End of the Line (13 page)

“Girl, chill. He ain’t that stupid or that tough. I ain’t trying to be mean or nothing, but his soft ass ain’t ready to go to war wit’ Tone or Mario right know, so don’t even worry ’bout it. We’ll deal with him later. First, let your feet hit the bricks.”

“I just hope you right.” J-Rite knew Dino better than anyone. She knew that it wasn’t about to be over that easy. His pride was at risk.

Shortly after she’d returned to her cell, her name was called to be released. After she changed back into her street clothes, they put her in a room and told her to wait. Abruptly, the door swung opened and a black female cop and her partner, a white cop, walked in.

“I’m Officer Edwards. How you doing, Sanders?”

“What y’all want?” J-Rite frowned, not beating around the bush.

“Oh, she’s a tough ass,” the white officer grinned, throwing a folder on the table.

J-Rite looked at the photos of her and her crew and seemed unbothered. “Okay and? Contact my attorney!”

“So you think you got it figured all out. I see you a smart ass; probably took after that dead brother of yours, huh? He thought he was above the law just like you do. And we know how that turned out. Yeah, don’t look surprised. See, we did our homework on your foster-raised rejected ass.”

J-Rite wanted to get up and swing on the smart-mouthed cop, but refrained. She knew that would be letting them win the game.
I gotta keep my composure, or they gon’ bury my ass.
“Look, like I said, anything you got to say me, you can say it to my attorney.”

“You ain’t cute,” the female officer added her two cents. “We trying to give you some help, you dummy.”

“Help? I don’t need y’all fucking help! I’m good! Look, I ain’t trying to hear shit! Tell it to my lawyer!”

“Fuck you and your lawyer! You can go, Sanders, but we’ll be in touch
real
soon, so you better watch your step!”

“Yeah, yeah, that shit sounds real good; you better watch—” She paused when she saw the look on their faces.
Shut up, girl! It’s against the law to threaten cops.
She turned and walked out, shaking her head.

Finally free, J-Rite flagged a cab down and had him take her to the old apartment. She was going to call Leesa to pick her up but figured no need to give the cops what they wanted. Heated about all the smack the officer was talking, she went in the apartment and started planning her next move. She knew that she needed to get her stuff from the house because it wouldn’t be safe to stay there with her and Dino beefing.
Dino done burned me, played me ’bout our baby, and talking ’bout getting at my fam. I gotta get to Raven and Mario and let them know what’s good.
She called Leesa and told her to meet her at Starbucks in twenty minutes.

“All right, J-Rite, what’s up?” Leesa asked after arriving.

“We hot. The cops just tried to question me when I was at the station.”

“I had a feeling something was up. A deputy I’m cool with told me that I might wanna leave the building and let you catch a cab. What they was talking about?”

“Sis, they know all about us.”

“How?”

“I don’t know, but they know all the shit we been doing and whatnot. You think somebody talking?”

“Yeah, but who?” Leesa puzzled.

“I don’t know, but it’s time to make a move real quick,” J-Rite said, looking around and checking her surrounds.

Leesa was already prepared to leave the game. She had never planned on getting this big. She knew how the game went. “Yeah, it’s time to go,” she agreed, thinking about living a simple life with Q.

“Well, look, of course, the ho-ass police ain’t find my car yet, so I gotta get a rental car. We gotta get new phones and go under the radar. I’m going to go holla at everybody and let them know what’s up. Then I’ll go take care of Meka.”

“What you gonna do about Dino?”

J-Rite didn’t know what she was going to do. Her mind was saying strike first, but her heart was saying love. “I don’t know, but I’m going to make sure that I think it through before I do anything. He is the father of my child.”

After Leesa dropped J-Rite off at the rental car place, J-Rite went to see Tone and his brother. She walked to the door and knocked.

“Who is it?” Tone asked.

“It’s that bitch!” J-Rite yelled through the closed door.

“Girl, I couldn’t wait to see you get out. I hate to see a nigga caged up like an animal.”

“You ain’t lying. But I got some bad news for y’all. Where your brother at?”

“What up, girl? You out, I see,” Mario said, walking from the back room.

J-Rite explained what was going on, and the look the brothers had on their faces said what they were thinking. “Do Leesa know?” Tone asked.

“Yeah, she know.”

“This shit don’t make sense. We don’t fuck with too many people. You think it’s Leesa’s connect?”

“Hell, naw, Tone! Leesa been fucking with him for years. He was supplying Hutch.”

“Well, somebody ass talking.”

“Maybe it’s Raven’s wannabe husband! Maybe he the snitch!” Mario interjected. His brother gave him a hard look, and Mario knew what it meant. He knew better than to throw dirt on someone’s name; after all, that’s why the undercover cop was dead now.

“You remember Pops said that if a nigga ratting, stay clear; if you go trying to handle shit that don’t involve you, then you gon’ get fucked! So watch the shit that come out your mouth!”

“I don’t think it’s him anyway. Raven ain’t gonna be running her mouth like that,” J-Rite insisted.

“Well, we gotta find out who the fuck it is!” Tone was confused.

“All right, so what we gonna do now?” Mario asked.

“I ain’t made it that far yet, but lie low for a while. I still gotta take care of Meka. After I handle that, take care of Rhonda and Sean. They can’t be running around with dirt on us either.”

“That ain’t a problem. Let us know when.” Mario smiled, ready to put in more work. “And, oh yeah, we been trying to find out who the fuck carjacked you and set you up on that bullshit charge!”

“Cool, good looking.” J-Rite wasn’t going to tell them about Dino. She wanted to handle that on her own but didn’t want Mario and Raven running around blind, so she had to say something. “Look y’all, shit done got real thick! Dino came to see me when I was locked up. Somehow he know y’all who murked his people. He claim not the type that turns the other cheek. He wanna handle shit, but we’ll see.”

“Well, what he talking ’bout?” Tone asked, concerned for his little brother’s safety.

“He didn’t say much; he’s not much of a talker. But I know that he can be a real problem and he—”

“I can be a real problem too! That nigga don’t want to fuck with me on this war shit!” Mario cut in and said, not caring it was J-Rite’s man.

“Where the nigga at?” Tone asked, ready to back up Mario when the time came. J-Rite didn’t say anything.
What the fuck’s wrong with her?
Tone thought.

Mario also noticed her not responding and figured something was wrong. “All right, what’s up? Why you so damn quiet?”

“Y’all, I’m pregnant by his ass!”

Dino’s feelings for J-Rite were up and down. After visiting her, he thought about the baby she was having. He wanted to be a father, and he loved her very much, but his jealousy got in the way of his judgment.

“Nigga, you getting soft! You need to kill that bitch and be done with it. She can’t be trusted no more!” Marlon fumed.

“Watch your fucking mouth. She’s carrying my baby.”

“Man, is the baby even yours? I thought you said—”

“Hey, why the fuck wouldn’t it be?” he said giving Marlon a
“nigga, what?”
stare after cutting him off.

“Well, Dre said you thought she was fucking around on you.”

“Fuck Dre! And if you riding with him, then, nigga, fuck you too!” Dino said with murder in his eyes.

This nigga really tripping over this bitch. Most times he didn’t even wanna be with the bitch. Now he wanna beef about the bird. Clown-ass nigga,
Marlon thought.

“Look, man, all the fuck I know is my girl dead. I don’t know how you feel about it, but I’m ready to make somebody pay,” Rell said.

“So I’m supposed to kill the woman that’s carrying my child? How the fuck that sounds?”

“Would you do it if it was you?” he asked, looking at Rell.

“Nigga, whatever has to be done has to be done! With or without you.” Rell felt that Dino already took sides, and he had chosen the wrong one.
This nigga gonna put this bitch and a baby that probably ain’t even his over us—his family. Well, nigga, you can get it too.

“Well, I’ll see her soon enough. I called the county lockup. She was released a li’l while ago. I’ll be back later. Call me if you see her.”

“Yeah, nigga, I will,” Marlon promised as Dino pulled off.

As Dino drove away he saw a person he thought resembled Dre, so he turned around and parked.
Look at this nigga. He so damn fucked up it doesn’t make sense.
This was the first time he had seen Dre since he took the money out of the account. He didn’t know what he was going to say or do. Dino hopped out of the car and started walking toward Dre, who was as high as a kite.

“Yeah, what up, nigga? Why you looking so damn dusty?” he said, staring at Dre.

“I need a hit, nigga. You told me when you seen me again you’d give me a hit. You told me if I sucked your dick you would give me a hit. Well, I sucked your dick; now I want my hit,” Dre begged, not knowing it was his best friend he was talking to.

Dino was furious. His face turned red, muscles tightened, and he heard ringing in his ears. He pulled out his gun.
I’ma kill this nigga my damn self.
Dino lifted up his hand and was about to pull the trigger. He didn’t need to take the gun off safety because he didn’t use it. As he put his finger on the trigger, the fiend that Dre was running around with came out of nowhere.

“Wait, stop! What are you doing?” the female screamed, jumping in front of Dre, ready to take the bullet. “I love him! Don’t hurt him, please.”

Dre was too high to know what was going on. Dino put his gun in his pants and got back in his car. He kept thinking about what had just happened.
She was willing to die for this nigga. He got somebody that loves him for him. I fucked over the perfect woman. I got my boy’s girl killed, and I’m too deep in the game to leave. I don’t know what to do.
For the first time in his life, he was lost. He didn’t know where to go or what to do next.

* * *

J-Rite walked in Rhonda’s building and had Sean, who was waiting for her in the lobby, take her to the apartment. When she got inside, Raven was sitting on the couch smoking a blunt with a Mac-11 in her lap, Mario was standing by the window holding a pistol grip pump, and Tone was walking back and forth with twin Glock. 40s in his hand. They were ready for war. “What up, girl? Leesa told me what’s up. So you better catch up with Dino before I do,” Raven said after blowing weed smoke out her nose.

“Y’all know the cops watching us, so just chill out.”

“I wanna know who talking,” Tone hissed.

“Probably Tyrus. We should kill him and all his peeps,” Mario said angry.

He had been waiting for the green light since he found out it was beef. Hearing this made Raven’s stomach tighten; she knew that if J-Rite and them went at Tyrus, then Benji would get involved.

“Hey, y’all, we just can’t murder niggas without proof,” Raven immediately stated.

“So what if we do?” Tone joked. “You did it once before, didn’t you?”

“Look, proof or not, I’m thinking hit the nigga anyway. One less crab-ass buster to worry ’bout!” Mario threw in his two cents.

“Yeah, he got a point,” J-Rite conceded.

“Yeah, I’m down,” Tone cosigned.

This made Raven nervous.
I gotta think of something.
“Look, y’all, the cops watching us, right?” They nodded their heads in agreement. “Then it would be dumb to go to war right now.”

“Why you acting like that? That ain’t even like you. That nigga you messing with got you soft or what?” Mario looked at her amazed.

“Acting like
what?
” Raven barked, twisting her face up.

“Naw, it’s just that we gotta be smarter than what we’ve been. That includes me too. I mean, think about it like this. If we would have gotten and got the fuck on, we wouldn’t be in this shit now. And if we wouldn’t have been so gung ho, then this shit with Dino wouldn’t have happened. Now, am I right or what? Besides, girl, you out on bail.” She was looking directly at J-Rite. Raven was hoping they fell for it.

“Yeah, that’s true, so now we should try to find out who got us hot,” J-Rite said as she sat back on the couch.

Raven smiled.
Good. That gives me time to figure out how to fix this shit.

“All right, so what the fuck we gon’ do?” Mario asked.

“I’ll holla at my attorney and see if he can find out anything on this bull and my other case.”

Rhonda knocked on the door, then walked in the room. Even though it was her apartment, they made her go out into the hall. They knew she’d probably been listening, but they would take care of that soon enough.

“Look, Rhonda, I’m going to give you and Sean some cash to get Meka over here. Is that cool?”

“Hell, yeah! When you want her over here?”

“Just stay here for a li’l bit. I’m gonna get y’all something to have while y’all posted.”

“Tone and Mario, I want y’all two to go back to the apartment and get some clothes and come back to my house. That way, if Dino comes home, I won’t be alone.”

“What about me?” Raven asked.

“Go get us some phones.”

Each left ready to put their plan in motion.

* * *

“I can’t believe my nigga going out like this. How the fuck I let this shit happen?” Dino said, talking to himself while sitting in Monique’s den drinking Rémy straight out of the bottle.
I should’ve just kill that nigga and put him out of his misery. I gotta piss. This shit running through a nigga.
As he started using the bathroom he felt his dick itching and burning. “What the fuck? Monique! Monique,” he shouted as she came running.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I got something to ask, and I’m only going to ask once. Did you burn me?”

“Hell, naw!”

“Bitch, you lying!”

“Nigga, I ain’t gave you shit, and you gon’ stop talking to me like you crazy. I know you be out fucking them nasty hoes at them clubs, so go check
them
.”

“I ain’t trying to hear that. I know you fucking with one of them broke, dirty niggas and you supposed to be my woman!”

“First off, how the fuck am I your woman when you
got
a woman? That’s so stupid! You think I’m supposed to just sit around and be by myself? Nigga, you crazy!”

“Bitch, you better stop talking right fucking now before I have to fuck you up.”

Most people would have taken this as a warning and let things go. But not Monique. She didn’t think that way. She geeked things up. “You ain’t gonna do shit to me, you stupid nigga! I’ll get you fucked up! So you best get right and take your ass home to
your
bitch!”

“This shit wild. You gonna talk to me crazy after you done burned me?” Dino couldn’t control himself any longer, so he reached out, slapping blood out of Monique’s mouth. She was shocked. She balled up her fists.

“What you think you gonna do? Bitch, you swing on me, I—” Before Dino could finish his statement she’d already attacked him, throwing everything she could put her hands on.

“I’ma kill you, nigga. You put your fucking hands on me. I’ma kill you,” she belted out as she punched him.

Dino threw her off of him. He wanted to jump on her for burning him, but truth be told, he couldn’t really be sure if it was her. He cheated on J-Rite with Monique and cheated on Monique with other women.
I need to try to fix things with J-Rite, even if it ain’t my baby. Every time she think of me she gonna think about how I fucked her life up. I gotta live with that shit the rest of my fucking life. I hope she forgive me for this shit.
Dino stormed out of Monique’s home and headed to the house hoping to make things right with J-Rite. He was confused. On the way, he tried her cell, but it just rang. He tried the house phone but got no answer.
I gotta catch up with her before it’s too late, I can’t let shit happen to her.
Deep down, Dino was madder at himself more than at J-Rite. He knew this was his entire fault. He also knew with or without him, Rell’s out-of-control ass was gonna try to make a move.
This nigga might kill my girl and baby
.