Coldhearted & Crazy (16 page)

It had just gotten dark and the girls were getting ready to get dressed to go out to dinner with Fatima. She'd promised them a surprise and London could barely wait. She was the first to get in the shower and start to get herself together because she knew that Kenya would take practically all night getting dressed. While London was in the shower, Kenya took her cell phone off the charger and tried calling Storm again. Still, she got no answer. Once again it went straight to voicemail. Kenya looked at the clock before calling O.T. again and decided to call Alley Cats to see if he had spoken to his big brother yet. Something was wrong and she felt it. This wasn't like Storm not to call and check on her.

O.T. answered the phone after several rings. Between the loud noise of the club and him holding conversations with everyone else, he gave Kenya the response that she hated to hear. “Sorry, Kenya, nope, still no word. You know them dudes probably lying back on the beach, chillin' with some hoes! Naw, I'm just fucking with you.” He tried to lighten the mood she was in. “Don't worry, girl, that sorry lovesick Negro you got is all right with his soft bitch-ass! They just probably somewhere teaching Royce how to dress!”

O.T. started to tease her and she felt much better. He even put his woman Paris on the phone, who also made her laugh. Paris let Kenya know that everything was running smooth at the club and she was keeping O.T. in order as well as Alley Cats. Kenya, still concerned, felt a little better when she hung up the phone, but her women's intuition wouldn't let her stop from worrying.

London got out of the shower and went into their room. “All right, girl, you next, and please don't take long to get ready. I don't want to be late. Fatima is always punctual.”

Kenya got up and saluted London just like they were kids again. They both laughed.

While Kenya jumped in the shower, London started blow-drying her hair. With all the noise going on, they didn't hear Swift jimmy the lock on the back door and come inside the house. He was both quick and quiet. That's where he had gotten his nickname from. Swift paused in the kitchen and listened carefully. Making sure the rest of the house was empty he crept into the living room. There he overheard noises coming from upstairs. Taking a deep breath, he ran his tongue over his teeth and headed in that direction. With the picture in his hand, Swift looked at it one last time, kissing it for good luck as he put it in his jacket. That was a habit that he started on his first murder-for-hire assignment and this was no different.

Swift reached in his inside pocket, removing a hit man's best friend. With expertise, he screwed the silencer on his pistol and slowly eased up the stairs. He took his time on each one. The age of the old house caused each one to make a creaking sound with every footstep. He finally made it to the top and was headed toward the direction of the sounds of the blow dryer. He was ready to do what he'd come to do, when all of a sudden the noise of the dryer stopped.
Damn!
Swift froze in his steps. Confused, he heard the bathroom door open and saw a shadow move out the side of his eye. Swift remained perfectly still as he gripped his gun tightly.

Kenya started talking. “See, sis, I told you that I wasn't gonna take all day. I was in and out!”

“I see. That's a first. What's the occasion?” London yelled back to her sister while checking to see what part of her hair was still damp.

Swift glanced around the dimly lit hallway as he thought,
Fuck it, two bitches for the price of one.
He'd been parked out front all day and he never saw her friend come in. He thought for sure that London was home alone.
I must be slipping, but oh well!
Swift questioned himself. Just then Swift heard one of the girls ask the other if she could come and help her with her hair. In a matter of seconds both girls were standing in the hallway and looking Swift dead in his face.
Well I'll be damned!
He had his gun raised and pointed at the sisters. Both of them, stunned, screamed loudly, not knowing what else to do.

“What the fuck?” Swift looked back and forth over and over and was confused. “Damn, it's two of you bitches!” He started to laugh and let his guard down. “Ain't this some bizarre shit!”

That's when the twins attacked him at the same time. It was another one of those situations where twins were famous for sharing the same thoughts. It took no words being passed for them both to react as one. Swift was trying his best to hold his own, but the girls had a lot of their father's blood in them. They were like wildcats. London and Kenya were definitely getting the best of Swift. He was feeling the wrath of the pain suffered, of the twins missing their parents and Gran. London also had Professor Kincade on her mind, while Kenya thought of Raven's murder. The girls' anger fueled their intense rage and it was on; fists being thrown, faces being socked and scratched, balls getting kicked, and eyes being gouged. The sisters had overcome a lot of things in their young lives and they were hell-bent determined to survive this as well.

Swift's gun had fallen on the floor and was kicked across the hallway into the darkness. All three were yelling and screaming as they struggled. The fight seemed to go on forever, when all of a sudden Swift's body jerked backward and went limp. He was motionless. The twins turned around and saw a huge figure in the corner with Swift's pistol in his hand. Kenya and London eyes grew wide as they awaited their fate. They then heard footsteps running up the stairs.

“Are you two all right? We knocked at the door and you didn't answer so we walked around the back and saw that the door was open. We heard yelling and rushed in. Are you two hurt? What happened?” Thank God it was Fatima. She was crying and so were the twins. She was overjoyed that her friends were both safe. “I guess you two couldn't wait until dinner to get your big surprise could you?” Fatima wiped her eyes and smiled.

It was then that out of the shadows the man who had saved their lives appeared. London looked puzzled as she tried to focus on the massive-sized man. Kenya, relived, jumped to her feet. She ran over and embraced their savior.

“Oh my God, Brother Rasul, where did you come from? How did you get here? Never mind the questions. I'm so glad to see you! He was gonna kill us!”

Brother Rasul held her close and told her, “Remember I told you that I'd always have your back? Well, now you know it to be true.” Kenya, out of breath from the struggle, had tears of joy streaming down her face. “I keep my word, no matter what!”

Fatima went to help London to her feet and introduced her to her big secret, Brother Rasul. He hugged London and told her that he was finally glad to meet her. Kenya and London were both dumbfounded and in shock at the fact that he was hooked up with their friend. The questions quickly began. Fatima explained to the twins that she met him in the hospital the day that their uncle was shot. She saw some of his family reading the Qur'an to him and joined in prayer with them. After that she and he became closer and closer.

Brother Rasul came and stood in the middle of the girls. “Excuse me, ladies, I hate to break this up, but we do have a dead man lying here I need to deal with.”

The girls looked over to the other side of the hallway and hugged one another. The sight of Swift's curled-up, broken-neck deceased body caused them to have chills and turn away in utter disgust. Joining Brother Rasul, all the females went downstairs and sat down on the floor to regain their composure.

“We should call the police!” London yelled, not knowing what else to say. “We need to get that thug out of Gran's house!”

“Naw, London. We can't do that,” Kenya chimed in. “We need to stop and think first.”

“Yeah, that's right!” Fatima agreed. “We don't wanna get Rasul in any more trouble. He's already on probation from the shootout at Heads Up!”

“Not to worry!” Brother Rasul spoke again. “Calm down and let me use the phone. I got this!”

The girls were all sitting close to each other as Brother Rasul's friends removed Swift's body through the back door. They had wrapped him in some old sheets that were in the basement and put him in the trunk of a car. As they pulled off, Brother Rasul approached the girls and showed them what he had found in the dead man's jacket. It was a picture of London. It apparently was taken at a PAID meeting. All three of the girls sat there with their mouths wide open not knowing what to think or say. They thought that the man was just a regular burglar who had broken in.

“That man was a professional hit man. Someone hired him to kill you, London!” Brother Rasul was trying his best to keep the girls calm, but at the same time he had to keep it real. This was serious, a serious matter. It wasn't over and he knew it. Just because Swift hadn't succeeded meant nothing. Whoever had paid him could probably easily afford to pay others. “Listen, little sister, I'll do all I can to find out who could have sent him, but in the meantime you need to lay low. That means no more meetings or school for the time being.”

Kenya and Fatima both agreed with Brother Rasul. They trusted him with their lives; they had no other choice. Kenya wrapped her arms around London. “Why don't you fly back out to Dallas with me? It's no way in hell that they would look for you out there! You can stay with me and Storm in our guest room.” Kenya had no idea that she was leading her sister straight into the belly of the beast.

After a lot of tears being shed, a distraught London lastly gave in and decided they were all correct. It would be in her best interest to take a break from school and go out west with Kenya. She needed a break anyway from all the limelight of PAID. Fatima promised to pack and send London's things to her as soon as she got back on campus and temporarily sign her out of all her classes.

Fatima and Brother Rasul drove both of the girls to the airport so they could catch a late flight. They said their farewells at the gate and sadly boarded the Texas-bound aircraft.

“Don't worry, London. You'll be safe when we get to Dallas. Storm and his boy Deacon have got that town on lock! We gonna be good!”

Kenya was trying endlessly to ease her sister's troubled mind, while she herself was a hot nervous wreck. When they landed and got their luggage, Kenya tried calling Storm's cell phone but unfortunately once again it went straight to voicemail. Needless to say she was starting to get beyond worried.

“Damn, why isn't his ass answering? He'd better not be fucking around with one of those island bitches!” Kenya slyly mumbled under her breath.

“Is everything all right?” London asked her sister as she looked directly in Kenya's face. She could tell that it was a problem. Even Ray Charles could.

“Yeah, I was just trying to call Storm. He must not be back in town yet, but it ain't a big deal. I'm straight!”

Kenya didn't know how she was going to break the news to him about London. After all, she had been lying. Well, sort of. He always thought her uncle was the only family she had, but bottom line it was time for her to face the music. Storm didn't have a choice in the matter. He would have to accept London and she in return would have to accept Storm and his crooked lifestyle.

Kenya tried not to worry as the pair took a taxi to her and Storm's condo. When they drove up, Kenya noticed all the lights on inside the house. She then made a mental note to curse Storm out for leaving all the lights on. He was, after all, the main one complaining about the bills.

“Well, this is it! I can't wait for you to see how I decorated it!” Kenya excitedly leaped out the cab, stretching her arms.

“So this is it, huh?” London looked around the quiet street that her sister had been calling home.

The driver set the bags on the curb, waited for his tip, and pulled off into the darkness of the night. Kenya and London picked them up slowly and made their way up to the door.

“Wait 'til you see it, London. It is nice as hell. It's everything I've ever dreamed about.” Kenya stuck her key in the door, strangely discovering it was unlocked.
He must have really been in a rush.
Confused as to why Storm had carelessly left without securing their home Kenya pushed the door wide opened and stepped inside the entranceway.
What the fuck!
She couldn't believe her eyes and what she and her sister were faced with. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh nooooo!”

Kenya almost collapsed to the floor as London held her chest in utter disbelief. The karma that Kenya had put out in the universe had just come back to bite her dead in the ass!

 

The End 4 Now!