ready yet. I've just been waiting on a day like today for him to finally release what he's been keeping bottled up since she passed.
"Nobody ever understood our relationship, except for the two of us, but that's all that mattered to us. I've put my all into my relationship with her, and even after getting fucked over several times by Sincere, I always came back to her because I didn't care about what she did to me. She was the only woman to keep me sane, so I ran back to her every time shit got hard and she always let me run back to her with open arms. I devoted my life to my family. I made sure my children, even Teddy, had everything they ever wanted and needed. I spoiled them because I didn't want them growing up wanting the same way me and Sincere did but all that made was four little monsters that have been terrorizing me since the day they turned 18. I mean, what did Sincere do to EJ that was so bad that it made him kill her? Can you tell me that? Parents and their children fight all the time but to kill her was just unspeakable. He should've killed me instead of her since I put him through a hell of a lot more shit than she ever did,
"And my Grandchildren," he continued as he shook his head. "Why does my oldest Grandchild, Devon, resent his family so much? Shouldn't we be upset with Devon since he broke EJ and Christine up and got her pregnant? Shouldn't we? Oh no. He thinks we're the worse people in the world for saying something to him but that's how Deonte raised him. He raised him to think that I'm wrong, me and Sincere both. He never gave a fuck about Sincere and she did so much more for him than his parents ever did. Luckily, Victoria and Teddy had kids later on in life because now that they're gone, I can still raise y'all to be better than me and Sincere and my own kids but not if y'all don't cooperate with me."
I looked down in my lap, feeling bad. I always thought Grandpa let everything roll off of him. I never knew he actually cared about what people thought about him and Grandma or how people treated them. I always assumed he was content with spending the rest of his life with Grandma and forgetting about anybody else that ever got in his way.
"Lindsey, I don't want you to turn out anything like Sincere. Now I loved Sincere and she was a much better woman later on in her life but when she was your age, she was a hoe. I don't know what made her turn on me and fuck me over so badly but you're not going to start a sexual relationship with your cousin. That's beyond disgusting and I've seen it happen with Sincere. You know Marcus? Well, that's Sincere's sisters' ex-husband. Wanna know why they divorced?"
"Why?"
"Because Sincere was sleeping with him for months. She didn't give a damn if he was her sisters' husband, and she didn't give a damn about sleeping with him while I was around and she really didn't give a damn about sleeping with him if Victoria was laying right beside her. Sincere used to sleep with one of my cousin's named Dre. She met him one afternoon at my coming home from jail party, and while I was away handling business to try to take care of her and Victoria, she fucked that nigga right on my Mama's front porch! Sincere was fucked up for years going back and forth between dirty niggas and I'm not going to let that happen to you. You're not going to start anything with Donny, and if the two of y'all even think about doing something together, you won't be coming to Atlanta with them. You'll be here with me where I can keep a good eye on you."
I scrunched up my face. I never knew Grandma was that loose but I'm glad Grandpa told me about it. I know he wasn't trying to bash her name or her reputation, he was only telling me so I can make sure I'm good in my life. "Okay, I won't do anything with him. When I go back upstairs, I'll keep my distance from him until next week when he leaves. How come you aren't going to Atlanta?"
"I need to make sure things here are good but I'll be back and forth. And I need to sell my house."
"For what? Everybody grew up here."
"What do I need a big house like this for anyways? It's only gonna be me here, and even now, I don't even go in most of the rooms. I bought this house because I knew Sincere liked it but now that she's gone, I don't want anything to do with this house. It has too many memories of her in it and I can't stomach to be around it anymore. I need to get out of here before I lose my mind."
"Alright, well it's all up to you what you decide to do but I still think you should come to Atlanta with us once you sell the house. You can find a nice apartment for yourself and try to start over there, without any memories of Grandma. Maybe once you settle down there, you can find yourself a nice woman that treats you good a--"
"I can't do that to Sincere," he cut me off. "When we got married, I promised I'd be faithful to her until the day I die. I can't go off finding another woman. Not this soon Lindsey. Sincere is everything to me and I'd feel terrible trying to find another woman. And it's too late for me anyways. What does my old ass look like trying to settle down at my age? I'm almost 75 years old. I'm too old to still be looking for love and looking for bitches to fuck."
I scrunched up my face. "You don't have to sleep with them. Dating and spending time to get to know a woman is what I'm talking about."
"C'mon. I'm old but I'm not all tapped out. I still got needs Lindsey, and none of these bitches are gonna cut it if they name ain't Sincere McDonald," he shook his head. "Look, I think it's thoughtful that you want me to find another woman but I just don't see myself settling down. At this point, my life is basically over. I've had my fun, made my mistakes, I've been married and I've had children. And I've even had the joy of seeing my grandchildren born. I've experienced enough in my life, and at this point, all I want to do is relax and just let my time come so I can be with my Sincere again."
"Okay well I have your back in whatever decision you decide to make," I said as I stood up.
"Sit down, I'm not done talking."
I scrunched up my face and sat back down in my seat. "Alright. What's up?"
"I take it Theodore told you about Princess' condition."
I nodded my head. "Yeah, he told me and while you were away, I was making sure she got her medicine and was eating right. And I know Theodore's under a lot of stress right now with Princess, Nicole, Aubrey and he's still in school so I've been watching Princess a lot. I suggested he go out and find something to do but he won't even leave the house."
"We got too much going on right now for him to just be out doing whatever on the streets," he commented. "Theodore knows he has responsibilities here that he has to take care of, and everything else comes second. This is kind of what I need to talk to you about though. I know he's stressed out and ready to explode one of these days but I need you to make sure he's releasing his anger and not letting it build up. I know about what he and Donny did the other night and I think they're moving too fast. It's good they wanted to take some type of initiative but completely blowing up an entire building with people in it just looks sketchy to me and I'm sure it looks sketchy to the police. I know he's only making moves off of impulse, so I'mma need you to calm him down for me. Be like how Sincere used to be for me, and make sure he does the right thing. I know he's not really in the profession to do the right things but making sure he doesn't get too crazy is key."
"Alright, I can do that. You have to tell him to be more open with me though. I never know what's going on with him and Donny. Every time I'm around them or even you, all of y'all just tell me it's nothing I need to be worried about or how it's grown man business or how I need to mind my own business. I just want to be included. And how am I supposed to be of assistance when I don't even know what the hell is going on?"
He sighed, nodding his head. "Alright. We can do a better job at keeping you informed but once we start telling you what's going on, you gotta keep it between me, you, Theodore, Donny and Isaiah. We're the only ones that know everything that's going on. You can't go running your mouth to your friends and you can't let anybody over hear you talking about anything. We don't discuss business over the phone because you never know who's listening. We don't discuss business in public because we never know who's listening. The only time we discuss business is in this house because it's only us in this house. But top secret information gets discussed here in my officer, where there are no windows, phones, computers or people. Cool?"
I nodded my head. "Yeah. And you don't have to worry about me telling my friends anything. All of my friends are dead," I informed him.
"And that's good for you. You don't need friends because all they'll do is stab you in the back. My best friend named Antoine stabbed me in the back and was sleeping with Sincere for almost a year behind my back. My friend Teddy, your Dad's Dad, stabbed me in the back when he up and left Teddy for me to take care of and pay off a debt he owed. I never had any issues with Marcus but he slept with Sincere behind my back. And my best friend Jason completely turned his back on me and did anything he could to bring me down because I was against him when your Dad was trying to get custody of Ava. Friends are nothing but trouble and that's why I don't have any and that's why I'm gonna die the same way I came into this world: alone. I'm cool with it, so you best gets cool with it too because it's only gonna be you in the end, nobody else."
"I've come to accept it and that's why I haven't made any moves to get any friends. I'm fine with my brother being my best friend. Theodore and I have grown a lot closer in the past year. Since what happened to me in high school, we've always been close but with him living with me and the two of us living here, it's only made our relationship stronger."
"And Isaiah?" Grandpa asked, but I shrugged my shoulders.
"I don't know. We used to be good but he's been different since Asia was killed. He barely comes around anymore, and even when he does, he doesn't really say much. He's been in his own world lately. I've been different too but I just feel so guilty."
"Why?"
I took a deep breath. "If I say this, it's between us, right?"
"Yeah, always."
"Well, I was there when Sonya killed Asia. Asia took me out to lunch to warn me about the shit Sonya and her crew had been planning. Sonya was telling Asia how she was going to hurt me and my family because she was working with EJ. Asia wasn't supposed to say anything but Asia, being loyal, came and told me everything she knew. As soon as we left lunch, Sonya killed her for telling me and for being around me. She killed her right in front of me, and I didn't know what to do, so I just ran to my car and I left her laying there," I mumbled.
He sighed. "And you've kept that in all of these months?"
I nodded my head. "Yeah but I didn't know if it was real or not. When Sonya killed Asia, I still wasn't in my right mind. I couldn't remember anything and when I hit my head the second time, I wasn't able to decipher what was real and what wasn't. I mean, I can't just go accusing anybody of murder but I'm for sure now."
"It's too late."
"I know and I just feel bad every time I'm around Isaiah because he's so depressed about Asia."
"You're gonna have to tell him one of these days or the guilt is just gonna eat you up. He's gonna be pissed and he probably won't talk to you again since you never said anything about it sooner but you can't never look back and say you didn't tell him. You told him way too late but at least you told him the truth and tell him how you weren't sure. He can't be too mad since you really weren't in your right mind. You got any other secrets you're holding in?"
"Just one more," I replied. "I remember being in the hospital and Andre and Stephen were fighting. Stephen was telling me how I didn't know the real Andre. He was saying how Andre had secrets he was hiding from me and if I ever found out about them, I wouldn't want anything to do with him. I never bought it up to Andre because I wasn't in my right mind but I've always wonder what he was hiding from me. But Andre never struck me as the secretive type though."
"So? Everybody lies and keeps secrets from the people they love, if they want to admit it or not. People keep secrets from the people they love simply because they love them and want to spare their feelings but that's not always the right thing to do. The truth always hurts but it'll be better to tell the truth other than lie because one lie leads to several other lies. Are you sure you want to know what Andre had been hiding?"
I nodded my head. "Yes. I just don't even know where to start though."
"Don't worry about it. I know enough about Andre and his family to get information on them back to when his Dad used to kiss my ass to be a top seller of mine."
My eyes widened. "What?"
"Oh, Andre and his family aren't as clean and Holy as they want people to believe. I told you, people lie to each other all the time. Andre's Dad used to work for me when I was still living in Compton. He was one of those niggas that did everything I said, and he still does because I have shit on him that would ruin him, his family and his church. That nigga knows not to fuck with me. And he's still doing my dirty work for me to this day. His family isn't that good Lindsey. They're just as bad as we are and don't tell anybody, but Andre's Mama used to be a big time hoe back in the day. Her Dad only wifed her up because she got pregnant, then he started kicking out more babies with her. He got her clean and got her together and now they think they're better than everybody else but they're really not. Pastor and Deacon of the church, my ass."
I chuckled. "So since you know so much about them, how long will it take to get some information back?"
"Give me a week and I'll know everything there is to know about every member of their family."
I nodded my head as I stood up. "Alright, thank you Grandpa. I don't know what I'd do without you."
He smirked. "I know you ain't tryna walk up out of here without giving me a hug. After all I've done for you and what I'm gonna do for you. I mean, I'm gonna have to look into some classified information that I could go to federal prison over for you and I can't even get a hug?"
I chuckled as I walked around his desk to where he was at and wrapped my arms around him. "Thank you so much Grandpa."
"You're welcome, and like our previous discussion, everything said in this room is never repeated. Right?"
I nodded my head. "Right."
"And you remember what else I told you?"
"Yes. Stay away from Adonis unless I want to stay here in Beverly Hills with you. And keep Theodore under control so he doesn't go off making any rash decisions," I repeated. "And can I please come to the meetings you guys have Saturday nights?"
He sighed. "I don't know."
"C'mon Grandpa. You said I can be involved, so I wanna come to the meetings. Are you sexist or something? How come women can't be involved in this?"
"Because women talk too much and they're too affectionate when it comes to handling business. With men, we just do what we have to do and keep and it moving but somehow a woman always feels the need to get attached. I need somebody who's gonna cook my food and run my bath, you know that's what I got you around for Lindsey," he laughed, but I didn't find it funny. "Damn. Calm down. I'm not sexist. I just don't want you getting hurt because once you're in, you're in this shit for life. Are you prepared for this?"
"Yes I am."
He took a deep breath as he stuck his hand out for me to shake. "Alright, welcome to the game then Lindsey."
I gladly took his hand in mine and shook it. I'm not trying to go out and kill anybody like Grandpa and the rest of them do. All I want is to be made aware of everything going on around me so I'm not trying to creep around and find out bits and pieces. I want to come to these bi-weekly meetings Grandpa has with Theodore and Isaiah. I just want to be apart of something that everybody else in my family is apart of so that in the even that something bad actually happens, I won't be a damsel in distress waiting on a man to come and save me. I want to be able to apply everything Grandpa's taught me so that I can be successful too.
~~~
Later that night, we had the meeting downstairs in Grandpa's office. I put Daniel and Princess to bed so I could join them at the meeting since I'm normally watching them while the men discuss business down here.
Theodore, who looked extremely tired and stressed out, leaned towards me. "Why you got a notepad?"
I looked down at the notepad in my hands and looked back up at him. "So I can write down what we talk about tonight. How come you don't have one?"
"Because I don't need one. We're not supposed to be writing stuff down, we're supposed to be listening and brainstorming ideas. Not writing stuff down. What if the police raid the house and they find all the shit you were writing down? You know, we don't talk about any legal shit down here. Right?"
I nodded my head. "Yeah."
"And if we can't repeat what we talked about, we damn sure can write it down. And I suggest you put that up before Grandpa notices it."
I didn't know what to do during these meetings so I just listened to him and put the notepad under my seat just as Grandpa walked into his office with Donny and Isaiah following behind him. As soon as Donny saw me, he smiled but I just looked away from him. I don't want to get anything started with Grandpa so I'm not even going to engage him. I watched him out of the corner of my eye though, and thankfully he sat down on the other side of the room with Isaiah, who was carrying a manila folder and a shopping bag.
"Alright, let's begin," Grandpa said as he sat down behind his desk. "What did we discuss at our last meeting?"
"Just to be more cautious of the things we do," Theodore spoke up. "Donny and I kind of rushed things and took matters into our own hands. We set EJ's warehouse on fire. We're not sure if all of them were in the warehouse but they were supposed to be having a meeting that night, so I'm sure they were all there. But we're for sure Aubrey wasn't in there though."
"Yeah, he was trying to reason with us because he said he planned on taking EJ and his crew out that night too, but we didn't believe it," Donny began. "So we pistol whipped him, set the bitch on fire while he was laid out in front of the building and hopefully he's dead."
Isaiah shook his head. "Nah, my sources tell me he's barely alive. He's in intensive care down at the hospital and he's in a coma. I guess y'all hit him too hard in the head or he inhaled too much spoke but by the time the police and paramedics arrived, he was barely breathing. Somebody told me they're waiting on him to wake up so they can question him and arrest him since he had drugs on him."
"And have the police been investigating anything?" Grandpa asked but Isaiah shrugged his shoulders.
"Who knows? You know the police don't get involved in this area especially if it's just some black people. They don't care because as less black faces on the streets, the better for them. All they'll probably do is demolish the building or leave it all burned up for us to see and rule it as gang related since that's all they do. Nobody's gonna come looking."
"Do they have a body count of how many people were killed?"
"Nope," Isaiah replied. "Just that it was a lot of body bags coming out the building that night."
"Great," Grandpa nodded his head. "And do you have what I asked for?"
"Yeah. I got all of the tapes that had the camera footage from that night and I paid off the people who I got the footage from. I made sure I had the only copy of the footage and I made sure I was the only person that saw it."
"Can you see us in it?" Theodore asked.
"Barely. It was so dark, you can't see much of anything except for the building when it was on fire."
Donny smirked. "That's what's up. So we just on easy street now, huh?"
"No," Grandpa shook his head. "It's nothing easy about this. They didn't catch y'all but I suggest y'all lay low for awhile just to be on the safe side. And with EJ and his crew most likely dead and Aubrey in the hospital, there's not much to worry about now. All we gotta do is sit back and wait on Aubrey to die but in the mean time, I need some more information from you Isaiah. You get it for me?"
Isaiah held up the manila folder in his hands. "Yeah, it's all right here. I got Aubrey's full name, date of birth, hospital he was born at, current residency, current school, credit records, credit card numbers, bank statements, where his parents live, name, age and residency of any siblings, whereabouts of anyone associated with him and his cell phone number."
"Damn. You got his social security number too?" Donny laughed.
"Of course I do. How else do you think we're gonna suck him dry?" Isaiah chuckled.
"So what's next?" Theodore asked.
"Besides you and Donny laying low, we need somebody to get into Aubrey's apartment," Grandpa informed us. "I want it to be Theodore and Donny to get into his apartment while he's in the coma, scope the place out, looking for money, drugs, guns, jewelry or anything we can use against him and take it. I want this to be thought out carefully and strategically. I don't need anybody getting upset and then going to blow some place up to get their emotions out. I need this to be done correctly so nobody gets in trouble. Y'all understand me?"
We all nodded our heads.
"And what do you need me to do this week Grandpa?" Isaiah asked.
"I don't need you to do anymore investigating this week but make sure you visit the DA weekly so she'll always be on our side. You know, butter her up and make sure she feels good so she'll always be willing to give you information. But this week, I need you to focus on the clubs," he said before he turned to Theodore and Donny. "The two of y'all, I need y'all to think of a plan of attack and run it by me so I can tweak it. Theodore, you have your appointment in the shooting range this Monday. And the three of us need to go over some last minute details about Atlanta."
"What about me?" I spoke up since I hadn't said anything during the entire meeting.
They all looked towards me, probably forgetting I was even in here.
"You, baby girl," Grandpa began. "I need you to remember what we talked about earlier and watch the kids."
"Anything else? I do that all the time."
"Nope."
I frowned. "I thought you said you weren't sexist? How come you won't let me do something like them?"
"Because you don't know anything about the business and right now, you sound like a little kid," Grandpa replied.
"Then teach me."
Grandpa sighed. "You know what I need you to do baby girl?"
"What?"
"I have an idea for a way to get back at that nigga Aubrey and the only way to get back at him is through his heart. I know he's not awake now but I'm gonna need you to go down to the hospital and see about his condition. Normally when a person is in a coma, they can't talk or really move but they damn sure can hear. I'm gonna need you to go down to the hospital and sweet talk him and let him know it was you that stopped by."
I scrunched up my face. "And what's that gonna prove?"
Theodore sighed. "You already know his thirsty ass will do anything to have your attention. If you go down there a few times a week and talk to him and do all that sweet talking y'all girls like to do then by the time he wakes up, he'll be looking for you and he'll remember everything you said. That way, he'll be vulnerable and it'll give us a chance to kill him."
I nodded my head. "Alright. I get it."
"Can you do it then?" Isaiah asked.
"Yeah, I'll go down to the hospital tomorrow."
Grandpa smiled. "Great. So now that everybody knows what they're supposed to be doing this week, you all are dismissed."
All of us simultaneously stood up and followed one another out of Grandpa's office. Maybe working with Grandpa and the guys won't be as hard as I think it might be. All I have to do is go down to the hospital every few days, sweet talk Aubrey while he's in a coma and just sit with him for like an hour. It should be easy, right?
~~~
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How do you guys feel about this chapter? How do you guys feel about what Theodore and Adonis did? Did they jump the gun or did everything go smoothly while trying to take out EJ and his crew? Was Aubrey really there to hurt EJ, Ava and Stephen or was he just saying that to try to hurt Theodore and Adonis? Did they do the right thing by knocking Aubrey unconscious and leaving him there? Did everybody really die in the fire? How do you guys feel about Majesty? Will she get caught for taking Aubrey's money? How was it so easy for her to get into his apartment? Were there cameras in the apartment? How do you guys feel about Effrin talking to Lindsey about Donny? How do you guys feel about Effrin finally opening up about Sincere's death? Will Lindsey be able to be involved in the family business for long?
Isaiah's in the MM.