"These are the days of our lives that were living, we're living the days of our deadliest sins..."
-Blue Hill Avenue💋
Chapter 19:
August
"Look, when we walk in 'dis mu'fucka, we go straight to da' front of da' church. Jarod will be sittin' on da' front pew, so 'dats da' easiest way to hit him. Act like we're goin' to view da' body and then start blazin' on 'em. There will be members of his entourage all over da' church, so make sure you spray anybody 'dats standin' in da' way. There are six of us goin' in here, so I want there to be six of us leavin' out," Damontrez stated.
Glancing at August, Damasio, Damario, Khyrie, and Khalil, the guy's were dressed formally in all black and wore long black trench coats as they put on leather gloves.
Inside their coats they held "street sweepers." They weren't fools. They knew that they were outnumbered in bodies, but in bullets and ammunition, they were equal to anything that Jarod and his crew could throw at them.
They exited their vehicle and walked into the church. There were hundreds of people inside the place as the guys made their way down the aisle, but they noticed that security was on point.
August's hand gripped the steel inside his coat, and he could hear his heartbeat in his ears. He could see the backs of the family's heads as he walked. Jarod sat on the end.
He knew it was him because he was holding a distraught older woman who looked to be his mother, and a slight smirk crossed his face.
He could already taste his blood in his mouth as he bit down on the inside of his cheek, something he always did when he saw his unsuspecting prey. He was indeed a calculating killer.
August stepped to the casket and looked down at Jamie. Khyrie and Khalil stood by his side, along with Damontrez, Damasio and Damario. They all waited for Damontrez's signal.
August stood silently with his eyes closed as if he were memorializing the body paying his respects, and in an instant the coldness in his heart began to build.
He opened his eyes and stared down at the lifeless body beneath him. Jamie looked so peaceful, so innocent. He looked to be the exact opposite of his murderous older brother Jarod.
He knew that Jamie didn't deserve what his crew had done to him, but August just chucked it up as a part of the game. See in this business, it was either kill or be killed, and it's as simple as that.
August exhaled and jumped slightly when he felt someone grip his arm. He turned around, ready to bust off on the first face he saw, but the woman before him caused him to take a step back.
"Oh shit," he whispered.
His crew looked at him in confusion.
"What are you doing here?" Ariel asked him.
August's eyes gazed over at Jarod. His face was in his hands. He scanned the entire pew and took in the faces of Jarod's family members. His eyes stopped when he noticed Brandy and Paris sitting in the second row of the pew behind them.
What da' hell are 'dey doin' hea'? Especially Ariel, how da' fuck does she even know 'dis nigga? Shit wun' 'posed ta' go down like 'dis, he thought.
The room felt like it was spinning as August glanced over at Damontrez who motioned for him to play it cool. He reverted his gaze back to Ariel as she stared up at his tall frame.
He was trying to put two and two together slowly in his head, until she confirmed the unexpected.
"I didn't know you knew my ex's brother."
"Yo' ex?" August was at a loss for words, as he stared at her completely taken aback.
His mind was unable to formulate a lie.
Damontrez stepped up and said, "He doesn't, I do. We were boyz, and I'm just comin' to pay my respects. I'm sorry for da' loss."
Damontrez had completely forgotten that Ariel was the
ex-girlfriend of Jarod, because last he's heard of them being an item was two years ago. He had no idea that they'd gotten back to together again, and just recently broken up.
Which explains why he was just as confused to see his own woman, Brandy, and her friend Paris, sitting in the pews.
This was a huge rookie mistake on Damontrez's behalf, and knew that he would have some serious explaining to do to August once they left the church.
"Thank you." Ariel peered at August. "You okay?"
Feeling his anger getting the best of him, August composed himself as he nodded, still unable to speak.
"Look, I've got to get back to my seat, but I'll call you, okay." She slightly stood on her tip toes as he leaned in to her allowing her to kiss him on the cheek, before walking away.
August turned to his crew.
"I've gotta' get out 'dis bitch," he whispered.
"Aug', what about da' plan?" Damontrez asked.
"Fall back. I can't do 'dis shit right nyh'."
"But, Aug'--" Damario interjected.
"I said fall da' fuck back." August walked out of the church and headed towards his car.
When he got inside, his head fell to the steering wheel in defeat.
"Jarod's ha' ex," he said aloud. "Why she ain't neva' say nun'?"
The crew exchanged glances. They knew that August was feeling Ariel hard. He had broken his number one rule and gotten emotionally involved.
"Mayne' Aug' it's really my fault bruh'. I ain't put you up on game wit' shorty because I had honestly forgotten about 'dem fuckin' wit' each other at one point. Da' shit was old. I ain't know 'dey was still coo' like 'dat tho' for her to be goin' to da' niggas brother funeral 'n shit," Damontrez explained.
"Me ether shid'," Damasio added.
"Surprised da' fuck out of me." Damario chimed in. "Aye' bro' what da' fuck was Brandy 'n Paris doin' there tho'?"
Damontrez sighed as he shook his head, "I don't fuckin' know, but I'ma find out. Believe 'dat,"
"So what we gonna' do now?" Damasio questioned.
"Shit I say we go back in there and do what we came here to do," Damario stated.
Khyrie and Khalil glanced at one another while listening to everything play out. They looked sympathetically at their nigga, but kept quiet out of respect.
"I can't, Damario. It's not 'dat simple."
"It is 'dat simple. Nigga you gon' choose a bitch over crew? Sum'body has to pay for what Jarod did."
"Damario, shut da' fuck up, aight. 'Dats his girl you're talkin' about," Damontrez said in August's defense.
"And!? Ain't no one over da' crew bro' you know 'dat shit," Damario argued.
"Nigga shut da' fuck up talkin'! 'Dats yo' fuckin' pra'lem, ya' talk ta' fuckin' much. I can't even hea' myself think. I know what da' fuck I have ta' do. I was thea', damn. I know, aight. I just can't do 'dis shit right nyh'," August said as he started his car and drove away.
He dropped his crew off at their spots. The car ride there was filled with silence and tension.
"Next time we see 'dat nigga, we gonna' make sum' shit happen. And 'dats my word. Shit I'm tired of playin' 'dis cat 'n mouse bullshit." Damario stated before he got out of the car, slamming the door behind him.
Damontrez looked back at August, who was staring straight ahead, looking at the road.
"Do you love her, Aug'?"
"Yeah, I do." he truthfully answered.
He closed his eyes, and Ariel's face popped into his mind. He slowly opened them and breathed deep, as he put on his grey RockSmith Ninjas snapback on to his head, along with his black hoodie.
"I'm gonna' talk ta' ha' 'n see what all she knows."
Damontrez stepped out of the car and watched August as he drove away.
*****
Ariel
After Jamie's funeral, Ariel drove around the city for two hours trying to make sense of her dilemma. Seeing August at the funeral really blew her, and she felt as if her secret life with Jarod was starting to slowly unfold.
Instinctively she found herself driving toward the cemetery. She had to talk to her father. When she made it there, she saw the same crowd of people that had attended Jamie's funeral.
She knew that they were there to bury his body in the same infamous soil that her deceased father rested in six feet under. Which is why she couldn't bring herself to go with Jarod's family after the ceremony.
But now, she didn't care though as her mind was changed. She wasn't going to allow their presence to stop her from facing her fears of not seeing her father since his death.
She still parked her car and walked over to her father's grave. She knelt down and cried.
"Daddy, I miss you so much," she said as she touched her father's headstone. She closed her eyes. "I'm sorry I haven't came to visit you since you've been gone. It's just 'dat, I hate seeing you like 'dis. I'm lost without you daddy, I need you. I need your help on how to tell him da' truth, because I don't know how to. I've already lost you daddy, and I'm afraid if I tell him everything 'den I'll lose him too."
Thoughts of August filled her head, but she quickly replaced them with her father's face.
"Why is 'dis so hard?"
"--It just is," a voice behind her said.
Startled, Ariel stood to her feet and turned around. August stood there in his all black attire, his hands tucked away in his pockets of his long trench coat, and his muscular physique hung his linens well.
His eyes were red as they gazed down at her tear-stained face.
"It's always hard when ya' lose someone ya' love," he said.
Ariel didn't respond. She was shook because she didn't know how much August had heard her say, and his sudden appearance completely caught her off guard.
Her father was underneath her feet at this very moment, and the fact that August stood on that very same ground, unexpectedly struck a nerve inside of her.
She felt like this was her personal time, and by August showing up unannounced, she felt as if he was intruding on a sacred part of her life that she wasn't ready to introduce him to yet.
He reached for her, but she pulled away slightly.
"Don't," she whispered.
But August didn't listen, as he stepped closer to her.
She wanted to run from him. He was the only person she had ever encountered who intimidated her, and she despised him because of it.
He's apart of my heart now. I slept with 'dis man. I kissed him and let him explore me. I opened up my mind and body to him. I was willing to give him my all, and I've been lying to him. Da' one thing he's always asked me not to do, she thought painfully.
He put his arms around her waist and pulled her near, even though she still tried to resist.
"I wish I could take 'dis pain away fa' ya'," he said as he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away her tears. "I know how ya' feel."
His touch was so gentle, so loving. He was so perfect.
"Ya' loved him so much. I can see it in yo' eyes 'dat ya' hurtin'."
"Don't talk about him," she replied in a whisper.
She didn't want him to speak on her father's name. He had no right to. Not yet at least.
"I wanna' be hea' fa' ya', Ariel. I want'chu ta' be hea' fa' me. Ya' turned my day aroun' wit' knowin' how it would've went down, when I saw ya' at da' church. Seein' ya' face did mo' fa' me than ya' know."
Ariel looked up at him, and his words played funny tricks with her heart. Continuing to lie to him would be wrong. Allowing him to believe that she was perfect would be wrong. But loving him and being with him, would be so right.
"I'm sorry," she said sincerely as she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm so sorry, August."
August thought that she was apologizing for trying to push him away in her time of need. What he didn't know was that she was apologizing for the thousands of lies that she had told to him.
Ariel was going to become his one and only weakness, and then the devil would use it against him. Always there when it was time to collect. He didn't know it yet, but his karma along with her lies, was going to contribute to Ariel's demise.
*****
Antwan
The Next Day
Antwan wasn't the man his brother wanted him to be. So fuck it, he was going to be the man he needed to be.
Stepping on to the New York pavement at 8am in front of the Harlem bodega on the corner of West 112th Street, Antwan approached his new crew along with Miami where they were posted hustling on the block.
Miami and the twelve disciples were up bright and early trying to get the morning crowd, which usually consisted of regular working citizens trying to get a fix to start their day off.
Antwan smiled to himself as he watched grown men and women line up as if they were children in elementary school, just to get the monkey off of their back.
"Da' early bird gets da' worm," he said to himself as he walked towards the crowd of addicts.
"Ayo', wud'up son!" Miami said from amidst the crowd seeing Antwan approaching.
The two men quickly slapped hands with each other, as the disciples greeted Antwan with a casual head nod or a simple wassup'.
Antwan glanced at the long line of fiends and sighed deeply, realizing what he was about to get himself into.
"You good?" Miami questioned, distributing packets of crack and taking money from the fiends.
Antwan nodded glancing around, "Yeah, I'm aight,"
"Coo'," Miami said, focusing his attention back on Antwan and smiled. "well let's get 'dis money 'den,"
He walked Antwan over to his car parked on the curb, but some of the customers began to complain about not getting their packs quick enough. Miami stopped dead in his tracks and turned toward the crowd.
"Yo', shut da' fuck up and wait for me. I know y'all see me tryin' to get at my mans right here. Keep on complainin' and I won't serve y'all shit. You can go uptown and cop some of 'dat bullshit if you want to, if not y'all betta' wait!" Miami, shaking his head in disbelief, turned his back on them and faced Antwan.
"Can't believe these mu'fuckas," He said in exasperation, causing Antwan to chuckle in amusement. "Aight son, let's see how you get 'dis paper."
Miami and Antwan were moving like factory workers, and 112th Street was the assembly line. From 8am to 5pm in the afternoon, it was like Antwan was on a 10hour shift putting in work on the block.
His pockets were getting fatter, as fiends continued to approach him one after the other getting their smack. Antwan couldn't lie, he felt like he was a boss making boss moves, and he could taste the power that he was slowly building towards.
"Ayo', Miami!" A random fiend called out from across the street, who went by the name of Sandy. "Yo' Miami, come here man!"
"Awe hell na'," Miami frustratingly stated, as he glanced over at the pregnant fiend from across the way.
"Come here!" She yelled flagging him down, as she held her large round stomach from being seven months pregnant. "Come here man!"
"Does 'dis look like a fuckin' Lamaze class to you!?" He smartly shouted, throwing his hands up in the air in irritation. "Ayo' Sandy, take yo' ass home!"
"No I need sum'!" She exclaimed desperately. "Come on Miami! Come on man, please! Come on!"
Antwan stepped up walking past Miami, "Yo' I got 'dis," he replied, making his way across the street to the cracked out mother to be.
Walking between the traffic of cars while looking both ways, Antwan approached Sandy on the sidewalk. She handed him forty dollars, as Antwan glanced down at her pregnant stomach feeling slightly sorry for her becoming an addict.
But that feeling was quickly short-lived, as Antwan took the forty dollars from her grasp and handed her three small vials of crack. She anxiously snatched the drugs from his palm and shoved them into her pocket.
"Thanks handsome," Sandy said happily as she flashed him a smile.
Antwan sucked his teeth walking away from her, making his way back to his crew on the other side of the street. Sandy's smile instantly faded into a scowl as she glanced at Miami.
"Ayo' Miami!" She called out once again, catching his attention as she flicked him off. "Fuck you man!"
"Yeah I love you too Sandy!" He replied sarcastically blowing her a kiss.
Antwan approached the crew while counting his larg stacks of bills.
"Yo' you don't sell crack to sum'one whose pregnant," Miami frustratingly told him.
Antwan sucked his teeth continuing to thumb through his cash, "Mayne' fuck a pregnant bitch, I ain't get in 'dis game ta' be no social worka'."
And with that mentality, Antwan had officially devoted himself to the streets, marrying the game.
After a few weeks of putting in work, Antwan had gotten tired of that nickel and dime shit, so he stepped up his game even more.
He had four young cats out on the streets working. He wasn't hanging with his crew or his brother, he wasn't messing around with no chicks, because he was too busy counting paper. And that's exactly how he felt it should be.
*****
August
A Few Nights Later
Entering into Club Lust NY, August glanced around the slightly empty establishment trying to locate Antwan.
He had gotten word from his homeboy Khalil, that Antwan was up in the strip club wildin' and completely drunk off his ass.
Rodeo by Juvenile filled the club, as beautiful thick body strippers danced and twerked on the poles half naked for cash.
Noticing Khalil at the pool table playing a solo round while smoking a blunt, August made his way towards him.
"Yo' Khalil--" He said approaching him, but Khalil quickly cut him off by pointing his pool stick across the room.
Glancing in that direction, August saw his brother passed out drunk on a table in a secluded corner with a half empty bottle of Gin in front of him.
August was beyond pissed as he went over to the table. He forcefully smacked the back of Antwan's head instantly awaking him.
"Leh' go home," he ordered sternly, grabbing Antwan by his arm jerking him out of his seat. "Come on,"
Weakly staggering to his feet, Antwan drunkenly snatched the half empty bottle of Gin from off the table as August steered him out of the club.
"I'm sick of yo' stupid ass!" August furiously stated once they reached outside, as he shoved him against the brick wall.
Before Antwan could even get a chance to speak, he was hunched over throwing up on the pavement.
Chunks of food covered in the creamy chyme from his stomach were propelled into the air as it splattered the ground.
August scoffed shaking his head in disappoinment. He was tired of cleaning up his brother's mess, and seeing him so out of it only infuriated August even more.
"Got damn mayne'..." Antwan slurred, wiping vomit from his mouth from being heavily intoxicated.
His off balance and clumsiness caused him to stumble, as he sat down on the bench against the wall with the liquor bottle still plastered to his hand.
"What da' fuck is wrong wit'chu nigga!?" August angrily yelled. "Why da' hell do I always gotta' clean up yo' shit!? Can't 'chu do right,"
"Like who? Like you!?" Antwan questioned with aggression, completely disoriented. "I ratha' be locked up fa' life, ba'fo I end up like yo' punk ass,"
"What!" August jumped at Antwan as if he was about to hit him, but Antwan was too drunk to even flinch. He chuckled taking a swig from the liquor bottle, as August stared at him menacingly. "Nigga if ya' wun' drunk I'll kick yo' ass,"
"Did I get Aug' upset?" Antwan asked sarcastically, amused by his brother's rage. "So what'chu gonna' do nyh' boah', huh'? Run back ta' yo' la' bitch? Fuckin' sprung ass,"
Loosing his temper, August immediately snatched the liquor bottle from out of Antwan's grasp, and threw it with so much force causing it to shatter against the pavement.
It was taking everything in him not to lay hands on his brother for talking reckless, but August reframed from doing so knowing that it would be a one-sided fight.
"Got, damnit Aug'," Antwan slurred, glancing up at him in disbelief. "Nyh' I gotta' fuckin' go get anotha' one--"
He clumsily arose to his feet, but August instantly grabbed him.
"--No nigga no, ya' done." He told him sternly as he shoved him back down on to the bench. "Ya' fuckin' done,"
"Nigga ya' ain't my daddy!" Antwan exclaimed furiously as he pointed at him, breathing heavily. "Shit, I ain't got no daddy,"
August let out a frustrated sigh as he stared down at his drunken brother, instantly feeling guilty for his past sins that he had accidentally committed upon their father.
Antwan smiled making a gun with his hand aiming it at August's face, "Bang!..."
The false sound effects of a gun caused August to immediately have a flashback of that horrific night, resurrecting his demons that he'd thought he buried years ago.
But Antwan wouldn't let him forget it, even with him being as drunk as he was.
------
A few minutes later, August had finally arrived at his home as he walked Antwan up the stairs and into his room. He sat him down on to the bed and removed his stained white T-shirt covered in vomit tossing it to the floor.
He took a seat beside Antwan as he leaned forward on his knees, stressfully rubbing his hands through his curly fro while sighing deeply.
Antwan scooted closer to August as he rested his arm on his shoulder breathing heavily. The foul smell of Gin mixed with vomit was so fresh on his breath, that it caused August to turn his head away from him in disgust as he covered his nose.
"Ion' have those, dreams, no more, Aug'." Antwan mumbled as he stared at him with a blank expression.
He sluggishly leaned over grabbing another liquor bottle from his bedside, and unscrewed the cap as he snorted loudly.
"And it's all, cause of 'disss..." He added pushing the bottle into August's face, but August refused the offer as he blocked him.
Antwan took a swig from the bottle, as he exhaled loudly from the burning sensation of the Vodka going down his throat. He lay back on the bed restless.
"It's just like garlic," he stated clearing his throat. "It helps keep da' ghosts away..."
August arose from the bed and glanced down at Antwan strung out on the bed, drifting off into his own little world with the bottle still plastered to his hand.
"Just, go ta' sleep Ant'," August told him in defeat, as he headed towards the door.
He cut off the lights as he left out of the bedroom, closing the door behind himself.
--------------
Copyright © 2019 by Ariel O. Jones
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, 2019
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