Maserati Meek cursed, banged his fists against the dashboard, and shattered the window with the butt of his pistol. Somehow a stranger had outsmarted him, and the fate of his parents was unknown.
***
The door to the dark and moldy basement opened, and The Kid, Papa John, and Devon descended the wood stairs and entered into the concrete room where Shahib Abu and Asma Mudada were barely alive. The couple lay in waste and blood, their movement sluggish.
The men were extremely happy. They were rich men. The heist had been implemented without any problems. It was all thanks to a man named Spirit—whom The Kid used to chat with and had befriended while gaming online. Spirit was also a mechanical engineer, and they were able to obtain the money without incident or exposure because of his hi-tech creation. Who would have thought—drones? Not in a million years.
The Kid looked down at the Mudadas. He had no more use for them. They were dead weight now—despicable to themselves and mankind. The Kid had never intended to set them free. He wanted them to die—to suffer first, and then die. He removed a .45 from his waistband and stepped to Asma first. He pointed the barrel of the gun at her face and fired—Boom! Her brains decorated the concrete floor. He stepped to the husband next and aimed his gun at his head, and did the same—Boom! The bullet tore through his forehead and sprayed his blood everywhere.
Papa John and Devon simply watched the execution in silence. It was still a shock to see Kid kill. He was more heartless and colder than Kip.
“Bury these muthafuckas somewhere. Meek will never see them alive again, nor will he see them dead.”
“What about Meek?” Devon asked.
“What about him?” The Kid replied.
“He’s still breathing.”
“And?”
“I thought we wanted him dead too.”
“I wanted him to feel the pain I felt when he took my brother from me, and now he’s gonna feel it. We took three million dollars from him, kidnapped and killed his parents—and he’ll be left in the dark wondering who it was. I think that’s pain enough,” The Kid proclaimed wisely.
But Devon was still longing to kill Maserati Meek.
“Trust me. Meek will pay for his crimes. Listen, we’re about to retire from this shit and live a good life someplace far from here. Let’s get the girls and go,” The Kid said.
Shahib Abu Mudada and Asma’s bodies were left buried in a deep grave in upstate New York. It brought pleasure to The Kid knowing that Maserati Meek would never know where his parents were and that he would never be able to give them a proper burial.
***
There was still no word from Ghost, or any clue what had happened to his parents. Maserati Meek had waited impatiently for a call that never came. He knew that he would never see his parents alive ever again. The rage and fury that bubbled inside of him nearly turned his blood into melting lava. With Panamanian Pete dead, Kip and his little brother and crew dead, he had no idea who had taken his three million dollars and most likely killed his parents. The individual who named himself Ghost had done just that—he became a ghost.
Meek vowed to find this person and skin him alive—and make him pay drastically for all he’d taken from him. It wasn’t over. He was willing to spend his last dollar on finding this Ghost and implementing his revenge.
36
The Kid had help with getting his wheelchair out the yellow cab, and he had help into the cemetery where his brother was buried.
“I got it from here,” he told the driver. “Give me ten minutes.”
The driver nodded and walked back to his cab parked on 155th Street. It was dawn, with the sun bright in the sky and the temperature soon to reach ninety degrees. It felt like the perfect time for a visit.
Clutching some flowers, Kid wheeled himself toward his brother’s grave. He hadn’t been to it since the funeral, and he felt self-c
entered for taking this long to visit Kip. He reached the grave and placed the flowers against the stone. He released a deep sigh and stared at the writing on the granite. He managed to smile, and then he frowned.
“I know I haven’t been around to visit you lately, but I felt that I couldn’t come around until I corrected things—until I avenged your death, Kip. I miss you so much.”
He sat silent for a moment, overwhelmed with grief and nostalgia. Being there was taking a lot out of him, but Kid felt he needed to be strong. He had come a long way. He looked around the area, making sure that he was completely alone. He was. So he slowly removed himself from the wheelchair and stood over his brother’s gave. He lowered himself down on his knees and dropped his head as if he was about to pray.
He released a heavy sigh. “I destroyed that muthafucka for you, Kip. I got him good. I made him pay for what he did to you. He took you from me, so I took his parents from him, and I took his money. I outmaneuvered Maserati Meek, Kip. You should have seen me. I know you would have been proud of me.”
Kid’s knees pressed into the grass. He placed his hands against the tombstone and traced his brother’s name carved into the granite with his fingertips. He was silent for a moment.
“I have a confession, Kip. I’ve been able to walk for more than five years. I know you wanted to see me walk when you were alive and I kept that from you. I don’t know why, but it tears me up to know that you died thinking I was still a cripple when you tried your best to get me the best physical therapy money could buy. And me being foolish, I kept it a secret from you to keep you close to me. It haunts me that I did that to you. I’m sorry about that, Kip. I truly am. And I’m going to have to live with it for the rest of my life.”