Hood Misfits, Volume 4 Read online

  Welcoming, nervous laughter came from me, and I smiled. “Me too.”

  “We aren’t twins; we are brothers. You understand the code of secrecy in why we say what we say, yes? He and I have separate mothers, but we were born the same day. He in the States, me in Kingston, then moved to London. So, to answer yuh previous question, the conflict is not there for me because my loyalty is to my brother and only my brother. You are King Kulu’s direct blood; Anika is too. Your sons carry his likeness as well, even though that DOA blood is there. We know the true history. I enjoy my role in the shadows, so no threat is there, because I work for Kulu via my brother. I work for you and I work for those two innocent young men,” he continued.

  I sat quietly in what he shared. My gaze stared at the large fading picture of three drop-dead gorgeous and rough men, in suits posing with large smiles. Truth of hidden secrets was all around me and here this man sat in the middle of it with me.

  It had me reaching out to cup his face. “Mirror, you’re a gatekeeper like me.”

  He nodded, and then turned his hand to kiss my palm, which had me blushing.

  “I am and I enjoy it. It makes being a right hand very comforting and now I see what my brother was always talking about,” he said.

  He leaned forward then whispered something that had me melting in my seat: his true name. His hand slipped under my chin and then dropped away before going back to washing my feet.

  “I’m too old and dying for this,” I muttered while blinking several times.

  “Too old for what?” Mirror quietly laughed.

  “This, whatever this is. I loved your cousin . . . your brother. Was basically his other wife for a small moment until the devil destroyed my body,” I rushed out in embarrassment.

  “So? What does that have to do with me? In the past, Ahmir believed that he should have two lionesses. He did that, and still believes that, though now he’s in the same mindset as me. I don’t need two women or more to feel like a king or uphold me. One is enough, especially if she’s as bad as you and Anika.” Mirror shrugged.

  “I know what I want and besides, yuh not dead yet and yuh health is definitely improving, love. Besides, mi old nan told me as a kid that after I finished sowing my oats, I would care for a fading lioness; and it was when I was bending before her, washing her feet, that I would know my wife. I’m not a young punk anymore picking up batty chicks,” he matter-of-factly stated.

  His words had me sitting in shock. “I mean, we’re both grown, but that can’t be why you’ve been single all this time, to wait on a dying woman.”

  “Godblind me. You American women are something else! I swear down yuh all don’ listen or accept truth in your face. Your fading gives you the gift to read people, but yuh not reading me well. I didn’t wait for nothing. It just happened that way and here yuh are. I’m not blocking blessings especially in this game. Now what yuh think on that?” Mirror laughed almost boastfully.

  It had me smiling again, and I shrugged. “If you get down with sleeping with invalids, then I won’t deny you. I’m dying; it would be nice to go out with a bang, but before that, I need to protect my sons. Is that why you really are here and not feeling conflicted? Because of your feelings for me?”

  Mirror reached up, and pulled my chair to him, where he sat between my legs. He checked the monitor to make sure I was okay, smiling at how my pulse levels had jumped. He then gave me a flash of a smile while shaking his head. “No! Ya zeet? My true agenda is that I’m here because of your feelings for me, then my feelings for you. I’ll be yuh king and we can be chill in how we do our dealings with our enemies.”

  What he said was enough for me. I touched his face and nodded. He was like me: a gatekeeper and a person content with playing the right hand. He could help me ease back into my role in comfort and not shame, while letting me do things by my own accord. I was down for that, so we stared into each other’s eyes and we began our think tank.

  “I’ll take your secret to the grave, and no one knows?” I said stating my loyalty.

  “No one knows, and I know you will. Our circle is tight except for one,” he explained.

  I gave a slight frown knowing who he was talking about. “You know, I still say that is no bueno for that child to be there. Traitors need not be in that circle and it worries me that she’s there. Did my two misfit boys not learn from my lessons?”

  Shifting in my chair I continued, “I never liked that girl from the moment I saw her; and when Bianca told me how that ho almost got her cut by your nephew, I was ready to off her then.”

  Mirror gave a bold laugh and winked. “Oh no, we don’t want that, love. You have a good read on people and you taught that well to your three Misfits. Trust me they have this. Of course they listened; remember when you were young, how you learned your agenda, love?”

  A flicker of a smirk flashed across my face and I sighed in relief. “Okay, so that’s their agenda then. They did learn well. Keep your enemies close and traitors even closer.”

  “Most definitely, trust, she’ll get a proper killing real soon and any secrets she thinks she knows are not factual.” Mirror smirked.

  My appreciation for this man bloomed. I relaxed and softly asked to move forward. “Do you know the story of Br’er Rabbit?” My body hummed in want for this man, and I felt vibrant in life for the first time in a long time.

  “Old Br’er Rabbit? Cha, yuh I know that trickster’s tale. He’s also Anasai.” Mirror stated with a sensual laugh.

  “Well, my son is now Br’er Rabbit, or Anasai, and Micah is the enemy. We need to make sure that—” I was about to explain my plan but Mirror slid back in his seat, then picked my foot up and tilted his head.

  “I think it’s best you share it with the ears that listen,” he calmly stated.

  Looking over Mirror’s shoulder, I saw both Angel and Drew pausing by my healing room. Something had happened because Angel looked scratched up and was breathing hard. Her hands were clenched beside her and I saw blood on her knuckles. Awareness hit me hard and I knew it was time to ante the hell up and be about business. Mirror’s hand rested on my calf and I knew my stress levels had shot back up. I couldn’t freak out like I wanted, and I needed to be calm though both children in front of me held worry in their eyes. So I turned into the caring mother and swallowed the fear that threatened to take me out.

  I gave both my son and Angel a loving smile that reached my heart, and I motioned to them. “Come in. We all need to talk. I have a few things to say.”

  Drew and I were still having a tricky time since I revealed that I was his mother, but I could only hope and pray that through my words and actions he could see that I loved him and Shawn. I hoped that they could understand that, as a young girl, I did the only thing I could do at that time to protect them from the Orlandos.

  “Hey, man, why you on my tía . . . mom like that?” Drew fussed.

  The distance in his eyes melted away to reveal a flash of emotion. My baby boy moved forward by my side to hand me my pipe again and then kissed my temple. His sudden protectiveness had me laughing but it also gave me a sliver of hope that all would be okay.

  “He’s doing what he does: helping this family, Drew. Don’t trip,” I teased with a wink and a smile.

  Drew gave a slight grumble then poured me some water and soursop juice. Angel was on my other side, fluffing my pillow and smiling at the burgundy dye job she did on my short ’fro. I could see she was wanting to tell me something and that she was hiding her hands in the process. It had me shaking my head as I played dumb.

  “Thank you, Bianca. I love what you did to my hair.” I smiled as I called Angel by her real name, studying her movements.

  “You’re welcome, Shy. I just picked up Drew; that’s why we kinda heard you two. We all need to talk, though. Micah went after me and I just heard on the radio that Shawn’s locked up,” Angel frantically rushed out. She rested her hand on mine in respect and tried to read my facial expression.

  I
smiled up at her and my gaze went to Mirror as I chuckled. “You were right. I have a good reading on traitors and on who is to truly trust. I only hope my boys take those lessons and use them well. Drew, you get your homework in?” I quickly asked narrowing my eyes.

  “Yes, dang. But did you hear Angel?” he asked with a flash of fear in his voice.

  My head shook and I sighed. “Okay, just making sure. Did you still drop your friends for those little niggas on the street? And yes, I did; I want to take care of home first before we speak on a nigga I intend to have killed.”

  “Tía! Be cool. Damn, why you in my business like that? Wait what?” Drew barked out then gazed at me in shock.

  I knew I had to rein it in, but Angel stepped in for me. “Why you tripping, Drew? Stop it. She’s just checking on you. And yeah, what?”

  I gave a weak smile and tried to focus on Mirror’s hands. “Thank you, Bianca. And because I can, Drew. Shawn has been arrested. My son is sitting in jail with parasites all around him. I don’t do well with niggas who play foul so, yes, I want Micah’s head.”

  “That’s why I’m here. I was coming to tell you,” Angel rushed out.

  She was still in her uniform, so I could tell that she rolled out in a straight shot from the stadium. Glancing around at one son who stared at me with a swollen chest in conflicted emotions, I tilted my head to watch a young girl who I knew if trained right would be a force to be reckoned with, especially in her love for Shawn. I then smiled at a man who still kneeled in support to whatever plans I had for my family and our forming emotions. I placed a hand to my heart, and then reached for my pipe.

  “We all are going to sit here and make our own plans to help Shawn. That nigga Micah really believes that we are unintelligent monsters. But, that’s copasetic, though. I am here to let him know that if you are going to go after someone like Shawn, you better make sure his whole foundation has crumbled totally. That was how I trained three young boys to think back in the day, and that is how a group of Misfits took down an empire then created their own. It’s time we build our empire back up. So I need you all to listen to what I teach and take it in, because I may be sick, but I’m not dead yet, so there is no fear of that nigga Micah in me at all. Now listen.”

  Lighting up, I explained the story of Br’er Rabbit, and how we had to help Shawn be the trickster in order to survive Micah and eventually survive the Orlandos. Every nigga had an agenda in this plan and the first start in that was to draw out Micah through using our status as a united football family with money and pull. In the great words of Sun Tzu, “Secret operations are essential in war; upon them, the army relies to make its every move.”

  Besides, I had people who could give me whatever information I wanted on men like Micah, so-called law enforcers, Feds, CIA, and more. As I quietly told myself, he knew nothing about the daughter of King Kulu Okoye, the king of NYC’s crime syndicate.

  I was Iya “Shy” Okoye-Banks. Micah messed with the wrong family and the wrong mother.

  Chapter 5

  Micah

  When the door to my office opened and Enzo walked in, the gun in my hand was already trained on him. That nigga hadn’t even bothered to change out of his prison garb to come see me. The cocky disposition he carried made me want to fire the gun, but I knew I couldn’t. If he had found a way out of jail then I knew he hadn’t come alone. The fact that Enzo was supposed to be tucked away in a jail cell but had found a way to be in my office told me he had found out just how much power the Orlando name possessed.

  He took a seat in front of my desk like he owned the place. “What it do, my nigga? Still trying to lock a nigga down I see.”

  He looked like the thug he was, a fucking menace. Eyes bloodshot like mine, but he still hadn’t learned anything.

  “How the fuck did you get here?”

  “Doesn’t matter. I’m here. You see me. See how close I can get to you even while locked away, my nigga? You shouldn’t fuck with what you don’t understand.”

  “And you shouldn’t think you can’t be touched,” I retorted, cocking the gun.

  Enzo shrugged and then leaned back in the chair as he watched me. “A gun don’t scare me, nigga. Guns never fazed a nigga like me. Guns used to be a way of life for me.” He leaned forward as he spoke. “All you had to do was leave me alone, big homie. That’s it. We ain’t even have to be here. I told you, told you, nigga, to leave me be.”

  “Fuck you, Enzo. Fuck you, nigga. You think the world is yours because your last name is Orlando.”

  “Nigga, I didn’t even know I was one of them niggas until you came fucking with me,” he yelled and slapped a hand down on my desk. He placed his head right into the aim of my gun, not even caring that I could pull the trigga and end him. “All I wanted to do was play football. That was all I ever wanted to do before niggas like you and Dame decided to play God.” He laughed. That nigga laughed with a madness in his eyes that was unmatched by anything I’d seen. “Niggas like to play King Kong in this bitch, but remember it was a motherfucking plane that took that monkey down, and, nigga, I’m that plane.”

  I knew those words. Had used them to taunt him at one time. Rage burned in me. Staring that young nigga in the eyes, I could see the monster he was lurking behind them. All I had to do was pull the trigga. Cock back and let a bullet speak for me. The world didn’t need Enzo. The world didn’t need another nigga like Dame, Dante, Lu, and Caltrone. All I had to do was pull the trigga, so I did. I pulled it twice. Put two bullets in that nigga’s skull and watch the life drain from his eyes.

  Only when I pulled the trigga, nothing happened. I cocked the gun back and tried to fire two rounds and all I was rewarded with was Enzo’s cocky chuckle.

  “Dumb nigga. You still a dumb nigga, Micah. Fucking with me this whole time and you still underestimate me, homie,” he taunted.

  Before I could react, Enzo snatched the gun from my hand and brought it down over my head. That nigga had caught me off guard and rocked my senses, I couldn’t lie. I lay back in the chair feeling my blood spill down my head as I looked at the boy who’d become everything I knew he would be. He turned to walk out of my office.

  “I was right,” I called out behind him. He stopped and turned to look at me. “I knew you were your father’s son. No matter how you try to deny it, you still that nigga.”

  Enzo grinned at me. Grinned like he’d won the lottery. “You’re right. I am my father’s son. I’m every bit of that nigga, I’ve come to learn. Just like he took out your old man, I’m going to take out you. Tell your sister hello for me when you see her,” he said with an arrogance that sent me over the edge.

  Images of my sister being thrown into the back of that white BMW started to haunt me. My mother’s screams and cries, father’s lifeless body hitting the ground all had me rushing behind the boy only to be met by men in black suits, guns trained on me. They kept me at bay until Enzo had gotten back into the black-on-black Hummer and driven off.

  After the day the Orlandos took my whole family away from me, all I heard were the whispers of how my father had been stupid to go up against them. People talked about my sister like she wasn’t even human. Said shit about her getting what she deserved for fooling with men like them. She was a fucking kid! Just a fucking child! Someone, somebody, somewhere should have done something. Then to know she was found days later, beaten, raped, murdered, and then tossed like yesterday’s trash, was when the little boy was no more.

  I became something that I didn’t even recognize anymore. Now, the man who’d all but sent his son after my sister was back because his arrogant grandson thought the world was his. Thought he could have anything he wanted simply because he had Orlando blood in him. Fuck him. Fuck the bitch who bred him and fuck the nigga whose nuts he came from.

  “I tried, Pops. I really did,” I mumbled to myself as I stumbled back into my office. “Tried to get the niggas who got you, Mama, Erica . . .”

  Hot tears rolled down my face as I finally realized I�
�d failed my family once again. Couldn’t save them then, couldn’t avenge them now. I’d failed. The darkness in the room engulfed me like flames in a building drenched in gasoline.

  “Took a lot of them down, Pops, I did. You would have been proud of me. If them niggas hadn’t . . . If they hadn’t been cowards, shot you in the back of the head when you weren’t looking, Pops . . . Fucked up. Cowards, the whole family, buncha fucking cowards, Pops.”

  I was in such a fit of rage I didn’t even realize that what I assumed were my thoughts had actually manifested in the room. By the time I realized that I was talking out loud, I’d gone through my office like a madman. Chairs had grown wings and flown across the room. The oak wood bookcase lay on the floor. Glasses of liquor had been tossed around like they had been juggled and dropped. I needed to get it together or my whole operation would be in shambles like my office. I felt like shit was coming undone. Needed to get it together so I could get that nigga and the rest of his family off the streets.

  Chapter 6

  Enzo

  My feet slammed against the door of my new cozy cell as I sat pissed all the way off, making sure to make mental notes of everything that was going down. I used my connections to get me in and out and then back into the jail again. I could have just escaped, but that wasn’t a part of the bigger picture. Niggas had me twisted, and it was crazy how quick people loved you as an athlete then turned their backs on you. Was I shocked by that shit? Nope, not in the least bit; but I still was annoyed.

  Deebo and Uncle Phil had moved me into a general population cell where I walked straight into a setup.

  “Ey yo, look at this pretty nigga right here,” one blackgum and crooked-eye-looking nigga popped off.

  I rolled my shoulders and walked in with a slow stroll, checking my surroundings and saying nothing. Bitch-ass niggas always thought by pointing out that a nigga was “pretty” it would piss him off, make him pissed at the gay undertones. But in reality, I was just counting the offenses.