about to change, but for the better.”
“I need to talk to you too, baby,” she told him, her voice still wavering a bit.
“Sharell, what’s wrong with you? Is Pop Top still there with you,” he asked suspiciously.
“Yes, he’s still here, with Hollywood. How soon do you think you can get here?”
“Me, Danny, and Lil Gunn are about to hop in a cab as soon as we grab our bags,” he told her.
“Baby, you’ve been gone for a while and we need to talk about some things,” she tried to choose her words carefully, but her nerves were affecting her thinking. “I need a few minutes alone with you before you get back to business.”
“Sharell, I know you so I know when something is wrong.”
“Gutter, this thing with these people you’re warring with has me scared, please just come out here, Gutter.”
“Please hurry, Gutter,” she pleaded before the line went dead.
“What the business is, cuz?” Lil Gunn asked, noticing the grim expression on Gutter’s face.
“I don’t know yet. Yo, Danny”-he turned to face his protege-“I’m gonna get the Charger from the parking lot and I want you and Gunn to hop in a cab to Harlem. Round up the troops and some straps and meet me in Long Island ASAP!”
“What the fuck is going on?” Danny asked, ready to spill more blood.
“I ain’t sure just yet, but I know something is funny. I gotta go check Sharell.”
“Loc, if you’re about to walk into a situation I’m coming with you,” Danny said.
“I don’t know what it is. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but if something is popping, we’re gonna need more than just the.40 caliber I got stashed in the car. Just get to me as soon as you can,” Gutter said, unbuckling his seat belt and bull-rushing his way down the aisle.
“YOU DID good, baby girl,” Major Blood sneered. He was standing directly across from Sharell. Satin sat in the chair in front of him with a gun pointed at her head. “In a few hours all this will be over. Play your cards right and you might live through it.”
“You think he’s gonna go for it?” Pop Top asked from the kitchen doorway. He was chomping on a turkey sandwich.
“Oh, he’ll go for it. Even if he does suspect something, he ain’t gonna come in here dumping all crazy with his bitch in the house.” Major Blood nodded at Sharell. “You made the right choice, Top. Better to live as a traitor than to die as a martyr.”
“Pop Top, I always knew you was a scandalous muthafucka, but I never figured you for a rat, cocksucker!” Hollywood barked. He was sitting in a wooden chair near the front door.
Pop Top grinned before slapping Hollywood on his bandaged face. “Shut yo pussy ass up, nigga. Fuck you and fuck Gutter. That nigga got our soldiers dying in the streets over his bullshit. I’m trying to bring the glory back.”
“Glory?” Hollywood snickered through bloody lips. “Nigga, not only are you a fucking turncoat, but you’re delusional too. I might die in this house today, but best believe your ass won’t be too far behind. Gutter is gonna waste you, faggot!”
Pop Top went to swing on Hollywood again, but Major Blood stopped him. “Enough of this bullshit, Pop Top. Gutter will be here soon and we’ve got plans to make. Tito,” Major Blood called to his general who had come to join him after the hit on Rico, “everything set up?”
“Yeah, I got a few nigga spread around the house and a lookout on the corner. As soon as Gutter gets here, we’ll know about it,” Tito informed him.
“Excellent. Eddie”-he turned to his other general-“take all three of these bitches down to the basement”-he motioned toward Satin, Sharell, and Hollywood-“and sit on ’em. Anybody get fly, you know what to do.”
“I got you, Blood,” Eddie said, hurrying to do as he was told.
Major beamed at his perfectly laid plan. “Now, all we gotta do is wait for the guest of honor so we can get the party started. I always fill my contracts.”
GUTTER BURNED up the Long Island Expressway like a man possessed. For the last twenty minutes he had been trying to contact his crew with no results. High Side, Bruticus, C-style, nobody was picking up. He even tried to call Pop Top, only to get the voice mail. He tried to tell himself that he was just being paranoid, but in his heart he knew something was wrong. The next call he placed was to Danny, who confirmed what he’d already suspected, knowing Major Blood and how he operated. Bruticus and C-style were dead and Harlem was in chaos, which only confirmed Gutter’s suspicions that a bad situation had gotten considerably worse. Danny, Gunn, and several more homeys from the set were hot on his heels. They were scheduled to arrive moments after Gutter, but he couldn’t wait for them. He had to get to his wife.
Gutter was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he almost missed his exit. He almost caused an accident as he cut across three lanes and took the ramp at twenty miles above the posted speed limit. The Charger fishtailed; through the grace of Allah he managed to get it under control before wrecking.
The Charger moved almost soundlessly through the Long Island streets, ignoring stop signs and traffic signals. It was a miracle that he didn’t get pulled over en route, but he had made it to the house without incident. As he slowed near the house he saw Pop Top’s Ford in the driveway, along with Sharell’s ruined X5. He was so focused on the house that he didn’t even notice the young man sitting in the Lincoln watching him pass by.
Instead of pulling up in the driveway, Gutter parked on the street. He scanned the house for signs of movement, but didn’t see anything. Checking the clip of his.40 caliber, he slid from the car and moved cautiously up the driveway. Placing his ear to the door he couldn’t hear anything, which was strange. Pop Top was a loudmouth by nature, so the eerie silence unnerved him. When he tried the knob he found the door was unlocked, definitely a bad sign. Sliding a bullet into the chamber he walked into the setup.
chapter 44
EDDIE PACED the basement floor nervously. Through the small window he could see Gutter coming up the driveway with a pistol in his hand. Shit was about to get real ugly, real quick.
“Why the long face?” Hollywood taunted from the chair where he was tied. He craned his neck and saw the bottoms of Gutter’s sneakers. “I see death has come calling.”
“You shut you fucking mouth, crab!” Eddie shouted.
“You know it ain’t too late. All you gotta do is cut us loose and I’ll see to it that you don’t catch the same hell your homeys are about to.”
Eddie looked like he was considering it, then his face went hard again. “I ain’t no fucking traitor.”
“Aren’t you? You know the word is out about Hawk getting killed in Harlem. The UBN might not know off top, but ain’t nothing slow about the big homeys. It’s only gonna be a matter of time before they put two and two together and what do you think is gonna happen then?” Hollywood smiled. The whole time he taunted Eddie, he was working on the phone cord that bound him to the chair.
“Shut up!” Eddie snarled in his face.
“What, you put off by a little truth? Eddie, you and I both know that you’re the low man on the pole, and it’s usually the low man who gets it the worst. Major Blood has got you in a whole world of shit that’s gonna blow up in your damn face. Right now, I’m your only chance. You let us go and Harlem will make sure you get to higher ground before the flood. If not, you might as well put that pistol in your mouth and take the easy way out, pussy, because either way you’re done!”
“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?!” Eddie lashed out and kicked Hollywood’s chair over, which is what he had hoped. The impact cracked the back of the chair and loosened the phone cord that had been binding his arms.
“Hollywood!” Sharell screamed, drawing Eddie’s attention to her.
