The Last Chapter

a cool, calm, and freshly dressed Mecca saunter down the stairs. A machete hung from his hand.

“Damn, nigga, you ain’t done killing this bitch yet? This shit make your dick hard?” Mecca cracked, knowing that an erection would never be possible for Fabian again, thanks to Miamor.

“I wanted this bitch to hurt like I hurt. Bad girls die slow,” Fabian stated. “I just want to hear this bitch scream before I kill her.”

Mecca’s eyes opened wide in surprise as he looked around the room at the carnage that Fabian’s torture had produced. “You done used every trick in the book and you still can’t make the bitch holler?”

“Bitch ain’t human, fam,” Fabian replied.

Mecca chuckled mockingly as he shook his head. “You really are a bitch-ass nigga,” he mumbled as he approached Miamor, the blade of the machete screeching across the floor as he dragged it.

Miamor knew that the time for games was over. Mecca had not come back for nothing. He was there to end this, and there was no doubt in her mind that he would. He was the only nigga she had ever met whose murder game matched her own. Mecca would not hesitate. He would kill her without second guessing it. She knew this because if the shoe were on the other foot, he would already be a distant memory.

The faces of everyone she had ever loved flashed before her eyes. She closed them and welcomed the images: Murder, Anisa, Robyn, and Aries. They were all a part of her final fleeting thoughts, but the face the stuck out the most, the last person she thought of, was Carter Jones, the love of her life. He was the man who had showed her a love so strong, one that she knew she would have never been able to fully return. As much as she loved him, she did not deserve him, and he did not deserve the tyranny that she had brought into his life.

She had played a cat and mouse game with Mecca for too long; now it was time for the charade to end. The scent of Mecca’s Issey Miyake cologne invaded her senses as he bent down near her ear.

Miamor’s eyes remained closed as Mecca took in the image of her. Seeing her this way was poetic for him, a beautiful demise for an ugly situation. The two of them could never co-exist. Her day of reckoning had come.

“My man here feels like you owe him something. Now, I have a proposition for you. I think you’ve learned your lesson. I’m not usually a forgiving man, but if you apologize to Fabian here and you admit that you can’t fuck with me, then I won’t kill you. I’ll let you go, as long as you leave Miami… my city,” Mecca whispered in her ear. He wasn’t a nice guy and didn’t even imitate one well. He knew that he would never let Miamor live, but he wanted to hear her apologize, and he wanted to hear her admit that that she was beneath him… that he held the power… that only he could determine whether she lived or died.

Miamor bit into her inner jaw because she had never hated anyone more than she hated Mecca Diamond, and there were so many emotions pulsing through her body that she could not stop the hot tears from falling down her face.

“See, the bitch does cry,” Mecca pointed out to Fabian, who stood baffled behind him. “Now, tell me I’m the best, bitch. Let me hear you say it.”

Miamor’s body shook with rage as Mecca waited impatiently for her response. Blood poured out of her mouth as she hung in the balance between life and death. She was barely strong enough to hold her head up. As she opened her mouth, she whispered, “Come closer so you can hear me.” Barely audible, she waited until Mecca leaned close to her ear. She didn’t want him to miss a single word of what she was about to say.

“Say it, bitch. Give up your pride to save your life,” Mecca proposed as she breathed in his ear.

“You’ll never be the best, Mecca, because I’m the best. You can kill me, but it’ll never change the fact that I took everybody you ever loved away from you. You made a mistake when you killed my sister. You take one from me, I take two from you, and the rest of my people are in the wind. They’re untouchable. I did that. I made sure of that. If you were the best, you would have done the same. Every day for the rest of your life, you’ll think of Miamor, nigga. I promise you,” she whispered.

She kissed his cheek, instantly turning his skin cold and running shivers down his spine. It felt like the kiss of death, and Mecca stood to his feet with fire in his eyes. There was nothing he hated more than a slick-talking-ass bitch, but Miamor was like a pit bull; she never let go. Once she put her beam on somebody, nothing could stop her-nothing short of death.

Miamor closed her eyes as she allowed the last tear to fall, then she inhaled deeply before focusing on Mecca, staring him in the eyes. Although he hated her to his core, he knew that they were more alike than either of them had ever cared to admit, and he silently respected her and hated her all in the same moment. They both knew that she had just taken her last breath.

Miamor glared unflinchingly at him and waited for what she knew was to come. It was over, and in that instant, everything went black.

Candles laced the entire basement as the smooth sounds of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” danced through the airwaves. Marley had a way of speaking to a person’s soul and conveying his words on point and full of passion. Ma’tee felt this song more than ever as he closed his eyes and absorbed the powerful lyrics of the legend.

Plush velvet carpet, smells of relaxing lavender incense, and flickering candles all set the mood for what was to be Ma’tee’s grand finale. He stared at Breeze, who was lying in the bed dressed in a red lingerie set that he had picked up for her for their special day. He smiled as he looked at Breeze, who was in a dazed-like state, trying to raise her head from the pillow.

It seemed as though a fog had fallen over her. It was as if she were in a hazy dream as she tried to fight the sedation. Ma’tee looked on and smiled at her. “Don’t chu try to fight the drug, baby girl. Relax, me lady,” he instructed softly as he ran his fingers through her long hair. Ma’tee had heavily drugged her, as he did every night just before he made twisted love to her. In Ma’tee’s demented mind, Breeze Diamond was his woman, and he had fallen deeply in love with her over the time she had been in his clutches.

Breeze played the role to the tee as she pretended as if she were off point, but unbeknownst to Ma’tee, Breeze was as clear-headed as she had ever been. Uncharacteristically, Ma’tee had taken his eyes off of Breeze while giving her the drug. Breeze saw an opportunity, and took it by quickly spitting out the pill and pretending as if she had swallowed it. She was just waiting for the right time to make a dash for the stairs that led up to the main floor of Ma’tee’s home. Ma’tee was completely naked and ready to lay down with Breeze for the final time, because he had planned for that night to be their last.

As soon as he turns his back, I’m going for it, Breeze thought as nervousness overwhelmed her and her hands began to tremble. Ma’tee turned his back and walked over to the table where the nickel-plated.45 was placed. He was going to shoot Breeze in the head just before he took his own life. In his mind, it was a sure way for them to be together forever. Nevertheless, Breeze had another plan in mind. She was going to break away from Ma’tee-or die trying.

Breeze waited patiently for the right time to make her move and dart for the steps. As soon as Ma’tee’s back was totally turned, she took off running as fast as her petite legs could go. She hurriedly skipped two steps at a time, trying to climb to the top.

“Breeze!” Ma’tee yelled as he heard the commotion and saw her take off. He quickly took off after her, remembering that he hadn’t locked the door that led to the main floor. “Nooo!” he yelled as he gave chase up the stairs with the gun in his hand.

Breeze sprinted full speed and burst through the door. Her heart began to pound heavily as she was hit by the rays of sunlight shining through the blinds. It had been so long since she had seen sunlight that it was like a punch to the face. Breeze quickly shook off the initial shock and darted out of the basement door, desperately searching for a door to escape the spacious house.

As she frantically ran through the house, Ma’tee was right on her heels. Breeze knocked over lamps and chairs trying to evade his clutches and buy herself more time.

“Please! Let me go!” Breeze pleaded as she approached Ma’tee’s front door. But it was to no avail. He had two dead-bolts. She tried to unlock the door quickly, but by that time, Ma’tee had caught up with her and grabbed her from the back. Breeze kicked and screamed, but Ma’tee’s strength was too much for her to match. He wrestled her to the floor, and that’s when the tears began to pour from Breeze’s eyes. She knew that she was about to die. At that very moment, she lost all hope, and her soul no longer belonged to her-it was Ma’tee’s.

Ma’tee pointed the gun at Breeze’s head and prepared to pull the trigger. “Chu will forever be me lady,” he said as he pressed the barrel to Breeze’s temple.