TYCE 5 (12 page)

Peck wasted no time. The second I finished my sentence he tried to kick a field goal with the racially challenged man’s face.

“It’s all clear in the back rooms and I got the money.” Sway held up a hefty black trash bag.

“Let’s go!” I started walking backward out of the room.

My team followed my lead. All of our fire power was pointed down at the three strangers as we made our way to the kitchen. I wanted to show my appreciation to our prisoners, so I addressed them directly.

“Thank you very much for your cooperation people. Tell your boss
Tyce said wasup.”

Forty five seconds later we all were safely inside the getaway van speeding down the alley.

I turned to Sway who was behind the wheel.

“Once we get into traffic, obey all the rules of the road. You drive this fake ass locksmith van like an old man on a Sunday afternoon.”

“You got it. Ay, why you pick the name GM Locksmith’s anyway. What’s the GM stand for?” Sway looked at me curiously.

I cracked my window and lit a cigarette. “It stands for Get Money.”

As we turned onto a residential street, I saw the slender man from before posted up under a light post smoking a blunt. He recognized me and threw up a peace sign again. I simply nodded my head as we drove by.

As the van blended in with the night traffic
, I was thinking to myself. It was the oddest shit. There I was rolling down the streets of Los Angeles with a van full of cash and I was thinking about the fact that Angelique was pregnant with sorry ass Thad’s baby! That shit was really getting to me.

Lately
I was loving being a mom. However, I was not loving being a single mom. In fact, I hated it. But, my pity party was over. I told myself I had to just dig my way out of the hole I had put myself in the best way I knew how. I had to make a tough decision and I still didn’t know which way to go. I did believe in a woman’s right to choose, but I never thought I would have to make that difficult choice in a million years.

One minute I thought about telling
Tyce, and then, the next minute I convinced myself it was a bad idea. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. It was my mistake…my business. That’s what I told myself as I trotted to the front door to answer the door bell. My stomach was growling and I was craving pizza. I blamed it on the pregnancy because I never ate pizza, especially not pizza with pineapples on it. After I wolfed that down, I planned to take Khari to the park to get some fresh air.

On my way to the door I snatched 20 dollars from the hallway table. The pizza delivery man was right on time because I was starving. I unlocked the door and swung it open only to be greeted by a loaded gun staring me in the face. Behind the cannon was a sinister looking dark skin
ned man.

“
Wasup Angelique?” He said slowly.

I froze in my tracks. My mind started ra
cing. I didn’t know what to do.

“Who the fuck are you nigga?!” I tried
not to notice the gun pointed in my face.

“I’m Khalil. M
y cousin Dallas told me a lot about you.”

Seemingly on cue, Khari walked into the hallway behind me. Khalil moved his head so he could get a better look at her.

“Damn, she looks jus’ like her daddy.”

“What the fuck do you want?!” I blocked his view of her.

He smiled. “Your baby daddy stole my shit and now I’m stealin’ his shit. Both of ya’ll are comin’ with me.”

I felt relieved that he wasn’t just going to shoot me in the head right then and there a
nd then murder my daughter. That was a good old fashion kidnapping and as long as I was still breathing we had a chance to make it out. I also felt a strong sense of security knowing that Tyce was the reason for this unsavory visit.

“You
jus’ made the biggest mistake of your life. Her daddy is gonna fuck you up.” I glared at him menacingly.

The whole crew was over Sabrina’s house. Her place had become the official rendezvous spot after a job. Everyone was there includi
ng Dallas. All the money from the day’s take was spread out all over my sister’s king sized bed. Upon looking at the expensive view, Dallas leaned into me. I lowered my head so she could whisper in my ear.

“
Lookin’ at all this money makes my pussy tingle.” She slid me a sly grin.

“I’m
gonna have to charge you all an admission fee ‘cuz this beach house ain’t cheap.” Sabrina winked at me.

“How ‘bout five percent?” I folded my arms across my chest.

“Make it eight and you got a deal.” She countered.

“Alright, eight it is. I always take care of family.”

As Sway and Peck started to count the money, I changed the topic of discussion.

“So
ahhh sis, I hear you and Peck are dating now.” I rubbed the light hair on my chin and grinned.

All eyes turned to Sabrina
and then they shifted to Peck who was blushing. He actually turned red.

Sabrina put her hands on her hips just above her butt clutching jean shorts. “Yes we are and I’m happy you approve. I told him you wouldn’t mind. He was all scared to tell you.”

Peck defended himself. “I wasn’t scared. I was nervous. There’s a big difference between the two.”

“Congratulations you guys! I think you make a cute couple.” Dallas nodded her head. “Maybe we all could go on a cruise
, or take a trip to Jamaica or somethin’. Me and Tyce, Sway and Ranae, and you and Peck.” Dallas pointed at Sabrina.

Sabrina brightened up at the idea
, but I could see past her excitement. On the inside, Sabrina still hadn’t warmed up to the idea of me being with Dallas. She understood why I was with her, however she was still an Angelique fan. In her eyes, Angelique was the mother of her niece, and the right woman for me…period.

“That sounds like a great idea. I’ll
jus’ make sure to pack my man some sunscreen so we can lay out on the beach.” Sabrina blew Peck a kiss.

“Yeah
and I’ll bring a sombrero for you.” He shot back playfully.

Again, I changed the subject to a different topic.

“Alright, I wanna give my crew props for a job well done. We were in and out of that last stash house in less than two minutes. That’s what I call precision. That separates the liquor store robbin’ niggas from the pros like us. I want you all to put the money up and stay focused ‘cuz all we did was piss Khalil off.”

“Fuck Khalil!” Peck looked up from the pile of cash on his lap. “He’s a sheep in wolf
’s clothing.”

Sway chose to school him before
I had the chance to.

“Oh
, he’s a sucka ass nigga alright, but never underestimate your opponent. When I first started boxing I was all cocky and shit ‘cuz I was 10 and 0 and then I got in the ring with a washed up Columbian fighter named Neto. I figured I would knock his ass out by the third or fourth round.”

“What happened?” Peck’s voice lowered an octave.

“Shit, what happened was he knocked my ass out in the sixth round with a punch I didn’t see comin’. The next thing I knew I was lookin’ up at the lights while he was doin’ the cha cha around the ring.”

“Damn.” Peck shook his head.

“Yeah, that shit doesn’t feel good. Don’t make the same mistake I did and get knocked the fuck out.”

Right after Sway’s wise speech my phone started vibrating in my back pocket. I pulled it out and smiled when I saw who it was. I raised my hand in the air to silence the people in the room with me before I answered the call.

“Wasup nigga? You feelin’ a lil’ light these days?”

All eyes were on me when they discovered who I was on the phone with.

“I admit it. You got me and I didn’t even see it comin’. I shoulda known Roman would snitch me out.” He paused briefly. “But I get it. I tried to kill you…and you robbed me.”

“That’s what I do. I make niggas pay when they miss.”

“How ‘bout we trade?”

“You
ain’t got shit I want.”

“Sure I do…and their names are Angelique and a beautiful
lil’ toddler named Khari. Meet me at the farm at three a.m. Oh and bring my money or your baby mama and your daughter are dead.”

Khalil hung up on me before I had chance to respond. My jaw clenched. I felt my heart began to beat strongly in my chest. For the second time in two months someone
had got the drop on me and two people I loved the most were in danger because of me.

“What’d he say?” Dallas looked up at me concerned.

I took a deep breath to quell the fire roaring in my chest. I felt like I was suffocating. I felt like I was in a nightmare and I couldn’t wake up.

“What
did he say Tyce?” Dallas asked again, but time she pushed my arm.

I took another deep breath and steadied my nerves.

“Neto jus’ knocked me down.”

I opened up a fruit cup and put a spoon full of diced peaches in my baby’s mouth. Don’t get it twisted, Khalil did kidnap us
, but he at least let me get something for Khari to eat along with her diaper bag. It wasn’t us he wanted, it was Tyce.

I listened to the whole conversation when he called
him. So in about two hours the cold shack that Khari and I were sitting in would be the hottest spot in town. However, before the shit hit the fan, I had a few questions.

“How did you know where to find me?”

Khalil kept looking out the front window in the living room. His side kick whom he called Bug was sitting across from me in a lime green recliner with his gun on his lap.

“Did you hear me? I said how did you find me?” I raised my voice.

“Tell her Bug.” Khalil kept staring into the night through the dirty window.

I looked at him impatiently as he snorted at me.

“Your boyfriend Thad.” He finally turned to me.

“Thad?” I wanted to spring up from the couch.

“Yeah, Thad.” He smiled at me like he knew something I didn’t. “Who you think was serving his ass all that coke ya’ll were doin’? It was me, shit, he’s one of my best customers. All I had to do was give him a couple of eight balls and he told us where you lived. That nigga was happy to give you up…he don’t like your ass at all.” He waived his long finger at me.

“Fuck him.” I rolled my eyes and kept feeding my child.

“You already did that. I was there when Tyce busted yo’ ass. That shit was classic.”

My mind flew back to the horrible scene. I
could remember running out of there with my head down. No matter how hard I tried to move on from my mistake, it just kept coming back to bite me.

Khalil finally turned to face me. “You better hope your baby daddy shows up tonight.”

I looked at Khari as she sat next to me chewing her food. Surprisingly, she was calm through this whole fiasco.

“Oh he will, and when he does…all hell is
gonna break loose.”

Khalil walked toward
me with a sinister look on his face. He grabbed a fistful of my hair and jerked me to my feet knocking the cup of peaches out of my hand.

“I’m tired of you
talkin’ shit! What the fuck is he gonna do?! Huh?!” He forced me to look at him.

The muscles in my neck started to strain. “Nigga you better let me go! If
Tyce finds out you laid a hand on me or Khari, you’re gonna be sorry. You’re gonna wish you nev-“

My words were cut off as he punched me in the stomach. I felt the wind leave my lungs as I doubled over in pain. He grabbed me by my neck.

              “Wish what?! Huh?!”

He slapped me across my cheek bone with the back of his hand like a pimp. I fell to my knees in front of the couch as Khari began to wail when she saw me fall. Instinctively I tried to place my body between my attacker and my daughter, but upon doing so, Khalil kicked me hard in my abdomen with his square toed dress shoes.

“That nigga ain’t shit compared to me!”

“That’s enough dog!” Bug stood up from his
chair. “She’s no good to us dead nigga!”

Khalil relaxed his muscles and backed off a bit.

“Well, she better learn to keep her smart mouth shut. Talkin’ ‘bout what the fuck Tyce gonna do. He ain’t shit!”

My child was still crying when I placed my hand on the couch cushion next to her to offer
some form of comfort. I winced in pain as a stinging sensation spread throughout my ribcage. I couldn’t wait for Tyce to get there so I could tell him all about what the bad man did to me. I hoped he killed him real slow!

I had two hours until the most important moment in my life wa
s upon me. If I didn’t play it right, I could lose Angelique and Khari in one night.

“How we
gonna do this?” Sway walked up to me on the beach front balcony followed by Peck.