The cost of vengeance - [3]

“This is crazy, Nina. What makes you so sure that I did it?”

“I been following you.”

“Now you stalking me, Nina? This is ridiculous.”

“I followed you and you led me right to the two bitches that robbed me that night.”

The look on his face changed completely then. Up to that point, I guess he thought that he would be able to talk me out of killing him. Now, for the first time since he walked in the door, Victor looked scared. “So, let’s start again. Why you set me up?”

Victor looked around the room, and then he took a deep breath. “It wasn’t anything personal, Nina. That’s just our hustle. One of us gets the mark out of the house and the other two rob them. LeSean and Shantia scouted you out.”

“How’d they know I’d be at Jimmy’s that night?” I asked just to put my fears about Teena to rest once and for all.

“I called them right after you left and told them where you’d be, and where you lived. They were there waiting for you.”

“Why me?”

“Like I said, it was nothing personal, Nina. It’s just what we do,” Victor said. “Give me a couple of days and I swear we’ll get your money back.”

“There ain’t no more we,” I said and took a step closer to him.

“What do you mean?”

“Your girlfriends are dead now.”

“You’re not gonna kill me, are you?” he asked with a nervous laugh.

“Yes.”

“You don’t have to do that. Look Nina, I got a couple of thousand in the bedroom. You can have that right now, and I swear I’ll get the rest of it to you. I just need a few days to get it together, but you ain’t gotta do this.”

Just then he jumped up from the couch and came at me. I shot him three times in the chest and he fell back on the couch. I stood over him, and when I turned to I leave, I was startled to see Teena coming out of the bedroom with her gun in her hand.

“You didn’t really think I was about to let you come in here alone, did you?” Teena asked.

“No I guess not,” I said and started for the door.

“By the way, the nigga didn’t have any money in the bedroom ’cause I checked.

Chapter Two

Rain Robinson

Nick dropped me off at my apartment, and I was about to do what I was told and get some rest when the phone rang. “You have a collect call from a correctional facility,” the recorded voice said. I knew that it had to be from my brother Miles, so I accepted the charges.

After Miles found out that my father’s right-hand man, Jeff Ritchie, arranged the murder of the mother of his child, he killed him. That bitch Wanda recommended that Miles plead not guilty of the murder due to temporary insanity, and wave his right to a jury trial. Mike Black arranged to have his case heard in front of a judge that was on his card. All of the witnesses testified that they saw Miles and Jeff Ritchie fighting, and then Miles shot him. But none of the witnesses could remember seeing Miles leave and come back with the gun. That was Nick’s doin’. The judge said that Miles’s mental condition at the time of the killing, rendered him unable to determine right from wrong, or that what he was doing was wrong. The judge ordered clinical treatment until Miles could be certified safe to be released back into the community. But the DA fixed it so Miles had to stay at Rikers Island for treatment.

“What’s up, Miles,” I asked.

“I need to see you, Rain,” Miles said.

“How you doin’, Miles?”

“I don’t have time for this, Rain. I need to see you.”

“Look, Miles, today ain’t really a good day for me. I’ll try to make it out there tomorrow.”

“No!” Miles shouted. “It can’t wait until tomorrow, Lorraine! I need you to come out here today.”

Anytime Miles calls me by my name, I know it’s something serious, ’cause he knows I hate being called Lorraine. “Okay, Miles. I’ll be out there today, but I got shot and I just got outta the hospital.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“What? What was you in the hospital for?”

“We’ll talk about that when I see you,” Miles said and hung up the phone.

The last thing I wanted to do was ride out to Rikers. I was tired and my chest hurt. I probably did too much last night. Rollin’ wit’ Nick and gettin’ some dick this morning didn’t help. I wanted to do what my man told me to, and get some rest, but Miles needed me and that means I’m goin’.

When Miles came out, the first thing I noticed was the bandage on his face. “What happened to you?”

“Two guys jumped me in the shower. One of them held me, while the other cut my face.”

My first thought was this was some jail-house pretty-boy shit. My brother was a pretty nigga, so I laughed a little. “What they do that for?”

When he pulled the bandage off and I saw that they’d cut an E in his face, I knew I was wrong. “They said the Easely family sends their regards, then he sliced me.” I knew this was my shit. This was because I killed Jay Easy. I sat there and looked at Miles. “What did you do?” Miles asked me.

“I can’t say right now, but I’m sorry this had to touch you.”

“I knew this was your doing, Rain.”

“I’ll take care of it; you can be sure of that,” I said and started to leave.

“Wait!”

“What?”

“If they came after me, they might go after Lakeda and the kids. When was the last time you checked on them?”