Chapter 16

16

Ahmad

G etting inside the SUV, I had to count down from twenty before I could relax. I thought I was doing a good deed by inviting her parents to see her, but now I regretted that shit. It took everything in me not to grab her father's head and twist his shit until every bone cracked. No one, not even my own father, had ever gotten close enough to lay hands on me. And here I was, letting this old nigga I didn't know blow my shit out. Rabbit saved his life, but he wouldn't get another chance.

"You good, boss?" Rico asked, looking at me through the rearview mirror.

The scowl on my face was making my head hurt, so I did my breathing exercise to calm down. It was like as soon as I accepted my brother's call and took this job, my peace had been disturbed. I felt myself traveling back into that dark hole I climbed out of. I was so off my damn planet, I hadn't even thought about calling in to check on my business. However, I knew if there was an issue, they would call me.

"I'm good, man."

"She must be some kind of special."

I frowned. "Why? Because I'm doing shit that I normally wouldn't for her ass?"

"Precisely." He chuckled. "The Play I know would never."

"Yeah, well, I guess the tin man found his heart." Yeah, I was sounding like a punk ass nigga, however, thoughts of a smiling woman and a beautiful baby girl had changed the trajectory of my feelings.

We rode in silence until we finally pulled up to the meeting spot where I was meeting with my men. I got out and headed inside as damn near fifty niggas sat around, polishing their guns and loading them up.

"Boss man, Play! It's good to see you, my nigga," Ro said, giving me a pound.

"It's good to be seen. I didn't know all of y'all were going to show up." I chuckled.

"You may have been out of the game for a minute, but you always got our loyalty. You've helped every nigga in this room in some way, so we're forever riding for you no matter what." I looked around as everyone nodded in agreement. "Besides, the nigga you're after has been a pain in our asses for years. It's time that nigga get escorted through them gates of hell, feel me?"

"I couldn't agree more. So now that that's settled, I'm going to put eyes on him. He doesn't know what I look like, so it'll definitely be a sneak attack. I want his head, so every plan has to be executed with precision. Tech, how many did you say he had with him?"

"Twenty, but he only keeps five main ones around him. I know where one of them lives. His name is Joe and he's the head of the security team."

"Hmm, nah… I don't want to tip him off. If that nigga don't show up to the party he'll know something, and I don't want him to know when I'm coming. We'll leave about nine tonight. I don't give a fuck who it is, everybody in there gotta go."

"Gotcha."

My phone buzzed as I looked at the message on my screen from Bunny. Opening it up, I read the message she sent me.

Bunny: I know you're busy, but please, please be safe. If it's not too much, I'll send you an emoji every two hours to let you know we're okay, and you send one back to let me know the same.

Me: I got you, Bunny. Everything's good. For now.

Bunny: I hate this.

Me: I know. But you need to have a little confidence in your kidnapper.??

Bunny: Not funny????

Me: Just want to make you smile. Stop worrying and go take my Rabbit out back to play.

Bunny: You make her sound like a pet.??

Me: Nah, just a pet name. Relax. Enjoy your family. I'll be good.

Bunny: Thank you. And I'm sorry about my dad. He's just frustrated with all of this, but I promise he's a gentle giant. Both of you remind me so much of one another. It's crazy. But I'll let you get back. Prayers up for your safe return.??????

Me: ??

Bunny: ?? Very good!????

I smirked as I put my phone away and focused on the task at hand.

Walking inside the bar, I instantly knew which bum Nala bore a seed for. He was the loudest motherfucka in the room with matted, dirty looking locs, knock-off Gucci attire, rocking some Air Max. The man in the photo Ash sent looked nothing like the nigga I had eyes on. Now I knew why his ass was so desperate to get Bunny back. She may have just took this nigga for all he had and now he was trying to get her back. I couldn't believe this was the man the whole city was raving about. Couldn't fucking be.

I went to the bar and ordered three shots of Hennessy as I kept my eyes on Slim and his crew. From the looks of it, he only had about ten people sitting around him while they got high and talked shit. Something wasn't adding up about this dynamic. I just couldn't believe that a man who had this nice club and supposed to be big time in Blackstone could appear to be a regular bum ass nigga. I pulled out my cell, pretending to be texting as I zoomed in on him and took a photo. I then went to my text thread and sent the photo to Ash.

Me: You sure this is him?

Ash: Yup. That's your guy.

Me: I KNOW YOU FUCKING LYING!??

Ash: ??Hey, looks can be deceiving. So be careful.

Me: Bruh… I really don't like you for this shit, man. You fucking owe me.

Ash: I'm not giving you any more money, Ahmad.

Me: I'll take that nice Bentley.

I clicked out of my messages and continued to watch my target. About five minutes later, an MC instructed everyone to go upstairs to the poker room for the games to begin. I followed close behind him but kept my distance to be cautious just in case he had gotten the drop on me. I looked toward the entrance before ascending the stairs and saw my crew filing in.

I was able to get the floor plans of the building and found all of the emergency exits. This was going to be a piece of cake killing this nigga. Everyone took their seats as the music played at a nice volume. I made sure to sit at the table next to Slim, but a good distance away so that he wouldn't see me, but I could see him. Henny, Carlos, Will, and Destin sat at the table with me as the rest of my crew spread throughout the bar.

"You niggas love when I take ya money, huh?" Slim asked his crew while laughing.

"Now you know who taking whose money around here," one of the crew members said. They laughed, but I guessed the nigga didn't find that funny.

"Yeah, a'ight. Motherfuckas got jokes tonight I see."

"Come on, Slim. It wasn't even like that. I wasn't even talking about that, so get out ya feelings, my guy. You'll find her soon enough. I already got niggas watching her people in case she decides to go back there."

"Nala ain't stupid, Manny. She knows not to go back to her parents' house. I'ma see her ass soon, though. I can feel it." He nodded as a waitress walked over to take the tables' orders.

"Good evening, gentlemen. My name is Josie. What can I start you off with first, handsome?" she asked me.

"A bottle of Hennessy," I told her, trying to disguise my voice, just in case he recognized it.

"Okay, and how much in chips?"

"A thousand." I pulled out the wad of cash in my pocket and peeled off fifteen hundred, handing it to her.

"Big tipper—I like that."

She winked at me then moved around the table. My eyes went to her ass in those little ass shorts, but I couldn't find it attractive. Bunny's was the only ass I wanted to see again. Thinking of her, I pulled out my phone and texted her the eggplant and cat emoji. She must have been sitting by the phone because she replied back immediately with the rolling eyes and laughing emoji. I chuckled lightly then put my phone back in my pocket.

As the night went on, I kept my eyes on the raggedy nigga sitting next to me. I looked at my watch noting that it was time to stop fucking around. Slim was nice and drunk now and getting looser at the lips. I knew his whole life story by the time the fifth glass touched his lips. According to him, he had to find a new connect because the Columbians he was getting his product from discontinued service with him a year ago.

Since then, the person he had been getting his work from was garbage and he was losing money with the product he had. The only way he could get back in with the Columbians was if he paid the half million dollars he owed to them. The only reason they spared his life was on behalf of his late uncle. The uncle must have had mad respect from the Columbians because there was no way he walked away without his head on a platter.

I looked at Destin and gave him the signal to kill the lights. As soon as the club went dark, the generated red lights popped on as my crew and I upped our burners and opened fire at their table. One by one, they started dropping like flies as I focused my attention on my target.

"What the fuck!" I saw Slim make a run for the exit and aimed his way trying to take his head off. Before I could put one in his head, the nigga made a beeline and jumped over the balcony.

"Don't let his ass get away!" I yelled over the balcony between the shouts, screams, and gunfire.

I ran toward the emergency exit and down the stairs to try to catch him before he got away. When I burst through the door, I saw one of Slim's goons aiming right at me. I hurried and moved behind the door but caught one in the arm.

"Fuck!" I yelled out, but my adrenaline was pumping, and I was pissed off that I had gotten hit.

Loading the TEC-9, I came from behind the door, spraying any and everything moving. All I saw was red and at this point. I didn't give a fuck who I hit. When I looked ahead, I could see Slim making a run for it toward the front exit. I took off behind his ass like the track star I was trained to be and followed him right out the door. As he sprinted toward the parking lot, Tech came from behind the building, knocking his ass right to the ground with the butt of his sawed-off shotgun.

"Good shit, Tee," I said, giving Slim a swift kick to his ribs. "Fuck you think you going, pussy?" I kicked him again.

"Fuck you! You're a dead man!"

"Nah, I don't think so. But you're about to be." I whistled as one of my men, Dre, pulled up quickly with the blacked-out van.

"Get his bitch ass in the van and take him to the dungeon. I'll get back with y'all later." Dre nodded as he and three others got out and snatched Slim up.

"Get the fuck off me! Do you know who the fuck I am! You doing all of this over some trash ass pussy that ain't even yours! That bitch belongs to me!" I jabbed him in his throat and he keeled over, choking. I leaned down in his ear.

"That pussy is anything but trash. You know how it taste don't you, leprechaun? Magically fucking delicious." He jumped at me but was held back by my team.

"We need to get out of here, boss. Those bodies are piling up in there," Dre said.

"Get his punk ass out of my face." They dragged him into the van as I hurried and hopped in the truck with Rollo and Tech.

"I need to get back to my spot," I told Tech, wincing in pain.

I took my arm out of the long sleeve shirt to access the damage. It was only a flesh wound but that shit hurt like a bitch. I knew if I got to Bunny, she'd know what to do since she was a nurse. I just hoped I didn't have to lay her bitch ass daddy out once I got there.

"You sure? I can have Donna come through and stitch you up," Dre offered.

"Nah, I'm good. Just take me back and check on the crew. Anybody we lost, make sure their people are compensated."

"No doubt."