Southern Kings: A Gangster Love Story (15 page)

“You don't get to make that decision. It's my life, right?”

“Yeah, but—”

“Then you can't make that decision for me. I don't need perfect. I just need you, so don’t tell me what’s good for me. I want this, and so do you, but you gotta let me in. You have to let me in, Yetti.”

“I don't know how to do that.” It wasn’t that easy for me.

“Yes, you do, you are right now.”

She leaned down and connected her lips with mine. My hands grabbed the back of her thighs and I pulled her closer to me. It was like a sudden calm surrounded us.

When she let go, I looked up at her and with a seriousness that I needed her to understand, I looked her right in the eyes and spoke. “I'm gonna kill them, Ree. Everyone involved and I put that on God.”

She didn't flinch, but I could see the uncertainty in her eyes but she simply nodded and said ‘Okay’.

I was positive she didn't know what that meant, but I needed her to understand what was about to happen. Everyone who played a role in it was going to die. The judge, his lawyer, the cop that looked at me and my brothers with a fucking smirk on his face and told us that we were going to be fucked up for life after he walked around our house checking out what had gone down. Hell, he was right, we were inches away from being committed, but his job was to serve and protect, not to make things worse. That shit was funny to him then, but I could guarantee he won't be laughing when the barrel of my gun was pressed against his forehead. It was only a matter of time, but I was gon’ make that happen.

When I got the call that my brother was good, I was happy as fuck. It didn't know what I would do if anything happened to either one of us. It was like one couldn’t exist without the other two, hell I knew I couldn't. I was a grown ass man with a family of my own, but I relied on my brothers and they relied on me.

That was how we worked, and that wasn't gonna ever change.

I had just left the doctor’s office with Rah and we got word that things were good with her and the baby. She was almost twelve weeks, which meant that she had gone almost three months without taking care of our child. I was a little pissed about that, but I let it slide. Things were good right now and she seemed happy about the baby, so I didn't want to go there with her.

Zora was happy as hell and kept going on and on about having a little sister but I low key wanted a son. Either way, as long as the baby was healthy, I was cool with it. Right now I was about to take them home so that I could meet Keys at Yetti’s house. We needed to have a conversation about what was about to go down.

I glanced at Rah and she was staring out the window, but had been quiet since we left the doctor’s office. I gripped her thigh and looked back and Zora through the rearview mirror and she was slumped over knocked out.

“Why you so quiet?”

“No reason.” Rah looked at me and smiled, but it was faint, barely there.

“What’s up, baby. I know you which means, that I know something’s on your mind.”

Rah inhaled and then looked right at me. “I want to get married, Hayes.”

“Married, where that shit come from?” I asked a little confused.

I mean, we had talked about it a few times, but nothing serious. Shit we were good, and I didn't need paperwork to prove to her that I wasn't going anywhere. After all this time she should know that.

“From me. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. Why not, we’re about to have another baby, and you claim that you’re not going anywhere, so why not, Hayes?”

“Because we don't need that shit. Marriage don't mean a got damn thing, Rah. It's just paper work. What matters is what's in here.” I lifted my hand and pressed my finger into her chest. “My parents were married, and look what happened. That nigga wasn't shit and it didn't stop him from taking her life, did it? We’re good, Rah, why fuck that up?”

“Because it's what I want, Hayes. How many times do you say that you're not your father? You’re not him, so why can't I have that if it’s what I want?”

“You’re damn straight I ain't that weak muthafucker and I never will be.” I cut my eyes at her and she shut up quick. “Rah, I get it, I do, but we’re good. Just leave it at that, okay I’m not going anywhere, and you know that. We don't need to be married for you to know that.”

“Fine. I won't bring it up again.”

I could tell that she was angry, but she’d be alright. I just wasn't with that shit right now. Marriage didn't mean forever, in fact from what I’d seen in my life, marriage made shit worsen and I didn't want that. I loved Rah with everything in me and I would never leave her but I didn't want that dark cloud hanging over my head. We didn't need that shit. We were good and I wanted to stay that way.

When we got to the house, I got Zora out and carried her inside. While I laid her in our bed, Rah stripped out of her clothes and threw on leggings and a t-shirt. I really wanted to slide up in her real quick, but I knew she wasn't having it so I let it slide.

“Yo, let me get those pictures of the baby so I can show Yetti and Keys.”

I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. She tensed up but relaxed a little when my lips connected to her neck. I knew this marriage shit was gonna be a problem for a minute, but hopefully she would be over it soon.

“They’re in my purse. You can get them,” she said and then pulled away.

I watched her from behind as she walked away, pulling her hair into a ponytail.

“I’m heading out, but I’ll be back soon. You and Zora be ready and we can go eat.”

“Okay.” was all she said, so I knew she was in her feelings. Rah loved shit like that. She was forever trying to be out with me and Zora, letting bitches know she had me and we were a family. I thought that shit was funny because she never had to prove anything to anyone. I always let it be known where my heart was. That I was with her and everyone knew it.

“Aight, I'm gone.”

I kissed my baby girl and then left our room. I stopped in the living room and grabbed our sonogram pictures folding them once and sticking them in my back pocket before I left the house and locked up. It was time to go deal with my next set of issues.

By the time I got to Yetti’s crib, Keys was already there. I parked behind him and made my way to the front door. I used my key and let myself in and heard Yetti and Key’s voices coming from the kitchen, so I made my way to them.

I hadn't seen my brother since the day before he lost it at Keys’ house, so I was anxious to lay eyes on him. Talking to him on the phone was different from actually seeing him and knowing that he was good, so the second I hit the kitchen and saw the two of them I felt a sense of relief.

“Fuck you grinning like that for Hayes?”

Keys never missed a chance to get in my shit, but today I didn't really give fuck, I was happy to see Yetti. I walked over to him and gave him a hug, holding it for a minute before I let him go. Once I did, I snatched the bottle of Hennessy that Keys was holding from his hand and then mushed him in the side of his head.

“I’m happy nigga, that's what the fuck I’m grinning for, now mind your damn business.”

Keys chuckled, but didn't come for me, so I hopped on the counter and turned up the bottle in my hand. Once I downed a little, I held it out for Keys and he took it back.

“You good, bruh?” My eyes were on Yetti while Keys placed the bottle on the counter and fired up the blunt he now had in his hand. He was forever smoking something.

“Shit, I guess so. What about you?”

“I’m straight. We just left the doctor's office. The baby is good.” I couldn't help but smile about that. I leaned to one side and pulled the pictures out my pocket and handed them to Yetti, since he was closest to me. He looked down at them and now he was smiling.

“Damn nigga, you ‘bout to have another one. What's fucking with that? We need to catch up, Keys.” Yetti looked up for a second and then back down at the pictures before he passed them off to Keys.

“Hell no! That shit ain't for me. At least not right now. I’m good playing uncle.”

Yetti chuckled. “Yeah, you right. Last thing we need is for your hoe ass to be raising a shorty”

“Fuck you, Yettrick. I’ll be a good ass father; I just don’t want kids right now.”

“Oh, so that’s how we’re doing it, Keyton? You calling government names and shit?” Yetti narrowed his eyes at him, but Keys laughed.

“It's your got damn name, ain't it? Now call me that shit again and watch me fuck you up.” Keys pointed at him, still hiding the sonogram pictures in his hand.

“Yeah, let me see you try. Pussy ass.” Yetti waved him off and I laughed. I missed this. It had only been a few days, but it felt like a lifetime

“Rah wants to get married.” I blurted out randomly, causing both my brothers to look my way, but only for a second before they glanced at each other and then their eyes were right back on me.

“Word? How you feel about that?” Keys was the first to speak.

“Shit, we’re good like we are. Fuck we need to get married for?” My eyes moved back and forth between the two of them.

“So you don't wanna get married?” Yetti spoke up.

“Not really.” I shrugged.

“But she wants to?” He looked me right in my eyes.

“Yeah, but she’ll be aight.”

“Why not, Hayes? I mean shit, you love her right? And you're not going anywhere, so why not do that shit?” Keys glanced at Yetti and then looked at me.

“‘Cause marriage don't mean shit. People don't respect that shit; in fact, it means more if you stay without putting that ring on than it does when you stay with one on. My commitment is in here.” I placed my hand over my heart. “I don't need a piece of paper for that.”

“True, you don't need that shit, but if it's what she wants, then why not?” Yetti looked at me with serious eyes.

“Marriage changes shit. Y'all know that. We're good and I don't wanna fuck that up. What if I end up like him?”

My mom and pops were happy up until they actually got married. That's when shit changed, I was young but I remembered him holding up a piece of paper in front of her one time and yelling that it meant that she belonged to him, that he owned her. They were together for years before they actually got married, and he never laid a hand on her until after they were. Marriage changed people, and I didn't want that for us.

Keys moved closer to me and looked me right in my eyes. “You ain't that nigga, Hayes. You will never be him. Marriage isn't what changed him. Lewis was just a fucked up individual. It didn't have shit to do with anything but that. You love Rah, and if that’s what she wants then give it to her, she deserves that, Hayes. Fuck him, he’s done enough damage to this family. You hear me?”

I nodded and Keys did too. “Aight then don't let me hear you say that shit again, Hayes. I mean it.”

“You know I’m gon’ kill him right?” Yetti’s voice brought our attention to him. He looked me in the eyes first and then Keys, I guess this was confession day. “I need to tell you something too.”

“What’s up?” Keys looked worried.

“That day she died…” Yetti paused like he couldn't get the words out and then he kept going. “The day she died, she told me to tell you both that she loved you.”

“We know she did.” I could tell my brother was struggling.

“But that's not it. He gave her a choice. That muthafucker made her choose between her life or mine, and she chose me. She died because of me.” Yetti looked at both of us and then wiped his eyes to guarantee that the tears that were there wouldn't fall. His body was rigid and his jaw was tense, but I could see the pain in his eyes.

“She didn't die because of you, Yetti. She died because of that muthafucker so let that shit go. We don't blame you, and you don't need to blame yourself.”

“Exactly. That’s not your fault, Yetti.”

Keys pulled Yetti into his chest and I hopped down off the counter and hugged them both. After a few minutes, Yetti backed away and nodded. Now it all made sense, after all these years it finally made sense, why he was so moved and took it so hard. It wasn't just the fact that he watched it, it was the fact that he felt like it was his fault. It wasn't just because he couldn't save her, but because she chose him over herself. Fuck. I got it now.

“Yo, we not gon’ do this shit again. We all need to move on. Especially you, Yetti. We gotta get past this and be happy. I want that shit for all of us. So after today, this is it! You do what you gotta do to be okay. If taking his life is what you need to do, then do it, but after that, we’re done. We're not giving that nigga no more power over us, aight? I mean that shit.”

He looked around at both of us and we all agreed. Neither of us said another word about it, but we all agreed that it ended right here, today. We both knew that Yetti had to do whatever necessary, but there would be no more conversations about it between us, and that was just how it was going to be.

“Ree, stop doing that shit damn.” I looked up at her after she cracked her knuckles again. I didn't know why it bothered me so much, but it did. She was sitting in the center of my bed with her books spread around her and I was stretched out on her right side with my arms folded behind my back, watching TV.

She was supposed to be studying for her exams, but wasn't making much progress. When she first started, I kept messing with her until she eventually gave in and we ended up having sex a few times. After we showered and dressed again, she got back to it, but couldn't focus because her nosy ass kept trying to watch TV with me instead of studying like she was supposed to.

“It's a habit, I can't help it.”

“Well, you need to help that shit before you get old and your damn fingers be all crooked and fucked up. I’m not gon’ wanna see that shit.”

Ree looked at me strangely for a minute, and then smiled like a little kid. “You plan on being with me when I’m old?”

“See, there you go with all that. Did I say that shit? Hell no, I just said your hands gon’ be all fucked up when you get old.”

She burst out laughing and crawled over to me, climbed across my body and straddled my waist. She folded her arms and peered at me.

“You said exactly that, but I’ll pretended like you didn't.” Ree leaned down and kissed me before she sat up again with a goofy ass smile.

“Man, get off me with that bullshit.” I shoved her and she fell over a little. “You always making shit out to be something it's not. Finish studying, Reelle.”

She was right, though. It had been a little over a month since I found out that Lewis was getting out of jail and since that time, we had been kicking it pretty strong. Things were good. Really good. I still wasn't the type to get all emotional, but she knew how I felt, or at least I thought she did.

Ree got situated again in front of her books and I sat up and then got off the bed.

“Where going?” She looked up at me with a slight frown.

I knew I had to lie, or at least tell a half lie because I didn't want her to know where I was going. “I have to make a run real quick, but I won't be long.”

“Where though?” Her pretty face balled up and she waited.

I knew that there was a part of her that still didn't completely trust me, but I wasn't on any bullshit with other females. She didn't totally believe that, but she really didn't have shit to worry about with that. I was actually going to take the life of the lawyer who represented Lewis. I had been planning it for a while. I knew her schedule, how she moved, and tonight I was taking her life. It was the perfect opportunity; I just couldn't tell Reelle that.

The day Lewis got released, I made the drive and waited all day until they let him go. The second he stepped out the gates, I walked up to him, inches away from his face and delivered one sentence before walking away.

“Enjoy it while you can. You’ll be dead soon.”

He hadn't seen me since the day they took him away in handcuffs, so it took him a minute to figure out who I was. When he did, he called my name and said something that fueled my desire to take his life.

“She’s not here to save you this time, Yettrick, I made sure of that.”

I never even looked back. My teeth clenched and I felt my pulse racing, but I didn't look back.

Since that day, I made sure he saw me almost every day. I wanted him to know that I was there, that his days were numbered and he would never know when. He was starting to get nervous about it because now when he saw me he would try to reason with me. But I didn't want to hear that shit. Fuck him. He was gonna die and in a painful way. But tonight his lawyer would die. She defended that piece of shit, so she deserved to die too. They were going to give him life without parole, but she fought for him to be able to get out. It worked and because of that, she was going to lose her life.

“Yetti?” Ree's voice brought my focus back to her so I walked over, leaned on the bed and kissed her in a way that convinced her I wasn't up to no good.

“It's business, Ree. Just trust me okay. I won't be gone long.”

Her eyes were on me for a few moments while she was trying to decide if she wanted to believe me but then she finally spoke up.

“Okay. I have to run by my apartment to get some clothes or you can just meet me there.”

I chuckled. “Nah get your shit and come back here. Your place is cool, but mine is better.” I winked at her and started getting dressed.

“My parents are going to wonder why I’m never home.”

“How they know? I ain't never seen them.”

“Because we’re always here.” She said with a frown.

“So take me to their house?”

Her eyes bucked and her mouth dropped open. “You want to meet my parents?”

“Yeah, why you say that shit like that? You don't want me to?” I could feel my mood switch just that quick.

“No, you can, I just didn’t think you’d want to?” Her expression and tone softened.

“We’re together, right?” I asked and waited.

She smiled like a little kid. “Yes, we are.”

“Good, then set that shit up. I bet that pussy ass nigga met them way before I did,” I mumbled, walking away thinking about Burke. I didn't know why that stuck a nerve but it did.

“Really Yetti? Are you ever gonna let that go?”

“Nah, not really.” I smirked and she rolled her eyes. “Just make it happen aight, but I’m heading out. Text me when you leave and when you get to your place.”

“Okay, I might run by and see Asha too.”

“Aight, if you do, let me know that shit too and be careful.”

I lifted my phone and keys off the dresser before I pulled open the nightstand and got my gun. After I had it on my body, I kissed her again and then moved to the door.

“Don't forget to text me, Ree. I don't wanna have to come looking for your little ass, aight?”

“Aww, you worried about me?” She was grinning again.

“Fuck outta here with all that mushy shit. Yeah, I’m worried ‘bout you. The only pussy you let me get is yours, so if you go missing I’m fucked.” I smiled at her and hurried out the door.

I heard something behind me which I realized was a pencil that she had thrown at me and then her voice yelling asshole. I chuckled and then left. She knew better but I couldn't help fucking with her. She made it too easy.

An hour later I was parked across the street from attorney Cooper’s house. It was Tuesday night and I knew from weeks of watching her that her ex-husband would be there shortly to take their two children. Then I’d have roughly an hour before her boyfriend showed up. I had to be in and out in an hour but that was plenty of time. I had been in her home a few times to get familiar with it, so when I was ready, I could move in kill her ass and then get the fuck out.

I was finally ready and tonight she was going to die. Reelle had text me forty-five minutes ago saying that she was at her place and about to get her stuff, then she was swinging by Asha’s. That would give me enough time to kill Cooper, get back home and changed before Ree got back.

Just as her ex-husband pulled up like clockwork to get her kids, my phone started going off. It was Reelle calling but I had to focus, so I didn't answer. It went to voicemail but she called right back and again I didn't answer.

My eyes were on Cooper’s house as she escorted her kids out and kissed them goodbye. The entire exchange was weird to me though because the ex-husband was holding the little boy who appeared to be about four or five. He seemed really engaged and happy, but when he focused on the daughter who had to be about thirteen or fourteen he looked at her with hate.

I could see it from where I was sitting. She looked sad, like she wanted the same attention that he was giving their son, but he damn sure wasn’t giving it. I didn’t know what the fuck was up with that and I didn’t really care. It wasn’t my problem.

Killing Cooper was my only concern and little did she know it would be her last time seeing her kids. I should have had some feelings about it but she didn't give a fuck that my brothers and I would never get to see our mother again. Instead she chose to defend the man that made that happen.

When I saw him back out of the driveway, I lifted my gun from where it sat in my lap and chambered the first round. I then lifted the latex gloves that were in my passenger seat and was about to put them on when a text came through form Reelle.

CALL ME NOW!

Something was wrong and I knew it, so I dialed her quick as hell and the second that her voice flowed through my phone I pressed the button to start my car. This shit would have to wait. She was crying and could barely get the words out.

“Somebody messed up my place. He—” I was already driving because I knew I had to get to her.

“What do you mean he? You saw him, Reelle.” I was yelling but didn't mean too.

“Yes, I guess he saw me pull up and he walked in behind me.” She stopped and caught her breath. “It was three of them, two of them started throwing things and messing up my place but they threw me against the wall and kept hitting me. He said you killed his brother and that I needed to tell you that he’s gonna kill you.”

Now she was crying so hard that I had to struggle to understand her words. My got damn head was spinning. Somebody put their hands on her because of me and I was about to fucking lose it. I was driving fast as hell, not really paying attending because I was trying to get to her. We had been kicking it kind of strong lately, so I knew that it was only a matter of time before someone figured out that they could use her to get to me. I was just hoping it wouldn’t come to this.

“Fuck, Ree, I’m sorry, baby. I’m on my way. Are they gone? Did they leave?”

“Yes, hurry please.”

“I am. I'm on my way, did they say anything else?” My brothers and I had taken so many lives that I had no clues where to even begin. I needed to know whose family I was about to kill because it wasn't going to end with just the niggas that laid hands on her. I was taking out their entire got damn families.

“His brother’s name was Mo.”

The second I heard it, I knew exactly who it was. And after I made sure Reelle was good, niggas were about to die. I was betting my life on that.

To be continued…