Daddy Dearest (24 page)

Cataya didn’t see the need to defend herself. She hated his existence. She hated him for all of the sad and tearful nights that he had caused her. She hated him for stripping her of her childhood.

Her Granny’s words of wisdom echoed in her head. When her emotions were more alive than they ever been. She couldn’t hold back what she was feeling, so she released it in the form of saliva.

* * *

“Don’t you move a fucking muscle!” Rafeal said, as he paced the barrel of the gun of the back of Hammer’s neck. “You done picked the wrong house to break in tonight.”

Way too much talking. Way too much.

“Let me do this my way. I got him, watch my work.” The then addressed Hammer. “Now turn around slow so I can see your face.”

Hammer reluctantly did what he was told because he assumed that he was outnumbered. He frowned when he seen how wrong he was.

He’s reaching for his gun!
EL The One DeBarge lied.
Shoot him! Shoot him!

“Before I kill you,” Rafeal stated, not falling for the lie, “tell me one thing. Who sent you?”

“Oh, man! Is that you, Raf?”

“Don’t worry about who the fuck I am. Who sent you?”

Nigga!

“Nigga!”

“Raf, it’s me. Hammer.”

Rafeal studied the man’s face a few seconds before it resonated. A huge smile formed on his face and he hugged Hammer. “Damn, Hammer! It is you! I didn’t recognize you. Who sent you?”

Goddamn! You got to be the most friendlies nigga I know! Aren’t going to ever make your bones?

“Ain’t nobody sent me…” Hammer paused in mid-sentence when he remembered that Ron was dead by the hands of the man standing in front of him. “Why did you do it, Raf? Why did you kill Ron?”

Okay, goddamnit! This nigga is about to do some real live gangster shit! I wish I was in that nigga’s head.

“I didn’t do it, Hammer. Ron was cool with me. I found him that way.”

Nay, nigga. Don’t cop no pleas now. You ain’t tell Dr. Yessuh that. Talk that shit to this nigga so he can knock the meat out of your taco!

“You didn’t see who did it?”

“No.”

Hammer wanted to probe into the subject more, but time wasn’t on his side. He also knew that Rafeal didn’t have any reason to lie, being that he had the ups on him.

“Listen to me. I broke out of prison to save Cataya’s life.”

A real live gangster thug. Step your shit up, Raf. Take notes.

“I don’t like Ching, either. He’s too soft though to be a threat to Tata. Plus, I think he’s on the sweet side.”

Does he swallow?

“Raf! I think somebody is trying to kill her. And I’m not talking about Ching.”

“What?”

“Yes. Where is she now? In the house?”

She’s in my pocket, muthafucker!

“Chill out,” Rafeal mumbled.

Hammer wasn’t discouraged by Rafeal bizarre behavior. “Stay with me, Raf. Hey, you’re bleeding. What happened to you?”

Bullshitting.

“It’s nothing. I’ll live.”

“You sure? Your whole shirt is bloody.”

“It’s just a lil’ flesh wound. What was you saying?”

“Uhh, is my daughter in the house?”

Yep. In there fucking good, too.

“She was before I left. She was upset because I told her the truth about who I saw kill LeLe. Fannie has been telling her that you got Ron to do it.”

Hammer suddenly felt a tremendous pressure on his chest. He remembered talking to Rafeal after LeLe’s death, and he had described Chaplin Stephens to the tee. Hammer hadn’t taken him seriously, thought. Now, all of the pieces were coming together.

“Do you remember telling me who killed LeLe?”

Nah, muthafucker! Fuck you! You killed her, nigga!

“Yeah, I remember.”

“I know who you were talking about now.”

“Who?!”

I don’t know why you’re asking for, you’re soft ass ain’t going to do whit about it. Punk ass nigga. You’re Duncan Hines soft.

“He’s the Chaplin at the prison I’m at.”

“For real?!

There goes the muthafucking neighborhood! They rape boys and murder.

“Yeah It’s a strong possibility he’s already in the house.”

“He is?”

“I believe so.”

“What do you need me to do?”

Just shoot, young nigga. Shoot at anything that moves. Like Duck Hunt.

Hammer laid out the plan for this daughter’s uncle, knowing that he was doing it at his own risk, and anything was subject to happen.

* * *

The Chaplin took his time wiping the spittle away with a handkerchief, seemingly unfazed. He pocketed it, casually and brutally brought his gun down on Ching’s head. Ching dropped like a sack of potatoes.

“Like your mother, you don’t seem to understand that your ways and actions hurt people around you more.”

Cataya was no longer paying any attention to what the Chaplin was saying. She was bent over Ching trying to bring him back to conscious.

It wasn’t until something wet began splashing on her that she focused back at the Chaplin. “What the f-..’

“But tonight,” he continued, as he doused gasoline on her from a flash, “We’re going to deal in equality. For every time that your father came to me in tears, I sentence you to death by hellfire. May God have mercy on your soul, dear child.”

 –—Chapter Twenty-Eight–—

EL The One DeBarge waited until Hammer walked off in the opposite direction before he pitched his plan.

Good way to play it off like you’re going along with his plan. Now, listen up because this is the way that it’s going down. We’re going to help him kill the cracker. But afterwards, we’re going to kill everything in the house and blame it on him. You can say that you killed him in self-defense. Bam! What o you think?

“I think that you’re out of your goddamn mind!” Rafeal whispered, as he entered the back door of the house. “Why in the world would I kill Taya for?”

Okay, okay! I was tripping. But the rest of them fuckers got to die. It’s imperial!

“Why is it so imperial that I commit murder?”

Because…because…why the fuck you always be second guessing me, nigga?! I get tired of that fucking shit! You didn’t question Hammer when he told you of his weak ass plan. You hopped straight on his dick like a stripper. I bet that man could fuck you!

“Can you please shut up so I can concentrate on the task?”

Concentrate on deez nuts! Forever mine, ‘cause we got along just fine. Ahh, baby! I got what you want, you got what I want…
he sang loudly.

Rafeal blocked out the singing as he crept through the house. For some reason, which he guessed he could contribute to the alcohol, he couldn’t remember everything that Hammer had told him.

All that he knew for certain was that the man who had murdered LeLe was possibly inside his house, and he was in a privilege position to return the favor. And if that meant acting on his own accord, then Hammer’s plan was getting put on the backburner.

* * *

Cataya didn’t realize that the Chaplin was dousing gasoline on her until she smelt the distinctive odor.

She screamed. “What are you doing?”

“I’m about to do what I should’ve done twelve years ago,” he replied, and pulled out a lighter.

Hammer walked to the front door with extreme urgency, gripping the.44 that he had requested from Earnest Parker/Powell. He was immediately assaulted by the strong order of gas and panicked.

Am I too late? Please don’t let my baby be dead
, he prayed, silent. The door easily gave in under the pressure of his weight, and he instantly came face to face with his friend/confider. The Chaplin was standing over Cataya with a lighter in his hand.

Hammer was elated to find his daughter still alive. But he was sad to discover that his suspicions about the Chaplin were true. He had experienced all kinds of pains in the forty years that he had been alive, but the one that hurt him the most was betrayal. It was the kind of pain that drained his energy, and tied his intestines in a knot.

He didn’t like the feeling. Nor did he have it in him to be the distributor of it. So, he raised his gun to inflict a different type of pain that he was certain that the Chaplin wouldn’t like.

* * *

Can you just listen to me for a goddamn minute
? EL The One DeBarge pleaded.

“What do you want?!”

Okay, I’ve given the situation some thought. I understand that you don’t want to kill a family member. But I know you ain’t going to give that other muthafucker a pass, too!

“Who are you talking about?”

The cracker that murked your sister! That’s who!

“Not if it’s the same one.”

What if it ain’t the same one?

“Then it depends on how shit go down.”

What?! You know what? You’re acting like a straight up bitch right now! Them muthafuckers killed your cousin…Hold up, I’m tripping. That’s the line that MC Eight said in ‘Menace to Society’. I love that movie. Anyway, what does it matter if it’s the same one or not? This cracker done broke up in your shit about to turn your good niece’s brains into mashed potatoes, and you want to be noble about the situation. Are you fucking kidding me?

“Shhh! Do you smell that?”

Yeah, now that you said something. It smell like the BP Station on a Friday night. Dehila done hit rock bottom. That bitch is stealing niggas’ gas tanks off their cars.

Rafeal made a beeline towards the living room fearing the worst. The closer that he got to the front of the house, the strong the odor of gas became. His heart was beating so fast that it was drowning out EL The One DeBarge’s voice.

He finally entered the front room and locked eyes with the Chaplin for a full second. His mind flashed back to the man that he had seen in LeLe’s room twelve years ago, and quickly realized that the men were one in the same.

Rafeal wasn’t fooled by the extra fifty pounds, or the gray hair. The icy blue eyes told it all.

EL The One DeBarge was triumphant.
We got action, boys! Thank you, Jesus! Break his ass off, too, Raf!

Rafeal was more than happy to oblige him.

* * *

Chaplin Stephens felt strong about the position that he was in with Cataya. Since he hadn’t been blessed with extensive time to kill LeLe, he would make sure that Cataya suffered for both of their deeds.

Just as he was about to flick his lighter, the last person that he expected to see burst through the door. It was apparent by the look in his friend’s eyes that he had figured out everything. And the devastated him because he knew that Hammer would never understand his motive.

It was a known fact that most people allowed their emotions to cloud their judgment, so it didn’t surprise him to see his friend raise the gun at him.

He mocked Hammer’s aggression by raising his own gun. Friend or no friend, he knew that he couldn’t allow anybody to interfere with God’s ruling. Cataya had to die If not for her past actions, then for the sake of preventing future sins and reproduction. That was something that he had to prevent al all cost.

In the mist of all this, he saw someone enter the room out of his peripheral. He instantly recognized Rafeal and his intentions. The average no-marksmen in the predicament would have felt pressured. That wasn’t the case with him. He knew, read, and studied that God didn’t put anymore on a person than they could handle.

He fired one shot at his friend for letting his emotions get the best of him, and two at Rafeal for interfering in Gods’ business.

* * *

Hammer never got the chance to discharge his weapon. He was blinded by the brilliant spark of the Chaplin’s gun. The bullet whizzed dangerously by his head, that he was certain that it had parted his two inch afro.

Hammer let out a sharp cry and squeezed off two shots. He knew they he had struck his mark when the Chaplin fell.

Chaplin Stephens sat staring at his wound as if he was shocked that his body was penetrable. He didn’t seem to be aware of the posing danger until Hammer’s shadow cast over him. Hammer’s features were distorted, and his gun was extended.

“You killed her and all those other people, didn’t you?!”

“How did you figure it out?” he asked, clutching his stomach wound.

“This is how.” He took the black book from his pocket and threw it on the Chaplin. “You used me, you manipulative bastard!”

The Chaplin cut his eyes at his gun that lay four feet away.

“The duties that God gave me are bigger than your feelings, so I won’t apologize.”