Hood Math (HDLY#4)

Chapter one

Cassandra Brown pushed her stroller in the apartment before closing the front door. Her little son, Adon, took small baby steps behind her entering the apartment.

"Go take off your coat and get ready for dinner. Adon smiled as he ran off unzipping his coat along the way. Cassandra took the grocery bags that she had latched on the handles of the stroller off and proceeded to head to the kitchen. She could already hear Adon turning on the television in his room.

Cassandra smiled thinking about how happy her son was now. Now that they had officially moved from all the chaos and painful memories of their old neighborhood, a fresh start was all Cassandra saw for them now.

Jahiem, the father of her child, had been a hustler and a provider. But Jaheim's street ordeals led to his own demise. At first Cassandra held a heavy heart and went into deep depression. But she couldn't stay in that phase forever. She has someone that truly needed her and she couldn't let her selfishness ruin the child she birthed.

Cassandra turned on the kitchen light and immediately dropped all the grocery bags on the floor. Death was sitting down at her kitchen table eating an apple with one hand and twirling a gun in the other.

Cassandra's heart skipped a beat. "You...you...you..."

Tamel smiled and took another bite of the apple he had in his hand. "I see you remember me."

"Murderer," Cassandra almost screamed but kept the volume down. Her son was still in the other room. She didn't want him to come out.

"So you do remember me," Tamel nodded.

"What is it you want?" Cassandra finally got the nerve to ask. "I didn't testify. Listen, please, don't hurt my baby. I..."

"Stop it," Tamel waved his gun hand like he was shooing away a fly. "I'm not here to kill you or even hurt you."

Cassandra still felt nervous. "Then what do you want?"

Tamel placed his gun on the table. "I see this is bothering you. Don't worry it's not the one I did your punk boyfriend with."

"He was the father of my child," Cassandra corrected. "And you killed him." Cassandra took a deep breath. "In front of our child."

Tamel sighed. "I'm truly sorry for the way it went down but we both know your boy...sorry baby's father was no good. I mean really no good. Even by my standards."

"What do you want?' Casandra wanted to get to the bottom of this surprised visit.

What she really wished she had was a gun of her own to put a bullet in Drama's head for all the grief and suffering he caused her. Cassandra wished she had kept the gun Jaheim had given her a long time ago for protection.

"I'm here to make amends," Tamel offered.

"Amends," Cassandra snickered. "Fuck for? You're a cold hearted murderer. Why you making an atonement for it now? What, you got cancer? Is this some sort of dying decree?"

Tamel nodded. "I deserve that but I still have to try."

Cassandra folded her arms. "Look if you ain't here to kill me, you can get the fuck out of my house. And furthermore, how did you find me?"

"That's what I do," Tamel informed.

"Well do it somewhere else," Cassandra said. "My son..."

"Yes, I know," Tamel said. "That's why I'm here. You know why I had to kill Bundles?"