“What? And do what when you find him?” Diane wanted to know.
I stormed across the room and dug into a nearby closet, pulling several boxes before I found what I was looking for.
“When I find this muthafucka, I’ve got a bullet with his name on it.”
“Okay, you need to chill out,” Diane said. “You know the cops will find him.”
I looked at her, sucked my teeth, and tossed the gun into my bag. “I’m going to the studio; I’ll be back,” I said, leaving the rest of the ladies in the room in awe.
14
Chante
I could tell something was wrong the moment I knocked on the door and no one answered. I knew for sure they were home. It was as if they were just sitting there, listening to me knock. I reached for the knob, and without much effort pushed the unlocked door opened. “H-h-hello?” I started to reach for my piece, thinking something just wasn’t right. “Is everything okay?” I walked down the short hall slowly, not sure if I should have my weapon drawn already. When I rounded the corner, I was confused by what I saw.
Somber faces stared back at me. I looked around trying to figure out where Jada was. “Hey, guys, what’s going on?” I asked no one in particular.
Diane buried her face into the palms of her hands and started sobbing.
“What’s wrong?” I looked around at Diane and Simone. They sat there stone-faced, not even acknowledging my presence.
“Where’s Jada?”
That’s when Diane looked up at me. Her eyes were swollen and red from crying. “She went after him.” She cried. “She went after him and I’m afraid of what’s gonna happen when she finds him.”
I stepped closer to Simone. “Who’d she go after? What are you saying?”
Simone sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. “She went after Bullet. And I hope she finds his ass. Bella never hurt a soul. That muthafucka deserves exactly what he gets. I should’ve gone with her.”
I immediately started blocking Simone out. “How did she find him?” I asked Diane.
“She, um,” she said. Diane hunched her shoulders. “I don’t know. She just said she was going to the studio.”
“What studio?” I demanded to know.
“Triple Platinum,” Diane mumbled over her tears.
I turned to leave, but Simone grabbed my arm. “Where you goin’?”
“I’m going to find Jada.”
“I’m coming with you,” Simone said.
“No. You stay here and take care of Diane. Maybe Jada will change her mind and come back here. If she does, call me,” I told her and dashed out of there. I couldn’t allow Jada to go out like that.
Jada West
I was crying my eyes out when I got to the studio. I just hoped that he would be there. There were a lot of cars parked outside, so I didn’t want to walk in there waving my gun and yelling “Where’s Bullet!” Even though that’s what I wanted to do.
Then I got lucky. Bullet came out and walked to his car. I started mine and was about to follow him when he shut the door and went back inside. At least I knew he was there. So I turned off my car and waited.
A few minutes later a group of guys, including The One, came out, and within minutes, Bullet’s car was the only one left. I got out of my car and walked toward the door. As I passed his car I looked in the backseat. It was full of suitcases. He wasn’t getting away after what he’d done. I took out my gun and went inside.
It didn’t seem like there was anybody left in the building. Maybe Bullet had left with everybody else and I just missed him. That wasn’t likely; if he had come out, there was no way I’d miss him. And besides, if everyone was gone, why would they leave the door unlocked?
I wandered around the building looking in every room without success. “Where is he?”
As I continued my search, I began to hear the sounds of music playing and followed the sound. The closer I got, the louder the music became, the madder I got. I was so mad I couldn’t think straight. How could Bullet have done that to her? Bella was the sweetest, most kind and considerate, person I knew.