Chapter Four; Too Hot
That Saturday Night, June 28, 2007 11:47 pm
Floyd Three men, dressed in all black sat quietly in the box Chevy Caprice. Pistols on each side and ankle, they were ready for war. "Yo, that shit on Carvel St. " I said as I looked at Torrence who was navigating the stolen vehicle. He nodded, no communication by voice besides direction was needed. Everything was under code. I eased my head on the window as I looked up. In my mind, I was ready to get this shit over with, but in reality, I knew I was probably gonna be doing this shit longer than I had prepared. My cell rung, and both Torrence and Rome looked back at me. Torrence hit a 'U' turn, and swerved into an empty parking lot. He got out as well as Rome. I opened my door and got out. "The fuck man? What the fuck I said bout phones?" Torrence spat. "My bad man, I forgot it was on me, shit. Calm the fuck down" I said turning my back towards him as I ran my hands across my face, looking up at the sky. "And what? You wake up in the morning and realize yo' shit ain’t there? What if ya' phone hadn't have rung? I ain’t tryna get caught up on some you forgot!" Torrence yelled. I turned around quickly, "My nigga I do this shit! This is me!" I said hitting my chest, "Fuckin talking like you run some fuckin body! You forgettin yo' slip up? Huh?" I asked in his face. He sucked his teeth and looked away, I nodded my head, "Yeah, look like you gotta glitch too, but I caught mines. Wish I could say the same for you" I said as I headed back to the car.
Torrence & I never always saw eye to eye. None of us did, but the two of us always clashed, while Rome was the more, put it on the table, lets talk this shit through type, Torrence and I were more like, fists up, chest out. The other two entered the car, but before cranking up, Rome had something to say. "Look, that shit back there, unnecessary. We family, ain’t no pointing finger's cause at the end of the day, all we got is each other. Yea, what happened last time was fucked up, but what happened happened, we cant change that shit. So let that shit ride, it could've been either one of us" he said redirecting his eyes back and forth between me and Torrence. "So this is it, if anybody want out, say it now. Ain’t no pressure, no hard feelings. When we roll up in there, it's cause we want to. Not cause Rome want you to, not cause Floyd want you to, not cause Torrence want you to. Its up to you. So shid, wudd up?" he asked. I licked my lips, biting down on my bottom. "I always got chu' man" I said dapping Rome. "That’s what the fuck im talking bout" he said as Torrence crunk the car up. "Y'all need to handle this lil war y'all got going on, that shit gon burn us all if y'all don’t" he said looking out of the tinted windows. "Man, we been doing that shit for years" Torrence replied. "And that shit need to stop tonight. Yo im so serious, y'all need to handle that" Rome said looking at Torrence, who was more focused on the road than the conversation.
I cant call Rome a liar, neither could I say that about Torrence. We bickered about petty shit, just to get on each others nerves. Truth be told, we had something the other wanted. Torrence had the dare to laugh in the face of death, and I, I had memory like an elephant & the trigga' game on lock, never miss. Probably why we make such a good team. If you cant beat'em, join'em. I knew Torrence would be too stubborn to come out and say it, but I had to. "Look man, we been down since we was kids, that shit ain’t gon' change no matter what, I got chu' & you got me. So quash that shit" I said as the car came to a stop. "I hear you" Torrence said, "This it?" he said looking at the small house. Music blasted from it as people crowded around the raggedy gated house. "Yo', you ready?" Torrence asked. "I got it man" I said as I got out. Seeing as the niggas from The Courts hadn't paid me any attention, I would blend in easily in the crowd, unlike Torrence or Rome. "In and out man, in and out" Torrence said as he watched me cross the street.
I pushed open the the rusted gate as I stepped onto the property. The sent of cheap weed was loud, and the bitches were wack. "Hey boo, don’t I know you from some where?" a girl asked. Ignoring her, I past on by, I was on a mission. See how many of the niggas that were here, were at The Courts. Yea, somebody innocent was bound to die tonight, but this wasn't about killing, it was about proving a point. Never fuck with LRA. This was a message engraved with Dre's name on it. You fuck with my boys? You can kiss yours good bye. I had seen all there was to see, 10 niggas, the same bitches that crowded around Torrence the first game, and circled around Dre the second. I headed out of the front door genuinely as the same chick from before jumped in my face again, "I know you heard me before!" she said rolling her neck. I crowned her face with my hand as I pushed her out of my way, "The fuck outta here" I said as I continued on. "No he didn't!" another one of her friends said.
"How many?" Torrence asked. "All them niggas in there. Except Dre" I said as I closed the back door. "You tell'in me this muthafucka ain’t at his own damn party?" Torrence said hitting the steering wheel. "Fuck them, I want this nigga pulse gone" Torrence said cranking up. "Where the fuck you going?" I asked. "This shit too hot, too many people" he said turning the corner. "The fuck? Nigga we don' ran up in plenty spots and we was out numbered. That ain’t stop us from bodying niggas left and right!" I said pissed, only because I had gotten hyped up. "Look man, we can come at these niggas one by one. I ain’t worried bout that" Torrence responded. "Who the fuck you worried bout?!" I responded. "Everybody in this fuckin car know Dre a bitch. The nigga got fear point blank. The person that fears you the most, is most likely to be the person who bodies yo' ass. It's either me or him, and I ain’t going for that shit" he said as he slowed down, and parked near a curb. "You still wanna' pop some?" he asked as we watched the police drive by, turning down Carvel. I shook my head. "This shit too hot" Rome spoke, "I say we drive this bitch around the corner and leave it. Fuck the chop shop" he said. "Man fuck nah'" Torrence added, cranking back up. "Nigga you really think we gon' make it that far? Floyd phone rung, anything could've happened if it didn't! Nigga could've dropped his shit back there! We just watched the got damn police drive down the same fuckin street we was bout to light up! How many sighs you fuckin need?!" Rome yelled.
Torrence sucked his teeth as he always did, hated that he was out done. Rome was the brains above all. He might miss once or twice, forget some' every now & then, but the nigga was Harvard smart. Shit, beyond that. "Look, I gotta' cousin live a few blocks from here, we can chill there and get out of these suspicious ass clothes, be out by sunrise" I said. And it was done. The three of us got out of the car, Torrence, leaving the keys in the driver seat, huffed, "How far this cousin live?" he asked. "Bout two, three blocks" I responded as I removed my gloves, watching as Rome did the same. "Ah shit" Torrence said as his eyes gazed up the street, at the police car. We were all loaded, with 4 guns each, making it 12 in all. "Nigga just chill, back up, slowly" Rome said. On Q, we all did, backing up into the dark shadows of the small houses. I followed behind Rome as he eased in between the small space between two houses. "Just chill, don’t say shit. One wrong move can fuck us up" he said as his chest rose up & down slightly. I closed my eyes as I began to calm myself down.
Flashback...
"Look, we in & we out. No body gets hurt" Torrence said as he looked back at me. My vision was blurry as his last words seem to repeat them selves. My glove covered hands reached into the front seat, awaiting the gun to be placed in it. Rome's hand appeared, only to drop the deadly weapon in my palm. Ski masks were on, and all common sense was lost beyond that point. The three of us got out, and all I could hear, was my heart beat. All I could feel, was my pulse in my hands. "We got 60 seconds" Rome said, his words slurring. I nodded as I watched the door of King's Corner, a corner store we had been watching for a while now. Seemed to be bringing in fat money, and not just from selling Snickers and shit either. King had a drug deal rig'd up. We eased up behind the dumpster as Torrence checked the backdoor. Unlocked. The three of us quickly yet quietly entered the store unnoticed. There sat Mr.King, watching his grey colored TV, not even paying attention. Torrence stood in front of the counter, while Rome eased behind it. I stood by the door, waiting for some dumb ass to enter. Two guns were cocked back, and Mr. King was now well aware of what was going on. He slowly turned around. "Nigga turn around!" Ace demanded. He grabbed the collar of Mr. King’s shirt, forcing him to stand. Block tossed the bag on the counter. Mr. King shook his head, "Y'all lil nigga's gon' rob me? Huh? Y'all gon' bring y'all bitch asses up in here!?" he screamed. And like nothing, Ace slapped him with the bottom of his gun, "You wasting my fuckin time ole man! Put the money in the fuckin bag!" he demanded. "17" I spoke, telling them we were 17 seconds in. Block aimed his gun at Mr. King, "Open it, or get opened" he said. Mr. King slowly opened the register. "Get that shit son, fuck we waitin on him for?" Torrence demanded. Ace wasted no time snatching up the bills in the register. "28" I spoke again. My eyes switched from Ace, behind the counter, to Block holding the gun, to the entrance of the store. 'Hurry the fuck up' I thought to myself. "Time" Block spoke. "39" I said in response. "Get some of that shit too!" Block said to Ace. Ace snatched everything on the back board. "Y'all muthafuckas gon' come in here and rob me?" King mumbled, "I got some' for yo ass" he said starring in Block's face. "Ima show you muthafuckas!" King yelled through grinted teeth as he reached for his gun. "52" I said. And just like that quick, Block empty a bullet in Mr. King’s forehead. He stood with the look of death kissing his face. He dropped the gun as he slowly fell to his knee's. Slowly, I walked over, and peaked behind the counter. Mr. Kings dead eyes shot up at me and I flinched at the sight. Ace eased his foot near King's head, nudging it, "Fuck!" he groaned. The three of us ran out the exact way we entered. I ran the route we had planned only hours before, cut through Sandra's, run behind Washington, hit 47th street and meet up at Montey's in 60 seconds flat. I pushed myself against the cold bricks of Montey's, an old bar I once called home. My chest beat down as my heart raced a million miles an hour. My head boomed like a head on collision. The back door of Montey's opened, and there stood Montey, holding the trash. "Aye, you alright?" Montey asked. "Y-yeah man, just" I said catching my breath, while trying to make sense, "Just running 'round" I said. "Wont you come inside?" he suggested with a worried look. I took a deep breath, "Com'on Floyd, you gon' need an alibi, for whatever it is you just did" he said, "You and ya' friends." Slowly, I eased off of the wall and walked into his empty bar. Montey knew we had done something, he could see it my eyes. Montey slid the phone towards me, “Call your friends” he said. “They're coming” I responded in a low voice. Soon enough, Rome & Torrence were walking in. As Montey went back to his office, we all sat, looking down at the cherry wood bar, no words were shared. Montey walked behind the counter, and turned the TV on. “...Where they found Mr. King laying behind the counter with one bullet to the head. Police believe that Mr. King had both sold and bought drugs in this very store. Investigators believe this crime was drug related, though it could be just a robbery gone terribly wrong. Mr. King did have surveillance cameras in his store, though none of them were working at the time. Mr. King had been under investigation for about two weeks. Investigator had planned to take him in for questioning later on this week, now Police are back at square one, with both the murder, and his drug relation. I’m Lenise Lig-” Montey turned the TV off, and looked back at us. Our faces were frozen. “Please, tell me you three had nothing to do with that” he said looking the three of us stone cold in the eyes. Just as Torrence was about to speak, Montey did, “Don’t play with me boy. You 'bout to lie already. I promised your mother I'd keep you outta' jail, and I will lay down and die before I break it. Same goes for y'all too” he said switching his eyes to Rome & I. He placed the cloth that lay on shoulder on the counter as he sucked his teeth, “If anybody asked, you were here with me till closing.” We said nothing as we all nodded in unison.
"What the fuck you doin?" Rome's voice snapped me out of my reminiesing. I looked over to see Torrence pulling out his gun as the officer's checked out the car the three of us had just gotten out of. "Warner" an officer said as he aimed his flashlight in the window, "looks like they left the keys on the seat. Call it in" he said. Rome hit Torrence to get his attention. We had to get up outta here. The two followed me as we weaved through the small backyards untill we came to a street. "It's right there" I said, walking in the direction of my cousin Kaylee's house. "She better be home" Torrence spoke. He was beginning to get on my nerves, "Man chill, you big talking now? Tryna heat up the police & shit" I said. "Man chill with that shit" Rome said walking on, aggravated at the both of us. I knocked on the door and waited as Rome leaned on the post. Kaylee opened the door, "What the hell?" she said. I opened the screen door, "Hey cuz to you too" I said welcoming myself in. "What's up Kay?" Rome said gretting her, as well as Torrence. "Hey, yea, whatever. What y'all doing here?" she asked. "I cant come see my favorite cousin?" I asked. "You can leave" she said with her hand on her hip. "Chill Kay, we'll be gone by morning" I responded. "Oh uh uh! No! You need to leave now, every time you come over here, one of your lil girlfreaks find's her way over here and starts som' she cant finish!" she said snapping her fingers in my face. I chuckled at the thought of Keyshia, Kaylee scrubed her down the street that day. "Com'on Kay" Rome insisted. She shook her head, "Whatever, I have class in the morning, so keep it down, no smoking, no drinking, no hoes" She said pointing at all of us. "Alright alright" I said as I crashed on the couch. "Where the bathroom at?" Rome asked. "I'll show you" she said with a smirk. Rome followed in behind her as she led him down the hallway. "How old she is again?" Torrence asked. "Nigga dont even try it!" I responded. He chuckled and turned the tv on. Kaylee appeared again, only to go to the kitchen. "Where yo' moms at?" I asked. She responded, though I could bearly understand her because of the loud ass tv. "Where?" I asked again as I cocked my eye's at Torrence in aggervation. "Where?" I repeated. "Work!" Kaylee yelled. "Work?" I repeated. "No that's not what I said for the third time!" she yelled. I sucked my teeth at her, "Need to take yo' young ass to sleep" I said getting up. "Perhaps I could if yo' yella' ass hadn't have popped up with Thing 1 & 2" she responded. "Hater" I said lightly pushing her. "Boy, get out my face" she said walking on down to her room. After Rome exited the bathroom, I entered.