Gangsta Twist 3 (25 page)

Chapter Thirty
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six

Each member of the crew received a text from Taz informing them that everything that they had discussed earlier as far as flying to Los Angeles was put on hold. Taz gave no reason for this decision and this confused each member of the crew.
What the hell is going on?
thought Bob as he called Red to see if he knew anything. After Red told him that he was just as lost about Taz shutting everything down for the time being Bob called Tari and Wild Bill and received the same results: zilch, nothing. Taz wasn't returning any of their texts nor was he answering his phone when they called him. That spooked the hell out of them and they each began to assume that something happened to Taz. Tari sent him a text and asked him to confirm that he was in good health. Taz read the text and realized that he had everyone going crazy with worry and hurried up and called Tari. When she answered the phone she was well beyond irate.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? You send us this weak-ass text telling us that everything is dead for now but you give no reason and then duck our texts and calls! You are really fucking tripping, Taz! This is way out of protocol and plain just fucked up! Talk to me!”

“If your ass stop screaming and listen for a minute I will.”

Tari was fuming as she tried her best to slow up her heartbeat, which was beating like a sledgehammer. “Talk to me, Taz.”

“Like I said in the text, everything is on hold for the time being. Something has come up and it takes priority over everything else.”

“What, what the fuck is going on?”

“Tell everyone that I'm good and that I will hit y'all in the morning and everything will be clear then. Right now I need to take care of some shit solo. I'm good; trust me, Tee, please.”

“No. I want to know where you're at right now, Taz.”

“I'm with Neema.”

“Let me speak to her.”

Taz sighed heavily and said, “I don't have time for this shit.” Then he passed his phone to Neema so she could speak with Tari.

“Hey, Tari. Taz is fine; we're just going through some personal stuff right now. Tell everyone he's fine and not to worry okay?”

After hearing Tazneema speak a slow calm came over Tari. “Okay, Neema. Thank you. Give the phone back to your father.”

Taz accepted the phone from Neema and said, “Satisfied?”

“Fuck no! I still want to know what the hell is going on. But at least I got something to tell Bob, Red, and Wild Bill. You were about to make us get real stupid around this piece, mister.”

“My bad. Look, let me go I'll get with you all in the morning.”

“You do that shit.”

“And, Tee.”

“What?”

“Tell the crew that if Sacha calls or send any of y'all texts looking for me tell her I'm good.”

“Huh? You're not talking to your wife now? Come on, Taz, what the fuck is going on here?”

“Just do as I said, Tee. Y'all will be put on everything in the morning; out!” he said and hung up the phone. He turned and stared at his daughter for a moment then stood and went into the den where Keno had a fully stocked bar. He grabbed a bottle of XO and came back into the living room. He sat down and popped the bottle of the liquor, took a large gulp straight from the bottle and frowned as the smooth liquor burned its way down his throat. He then grabbed the remote off of the coffee table and replayed the DVD of Sacha murdering his best friend again and started crying.

Shaking her head from side to side Tazneema said, “Don't. Don't do this to yourself, Daddy. All it's going to do is fuel your anger and you're going to do something you will regret. Try to calm yourself so you can think straight and do what's right.”

“What's right, ha! What's right, Neema? What the hell is the right way to deal with a situation like this? Right in front of me is proof that the woman I am married to, the woman who gave birth to my two beautiful sons, the woman I love more than anything in this world next to my children and my mother is the woman who murdered my best friend in cold blood. Now I have to decide how to deal with this and believe me there is no way I can even begin to think about this while being sober.” He took another gulp of the cognac and sighed.

“So, your answer to this is to sit here and get drunk?”

“Yep, that's the plan.”

“What about tomorrow, what are you going to do then?”

“I'll tell you tomorrow.” Taz's cell rang and he checked and saw that it was Sacha. He frowned and tossed his phone on the sofa next to him and drank some more liquor.

Watching her father get drunk frustrated Tazneema more and more but she knew there was nothing she could do to change his mind so she sat down next to him and laid her head on his shoulder and prayed that everything would work out okay. Her phone started ringing and when she saw that it was Sacha calling her now she knew better to answer. She set the phone on the coffee table and laid her head back on her father's shoulder and cried.
Damn.

 

 

Sacha was going crazy with worry. Taz was not answering his phone and that was something he never did whenever she called him. Something was wrong; she knew it and she prayed that he was okay. After what happened earlier all she could think about was Taz being murdered and that thought scared her to death. She called Tari and asked her if she had heard from Taz. When Tari told her that Taz was good but didn't want to talk to any of them Sacha was totally confused.

“What's going on, Tari?”

“Honestly, Sacha, I don't have a damn clue. Taz told me that he would explain everything in the morning and for us not to call him anymore.”

“That's it?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“No fucking way! He needs to answer his damn phone!”

“He's not going to; he made that pretty clear, Sacha. Why don't you do your norm and get the twins ready for bed and maybe he will get at you. If not we'll find out in the morning what he's up to.”

“Taz is out of his fucking mind for this; this is so crazy,” Sacha said and sighed. “Thank God he's okay though.”

“He's fine, that I am sure of. Relax we'll find out what's what in the morning.”

“Relax. Humph, easier said than done, Tari. I guess I'll see you in the morning. Bye, girl,” Sacha said as she hung up the phone furious at her husband.
One minute he's here talking about having dinner with me and the boys and the next he's gone MIA on me. Nah, Mr. Taz, your ass will have some explaining to do in the morning,
she said to herself as she went to feed the kids.

 

 

Taz woke up early the next morning on the sofa with Tazneema sound asleep on the floor right next to him. His head was pounding as he tried to get to his feet without stepping on his daughter. He quietly went to the bathroom and relieved himself. After he handled his business he checked the medicine cabinet and found a bottle of Aleve. He sighed as he popped the top and poured four of the pain pills in his hand, tossed them into his mouth and drank some water from the faucet to wash the pills down. He then went back into the living room and scooped Tazneema in his arms and carried her to her bedroom. When he laid her down on the bed he smiled and gave her a kiss on her cheek. “I love you, Tazneema Good.”

“I love you too, Daddy. You okay?” she asked opening her eyes.

“Nope. I got a monster headache and I have to make some mean decisions in a little bit.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Honestly, I don't have the slightest idea at this time. Go back to sleep I'll give you a call later. It's time for me to go have a talk with my wife,” he said as he kissed her on her forehead and left the bedroom. He went back into the living room, and grabbed his phone and the bottle of XO that had maybe two inches left inside of it. He emptied the bottle with one gulp and set it on the coffee table. “Ahhh, here we go, Taz, here we go,” he said aloud as he stepped to the DVD player, retrieved the incriminating DVD and left the house. It was time to go talk to his wife and see what she had to say for herself about the murder of his best friend.
Damn.

Chapter Thirty
-
seven

While driving toward his home Taz called each member of the crew and told them to meet him at his house. Though it was a little after seven in the morning each member was up and moving so they could hurry and get to Taz's place to see what the hell was going on. By the time Taz made it home the entire crew had already arrived. He sighed as he got out of his car and went into the house.

Sacha was standing at the top of the stairs when he entered. “Before you go into the den to discuss whatever business that needs to be discussed with the crew can you please come speak with me for a moment?”

Taz shook his head no and said, “Nah, Sacha. Throw something on; we got someplace to go.”

“Where are we going?”

“Get dressed, Sacha,” he said as he turned and went into the den. He entered the den and went straight to the bar; he needed another drink. After pouring himself a shot of XO he stared at the crew and said, “This has been the most fucked-up time I've ever experienced in my life. I know y'all are wondering what the fuck is wrong with me. I know I had y'all spooked and I apologize for that. I've been hit with the most fucked-up news I could ever have been told.”

Sacha entered the den dressed in some jeans and an OU sweatshirt. Taz stopped speaking and stared at his wife for a moment before he continued. “Look, I need y'all to bear with me. I got to go somewhere with Sacha, and when I come back y'all will then know what is what.” He then pulled out the DVD of Sacha murdering Keno on it and set it on top of the bar and said, “As soon as I leave I want y'all to watch this DVD. When I return we will discuss how we're going to proceed from this point on. Remember this: no matter what, majority rules. What you decide while I'm gone talking to my wife is how we will roll.”

“Come on, Taz, what the fuck's going on, my nigga?” asked Wild Bill.

“Yeah, my nigga, you tripping the fuck out on us,” said Red.

Bob and Tari stared at Taz and then at the DVD on top of the bar with a puzzled look on their faces.

“Trust me, y'all will know what the business is when you see what's on that DVD. I'll be back within the hour,” Taz said as he walked out of the den followed by his wife.

Once they were inside of his car Taz sighed and told Sacha, “Please do me a favor and don't say a word to me while we're driving. You will have your time to speak, just not while I'm driving.”

What the hell? Something is wrong; something is terribly wrong,
Sacha said to herself as she stared at her husband. “How long will we be gone? The twins are going to wake up in a little bit.”

“They'll be fine; my entire crew is at the house remember?” Taz said as he pulled out of the driveway. “No more talking, Sacha.”

Fifteen minutes later when Taz pulled into Trice Cemetery and drove toward Keno's gravesite Sacha's heart began to beat faster and faster.
Does Taz know? How could he know? No, this is something else; he's stressing and wants to come to Keno's grave to talk to me. Oh my God, please don't let Taz know of my darkest secret. Please, Lord,
she prayed as she followed Taz toward Keno's final resting place.

When they were standing in front of Keno's grave Taz knelt and pulled some weeds away from the tombstone and gave it a kiss. “I love you, dog. I miss you. I know you're looking down on me shaking your head because you know my heart. You know me. No matter what, we crew, and I will always have your back, my nigga.” He stood, turned, and faced his wife and said, “Now, tell me.”

“Tell you what, Taz?” Sacha asked with her heart beating so fast she felt as if she was going to have a heart attack.

Taz reached behind himself and grabbed his nine millimeter pistol from the small of his back, cocked a live round into its chamber, and said, “Tell me why you killed Keno.”

 

 

Back at Taz's house each member of the crew had tears sliding down their faces as they watched Keno being murdered by Sacha. Each member couldn't believe what they were looking at.”

“Oh! My! God!” screamed Tari.

“This has to be the most fucked-up shit that could have ever happened to us,” said Red.

“Now I see why Taz was tripped the fuck out,” said Bob.

“That nigga wants us to actually vote on whether we should kill Sacha. Oh hell nah!” said Wild Bill.

“Why? Why would Sacha do that to Keno?” asked Tari.

“I guess that's what Taz is trying to find out right now. Did you see how he looked at Sacha? I've never seen him have that kind of look toward her,” said Bob.

“Vote? Nigga, are you stupid? Keno was our nigga, crew. We all loved him like we all love one another. Never in a million years would he want us to hurt Sacha because of what she done to him. He knows that would hurt Taz and that's the one thing Keno would never have done. He could never hurt Taz; he loved him too much for that,” Red said sincerely.

“I'm with you,” said Bob.

Me too,” added Tari.

Wild Bill sighed and said, “Damn. This has to be killing my nigga. Where do you think he took her?”

“If I had to guess I'd bet money he took her to the cemetery,” said Tari.

“Should we go out there? He might want to do her; he may actually trip the fuck out if she says the wrong shit and hurt her,” said Wild Bill.

Bob shook his head no and said, “Nah, he's getting the truth out of her. He wants to know just like we do, why? Then he's going to come back and want a decision from us.”

“A decision from us, like we would do that to him. I love that nigga's loyalty but he has to be out of his fucking mind if he even thought for a fucking second we would ever hurt Sacha behind this,” said Wild Bill.

“Yeah, but at the same time I see where his head is at. Gotta respect his gangsta. 'Cause if we did choose to take Sacha he would not hold it against us and would be behind that decision one hundred percent,” said Red.

“That has to be the most gangsta shit I have ever seen in my life,” said Bob.

“No, that's Taz being loyal to the crew no matter what. No one is above being done when it comes to crew. That's some real deep shit,” Tari said and started crying as she felt all of the pain she knew Taz was feeling.
Fuck!

 

 

“Don't you dare insult Keno's memory by standing there trying to lie right over his grave. The very grave that I already know you are responsible for putting him in. So again, tell me, Sacha. Tell me why you killed my dog, or I swear to God I'll kill you right now,” Taz said in a tone that showed Sacha that he was serious. Dead serious.

Shaking her head no she said, “No matter what I tell you it won't change anything so why should I, Taz? I'm sure the crew is going to want me dead for what I done and I'm equally sure you won't go against them for me, so why should I say a thing?”

With tears sliding down his face he said, “Because I need to know why, Sacha. Because I need the closure to this most fucked-up situation. Because maybe, just maybe, I can understand why the woman I love more than anything in this world would do something like this to hurt me to my core.” He stepped a little closer to her, gritted his teeth, and said, “No, fucking telling me!” He then did something he never in his life thought he would do and that was hit a woman. He slapped Sacha so hard that she twisted almost in a full 360-degree turn before falling to the ground. “You've always told me that I'm most dangerous when I'm in an emotional state of mind. So you can see now where my head is at, Sacha. Tell me before I lose my fucking mind and take your life right here right now.”

Without moving she looked up at her husband and stared into his brown eyes, the same brown eyes that always had nothing but pure love in them for her. Now all they held was contempt and disgust and that hurt her more than the slap she just received from Taz. She began to cry silently as she continued staring at him. “He killed my twin brothers, Mitchell and Michael.”

Taz stared at her.
Mitchell and Michael? Twin brothers?
“That's why you wanted the boys' middle names to be Mitchell and Michael because of your twin brothers who were killed by Keno?”

She nodded yes and continued. “My brothers were young hustlers in the city and were heavy into the drug scene. You and your crew added them to your hit list to rob when you were doing your jack-boy thing. They refused to give up their stuff to you guys so Keno chose to kill them. He killed them because they weren't cowards and would rather die than let something be taken from them.”

“How? How in the fuck did you find all of this out, Sacha?”

She smiled sadly at Taz and said, “From Keno. He told us all the story at the house after Bo-Pete's funeral. He broke it down how Bo-Pete wanted to let my brothers live because he was once cool with them when you guys played football together at John Marshal. You said it yourself how Bo-Pete was so mad at Keno for killing them.”

Taz thought back to that day in his den after Bo-Pete's funeral and remembered the conversation and everything became crystal clear to him.
Damn, this is some even more fucked
-
up shit,
he thought. “Why just Keno? What about the rest of us? I mean we were the crew; we all had a part in it for real.”

She looked at him as if he was stupid. “Not in my eyes. I love you and there is no way in the world I would ever be able to cause you any physical pain. I'd die before I did that. As for the rest of the crew, I love them as well. I've grown to love them as my very own family. But I could never love nor forgive the man who took my big brothers from me. Never. It took me weeks to gain the courage to do what I did. After thinking about it I decided with what was going on with you guys and those Hoover Crips that could be a way for me to get my revenge without ever having to worry about you finding out.”

Nodding he said, “That was some slick shit; we would have never found out neither. That is if Keno hadn't been smart enough to have security cameras installed inside of his home. Lyla found the DVD player that held the DVD of you murdering Keno and gave it to Neema. She in turn gave it to me.”

“Great, now everyone in the family knows I'm a murderer. You might as well kill me now and get it over with, Taz.”

“I love you, Sacha. You are my wife. I know I can use my power over the crew to get them to forgive you. But I can't do that. I have to let you face the crew and let them decide your fate. If they want you to die then you will die by my hand. I am not going to play no games with you or lie; I will kill you to avenge Keno's death. I cannot and will not let anyone else touch you; if it has to happen it will be done by me.”

“If they decide not to harm me then what, Taz? What about us? Will we be able to make our marriage work after all of this?”

“To be honest, I haven't even given that any thought; the only thing that's been on my mind is what if they tell me they want you to die. This is a fucking living nightmare for me. A fucking nightmare,” he said as he turned and started walking toward his car. Sacha got to her feet and quickly followed him.

Once they were inside of the car headed back to the house Taz's cell phone rang. He sighed when he saw that it was Mama-Mama's number. “What's up, Mama-Mama?” he asked when he answered the phone.

“No, Taz, this Mrs. Leslie.”

“Oh, hi, Mrs. Leslie. Is everything all right?”

“I wish it was, Taz, I really wish it was. But I just went to go check on your mother because you know she's normally up before the rooster crows. She was still sound asleep when I went to check on her so I decided to start breakfast. I went back to get her up a little later and saw that she was gone. Mama-Mama has gone to be with our loving Heavenly Father. I'm so sorry, Taz,” Mrs. Leslie said somberly.

Taz calmly pulled over to the side of the road and said, “Thank you, Mrs. Leslie. I'll be right over.” He hung up the phone and stared straight ahead as he was in a trance.

“What's wrong, Taz? Is Mama-Mama okay?” Sacha asked with fear in her voice.

Taz started shaking his head from side to side violently then he screamed, “My! Mother! Is! Dead! Mama-Mama died in her sleep! God, no! God, fuck no! Why are you punishing me like this! Why! Will this nightmare ever fucking end!”