Page 56 of Intercept My Heart

“Ahh, shit! What the fuck, yo! I don’t know what that uppity bitch told you, but she lied. I’ve never touched your bitch.” Blood leaked from his face as he swiped his hand under his nose. Crouching down, I got eye level with him so he could see I meant business.

“I’m not talking about her. I’m talking about Sunny.” The wheels began to spin in his mind, and they played out on his face. A sadistic grin spread across his face as he glared back at me.

“Oh, yeah. Your precious Sunshine. Hmm, I still remember the way she felt. She might have put up a little bit of a fight, but I know she liked it. Besides, she deserved that shit. My parents are rotting in prison because of that lying bitch!” he hissed, spitting blood in my direction. Instead of responding, I allowed my fists to do the talking for me. The liquor caused his reactions to be delayed, which was a benefit to me. He could barely hold himself up, but I continued to beat his ass. I showed him the same mercy he showed Sunny. None.

“Money, please! I just had surgery on my shoulder. Fuck!”

“Do you think I give a damn about your health? Huh?” I kicked him in the gut with my steel-toe boots. “As far as I’m concerned, your career can end tonight. You’re the worst kind of man. You can’t fight people your own size, but you don’t mind targeting someone weaker than you.”

Drake began coughing up blood, but I paid him no mind. Taking my gun out, Iplaced it under his chin.

“You’re gonna kill me behind a bitch? Your best friend?” Drake croaked with tremors in his voice.

“We stopped being friends a long time ago, and it’s deeper than that. You violated someone I love and took something that didn’t belong to you. Killing you wouldn’t even be enough to make up for the pain you’ve caused.”

“Come on, man! She lied! She got on that stand and told all those people about how my parents starved and beat her. All those bitches lied about my father raping them. He wouldn’t do that. He loved us, and he loved my mama. We lost everything! Meanwhile, you ran off into the sunset with a bitch who turned my whole world upside down,” he ranted.

“Are you hearing yourself right now? You’re over here trying to justify the fact that you violated someone. Get the fuck outta here! I don’t even want to hear your excuses or none of that shit. It won’t change the fact that you’re a pussy ass nigga. Now, where is the safe?”

“Huh?”

“If you can huh, you can hear. Where the fuck is the safe?” Drake was the flashy type. He loved to post pictures of himself with money and flaunt it for the world to see. While I might not have needed his money, this wasn’t about me.

“Aww, come on, bro. Are you really gonna rob me? After everything we’ve been through?”

“Hell yeah. The alternative would be me ending your sorry existence. To be honest, that option is still on the table. For right now, take me to the safe, and don’t even try no funny shit. I’ll have my people come through here and make the shit look like a suicide. Play with something safe,” I warned. My intentions were not to kill Drake. As tempting as it might be, it wasn’t the right time.

“Man, this is some bullshit.” He mumbled under his breath, leading me into his bedroom and then his closet. I chuckledunder my breath when I saw him put his birthday in as the code. Bro didn’t even try to come up with something secure. Once he opened it, I searched around until I found a duffel bag. Dumping all his clothes out of it, I placed the gun to his temple and instructed him to fill the bag.

“Money, you don’t have to do this. Listen, I know you’re mad, but that shit was so long ago. I mean, be foreal. The two of you needed to break up anyway. She wasn’t built for the type of lifestyle we live. More than likely, her naive ass would have fell victim to the flashing lights and all of the fame. If you think about it, I did you a favor by showing you how flawed she was. Instead of telling you the truth, she fled town. She was a weak b?—”

“Choose your next words carefully. Your life depends on it.” This was the last warning he would get from me. If he said one more thing that was out of pocket, his brain matter would be soaked into the carpet. I noticed him trying to close the bag, but there were still stacks of money in the safe.

“Put it all in there. Don’t play with me, Drake. I want every dollar in that bitch.”

“That’s a quarter of an M. Why do you need this money? You’ve got more money than me! What the fuck, bro? Can’t we work something out?” Drake attempted to reason.

“This isn’t up for negotiation. Either you empty the safe, or I’m gonna empty these bullets into ya dome, then hug your sisters while they weep over your cold ass corpse. Hurry up, pussy ass nigga!”

Wham!I clocked him upside his head with the butt of my gun. A gash formed on the side of his forehead.

“Argh! Fuck you! You better kill me because if not, I’m pressing charges on your bitch ass,” Drake threatened. I burst out laughing at his stupidity.Why would he say some dumb ass shit while my gun is being pointed at his head?

“I’m not worried. The moment you take your ass to the police, they’ll be waiting to arrest your ass. Sunny has medical records, DNA from her old clothes, and a witness. You’ll be all over every news station across the country, and everyone will be calling you a rapist like your bitch ass daddy. The statute of limitations isn’t up yet, which means you’ll be in a nice cell with a bunch of felons who hate niggas like you. Are you ready to be somebody’s bitch? Huh?” I made all that shit up to scare him, but I wasn’t worried. Drake cared more about his image than anything else. This money might be a small loss to him, but I didn’t give a fuck. If I could take all the money out of his account and give it to Sunny, I would. He should have been glad to still have breath in his body because my thoughts were telling me to end his ass tonight.

“I’m sorry. I-I was trying to get revenge for my parents. You don’t know what it’s like to have to figure shit out because your family has been torn apart. She could have walked away, but she had to destroy us in the process.” Drake placed the last dollar into the bag before turning to me.

“I think it’s time for you to rest. It’s obvious that liquor has you talking crazy.” Lifting my foot, I kicked him in the the head. He passed out on the floor, so I dragged his body into the room. Once I got him into bed, I checked for a pulse. I really didn’t care whether he lived or died, but if he was dying, I would need my people to be on standby.

After I took care of business, I closed the duffel bag, tossed it over my shoulder, then headed out the same way I came in. The bag was placed in my truck as I hopped in my ride, off to my next destination.

I decided to go see Tootie to get her opinion on everything. She was usually the person I went to for advice, especially concerning women. I rarely came to back home because the only semblance of a family I had was Tootie and her family.Her daughters often made it a point to stay with me during the holiday season, so I had no real reason to come. Her daughters were like little sisters to me, but Rhyann was a senior in high school, and Raven was a sophomore in college now, so they didn’t have as much time to visit either.

All of this was a lot on me, and I needed to make sure I made the right decisions. I didn’t bother to call first because Tootie never went to bed before two in the morning, and then she would be back up at seven. Her energy was unmatched, but I never complained because she kept my house smelling good with food whenever she came to stay. When I parked on the curb, all the lights were on in her house, but only one car was in the driveway. Sometimes, she liked to host parties, so I was grateful that wasn’t the case for the night.

Getting out of the car, I jogged to the back door. Tootie was one of those old-school mamas who made everyone come in through the side door to avoid any mud or dirt getting in her front room. She rarely ever locked the door, and I’d gotten on her about it multiple times because the neighborhood wasn’t the best. She shooed me off, telling me that she had lived in the same neighborhood for over forty years, and she wasn’t worried about anyone causing her harm.

I offered to have cameras installed, but they were mainly for my peace of mind than hers because she never checked them. Even now, she probably had no idea I was here outside of her door. I turned the knob, making my way inside of the house. It smelled like those linen scented plug-ins that she loved so much and fried fish. I planned to make a plate before I went back home. Once I got up the steps, I heard two voices that appeared to be in a heated argument, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying at first.

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