“Why don’t you just take a couple of hundred that you got for Chilly and go get some more?” Natalie asked as she walked out of the bathroom and lay down on the bed.
“’Cause I ain’t tryin’ to live like that. Don’t you understand these muthafuckas ain’t no joke?” Bruce asked, slowly following her.
“Why not? I know you got more than you owe Chilly.”
“Did you hear what I been tellin’ you? I ain’t tryin’ to do that.”
Just then, a loud knocking at the front door startled them. “Go see who that is,” Bruce said.
“Yeah, but I still don’t see why you can’t take some of that money and go do what you gotta do,” Natalie whined as she got up to answer the door.
Bruce lay down on the bed, but got up immediately and went back in the bathroom. He checked to see if any pieces of rock had fallen on the floor. Not finding any, he began to think about getting some of that money and going to do what he had to do, as Natalie suggested. Then he heard Natalie scream.
“Stop! You can’t come in here like that!”
Bruce rushed out of the bedroom to find four masked men in the living room. Two of them were holding Natalie while she screamed her ass off and struggled to get free. One man was tearing up the living room. The other just stood there. “Shut her the fuck up,” he said as Bruce came into the room.
“What the fuck is this?” Bruce screamed. “Let her go!”
“Chilly sends his regards,” the man said then punched Bruce in the face. Bruce hit the ground hard, but got right up. The man hit him again, and Bruce went down. This time he stayed there.
One of the men who was holding a still struggling Natalie tore the shirt off her back, leaving Natalie naked except for her panties. He quickly ripped the shirt in half. He spun Natalie around and hit her hard in the face then used the shirt as a gag to keep her quiet. He tied her hands behind her back and started to fondle her breasts.
Brandy heard the commotion in the front room and immediately knew what time it was. She had feared this day would come. She locked her door and went into her closet to hide, quickly pulling clothes off the hangers and pouring all of her dirty clothes on the floor. She lay on the floor and tried to pull as many clothes as she could on top of herself. She lay there, shaking and listening.
“Where the fuck is the money, Bruce?”
“I got the money, man! There ain’t no need for all this!”
The man stepped up and kicked Bruce in the face. “Where is it?” he asked and kicked him again, this time in the gut. The man pulled out a.45 with a silencer and pointed it at Bruce.
Bruce screamed in pain. “It’s in my bedroom. I’ll get it. Just don’t hurt her,” he begged, watching the two men feeling on Natalie. His next thought was for Brandy.
The man with the gun signaled for the one who was searching for the money to go look in the bedrooms. He went down the hall and stopped in front of Brandy’s door. “It’s locked!” he yelled when he turned the knob. He kicked it in, then went inside and began to look around.
There was terror in Bruce’s eyes when he saw the man go in Brandy’s room. “Not that room! The other one!” A feeling of relief came over Bruce as he watched the man come out of Brandy’s room and go into his.
“Where?” the armed man asked.
“In the closet. In a shoebox on the shelf.”
“You hear that?” the armed man yelled.
The searcher went into the closet and found the box. He opened it up and got the money, counting it as quickly as he could. Once he was finished counting, he yelled, “I got it!” and stuffed some of the money in his sock.
“Bring it here,” the armed man commanded.
The searcher came out of the room and brought the money to the armed man. “How much is it?” he asked Bruce.
“There’s five thousand dollars there. The four grand I owe Chilly and another grand for making him wait. But you can keep the other grand. Just leave my wife alone,” Bruce pleaded with the armed man.
He began to slowly count the money. His eyes narrowed and he counted it again. “There’s only forty-five hundred here, nigga.”
“I swear, man, I had five grand in that box,” Bruce said. Both he and the armed man looked at the searcher.
“Where the rest of the money?” He pointed his gun at the searcher.
“That’s all there was, man. He’s lyin’,” the searcher insisted.
“I don’t think so. Why would he lie? You got that money, muthafucka!” He shot the searcher once in the face.
“Oh, shit!” Bruce said. Natalie’ eyes bucked open and Brandy put her hand over her mouth at the sound of the blast.
The armed man turned to one of the men who was holding Natalie. “Search him. It doesn’t take two of y’all to hold that bitch.”
Before doing as he was told, one of the men stuck his hand in Natalie’s panties. “I’ll be back for you, baby.” Natalie struggled to break free, but it did her no good.
He rolled the searcher over so he wouldn’t have to look at his face. He went though his pockets and found nothing. “He ain’t got it.”
“Check his socks and in his drawers,” he commanded.
Once again, his orders were followed. “You were right. Nigga had it in his sock.”
“Y’all got what you came for, man. Why don’t y’all just go? Tell Chilly I’m sorry. It will never happen again,” Bruce said.
“Search the joint. Make sure there ain’t no more money up in this bitch.”
“There ain’t no more money here, man.”
“No, Bruce, I think there is. You’re in too big a hurry for us to bounce. There’s something else in here.”
The man went off and began his search in Brandy’s room. Bruce closed his eyes and prayed that Brandy had left the house while they were getting high. When he opened his eyes and looked at Natalie, she was completely naked, bent over a chair. Her captor was standing behind her.
“Look what I found!” he said, dragging a kicking and screaming Brandy by the arm. He threw her on the couch. “I found her fine, young ass hiding in the closet.”
“So, that’s what you was hidin’, huh, Bruce?”
“Please don’t hurt my baby, man. Please,” Bruce begged with tears rolling down his cheeks.
“You need a little something to remind you that Chilly ain’t nobody to be fuckin’ around with, Bruce. Fuck them bitches.”
“No!” Bruce yelled. “Don’t do that! I won’t fuck with Chilly’s money no more!”
Bruce watched as the man pulled Brandy’s pants off. She struggled to resist him. He hit Brandy in the head several times, then pulled down his pants and put his hand over her mouth. Bruce jumped up from the floor in an attempt to pull the man off Brandy, but before he could get to him, the armed man beat Bruce back down to the floor.
While the man kicked away, Bruce looked at Natalie. As her assailant forced himself inside her, Bruce saw the pain and anguish in her eyes. He heard her muffled cries. Then he looked at Brandy.
He tried again to get off the floor, but his attempt was met by the barrel of a gun. “Open your eyes, nigga, and see what happens when you fuck with the wrong nigga.” The man kicked Bruce in the face.
Brandy reached out and grabbed the lamp next to the couch. She hit her attacker in the back of his head with the base of the lamp. It stunned him long enough for Brandy to push him off.
“Run, Brandy!” Bruce yelled.
But Brandy was way ahead of him. She ran out the front door.
“Go after her!” the armed man yelled. Natalie’s attacker went out the door after Brandy. Natalie tried to run out too, but before she made it to the door, the armed man grabbed her and threw her to the floor.
Brandy didn’t look back. She ran into the streets, screaming as loudly as she could. “Help me, please! Somebody help me!”
She heard the sound of footsteps coming up quickly behind her as she rounded the block. One old man came out of his house. “What’s going on out here?”
“Mind your business, old man,” Brandy’s pursuer warned. The man backed into his house. By that time, Brandy was out of sight. He turned around and went back to Bruce’s house.
“Where is she?” the armed man asked as he finished having his way with Natalie.
“I couldn’t catch her,” he answered, fearing the outcome.
“Fuck it. Let’s go.” He looked at Bruce, who was lying on the floor crying but still glad that Brandy had escaped. At the same time, he knew his fate.
The armed man raised his gun and pointed it at Natalie. “Watch your woman die.” He fired twice then turned the gun on Bruce.