Page 35 of Nobody But You

“Bring your goofy ass on.” We all filed into the building, not even bothering to turn on the lights. The building was equipped with off-peak hour lighting. It was enough to see and deter any break-ins. Unlike last night, there was a car in the bay and one on the lift. My mechanics sometimes came in on Sundays to get a jump start on my fleet’s maintenance.

“You were with that fine-ass woman who had on one of our uniforms, weren’t you? I ain’t say shit because you didn’t, and I knew your ass saw her. I figured she was with you. That’s her all over you, right?” Brody asked.

“No, your ass didn’t say shit because you weren’t doing your damn job,” I said because he just wouldn’t let it go.

“Wait, what woman?” P asked, confused by the whole conversation.

“Will both of you niggas get off my dick. Please!” I said over my shoulder as we continued down the hall. Once we arrived at my office door, I entered my code.

“So what’s the plan? He done with tonight?” P asked.

“That depends. If he answers correctly, he’s as good as gone,” I said.

“Oh, but first, did Burks set up that meet-up?” His answer would determine how I approached the man in the basement because I was the only one here who knew Burks was dead.

“Yeah, Burks gave me the direct line to his right hand. He called me right before Mike picked him up for the ball. I know how you feel about your Sundays, so I was going to tell you tonight during our check-in,” P said, gauging my reaction because he withheld information. Luckily for him, I wasn’t concerned with his timing because I wouldn’t have wanted anyone interrupting my time with Jourdan, especially not for this unimportant shit. I fanned my hand, indicating for him to continue.

“He said to give him two weeks to set up the location and time. He said that Miller would be out of the country.” I nodded, digesting the information that he’d just given me.

“Let’s go to work then,” I said. I looked at Trigger, who nodded, ready as well. I turned to my bookcase and entered the code to open it. The bookcase slid to the side, and automatic fluorescentlights illuminated the staircase. We went down the landing and directly to the room where he was being held. Before entering, we all dropped our masks, and then I slowly opened the door. The air was stale and thick. Luckily, he’d found the toilet because if I had to smell his foul ass odors also, I may have just gone ahead and shot him.

It had only been twenty-four hours since I’d chained him to the floor in complete darkness. I wasn’t expecting to get much from him. He wasn’t broken enough; fight or flight desperation would make his mouth move. He quickly sat up, covering his eyes to shield them from the bright lights as they adjusted. He immediately looked around the room, taking note of everything in it, which wasn’t much. His eyes finally found the food and water I’d left. He quickly devoured a slice of the bread and chugged the water. I’m unsure how he hadn’t felt it because I placed it by his feet.

“Word on the street is that your boss wanted to see me. Tell me why.”

“Shit, you know why. Everybody wants to wear the crown,” he said.

“Why would some old washed-up motherfucker like Miller be looking to take over now?” I asked.

“He’s been trying for a long time, ever since he moved from LA back in the day,” he said. My mind began to turn, and I felt like I was piecing together pieces of a puzzle that didn’t fit. However, when he spoke of Cali, I decided I didn’t want him to say another word tonight.

“P, go to the kitchen and get his ass another bottle of water. Pour a third of it out.” I didn’t know when I would return, but I didn’t want him to die of thirst and starvation before I did.

“You don’t want to know anything else. I’ll tell you everything you want to know; just let me go,” he pleaded. He was a little too eager for me, and I didn’t like that. You could almost assume that Miller had banked on his man getting caught with how he was trying to feed me information. I took the bottle from P and walked it over to where I’d set the last one. I wanted to test the theory.

“I’ll be back,” I said as I looked into his eyes. The longer I stared, the more it angered him, and that was exactly what I wanted. I took my key and unchained him. If he really thought that I was going to let him out of here alive, then it meant that he was just running his mouth because he was a pussy, and a snitch.

“I’ll tell you what if you can get a lick in. I’ll let you tell me everything you know right now and leave.” He stood in a fighter's stance, and I did the same.

Shit, he’s just a damn snitch.

My former thoughts disappeared after he took my proposition at face value. If it were me, I would have taken my death like a man and never said a fucking word. I studied his stance to see if he would be a worthy opponent. He wasn’t, at least not to me. I dropped my hands from my face, lowering my defense. His first punch came swiftly. I leaned back to dodge his advance. I let him get off a couple more attempts while I danced around him. He charged me again, throwing a combination right hook and jab with his left. This time, I threw my hands up to block.

“Come on, Rock, stop playing with this man,” Trig said. The frustration was showing on my opponent’s face as he continued to swing, using more and more of his energy.

“You’re right!” I exclaimed. I stopped toying with him and took the gun from my back. I flipped it, gripping the barrel, and held it out for him to take. He cautiously took it from my grasp.

“Go ahead,” I taunted. Without a second thought, he lifted the gun and pulled the trigger. Then, he started to squeeze it in rapid succession. After he’d run out of desperation, I took out my gun and shot him in the leg. It was a perfect shot that was meant to cause enough pain to agonize him until I returned. The effect was already present as he leaned over, gripping his thigh.

“Stand the fuck up.” When he did, I got back into my fighter’s stance, egging him on again. His first swing missed its mark, and so did the one after. Figuring I’d finally gotten my fill, I caught him in the gut on one of his wild swings, then uppercut him to the chin, dropping him cold.

“Ooh, shit! Is his ass snoring? Yeah, he ain’t waking up until tomorrow, maybe not even then,” P said. I turned to find him and Trig kneeling over his body, fist to mouth, laughing.

“Somebody needs to teach his ass how to squabble,” Trig followed, filling the room with more laughter.

“Y’all’s ass needs to grow up,” I said, smiling and shaking my head at their antics. I kneeled and chained his wrist back up, then stood to leave with P and Trig, turning off the light and locking up behind me. Once we reached the top of the stairs, Trig started asking questions.

“I know that’s not all you wanted to know, so why did you hold off?”

---