Page 7 of Do You Understand?

“Am I of no more use to you, or has my family gotten ahold of your precious Ebony and KJ?” Taelyn was no fool. She was a hacker for Christ’s sake! Did he really think that she wouldn’t find out any and everything about his ass? There were just things that she didn’t give a damn about like his baby mama and slides.

Should she have cut him loose when she found out, perhaps? It was actually fun to see him think he was sneaking around like she was stupid. Taelyn’s toxic trait was to track Kevin’s location when he was out with one of his girls and show up. Not to blast him but act oblivious to the fact that he was there. Kevin would almost have a heart attack when he saw her. There were a couple times she did approach him while he was with the girl. He would tell Lyn that the girl was a cousin, and Lyn would invite her to a cookout.

Kevin gripped Taelyn’s neck. He spoke with a clenched jaw. “Bitch, understand if anything happens to my baby mama or son, then something is going to happen to you.”

“Well, you might as well do your something because I can guarantee you that bitch is going to have a beautiful funeral,” Taelyn quipped.

Kevin couldn’t believe that even in this life-or-death situation she still didn’t seem to break. He stepped away from her in disbelief. Taelyn was a beautiful girl, but he thought when he started talking to her that she would have self-esteem issues because she was a thicker female bordering on what some would call fat. He was sadly mistaken. “You think you’re the bee’s knees, bitch? You ain’t shit, bitch. They just make you think you’re the shit to feed that fat ass, low self-esteem.”

With no emotions, Taelyn tilted her head with her eyes upward. “I’ve always wondered, do bees have knees?”

Pow! Pow!

32°51'42.1"N 80°48'50.4"W

“Is everyone in place? Over.” Mauri spoke into the com device. She took the lead on this mission with Khiajah on her immediate follow-up.

If one had to choose who out of the females was the most ruthless, it would be a tie between Fiona and Galiana. Fiona would bring her craziness to anyone that posed even the smallest threat. Galiana, on the other hand, needed more bait, but when she went in, she would take out an entire lineage. Being that Khiajah and Khialee both served in the military on special ops type teams, they took direction and held to it. They typically wanted the least amount of casualties possible.

“Everyone is in—”

“Please don’t do this!” Ebony interrupted Galiana’s transmission. “I don’t know what he did, but please don’t kill him. I love him.”

Galiana’s eyes cut over to her. “Hold on, y’all. Girl, if you don’t shut the fuck up. You love a nigga that makes damn near what, two hundred thousand dollars a year and he got your ass on section eight, welfare, and Medicaid? Nigga don’t even have you or your son on his life insurance. He got his muthafuckin’ granny’s old ass who don’t need shit but a grave her damn self. Ole chittlin’ smellin’ bitch.

“You over here beggin’ for his life instead of you and your son, none prioritizing ho. Be lucky that we let that square head ass baby get dropped off to daycare. Now, you and ya baby daddy more than likely gonna die like fuck. Now don’t interrupt me again, rectangle head ass girl. Sorry, y’all. Yes in position. Over.”

Mauri’s neck twisted from side to side. “Why does her head have to be rectangle though?”

Everyone was used to Galiana’s antics. The meet spot was a sweetgrass field in Walterboro, South Carolina. It had one building structure that was used as a break house for the workers who cut the grass. Sweetgrass was a major money source that people often looked over. This land was owned by Zaakiyah and Reece Davis. They were one of the main sources for grass for the men and women that created the beautiful baskets and other items that made the historic Charleston area famous.

Galiana and Fiona were in the break house with Ebony. Earlier, they allowed Ebony to drop her son off at daycare. It was too bad that he may not have parents by the end of the day. No one was worried about the baby going into the system because Ebony’s mother was the baby’s legal guardian. Ebony was a bit of a party girl.

“We have movement coming up the road, over.” Khialee was placed on top of the roof of the building that faced the only road to the field. While in the military, she was known for her title as an expert sharpshooter. She’d been out of the military for many years; however, to keep her skills sharp, she opened a gun range. She worked as a certified firearm instructor that was often contracted by private sector and government agencies to host classes or speak at conferences. She was there for a very specific reason.

Mauri stood on the side of the house in view of the road. She would be the one to make the exchange. Khiajah was in the sweetgrass tucked away. Although this was ladies’ night, Lamik, Croy, and Jacob refused to allow their wives to be alone without their backup. They would only move if they were needed. “There are only two bodies in the car. Lyn is in the back seat, over,” Khiajah announced.

Kevin knew tonight was his last night in the land of the living. His anger and actions of what he did not even thirty minutes ago more than likely sealed the fate of his baby mama and son’s death. He always had an issue with his anger. The car came to a halt in front of the building. He recognized Mauri and was surprised to see her actually in the field and not behind a computer. “Oh, this must be personal to your lil mentor.”

Taelyn sat in the back seat in the most pain she had ever been in. She concentrated on steady breaths and not panicking. She didn’t want her heartbeat to speed, which would pump more blood, which could make her bleed out faster. “It’s personal for everyone. Like you said, I’m the baby girl.”

He ignored her as he stepped out of the car. “Where’s my baby mama and son?”

“Your son is where he normally is at this time. Your baby mama is in here.” Mauri’s voice was steady.

This was not the first time she’d been in the field in this manner. It was just far and in between that she was needed in this capacity. She enjoyed ruining lives with one hundred and four keys on top of a desk or tabletop, sometimes on her lap with her legs kicked up on an ottoman. Mauri told Galiana to bring the girl out.

“Something isn’t right. Taelyn is in the back seat, but her shirt is blood soaked, over,” Khialee said.

It was the daytime, so it wasn’t hard to see the inside of the car. You would think that his front window would be tinted as much as the sides. Kevin had yet to notice Khialee on the roof with a sniper rifle aimed at him. This was further evidence of why he was not selected to participate in missions. He simply lacked the attention to detail that was needed to be proficient. It wasn’t even eleven in the morning. He should have seen her.

Mauri’s breath lightly hitched, but she maintained her cool demeanor. “Get my cousin out the car,” she instructed Kevin. When he turned around to do as requested, she gave quiet, quick instruction to Khialee. “When Lyn walks toward us, allow Ebony to walk toward him. I will give Lyn the signal. Khialee, head shot for bitch and two shoulder, two leg for the bitch nigga.”

They had clear directive to not kill Kevin because he was Trell’s kill. The ladies watched Kevin roughly pull Taelyn from the back. Her weakness was immediately noticed. “Send her to me and I’ll send her to you!”

Ebony stood behind Mauri with tears falling down her cheeks. She wasn’t bound as the ladies didn’t see the need to. Yes, she loved her man, but she also knew that he was for the streets. Why did they have to snatch her up and not one of his other bitches? The words that Galiana spoke to her hit her in all the wrong places. Ebony knew about Taelyn, but she didn’t care. Kevin led her to believe the he was using Taelyn.

“Here she comes,” Mauri said as Galiana pushed Ebony forward. “Walk slow my dear.”

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