Jay P pleaded for his life. “Please . . . don’t do this.”
The man fired three times at Jay P’s head and completely disfigured his cranium with large holes. Jay P’s body slumped in a pool of crimson.
Star, awakened by the commotion, was wide-eyed with terror and about to scream.
The man trained his gun on her. “You scream, you die.”
“I don’t wanna die,” she murmured, panic in her voice.
He glared at Star. He was only there for Jay P, not her, but she had seen his face. He locked eyes with the naked woman and said, “I’m sorry.”
“No!”
Pwoot! Pwoot!
He put one in her head and chest, and she lay there dead. He coul
dn’t take any chances.
***
Two days later, Jay P’s naked, bullet-riddled body was found in a park in Queens with half his head blown off. Someone had taken a razor and carved the word war into Jay P’s chest. A man walking his dog came across the gruesome sight in the early morning and immediately called 911.
The news quickly spread through the Tri-State. It was believed that Jay P was killed by one of Panamanian Pete’s men in retaliation for the death of his cousin and his missing $800,000.
***
Kip held Eshon in his arms as they lay in his bed, naked and chilling comfortably after two hours of passionate sex. She wanted to be held by him forever. Seeing Kip alive and in good health, she was able to breathe again. But for how long would she breathe freely until something else came up? But Eshon didn’t want to think about that. She wanted to enjoy Kip, his body, his kisses, his everything. It had been a breathtaking evening for her. For them. She and Kip went at it like they would never see each other again. She kissed every part of him, and she felt him so strongly when he came, it almost felt like her soul had lifted from her body for a second.
She toyed with his chest and rubbed her leg against his fine physique. She kissed his lips softly, looked into his eyes and uttered the words, “I love you.”
He looked at her, exhaled, and said, “I love you too.”
Eshon almost jumped up with joy. Her pussy throbbed. She truly didn’t expect that from him. Was Kip finally seeing the light with her? Was he changing? This had to be the best day of her life.
“I don’t want to lose you, Kip,” she said, as they stared into each other’s eyes.
“Where I’m gonna go?”
“This life you live, Kip, do you ever think—”
“Eshon, don’t even think like that. You know this is me, what I do, and you’ve been riding wit’ me for the longest. So don’t act like you brand new to this shit.”
“I know, but—”
“But what? What you think this is? The Cosby Show? You Claire and I’m Cliff? You know what my reality is, and how I survive out here.”
“But you got shot.”
“And I got stabbed, arrested, and shot before. I’m a thug, Eshon, and if you want a normal fuckin’ life, then you meet a normal fuckin’ man. I’m not that.”
And just like that, his saying “I love you too” to her went to shit in a heartbeat.
Just then, Kip’s cell phone rang. He reached over to answer it. It was Papa John calling him. “Yo,” he answered.
“I got news for you, nigga,” Papa John said, sounding a little upbeat.
“What is it?”