Page 58 of Mafia Kings & Wedding Rings 2: The Finale
“I’m fine. We’re just catching up on some shit and this drive is taking my attention. I’ll hit you a little later and catch up with you.”
There was a pause on his side, and I could hear him inhaling and exhaling. I had no doubt that there was a blunt in his hand and he was sitting there with his brows knitted together in a frown. I’d seen pictures of his father, and he and his brothers all carried that same scowl when something was bothering them.
“I’on like this shit.” He exhaled.
“You never like when I’m away from you too long, but you can’t control everything.”
“Next time she ask you for some shit like this, run it by me first. I’ll have my people handle it. I don’t like thinking about you out there on the road by yourself and shit. Anything can fucking happen.”
“I love that you’re worried, Brick, but I’m always good, baby. Don’t you know that by now?”
“You good, you just better with me,” he rebutted. “Call me in two hours or I’m hitting you back.”
“Okay, damn.”
“Hang that attitude shit up, Six. My radar going off enough. I want to tell you to turn yo’ ass around and come back. Do that shit another day, but I know you gon’ do what you wanna do. So I’m trying to give you that.”
“I appreciate that.” I couldn’t help but smile. Even though I was lying through my teeth in this moment, he didn’t know that, and he was still riding for me. It was just the kind of man he was. Brick was big on reciprocation, so he gave it to you exactly how he received it. It was one of his best qualities.
“Aight, be safe.”
We hung up, and with misting eyes, I glanced Leni’s way.
“Damn, almost sounds genuine,” she kidded.
I sniffled and let a single tear slip as I turned back to my window. I prayed that wasn’t the last conversation we had. I was ready in more ways than one to be the woman that he not only wanted but needed me to be. Brick was my heart and my world, and I didn’t plan on giving him up without a fight.After stopping a town over, we filled up the tank and Leni held me at gunpoint the entire time.
Once we were back in the car, she tried to carry on normal conversation like she wasn’t keeping me hostage in this situation. I kept thinking about all the ways I could get away from her. There was a sign saying we had about twenty more miles to go, and instead of arguing or trying to talk my sister out of what we were doing, I decided to let it play out. Sooner than I expected, we were hitting the Omaha city limits, and my phone was going off again. Brick was trying to FaceTime this conversation, and that left me nervous.
“Text him and tell him you’re still driving and can’t do this right now. You’ll hit him up in an hour when we reach our destination,” Leni advised, allowing me my phone in that moment.
I quickly text Brick what she’d ordered and dropped the phone back on the middle console. It was starting to look all too familiar as we hit the city. Immediately, my stomach tanked as my palms grew sweaty. I never wanted to set foot in this raggedy ass town again. It left a bad taste in my mouth that I was just starting to get rid of. Leni dug her cell out of her jacket pocket and scrolled on her screen until she got to the message she wanted.
“Relax, Six. I honestly am not trying to hurt you. Doesn’t mean I won’t though. All I’m looking for is to cash out and collect what I deserve.”
“That might be your intentions, Leni, but Darlene and Skully don’t give a damn about me.”
“Girl, fuck Skully! I heard all about what happened. Trust me, that nigga is in the wind. Not only does Brick probably have his people all over it, but I’m sure those Syrians he thought he was giving you up to are also hunting him down. Ain’t a rock he can hide under,” Leni sniggered.
“That just makes him more dangerous and reckless. How do you know he’s not watching Darlene’s every move?”
“Why would he be? What can Darlene do for him? I bet he ain’t expecting her to rob him blind though.”
“How do you think he would react if he knew she was somewhere plotting on his stash?” I queried, facing her.“What makes you think he’s not coming back for it himself?”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t be happy about it, but that doesn’t fucking matter. We’re doing this! Darlene owes me if nothing else. That bitch will be lucky if I let her live this shit down. If he ain’t came back yet, chances are he probably won’t.” She tapped a few things on the screen, attention bouncing from her phone to the road.
I assumed she was texting Darlene. With no clue where we were going, I continued to assess our surroundings so Icould make a run for it. I just needed my phone. Leni was unpredictable, and this entire situation had my stomach knotted up like I was about to throw up or shit a brick. Moments later, she pulled up outside a four-story building. Taking in the small lot, I could see that the apartments were behind a wooden eight-foot fence, and there was a large green dumpster in every corner of the lot for the residents to dump trash. It was obvious from all the shit gathered around them that they had been overloaded, and the trash company didn’t care when it came to picking shit up.
It was nearly seven p.m., and there were kids in the street chasing each other, riding bikes, and shooting hoops on a makeshift basketball goal nearby. On a couple of the porches and stoops, there were teenagers smoking, drinking, and blasting music off their Bluetooth speakers. The minute they laid eyes on my G Wagon, everyone paid attention. Leni parked and shut the car off. Sighing, she gazed around and picked her phone up from her lap.
“This is the right building. She said she was on the third floor in apartment 3D,” my sister announced. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Leni,” I called on her as she reached for the door handle. “You can just let me go, you know that, right? I don’t want the money. You can have it all. I washed my hands of Darlene and this life.”
“I can’t let you go until I know that Skully is nowhere near this situation, Six. You are my leverage against that nigga. So . . . I’m sorry?—”
“What happened to you not wanting to hurt me?”
