The Plug's Daughter (19 page)

              “I am. I have a plan girl. No worries. I’m working on getting rid of Trell.” She just didn’t know that I meant that shit in a permanent way.

              “Hmm, okay boo. When you comin’ down to see me, or maybe I should come there. Shit, I should come this weekend…”

              I killed that thought real damn quick. “I’ll come down there soon boo. Last time you came down here you know what happened. These ATL niggas are a different breed.” The laugh I managed to let out sounded artificial and I hoped my bestie couldn’t read me.

              “What’s really goin’ on Sen? You don’t sound right. You know I’on give a fuck about no niggas. I got my man.”

             
Damn her, I thought.

             
She knew me all too well, but I had to play it off.

              “I’m good. Ain’t nothing going on girl. Well, nothing other than me loving Keys. That nigga unlocked my heart for real. He got me so gone Nadia. He is literally giving me life.” I thought about that last statement. It was true. That nigga was hell bent on keeping me alive.

              “You always talked about him bitch. I should’ve known. How did a childhood friendship turn into love so fast?” She sounded skeptical, but I knew that it was real.

              “Because it was meant to be. The stars were aligned for me and Keys to be together. It’s like…gravity... It’s gonna happen whether we like or not. I’m drawn to him like a magnet Di. It’s like…it’s like…” I couldn’t find the words. “When we make love it’s like we’ve been together before in another life. Like we’re going to keep getting reincarnated and reunited. It sounds crazy, but it’s really no other way to explain it. It’s fate…destiny. I couldn’t fight that shit even if I tried.”

              “Wow bitch, that was deep as hell. What the fuck you smokin’ on? I need some of that shit!” She laughed, but all I could do was smile.

              Tears burned my eyes as I painted a pretty picture for my friend, but I held them back. Shit, at that point I was tired of crying. I needed her not to worry about me. The stress wasn’t good for her since she had just found out that she was three months pregnant. I was happy for her and her boyfriend of two years. His name was Jason and he was a sweet heart. They’d gone through a temporary break up during our little tryst with those niggas in Atlanta. I was happy for my friend and if anything happened to her I’d fuck a nigga up.

              “No you don’t. My niece or nephew don’t need to be getting high with your ass.”

              She laughed louder that time. “Boo, you just don’t know. I can’t wait until I push this lil’ mufucka out so I can get fucked up.”

              My best friend meant the world to me and her safety as well as the safety of her child was my concern. Trell had to be handled asap and I couldn’t wait for Keys to come back with something. I really needed to be able to move on to the next thing, which was eliminating the other threat to my life. How we were going to do that, I didn’t know. That was a whole different level of strategizing. To be honest I had no idea who was really after me.

              “Your ass is crazy. I’ll call you back boo. Keys is calling me.” I lied to get off the phone, but I wished he really was calling.

              “K boo, love ya!”

              “J’adore tu. Au’revoir.”

              “Whatever bitch. You know I don’t speak no damn French,” she laughed.

              “Later chica.”

              I ended the call and sat there staring off into space. What if it was my time? What if it was easier to succumb to death? Shit, that thought was crazy. Life was just beginning for me. I’d just found the love of my life and there was so much that we had to experience. Like Keys had said, we could be a power couple. I could complete my degree and he could go legit. We’d be like Barack and Michelle Obama. I was a smart, classy fashionista like her and he was handsome and charismatic like him. Nah, death was not an option. I was going to fight to live. The crazy thing was, I hadn’t always thought that way. Thank God for Keys. I knew that a man shouldn’t validate my happiness, but with him in my life for such a short time, I felt so whole.

*  *  *

              Boredom finally took over me and I fell asleep on the sofa. Of course sleep didn’t come easy, but when it did I welcomed it. I figured I’d need the energy to handle what I was going through with Trell and a faceless killer that I didn’t even know. Not having a clue of who would be coming after me was some stressful shit.

              Being that it was hard to sleep the sound of the alarm beeping made me wake up. When I looked up Keys was standing there.

              “Mind if I turn on the light?” He asked.

              “Nah, go ahead.” I sat up and gave him my undivided attention. “Please tell me something good.”

              He leaned over and turned the lamp on before sitting down. After giving me a soft peck on the lips he took a deep breath. His eyes were on mine and I could tell that what was going on was finally taking a toll on him. Damn, I felt horrible. Maybe it was best for me to leave him alone and deal with my bullshit myself.

              “We gon’ run up on that nigga Friday night.”

That was in two days. 

“We know he’ll normally be leavin’ the pool hall on Gresham Rd. that he always go to round two am. It’s easier to catch him out instead of runnin’ up in his crib. He might change his plans, so we gon’ have to do something to keep tabs on that nigga. The thing is, I don’t want you involved. I want you to stay far away from Trell…”

              “I have to see him before that happens Keys. If I don’t he’s going to know that something is up. Not only that, but maybe I can find out who else has access to the video.”

              He shook his head. “Hell nah yo’. You won’t be seein’…”

              “He needs to think I’m not gonna change my mind and stay in Miami. That nigga threatened to kill my best friend. I can’t chance that. If I don’t see him he’s gonna go to Miami because he thinks I’m there. I know he’ll find her if he wants.”

              Keys sighed deeply. I could see the torment on his face. “If he touches you I’m gonna murk that nigga myself. Then that’s gonna blow everything, because we don’t really know if that video of what Mendosa did will make it to the police anyway. The only point of me not blastin’ him right now is ‘cause we gotta get that shit.”

              “Right. I can’t chance my pops gettin’ locked up or killed because of me. It’s a possibility that nobody else knows and Trell’s just using that to rattle me. Still, I don’t want to take that chance.” I didn’t even mention the fact that Trell threatened to kill my mom. Honestly, I’d lost all respect for her and really didn’t give a shit if she lived or not.

              It was just that I didn’t have the heart to put that bitch out of her misery myself. She had given me life whether she was a good mother or not. There was no way I could kill her. Still, I wouldn’t give a damn if somebody else did.

              “We could do that shit sooner, but the two of us haven’t been on a date yet. For some reason I need us to do some normal shit before… I actually wanna take you out tomorrow. It won’t be anywhere around here though. We gon’ go to Charleston, SC and stay overnight. Is that cool?” He asked and then kissed my cheek.

              “Yes, I’d love that.”

              “Once we get Trell outta the way we gon’ have to find out who’s after you ma. They might not send somebody else right away, but I’m sure they will eventually. I can’t chance that shit.” He pulled me close to him and held me tight.

              “I’m scared Keys…”

              “I know.” His voice was a whisper. “If you feel that it’s a must for you to see Trell I’ll let you, but under one condition.”

              “What?” I was almost afraid to know.

              “I’m gonna be there.”

              “What? No Keys. He’ll kill you and we don’t want him to know about us. He’s crazy Keys.”

              “He won’t know. I’m just gonna follow you and park not far from where ya’ll will be. I want you to call me and put the phone on speaker. Just make sure you keep the phone where I can hear what’s goin’ on. After you let him see that you’re still here and workin’ on findin’ out where yo’ pop’s reserve is make up a reason to leave and shit. That’s the only way I’m lettin’ you see that nigga. You right, he’s crazy, but he ain’t as crazy as I am about you. I ain’t lettin’ shit happen to you Sen. Fuck that.”

              When I turned to look at him I could see the passion that he felt for me etched on his tired face. I nodded in agreement.

              “Okay, that’ll work baby, but you look tired. Let’s go to sleep.”

              A sly smile made his eyes light up. “We ain’t ‘bout to be sleepin’ ma.”

              I laughed. “No, we’re going to sleep tonight. We have tomorrow for everything else.”

              He smiled as he stretched. “You’re right ma. I am tired as hell.”

              “So, did you talk to your father about what happened?”

              He nodded. “He claims he don’t know what the fuck happened and Kelly too. I’on know shawty. I’ll handle that later though. We got more pressin’ shit goin’ on. I went to see your pops today to reup and handled that transaction for Dame. That shit actually didn’t go left like I thought it would. Still, I suffered a loss wit’ 15 bricks gone.”

              “C’mon baby.” After grabbing his hand I led him to the bedroom and undressed him. Once he was down to his boxers we climbed under the covers. Without saying a word about anything we just held each other close knowing that we couldn’t predict what was going to happen. All I knew was I was feeling the shit out of Keys and I wished I could turn back the hands of time and change things. Being happy with him was all that I wanted, but our future seemed so uncertain.

Chapter 12

Keys

             
“Pops, man, who else could’ve done it then? It’s mighty funny that my shit’s gone right after you told me you wanted to get back in the game. If you needed some money you could’ve just asked.” My eyes were glued to his face because I wanted to see his reaction.

              The night before we had only talked on the phone, but I thought it was important for us to talk face to face. I’d be going with Sen to throw Trell off and then we’d be on our way to South Carolina. After that it would be on to getting rid of that fuck nigga. I had no idea how things would turn out, so I felt the need to confront my pops before it all went down.

              “I didn’t take that shit Keys.” His eyes were sincere.

              “Well Kelly did then.”

              He shook his head in disagreement. “She wouldn’t do that.”

              “Which takes me back to the question of who the fuck did it then.”

              He sighed and gathered his thoughts. I could tell because that’s how he was. My pops used to be an angry, disrespectful ass dude, but he changed after he got shot. Nowadays he’d think about things before he said them, so I waited.

              “I don’t know who did it Keys. I wish I did. When I got up I should’ve checked, but nothing like that has happened before. I went to my doctor’s appointment and Kelly was at her mother’s for a while. She got back here a few minutes before you did and I’m sure she didn’t know that the shed had been broken into.”

              All I could do was shake my head. “Why the fuck do you trust that money hungry bitch? She ain’t right for you, but you can’t see past that hoe’s pussy. What the hell makes you think she won’t rob me? Huh? She ain’t loyal to you, so why would I expect that hoe to be loyal to me.”

              “What you sayin’ son?” His eyes were hard and I could tell that he was pissed. “You ain’t gotta call her bitches and hoes. Why you gotta disrespect her like that?”

              “I ain’t gon’ sugar coat shit for you pops. You already know that bitch ain’t shit.” I’d already said too much, so I decided to shut my mouth about that hoe.

              “Ain’t nobody perfect Keys. Shit, you ain’t got no proof she did shit…”

              I stood up and cut him off. “And you ain’t got proof that she didn’t. I’m out pops. I see that I ain’t gon’ find out what happened like this.”

              My father pleaded with me. “Son, I swear, I would never do you like that and Kelly won’t either. Somebody else did it. Think about who knows that you leave your shit here. Who have you told?”

              “I’ll holla at you,” I said as I walked out of the house.

              When I got in my car I thought about what he had said. Something told me that Kelly had something to do with that shit and was trying to throw me off by offering me the pussy. Then I thought about who actually did know that I kept my work there. Who had I told? I was a private nigga and I didn’t let others in on my business. Then suddenly a light bulb went off in my head. Hmmm…