The Beast ( Dave East )

16

16. The Dark Side of Liya Reed

Liya Reed

I was born in September in the projects where people hustled and killed to get what they wanted. I was surrounded by violence and death that I knew if I wanted to make it into this world, that I didn't need to stoop down to their level. I didn't want to become a stripper, drug dealer, or a gold digger just to get what I wanted: which was to be someone's Queen. The first time I saw someone die was when I was 13 when my father came back into my life after my mother died. He took me away from the projects and just put me in another. I call him father and not dad because to me he was only a sperm donor who only cared about his job and how many hoes he could fuck. Years passed and by the time I was 20, my father and I worked on our relationship. We went from barely speaking to having a half functional relationship.

The night I witnessed death was the night that changed my entire life. Father brought me to his job which was at some club, I don't remember the name of. He told me to sit in the lounge and do nothing, but being me I was rebellious. I met this guy who I didn't know was working for my dad. He was 2 years older than me and had the sexiest blue eyes. We flirted back and forth and the next thing I knew we were in the bathroom making out. He tried to get frisky and I told him no which I thought was cool at first, but he got angry. He locked the bathroom door and forced me on my hands and knees. He raped me and showed no remorse. When he was finished with me, he called me a slut and told me if I ever told anyone that he'll kill me. I ran out of the bathroom scared out of my mind. Weeks passed and father knew something happened that night and as a gift to me, he kidnapped the guy who raped me and tied him up in our basement. Father tortured him right in front of me. His screams filled the room, but I refused to let him get away with hurting me. When he was bloody and down to his last breath, father gave me his smith western and I put two bullets in his head. I was 18.

Father told me, "Never let anyone take your power from you. If you want people to respect you and for people to fear you, you do it by putting them in their place. No matter who you have to kill." What I learned that day was that you can't let people run all over you. You gotta be strong enough to make sure you put the fear in peoples eyes. I didn't take shit from no one after that. I became the daughter my father wanted me to be and because of him we ran the projects and instead of being that scared little girl, I became a strong badass woman.

You know when you think everything is going good, but then something ruins it. That's what happened when my father was killed and in front of me no doubt. Father and I were celebrating his birthday and we were at a restaurant. I was giving him his present when all of a suddenly, bullets flew threw the window killing my dad. I was pissed and so angry that I didn't think losing him would mean so much to me. My dad was a great man and he taught me the value of life. And for that I'll always be grateful to him and the things that he stood for. I didn't think I could open up my heart up again to anyone until I met Jaceyon or Dre.

Dre became an important part of my life when he treated me different from the way other guys did. Other guys feared me or didn't want nothing to do with me, but Dre was different. I fell in love with him quickly. We ran those projects like it was nothing. We became the Bonnie and Clyde to the Los Angeles underground. We became inseparable. We became an empire. But all good things must come to an end because Dre went to jail for getting caught with drugs. He served five years in prison and during those five years, I was with another man who eventually grew tired of me because in his eyes, I wasn't enough. Out of anger and spite of him, I killed his entire family, hoping he understood what it felt like to be alone and to be hurt by the ones who you thought would always be there for you. He has no idea but watching his family die was the most beautiful and satisfying thing you could ever know. I was vengeful and I didn't give a damn what was right and what was wrong.

Soon after Dre got out on a count of good behavior. We resumed our lives together and the guy who I was with when Dre was away, worked with him. I never said anything because what was the point, the damage was done. But something was different about Dre. He seemed less stone cold then I wanted him to be. Instead of trying to get our empire back on track, he decides to dial down and just run business from the house. He was paranoid because he was threatened in prison by some powerful mob boss. He wasn't the Dre I remembered. He wasn't the Dre I loved. He became soft and in this line of work, you can't be soft. It makes you weak. It makes you a dead man.

Father.
My rapist.
Dre.
My replacement.

Men who have fallen because of their emotions. Besides father, these were the men who I thought could treat me the way I should be treated. I will have my empire. I will have what I've been wanting. I will be queen. And nobody is gonna take that away from me. And if they try, they'll be getting a bullet.

I am me after all.