The Face That Launched A Thousand Bullets (The Cartel Publications Presents) (36 page)

The minute he arrived at the hospital and the employees saw the injured child dangling in Jinx’s arms, a few hospital personnel members rushed out with a stretcher.

“He’s been shot! Take care of him.” He said placing him down carefully. “I’m out of here!”

He ran back to the car, and drove five miles before he ditched it and picked up another one.

On the way to Cray’s he thought about the boy, the baby and the man. He hoped they were okay but couldn’t dwell on it either. This was the game, and the game was made to be played and sometimes the innocent were pawns.

Nyzon

Bladensburg, MD

Who Are You Anyway

H
e couldn’t run from it anymore. He had to deal with his mother. It had been almost a year and he managed to stay away from her all that time. In the end, he realized he still didn’t have the answers to the questions he so desperately desired. He even stayed with Angel sometimes even though he didn’t have to because he had more than enough money.

He walked slowly into the IHOP off of Bladensburg road. It was partially crowded and most people seemed to go about their day as if all was normal in their lives. He couldn’t deny that seeing her again fucked up the normalcy in his life. He had gotten use to not having her around and for real, all he wanted to do was stay on his grind and get money. But she popped up at the boxing gym saying she’d keep coming back unless he agreed to see her. So he decided to dead the situation once and for all.

He was still looking for her when he heard her soft voice.

“Nyzon. I’m over here.” Her voice appeared to echo for moments after.

He turned around slowly and looked at her sitting at a table a few feet from where he stood. The moment she saw his face she smiled.

“Sit down please.” She said softly.

He moved into the available seat at her table contemplating walking out without hearing the truth, knowing full well he’d never be able to do it.

“So what’s up?” Nyzon asked.

“I miss you, Nyzon and I feel it’s time for us to talk.”

“So why you just gettin’ in contact with me now?”

“Because I needed some time to sort things out. And whenever I called your old cell, you’d never answer my call.” Silence. “I thought about popping up at the gym later.”

Nyzon adjusted in his seat as if he were trying to get comfortable.

“Now I know what I did was wrong by not reaching out after that,” she said touching his hand across the table. He pulled it away. “But I figured you didn’t want to see me anyway. I even tried to reach out to Royala and Lazarick and you told them not to get involved. What did you want me to do?”

“I want you to tell me the truth. What I’ve been asking you to do all along. I mean, after you pulled me out of school when the teacher’s tried to get you to sign those papers, I knew something wasn’t real with you.”

She took a deep breath before answering.

“Can I take your orders now?” The waitress appeared to come from nowhere.

“We not hungry! Come back later!” Nyzon yelled.

He was irritated by her interruption. He wanted to know what the fuck was going on and he wanted to know now. When the waitress took off, he looked back at his mother.

“Go ‘head.”

“I had just come from having dinner with my boyfriend Justin. We were together for three years before that night. We had our problems and stuff, but we always seemed to get pass them. Justin was the best…I mean…all he talked about was having a family and getting married.”

She looked at the ceiling before focusing on Nyzon again.

“He use to say that we’d get married, have our baby and run away so that nobody would find us. He kept talking about moving to Mexico but he wanted to have a child first. So we tried, and tried and tried Nyzon. And every time we didn’t succeed, he kept blaming himself for failing me as a man. It devastated him that we couldn’t have kids together. He went from having a good job as a foreman for R&R construction company, to losing his job because of drinking everyday.”

“I’m still waitin’ on the part that involves me and you not being my real mother.”

“Nyzon…please work with me. This is hard enough as it is.”

He took a deep breath and waited for her to continue.

“After seeing how the pregnancy effected him, I went to the doctors. The doctor ran a couple of tests and found out I could not have children…ever.”

Outside of meeting his real family for the first time, those words were the first real confirmation that she was not his mother. Something he’d known his entire life.

She started crying before she even finished because she saw the hurt in Nyzon’s eyes.

“I didn’t want him feeling pain anymore. I wanted to place the blame on me. Justin was so good to me and he deserved happiness, you know?

“So I met up with him for dinner and told him everything. About the doctor’s appointment, about what he said to me….all of it. And he flipped on my Nyzon. Instead of being there for me like I was for him, he got angry! He blamed me for everything and said that without a child, he didn’t want me or our relationship. I felt my world had ended.

“I went to a corner store, got some drinks and drank until I couldn’t drink anymore. I jumped in my car and started driving. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the rain began to pour down on me. All I wanted was for everything to be washed away. And the next thing I know I ran into a car that began to swerve out of control.”

Nyzon shook his head in disgust having known his mother had died in a car accident, and that it was all her fault.

“The moment the car stopped I jumped out to see if everyone was okay. She was thrown out of the window a few feet ahead at the top of the road.”

Nyzon’s breaths got heavy.

“And there was nothing I could do about it. I tried to do CPR on her and nothing worked Nyzon. You would never believe how hard I tried. I was going to get some help until I saw you on the side of the road. And…I…,”

“Took me.” He finished her sentence.

“Yes.”

“What the fuck is wrong wit you?! Who takes a fuckin’ kid off the street after you kill their mother! I had a family! A big family at that and you took them from me.”

“I’m happy for you and sad about what I did. But…I thought if I kept you, he’d love me and I’d make you happy since it was my fault she was gone anyway. You see it was all done out of love, Nyzon.”

“You didn’t stop to think that somewhere out there somebody else might miss me? You didn’t even care.”
“Can you ever forgive me, Nyzon?”

He stood up filled with rage and hate. Gripping his cup in his hands, he lifted it up off the table and through the ice cold water in her face.

“If I ever see you again, I’ma kill you. Stay the fuck away from me!”

The people around them dropped their mouths as he walked out the door.

Nyzon decided to go to Cray’s crib to drink and clear his mind. In one aspect he had everything going for him. It wasn’t farfetched to say that he and the rest of the crew were self-made millionaires. Already. And than another part of him recognized that his world was falling apart. His mother wasn’t his mother. He had a baby by his cousin. And he lived with a woman who he secretly despised. The funny part about it was that through it all, he and Cray were starting to get close.

He was driving down Painters Mills road in Owings Mill when he passed the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life. She wasn’t ordinary. He never saw a female with chocolate skin and golden hair. Her hair rested on the black sweater she was wearing and she sported a pair of jeans so form fitting, he thanked God for being so kind.

Parking his white 2006 Benz on the side of the road, he jumped out to get her attention. He wondered why she was walking until he saw she was going toward a community college. The girl was startled when he tapped her shoulder. He could tell she was about to let him have a piece of her mind, until she looked into his eyes. Nyzon was fine. But above all, he reminded her of someone.

“Yes. Can I help you?” she held a book closely to her chest with her arms crossed over it.

“Name?” Nyzon was straight forward.

“Excuse me?”

“I need to know your name so I can know who I’ll be spending the rest of my life with.”

She giggled. And when she did, he knew he had her.

“My name is….Tiara, I mean, Tishona.” She was hesitant. Plus she knew if Cray rolled past the community college and saw her on the side of the road talking to some dude, he’d knock her block off. “But I have to go. I’m sorry.”

“You have a man?”

“Yes!” she yelled approaching the college’s doors.

“Fuck him!”

She laughed again.

He moved closer and said “You come here everyday?”

She nodded yes.

“I’ll be here everyday until I make you mine.”

She giggled again.

That woman is made for me.
He thought. He just had to get her to believe it.

Tiara Cartier

To Deal With A Hustler

T
heir home was fully furnished. They had everything ballers needed to feel comfortable. Tiara had more clothes, jewelry and cash than she ever imagined in her entire life. She really did go from rags to riches.

Once a peon, now Felecia and Yolanda looked up to her. Tiara was the richest person they knew. Even now while loafing around the house, wearing a burgundy Dior one piece dress with a diamond necklace and five carat earrings, she looked like a superstar. Not to mention she had a brand new white Benz in her four-car garage which she hardly drove.

“Tiara, what difference does it make that the curtains match the couch?” Felecia asked plopping on the large blue sofa in the living room. “You got a nigga who can pay to have somebody design all this shit. Why you fussin’ wit it?”

“Because I want to do things nice for him. That’s why.”

Tiara looked at her and tried to be nice even though she was tired of her coming down on her. She was hating all the time.

“It’s my job to take care of our home, Felecia. He’s going to be my future husband.”

“Felecia, can you ever bite your tongue?” Yolanda asked as she looked at the large book with Tiara as she picked out the right color scheme for Cray’s movie room.

“I’m just sayin’. Some shit you should let somebody else do. I wouldn’t be worried about it if I were you.”

“But you’re not me.”

“It’s like that?”

“It has to be, Felecia. You tryin’ to make me that girl you can push around and I’m not her anymore.”

When Felecia walked over to where Tiara and Yolanda were sitting at the table, they could smell a fishy odor. As usual she’d caught some infection and failed to get it taken care of. It was so bad that both girls had to close the book and find something else to do just to get away from the situation.

“So T, tell me about the dude you met earlier.” Yolanda said flipping on the TV.

Tiara’s eyes widened and she couldn’t believe she brought up her new friend in front of Felecia. They both knew that if Felecia found out, she’d never be able to hold water. Plus although Cray wasn’t home, she didn’t want him sneaking up and overhearing their conversation.

“Let’s talk about somethin’ else.”