TAKEN

Why the Sudden Change?

August


I tapped my thumb against the hard steel tucked inside my jeans, as I stood with a sinister smile. I watched a local drug dealer by the name of Keith, as his head hang low and chest heaved up and down. He sat beaten and tied to a wooden chair in the middle of the floor. Me, Deuce and my Haitian shooters had just bombarded his trap house and offed all of his workers who were present at the time.

Keith and I had seen each other around. I'd known of him for years and I'd never known of him to have any beef with me, but word spread pretty fast to me that Keith had a plan to take me out. So, I decided to pay him a visit. I thought it was brave of him, but stupid as shit. From what I'd heard, he felt I was in the way and him and his boys were dead set on putting me and my crew six feet under so they'd be able to take over our territory. Little did he know... he had no chance. Get rid of me? That'd be quite the task.

I cleared my throat, "Keith. Nice to see you, nigga." I grinned, "Bet you weren't expecting to see me, though, huh? At least not like this anyway." I began walking back and forth in front of him as Deuce and my Haitian homies, Bronte and Serge, stood close behind. A few of their workers were in attendance as well. "I don't wanna keep you too long, so I'm gonna try to make this as short as I can." I let my gaze meet him as my facial expression transformed into a more serious one.

I walked over to him and roughly grabbed his face, making him look to me. "The fuck were you thinkin', bitch? Hm? Thought you could take me out?" I whispered. I furrowed my eyebrows, "Somebody should've told you about me, young. Everybody know don't shit get past me and my people. I got eyes and ears every where in the streets." I let my grip get tighter on his face and he groaned. I narrowed my eyes at him while shaking my head.

"Comin' for me wasn't smart, Keith. Wanna know what it was?" He tried pulling his face free. "Suicide!" I pushed his face roughly out of my grasp with a look of disgust. He said nothing. Not one word. Nigga couldn't even look at me.

"Wanna kill a nigga, but can't even look me in my face. Pussy. What kind'a man are you?" I spat.

He slowly raised his head, locking his eyes on mine. "Fuck you." He hissed. I gritted my teeth and nodded, turning my back to him. I closed my eyes as I moved my head from side to side, cracking my neck. Those would be the last words he'd ever speak. I began forming a cross with my index finger, from my forehead to my chest and from one shoulder to the other. I asked God for forgiveness as I reached for my silver .45. With no hesitation I quickly turned around, putting a bullet directly in the center of Keith's head.

I watched emotionlessly as his head slumped backwards. I slipped my gun back in my jeans and gave Bronte a head nod. He nodded back before speaking. "Debarase m de kò yo." He ordered his workers to get rid of Keith's body. I won't lie - I wasn't the type of dude who liked killin' niggas. Like Pac said, 'I ain't a killer, but don't push me.' And it seemed like my ass got pushed a lot. Regardless, I didn't have a problem doing it if I had to.

I grabbed a duffle bag of money sitting on a nearby table before walking out. I tossed the bag into the trunk of my black Audi before hopping inside, with Deuce taking his place on the passenger's side. Bronte walked over, "It's handled." He spoke again, exposing his thick Haitian accent and decent English. I nodded, "Respect. Just know, whenever you need anything... we got it." Deuce nodded in agreement.

Bronte saluted me and backed away from the car, heading over to his. I started mine and began revving the engine. I slid my shades on and sped off before seeing Keith's trap go off into flames in my rear view. There are some people you just shouldn't fuck with, no matter how tough, powerful or respected you feel you are. I was one of those people.
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I bobbed my head as 'Get TF Out My Face' by Rich Homie Quan blasted through my speakers as I headed back home. I rolled my window down before pulling out a blunt, lighting it. I took a drag and passed it to Deuce. "That shit was easy." He spoke over the music, referring to taking out Keith and his boys. "Hell yeah. We both knew it would be. Now we can focus on this weekend." I removed my hood from my head. He nodded, "So, what's up with the new girl?" He blew smoke, then looked over to me. I raised a brow, not sure of what he was asking. "What you mean?" I asked as he hit the blunt again.

"You fucked?" He managed to ask while holding in smoke. That dude was always talking about fuckin' bitches. I would tell him all the time that a female would end up being his downfall. I took the blunt, taking a long drag. I held the smoke in my lungs for a few seconds before I blew it from my nose, "Nah." I said, simply.

I thought back to earlier in the day when she did her lil pole dance. The way she looked at me when she made her ass clap made me wanna bend her over and fuck the shit out of her right where she stood. Shit was sexy, and I was surprised to see she had it in her to dance the way she did.

Deuce shook his head, "And why not? I bet she ride it good. You saw how she worked that pole earlier. That one is gonna be emptyin' niggas pockets."

He reached for the blunt, but instead of passing it to him, I took another drag. My eyes were becoming low as I looked to him then back to the road. "I just ain't tryin' to fuck, nigga. But, I 'ont know, son. Kody different from the other girls. I still don't know if she even fit for the team."

I passed him the blunt, "She come off as a good girl to me, bruh. She'll probably freeze up when I put her in that type of environment."

Though Kody was catching on to everything, I still doubted she'd be able to deliver when it all came down to it. We actually had an event coming up that weekend, and I knew I definitely wasn't gonna have her working the floor.

"Since when you gave a fuck about anybody freezin' up?" Deuce paused, looking at me like I had a third eye.

That was a question even I wanted the answer to. I normally could care less about how prepared any of my girls were. I just wanted them to go and make money. But, for some reason I wanted to be sure Kody was ready before I let her do anything. I waved him off, "Since now. I don't need her fuckin' shit up, ya' heard me." I half-lied. I didn't want her fuckin' up my business, but that wasn't my reason for caring. I knew it wasn't. To be honest, I didn't know what my reason for caring was.

"Quit talkin' so much, young. Pass the blunt." I ended the conversation and me and Deuce continued smoking, passing the blunt back and forth. It was gone by the time we reached the house, giving us a pretty good high.

We grabbed the duffle bags from the trunk and went inside. No one was downstairs, so we continued upstairs to the second floor, where me and the girls' rooms were. I turned to Deuce, reaching him the duffle bag with the money, "Put that in the safe." The safe was a camouflaged room, kind of like the work room. Only members of the team knew where the doors to both rooms were and how to open 'em. He nodded and walked off.

I headed towards my bedroom, but stopped in my tracks when I reached Kody's door. I decided to give it a knock and a few seconds later she appeared wearing just an oversized t-shirt. Her hard nipples peeking through assured me she wasn't wearing a bra. I looked her over, inviting myself in. Amelia, who had been laying across the bed, knew that was her cue to leave. She gave Kody a look before she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Kody took a seat at the head of her bed, just looking at me. It wasn't the usual look she gave me - the shy, somewhat timid and innocent one. This one was different. It was neutral and unphased. Her gaze, which would normally break before mine, stayed on me. I squinted my already low eyes, taking a seat beside her.

"Made your call today?" I asked. Because of her situation, I was making it a point to keep up with her contacting any family or friends.

She licked her lips, folding her arms beneath her breasts. "Yes." She answered, simply. I wrinkled my forehead, "Ok? And who did you call?" I asked with a bit of base in my voice, assuming she was giving me attitude because of her short response.

"My best friend, Ambre." She tilted her head to the side, rubbing her neck, "Don't worry... I kept it short." She gave me a look, as if she knew something I didn't. I decided to ignore it. My eyes scanned her body briefly, from her titties to her thighs and then back.

"We have an event this weekend. I'm sure Dutchess let you know." I said, after regaining my focus. She nodded. "I'm not havin' you work." I finished.

She shook her head, "Look... if you're worried about me fuckin' you over, I'm not. I know I'm here under different circumstances than the rest of the girls, and you probably don't trust me, but I'm still one of them." She looked me in my eyes as she spoke, and for whatever reason the shit seemed genuine to me. I'd thought about her having the opportunity to snitch and try to get away during the party, but I honestly wasn't worried about that. Majority of the people who would be in attendance were close friends of mine in the drug world, and I assumed Kody was too smart to try anything that dumb.

"Oh, nigga ain't worried 'bout that." I said cockily, "I just don't think you ready, to be honest. You only been around a li' over a week... way too inexperienced. Just 'cause you can make your ass clap and slide down a pole without bustin' your face don't mean you ready for the big leagues, baby."

She smiled, snickering a bit. I narrowed my eyes at her. I was dead serious about my business and what I'd said, so I couldn't understand how she managed to find anything to laugh about at the time. "What's funny?" I asked, as serious as can be. She raised her hand in defense while shaking her head, "No, I'm sorry. It's just your accent. It's really thick. The way you say 'baby'... it's..." She didn't finish, looking as if she was trying to figure out how to finish the sentence.

"It's what?" I asked, not really caring what she felt it was. Being a New Orleans nigga, I always got comments about my accent. The shit was actually pretty annoying. Bitches always wanted me to say all kinds of shit, just to see how it would sound coming from me. 'Baby' was a popular request. She shrugged nonchalantly, "Cute, I guess."

I smirked, "Try not to wet your panties."

She rolled her eyes, "Don't worry. My panties are just fine." She gave me a smirk of her own, "But, about this weekend - I guess I get it. So, what do I do?" I was surprised at how cooperative she was being all of a sudden. As if she was actually interested and willing.

I scratched my head, "Simple. Just sit, look cute and observe. Get a feel for how shit goes. That's it." I watched her as she nodded slowly, looking down at nothing in particular. "So, why the change all of a sudden?" I asked, unable to pretend like she wasn't acting different.

Her face made it evident she was confused, "You mean?"

"You actin' like you actually give a fuck." I pulled my gun from my jeans, looking it over. She looked at it, then me. "I do. I'm here, right? Won't be going anywhere any time soon, so I might as well do my shit the way I'm supposed to." She rose to her knees and reached for my gun. I moved it away quickly.

"Don't bullshit me. After a week, you so down all of a sudden? I thought your loyalty lied with your fuck boy, Ahmad. Remember him?"

She frowned, falling back to her seat. "Serious? As if you give a shit about my loyalty to him. Or me and him, period. You want his head! And all you care about is how much cash I can bring in." She snapped. "Loyalty? My loyalty lies with whoever the fuck is loyal to me." She spoke in a tone that shocked me and, not to mention, one that was too damn high for my liking. I obviously struck a nerve, 'cause she clearly had become upset.

She folded her arms and looked away from me. I wanted to be mad and put her ass in her place for talking to me like she had forgotten who I was, but I couldn't help but wonder what she'd meant by that last part.

I grabbed her face with my free hand, making her look at me. "What's that supposed to mean? And lower your fuckin' voice this time." I warned.

She sighed, moving my hand. She lowered her eyes, biting down on her bottom lip. "Ahmad's gonna be a daddy." She spoke softly, looking back to me. "And I'm not the one who's pregnant."

My eyes grew bigger, which wasn't much since they were still low from my slight high. I was then able to understand. Ahmad had cheated on her, fuckin' up whatever loyalty they had to each other. I thought the nigga was stupid in more ways than one. He clearly made the worst life decisions. "And you know this, how?" I asked, raising a brow. I felt bad for her, but I cared more about where she'd gotten her information and if she knew his whereabouts.

"My call today. Ambre told me." Her face was free of any emotion. She didn't even look upset anymore.

"You know where he is?" I asked, pointlessly. I didn't expect her to tell me shit. Regardless of if he had cheated on her or not, that was still a nigga she'd cared for. She would never give him away like that. She shook her head. As I knew she would.

"Of course not." I said, sarcastically.

"Believe what you want about me," She started, furrowing her brows. "But, I'm no liar. I probably don't know half of the shit I'm in for, but my mind is in a different place. I don't care how unfit you may think I am for this, but you chose me. Didn't you?"

I glared at her, not responding.

"You did. And for whatever fucked up reason... I want this. I'm willin' to work with you. Plus, I don't really have much of a choice. Remember?" She looked down to my pistol, then back to me. She was showing a side of herself that hadn't been exposed that whole week she'd been at the house. I liked it.

I rose from the bed, not moving my gaze from her. "Tomorrow is gun day. Teachin' you how to shoot." I disregarded everything she had just said. I licked my lips, satisfied with her new demeanor. Though I warned my girls to watch how they spoke to me, I took pride in them having the balls to say what the fuck they felt. Being in the game, you had to fear as little as possible.

"I want you dressed and ready to go by ten o'clock. And later in the day... you need to be downstairs for wardrobe. Erica got y'all some shit ready for the event." I grabbed my hat from the bed, preparing to leave. I leaned onto the bed, bringing my face close to hers. I lifted her chin with the front sight of my gun, "And the next time you decide to talk to me the way you did tonight... I'm gonna teach your ass a lesson. Got that?" I whispered.

She swallowed, looking under eyed to me. She bit her lip, "Yes, Daddy." She answered, quietly.

Her referring to me as 'Daddy' made a smirk spread across my face. Since she'd been in the house, she normally tried her damn hardest to avoid calling me anything. I removed the gun, "Good girl." With that, I left her room. I was curious to see how she was gonna fit in when we got down to business. If she could deliver, she had potential to be something serious. I still had my doubts, though. She was gonna have to make a believer out of me.

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COMMENT, COMMENT!

What do you guys think the event is gonna be like?

Think Kody's gonna stick to this new attitude? Will she fit in?


Don't forget to VOTE if you liked this update! Hope it was lengthy enough. Gonna try to update more frequently for you guys. Keep the love coming! xoxo.