The Black Kiss Of Death, page 16
part #1 of Montega Chronicles Series
“A'ight, I’m on my way. I’m pullin’ out of Burger King right now,” Butta said before hanging up.
Stephon looked over at Diamond, who was walking towards the bow of the boat. After giving the captain the order to take them back to shore, Stephon approached her. “What’s going on? I thought this was our time together,” he mildly complained.
“Baby, it was. And I’m sorry, but I have to handle a situation. Business comes first, you know that.” She gave him a passionate kiss on the lips. “Don’t worry, boo, I’m gonna make it up to you, I promise.”
Stephon nodded reluctantly. When Diamond got to shore, Butta was waiting for her in a dark gray Range Rover. He and Stephon made eye contact, but neither spoke to each other.
Stephon didn’t feel threatened by Butta’s 450 pounds. Butta rocked a bald head with a thick Rick Ross beard with nappy hair bumps under his chin. Once she was inside, he pulled off. “Yo, what ‘sup with main man? He starin’ at me like me and you fuckin’ or somethin’,” Butta told her.
“He gets a little jealous at times. He’s harmless, though,” she replied with a grin, as if Stephon was her pet, rather than her man.
“A little jealous? You got that nigga pussy whipped or something? You done fucked him so good, you turned him into a weak-ass nut. Fuck he jealous for? He can get any bitch--”
Diamond shot Butta a look that could kill.
“My bad, shorty.”
“Tell me more about Angel,” Diamond requested.
“Man, this nigga is in the fuckin’ way. I think that he be dippin’ in the stash or something. For one, he got this big-ass mansion in the hills, like five different foreign cars, and they say he be in the club, frontin’ like he own the joint. He don’t even sell drugs. He’s a fucking accountant,” Butta snapped as he banged his fist against he steering wheel.
Diamond sighed. “I told that asshole to stay low-key. The last thing we need is for him to get us caught up with the feds.”
“I knew somethin’ wasn’t right with that dude. The other day, he asked me for a half a brick of coke and told me not to tell you. The bad thing about it was that he wanted it cooked up.”
When Diamond heard that, her jaws clenched shut. Once they pulled up to the big studio that Angel ran, they got out. Butta looked both ways to see if anyone was being nosy. He then pulled the Mossberg 12-gauge from his back seat and followed Diamond inside. The two disregarded the security booth and got on the elevator, heading for the third floor. When the doors opened, they were met by the sound of loud music. Butta was the first to step. What he saw made him shake his head. Diamond looked around his wide body to see Angel dead, slumped back on the couch with his dick still in his hand.
“Maybe he wasn’t workin’ with the law,” Butta said, cautiously approaching the dead girl beside him.
The knife was still lodged in his chest and in his lap was a bloody note: “Kiss my black ass.”
There was no doubt that this was an Agugbo brothers hit. “There’s another one dead in the booth,” Butta stated, shaking his head.
When Diamond looked through the engineer’s window, she shook her head when she saw Carrie. She was Diamond’s top singer and probably would have made it to the top.
“Dee, we need to check that safe out at Angel’s crib,” Butta suggested while waddling back to the elevator.
Diamond took one last look at Angel, then followed Butta. When they got to Angel’s million-dollar mansion, Diamond strapped up with her Ruger and headed inside. She had to admit, Butta was right ... Angel’s crib was like some fancy pad on MTV. Although it wasn’t as big as the White’s family mansion, it was huge -- especially for an accountant/record producer.
As they headed through the elegant dining room, she asked, “You know where he keeps the safe?”
“Hell, yeah, and I know the code. He got the shit in the basement,” Butta said, escorting her down to the wine cellar.
Diamond was amazed to see so many old vintage brands of wine. She concluded that there was no way he could have afforded all this luxury without tapping into the stash. Butta pulled back another door to expose the large six-foot safe; it looked like a miniature bank vault. Butta punched in a code on the electronic key pad. The red light turned green, indicating that the door was unlocked. He then began unwinding the lock.
When he pulled the heavy titanium door open, his eyes bulged.
“Nooo! That nut-ass nigga got us,” he shouted as he walked inside.
Diamond took a deep breath before silently following him.
Butta’s huge bulk collapsed to his knees. All the money was gone. Diamond stood there impassively. She would show no emotion, even though she was dying inside.
“Get up, Butta. We’re leaving,” she said turning to walk out. She had a pretty good idea who was behind this whole thing.
“What the fuck are we gonna do now?” he asked miserably.
“Start over. That’s all we can do,” Diamond replied.
“Oh, yeah?” Butta asked bitterly as he got to his feet. “And how we supposed to do that? Those fuckin’ Africans got our bread and butter.”
Diamond turned to look at him. “Surely you don’t think I would actually leave my re-up in the same spot as the money we made, do you?” she revealed, before walking out. “There is another safe.”
It took a few seconds for Butta to register what she just said. “Another safe? Wait a minute, we got another safe?”
“Of course, we do. Always remember whenever you plan something, think of all contingencies. That’s what I do. So, I’ll go to my back-up.”
When the two got back in the car and pulled off, another car followed at a distance. “Do you want us to burn her?” one of Tanetche’s shooters asked.
“Not at all,” Tanetche’s captain, Raymond, stated. “I want to see where this bitch is going first. Keep at a safe distance. I don’t want her to spot us because I’m not sure who she is.”
When Butta pulled up at Stephon’s mansion, he parked out front. “You good, ma? That nigga don’t be puttin’ his hands on you, do he? Because I’ll bust his ass.”
Diamond laughed. “Boy, please. It’s not that type of party. Besides, any man who thinks he has the balls to put his hands on this girl must not wanna live long.”
“Oh, yeah? And what type girl are you?” Butta taunted her before she stepped out.
Diamond opened the door and replied, “Royalty.”
Chapter 40
THE SET UP
‘C’mon, Clyde, shoot the ball,” Polo said out of frustration, breathing heavily.
“Nigga, stop whinin’ and stick Dee,” Clyde taunted as he dribbled the ball between his legs and passed it to Cheeko for a lay-up. “That’s game, muthafuckas.” Cheeko came over to give Clyde some dap.
“Good shit,” Reese Chubs replied as they sat down on the bench by the basketball courts. They were sweaty and tired.
“Next time, nigga,” Polo warned before popping a bottle of spring water.
“Damn, yo! It hasn’t been the same since the squad expanded. Chavo’s in Vegas, Shug’s back in PA, and Tommy Guns is up in ATL. Maybe I should find a state to wreak havoc in,” Cheeko Raw said as Polo’s cell phone broke up their conversation.
Polo saw that it was his sister, Tina, on his caller ID. “What chu want, yo?” he asked.
After listening for a moment, he said, “I’m on my way.”
“Something wrong?” Clyde asked, seeing him disconnect the phone.
“Nah, it’s my sister’s baby father. The nigga don’t know how to keep his hands to himself,” Polo said, seething.
“Who? That nigga, Sid?” Clyde questioned.
“Yeah, man,” Polo said, grabbing his gym bag.
“Yo, you need me to ride with chu?” Mook asked.
“Naw, I can handle his bitch-ass,” Polo returned.
“I don’t know why you gave that nigga a pass, anyway. He fuck with them Russians heavy,” Reese said before chomping on a Snickers.
“Yeah, well, he crossed the line this time. I’ll get at y’all,” Polo said, hopping into his ’67 Nova and peeling off.
Polo was boiling as he sped through the streets of Long Beach. All he could think about was how he would beat Sid’s ass. Once he pulled up on his block, he double-parked his car in front of the house his sister stayed in. As he cut off the engine, he didn’t notice the two black Lincoln town cars parked directly across the street. All of a sudden, the window rolled down and Russian henchman, including Mad Max, pointed their fully automatic assault rifles at his car. Polo opened the door, still fuming about what Sid did to his sister. The sight of machine guns woke him up like a fresh cup of Colombian coffee.
“Oh, shit- -”
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT! ! ! ! !
The rapid fire of slugs pierced holes through the car, tearing Polo’s body apart as he struggled to get out the door. Polo squealed in pain and shock until he slumped to the ground. Max hopped out of the car and walked up to Polo’s corpse and fired until his clip was empty. “Welcome to the big leagues,” he said as Sid strolled out of the house.
Max waved for one of his men to bring the money. A fat Russian handed Sid the bag. “That’s $50,000, and there’s more whenever you see another one of those sons of bitches,” Max said, patting him on the cheek.
“A'ight, guys, let’s move out. We’ll be in touch.”
Chapter 41
GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD
Smoke stood outside the bar, running down sales and serving fiends, with no worries. The rest of the old heads on the block were too scared to try and reason with him. They knew how hot-headed Smoke could get if confronted. As he went to make a sale, he spotted a green Taurus speeding up the one-way street. Smoke knew exactly who was inside and went to make a run for it, but was stopped by the undercover task force in the blue Chevy Impala. They found a gun on Smoke, along with a bundle of crack.
“Look like you’re not goin’ home today, buddy,” an officer said as he slapped the cuffs on him.
Smoke already had two offenses on the books. A third might put him in jail for life. There was no way he could let that happen, especially since he had a kid on the way. There was only one thing left to do
“He is so cute,” Breezy’s cousin, Jasmine, said as they sat in the playground, watching Mike and his team of hustlers play ball.
“Girl, leave that nigga alone. He’s spoken for,” Kia proclaimed.
“Spoken for? By who? That Spanish bitch? Please. That bitch don’t hold no weight on my cousin,” Breezy said with vanity while checking her watch.
Just then, Taliban walked through the playground gate and approached the girls. “Damn, y’all out here like y’all tryna catch or something. Ay, Breezy, some nigga came through the block lookin’ for you,” he said.
“Oh, that’s Kev. I told him to pick me up at the playground,” Breezy stated with a smile.
“You and Kev really hitting it off, huh?” Gi-Gi said sounding surprised.
“That’s because he can’t get enough of this ass I got,” Breezy joked, smacking her left cheek, which got a glance from Taliban.
Just then, Montega zoomed down the street on a black and white Yamaha Raptor, with his homie, Lil Man, following on a blue and white Banshee. They pulled onto the basketball court, where he spotted his sister and her girlfriends. On the back of Montega’s four-wheeler, was his new squeeze, Juicy. At 16, Juicy was a half-Puerto Rican, half-Mexican, redbone with long, dark, red hair and a body that could have gotten a grown man locked up for getting near it.
The girls watched as Montega got off the huge four-wheeler before assisting his little shorty, who was dressed in a short blue jean skirt, a white shirt that exposed her midriff and a pair of Kitson Chucks.
The girls were always taken by Montega’s swag and his good looks. At 5 foot 9, he weighed close to 175 pounds and had a chiseled body that was accentuated in a wife beater, black Polo cargo shorts and a pair of black Stan Smiths. Montega was slowly becoming a regular source of conversation with the neighborhood females.
“Hey, brother,” Jasmine greeted him as he approached.
His shorty, Juicy, leaned on the four-wheeler and watched the guys play basketball while Lil Man and Razor kicked it by the wall. “What ‘sup, sis?” Montega said, giving Jasmine a hug.
“I see you like ’em with beans, salsa, and rice,” Gi-Gi joked, getting a few snickers from the girls.
Ignoring her sarcasm, Montega smiled politely. He wouldn’t let the girls embarrass his girl like they did whenever Taliban brought a girl around. “Aren’t chu gonna introduce your little girlfriend to your sister?” Kia asked.
“Fuck, no. The less people she know, the better. Besides, the way y’all bitches act, she don’t need to pick up none of your traits,” Montega replied coolly.
Breezy frowned, and before she could fire back, she heard the sound of screeching tires burning up the street. “Oh, shit, the law,” Montega said. He got low and pulled out his gun. He quickly stuffed it into his sister’s pocketbook and walked towards Juicy as the detectives got out of their car.
Kia was used to hiding guns and drugs whenever the cops came; the cops rarely searched her or her girlfriends, but they loved to harass the dudes.
“Breezy, ain’t that your dad?” Kia asked, pointing to the brown-skinned detective with the small fade and thick mustache.
“Yeah, that’s him. Quick, give me your shades,” Breezy said as a pack of 14th District detectives walked onto the courts.
Kia handed Breezy her shades as her father and his partner, an Italian, walked up to Mike and flashed their badges. “Michael Harris, we have a warrant for your arrest,” Detective Gary Whitehead informed him.
“What’s the charge?” Mike snarled.
“Murder,” Detective Lucca said tersely as he placed Mike’s hands behind his back and cuffed him.
Mike looked at his homie, Reek. “Yo, call my girl and tell her to call the lawyer. This some bullshit.”
When Lucca saw the Puerto Rican kid sitting on the four-wheeler staring at him, he approached. “You got a problem with your eyes?”
“It’s a fucking free country,” Lil Man snapped fearlessly.
“Oh, yeah?” Lucca sneered, pulling out his pocket knife. “Well, if it’s a free country, then I guess I gotta right to do this.”
Lil Man watched as the detective punctured all four of the four-wheeler’s tires, then walked away, laughing. Montega watched as Mike was placed into the back seat of the squad car and hauled off to jail. He only had one question: How did the police know about the murder? And who told them?
Chapter 42
KILL THE QUEEN
Diamond’s phone rang, which brought him out of a daydream.
“Hello?” Stephon answered.
“Yo, where Diamond at?” a husky male voice asked.
“Who the fuck is this?”
“It’s Butch. Who the fuck is this?” he growled.
“This is Diamond’s boyfriend. That’s who the fuck I am,” Stephon snapped.
“Boy, give me the phone. That’s probably my cousin,” Diamond said as she walked into the room with a white, fluffy towel wrapped around her.
She snatched the phone from Stephon’s hand. “Hello?”
“Yo, what’s up, cuz?” Butch said.
“Oh, hey, cuz. How’s everything going?” Diamond asked while looking over at her jealous boyfriend, who was eyeing her like a hawk.
“Not good, Ma. The Ape Gang hit one of our spots in Los Santos. Them niggas ain’t let nobody live, baby girl. We need to punish these marks. But, fuck all that. What’s up with you? You got that lame answering your phone now? When you start that?
“I was in the tub at the time,” she tried to explain.
“Well, still check that mark,” Butch advised. “What’s wrong with you, baby girl? You ain’t been out with us in months. All you do is lay up with the ex-middleweight champion. You need to get your mind right, cuz. Don’t let no nigga fuck up your business. Seriously.”
Diamond rolled her eyes. She hated when he lectured her when she was wrong. The truth was, she was falling for Stephon and would probably do anything for him, including staying locked down in the house. “A'ight, cuz, I’ll call you later,” she said before hanging up.
Ever since Diamond and Stephon linked up, he had been pressing her. Stephon was so fascinated with her, he moved from New York to Los Angeles so that he could be close to her. That made him overprotective and very jealous.
He would pummel any guy who tried to make a play on her. Earlier, Diamond had thought it was cute, but when he started keeping her sheltered in the house, her attitude changed. It had gotten so bad that he lost his edge and his title to some second-rate amateur. His career now in limbo, he spent most of his time with Diamond. When she cut off her cell phone, she looked over at him. “Why are you still staring at me?” she asked.
“Who was that?” he demanded, folding his arms.
“That was my cousin. Why do you have to act so jealous all the time? You need to chill. That could’ve been someone important,” she griped.
Seeing her displeasure, Stephon quickly softened up. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want anybody around you. You’re my heart, baby,” he said walking up to her.
“And you’re mine, too, but you gotta give me space. Don’t you trust me?” she asked innocently, her sparkling, brown eyes gazing into his.
“Of course, I trust you, but I don’t trust those niggas out there,” he confessed.
Diamond got up to get herself together. “Where are you going?” he asked.
“Home. I haven’t been there in far too long, and I need to get myself focused. Now, go have some fun with the guys and give me a call tonight. Maybe we can go out to dinner,” she said, kissing him.
“Alright, but at least take Bain with you for your own protection. I don’t have any use for a bodyguard anymore,” he said sadly.
