“True. But it is what it is,” Travis said as he got back in the bed.
Me’shelle followed Travis under the covers. “So, that’s it, huh?”
“That’s it.”
“I should just believe that these people are going to make everything all right?”
“No, Me’shelle. Even if they kill the guys who did it, nothing will change the fact that your brother and his wife are dead, or that your niece is traumatized by what happened to her.”
“Exactly. So it’s not over for me.”
“What are you gonna do?”
“I don’t know. What can I do?”
Chapter Thirty-eight
It had been a week since Rocky put the word out on the street that he wanted Warren Miller. After all that time, no one had any information that turned out to be worth anything. It was always “You just missed him” or “He was here yesterday” or the always popular “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.” Miller and his partners knew they were hot, so they were laying low.
Although he quickly dismissed the idea, Rocky gave some thought to calling the police tip line and telling them that Miller was responsible for the rape and murder of the Lawrence family. That would solve part of his problem, but he knew it wouldn’t satisfy Chilly. No, Rocky knew that he was the one who sent Miller out there, so he had to be the one to drag him in.
As Detective Kirkland promised, the police were making life miserable for Chilly. Needless to say, Chilly was not happy about the situation and was starting to lose patience with Rocky. So, once again Rocky found himself on the street, but this time his approach was different. Now he started to push a lot harder, leaning on the people he was sure knew something and just weren’t saying because they were scared of what Miller would do to them. But it was Rocky they really had to fear. He would be their nightmare now.
Rocky also decided to change one other aspect of his approach. He took his focus off the head and concentrated on the body. Word had gotten back to Rocky that there were three people who usually did jobs with Miller. One was found dead on the scene, one was called Blue, and the other’s name was Jordan Davis. Rocky knew Davis, knew where he hung out, and most importantly, Rocky knew his girlfriend, Jeanna Mitchell, and knew her well.
Late that night, Rocky knocked on her door. “Who is it?” Jeanna yelled though the door.
“Its Rocky, Jeanna.”
“Rocky?” She looked out the peephole. A flood of memories came rushing back to her. “What you want?”
“I wanted talk to you, Jeanna. You gonna open the door or what?”
Reluctantly, Jeanna unlocked the door and opened it. It had been three years since she’d seen Rocky, and over that time she had let herself go. She had lost a lot of weight, her face was thin, and her eyes seemed to bug out of her head. Hair that was once long and beautiful was now nappy and stuck to her head. “What you want, Rocky?”
“You gonna let me in, Jeanna, or do I gotta stand out here?”
“You can come in, but I still want to know what you want.”
“Maybe I just wanted to see you,” Rocky said as he plopped down on her couch.
“Shit,” she said, still standing by the door. “I ain’t seen your ass in years, Rocky, and you expect me to believe that you just dropped by ’cause you missed me? I don’t think so.”
“Come here, Jeanna. Let me look at you.”
“Why?”
“’Cause I wanna look at you.”
She walked over to the couch and stood in front Rocky. “Happy now?”
Rocky looked her up and down. “What happened to you, Jeanna?”
“What’s that supposed to mean? You sayin’ ’cause I lost some weight and my hair ain’t done that I ain’t fine no more?”
“Yeah. You used to be fine as hell. Now look at you.”
“Fuck you, Rocky. I get my hair done and put on some clothes, I’m still the baddest bitch you ever fucked.”
Rocky looked at Jeanna and smiled. “You were, but not now. That glass dick got you now. You ain’t nothin’ but a crack ho now.”
“I ain’t nobody’s ho, nigga. My man takes care of me, so fuck you.”
“Still got them pretty-ass dick-suckin’ lips, though. Probably takin’ good care of him too.” Rocky smiled and rubbed his crotch.
“What you want, Rocky?”
“I’m lookin’ for Jordan.”
“What you want with Jordan?”
“I wanna talk to him.”
“What about?”
“I got business with him.”
“What business you got with Jordan?”
“That ain’t no concern of yours. It’s better that you don’t know anyway, Jeanna. You know that. Now, do you know how to get in touch with him?
“No. He just comes by here.”
“How often? Every day? Once a week?”
“You know, he just come by sometimes. Like you used to just show up here when you felt like it.”
Rocky wrote down his number on a piece of paper on the table. “You call me when you see him, Jeanna. I’ll make it worth your while,” Rocky said and stood up.
“How much?”
“Five hundred.”
“You gonna kill him?”
“No, Jeanna. I just need to talk to him.”
“You promise you ain’t gonna kill him?”
“Yeah, I promise. I ain’t gonna kill him. You just need to call me when you see him.”
Rocky started for the door.
“Rocky.”
“What?”
“Let me have a couple dollars.”
“You ain’t earned it yet.”
“Come on, now. You know you got it.”
Rocky reached in his pocket, counted off five twenties and put the roll back in his pocket. “Here.”
When Jeanna tried to grab the money, Rocky held it above his head. “What you gonna do to earn it?” Without another word, Jeanna dropped to her knees and began to undo Rocky’s pants. He sat back down in the chair and Jeanna proceeded to earn the money.
It had been three days, and Rocky still hadn’t heard from Jeanna, but he wasn’t worried. After he left her, he made the same offer to the guys who hung out on the corner, so he knew Jordan still hadn’t showed up at Jeanna’s.
It certainly wasn’t from a lack of effort to get him there on Jeanna’s part. She called everyone she could think of and had been everywhere that she knew Jordan hung out, but nobody had seen him.
Since that night on her knees with Rocky, Jeanna developed a plan. She no longer cared if Rocky killed Jordan. In fact, she hoped he would. Jeanna planned to take the money, get herself cleaned up, and make a play to
