“Fuck this. It was my plan in the first place, and I’ll be damned if I’mma let this bitch try and switch up on me now,” Nia said.
She got off the couch and attempted to wrestle the gun away from Nicole. Kendra slid out the room and went to the back of the house in search of Marcos’ gun. The match between Nia and Nicole only lasted for five minutes, but, to Kendra, it lasted forever. She found the box that contained the gun. Then, she heard a boom followed by a big thump. Kendra froze in the spot where she was at. She wasn’t sure if it was her sister or Nicole that had gotten shot. She knew she wasn’t going to find out.
“Kendra, where are you? No need to hide. Come out! Come out! Wherever you are,” Nia stated.
Kendra rose from her hiding space and came face to face with her sister. She stood for a minute before speaking.
“You hate me that much that you’re willing to kill me?” Kendra asked, holding back her tears.
“Aww. It’s not personal, boo, just business, and I’m keeping my part of the deal,” Nia cocked the gun and aimed it at her sister.
Kendra’s life flashed before her eyes. She saw when she first was introduced to Starlight, her rendezvous with Bigg Boss, and how she met Trent. Kendra smiled at the thought, at how she had given Trent a hard time. After that night, they became inseparable. Kendra also thought about how she had not finished school and gotten fired. Damn! I really fucked up my life, she thought. What really bothered her the most and brought tears to her eyes was when she found her mother lying on the kitchen floor. She realized that she wouldn’t be able to visit her father.
All these thoughts transpired in her mind. Kendra finally spoke as she came out of her daze. She said, “Remember when we were little kids and Dad killed Uncle Chuck for trying to mess around with you?”
“What the fuck does that have to do with anything, Ken?” Nia said, shifting from one foot to the other. “Bitch, stop stalling and get to the fucking point.”
Marcos sat in the driveway of his home. He was pissed. He had grinded all day, but for what? Marcos noticed a key lying next to the porch. The word MARRIOT stood out. Marcos never thought nothing of it, but his curiosity had his mind going. It wasn’t until he heard the noise that he got out the car and ran into the house. There was a trail of blood leading from the living room towards his room. Marcos panicked. He reached behind his back, taking out his heat. Creeping up, he wasn’t sure what was in store for him, but he was prepared.
“All this for ten million dollars! What about Marcos?” Kendra asked.
Her eyes widened. Nicole was standing behind Nia with a butcher knife. Before Kendra could warn her sister, Nicole plunged the knife deep into Nia’s back. Nia let out one last shot that caught Kendra in the shoulder. Nicole was still stabbing Nia when Marcos shot her in the back of her head. Her body slumped over on Nia as her soul left her body. Marcos walked over to Nia with tears in his eyes. He kneeled beside her.
“I loved you more than life itself,” Marcos cried out.
Nia managed to whisper, “I once loved you, but it was always business. You tried to make it personal.”
Nia weakly held the gun in her hand and tried to fire it at Marcos, but her body was too weak.
“Well, you would understand that this is both business and personal,” Marcos said, firing the last shot between her eyes. Marcos walked over to where Kendra was lying with her hand covering her shoulder.
“Where did you get hit at?” Marcos asked.
Kendra pointed to her shoulder. Marcos grabbed a shirt from his closet. He tied it around Kendra’s shoulder and arm, creating a makeshift cast. Marcos helped Kendra to her feet.
“We need to get you to a hospital,” Marcos insisted, but Kendra declined.
She walked into her room and grabbed anything that might link her to being in the house. She left all the items her sister had bought with the exception of the Gucci bags; she wasn’t fool enough to leave them behind.
Marcos helped Kendra to the car. “Wait in the old parking lot for ten minutes. If I’m not out by then, meet me at the Marriot in Ocean Gate,” Marcos said, handing Kendra the key that he had picked up off the floor. The room number was seven-fourteen. Kendra frowned. She was hesitant to leave Marcos.
“Trust me, Ken. I’ll be okay. Go on before someone sees us,” Marcos said, trying to sound convincing. Kendra started the car.
“Please hurry,” Kendra begged Marcos.
He hit the top of the car with his hand and gesture for her to leave. Marcos ran back inside the house to make sure that Nia and Nicole were dead. He then grabbed the gun off the floor and threw it in a bag. He dragged both bodies to the basement.
“Damn! Dead weight ain’t no joke,” he said as he dragged Nia’s body. After positioning them in the basement, Marcos found gasoline cans. He doused the basement down, making sure that he thoroughly drenched both bodies. Marcos ran to the top of the stairs. He, then, took his shirt off and took a lighter out of his pocket. He lit the shirt. Then, he flung it to the bottom of the stairs. He watched to see if the sparks would catch.
Kendra finally drove up the street to the old parking lot like Marcos had insisted and patiently waited for him to return. Her shoulder throbbed, so she added pressure to subside the pain. “My life is one hell of a story. If I write it, it may be the next big hit,” Kendra said with confidence.
When Kendra saw flames coming from her sister’s house, panic settled in. Her mouth dropped in awe as the house quickly caught fire. She said a small prayer for Marcos, “Please, Lord, let him make it out okay.”
Kendra waited around an additional five minutes to see if he would arrive. She could hear fire and ambulance sirens in the distance. As the sirens grew closer, Kendra decided it was time for her to go. She drove to Ocean Gate to the Marriot Hotel located off Rosecrans Avenue. There were a lot of people going in and out of the hotel, and she didn’t want to bring any attention to herself. Kendra grabbed a big jacket that had belonged to Wiz from the backseat. She covered herself and grabbed her purse off the passenger seat. She entered the Marriot like she belonged there.
The fire spread faster than Marcus had anticipated. He had to make another escape out the house. He decided to jump out the window. When Marcos jumped out the window, he miscalculated and belly flopped on the concrete. Marcos laid in the same spot for a few moments. He tried getting up, but he fell back down. Once he heard the sirens, he managed to get up. Marcos grabbed the bag off the ground. Then, he hopped the wall to his neighbors backyard. After he made it over, he staggered a few blocks until he flagged down a cab.
As Kendra walked into the hotel, she struggled to keep the jacket over her arm. Kendra looked at the room key. Then, she walked to the elevator. Since the room number on the key was seven-fourteen, it was obvious that the room was on the seventh floor. Kendra stepped into the elevator car and pressed the button for the door to close. As the doors closed, in stepped this tall, Jamaican guy with long dreads and a Bob Marley shirt on.
“Mi gawl, you spill of blood,” he stated.
“Excuse me. What did you say?” Kendra looked confused.
Then, the Jamaican guy pointed to the blood on the floor.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know my wound was that deep,” she said with a half-smile. Kendra wasn’t trying to reveal too much until her purse slipped and, in trying to catch it, she revealed her bullet wound.
“Yuh. Look like yuh gwan need a doctor,” the man stated.
Kendra shook her head, but the Jamaican man insisted, grabbing a hold of Kendra’s hand. Kendra couldn’t resist because she was starting to feel weak.
“Don’t worry, mi gwal. Mi know how to take care of yuh.”
The man walked to a room that was at the end of the hallway. He unlocked the door and stepped inside. The Jamaican told Kendra to relax and get comfortable.
“Mi gwan take care of yuh real good.”
He took some Jamaican rum from the counter and some pills. Then, he went to get a bag. Kendra sat on the chair. As her eyes roamed around the nice size room, she wondered if she should let the stranger work on her arm. Whatever her answer was she had to decide now.
“Is this going to take a long time? I have to meet my brother in-law,” Kendra managed to say. She yawned and stretched her arms. The powerful scent of marijuana burned her nostrils. The Jamaican man came from out of the bathroom with a weed filled zigzag in his hand.
“Yuh gwan bleed to death. Don’t worry. Mi have yuh better soon. Drink some of this and smoke this.”
He handed Kendra a glass of rum and the blunt. Kendra tried to turn the offer down, but he advised her that she would need it. Kendra hesitantly took the long zigzag filled with Jamaican weed and lit it. She prepared herself for the smoke. Kendra took two pulls on the zigzag and started to choke profusely. The smoke was a bit too much for Kendra’s lungs, and the smoke felt like it was burning her insides. Quickly, Kendra grabbed the rum out of the Jamaican’s hand and proceeded to drink it like water.
“Slow down, gal. Yuh gone hurt yuh self.”
Kendra wiped her mouth. Instantly, she relaxed. Her eyes started to roll around in her head. The Jamaican guy smiled and said, “Told yuh I take care of yuh. Now, this gwan hurt a bit.” He drank some rum straight out the bottle. Then, he poured the rest on Kendra’s open wound. He watched her squirm and cry out in agony. Next, he used a knife which he had sterilized with rubbing alcohol. He relit the long joint. Then, he stuck the knife in the bullet wound, wiggled it around to get the bullet out, and used a thong-like utensil to pull it out. Kendra kicked and screamed. Before she could utter another sound, the bullet was out, dancing in an empty bowl. The Jamaican man had honored his word and helped Kendra out. He stitched and sewed her up.
“If I have to go, how can I repay you?” Kendra asked sluggishly.
Kendra got up, grabbed her purse, and tried to head for the door, but her knees soon buckled. Luckily, the Jamaican guy caught her before she fell.
“Yuh pay mi soon enough, sooner than yuh think,” he smiled.
Kendra hadn’t noticed, but his eyes were bronze like fire. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought he was the devil.
Kendra and the man walked to her room that was located on the same floor. They reached room seven-fourteen. Kendra tried to stick the key in the door, but her hand wouldn’t lift. All Kendra could think about was lying down. Once inside, Kendra found strength to go inside her purse. She pulled out a handful of hundreds, but the man declined her offer. His eyes became fixed on the safe in the corner of the room. That was his main goal.
“Thank you once again. I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name?” Kendra said, trying to keep herself steady as she walking him to the door.
“Just call me Zoo,” he smiled as he opened the door.
Once Zoo was gone, Kendra turned on her heels. She used the wall for leverage. Then, she crawled the rest of her way to the bed.
As soon as she climbed onto the oversized king bed, she was off to dreamland. Never once did it occur to her mind that she was drugged.
Marcos was getting pissed that the cab driver was taking forever and a day to leave the area. He wanted to hurry up and make it to his destination. He had a lot of thoughts, and, furthermore, it was now time for him and Kendra to leave California. Within a short time, their lives had gone from good to bad and from bad to worse, but he knew that it was time. They had to leave before the feds caught up to him. Marcos’ mind flashed to Nia and the times they had shared: the first time they met, the day she got pregnant, and when she had a two day procedure at five and a half months pregnant. That was the most devastating day of his life. Because of his cheating ways, he’d gotten another woman pregnant at the same time as Nia. He could still hear her voice when the girl came to the house to plead with Marcos to leave Nia and be a family with her.
“I know like hell you didn’t have some random bitch pop up at my house and tell me that you’re having a family with her? If I’m not the one and only bitch having your child, then no other bitch can.”
That was all Marcos heard before Nia knocked his side chick upside the head. Then, she pushed the woman down the porch. Nia was just about to pound her when Marcos intervened.
“Look, Nia. I can’t have you beating on her like that. Whether you like it or not, she is caring my child,” Marcos said, regretting those choice words.
Marcos could’ve kicked his own ass. Nia turned on him so quick that he didn’t know what had caught him.
“You stupid muthafucka! How dare you take up for another bitch? I’m glad you showing your real colors,” Nia said, slapping Marcos across the face.
Marcos just stood there and took the blows.
“This is the muthafuckin’ thanks I get, bitch,” Nia said while spitting in Marcos’ direction.
With that, Nia scheduled an abortion for the next day, and, because she was so far along, she had to get a two day procedure. Of course, the nurses tried talking her out of it, and Marcos was constantly blowing up her phone, but Nia ignored his calls, making sure she had turned off the phone, so she didn’t have any interruptions. It was weeks before Nia forgave Marcos, but, that day, a part of him died when she killed his unborn.
Marcos started to curse out the driver for trying to take the streets.
“I told your rabbit ass to get on the freeway, cuz.”
The driver cursed back, but, then, he got on the freeway because he was afraid and didn’t want any drama.
Kendra was knocked out on the bed. Sleep had finally won and consumed her. All she knew was Zoo had left the room, but what she didn’t know was that Zoo had dropped a slim jim in the door once he closed it. That way he could gain entrance back into the room without a key. Zoo had laced the weed with rohypnol. Zoo knew that it wouldn’t take that long for the drug to affect Kendra. He waited outside the room for ten minutes before he made his move. Zoo crept back in the room, making sure he didn’t make any noise. It wasn’t by accident that he had followed Nicole to the hotel. Zoo had been trying to locate Trent after he got word that Trent had killed his baby brother JD and gotten away with his fifty grand. He, too, had been on a hunt for Trent like Red October. With no luck on finding Trent, he happened to stumble across Nicole. Zoo knew that, if he followed Nicole, she would lead him to Trent, but he didn’t know that Trent was pushing up dirt already. Zoo rented the room for the weekend. He knew, sooner or later, victory would be won.
Zoo made sure Kendra was sound asleep. He wasn’t sure when the drug would ware off. He didn’t want to kill her if she happened to wake up. Zoo left the door ajar, so he could slide out without any noise being made.
Marcos arrived at the hotel. He paid his fare. Then, he exited the cab. He’d had a long and exhausting night, and all he wanted to do was crash. Marcos had already thought of a plan, so he and Kendra could leave out of town. Their next destination was Texas, and he was quite sure that they would be able to adapt to their new surroundings. Marcos walked past the corridors and greeted the few workers that occupied the lobby. Then, he stopped to ask directions to the elevator.
“Aye, my man! Which way is the elevator?” Marcos asked.
The security guard pointed Marcos in the direction he needed to go, and Marcos thanked him and continued. Once Marcos entered in the elevator, he pressed the button for the seventh floor. Arriving on the seventh floor, Marcos walked out the elevator, pumped and a little anxious. He couldn’t wait to inform Kendra of their relocation and plans.
Marcos scanned the room doors for seven-fourteen. He wanted to hurry inside and bathe. As he got closer, he noticed a man dragging something out of the room. At first, Marcos brushed it off, thinking the man was from room service, until he noticed the Jamaican flag and the three little letters on his arm that spelled out the word ZOO. Marcos knew by looking at the tattoo who the man was. He was one of Jamaica’s top dope boy. Marcos reached in the duffle bag to retrieve his weapon. He cleared his throat to let the assailant know he had company.
The noise from Marcos clearing his throat made Zoo stop and turn quickly. He was met with the barrel of Marcos’s gun.
“Yuh don’t know what yuh getting yah self into, boi,” Zoo hissed.
Marcos laughed. Then, cocking his gun, he said, “Naw, my nigga. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”
Zoo threw the safe down which caused Kendra to jump from her sleep. She was still a little drowsy as she hopped out the bed to see what the ruckus was.
After dropping the safe, Zoo come back with an upper cut. The force from the blow made Marcos fall backwards.
“Mi told yuh, mi friend. Yuh don’t know what yuh was getting yuh self into. Yuh killed mi brother and mi must kill yuh,” Zoo said with fire in eyes.
He lunged for Marcos while he was still laid out on the floor. Zoo was throwing powerful punches, beating Marcos unconscious. The gun flew from Marcos’s hand and landed at in the entrance of their room.
Zoo kept pounding the defenseless Marcos. Kendra watched in horror and confusion. She couldn’t believe her eyes. The man that had helped her was the same man that was pounding on the only other man who had ever helped her. Still weak, Kendra struggled to pick the gun off the floor and, as tears filled her eyes, she pulled the trigger. Bullets flew wildly. At least two struck Zoo in his back and neck, but Zoo continued to pound on Marcos’s lifeless body. He was unaware of the bullets that had rippled through his body as Kendra crept up on Zoo. Then, she shot him in the back of his head execution style.
After the smoke cleared, Kendra leaned down to check Marcos’s pulse. It was very faint. She looked at his body and cried as she caressed his face.
“Why, Lord, why?” Kendra cried.
She knew it wouldn’t be much longer before people started appearing in the halls. Kendra said a silent prayer. Then, she ran back into the room to grab her purse. She wasn’t sure where her strength had come from, but she knew she had to get up and get out. Running towards the door, Kendra stumbled over the safe.
“Fuck!” Kendra exclaimed. She looked down at the safe and contemplated whether to take it or not. She used the wall to help lift herself up. After catching her breath, she tried to lift up the safe, but she found it too difficult to carry, so she used her feet to roll it out.
“Oh, Lord! Please help me find the strength,” Kendra prayed aloud.
She got her answer when saw a teenager by the stairwell. The teenager asked if she needed help. At first, she was hesitant, but she thought against it. She directed the teenager down to the first floor. Once they made it to the lobby, Kendra prepped the teen on what to say if they were stopped. Safely, they made it to her car. Kendra fumbled through her purse for her keys. She was just about to give up when the teenager dangled the keys in front of her.
“You dropped them before I picked this up,” the boy stated.
Kendra thanked him as she unlocked the doors and opened the back door. After she was squared away, she grabbed two hundred dollars out of her purse, handed it to him, and said, “Thank you once again.”
Kendra got inside her car, started the ignition, and was on her way.