Wifey: Part 2

She responded, Yeah, we’ll talk. Working on something

She had to quickly make a move and get her ass in the streets, so she could at least give the FBI some of what they wanted.

Jasmine put her phone away, blew out some air from her lungs, and turned off the ignition. “Let’s go do this,” she said to Simone, even though Simone wasn’t getting a tattoo.

“You are crazy. On your neck? Jasmine, you sure you want to do this?”

“Positive!” Jasmine shot back as they walked toward the shop. “On my neck I am going to get a tattoo in cursive letters that says LOVE IS CURSED. And on my hand I’m going to get a cobra tattoo.”

“And you thought about this already?”

“Yup.”

***

Jasmine was excited by how her tattoos turned out. Her excitement didn’t last too long, though, because Agent Gosling was texting

her again and asking when could they meet.

Jasmine sent back Soon. Just give me a little more time. You’ll be happy.

And before should could look at her tattoos for a full five minutes, she began plotting and scheming about how she could quickly get close to Black Justice.

Twenty-One

Bebo’s wake was a mad house with people wall to wall. There were relatives, baby mommas, friends, undercover police and federal agents, and celebrities. Almost all of the members of Ghetto Mafia were present, but Nico, BJ, and Lorenzo, BJ’s cousin and right-hand man, were all noticeably absent.

As people milled about and huddled in their circles of two, three, and four, rumors about why Nico wasn’t there began to surface. Some people had heard that it was Bebo who had shot Nico’s girl, Jasmine. Others dismissed that rumor as nothing but bullshit, while still others believed it and fed into it. For those who believed it, they all agreed that Bebo was dead simply because Nico had retaliated, like any real man would have.

Others believed that the two masked men who had gunned down Bebo were BJ and Lorenzo because Nico would send his two lieutenants to carry out his orders for him, instead of doing the dirty work himself.

Two and a half hours had passed, and many people had kissed Bebo’s cold, lifeless body as it lay inside a twenty-thousand-dollar casket. The undercover cops and federal agents discreetly milled around and mixed in like regular mourners while subtly taking photos and video both inside and outside the funeral.

With about a half an hour left in the wake, Nico, BJ, and Lorenzo pulled up to the funeral home on Linden Boulevard in Nico’s Maybach, driven by Nico’s most trusted driver. Nico’s driver illegally parked the Maybach in front of the funeral home and got out and opened the rear door so that Nico, BJ, and Lo could exit the vehicle.

It was dark outside, and the curtains inside the Maybach were drawn, so no one knew who was inside, until Nico and his two homies emerged. Immediately the three of them began to get a lot of love from the different mourners.

“Keep ya head up, my niggas,” a Queens thug said to Nico, BJ, and Lo after he exhaled smoke from a blunt.

Nico nodded to him, and they kept it moving. Nico led the way, followed by BJ and Lo.

It seemed as if everybody wanted to give Nico a pound and a hug, and in the process it took them about twenty minutes to make it inside the funeral home. The three of them made their way to the front row of the mourners, and they each addressed the family one by one, shaking their hands and telling them that they were sorry for the loss they had suffered.

“Auntie Rose,” Nico said to Bebo’s aunt. He too called her auntie because she always cooked tons of food for him and all of Bebo’s crew, and she was like an aunt to everybody. “You was like a mother to Bebo, and you like a mother to me. That’s not going to change. Whatever you need, just let me know, and I’ll always be there for you,” Nico added directly into her ear while he held on to her hand.

Auntie Rose squeezed Nico’s hand and pulled him toward her, so she could now speak directly into his ear. “Just promise me you’ll find the people who killed my nephew.”

Nico didn’t know what exactly to say. He felt so fucked up at that moment, knowing that Auntie Rose was looking right at her nephew’s killer. “Most definitely.” Then he patted her on the shoulder and kept it moving.

By this time BJ and Lo were both already at the Bebo’s casket looking at his body. All BJ could think about was the day he had murdered Bebo, and now there he was standing at the casket, looking at his victim. Deep down inside he knew that he had carried out the proper justice because Bebo had broken codes of the street and therefore deserved to die.

Nico touched the side of the casket—a casket he had paid for—and stared at Bebo. All Nico could think was that they wouldn’t have been there if Bebo hadn’t tried to kill Jasmine and hadn’t let his ego get the better of him.

The three of them stayed at Bebo’s casket for about two minutes, and then one by one they turned and walked away from the casket and out of the funeral home. Lo took out a cigarette and offered one to BJ. Nico didn’t want one, but he stood on the steps of the funeral home while Lo and BJ smoked.

“That shit is fucked up,” Lo said.

BJ knew how to keep his mouth shut, so he had never even told his cousin Lo that it was him and Nico who had murdered Bebo.