Tale of the Murda Mamas

butterflies instantly appeared in her stomach. She flipped open her PDA and saw that she had an unread text message:

I’m on my way

She frowned when she read the message. “On your way where?” she asked aloud. Miamor searched the outbox of her phone, and her eyes widened in shock. I didn’t send these, she thought as she read through every one. They are going to set him up! Carter’s going to walk right into a trap! She put her hands over her mouth and speed dialed his number. Her anxious heart felt as if it would explode. She tapped her fingers impatiently against the desk as the phone rang in her ear. The voicemail popped on and she hung up to dial him again.

“Pick up the phone!” she urged nervously, knowing that Carter’s life rested in her hands. If Carter arrives at that warehouse, he’s dead, she thought. It wasn’t that she thought Carter was a punk, but she knew Murder would expire Carter on sight. When she received his voicemail again, she screamed in frustration. “Answer the fucking phone!” She tried to reach him once more, but to no avail. Either he wasn’t taking her calls, or Murder’s job was already complete.

She looked to see what time he had texted her last. I still have a half an hour, she thought. She was so overwhelmed that she wanted to cry, but now was not the time for her to bitch up. I have to get to him, she thought. I’m the only person who can stop Murder. I’m the only person who he won’t kill. It had been a long time since she had prayed, or since she had even believed in God, but for this, she raised her head to the sky and closed her eyes. Please don’t let Carter die. I need him.

She paced back and forth until finally Aries came back. Aries instantly recognized the fire in Miamor’s eyes. Miamor tossed the phone at Aries.

“How could you do this?” Miamor asked.

The look on Aries’ face established her guilt, but she responded, “We’ve done this a thousand times.”

“I love him!” Miamor yelled. “This time is different!” She took a deep breath, not wanting to overexert herself. She could feel the room start to spin. “Give me the keys,” she demanded.

Aries hesitated, but then handed them over without contest

She removed a chrome.45 from her waistline and passed it to Miamor as well.

Miamor brushed past her, and just before she exited the room, Aries called her name. “Mia!”

Miamor turned around and stared at her friend.

“I’m sorry.”

Miamor didn’t respond. She knew that if something happened to Carter, that her relationship with her girls would never be the same. She stormed out of the room, hopped into the rental car and sped off recklessly, praying that she was able to stop the madness before it was too late.

* * *

Carter pulled up to the vacant warehouse. It was one of the many stash spots that he had used to store guns and drugs. He sat in the car for a few minutes, trying to gain his composure. No matter what she says, it’s over. I can’t trust her, he told himself. He knew that once he saw her face, his emotions would try and override his intellect. He could not allow that to happen. A beautiful woman had been the downfall of many men. He refused to allow Miamor to lead him to a premature demise. She had showed shade. There was larceny in her heart, and because of that, he had to make a clean break.

He exited his vehicle and activated his car alarm, then proceeded into the building. He stopped walking in mid-step and turned around to return to his car. He popped the trunk and hit a button that caused the floor of the trunk to slide back, revealing an arsenal of weapons. He had to remember that he was no longer dealing with the woman he loved. He was dealing with a Murder Mama, and although he did not truly believe that Miamor would harm him, he was not about to walk in unstrapped and chance it. After Miamor’s confession, he had done his research on the Murder Mamas, and found out they were more treacherous than he could have imagined. Their work was exquisite, precise, and professional. Carter couldn’t imagine Miamor doing some of the jobs that he had heard she had pulled off, and a part of him was intrigued by the mystique of it all. The other part of him was enraged, because she had been hired to take down his family, including him. That put them at odds in a territory where love couldn’t exist. He had gone over all the possibilities in his head. There was no way under any circumstances that he would ever be with her.

* * *

“He’s here,” Robyn whispered down to Murder from the second floor. She had a perfect view of the parking lot, and from where she stood, she could easily shoot anything moving on the floor below. She would let Murder handle his business, but if things went awry, she would kill Carter. Robyn watched Carter walk up to the building, then all of the sudden he disappeared.

Murder waited behind the front entrance to sneak him from behind. After five minutes passed, Carter still hadn’t walked through the door.

“Yo, what the fuck the nigga doing?” Murder asked, trying to keep his voice low so that his presence wouldn’t be known in the warehouse.

“I don’t know. I can’t see him. He walked right up to the front door, then I lost sight-”

Robyn stopped speaking abruptly when she felt the cold kiss of death. Carter was standing behind her with his pistol to her neck. He wasn’t a fool, and he didn’t run the largest drug operation in Florida for nothing. He didn’t trust Miamor, and he was glad he had followed his gut instincts and entered the building through the secret entrance on the side of the building.

Carter peered over the ledge to see what he was going up against. He couldn’t believe that Miamor had tried to set him up. He could see Murder waiting for him, lurking with his gun already aimed, and he realized that if he had walked through the front door, he would have been shot at pointblank range.

“Murder?” Robyn called out loudly as she struggled against Carter.

Murder looked up to where Robyn hid and saw Carter walk out of the shadows with his gun drawn. Carter had an advantage over him. From where he stood, he could have easily shot him.

“Fuck is you?” Carter asked as he began to descend the steps, with Robyn in a chokehold. He surveyed the room looking for Miamor.

Murder smirked and aimed his gun at Carter.

“I wouldn’t do that if I was you. Unless you want me to splatter this bitch’s brains all over the floor,” Carter threatened.

Murder laughed as if Carter had told a joke, and then without hesitation, he turned his gun toward Robyn.

Boom!

With a marksman’s aim, Murder hit Robyn with a hollow tip in the center of her forehead. She folded in Carter’s arms, then dropped lifelessly to the concrete floor. She never saw her end coming.

Carter glanced down at Robyn’s dead body in disbelief, and in that split second Murder capitalized on the opportunity.

Boom!

Murder let off a shot, hitting Carter in the leg, causing him to drop his gun. Carter didn’t even have time to react as he grabbed his leg in pain. “Aghh!” he screamed as a burning flash of heat terrorized him as a bullet ripped through his leg.

Murder wanted to kill Carter slowly. He hated the fact that Miamor had fallen for another man, and he was going to enjoy snuffing his lights out.

Miamor hit 100 mph as she drove and ran through red lights, frantically trying to make it in time. When she was four blocks away, a traffic jam slowed her car down to a crawl. “Damn it!” she yelled as she hit the steering wheel in frustration. “I can’t wait this out! He’ll die if don’t get there!” she whispered urgently. An emotional lump formed in her throat. Calm down, Miamor, she told herself. You can do this… you have to do this if you want to save the man you love.