Page 54 of Cove City: Vol. I

Preach came over, “Nigga let’s pray really quick.”

“Preach, with all due respect fuck a prayer.Let’s ride!” I yelled and took off.

I knew them niggas was scrambling behind me. It’s been months since I’ve seen Dio, and this was the news I get. My mind played out many scenarios, none of which put me at ease. If my brother didn’t survive whatever it was, I was burning that bitch down. Dio wasn’t just my brother but my son. It was my job to protect him, and I failed. I would go to war with anybody over my blood. I was about to paint New York fucking orange and if a nigga or a bitch were in the way they would become a casualty.

Leaving Sasha felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I didn’t realize how hurt she was, but I don’t think she knew how hurt I was. I never knew closure could feel so good. Now, it was a matter of her nigga. I knew she was choosing the Zoo side, but I was praying she stayed out of the way because her being in the middle of something chaotic and getting hurt would hurt me. However, I knew the way that nigga came in and sprayed that shit up Bishop was not going to let that shit slide. He was out for blood.Was Naheem right?I hated to admit it, but those niggas were trying to take over. Unfortunately, they had the wrong niggas.

I had stopped at the store to pick up Tuesday some flowers. I couldn’t wait to see her pretty ass. I had become excited about what we would become and seeing her face right now would do a nigga some good. I hurried back to my ride and hopped in. I picked up my phone to call and tell her to meet me at my crib when I noticed my phone had died. “Shit!”

I plugged my phone up and waited for it to power on as I made my way onto the highway. Something about what Sasha said played back in my head. Why would Quinton lie about him calling me or that he wasn’t there when he was? Something wasn’t adding up. The longer I drove in silence the more my mind began coming up with reasons to rationalize what the fuck she told me. Had he called me and told me, I would have been there. “Why the fuck would that nigga lie!” I shouted.

Then I thought about him and Sasha in the shop that day. The smirk on his face, or Tuesday saying she didn’t get good vibesfrom him, or how he snarled at Tuesday when I asked him to leave.

He was there when I woke up.“Nah, hell nah,” I blurted out.

My phone finally powered on. I glanced down as my notifications began coming in one after the next. I tried scrolling through them as I drove. I saw a text from Tuesday in all caps telling me to answer my fucking phone. A laugh fell from me. “I miss you, baby,” I said.

That’s when I realized my ring camera notification alerted me. More than once.What the fuck?I hit the first video recording, and it was of Tuesday banging on my door. I clicked out mid-video and tried calling her, but she didn’t answer. I returned to the video to see when she was at the crib. I noticed it was only ten minutes ago that she was there. I tried clicking out, but accidentally hit play again. When my door open, I sat up because who the fuck was answering my door.

I began to pick up speed. My eyes traveled from the phone to the road and back to the phone. When I saw Quinton, my stomach dropped. “That nigga broke in my shit!” I yelled.

Eyes on the road.I swerved in and out.Eyes on the phone.

When I saw him snatch her back into the house and close the door, I lost it. I tossed the phone to the side and began hauling ass. Ten minutes of her being in there with him had my mind fucked up. My cousin, my fucking blood. A nigga A-1 since day one.“Fuck, fuck fuck!”

I hopped off my exit and began running red lights. I drove a hundred miles an hour in a residential area to my neighborhood. The entire time I think I’m trying to protect Tuesday from the secrets in the Cove when I should have been protecting her from Quinton’s looney ass. I swerved into my driveway, causing my car to slam against the concrete. I noticed her car was still here and a nigga felt fucking sick.

I hopped out, running to the door. I didn’t even bother using the knob as I used my foot and kicked it in. When I saw what was before me, I knew I was going to kill my fucking cousin.

“Ah!” I screamed as I tried to grab Pierre’s cousin’s wrist.

He swung me by my hair onto the marble floor in the foyer. I knew something was off about him, and now I had to deal with it because I let my emotions overshadow my common sense. I crawled backward as he came forward. “You’re a pretty little bitch, but nosy as fuck!” he barked.

Back.

“The one nigga I had on my team, you took him away.”

Back.

“He may never forgive a nigga for this, but yo weird ass got to go.”

Wall.

As he launched forward, I used all my leg power to kick his ass back. When he fell backward, I got up to run past him, but he grabbed my ankle, sending my body slamming back to the floor. He pulled at my leg until the door that seemed so close was far away. I began to panic. This could not be happening to me. He hopped on top of me, ripping my shirt open. “No!” I screamed.

My arms started swinging wildly.Face, head, chest, arms.I didn’t care. It was like my blows meant nothing as his hand slid up my leg.Face, head, chest, arms.My eyes widened because there was no way this man was about to rape me. I had never felt so fucking scared in my life. I could feel his nasty fingers reach my panty line. “No-no-no!” I cried.

I closed my eyes tightly and began praying.Lord, please don’t do this to me.

“Yeah, now what the fuck you got to say! Huh!” His bark was so loud that the house absorbed it.

“Please don’t do it,” I said between my cries.

He began to heckle like a madman, “That’s what she said.”

The cries turned into sobs, and the sobs became silent as he overpowered me, leaving me numb. I turned my head to Pierre’s picture wall, finding myself lost in his story. I needed to focus on something other than what was about to take place. Best, so pretty and vibrant. Pierre seemed so happy around his friends. Sasha, how did she handle this man’s family? Then, him, smiling with darkness behind his eyes. I could tell from the picture that he never had good intentions. How was I able to see, and Pierre couldn’t?

I could feel his lips on my neck and his hand caressing my thigh.Another tug at my panties.The tears silently rolled down the sides of my face as my lips trembled. This wasn’t how the Wizard of OZ went. I closed my eyes tightly.There is no place like home. There is no place like home.I thought.

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