The next day after 8:00pm Candice and I were lazing around our home with the TV on. We both sat quietly leaned back on the couch seemingly lifeless. A crooked cigar rerolled with marijuana drooped from my girlfriend’s lips. Truth be told we were fried.
Candice didn’t have to work today so we spent the whole time drinking and smoking our lives away. I had a few text messages from Jaclyn that I refused to look at. She’s be acting out lately and it’s starting to get on my nerves. Ever since I stuck dick to Jaclyn, her mind’s been gone. That bitch can’t get enough of me. I knew my dick was good, but damn.
My phone vibrated again so I finally gave in and flipped it open. It read, ‘Ricky, we need to talk’.
I sighed and pressed in my response. ‘Talk? Bout what?’
The second I placed my phone back in my pocket it vibrated again… ‘Really, its like that’? I glanced at the screen seeing another message from Jaclyn that told me, ‘Talk bout us. I feel like you playin’ me.’
‘No shit’ was what I wanted to type, but I couldn’t say that. So I replied to her with something humble instead. I said. ‘Ight, I’m here.’ I put the phone back in my phone and rubbed my dry eyes in thought of Jaclyn. That girl’s in love with me, and the sad part was I’m already tired of her. Still, I’m not ready to kick her off the team just yet. So I’ll do what it takes to keep her.
Candice tapped my arm, breaking my train of thought. She offered me the blunt and I took it without question. While inhaling the smoke, my arms and legs began to feel limp. The heart behind my ribcage pounded harder and faster, yet my perception of the outward world slowed down. That hint of cocaine Candice added to the blunt did it’s job.
I must have lost track of time because there was a stern knock on the door that appeared to come out of nowhere. The fresh high I had made my reactions and brain waves hesitant. Candice was knocked out, sleeping on my shoulder. Her eyes were barely closed and mouth agape. I forced myself off the couch and went to the door. One could only guess who was there.
I let out a silent sigh as I swung the door open and saw Jaclyn. Something told me she was going to come over. “What up babe?” I asked, wondering why she’s at my doorstep. When I told her ‘I’m here’ I didn’t mean come over.
“Hey,” she responded, sounding all depressed. I chose to play along and put up a facade of concern.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Jaclyn sighed, “I feel like you playin’ me Ricky…” she admitted.
“Playin’ you? What you talkin’ bout?” I shrugged, like I had no idea what was going on.
“ I mean you said we was a ‘thing’ but you hardly let me come ova’,” she reasoned.
“Man you know what the deal is. You know Candy be trippin’,” I responded. I told Jaclyn a pretty creative lie like a month ago. I said Candice and I stopped dating each other, but we still had be roommates until our lease was up. I also added that Candice doesn’t like it when people come in and out of the home when she’s there, which was why Jaclyn could only come over when she was gone. Every excuse I told Jaclyn was a lie, but she’s too naive to see that.
“I know, I know… it’s just. You don’t return my calls, you don’t hit me up like you use too, you…”
“Whoa, hol’ up,” I interrupted. “I called you last night rememba’? And you aint even pick up the phone.”
Jaclyn nodded in agreement. “Yea, but it was like 4 in the mornin’, and I had school…”
“There you go with them excuses again,” I said, cutting her off once more. “Like the last ten times I called you, you aint pick up.”
“But you call so late, the bus come at 7:40, I can’t be up all night talkin’,” She explained.
“So you sayin’ you aint got time for me?” I asked, redirecting the blame to her.
“No, I do. It’s just…”
“It’s just what?” I replied, not letting her finish her sentence. “I mean I be busy durin’ the day trynna make these sells dog. I be tried and all that, but I still call when I get the chance. It may be late, but that don’t stop me from hittin’ you up. I be trynna talk to ya, but you neva’ answer the phone. That’s why I’m like how you comin’ to me, talkin’ bout you feel like you bein’ played’, but you the one who not givin’ me the time of day?” I argued. “You see how that sound don’t it?” Jaclyn lowered her eyes taking in what I said. Her display of weakness was the opportune moment to strike. “look, I know I aint been perfect lately… but you know I care bout you right? …you know that right?” I gently grabbed her chin and lifted her face so we caught eyes. “Hmm?”
“I know…” Jaclyn nodded.
“Com’ here,” I took her hands and pulled her into a hug. The expression on my face was very empathic. At first Jaclyn seemed a little tense, but she eventually melted in my arms. I leaned in and moved my mouth close to her ear. “Imma make it up for ya tomorrow.”
“Oh yea… how?” Jaclyn asked, a slight smile on her face.
“I can’t tell ya now, it gon’ spoil it,” I replied. She sucked her teeth as we slowly pulled apart.
“Aye!” someone shouted to our right. We glanced over and saw Kevin in his car with his arm out of the window. “I aint mean to interrupt nothin’, but we got business to handle.”
“Ight man,” I called back. Jaclyn and I embraced one more time, clinging to each other tightly. “Imma call you tonight Ight.”
“Okay,” she nodded, letting go of my waist. “Bye Ricky.”
Kevin pulled his car in a parking space and hopped out. His eyes followed Jaclyn as she walked back to her building. “Man you still fuckin’ with that bitch?” Kevin asked, dapping me up. He stole one last glance at her then turned back to me. “You need to gon and pass that to the homies A.” We both laughed going into my home. Candice was still lying on the couch sleep while we slid past the front room and to my bedroom.
I went under my bed and pulled a six shot revolver from a shoebox, placing it in my pants. “Bruh… nigga like me man. I’m tried as hell dog. High too.” I slipped into a black shirt then placed a long red basketball jersey over it. “Man Jackie came ova’ on some bullshit A. talkin’ bout, ‘she feel like she gettin’ played’.” Kevin smirked a little when I said that. “She tried to pen me A, but you know me though. Had to set that bitch straight… imma buss em guts up tomorrow too.”
“I hear that,” he added, watching me straighten my self. “When eva’ you ready we needa’ be out. Aint no tellin’ what moves T gon’ make.” Kevin referred to Tito who we had recently located. Since Kevin’s girlfriend worked at a beauty shop we found everything we needed to know about Tito. The gossip in solons was good for something I suppose, because we learned his work schedule and his apartment number.
“Com’ on let’s go,” I stated, heading out of my room.
We entered Kevin’s car and swerved out of Town Heights. I leaned back in the car seat and pulled the revolver from my jeans. Flicking open the chamber, I stared at the six golden .38 bullets packed inside. For executions like this, one didn’t need something fancy, so revolvers were perfect. You could stick someone and be on the move right after.
I had to get my mind prepared for this, because one wrong move could have Kevin and me in handcuffs or possibly killed. Usually Kevin’s the one to pull the trigger on a mission like this, but not today. Since Tito was a member of our set, he knows about us. He knows Kevin’s position in the gang, so if Tito were to see him he’d figure out what was going on. That’s where I come in. I’m primarily the one who chills around the neighborhood making sells and money for the set, which meant if Tito saw me he probably wouldn’t think too much of it.
“Aye we comin’ up on the spot, get right A,” Kevin stated, breaking me from my thoughts. My eyes widened and my high went down dramatically. The neighborhood we just drove into was called Fryer’s Gate. It’s in the slums of North Tera, an area controlled by a gang of grimy white boys known as Sub-X. I never really had any interactions with them, just heard about the moves they made.
I looked out of the window, seeing a number of three story crummy apartments. My eyes moved from the buildings to the vehicles in the separate car lots. According to our source, Tito drives a 1993 tan crown Victoria. He’s scheduled to go to work at 11:00pm and it’s only 9:45pm. We had a good amount of time before he would leave for work.
“That his buildin’ right there A,” I pointed to our right where a lone apartment building stood in the cut of the neighborhood. “Aye you see his whip?”
“Hell naw… wait. Yea, I see that shit, there it go right there,” Kevin headed in the direction of the apartment building, trying to motion to Tito’s car with his head. “Bruh you don’t see that shit?”
My eyes finally caught sight of the old vehicle and I nodded my head. “Yea, yea, yea bruh I see it.” Kevin stopped the car in front of the building and unlocked the doors. I placed the revolver back in my jeans and swung the door open. “Aye wait ova’ there bruh. Imma post up front and wait for his punk ass.” I instructed.
Without saying a word, Kevin did as told and vanished in the parking lot across the street. I pulled my pants up and turned my hat to the back so it was twisted to the left. Taking a seat on the front steps of Building-D, all that I had to do now was wait.
Time seemed to go by slowly as I sat on the steps with a cigarette in my mouth. I had checked the phone more times than I could count and only thirty minutes went by. The anticipation of the whole thing made it feel like an hour passed. How much longer could this possibly take?
That’s when the sound of a door open and close caught my ears. Out of the several times I’ve heard that in the last thirty minutes one could only hope it was who we waited for; and lucky for me it was. Tito came cruising down the stairwell dressed in navy dickey pants, long black t-shirt, and brown work boots. The second he came down the stairs I stood to my feet.
“Oh shit, Tito? That you” I exclaimed, acting surprised to see him. We dapped in our gang handshake. “Where you been dog? I aint see you in a min.”
“Chillin’ man, bout to get to work,” Tito replied. He appeared a little shocked to see me here. “What you doin’ on this side R.B?”
“Man I got a little chick up here dog. Ya know what I’m sayin’,” I lied. “You know Queeda? She stay in the same buildin’ as you with her folks.”
“I don’t know bruh,” Tito shrugged.
“So what you been up too A? I aint seen ya in foreva’,” I asked.
Tito shoved his hands in his pockets, oblivious to what was going about to happen. “Dog…just livin’ dog. Trynna take care my son man, keep my noise clean and all that.”
“I feel you, I’m trynna do the right thing too bruh,” I falsely agreed. “How old yo lil dude is now?”
“Man like… three and half,” Tito smirked, clearly picturing his son in his mind. “lil dude look just like me too.”
“Tru. My lil girl look like me too, shit’s crazy how it be like that,” I added.
“Yea man,” Tito nodded. I figure I better cut the small talk so I get this over with.
“But shiiit… don’t let me hold ya,” I extended my hand and dapped Tito again. “I’ll holla at you dog.”
“Ight A,” he shot back. The second Tito turned his back on me I yanked the revolver from my pants. Tito continued to walk to his car as I quickly snuck behind him and lifted the handgun to the back of his head. The caliber of my weapon was so high that I only needed to pull the trigger one time, which I did. Tito’s corpse went completely limp and the back of his head split open. I didn’t stick around to see the body drop.
I made a run for it, heading to the road when Kevin’s car swerved in front of me out of nowhere. The passenger door was already partially open and I got in as fast as I could. Kevin pressed on the gas and flew down road, making a clean get away.