Carl Weber Presents Ride or Die Chick 4 (14 page)

“Where's the money?” Baby asked. She cocked her weapon to let him know she meant business.

Marlo was waiting for that question. He knew if he wanted himself and everybody else to make it out of this situation alive he had to give up all of the money or else this was where they would meet their demise. The money was replaceable, but none of their lives were. Marlo Williams sighed.

“It's upstairs. In my safe,” he whimpered.

“Where is the safe and what's the combination?” Baby asked.

“Behind the picture on the wall in my office. 3-3-74 is the combination.”

The pain from the blow Baby had delivered when she first entered the basement was beginning to settle in. Marlo lay there bleeding from the head. He felt dizzy.

“You better not be lying,” Baby threatened.

“I'm not,” he managed to say. He had seen enough killers in his time to spot one when he saw one. He could see in Baby's eyes that she had killed before.

“Go ahead, babe, I got this,” Treacherous assured Baby.

“You, get up!” Baby reached down and grabbed the light-skinned pretty girl by the arm. The girl was now on her feet.

“Noooo!” the pretty girl cried. “I'm not a part of none of this.” She waved her hand around the room in a circular motion to put emphasis on her noninvolvement. “I just came to sing,” she added.

“Well, right now you about to help me empty this safe, unless you'd rather I empty this clip in your pretty little face.” Baby used the nozzle of her gun to brush the girl's highlighted weave out of her face.

The pretty girl cringed. Tears streamed down her face. “Please, no!” she continued.

“Bitch!” Baby pressed her .40-caliber up against the girl's temple.

“Okaaaaaaay!” she pleaded.

“Good girl.” Baby pushed her toward the basement steps.

Treacherous rotated his pistols on Marlo, his brother, and his three young goons. Kyle Williams lay moaning on the cold basement floor. He was still trying to grasp the fact that he had just been shot by a chick.

“So, who sent you?” The question came out of nowhere.

Treacherous laughed. “We sent us. Now shut the fuck up before I send you somewhere,” he added.

He glanced at his watch. He knew they had been inside the spot longer than they anticipated. His eyes kept shifting from the basement stairs to the five bodies lying on the floor. Moments later, he saw the red bottoms on the pretty, light-skinned girl's feet appear, followed by Baby's construction Timberland boots. They both were carrying designer book bags: Louis Vuitton and Gucci.

Baby flashed a grin only Treacherous caught. Then she shoved the pretty, light-skinned girl in the back. “Tie these niggas up with their belts and shoelaces,” Baby ordered.

The pretty, light-skinned girl looked down at Marlo and the rest of them and then over at Treacherous.

“Bitch, don't look at him; pay attention to me!” Baby grabbed her by the face.

She pulled away. “Don't touch my fuckin' face!” she bellowed.

If she had more to say, she never got the chance to say it. Baby had aggressively grabbed her by the throat and shoved the barrel of her cocked gun into her mouth.

Fear was written all over her face. Her hazel eyes filled with almond-drop-sized tears. She regretted her words and actions, but knew it was too late to take them back.

“We not here for that,” Treacherous reminded Baby.

Baby grimaced. She removed her pistol from the girl's mouth. The girl gave Treacherous an appreciative smile. Her smile was not welcome.

“Get your dumb ass down there and start tying these niggas up 'fore I change my mind,” Treacherous spat.

The girl wasted no time dropping to the floor.

Moments later, all five men were tied up and Baby had just finished securing the pretty, light-skinned girl. But Baby couldn't resist. She stepped back to say something to the light-skinned girl: “Learn to speak when spoken to, not before,” Baby hissed as she reached down and smacked the light-skinned girl across the face with her pistol, leaving the girl with a lesson. “That's for being disrespectful, you little bitch.”

They all watched as Treacherous and Baby vanished out the basement's back door and into the night $175,000 richer.

Baby stepped out of the convenience store and onto the sidewalk. The sun beamed down and rested on the side of her face just as it start to set. The day began to wind down. She took in the final rays for the day from its beam of light right before the clouds moved in and swallowed them up. She stopped and lingered a few inches in front of where she had parked her bike alongside the curb. She pulled the bottle of Pepsi out of the store's black plastic bag, twisted the cap off, and took a swig. She had been craving an ice-cold Pepsi ever since Treacherous had fallen asleep on her. He didn't want her going out, especially without him, but she did anyway.

She knew that people were looking for them, but she felt caged in and just needed to get out. They had been hiding out forever, it seemed to her. She was tired of it. Which was why as soon as Treacherous closed his eyes she dressed and was out the door. She had expressed how she needed some space to clear her head but he didn't seem to get it. She found that to be odd. Riding always made them both feel better. She knew they were both under a lot of pressure and fighting their own demons within, just as she knew that aside from riding on open roads to collect their thoughts, they dealt with their stress and situations differently. They had been through and survived a great deal both separate and together. This was one of those times where she felt she'd be fine without him.

When the commercial had come across the television screen, Baby couldn't resist slipping out of bed, running to the store, and making it back before Treacherous noticed she was gone. It was a beautiful day, thought Baby. She wanted to enjoy some of it and her addiction to Pepsi was as good enough a reason as any to do just that. The soda felt good traveling down her esophagus. Baby nearly downed the entire sixteen ounces of fluid. Her body jerked repeatedly as she belched lightly from the carbonation. She removed the bottle from her mouth with a satisfied look on her face. Baby placed the cap back on the bottle. She closed her eyes and smiled as she let the Pepsi's aftertaste marinate. They immediately shot back open. An image invaded Baby's mind. The familiar scene came out of nowhere. Baby's mood suddenly changed.

She felt depleted and tense. The emotions of fear and guilt that she had buried resurfaced and rotated around inside of her. This was one of the demons she was fighting, which she just couldn't seem to shake or get over. Baby hated feeling this way. It had been a long time and she wished everything could simply be normal. She missed being normal; rather, she missed what her normal used to be at one time. She missed her life. Baby was in a daze. Her eyes were open, but the image of her aunt entered her thoughts again. It almost brought a tear to her eyes, but she fought it. She had loved her aunt. And missed her. In fact, she was the only one who she felt truly believed in her and loved her, unconditionally.

Baby closed her eyes for a second time. She shook her head and tried to shake off the miserable feelings that were creeping in. She leaned her head back, letting the sun rest on her neck.

The sound of a loud car broke Baby's trance. Her eyes shot open. She looked to see a black Hyundai Genesis with tinted windows pulling up behind her. The sight of the vehicle not only helped, but also forced Baby to shake off the unwanted feelings. The vehicle leisurely rolled into the empty parking space. The music that could be heard from the inside nearly drowned out the sound of the tires crushing the rock-covered field. Baby pretended not to be scrutinizing its every move, but she got on point. She gradually hung the plastic bag on the handle of the bike.

The black Genesis rolled into the space right next to Baby's bike. When the driver's side door swung open Baby stepped back. She was ready for whatever. Her hand slid to her side, where her Glock was concealed. She watched out of her peripheral view as a black heel and patent leather shoe appeared from under the driver's door. The five-inch heel was connected to a cocoa brown leg. Once the owner of the patent leather shoe finally appeared she stood behind the door of the Genesis.

Baby released the handle of her weapon and let her arm drop down to her side. Her facial expression changed at the sight of the woman. The vision of the girl had Baby stumped for a moment. She was beautiful, Baby thought. That familiar feeling made its way to the forefront of Baby's mind. She tried to shake it but couldn't. She was instantly attracted to the girl. Her attraction made her feel guilty. She had told Treacherous she was done and thought it was out of her system, but at that moment, Baby realized, it was not as easy as she thought to overcome her interest in the same sex.

She knew she should just hop on her bike and go, but something had her stuck. Instead, she stood there and studied the girl while she spoke with someone inside the car. Baby could hear the strong voice but could not see who the voice belonged to. Judging by the sound of the voice, Baby could tell it was another woman. She noticed that the girl had a weird look about her. She had eyes like a Filipino woman, but her lips and nose seemed to have come from a black woman from the backwoods of Alabama or North Carolina somewhere. She was shaped like one of them Dominican chicks you see at the strip club: thighs for days, enough ass to last you a lifetime, and breasts meant to be held gently.

“Damn,” Baby said aloud to no one.

The two made eye contact after the cocoa brown woman finished her conversation. Baby never broke her stare. The patent leather shoes made their way past her, and Baby never took her eyes off her thighs. Baby thought about following the girl into the store. She stopped herself when she heard the passenger side door open.

“Is there a problem?” the occupant spoke.

At first Baby couldn't tell whether the person who was speaking to her was male or female. The fitted hat to the back, the wave scarf, and the big jeans all had her puzzled. It wasn't until she spotted the breasts showing through the bright yellow polo shirt that Baby was able to determine the gender.

“Who you talkin' to?” Baby asked.

“I'm talkin' to you.”

“Yeah, okay.” Baby smiled as she stepped back toward her bike.

“Yeah, okay, what? That's my fucking girl you eyein' down like that, bruh.”

Baby debated whether to entertain or squash the potentially messy situation. She knew she could easily pull out her gun, brandish it, and the manly looking chick would duck back into her Hyundai. She knew it would be too risky and draw too much attention though. Besides that, how could she explain to Treacherous that she caught beef over some chick's chick? Especially when she had no business even looking at the stud's girlfriend in the first place.

“Look, no disrespect to you.” Baby decided to bow out gracefully. “I had no idea you were even in the car.” This was Baby's attempt to squash things. The chick wasn't having it. Her girl didn't make matters any better. She reappeared from the store, and smiled in Baby's direction, clueless to what was going on.

“What the fuck you smiling at that bitch for? Get your motherfuckin' ass in the fuckin' car. 'Fore I smack the shit out you.”

Baby once serious demeanor changed to an amused one. She laughed at the stud. She thought it was funny watching this girl act like a tough dude.

She watched as the girl moved as fast as she could to get back in the car.

“What the fuck you laughin' at?” the stud barked.

That was all it took for Baby to return to herself. She was growing tired of the stud's aggressiveness toward her. She was not one to back down or bow out of anything. She had given the stud her one courtesy and she had refused it.

“I'm laughing at you, motherfucka!” Baby boomed. The stud never saw Baby pull her Glock from her side. “Now get ya fat ass in the car with ya bitch and take her sexy ass home before I split that fitted hat and take her home with me,” Baby threatened. She couldn't resist. She knew that would add insult to injury and that's exactly what she wanted to convey. Hearing the stud talk to the girl like that struck a nerve in Baby. Baby couldn't stand anything that remotely resembled abuse. She could see embarrassment all over the girl's face and wanted to embarrass the stud in the same manner.

The look on the stud's face was priceless to Baby. She stood stone-faced and watched the stud get in the car. The Genesis began to back up. Baby mounted her bike as the Genesis pulled off. She laughed again as the sun hit the tinted window just in time to see the girl in the passenger seat wink at her and smile. The whole scene put things in their proper perspective for Baby. She may have had thoughts about another woman, but she only wanted one person: a man. That man was Treacherous. All she needed now was to feel Treacherous touch her and everything would be okay.

Baby threw on her helmet. She fed fuel to the engine of her bike.
Thank you, God,
Baby looked up and said to herself in reference to the close call. She was thankful that the altercation had been defused peacefully. Aside from that, Baby was glad no one had seen her with her gun out and called the police. At least that's what she believed . . .

A few days later . . .

 

“Richmond PD, Detective Bellini speaking.”

“Uh, yes. Hello?”

Neiko Bellini noticed the nervousness in the caller's tone. He rolled his eyes into the back of his head and sighed.
Another freakin' prank caller.
“Hey, buddy, you know you can be charged for playing on the phone,” Neiko Bellini informed the caller.

“Uh, yes, sir, I do.” The caller's voice came across as leery and reluctant. “But this is not a fake call.” He let his words linger. “This is about the girl you guys are looking for.”

As soon as he heard it, there was no doubt in Neiko Bellini's mind what girl the caller was referring to. But he had to be sure. “Girl?” he asked in a more inviting manner than previously. He didn't want to scare the caller off. “What girl are you talking about, sir?”

The caller cleared his throat. “The one with the guy who's on the paper you guys passed out a couple weeks ago.”

His heart began to pound up against his chest. “Are you sure?” he questioned the caller.

The caller went into his story about what he had witnessed. Neiko Bellini cut him off in midsentence. He grabbed hold of a piece of paper and pencil. “Where are you located, sir?” He jotted down all of the information provided by the caller then read it back to him.

“Okay, sir. Someone will be in touch to do a follow-up. Thank you for your community service.” He hung up on the caller. His mind was racing like an Indy 500 winner. He knew this was the big break he needed. He was in the perfect position because he had information, information that came with a price. For years it had been the perfect arrangement. He had long ago stopped doing what he had been sworn in to do. Instead he made deals with the devil for monetary gain.

Something that was supposed to be a one-time thing had manifested into something bigger. It was a dangerous game but it was something he was willing to gamble on. Money was supposedly the root of all evil but this root had quickly grown into something much bigger. He believed this would be the piece of information that would set him and his family straight for life. He had come through in the past, but on nothing to this magnitude. This was the missing piece of a puzzle a few people had been working on putting together. He knew how valuable the piece of paper in front of him was. He pulled out his phone. The caller picked up on the first ring.

“I have something for you,” he spoke into the receiver. “We can discuss the value later; write this down,” he ended. After he had relayed the information over the phone, he balled up the piece of paper then shoved his phone back into his pocket. He lined up the piece of balled-up paper with the wastebasket. He cocked his wrist back in a basketball shooting position. Just as he was about to take his three-point shot, one of his colleagues popped his head up over his divider and broke his concentration. He spun around in his swivel chair to face the officer.

“The boss wants to see you,” the officer announced.

He grimaced. “Are you effin' kidding me?”

The officer threw his hands up in a submissive manner. “Don't shoot the messenger,” he joked before walking off.

“Psh!” He let out a gust of hot air. He could only imagine what his superior wanted with him. Whenever anyone was called into his office, it was never anything good. He glanced at his watch. It was just under ten minutes away from being his lunch break.
What the hell does he want?
he wondered as he gathered up his things. Whatever it was, he hoped it took less than ten minutes to find out.