Eviction Notice, page 30
“You know I couldn’t leave my li’l man on stuck like that. It would’ve hurt me to lose him too.” Animal squeezed her. “See, even monsters have feelings,” he whispered in her ear.
“I could never see you as a monster.” She planted a soft kiss on his lips. “I’ve seen the man beneath the mask, which is why you’ll always own part of my heart, even if you don’t want it.”
“Fucking pathetic,” Sincere grumbled loudly enough for them to hear.
Animal turned to him. “You got something you wanna say to me, homie?”
“All my talking is done with heaters.” Sincere patted the gun on his hip.
“Then let’s stop the subliminal shit and have a grown-up conversation.” Animal drew one of his Desert Eagles.
Sincere drew his pistol. “That’s cool with me. I’m ready to dance when you are.” He and Animal circled each other like two wolves about to square off over a kill.
“Stow those weapons,” Justice ordered.
“Fuck that, this is long overdue.” Sincere kept his eyes on Animal. He knew you didn’t draw down on a man like Animal and not kill him, so he was ready to go all the way with it.
Justice cocked his M16 and aimed it at Sincere. “I ain’t gonna ask you again, Sincere.”
Sincere cut his eyes to Justice. “You would shoot me, Jus? What happened to the oath we took, Los Negros Muertes above all?”
“That shit goes out the window when it comes to my family,” Justice said seriously. “I don’t wanna do it to you, Sincere, but I will.”
“Everybody stand down.” K-Dawg stepped in among the three of them. The rest of the soldiers formed a circle around Justice, Sincere, and Animal, ready to take them down on K-Dawg’s command. “I say who lives or dies, and right now it’s Cruz’s time.”
None of the trio wanted to back off, but none of them wanted to challenge K-Dawg’s authority. Sincere was the first to lower his weapon, followed by Justice. Animal was still clutching his pistol, glaring at Sincere.
K-Dawg moved to stand directly in Animal’s line of vision. “You really wanna try me on this?”
Animal reluctantly put his gun away. “You got that, Boss Dawg, but this ain’t over.”
“I don’t doubt that, Animal, but it ain’t gonna go down now.” K-Dawg lowered his voice so that only Sincere and Animal could hear him. “Family business is never aired in front of outsiders. You two wanna throw down, then we’ll do it the right way when we get back to the farmhouse. Get me?” Both Animal and Sincere nodded. “Good, now let’s finish this and get the fuck outta the slums.”
At the end of the bloodied hallway there was an apartment fitted with a steel door that stood out among the rest. Several members of their hit squad knelt, keeping a watchful eye on the door with orders to shoot anyone who came through it. A young dude whom Animal didn’t know by name, but knew his face, knelt in front of the door, working on the lock with a blowtorch. Beyond the door was the prize they had been working for so many months to claim: Cruz.
“What’s the story?” Animal asked K-Dawg.
“This is the hole the rat has crawled into to try and avoid judgment, but it ain’t gonna help him. One of the oldest lessons we learn is that you can’t cheat death,” K-Dawg said.
The lock finally came away under the heat and everybody got on point. The unit moved forward and took up positions outside the door. They were supposed to wait until the extraction squad moved in to clear them for entry, but young Chris had other ideas.
“You muthafuckas can stand around if you want, but I’m trying to see about those million dollars.” He broke ranks and rushed the door. Everyone shouted for him to fall back, but Chris ignored them. He saw it as an opening for him to save face for his earlier blunder as well as collect the bounty on Cruz’s head. With his gun raised, he kicked open the door to Poppito’s haven and stepped inside. As soon as he crossed the threshold he was greeted by a chest full of buckshot.
* * *
It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Animal heard Chris’s statement but was too slow to stop him as he breezed by. At almost the same moment as his foot forced the door open, the man standing on the other side opened fire with the shotgun. The blast hit Chris in the chest, lifting him off his feet and sending him sailing down the hall, skidding to a stop just behind where they were positioned. Sonja looked at the prone body of her little brother and Animal knew what she was going to do even before she started moving.
“Muthafucka.” Sonja jumped to her feet with tears blinding her. She advanced on the apartment, dumping with the twin MAC11s. Everything in her line of fire was torn to shreds as the machine guns whined and breathed death into the apartment. Even when both clips were empty she continued to squeeze the triggers.
Animal approached Sonja cautiously and placed his hand on her forearm. “It’s okay, baby girl,” he whispered, trying to pull her away. She stood stock-still, tear-filled eyes fixed on the doorway for a long moment before finally allowing Animal to pull her away. Together they walked over to where Chris had landed. The young boy lay on the ground, writhing in pain and gasping for air. Animal knelt beside him and ripped open his shirt, exposing the smoking and ruined bulletproof vest beneath.
“Damn, this shit hurts.” Chris gasped.
“Pain is good, because the dead can’t feel shit,” Animal told him while undoing the straps on his vest. Chris’s chest was badly bruised and he had a few minor cuts, but he was okay.
“Man, if you hadn’t made me put this vest on I’d be dead. I guess you saved my life again, huh?” Chris tried to muster a smile.
“Don’t get too used to it. I’m in the business of taking lives, not saving them,” Animal joked. “Tend to your brother,” Animal told Sonja and went to join the others in the doorway of the apartment. The smell of smoke and gunfire was so overwhelming that the men began to cough. The doorway and walls of the apartment were shredded and they could barely see anything through the cloud of gun smoke.
Justice went into the apartment first, sweeping his M16 back and forth for signs of trouble. Animal came in behind him, Desert Eagles raised, ready to back his brother up. Lying on the floor of the foyer was the man who had shot Chris. He was still alive, but that was only a temporary setback. Animal knelt down and smacked the man to make sure he was coherent. The man looked up at Animal with glassy eyes. “You still with us?” Animal asked. The man nodded. “Good.” He shoved the barrels of both guns into the man’s mouth. “This is for Chris.” He pulled both triggers and put the man’s brains on the stained wooden floor. Wiping the brain matter off his face with the back of his hand, he joined his brother.
The apartment was a wreck. Everything in it was decorated with bullet holes and was smoking. Slumped over in a chair near the window was a man with a rifle on his lap. He had never even gotten a chance to pull the trigger before Sonja had turned him and everything else in the apartment to Swiss cheese. The soldiers fanned out through the apartment but there was no sign of Cruz.
“Search the whole building. Under no circumstances is Cruz to leave here alive,” K-Dawg ordered the soldiers. A handful of them went off to do as they were told, leaving K-Dawg, Justice, Sincere, Animal, and one of Poppito’s soldiers in the apartment.
Animal went to search the bedroom again, accompanied by Poppito’s soldier. The bed was unmade and there were two Styrofoam containers with half-eaten food in them. Animal touched a piece of chicken and noticed it was still warm. Cruz couldn’t have gone far. He turned his attention to a large dresser in the corner. Something about it nagged at him so he went to give it a closer inspection. When he looked down at the floor, he noticed fresh scuffs, as if the dresser had been recently moved. He motioned for the soldier to cover him while he moved the dresser. Sure enough, there was a trapdoor in the floor. Animal slipped his fingers in the grooves to pull the trapdoor open while the soldier stood with his gun ready. He had barely gotten the trapdoor up when he heard a gunshot. The soldier pitched backward when the bullet connected with his forehead.
Animal reflexively let go of the heavy door, which dropped on the hand holding the gun that was peeking out. Someone below shrieked as the hand was trapped between the door and the floor. Animal stomped on the trapdoor repeadedly until the hand released the gun, which he kicked away. He then pulled the trapdoor away, revealing Cruz hiding in the hole, clutching his broken wrist.
“Come here, you sneaky little fuck.” Animal dragged Cruz out of the hole and tossed him to the middle of the floor. It was his first time ever seeing the so-called boss of Old San Juan, and frankly he wasn’t impressed. Cruz was a worm of a man who couldn’t have weighed more than 150 pounds on a good day. He had thinning black hair, which he wore combed over his massive head. Trembling as he was, he hardly looked like the tyrant the people had made him out to be.
“So this is Cruz, huh? He don’t look so badass to me.” Justice raised his M16, causing Cruz to curl up into a ball fearfully.
K-Dawg placed his hand on the barrel of the gun and pushed it away. “Chill.” He stepped between Justice and Cruz. “Little man, you’ve caused me quite a bit of trouble over the last few months.”
“Listen, I’m sure we can work something out. I’ve got millions of dollars stashed at one of my safe houses and you can have it all if you let me live,” Cruz pleaded.
“We don’t deal in money, we deal in death.” K-Dawg dropped a tarot card at Cruz’s feet.
Cruz picked up the card and looked at the image of the Grim Reaper in horror. “Los Negros Muertes,” he said in shock. It was then that Cruz realized the dire situation he was in and did what came naturally—he ran. He made it almost to the window before Animal shot him in the leg and dropped him a few feet away from freedom.
“I want his head and that million cash.” Sincere started after Cruz, but K-Dawg’s voice stopped him.
“Back off,” K-Dawg told him, watching Animal move in on Cruz.
“C’mon, dawg, it’s supposed to be up for grabs,” Sincere argued.
“You heard what I said.” K-Dawg’s tone was icy. Wisely, Sincere left it alone. “Take him, Animal,” K-Dawg ordered. Animal looked at him hesitantly. “We’ve been out here all this time chasing this muthafucka. Only his death can end this mission. Finish him.”
Animal stalked Cruz, who was still crawling for the window in hopes of escape. He was pathetic, but Animal felt no sympathy. In Cruz he didn’t see a police official or crime lord, but the man who had been the cause of his being trapped in Puerto Rico and away from the woman he loved. His death would bring an end to K-Dawg’s sick little game and put Animal one step closer to reclaiming what he had given up, his life.
Animal grabbed Cruz by the front of his soiled silk shirt and pressed him against the window. “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…” Cruz began praying, but Animal shoved the Desert Eagle into his mouth, silencing him.
“God has long ago turned a deaf ear to the prayers of men like us,” Animal said before pulling the trigger. Cruz’s brains leaped from his skull and out the window. Cruz was as dead as a doornail before he hit the floor, but Animal wasn’t done. With a powerful stroke he swung his machete and lopped off Cruz’s head. Animal held Cruz’s head in his hands like a basketball and tossed it to K-Dawg. “I’ll be expecting my million cash when we get back to the house,” he told him, wiping the machete clean on Cruz’s shirt.
“You earned it,” K-Dawg said proudly, stuffing the head into a shopping bag. “A’ight, we’re done here. Let’s move out,” K-Dawg ordered.
“Hold on, there’s still some fun to be had,” Sincere said as he plunged his hands into the hole Cruz had been hiding in. He came up dragging a girl by the hair who they had missed on the first look. She didn’t look to be more than sixteen but from the lingerie she was wearing it was obvious what she had been doing with Cruz. “Looks like we got one of the boss’s mistresses.”
“Please don’t hurt me.” The girl trembled.
“I’ll bet Cruz was up here fucking the lining outta that tight pussy of yours.” Sincere pinched one of her breasts. “What do you think, should I fuck her first or cut her head off? If they offered a million for Cruz’s head, I know hers has got to be worth something.” He waved the fire ax he had been carrying at the girl. Everyone watching laughed, but Animal didn’t.
When Animal looked at the young girl he couldn’t help but think of Mimi. Mimi had been one of the few people left in the world, outside of Justice, whom Animal called family. She was a down-ass broad who wanted nothing more than to prove herself to Animal and the family who had cast her to the side like trash. At the end of the day it was her loyalty to Animal that had caused her death when the men who had came for his life ended up taking hers.
“Leave her,” Animal told Sincere.
“What the fuck do you mean leave her? Poppito says everybody in the building dies and she’s in the building. You’ve had your fun, now let me have mine.” Sincere tossed the girl onto the bed and pressed the ax blade to her throat. “What do you want first, baby, the blade or the cock?”
“No!” the girl screamed as Sincere ripped her panties off. He had freed himself from his boxers and was about to penetrate her when pain shot through his skull. Animal grabbed a fistful of his hair and tossed Sincere onto the floor. Sincere drew his gun, but Animal shot him in the shoulder before he could get off a shot. Sincere rolled around on the floor, clutching his shoulder in pain.
Animal stomped Sincere in the gut before straddling him and shoving the barrel of his Desert Eagle into his eye. “What kind of man would rape and murder a little girl? You sick muthafucka, I should splatter your brains all over this place.” Animal rained spittle on him as he spoke.
“Okay, you’ve made your point, kid,” K-Dawg told him. Animal didn’t respond. “I said let him up!” K-Dawg barked.
Animal wanted to shoot Sincere so bad that his hand was trembling. Slowly he got up off Sincere, but the urge to kill remained. “I’m done,” Animal said in a shaky voice.
“Just relax, bro.” Justice went to place his hand on Animal’s shoulder but he slapped it away.
“Fuck you and fuck relaxing!” he shouted. “I didn’t sign on for killing no kids and I ain’t gonna stand by and see nobody else killing no kids.” He turned to K-Dawg.
K-Dawg tried to stare Animal down, but he wouldn’t turn his eyes away. “Fuck it, let the girl be.”
Sincere looked at him in disbelief. “What kinda shit is this? Poppito paid us to wipe everybody out and we just gonna let this bitch live? Fuck all this.” Sincere struggled off the floor, holding his shoulder. “This muthafucka Animal been causing problems between us since he got here and now he’s calling the shots for Los Negros Muertes?”
“Calm down, Sincere,” Justice warned.
“Nah, because I’m only saying what everybody else is thinking. K-Dawg laid out a bunch of rules for the rest of us, but his pet Animal seems to be exempt from those rules. You know, shit like this can make muthafuckas start to question who’s running Los Negros Muertes.”
The whole room went quiet. K-Dawg approached Sincere and stared him down. “You’re way outta pocket right now.”
“K-Dawg, miss me with that shit. Don’t tell me I’m outta pocket for voicing my grievance when all this nigga Animal does is challenge your authority. What happened to that shit you were talking in the hall about being the one who decides who lives and dies?”
Without warning, K-Dawg shoved the barrel of his gun into Sincere’s gut and pulled the trigger. Sincere flew back onto the bed next to the girl he had been trying to rape, staring at her with dead eyes. “I do,” K-Dawg told his corpse. “Anybody else feel like challenging my authority today?” He looked around at everyone in the room, but let his gaze linger on Animal. Animal remained silent and walked out of the apartment. “Good, now let’s get the fuck outta here.” K-Dawg tossed the bag containing Cruz’s head to Justice and left.
CHAPTER 43
Gucci drove up, down, and sideways at least five times before finally finding a parking spot. Unfortunately, the spot was three blocks from the club, so they would have to hoof it the rest of the way. The walk didn’t bother Gucci too much because she had brought her breakdown flip-flops in her purse, but Tionna hadn’t had that kind of foresight so she would have to do the walk in heels.
“Girl, the way my left shoe is pinching my pinkie toe, I’ll barely be able to walk, let alone dance when we get to the spot,” Tionna complained. She was wearing a fierce black spaghetti-strap sequinned dress and black needle-toe heels.
“I wouldn’t know nothing about that.” Gucci wiggled her toes in her flip-flops. She looked stunning in a green off-the-shoulder dress that hugged her hips enough to give off sex appeal but not scream slut.
“Sometimes I really hate your ass.” Tionna sucked her teeth.
“I would hate me too if my dogs were barking. So what kinda place is this? I’ve lived in Harlem all my life and have never been there, let alone heard of it.”
“I’ve never been there, but I guess it’s nice for Marlene and those stiff-ass lawyers to be partying up in there. She’s cool as hell, but some of her friends are bourgeois as hell.”
“Jesus, that’s all I need, some Oreos in tight-ass suits singing Biggie verses in my ear all night long. The things I do for my friends.” Gucci shook her head.
“Gucci, you need to stop acting like that. It’ll be good for you to get some culture in your life once in a while.”
“Shit, you’re one to talk. You just stopped dating niggaz fresh outta prison, so don’t make me go there, T.” Gucci rolled her neck.
“Fuck outta here, after Duhan I learned my lesson.” Things between Tionna and Duhan, the father of her two sons, had ended poorly when he found out she was doing her own thing instead of holding him down. They decided to call it quits by way of a fistfight in the visiting room on Rikers Island.
