Page 38 of Real's Love

Blowing out a long breath, I ran a hand over my face, trying to wipe away the last of the effects of hearing Ev’s soft moans. I didn’t want to wait until tonight to see her. Business had to be handled, though, and I recognized that the man in front of me was bad for that business. He’d been one of the men detailing Aaqil a couple of days ago.

“What he do?” I asked.

“Found this one tailin’ Chennai,” Targen offered. “I thought, ‘Why stop there? He should meet the rest of the family.’ Couldn’t get you, so I called Ghazi."

I stood, brushing off my jeans. "Fuckin’ with my baby sister? Well, ain't that some unsafe shit to do? Why would he play with his life? Tell me that he wasn’t stupid enough to gamble and lose.”

Ghazi tightened his grip on the man's arm. "Lose is too mild of a world. His bitch ass is disadvantaged, working for Aaqil," he replied, his voice cold as a winter wind. "Bitch was up to no good. I knew you and Cairo were here waiting for another… delivery, so we brought him in for a lil’ chat."

I nodded, feeling my expression hardening.Walking over to the squirming man, I grabbed his anger-filled face.

“It’s like you woke up today and decided, ‘Hmm, let me fuck with the wrong people.’ Then, you took it a step further by fucking with one of our hearts? You couldn’t be that stupid. How much did he pay you to lose your life?” The question seemed rhetorical, yet the unsuspecting man began talking.

“I was doing my job. It is an honor to serve?—”

“The question wasn’t why you made a dumbass decision. I asked you how much?”

The muscles in his jaw ticked as he clenched it tightly. “Aaqil only asked that I follow this woman. He told me just to look, to track her movements. I was never going to hurt her. We do not hurt women. Aaqil just wanted information about what is rightfully his!”

The man struggled harder to escape the steel grips of Targen and Ghazi. I gave him a look that dissected him, breaking him down into the parts this “business” thrived on. He appeared to be in his late twenties and took great care of himself. He didn’t know he’d just forfeited his life to save another.

I looked into the man’s eyes, feeling a wicked grin spread across my face.

“A man’s life is only as good as the choices he makes. When you make a choice, you should weigh all sides carefully. Unfortunately, today you will find out that you ended up half past ‘you got me’ and arrived at a quarter till ‘fucked up.’”

His lip curled in a sneer. “This is unnecessary. I just?—”

“Unnecessary? You decided to follow my sister around, violate her privacy, and share information with a delusional pussy. You made the choice; stand by your decision.” I looked at Targen and Ghazi. “Let’s take him to the exam room. Cairo’s waitin'. But, Cairo’s always waiting. Time to see if this fool works."

The man struggled, pulling against Targen and Ghazi like a caged animal. "You can’t do this! I was just following her," he shouted, desperation finally creeping into his voice.

My eyes narrowed, searching his face for truth. Ghazi shook his head.

“He’s lying, bruh. Aaqil probably put him on her, but this fuck up lost sight of his plan. Searched his car. Found zip ties, rope, a hood, a needle, and enough of a tranq to lay her out for a long time. Bitch could’ve killed baby girl,” my brother revealed, the rage that I suddenly felt reflected in his tone.

The man shook his head hard as fuck. “Nobody was going to?—”

I chuckled, a dark, humorless sound. "Oh, we ain't worried 'bout ‘nobody.’ We’re lookin’ for ‘somebodies’ that do stupid shit to land them in our exam room.”

“Stupid?” he spat. “All of the things your family does! Chennai… she is beautiful. Perfect. I was just going to take her away from all this. Who are you to judge?—"

Targen scoffed. “You didn’t know? We’re in the business of judging. We like to imagine ourselves as the stars of daytime TV. You know, one of them courtroom shows?—"

“Like some black Judge Joes,” Ghazi piped up.

I grilled him. “Nigga, Judge Joeisblack.” I turned back to Aaqil’s puppet. “Anyway, you, my nigga, have been tried, judged, and now, we execute.”

They marched him down the narrow corridor, the fluorescent lights flickering overhead. The exam room was already prepped, its gleaming instruments laid out like a surgeon’s banquet. Cairo stood by the table, his white coat crisp and clean, a stark contrast to the grim business at hand.

"Hey, Cairo," I called as we entered. "Got us an unexpected one. This man decided he wanted to take Chennai. You ready to put on a show?"

Cairo looked up from the chart he was studying, his eyes sharp and focused. "You know me, Real. I stay ready. Too bad our new patient made such a bad choice. Now, he gets to be a practice dummy. Let’s see if he got what we need. He looks like a walking payday.”

“I love the way you think, bruh. Take all that shit from him. We were only scheduled for a liver and kidneys, but our friend here is donating his worthless carcass for the advancement of science. Whatever you can sell, take it.”

The man was pushed onto the cold metal table, his protests falling on deaf ears. Mona stepped forward with a syringe. She wasn’t as retired as she led Ev to believe. Her steady hands had seen more than their fair share of these surgeries.

"Time to relax a bit," she said, her voice soothing yet firm. "This won’t hurt at all. Thank you for your gifts.”

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