Page 89 of For the Love of City
“Let me let you in on a little secret, since you seem to think I’m soft. I might have thought you were my friend, but I knew when to keep my mouth shut around your ass. You a gossiping ass bitch, you think I’m going to put my name on bodies that popped up? How dumb do you think I am? All this time you thought my ass was a paper gangsta when I got more bodies under my Louis belt than most niggas you swear are hard. How many times I tell you that power moves in silence? Where you think I learned that? You think that this music shit made us rich when we were already there without it? The label is justexpanding on an empire that has its foundations on the block. We had the same opportunities, hell you more than me cause at least your mama gave a fuck enough to keep you. Mine was trying to sell me off to a nigga so she could be free. But it’s good, I owe you this so let’s go.”
She motioned for Trice to get up from the chair so they could get started. Since we had a gang of shooters in the room, there was no reason to secure her.
Trice laughed and folded her arms as she crossed her legs. She kept an arrogant smirk on her face as she lifted her head to look at Lyric.
“If you think I’m about to fight you, you’re cra—” Trice hadn’t heard the person coming up behind her until she was yanked up by her hair and thrown out of her chair.
“You better be glad I gotta baby in my belly or I’d be helping my girl fuck you up. Stupid ass.” Pretty looked just like her name: pretty as hell. Some combat boots I knew were designer, leather shorts that made her legs look about a mile long and a black t-shirt tucked into her shorts I knew was mine covering her chest as she strut her fine ass toward me uncaring as Trice picked herself up off the ground.
“Of course you can’t really do shit. And who was stupid enough to put a baby in your old ass? Aren’t your eggs dust by now?”
Porsha didn’t bother to respond to Trice, just leaned up on her toes to give me a kiss. My hands were on her hips steadying her and pulling her closer into my body. We got so lost in the kiss that we forgot we needed to be paying attention. When I heard Trice scream out, I pulled away and saw Lyric holding her by the back of her head raining blows down on her face.
“Talk that shit now, Trice! Stole my money. Fucked a worthless nigga for pennies. Knew he was foul and kept yourlegs open and your mouth shut. I. Was. Supposed. To. Be. Your. SISTER!”
I wished Lyric would’ve wrapped her hands cause I could hear Grant’s ass now fussing me out for how her knuckles were going to look when she got back home. Wasn’t shit I could do about that now. She wanted Trice to feel her pain and she wanted that contact to be pure and unadulterated. Those blows were thudding all over Trice’s body and face. Porsha took a step forward and I knew it was because she wanted to get a lick in once Trice was on the ground.
“Absolutely not, Pretty.”
She grunted at me like she was irritated but she kept her ass right where she was.
“You supposed to be my friend but you do me like this?” Trice was holding her face like she knew how bad it was swelling up. She looked like she’d gone a few rounds with Hitman Hearns but lucky for her she wasn’t going to live long enough for all the lumps to form.
“You lied to me. Let me down. Left me holding the bag and betrayed me. Ain’t but so much you can expect me to forgive you for. I see who you are, but the nail in your coffin was trying to get my brother sent back to jail on some bullshit. You had these niggas in your ear yet again. The same ones who’s never looked out for you convinced you to go against the grain.Again. And that’s when I realized that you’re not stupid. You’re not gullible. You just don’t care. You don’t care about you or me or them. The only thing that rules you is the immediate gratification of thinking you got over with money being a close second. So it’s fuck you forever.” Lyric spit in Trice’s face and walked back toward me. I already knew what she wanted and I had my hand out with her throwaway in it.
“Lyric—”
The panic was now all over Trice’s bloody face. You could see the tears she was crying making streaks through the blood that was coming from her nose and mouth. I was sure that she’d seen Lyric hold a gun before, but being on the other end of it was something completely different. Especially when she knew Lyric didn’t say shit she didn’t mean.
“Nah, it’sFinesseto you bitch, remember? Lyric is reserved for family and you lost that title a long time ago.”
Lyric pulled her gun and fired it into Trice’s head without blinking. The Laws gasped like they too doubted that Lyric was really like that, while the rest of us just nodded unmoved. Trice’s body fell back and Lyric waited to ensure she didn’t move before she spoke.
“One less snake in the grass.”
“You got rid of your biggest opps, how does it feelFinesse?” Travis’ stupid ass was holding his hand out like a mic interviewing Lyric for a TV show.
Lyric grinned and leaned into his hand to speak to us all. “I ain’t going toDisney Worldbut I got a quarterback I’m about to ride like a champion.”
Porsha started to laugh and I felt like I was gonna have to beat Grant’s ass just off principal. “Aye man, cut that shit out.”
Lyric just rolled her eyes at me again and handed her gun over to Travis. “Whatever, C. You about to be a daddy again so you just pushed your grandpa years back by a few. Can’t be like the old folks popping out babies right along with my parents and shit. Although P is like my sister so I don’t even know what the hell this is anymore.” She looked between the two of us and shook her head. She wasn’t disgusted, just confused about what the hell we were.
“It’s all love that’s what it is. The shit works and always has. But get out of here and ice them hands.”
Lyric looked down at her hands as though she noticed for the first time that her hands were torn up.
“Damn, I gotta hear Grant’s mouth now.” She flexed her fingers like she was trying to assess the damage she’d done.
Seeing her worry, Mother Henry went over to her and wrapped an arm around Lyric. “He’s right, baby, come on upstairs so we can make sure your knuckles don’t swell. You remembered your training so well didn’t you?” The pride was clear and Lyric smiled at her praise.
“Yes ma’am, avoid hitting on the bone directly so you can inflict maximum impact.” Lyric recited the teachings we’d both gotten once we were linked up with the Miller family.
“And I see you’ve still been at the range...”
Mother Henry walked Lyric away giving her compliments like she’d just won a prize at the damn state fair instead of having committed a murder. Couldn’t even be mad at it because I was probably gone do the same when we got back on the jet.
My attention went back to the Laws who were both just sitting there in stunned silence.
