Real Riders Never Die 3 (12 page)

“Moto,” Kia waved her hand in front of his face. “You good?”

He nodded.

“What was that about?” Taryn still didn’t look sure enough to let the subject go.

“I don’t know. My head just started spinning, and I fell. I might have gotten up from the couch too fast; I ain’t ate all day either.” He lied.

His eyes met with Jacko’s for a brief second, relaying that something was wrong. He knew Jacko had picked up on it, so he looked away before Taryn and Kia started being nosey. He had no plans of telling either of them about this. He needed to find out who sent it and get down to business because anyone who thought he was about to kill Taryn or allow anyone else to do so had another thing coming.

He stood to his feet with the help of Jacko and Taryn. He stood still for a minute before grabbing his phone from the floor and walking into him and Taryn’s room. When he came back out, the three of them were still in the hallway.

“Ride with me real quick, Jacko.”

Jacko held his hand out for Demoto’s keys. “Nigga didn’t your ass just fall out? I’ll drive.”

Taryn and Kia snickered but moved out of the way so that they could leave. Demoto grabbed the back of her head, pulling it close to his mouth so he could kiss her forehead. Following that he kissed her lips and was out the door. He nor Jacko said anything until they got into the car. Jacko backed out of the parking spot before turning the radio down.

“What’s going on? I know it got to be something with you passing out and shit.”

“You ain’t about to believe this shit.”

Jacko looked at Demoto quickly before looking back at the road.

“I got a contract on Tee.”

The car swerved quickly but Jacko grabbed the wheel and got it back on track. “Tee, as in Taryn?”

Demoto nodded and laid his head back on the seat. He could feel the dizziness coming back.

“What the fuck? Who would do that shit?”

“I passed out before I got the rest of the details. Go to Double O. I need to find this shit out right now.”

Jacko and Demoto both remained quiet as Jacko drove downtown to their job. When he parked, Demoto was out of the car and inside of the building before he had even closed his own door. He caught up with him at the elevator. They rode in silence to the top floor. As soon as they got off, Demoto stormed to Bradley Mark’s office. Being that he was the one that called Demoto with all of his contracts, that’s where he would get his answers from.

Demoto pushed the door to his office open and stood in front of his desk. Bradley was on the phone, but he hung up quickly as soon as he saw Demoto.

“I knew you were coming.”

“Yo, what’s up?”

“I don’t know, man. I was just as confused as you. The contract came in and I literally couldn’t speak. It took me a minute to call you because I just didn’t have the nerve.”

“I’m not doing that shit and neither is anybody else, so you need to go ahead and cancel that shit right now.”

Bradley’s face turned red as he looked at Jacko for help. But there was none. Jacko felt just as strongly about this as Demoto did.

“Demoto, you know that’s not how it works.”

“Like hell it don’t! If you think I’m about to just let this shit fly, you, Double O, and whatever muthafucka who sent that shit has me fucked up.” Demoto yelled to the top of his lungs.

“I tried to get us out of this, Demoto, I really did, but this goes way over my head. You know how the business is run. You can’t deny a kill.”

“Yes the fuck I can, and I will.”

Bradley began to sweat profusely with good reason. He had one of the world’s best assassins in front of him, burning with anger. He didn’t know what might happen next if he said the wrong thing. “Demoto.”

Demoto leaned down on Bradley’s desk with his hands pressed flat against it so that he would be closer to Bradley’s face. “Don’t say my name like it ain’t shit you can do.”

“It’s not, Demoto. I tried. I promise I did. I’ve made every call possible and the rules still stand. They’re not budging. Protocol has to be followed.”

Demoto stood up and punched a large hole in the wall near Bradley’s door. “Well, since it ain’t shit you can do, I guess it ain’t shit you can do if I go to your house and kill your fucking wife then, huh?”

“Demoto list—”

“Don’t fucking talk. Just shut the fuck up!” Demoto turned toward him as his hair fell around his shoulders and face. “Tell me who sent it.”

Bradley took a deep breath. He was breathing so hard, Demoto could see his chest rising and falling through his shirt. “I can’t. After I explained the issue with this contract, I was placed on strict orders not to give you that information.”

“This is some bullshit,” Jacko said from behind Demoto.

“I know everybody else that gives me this shit. Y’all fucking with me right now.” Demoto paced back and forth, pulling at his hair and breathing like a dragon.

Bradley nor Jacko had ever seen him this mad. They both understood his anger, but he was on a totally different level at the moment. He looked to be a totally different person and was scaring the shit out of Bradley. He’d known Demoto was a powerful young man, but the behavior he was exhibiting at the moment was something totally unfamiliar.

“Bradley, I know this is your job, and I’m trying my hardest not to take this out on you.” Demoto took a deep breath. “I promise, I’m trying, but somebody is about to tell me who the fuck sent this contract.”

Bradley was about to say something, but Demoto pointed at him and shook his head.

“Get me the information I need or everybody is going to die.” Demoto gave him a look that said everything he had no energy to say, but he was sure Bradley got the hint. “If my wife has to die then so will everyone else, and I’m not bullshitting. I will kill every person that runs Double O. I have no problem with the shit. This is who the fuck I am. The shit I will do to y’all will be inhumane.” Demoto wiped his hand over his face before looking back at Bradley. “You have until tomorrow morning to get this shit straight or people will start dying. I’m not fucking around.”

Demoto left his office and headed back to the elevator. Jacko was right behind him. “I’m not playing, Jacko. Everybody that has something to do with Double O will die. Your ass will be running this shit.”

“I feel you, bruh, and I got your back. Whatever you need.”

Demoto nodded. “I know.”

Demoto walked to the car with murder on his mind. Wasn’t shit happening to Taryn, and that was on his life.

K
ia walked from the bathroom in her tights and Jacko’s black tank top. She had just gotten out of the tub and she looked beautiful as ever to Jacko. He wasn’t sure if pregnancy looked good on her or he was just happy she was having his baby. Her hair hung down around the back of her neck as she rubbed lotion on her arms.

When she sat on the edge of the bed, Jacko rubbed his feet along her arms, playfully. She pushed her elbow backward, pushing him off of her. “Stop, Jack.”

He did it again, and she turned around and hit his ankle with the bottom of the lotion bottle. He pulled his feet back and laughed. She rolled her eyes and went back to putting her lotion on. It was going on nine o’clock at night, and they were just getting home. After leaving Double O, he and Demoto went back to Taryn and Moto’s house where they stayed for a few more hours.

He wanted to keep an eye on Demoto to make sure he was all right before leaving him. He was distant and wasn’t himself at all, but Jacko could understand exactly why. What man would be all right when there was somebody in the world who wanted their wife dead? Then wanted him to be the one to kill her? That was some serious shit.

“What’s on your mind, Jack?” Kia crawled up to the top of their bed and lay down next to him.

He rubbed her back as she lay on his chest. “Nothing, for real.”

“Um huh. What happened with Demoto today?”

Jacko closed his eyes because he already knew she was going to ask. He had been trying to think of something to tell her all day because he knew this was coming. Kia wasn’t the type of girl who would settle for him not answering her questions. She would get stomp down mad if she asked something, and it went unanswered. Especially when it came to him.

“Jack, I know you heard me.”

“I hear you, Kia. Ain’t shit happened for real. He just mad with some of the people from Double O because they be acting like they don’t know shit. You know Moto, he’s serious about his job, so when people don’t handle business it pisses the nigga off.”

“Oh, okay. I could tell something was wrong. He looked mad the whole time we ate.”

Jacko breathed a sigh of relief when Kia went along with the answer he had given. There was no way in hell he was going to be able to tell her shit about Taryn being killed without her taking it and running with it. That would be all bad. Only causing more grief for Demoto.

“Yeah, but he’ll be cool.”

Kia played with the hair on Jacko’s stomach. “Hopefully.”

He could hear it in her voice that she was about to fall asleep. A few minutes later she yawned and his thoughts were confirmed. Her hand stopped rubbing his stomach and he could hear her breathing change. It was like the further along she got, the harder it was for her to hang. She was like a child again. She couldn’t stay woke for shit.

Jacko kissed her forehead and grabbed the remote to the TV. He flipped it on and turned it to ESPN. He was watching the bullshit they were talking about Cam and the Super bowl when he heard Kia’s phone ringing. He picked it up the best he could without waking her up and answered it.

“Hello,”

“Uncle Jack can you come to my house? My mommy is sleeping and she won’t wake up.”

“What you mean she won’t wake up?” Alarms set off in Jacko.

“She is on the floor in the kitchen, and I keep trying to wake her up so she can get in the bed, but she won’t get up.” Izzy’s small voice held so much fear and concern.

Jacko pushed Kia off of his chest lightly and sat up in the bed. As soon as he moved her eyes opened. “Okay, Izzy, I’m coming. Who’s there with you?”

“Just Mommy. Mr. Cooper left when mommy fell asleep.”

Jacko jumped from the bed and began fumbling around in the closet. He snatched his Nike flip flops and a shirt to throw on. When he walked back out of his closet, Kia was standing near the dresser sliding on the small pink jacket that had been lying on the chair. She already had her flip flops on. He held the phone to his ear and nodded his head toward the door.

Kia grabbed his phone from the nightstand and followed him out of the room. Jacko stayed on the phone making conversation with Izzy until they pulled up in front of Kerry’s house.

“Come open the door for me, Izzy,” Jacko told her.

A few minutes later the door slid open. Jacko handed Kia her phone and walked straight into the kitchen.

“See, Uncle Jack? She won’t wake up.” Izzy stood next to Kerry’s body and pointed.

Jacko bent down on the floor and shook Kerry’s body. He called her name and shook her arms as hard as he could, but she didn’t move.

“Check her pulse, Jack.” Kia’s voice was soft with uncertainty.

Jacko could feel himself getting nervous as he slowly inched his fingers to her neck. He had tried to avoid doing that, hoping he could just wake her up.

“Call 911.” He yelled to Kia as soon as he felt the light thumping her neck. “She’s probably overdosing on some shit.”

“Oh Lord. Come on, Izzy,” Kia grabbed Izzy’s hand and led her out of the kitchen.

Jacko grabbed Kerry and sat her up in his arms. He dragged her to the sink and splashed water on his face until he heard the sirens from the ambulance approaching. As soon as he heard the EMTs coming in the front door, he picked Kerry up and carried her to them. They had the stretcher out and waiting when he entered the living room.

“I think she’s overdosing.”

The EMT used a small flashlight and opened her eyes and shined it in them. He said something to other ones before they loaded her onto the stretcher and into the back of the truck.

When she was all loaded in, Kia, Jacko, and Izzy got back into her car and followed them to the hospital. Jacko prayed silently to himself that Kerry would make it. Izzy needed her. He knew he and Kia would give her a good life, but she needed her mother. She loved Kerry more than anything in the world. She already would never remember her father, so she didn’t need a double dose of that misery.

When they got to the hospital they sat out in the waiting room. It took a few hours to get her settled enough for them to see her. Jacko told Kia to stay in the waiting room until he saw what Kerry looked like.

He didn’t want to traumatize her anymore. He walked into the room that she was in and sat down in the chair next to the bed. Kerry was hooked up to a few tubes, but she looked weak. Her eyes were open, but they looked glossy. She looked at Jacko feebly before looking away. He could tell by her movement that she was a little uncomfortable, so he grabbed her hand and held it.

“It’s okay, Kerry. Don’t feel bad, ma. It’s okay.”

Tears rolled down the side of her face as she looked away from him.

“We all go through shit. You just took yours a little harder. You gon’ be all right, shawty.”

“I messed up Jack… bad…” She sounded weak. “My baby doesn’t deserve this.”

Jacko leaned down and pressed her hand to his forehead. “You been handling shit, Kerry. You gon’ get through this too. I got you. Me and Kia both.”

Kerry allowed more tears to roll down her face and finally looked at him. “You’re not mad at me?”

“Hell yeah, I’m mad, but I’ll beat your ass once you get up out of this muthafucka.” Jacko laughed. “Right now, just get better. Izzy gon’ be straight until then.”

Kerry looked past his head so he turned around. Kia and Izzy were coming in. Izzy was resting comfortably on Kia’s hip.

Jacko frowned. “Put that big ass girl down. You ain’t got no business holding her.”

Kia sucked her teeth and sat Izzy down in Jacko’s lap. She continued around the bed and kissed Kerry’s face. “You feeling okay, baby?”

“I’ve felt better.”

“I should slap you, but I’mma wait until you get out of here.” Kia pushed Kerry’s hair back off of her face.

“I’m about to take Izzy down the hall. I’ll be back in a minute.”

When Jacko left, Kia took his seat. “What happened, Kerry?”

“It was Cooper. He wanted to get high. I kept telling him I didn’t want to, but he made me. I don’t remember anything for real except sucking on that pipe. Next thing I know I was here and doctors were all around me.”

“I’mma kill his ass.”

“No, Kia. It’s okay. I’m not going to deal with him anymore.”

“You better not.”

Kerry nodded her head. “Just take care of Izzy until I get myself together. I’m going to have them send me to a rehab once I get released from here. I hate being like this. I need to get my life back together.”

“That’s good, sis. You can do this. I’m here for you. Anything you need.”

Kerry started crying once again. Kia stood up to grab some tissue. She wiped Kerry’s eyes before leaning down to hug her. She squeezed her as tight as she could without hurting her and sat back down. When Jacko came back, they spent another few minutes there before letting Izzy kiss her. Once it got later, Jacko told them it was time to go.

They didn’t talk about much on the ride home because Izzy was still awake. Once they got in and put her to bed, they got back comfortable in their own bed.

“What you think?” Kia asked Jacko.

“I think Kerry needs to get her shit together. She’s having a hard time, but she’ll make it. She fought like a champ after my brother died, so I know she can do the same this time. We just got to hold her down.”

“I know. It’s sad. I hate that she let that little bastard take control over her.”

“Me too, but that was her choice. We’ll just take care of Izzy until she gets better. You okay with that?”

“Now, you already know I am.”

“I know, I just wanted to make sure. She’s my niece, but this is your house and your life too, so we have to make decisions together.”

“Thank you, but I’m good with it if you are.” Kia was quiet for a long time before Jacko shook her arm. “You sleep?”

“Nah, just thinking.”

“Well stop. I got this. Take your ass to sleep unless you feel like acting up real quick.” She could hear the smile in Jacko’s voice.

“I might have enough energy to turn up real quick.” Kia slid on top of Jacko and began kissing his lips.

Jacko lay still as Kia took over his body. It was crazy how she just did it for him. No matter what, she did what she had to do to make life easier for him. He wrapped his arms around his waist and held onto her in that moment, and for life.

*****

Taryn ran full speed down the busy dark highway as she held onto the bottom of her belly. Cars whisked past her at a rapid speed, missing her only by inches every time. The cold air and midnight black sky weren't helping her case any. She was out of breath and her heart was pounding. She was sure it was going to pop out of her chest at any minute. Taryn ran as fast as she could, trying to breathe and keep her pace at the same time.

BEEEEEP!

The car horn blared at her as it zoomed past. Taryn looked over her shoulder briefly, trying to see how far away she was from the lunatic that had been chasing her for almost ten minutes.

“Please, just leave me alone!” Taryn’s voice carried over her shoulder.

“That’s my baby!” The frail, white woman running behind her screamed back.

Taryn let out a loud wail in exasperation as she tried her best to escape the woman without being run over by a car. Taryn waved her arms over her head, trying to gain the attention of a generous driver who might be able to save her.

“You’re not leaving with my baby!”

The high-pitched voice made Taryn’s ears hurt. She was tired of hearing this crazy woman claim her baby as hers.

Taryn’s breath was getting shorter as she began to get tired. This was the most strenuous exercise her body had done in a while. She trained every day at the gym, but she was sure to take it light because of her pregnancy, but right now there was no way she could take anything lightly if she expected to live.

Demoto, where are you?

Taryn looked back once more as she felt herself starting to get lightheaded. Black spots were clouding her vision and her body felt hot.
Keep running, Taryn, you have to keep running
.
Yo-Yo and Azmera need you
. She nodded her head to herself as she continued to run. Just as she was about to look over her shoulder again, the lights from the oncoming car shined brightly in her face, temporarily blinding her.

The tires screeched, and although Taryn could no longer see the car, she could still feel how close it was. The roaring of the engine was directly in her ear and the horn was blowing loudly.

“AAAHHHHHH!” Taryn held her stomach and jumped into the grass next to her.

Her back slammed roughly into the gravel as she continued to roll down the small hill. She screamed and moaned as her body slammed and bumped against rocks and broken tree trunks on her way down. She held onto her stomach, trying her best to protect the baby from as much harm as possible. When she finally stopped, the side of her head crashed roughly into the side of a stone, instantly putting her in a daze.

Taryn shook her head from side to side slowly as she tried to regain control over her body. It felt as if everything on her was hurting. From her head all the way down to the foot that was wedged between two logs. She could feel the rough texture of wood against the heel of her foot as well as the squishy, wet leaves stuck between her toes. Apparently she’d lost a shoe on the way down, but that was the least of her worries right now. Taryn had just calmed herself down enough to notice the wet sticky fluid running down her legs.