J E S S E
I stared at Darius as he lifted up a box and sat it on the table. Eli had called an emergency meeting and I was wondering what the fuck was going on or what had happened.
"Where Cal at?" I asked and Eli sighed as he stood up and began to open the box revealing this nasty ass smell. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as Elias covered up his nose and we watched Eli pull out the head of a small child.
He closed his eyes before showing me and I stood up in disbelief about to throw up. I turned my head away and Elias got up from his seat pushing past me as he left out of the room.
"This is retaliation, they killed Talia" Eli said placing the head back into the box as he grabbed hand sanitizer and cleaned his hands off.
"What you want us to do?" I asked keeping my eyes closed trying to keep that sight out of my mind, that was a little fucking girl.
"I don't trust any of them anymore, for all I know it could be Darius that's telling on everyone" Eli said and we all turned to look at him.
"We suppose to be family and the minute some shit happen you assume me? This ain't no fucking family because if you really knew me and the type of person I am you know once I get cool with you I'm loyal until the end" Darius said angrily as he stormed out and Marco stared at us before shaking his head.
"If he's the snake then I guess I am too. We spend a lot of time together and he's either with me or Alijah that makes no fucking sense. You keep blaming people and eventually everyone who's loyal will get fed up and let y'all handle this shit alone" Zaire said with a shrug.
"What the fuck are we suppose to think? Everybody is getting shot up, Calvin's little sister is dead, she was four years old and now he got to live with that for the rest of his life" Eli snapped and I signed.
"You just had to kill they mama" Justin accused and I narrowed my eyes at him before looking away not wanting to get angry.
"Fuck you, I'll kill your mama to nigga" I mumbled and he eyed me for a moment and Eli looked at the both of us,
"Jesse we just talked about this shit keep your anger under control" Eli warned as everyone looked at me and I chuckled.
"You'd know if I was mad or not, is this meeting over?" I asked and he sighed shaking his head no as he called someone in to take the box out.
"Everyone should just keep to themselves, we come together when business needs to be handled but other than that just let everyone do they own thing" Marco suggested.
"Nah we have shit to handle together, Cal isn't in the right state of mind right now so we need to be coming together instead of pulling apart" Eli said.
"Then you need to go apologize to Darius, if he tell Alijah what's going on, she gon get mad and I have to hear her mouth and put up with that. Then I'm going to get mad and come here and want to fight you so let's avoid all that and suck up your pride and admit you wrong" I said leaning forward on the desk.
"But we don't know if I'm wrong or not, Ember is never with us anymore it's like everyone is turing into a suspect in my eyes and I don't know what to think" Eli said and then I got an idea but it was only going to work if I didn't tell anybody about it.
Taking a deep breath Eli called the meeting to a close and I stood up feeling sad. That could of been my daughter in that box and it hurt to even think about.
It was like anybody I call my family could be out to set me up. I often felt like I had to keep my back against the wall afraid that any one of these niggas was going to stab me and that wasn't a good feeling.
I got home an hour later after stopping by Cal's place but he wasn't there. Alijah was sitting on the couch with a box of tissues and the baby monitor as I came in and locked the door behind me.
She stood up and walked over wrapping her arms tightly around my neck letting her tears pour out and I tried to calm her down.
"Jesse just be honest with me, what did you guys do. Maybe I can help" she said wiping her eyes as she looked up at me.
"Just relax alright? I'm trying to handle it" I warned her and she shook her head no pulling away from me as she wiped her eyes.
"You keep telling me to relax and that you'll handle it but things are only getting worse. Talia is dead and now Jasmine has to burry her four year old daughter in pieces Jesse, they cut that little girl up like she was some type of puzzle" Alijah cried.
Before I could respond to her I heard Ajani's cries and walked down the hallway to her nursery flicking on the light.
She was kicking her legs and her face was red as her cries grew louder. I lifted her up and laid her on the changing table to change her diaper.
"Are you sure this is a safe enough place for us?" Alijah questioned standing in the door way as she rubbed her eyes.
"I wouldn't leave you alone if I didn't think it was safe, where is Moriah?" I questioned taking off Ajani's diaper and wiping her.
"In the room playing video games, I haven't told him yet" Alijah sniffled as I finished putting the new diaper on the baby and snapped her onesie back how it was.
Cradling her in my arms I walked passed Alijah and opened the door to the guest room and Moriah was playing mind craft.
"Come her for a second Moriah" I said and he paused the game and followed behind me into the living room.
He looked at Alijah as she tried to wiped her face and raised an eyebrow sitting on the couch next to her.
"You gotta stay with us for a little while, your parents are trying to relocate to a safer place and when they find a place you can go back with them" I said and He looked confused.
"What about Elias? Why are they looking for a new place?" He questioned staring at me. I knew if I lied he'd know.
"Talia is dead, they decapitated her and sent it to Zaire's place" I said and his face grew pale as he looked down at his hands to keep from crying I assumed.
"You didn't answer my first question" he said quietly and Alijah rubbed his back as I looked down at Ajani.
"He staying back with Zaire and Marco, that cool with you?" I questioned and he shook his head no.
"None of you know who the traitor is I want my brother here so I know he's okay" Moriah said angrily and I nodded.
"Alright but tell him what I told you" I reminded as he pulled out his phone and walked out of the living room angrily.
I laid back on the love seat with Ajani on my chest and listened to the noises she was making as she sucked on the pacifier in her mouth.
I didn't think it was possible to cherish my daughter more than I already did before but now I felt even more protective.
"Alijah I got a plan, but I need your help" I said and she looked at me while wiping her nose with a tissue.
"You in?" I questioned and she nodded as I made her come lay down with me in the baby. Those bombs we purchased were about to come in handy.
C A L V I N
"You did this!" My mother screamed as she continued to beat on my chest and sob her eyes out screaming bloody murder.
Her husband had to pull her off and my father stood in between us. Tears streamed down my face and I felt like ending my life in exchange for Talia's this hurt more than anything.
I sunk to the ground crying not knowing what to do, I wanted to just let this shit fall to the ground it wasn't worth it anymore it only caused pain.
"I'm going to make sure you pay for this, you are the reason my daughter is dead and I'm not going to rest until you die or get put away in handcuffs" Kevin shouted.
"You don't want them type of problems. Say something else and I'll make sure you meet your daughter at heavens gate" my father said growing serious and Kevin backed down.
"I never want to see either of you again, get out!" My mother screamed and my father nodded grabbing me by my arm and pulling me up before pushing me towards the front door.
"Jasmine don't do know stupid shit, you know I'll raise hell and I'm trying my hardest to not be that person anymore" my father warned her as we left out.
I used my shirt to wipe my face as I climbed into the passenger side of the car and sat their angrily, I felt like I was defeated.
My father got into the car handing me his weed and I took it and puffed on it as he pulled out of the driveway.
"You going to continue to deny my help?" He asked and I shook my head looking out the window.
My phone started to ring and I glanced down at Jesse's number and contemplated on ignoring it or not but gave in and answered anyway.
"You blame me for this?" He questioned first. I wanted to be angry at Jesse but I couldn't because it wasn't his fault and if Ajani would of been hit with one of those bullets he wouldn't of blamed me for it.
"Nah it don't stop it from hurting any less" I said hearing him sigh from the other end. I didn't know how I was going to get this through but I really needed time to grieve and clear my head.
"Look I got an idea and I think it'll help eliminate everyone that's working against us" he said making me perk up.
"Alright then tell me what's up" I said putting the phone on speaker so my father would be able to hear it.
"We get a couple of niggas to act like they work with the twins and then we have them approach every single member of our crew and the cliques that work for us, somebody bound to fuck up" Jesse said and I nodded liking that idea.
"It's a start, but I want all them niggas dead they killed my sister" I said angrily as I clutched the phone tighter.
"And soon enough we'll handle that but we gotta start thinking smarter, rushing into shit will only make things worse" he warned and I nodded agreeing.
"Alright I'll hit your line later tonight and we can meet up and get drunk, I could use it" I said and he agreed as I hung up.
"I'm not sure about anyone else but Elias and Jesse are loyal" my father said and I agreed. I knew for a fact my cousin ain't have shit to do with this and Jesse is my brother and always will be.
I wanted to trust Eli but the sad truth was even he was a suspect. I couldn't help but think about how his father betrayed my father and they were close like us too.
"I feel like Jasmine is going to go to the police" I said for the first time referring to my mother by her first name and my father remained quiet.
"I don't trust her or her husband it's just some real shady shit going on. Those twins gotta be working with someone real close with one of you ain't no way they getting all this information out of thin air" my father said glancing from the road over to me.
"Whoever is it is playing the role right. I had people keeping tabs on Ember and she been opening businesses and making moves not up to no sneaky shit" I said feeling my phone ring again and saw Nicole's number.
"What?" I answered angrily and she began to cry harder, she'd been calling me nonstop for the last hour and I've been trying to just ignore it to avoid cursing her out.
"They took my baby Cal, Alex is gone" she cried and I glanced down at the phone seeing if I heard her clearly.
"And how I know this ain't no set up, you a fucking cop so have one of them help you" I said about to hang up as her crying got louder.
"They fired me for withholding evidence, I wouldn't give them names Calvin I swear to god right now just please help me get my baby back, your the only one I can count on right now I need you" she cried and I shared a look with my father before hanging up on her.
I dialed Elias's number and waited for him to answer. It took me calling his ass twice for him to finally pick up.
"What's up?" He answered as I ran a hand down my face. My father pulled up to the place he just bought and we got out of the car.
"Look I need you to find out some street information for me. You know the number to that hit man from the hood? See what's up with a missing little spanish boy and handle that for me" I said hearing him shuffle around.
"Yeah I got it" he mumbled hanging up. My father walked into the kitchen and I went up the steps to my bedroom and laid back on the bed kicking my shoes off.
Taking my gun from off me i unloaded it tossing the clip and the gun on the floor knowing my guilt was about to consume me and I might try and end my life.
I couldn't stop thinking about the first time I held her and how full of life she was. She wanted to be around me all the time and that was my little partner and crime.
The last time I saw her I had promised I'd come and get her and we'd do whatever she wanted but never got around to it. I always had to break promises to her for business and now it's to late.
I wondered if she was scared before it happened or if she called out for me or something. If I wasn't so busy caught up in my own world this could of been avoided.
I could of saved her.
E L I A S
I leaned against my car smoking weed as a black Impala pulled up and one of my homies stepped out smoking a black and mild.
"What's up Kareem, it's been awhile" I laughed slapping hands with him as he nodded remaining silent as he looked me over, he had a girl with him that looked around my age and I raised an eyebrow.
"So what you need nigga?" He questioned rubbing his hands together and the girl looked at him in annoyance.
"Calvin actually need help finding some lil Mexican boy for his girlfriend or whatever, you heard anything about that?" I asked.
Kareem was a hood rich hit man and killed like it was nothing. A lot of people went to him when they didn't want their hands dirty and if the money was right he'd take care of it.
We met through Marco awhile back and dude was serious all the time. Always quiet and ruthless and the only nigga I'd ever be scared of if he came after me trying to body me or some shit.
"Corrine, call Dante and see what's up" Kareem demanded the girl and she stared at him for a moment before forcing a smile and walking away.
"Who that? I ain't know you messed around with jailbait" I teased and he mugged me for a moment blowing smoke out of the corner of his mouth to keep it from getting in my face.
"Nah it ain't like that fool, she just trying to be down with the crew she got no idea what she fucking with though girl only seventeen" he said with a distant look on his face.
"You heard about them twins? Trying to take over California and it ain't looking good for us" I sighed puffing on the blunt.
"Y'all some soldiers I got faith" he shrugged carelessly and I nodded as the girl returned hanging up the phone.
"Dante said if the money is right he'll go get him for you right now" the girl said looking at me and Kareem chuckled smoking some more of his black.
"How much?" I questioned looking at him. These niggas some fucking cons they never do shit out the goodness of they heart it's always a catch.
"He'll take five grand" Kareem shrugged and I nodded reaching into my pocket pulling out a wad of cash.
Counting it I got to the amount and handed it to him. He dropped the rest of the black and mild on the concrete and stepped on it before sliding the money into his pocket.
"Drop the lil nigga off at the main trap" I said and he nodded walking towards the car. I gave the girl a wink and she frowned and walked away from me. Should of known she was going to have a shitty attitude fooling with his ass.
I climbed into my car and looked at the address Moriah sent me before starting the car driving to Alijah new place.
I wasn't going to be able to get a good night sleep for awhile. I just couldn't understand how they could of got Talia like that.
How could Jasmine not have said anything? We could've found her before all this happened. Something else that isn't sitting well with me is the fact that the girl head was real decomposed like that shit had to of happened a couple of days ago so why hadn't she said anything before?
Shit is sounding more and more suspicious like she had something to do with that shit and she's trying to cover her tracks.
I needed to talk to Mo about this because I needed an honest opinion and everyone else was all tore up about this.
After my talk with Marco earlier I agreed with him I was going to have to take a step back and look at the situation differently because somebody is on some other shit.
A L I J A H
I woke up feeling my heart racing but calmed down once I realized Jesse was holding me. He had a firm grip on my ass and he was just staring into outer space.
"You still thinking about Talia?" I questioned sadly kissing his chin and he nodded. It was almost ten at night and I felt like it wasn't possible for me to cry anymore all of this was way to sad.
"Makes me not want Ajani to ever leave the house, makes me want you to not take trips to the grocery store because now when I'm out trying to help everybody else I gotta worry about if you and the baby okay" He said quietly.
"You don't have to worry about us, I know how to use gun and things are different now because if anyone comes near my child they will die" I said being very serious.
He leaned down kissing my lips before Ajani started crying on the baby monitor. Jesse got out of bed and I sat up and looked around our bedroom.
I didn't even remember being brought in here. Last thing I remember was going to sleep on him as we laid on the couch with Ajani.
Jesse came back in the room with her and he was feeding her the rest of a bottle as he sat down on the bed.
"Please tell me you don't have to leave tonight" I said hoping he didn't but judging by how he tensed up I knew I was pushing my luck.
"I don't have to leave for another hour but I got some business to handle with Justin" he said sounding like he didn't want to.
"Did something happen while I was asleep?" I asked worriedly as I felt my stomach tighten up and he shook his head no.
"Just some shit to do with our sperm donor then I gotta go check on Cal and see how he holding up" Jesse said and I remained silent understanding.
"At least your here now" I smiled small before I laid down again cuddling with the covers. The bed smelled like his body wash and cologne.
"You wanna lay with mommy?" Jesse playfully asked Ajani as he burped her. I smiled as he laid her next to me and I leaned down kissing her cheek.
She was beginning to loose that new baby smell. I leaned down and smelled her and I kid you not she side eyed me making Jesse bust out laughing.
"Yeah she not only looks like you she's only three weeks and act exactly like you" I mumbled making him laugh harder.
"Cause that's daddies baby" he smiled leaning down and kissing her cheek making her smile. I paused for a moment and playfully rolled my eyes.
.
"I think we should get footie pajamas like a family" I smiled innocently and he looked away from Ajani and at me with a frown.
"Hell no you can wear one but I will not participate in that" he mumbled laying down with us. I rolled my eyes knowing I was going to order him one anyway.
This was a good distraction from the Talia situation but I knew in the days to come my emotions were going to be all over the place.
AUTHORS NOTE-
Some of you MAY know Kareem, Dante and Corrine from my "Made Men" book and some of you won't lol but COMMENT & vote.