For the Better

Chapter 2

I woke up in a frenzy. With everything that went down the day before, a nigga was in survival mode. I remembered I was at 'Nita spot. I laid back on the sofa, relieved. My mind was in a frenzy. I couldn't dodge Fish for long. I don't know what the fuck was going through that nigga Jai head. It was a simple task. They shot his ass up right then and there after he fired the fatal bullet that took out King. I ran through the back door and got out just in time. I must've ran two miles before I realized the dope was still strapped to my leg. I could hear Fish from miles away, bellowing threats into the night. "Go get that nigga. Him and his friend done fucked up now. They dead." As I stumbled in the dark trying to get away, I felt something jumping around against my leg in my pocket. It was the package of dope. I still had it. I buried my face in my hands. Just replaying the whole thing in my head stressed me to my core. The last thing I wanted to do was bring shit like this to Anita. She didn't deserve none of that shit.
Just like that, she appeared in the kitchen. She reached for a box of cereal and headed for the fridge.
"Morning." She said.
"Good morning." She didn't notice me studying her. She was still as fine as the day I met her. Everything about Anita was desirable. Her skin was like milk chocolate, free of blemishes and imperfections. She had her hair pinned up in a perfect bun with them edges laid just how I used to love. Her pantsuit hugged her curves so nice. She dabbled in makeup. I usually liked my girls with a fresh face to show off their natural, but the way she perfected it was undeniably sexy.
"Hungry?" She turned to face me. I nodded, still secretly admiring her. She nudged the cereal and a bowl to me. Her expression changed quickly when the doorknob began to turn. In walked a funny looking dude in a suit carrying a cappuccino. He was about the same height as Anita, and that was without heels. He looked frail as hell. Fuck she doing with this clown, I wondered.
"Hey, babe, thank you." 'Nita went to him for a kiss and the coffee. The nigga couldn't even take his eyes off me long enough to look at her.
"Hey," he finally responded. Anita glanced nervously at me, then back at him.
"Babe, this is Jo. He's an old friend of mine, and he's staying here for just a little while until he can get some things situated." I wrapped my arm around him and patted his chest to try to settle the tension.
"Hi, Jo. How's it going?" He said dryly. I gave 'ol boy a smirk and a wave. I saw his jaw clench up, and I felt accomplished. I'll give his ass a couple weeks before his ass is gone for good. Anita diverted his attention.
"Hey, we're gonna be late if we don't get going. I'll meet you downstairs. I'm gonna take my breakfast to go." She said to him.
"I can wait on you if you wait, babe." He returned his glare to me. I held back a laugh. Homeboy already felt threatened. Anita noticed us exchanging looks, and she didn't like what she saw.
"No, baby, it's okay, go ahead, I'm right behind you." She tried to sound assuring. He hesitated.
"Alright, meet you downstairs." He walked out the door. Anita gave a sigh, and then turned to me.
"Y'all work together?"
"Our offices are on the same street, so we carpool." She spoke without looking at me as she gathered her things.
"Hmm.""You and I both know that's not gon' last. Homeboy not yo' type."
"Remember what I said." She said firmly. I could tell by the look on her face that she was serious. I remembered her rules, and made a promise to myself not to disrespect her, her home, or even her corny ass man. I owed her that much. I ain't have any time to waste on that chump, anyway. There were bigger fish to fry.
When I finally arrived at Uncle Ben's, The rusted gate that stood in front of Uncle Ben's crib reminded me of that of a medieval fortress. Uncle Ben always was always into weird shit like that. When I entered his living room, he was perched on his favorite chair, a cigar in one hand, and vodka in the other. He looked up from his drink, and his eyes lit up. "What up, nephew?" he laughed as he stood up to greet me. "What's going on, Ben?" We dapped each other up, and he motioned for me to have a seat. "Nah, it's okay."
"Shot?" He gestured toward the bar nearby.
I shook my head. "Nah, I'm straight."
"You sure, nephew? Go on, don't be scared now." He guffawed at his own joke as he struggled to speak. His laughs soon turned into intense coughing. I wasn't sure what to think. He obviously didn't know what went down the other night with Fish. He was too nonchalant to have just lost his nephew.
"It's all good, Unc. My mind ain't even on that right now honestly." I tried to maintain a calm posture. He was already cool, calm and collected. He huffed on his cigar without a care in the world.
I held back a sigh. "Jai shot King." The look on his face made me question if I even wanted to keep talking. I guess he really had no idea. I sat down. "Ben, they killed him." I looked up at him. He was in complete shock.
"Shit." He finally spoke, still not being able to look at me.
"It shocked me too, Ben."
"That nigga..." He slammed his cigar down on the table next to him in a rage.
"That nigga dead, you hear me? Dead!" He bellowed.
"Unc, what the fuck you talkin' 'bout?"
"That son of a bitch Fish killed my fucking nephew. He's dead, you hear me? That nigga is dead!" He knocked over countless bottles and shot glasses. "That son of a bitch is dead." In his fit of rage, he accidentally knocked over a nearby picture of a 4 year old Jai and his mother. Once he realized what he'd done, Uncle Ben took a breath and sat back down. He looked at me.
"Tell me what the fuck happened to my nephew."
The smell of the weed and the feeling of tension in the air came back to me almost instantly. Fish sat before us, laughing at some dumb remark King made about Jai's fit. "You always got jokes, man." I looked over at Jai. Jai stood solid as a rock. I remember the look on his face. It was like a calm storm. He looked passive, yet full of so much rage. I remember that look on his face because it was the same face he used to make when he spoke about the dudes who shot his little sister years back in a drive-by. They were at a convenience store when this group of dudes just busted out fighting. When they started shooting, his sister was hit. She was four. Jai was 8. Fish took a break from laughing at King's ignorance, and turned his attention to us finally.
"So where is it?"
"Show us the cash." I responded. Fish laughed heartily. His glee had started to piss me off. He gestured to King, who pulled a suitcase from beneath the desk Fish sat at. He unlocked it after flipping it to our direction.
"5 G's."
"My, my." I picked up a stack and flipped through it, much to Fish and King's amusement.
"Alright, nigga, where's the package?" Fish said. Before I reached into my pocket to pull it out, I looked over at Jai. His hand was balled into a tight fist, and his eye was twitching. He was fucking seething. I was confused as hell. "Jai." He didn't even look at me. King got irritated. "Yo, stop wasting our fuckin' time before I bust a cap in yo' ass." He lifted his shirt to reveal his piece hanging off his hip.  Before I could even think, Jai pulled out his piece and pointed it dead in King's face. "Try it, bitch." Everyone in that room pulled their piece and pointed it in our direction. Fish chuckled. He was amused and partially surprised. "Boy, you obviously sick in the head to pull a gun-" Jai pulled the trigger. The bullet landed in King's chest. He looked up at Jai in disbelief before dropping his gun and tumbling to the floor. Next thing I knew, bullets were flying everywhere. I took cover and dove under a nearby table. All I could hear were the shots they let out in my direction as I disappeared into dusk. I ran for my damn life. I kept running. I ran a good distance before my adrenaline gave out and I had to stop. I spotted a nearby restaurant ad rushed in, heading straight for the bathroom. I collapsed to the floor. My head was spinning. Jai just shot King and I couldn't even fully process it. His fuckin' blood was splattered on my hoodie. I rose to my feet and splashed water on my face. Maybe this all just a bad fuckin' dream, I thought to myself. "Yeah, yeah.." I mumbled to myself. Fish would be looking for me, and he wasn't going to try to make a deal or any effort to discuss the situation. That nigga just lost his brother. He was out for blood. There was only one person I wanted to see at that moment. She was the only one I could go to. I hitched a ride to Anita's side of town, and walked the rest of the way to her apartment complex.
Ben's cigarette smoke assaulted my nostrils and brought me back to the present day. I lowered my head. Thinking about the whole ordeal brought on a mean ass headache. Uncle Ben hesitated before he spoke.
"I'm gon' get that nigga." he said solidly. I looked up to face him as he spoke.
"Don't put nothing past that muhfucka, you hear me? He's a ruthless bastard. Him and King ran the streets, but that don't mean they always got along. They had an old beef that they never quite settled. From what I'd been hearing before this happened, they hadn't been getting along."
I still had no idea why Jai shot King. I already knew Ben wouldn't rest until he got answers. "You wait until I get my hands on that bastard." He glared into his glass as he swished his drink around in the glass. His demeanor began to disturb me. He wasn't himself. I wasn't myself either. Shit just wasn't adding up.
"You still got the package?"
"Nah. I dropped it." I said as I looked away. I wondered if he could tell I was nervous.
He sighed in disappointment.
"Don't you worry about nothing, you hear me? Imma take care of his ass myself, son." He said to me.
"Nah, Ben, lemme help you."
"You don't need to have no dealings with this, you heard what I said? No parts!" He insisted. I was shocked.
"No parts? They shot him like an animal. Right in front of me! How can you say this right now?" I felt my blood starting to boil just thinking about it. Ben sighed. "I know, son. I know. I just don't want the same thing happening to you. You all I got left now. When his mama passed, I promised her I'd look out for him. She turning over in her grave right about now." He slammed the cup down on the table next to him and stood up.
"Go home. I'm taking care of this if it's the last motherfucking thing I do." He spoke with a vengeance. Then, he turned to walk out of the room. For the first time in a long ass time, I felt the urge to cry. My boy was really dead. I needed to do something. I had to make some money quick, and I still had some dope to move. An idea came to my head. At the same time, a smile formed on my face. I picked up the phone to dial. "Dwayne. Wassup, man? Look, I got a proposition for ya. Meet me at the spot in an hour."