For The Love Of A Goon 2: A Miami Hood Love Tale (2 page)

“It’s fifteen thousand. That’s all I could get away with. I literally had to torture the hell out of that old ass nigga trying to get him to open up that damn safe. I must’ve hit his ass about twenty times with the pistol, and his ass still wouldn’t give up the code. I just gave up and started snatching shit up he had laying around the house,” Nino said as he forced the gold Rolex onto his wrist and put the chain around his neck. “Yeah boy,” Nino said flicking his wrist back and forth in front of Meek’s face.

“Mane, you tripping, bro. I told you not to do that shit.” Meek stood up, turned and pushed his little brother angrily. He was so pissed that he didn’t listen to him.

“Man, chill, bro. I got away with it, damn,” Nino said, taking his pistol out that was tucked into the waist band of his cargo pants. The handle of the gun was bloody and the entire clip was missing.

“This what you robbed him with? A gun with no bullets? Nigga, are you crazy? You could have been killed.”

Tap! Tap!

Meek quickly opened his eyes and snapped his head toward the car window. He rubbed his eyes then looked down at the time displayed on the home screen of his cell phone and realized he had fallen asleep in the car.

“Bae, come in this house and get in the bed.” Moe was standing there in her house coat and slippers.

C
armen sat on the edge of Roshel’s hospital bed braiding her hair into two French braids. “Boo, I’m braiding your hair so it won’t get all matted up and stuff. You know how it be when we sleep on our hair.”

She talked to Ro as if she was coherent and could understand everything she was saying. She hadn’t been home; she refused to leave Roshel’s room. Every other hour she would call her mother’s house and check up on Kira. Carmen stayed glued to Ro’s side. She was so convinced that Ro was going to open her eyes at any moment, and she wanted to be there when she did.

Carmen laughed lightly at the old episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air playing on the TV. “Ro, you remember we used to watched this all the time at yo mom’s crib when y’all used to stay in the projects?” She laughed to herself once more. “Yeah, those were the days,” she said as she finished the two French braids in Roshel’s hair. She slowly slid from the bed, stepped back, and admired the work she had done. “Ohhh girl, you cute.”

Carmen stood there for a moment staring down on Roshel. Her eyes were closed and she had a breathing machine hooked up to her mouth and nose to help her breathe. “Why, Ro? Why?” Carmen asked as she shook her head.

She knew that Roshel was a little depressed with being confined to her wheelchair and all, but she never expected her to do something like this. She wished she would have known that she was going to try to harm herself, Carmen would’ve never left her alone in her bedroom. She watched as Ro laid there with IVs and tubes everywhere, helping her live. She just didn’t want to believe that this was it for Ro. With Nino’s death, they couldn’t lose her too.

“Good morning, my loves.” Moenisha floated into the room carrying a brown McDonald’s bag with breakfast for herself and Carmen. “Any changes?” she asked as she placed the bag of food on the small table in the corner of the room. She then turned and hugged Carmen.

“Nope, no changes yet,” Carmen replied sadly.

She wanted to break down and cry with all of the pressure she had been under lately, but she was all cried out. Her heart literally hurt with every thought of what she’d had to endure. Carmen wanted nothing more than to be happy and she hadn’t truly been happy about her life in years. “Moe, what if…”

Moe put her hand up and stopped Carmen from speaking mid-sentence. “Don’t say it, C, I can’t handle no more of that shit,” she said, knowing that Carmen was about to ask what if Roshel passed. She didn’t want to think about one of her best friends passing away. Moe had never even envisioned her life without the two of them around. She had always pictured that the three of them would be friends until they were all old and gray. “She gon’ pull thru.”

Moe dropped her head and wiped away the one tear that had rolled down the right side of her face. She had been so messed up that crying had seemed to be the only way for her to let it all out. She turned toward the counter and began to separate the food in the bag.

“Here, you need to put something on your stomach,” she said, passing the food to Carmen. She then pulled a chair close to Ro’s bedside and sat and ate quietly. She watched her friend closely as her eyelids jumped as if she was about to open them.

Moe prayed to herself that she would, but they never opened. Deep down, Moe felt sorry for Roshel. She had been through so much, and now was laying up in a University of Miami Hospital fighting for her life.

“How’s Meek holding up?” Carmen asked while hopping up and sitting in the windowsill. She peered out, looking over the city as she stuffed the dry sausage biscuit in her mouth.

“Girl, I just had to wake his ass up. He left the house in the middle of the night last night, and this morning I found him asleep in the car,” Moe said between bites. “I don’t know, C, wit’ everything that’s going on, I’m just praying that he doesn’t go and get himself into any more trouble than he’s already in. And I damn sure ain’t trying to see him six feet under.” Moe stopped speaking and looked down at the beautiful engagement ring on her ring finger. She cleared her throat, then asked, “You think we should get married before his trial?” Carmen was still gazing out the window. “Carmen! Did you hear me?” Moe asked when she never responded.

“Huh? What was that?” Carmen replied.

She was too busy caught up in the worries of her own life, which seemed to be heading down the drain. “I didn’t hear a thing,” she said.

“I said, do you think we should get married before the trial?” Moe repeated her question.

“Duh, Moe, of course do it before. If not, you might not get the chance to do it at all, and I know your ass don’t wanna get married in some dusty old prison, do you?” Carmen asked.

“Hell no, girl. I’ve always envisioned a big beautiful wedding. I saw myself walking down the aisle in a flawless gown with my makeup and hair all done up, with you and Ro as my bridesmaids, and you know I want my Godchild to be my flower girl.” Moe went on and on about the fantasy weeding she dreamed of, but no matter if it happened just the way she foresaw it or not, she was still happy to become Mrs. Dameeko Brown. “You’re right, C,” Moe said.

Staring at Ro, Moe wished she would move or open her eyes. She didn’t see herself getting married without her two best friends standing right by her side. It killed her on the inside to know that none of their lives would ever be the same if Ro didn’t pull through. She quickly shook off the thought and replaced it with a more pleasant one. Daydreaming about herself and Meek walking down the aisle, she saw herself wearing the white princess wedding gown of her dreams as she made her way to her husband to be. She wondered if her father would still give her away if he knew she was marrying a man who was going off to prison. She became even more worried knowing she had to tell her parents that Meek was a soon to be felon. Moe already suspected that they wouldn’t agree with it and would probably try to change her mind, but no matter what, she was going to stick by her man’s side.

“Look! Look, Moe, her eyes are moving!” Carmen hopped down from the windowsill. She ran over to Ro’s bedside and called her name softly. “Wake up, baby girl, please,” she begged, hoping Roshel would hear her and do as she said. “Come on, come on!” she chanted.

“Carmen, Ro’s eyes have been jumping like that ever since I sat down,” Moe said, killing her hopes.

Carmen screwed up her face and pouted as if she was disappointed, walked back over to the window, and flopped back down on the windowsill. She folded her hands across her chest then dropped her head.

“So, have you made a decision yet?” Moe asked.

“About what?” Carmen replied, lifting her head to give Moe her attention.

“About the baby. Or did you forget you were with child?” She pointed to her belly.

“Oh, yeah, I umm, I don’t know yet, Moe. I mean, I want to and I feel like it would be the best thing for me, but Trent…” Carmen paused when Moe held her hand up in the air.

“Stop right there.” Moe was sick and tired of Carmen putting Trent’s selfish ass before herself and her child. “You think this baby is going to change the way he treats you or something, Carmen?” She asked, but didn’t give Carmen a chance to answer her question. “It’s not going to change a thing. You have to think about yourself. For once, put you and Kira first.”

“I know, I know, but he doesn’t want me to do it. He practically begged me not to,” she said, retrieving her phone from the charger plugged into the wall. She quickly scrolled through the received text messages until she found Trent’s name. She opened the message then handed the phone to Moenisha. “This is what he sent me.”

Moe read the extra long text message from Trent, begging and whining over and over like he always does whenever he fucks things up with Carmen. Moe shook her head because this was not the first time she had heard Trent say that he’ll never hurt her again, and Carmen was so weak minded to the point that she always believed him.

Carmen, baby I know things have been shaky between us lately, but I love you girl. I need you and my daughter in my life, and I want the little one you’re carrying too. I want us all to be a family. You, me, Kira and the baby. All I want is you. Please believe me baby. All them other women ain’t got shit on you. I was just fucking them hoes but you and me, we got something special,
the text message read.

“I bet he told his other bitch the same dame thing,” Moe said, shoving Carmen back her cell phone. “Look, I gotta get down there to the shop. Since all this is going on, we won’t be working the blocks until it all blows over, so that’s all the money Meek and I have coming in right now.” She stood and walked over to Roshel’s bedside.

After softly placing a kiss on her forehead, she grabbed her things then headed for the door. Moe stopped and turned to face Carmen before she left the room. “I love you, sis.” she said right before she walked out the door.

M
oenisha swerved trough the Miami traffic like she was racing with time. She had so much on her mind that she hadn’t even bothered to look down at the speedometer to see how fast she was actually traveling. It was now all up to her to make sure she and Meek survived. While he was at home getting some much needed rest, she headed into work. Although smiling in these bitches’ faces was the last thing she wanted to do after the day she’d had yesterday, life had to continue on. She knew that being strong was the only thing she could do, not only for herself, but her man and her friends as well.

“Good morning, everyone,” Moenisha spoke as she glided into the salon as if nothing was bothering her at all. “I said, GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!” She raised her voice and spoke again, forcing everyone in the room to acknowledge her presence.

“Good morning, Moe.” Every other stylist responded in unison.

“Now that’s better,” Moe stated as she forced the fakest smile on her face. As she made her way to her station, she was approached by one of the stylists.

“Umm, what the hell happened yesterday with your ole man’s brother? I saw something about it on the news,” she said.

Moe gave her a weird look as if she was confused; she had no idea that Nino’s shooting had made the news. Lost for words to say, Moe slowly nodded her head and backed away. Nino’s death was still very fresh on the streets, and there were plenty of people talking about the young man who had gotten caught up in the streets and now was gone way too soon.

Moe turned on her heels and headed straight toward the shampoo room. For the first time, she didn’t know how to respond. For the remainder of the day she stayed to herself and tried to have as little conversation with the other women as possible because she was already ready to kill a bitch after all she’d been through in the past twenty-four hours. When her shift was over, she snatched off her smock, collected her daily pay, and headed for her car.

Once inside, she sat there, trying to get her thoughts together the best she could before she started her car. Moe peered into her rearview mirror when she heard a car pulling into the space behind her. That’s when she noticed the black duffle bag sitting on the floorboard of the back seat. The urge to open it and take a look inside was too much to resist. She saw the AR with the drum still attached to it and some of Meek’s other guns.
What did he do?
she asked herself. Moe popped the trunk from the inside of her car, got out, and quickly shoved the duffle bag inside.

As she traveled home, she made sure to do the speed limit. Having an illegal assault weapon in the trunk of her car meant she had to be as cautious as possible. One wrong move could land her in prison. Moenisha kept her eyes glued to the road, and every now and then she would peep into her rearview. It wasn’t until she was two blocks from home that she noticed the light blue Nissan Altima following her only a few cars behind. She quickly made a right turn and then a left, just to see if the car was keeping up. When the light blue car made the very same right and left turns, she knew something was up.

Moe took her right hand off the steering wheel just for a quick second to retrieve her pistol from her purse. She set it in her lap then searched for her cell phone.
Shit!
She said aloud to herself, thinking that she should have left Meek’s AR in the back seat instead of putting it in the trunk of the car. She finally found her phone and franticly dialed Meek’s number. She placed the phone on speaker and tossed it onto the passenger’s seat as she swerved lane to lane, trying to dodge the car hot on her tail.

“Baby, I am being followed,” she yelled when Meek answered.

“What you mean, Moe? Who’s following you? Where the hell are you?” he asked, springing up from the bed and hopping into his Tims.

He snatched up the keys from the dresser and ran for the front door before Moe could even reply. “Tell me exactly where you are.” He looked around the back seat of his truck then remembered he had left the duffle bag in Moe’s car.

“I was about two blocks away from home when I spotted them following me. They followed me from the salon.” She yelled so he could hear her clearly as she drove. Moe clearly remembered the blue Nissan pulling into the parking space behind her before she pulled out of the Salon parking lot. “I turned around. I’m headed toward Dan’s Sports Bar on 3
rd
Avenue,” she informed him.

“Baby, there’s a bag in your back seat. All my shit is in there, don’t be scared to blast a nigga if you have to. I’m on my way to find you. Don’t hang up the phone, Moe,” he stated.

“Meek, I put the bag in trunk,” Moe replied.

“Damn, Moenisha!” he yelled in frustration. He roamed the streets in search of her and the light blue Nissan that was following her. “Okay, baby listen,” Meek spoke up after a short while of thinking it over. “You got your strap?”

“Yeah, I got it,” she answered.

“Okay, cool. Make a U-turn and come back down 3
rd
. You know that Citco gas station on your left?” he asked.

“Yes, bae,” Moe replied.

“Pull in there, lead their ass around to the back side of the station. I’ll be waiting outside the truck. I want you to ride as close to me as you can, and throw me your pistol out of the window. Do you hear me?” Meek asked.

“Yeah.”

Moe quickly made a U-turn in the middle of the busy street and headed back toward the gas station. She drove fast to keep the car from getting into the next lane beside her. Moe did just as she was told and pulled into the Citgo gas station on 3
rd
Avenue. She rode around to the back side of the station where she spotted Meek standing outside his truck, just as he said he would be. She quickly tossed him her gun out of the window then kept going. Before the blue car had a chance to turn the corner, Meek was locked, loaded and ready for some action.

He wasted no time pulling the trigger and letting the bullets fly from the .9mm handgun. Moe stopped up ahead as she watched the car come to a stop from her rearview once Meek begin to shoot. She put the car in park, hopped out, and snatched a .40 from Meek’s bag in the trunk. She rushed over to Meek and tossed him the .40, figuring he was just about out of ammo.

“Get back in the car and go!” He yelled once she put the .40 in his hands.

He didn’t give a damn if he got caught up, but he didn’t want his girl involved in anything he had going on. He had already pulled her in too deep. Although he knew she was down for the ride, he couldn’t let her go under with him. Once Meek had handled his business, he hopped back into his ride and fled the gas station right behind Moe. They pulled up at their home four minutes apart. Moe was already inside when Meek got there.

“What are you doing, baby?” he asked upon entering their condo.

Moe had gathered everything of value to her off the dresser and out of the drawers. She rushed as if she was in a hurry to get her things and get the hell out of there. She opened the closet door, snatched their luggage out, and tossed the biggest suitcase across the room to Meek. He caught on and began to gather his things as well. They had to vacate the premises after what had just happened only three blocks away from where they lay their heads. Surely, if there were any witnesses, they would lead the cops straight to their front door, with both of their cars parked out front. She refused to let the folks catch them slipping; only a fool would continue to stay so close to their very own crime scene.

Meek moved quickly as he hauled their things to his truck. Outside, he heard the sound of sirens growing closer and closer. He abruptly tossed the bags on the back of his Avalanche and dashed back into the condo to get Moe.

“Hurry up, baby. I can hear the folks. Pretty soon the entire area will be filled with cops,” he said from the doorway of their bedroom.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Moe said as she ran to the spare bedroom and gathered the things Nino had left behind. She knew Meek would probably want to hold on to something that had belonged to his brother. “Here,” she said, handing Meek his brother’s gold link chain that held a small Jesus pendant.

He paused in the middle of what he was doing when he saw the chain. It brought back all the pain at once and Meek’s eyes began to water. Moe slipped the chain around his neck then rushed him out of the front door. The two drove far away from their home, with no destination in mind. It was then that Moe got the notion to reach out to her parents. With Meek trailing behind her, she had no idea how it would play out, but all she could do was hope for the best.