End of the Line (18 page)

Dre stepped over his motionless body calling out for Dino who had yet to come outside. Getting no answer, he fled the scene on foot hearing the sirens get closer. Rehab was the last thing on his mind now. He needed to get high after what he had done; and quick. A few seconds later, Benji ran back up discovering Tone’s corpse. Knowing he couldn’t run the risk of getting caught, he jumped in his car and peeled off. As Benji bent the corner in a rush, he failed to notice Dino who had run out of the back emergency door of the store and was hailing a cab.

Damn, what the fuck I’m gonna do now?
Dino had the driver take him to Monique’s house. Paranoid, he never stopped looking out the back window as the cab drove along.
I know they got me on camera. If this nigga wouldn’t have called my fucking name I could’ve got Tone’s ass!
Dino walked in the house and saw Monique lying on the couch.

“Hey, bae, I was thinking we should take a vacation.” Dino knew the heat was about to get even hotter after what had just taken place.

Raven was just leaving the pharmacy when her cell phone rang. It was her grandmother.

“Hey, Granny, everything okay?”

“Jennifer, are you about to come home?” her old voice cracked as if something was wrong.

“Yeah, I have to meet Benji and my friend back there. We’re going to visit Jessica. What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s just that the kids were running through the house and baby girl fell and cut her head. It’s not bad though.”

“All right, I’m on my way.”
Damn, I’ma have to start getting a sitter. Granny getting too old.

Raven got in her truck and headed home. When she stepped inside the house she felt a strange vibe. For it to be so early in the day and one of the kids was supposedly hurt, it was much too quiet. She took a few steps back, reaching in her purse for her gun. Before she knew what was taking place, her purse was knocked to the floor. After being socked in the jaw, somebody shoved a gun in her face as she slid down the wall. She was dazed, still trying to recover from the roughhouse blow. The mysterious man then snatched her by the collar of her shirt, dragging her into the living room. Once there, Raven was kicked in the side of her ribs.

After catching her breath, she saw that there were two other men she’d never seen before as well, standing off to one side of the room. As she cut her eyes to the other side, the usually calm, coldhearted female started to get hysterical. Her three children and grandmother were tied up in chairs and gagged. Raven tried her best to get off the floor and come to their aid but was once again kicked, then ordered to settle down. The two guys lifted her injured body off the floor and tied her up also. Minutes later, the strong overwhelming smell of gasoline filled her flared nostrils. It became painfully clear what was about to take place
Where the fuck is Benji and Tone at? Oh my God, let them pull up!
“Please, let my family go,” she pleaded with blood trickling down out of the corner of her mouth. “I have some money put up. I’ll pay you! Please!”

The apparent murder-intended arsonist paid her and her desperate attempt to bargain no attention. One of the three lit a match, tossing it in the hallway. Content with his actions, he stood smirking as the flames engulfed the area. Moments later, Raven could see them no more, assuming they had fled to safety. With the heat from the flames becoming more intense, she knew she and her family were in serious trouble. Not ready to die, her small son decided to try his best to get free. Wiggling his arms and feet around, he tipped the chair over he was tied to and got unloose. Next, he untied his mother.

“Thanks, baby, now go untie Granny and your sisters.”

The dense smoke that had filled the house made her youngest daughter fall out. Granny was fighting to catch her breath. Raven had to think quickly seeing how the path to the front door was ablaze. Reaching for one of the chairs that were now scattered throughout on the living room floor, Raven took one, throwing it through the picture window. As the chair smashed the glass landing on the front grass, she and her family followed. “Help Granny out the window” she ordered her brave, heroic son who’d saved their lives.

After everybody was safely out of the house, Raven looked around to see if she saw anyone that could help. Thank God she noticed a car sitting in front of her neighbor’s house. Although her eyes were watery and swollen from all the smoke, she could see people sitting in it.
Why the fuck ain’t they trying to help us?
Seeing them getting out of the car Raven felt something was wrong as they seemed too calm.

“Help! Help us!” With his eyes just as impaired, her son took it upon himself running toward the people for assistance.

Before Raven could stop him, one of the occupants opened fire with an AK-47, cutting not only the small boy’s life short, but massacring the entire family. Clinging to life, Raven started to choke on her own blood as she looked up to a man towering over her, smiling with the barrel of his pistol shoved in her face. “You ain’t half as cute as that little punk Benji made you out to be!”

* * *

Benji didn’t know where to go or what to do next. Not only had Tone just been killed in what he thought to be a botched robbery, he’d chased one of the would-be accomplices down, shooting him in the back. Not realizing there was a third person, he could only assume that it was the guy from inside the store that sent Tone home.
What in the fuck just happened?

Fuck, I’m gon’ tell this nigga’s brother that he dead! He already don’t like me. How Raven gonna take this?
As he drove in the direction they were headed in the first place, Benji was still numb about how things had gone from sugar to shit so quickly. Now, he had to tell Raven Tone had just gotten killed. Benji had been trying to call her, but she wasn’t answering her phone. He figured maybe she had her phone in her purse or on the charger and was just waiting for him and Tone to pull up. Benji had grown to love Raven and her kids, and he didn’t know what he would do without them.

Turning on their street, he saw what looked like sheer chaos: multiple police cars, fire trucks, and several ambulances.
What the fuck going on?
He couldn’t get any closer in his vehicle, so he parked. Now on foot, as he made his way through the mournful crowd, his heart started racing. Benji knew something was wrong; he felt it deep in his soul.

Standing in front of Raven’s house from behind the yellow tape that was everywhere, he instantly wanted to throw up. The house was burned up, and there were five white sheets covering what had to be bodies sprawled on the ground with blood still leaking through. Benji’s mind started going crazy. He tried to make his way over to the bodies but was stopped by two officers.

“Hold on, you can’t go any farther.”

“That’s my family! Get your fucking hands off me!” he screamed, attempting to break through the yellow tape.

The two cops looked at each other, then sympathetically let Benji pass so he could see his family one last time. He ran over to the smallest sheet and pulled it back. “Damn, Brittany, bunny! I’m sorry.” Through his tears he could see that one bullet had torn through her chest. Hysterical, he then went over and started looking for Raven’s body. He found it. He paused for a second before he slowly took the sheet off her face. Benji had heavy tears coming down his face by this time.
How could you be gone? The kids and granny didn’t deserve this. I’m sorry about the fight from the other day. I didn’t mean it! I love y’all so much!
He was madder than he had ever been in his entire life. He hated himself at this moment. He knew that more than likely if he would have been with them, whatever happened would have not popped off. Benji knew that Raven was in the street, but he felt she wasn’t supposed to go out like she did. He pulled the sheet back, covering her face, knowing that he had to get the ultimate revenge. Benji knew by the house being torched this had to be a deed ordered by the hand of his uncle. Arson was his style.

* * *

Benji pulled up in his uncle’s driveway and got out. “Hurry the fuck up!” Benji demanded as he stood on the porch waiting for someone to open his uncle’s door.

Tommy finally opened the door with a devilish smirk on his face. “What up, li’l nigga?” he said, moving out of the way to let Benji in, who looked visibly shaken.

“Yo, where the fuck my unk at?” His cracked voice echoed off the walls not responding to Tommy’s greeting.

“The boss in the back in the den. I’ll let him know you here. You hold on for a minute.” Tommy walked off, laughing under his breath.

What the fuck he talking about “wait here”?
Benji felt that something was going on. He never once had to wait to talk to his uncle. He usually just walked in the room.

A few seconds later Tommy came back in the room. “Yeah, youngster, you can go back now.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Benji had his gun tucked in the lower spine of his back, and it was itching to get put to use. He walked past Tommy, never taking his eyes off him. When he got in the den, his uncle was watching the news.

“It’s a shame what happened to that entire family, but shit happens for a reason, doesn’t it?” Tyrus eyeballed Benji as if he’d really receive an answer.

Benji looked over at the television and saw that they were talking about Raven . . . his woman. “I know it was you! That shit wasn’t right, Unk! You didn’t have to kill them like that. That was real bitch shit!”

“That’s the way the game goes,” Tyrus casually remarked with a crooked grin on his face. “I told you business always comes first, not pussy. I got a lot of irons in the fire and no time for no pole-swinging tramp from Detroit to interfere. Did you think I was playing with you or what?”

“Fuck you talking about? Old man, that was my family that you killed!”

Tyrus never looked Benji in the eyes. He acted like he didn’t hear what was just said.

“Did you hear what the fuck I just said? That was my fucking
family
you murdered!”

“Yeah, I heard you, and like I said, that’s the way shit goes, so man up. All this could have been avoided if you would have just handled my business and kept my money straight, but naw, you wanted to be your own boss making decisions and going against my word; so now it is what the hell it is. And FYI, I haven’t been outta this house all evening, so stop saying that I killed anybody. We wouldn’t want that nasty rumor to get started.”

Benji felt the room getting hot and beginning to spin. His blood started boiling. This was one of the worst days in his life. He’d committed cold-blooded murder earlier and tragically lost five people himself that meant the world to him.

Tommy walked back in the den as if on cue. “Sometimes things have to get done to get people to understand that they have to follow rules. Ain’t that right, Tommy?”

“Yeah, that’s right. I hope you don’t take it personal. I mean, it ain’t like they was your real kids,” Tommy said with a smile on his face as if he’d done no wrong or wanted a reward for eluding to what he’d done.

“Yeah, nephew, it was business; just business. They were becoming too much of a distraction for you. I told you, it’s business first and always. Now when you take over for me, then you’ll understand what I mean.”

Hearing that Benji was going to take over didn’t sit well with Tommy.

This nigga played me.
“I thought I was going to be taking over,” Tommy said with a mug on his face.

“Come on now, Tommy, we both know that you don’t have what it takes to be a leader; you’re more of a follower,” Tyrus remarked.

“Look, old man, I’ve been watching your back for years and you gonna leave everything to this li’l fuck?” Tommy was heated. He got ready to pull out a gun but was stopped by Benji whipping out his own gun, placing it to Tommy’s temple.

“I don’t give a fuck what you two going through. Fuck both y’all! Somebody gonna pay for what happened to my family!” Benji vowed, holding the gun steady.

“Now, just hold up, li’l homie! Your uncle made me do it.” Tommy was bitching up, but Benji didn’t care as he pulled the trigger, letting one single round off into Tommy’s head, killing him instantly.

Stepping over Tommy’s body it was time to settle up with his uncle. “This piece of shit nigga was right. You
was
the one giving the orders, calling the shots. You knew that me and her was going to get married; that I loved her; and you took all that away from me!” Benji was emotional now, pointing his gun at his uncle.

“Listen, boy, I did what the fuck I had to do to protect this family—our family. Those girls were probably plotting to kill your ass, then me! You think it was just by chance she wanted you so bad?” Tyrus was trying his best to justify what had to happen to Raven, even in the face of his own death.

“All you had to do was let the shit go! If you would have let it go, none of this would have happened!”

“So you gonna choose her, that slut, over me? I’m your flesh and blood! You gotta be fucking kidding me!”

Benji was done listening to his uncle. At this point, it didn’t matter what Tyrus said, because none of it would bring Raven, Granny, or the kids back. Benji felt life was meaningless. He lowered his arm slightly from aiming at Tryus’s head and shot once, hitting the man that raised him to be the next king of the family business, directly through the heart. As his uncle’s body slumped over to the side, Benji heard a loud crash in the front of the house and multiple voices. As he stood there, gun in hand and two dead bodies in the room, the army of footsteps got closer. When the door of the den was kicked damn near off the hinges, Benji raised his gun to defend himself but had no win against the highly trained DEA Task Force that had raided the place to apprehend and arrest Tryus Collins and his entire organization . . . Benji included. As they dragged him out in handcuffs, Benji didn’t care about his fate because he no longer had anything or anyone to live for.