The King Of The South (5 page)

King smiled and pressed the six on the screen. He hit the speaker option on the phone and the line rang.

“What up, Big Moose? I thought your ass would be here by now. You missing a fucking circus here, nigga!” Red said.

Moose was silent for a moment. He looked back up at King, and knew that his time was over on this earth. King raised the barrel of his Colt and pressed it against Moose’s nose, causing him to yell out in pain.

“Moose, what the fuck is that noise? Moose!” Red yelled.

King pulled the trigger twice, causing Moose to fall backwards.

“Oh shit!” Red yelled.

“What’s up, Red? You next, nigga.” King said and laughed. There was silence on the phone. “You can’t say nothing? See, I have some humanity within me. I killed your boy quick. Shit, I even let you hear his spirit leave his body. Take this as a warning. Don’t fuck with me, and nigga you lucky I didn’t make it rain up in Club Nikki’s with bullets for you and your girl!” King hit end on his phone and nodded to Shark and Marcus to get going.

The men went out the back door and disappeared into the darkness. Kareem checked the front door and scanned the street. Marcus and Shark had moved the bodies of the dealers and placed them in one of their cars. The bodies of the two other men were in the dining room.

While Shark gathered the money and drugs, Marcus had poured the kerosene from the heater over the bodies and throughout the house.

King took out the box of matches they had found on the mantle and threw them in the dining room, lighting up the two corpses. He took the remaining kerosene and doused Moose’s body, and then flicked a match on it. He and Kareem ran out of the back door.

King stopped shortly to watch the house succumb to the orange flames that were leaping through the windows.

“Got ’em for you, Strap.” King said as he turned to run behind Kareem.

__________

Panama watched as the flames leapt from the roof of the house and lit up the street. He tapped Trip on the shoulder and motioned that it was time for them to leave.

“Well, that shit is done!” Trip said as he leapt from one level of the roof to another.

“Yeah, for now man, for now.” Panama said, looking at the house.

“Man I’ma wipe your bitch ass of the face of the earth. That’s my blood, nigga. That’s my fuckin’ blood!” Red was on his feet screaming into the phone. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

“Red, what happened? Why are you hollering?” Dover asked. He could tell that some major shit had gone down with Moose. He knew that robbing Carlton and King was going to come back to haunt them. He just had no idea it would be so soon.”

“We out. Them niggas done touched my family. On my life, I’ma send they ass to hell,” Red said, as tears poured down his face.

The three men left the club and got in Red’s car. “Let me drive, man. You too fucked up.” Texas said.

“Yeah, man, whatever. Just get me to the trap.” Red said tiredly as he tried his damnest to stop his tears. He hated for his boys to see him acting soft, but Moose was more than a cousin; they were like brothers.

“Now what the fuck happened? Who was on the phone?” Dover asked again.

“I got a call from Moose’s cell phone. But when I answered, all I heard was him screaming. Then I heard two shots before that muthafucka King got on the line and started talking shit. Man, that nigga dead, I swear.” Red said and punched the palm of his hand for emphasis.

“How they know it was us?” Texas said.

“Hell if I know. I know I bodied that nigga, Strap, and everybody else in the house. The street was dead, so I know that nobody saw me over there.” Red answered.

“Damn, them niggas knew it was us, and they knew where our trap is. How the fuck they get all that in a day?”

“Shit, now that you mention it, King even said something about Peaches and coming to Nikki’s. How the hell this nigga know so much about us?” Red narrowed his eyes and glared at his comrades.

“I know you don’t think either one of us is out here running our mouth. Nigga, we been with your ass from day one.” Dover said.

“Man, fuck all that. Just get me to the spot. I gotta see what’s going on.”

When they turned on Fourth Street, the area near the house was blocked off. Police and Fire vehicles were everywhere. Texas parked the car and they got out and joined the crowd that had gathered across the street. It took everything in him for Red not to run over and demand some information. He had to lay low, because he didn’t want to draw attention to himself without knowing what was in the house.

After almost fifteen minutes, the fire was under control. A hush fell over the crowd as the bodies were carried out of the ruined house. Red sat on the curb and put his head in his hands. Not only had he lost his cousin and his workers, he had also taken a substantial hit to his money and work.

“If it’s the last thing I do, cuz. I’ma get them niggas for you. I’m gone get ’em.” Red blinked back his tears, got up, and walked over to his boys.

__________

“We’re reporting live from the scene of a deadly house fire on Fourth street, which claimed the lives of several men last night. As you can see, the house was completely destroyed, and the house next door was severely damaged. Police have also told us that they found two dead bodies in a car two houses down from this home. It is unclear if the house fire and the bodies are connected. Police are saying very little at this time, but as new details emerge, we will be right here to keep you informed. I’m Maureen O’Boyle, reporting for Channel 9 news. Back to you, Jeff.”

King smirked as he watched the house burn. Whoever said that a life for a life would not make you feel better was lying. He sipped his Corona and let his mind travel back to the moment when he pulled the trigger on Moose. Now, when he closed his eyes, he sees his boy smiling at him, instead of him lying lifeless in his arms.

The ringing of his phone caused Strap’s face to fade. King grabbed the phone, and looked at the screen. Instantly, his head began to hurt.

“Dis trick,” King said, looking at Yessenia’s picture flashing on the screen. King almost slid his finger to ignore, but thought better of it. “Yeah,” King said as he stood up.

His stomach was growling. Thank God, his mother always packed up some leftovers for him when they had Sunday dinner.

“So, I need some money. The baby needs shoes, summer gear, and I got some bills I need to pay. You know bills, right? They come every damn month.” Yessenia said, popping gum.

King could hear music blaring in the background, and females laughing and cursing.

“Bitches, ya’ll need to quit that damn cussing. My baby down the hall sleeping. Turn that damn music down!” Yessenia yelled.

“You gon’ tell us to stop cursing, but you cussing,” a woman said.

“Jan, go sit your big ass down.” Yessenia said, laughing.

“Yessenia, what do you want? I got things to do.”

Yessenia was annoying as hell. She had an identical twin sister who was away in law school, and they couldn’t be more different. Her sister, Yasmine, was a good girl who wanted to have a family, career, and live peacefully. Yessenia had the same intellectual capacity as Yasmine, but she preferred to apply her skills to doing nothing. She was smart, quick witted, and definitely, a chick you would want to have on your team, if she wasn’t so lazy. She had tried to be there with King on his moves, but after his father passed away, King and the streets became closer lovers than he and Yessenia. His absence and her constant nagging and lack of motivation to get a job destroyed their romantic feelings for each other.

King continued to pay for the condo that Yessenia and his daughter lived in, and he made sure that the rent, utility and medical bills were covered. He never put money in Yessenia’s hands if he could help it. Giving her money meant the lights would be cut off, because she would spend the money on the latest kicks and fresh hairstyle. Truth be told, his main reason for keeping her up, outside of his daughter, was that he didn’t want her fucking around with a bunch of niggas to get money.

King knew that many niggas in the streets would fuck with her just to dog her out so they could run around town bragging about how they had banged King’s baby momma out. He couldn’t have that on his name. Also, for as much as Yessenia didn’t want to get her own, King had to admit she was a loving mother, and for all her laziness, she made sure their daughter was book smart and well mannered.

Although she was commendable as a mother, housekeeping was not her strong suit. Walking into the condo, a person would have to run an obstacle course just to navigate through the living room. She would just place dishes in the sink, as opposed to loading the dishwasher, and the bathroom was something that made King’s stomach burn when he thought of it. He couldn’t stand knowing that his little girl was living in clutter and mess, so he made sure that maid service stopped by the condo once a week. He was mortified when one of the women from the cleaning service, who attended the same church as his mother, made it her business to call Yogi and tell her how filthy Yessenia’s house was. His mother wasted no time calling him and giving him an earful about her embarrassment from having the church members gossiping about the horrible condition of where her only grandchild lived.

“What bill you need to pay, Ye? I pay all the bills, and if the baby needs shoes, I will stop by and get her to take her shopping.” King said, trying to hold his temper.

“King, you not getting her. I hear you got some issues with Red, and I don’t want my baby getting shot while you out there running around like you stupid. So, no, you can’t get her.”

King was quiet for a moment. He needed to count to ten in order to calm down. No way would anyone ever keep him from his daughter. If it wasn’t for Yessenia being his baby mama, he would put her face through a wall for saying some crazy shit like that. But in reality, although what she said had pissed him off, it was the truth. Maybe right now wasn’t a good time.

“What do you know about my business? If she needs something, then drop her off at my mama’s and she will take her shopping. The next time I tell you I want to see her, there ain’t going to be no discussion. You got that?” King said, walking out onto his balcony. The phone was quiet for a moment. He heard Yessenia inhale, but he stopped her before she could speak. “Look, all you need to say is yes, and none of that other shit.”

King waited for her to respond. He could hear Yessenia mumble and suck her teeth. He laughed as he envisioned what her face looked like at that moment. He really was just fucking with her at this point. He liked pissing her off from time to time, hoping that it would ignite a flame in her to get up and do something with her life. Yessenia was a beautiful woman, and she just needed to apply herself. She could go from street talk to corporate boardroom chat in a moment’s notice. She had light brown skin with golden undertones, large brown eyes, 38DDD breasts, slim waist, and full tight hips. She had curves that would make any man stop and look.

“King, why you got to be an asshole? You don’t want me fucking with nobody else, but you don’t want to give me nothing but enough money to live and take care of our child.”

“Shit, I’m looking out for you. You know all these niggas want to do is jump up and down on you and keep pushing. Besides, I don’t want these losers you be wanting to fuck with around my baby. So like I said, call my mama and she will take you shopping. And pull your lip in, I’ll load some money on your PayPal card for you. This time, try budgeting.” King said before he hit end on his phone.

King looked at the screen for a few moments. He thought about how he sometimes regretted ever putting his seed in Yessenia, but he had never regretted having his princess, Malani. He placed his phone on the counter and exhaled.

“That girl is exhausting, shit!” King said aloud.

King walked into his home office and sat at his desk. His eyes landed on the loot from the other night. It was still in the backpacks on the floor. King got up from his desk and went over to the backpacks. He unzipped one of them and began counting the money. As he counted, he felt his heart become heavy as he thought of Strap’s mother and the way her heart must be aching. She had not only lost her son, but she had just lost a daughter to domestic violence two weeks prior to Strap’s death. Jamica was married to of all things, a police officer. Dude beat her ass on a constant, and every time that Strap and King would try to handle things for her, she would beg them not to get involved. Her death was still under
investigation
by the detectives of CMPD, the same force where her husband was a detective. King was sure that they were not really working hard to solve her case.

King’s stomach growled again, so he stretched and walked into the kitchen. He took the leftovers from Sunday dinner out and warmed them in the microwave. He needed to do something to get his head out of all the fucked up shit that had happened over the last few days.

The doorbell rang.

King checked the security monitor by the door and let Kareem in. He was laughing as usual. “Hey man, what’s up? Look who I met outside.”

Yogi stepped from behind Kareem smiling. “Hey baby, I’m on my way to get a couple of outfits for this weekend. I am going with the ladies to the mountains.” Yogi said as she kissed King’s cheek and walked inside. “I hope it is ok that I dropped by.”

“You are welcome to drop by anytime, Ma.” King said and hugged her.

Kareem closed the door behind him and headed towards the kitchen while King walked his mother into the den. She looked around and sat down on the couch.

“Hey man, bring me a beer while you in there scavenging in my fridge.” King said, laughing. “Ma, you want something? I got juice, water, soda—”

“I will take a glass of ginger ale. Have you had breakfast? If not, I can take you two out and we can talk.” Yogi said.

“Now, Ms. Yogi, you know I ain’t gonna turn down a free meal.” Kareem said, coming from the kitchen with her glass of ginger ale.

“That sounds good, Ma.” King said, checking his phone. “Why don’t you call Khristian too, I haven’t spoken to her in a while.”