and cuz this shit is fucked up! Blood is everywhere and she's not breathing.”
“What the fuck is you saying, Bleed? ” snapped JuJu. “Who's not breathing?”
Kiam's head jerked to the side. He snatched the phone out of JuJu's hand and put it to his ear. “What are you saying, man?” he demanded to know.
“ Man, oh man, it's bad, fam. Somebody shot your girl up. They did her so dirty.” His tone relayed the grave reality, but Kiam didn't want to believe it.
“ What the fuck are saying?” he belted.
“ Boss, the door was wide open when I got here. I came inside and found her on the floor. She's been shot up. Blood is all over her face and stomach,” Isaac repeated as he knelt over Faydrah's body.
“Is she still alive? ”
Isaac knew the answer to Kiam's question but he could not force himself to give it.
“Hello! Hello!” Kiam took the phone away from his ear and looked at the screen to see if the call had dropped.
“ I'm still here,” said Isaac in a low tone.
“Just tell me the truth, man. Is she still alive?” Kiam demanded to know.
Isaac didn't respond.
“I asked you a question,” Kiam boomed.
Isaac took a deep breath and slowly forced the truth out of his mouth. “ Nah, fam, she's dead.”
Kiam let out a loud cry that echoed throughout the truck. JuJu and Isaiah bowed their heads as Kiam's pain resonated deep in their souls. Their eyes clouded up with the closest thing to tears that thugs could shed.
Silently they communicated to each other that they were going to put the city under siege. For this, Cleveland, Ohio was about to become the new murder capitol.
Chapter 2
Wounded
K iam stood motionless at the foot of the cold slab that held her body; he was afraid to see what was under the white blood stained sheet. His chest felt like an empty cavity that contained no heart. The blood that used to pump through his veins with the love of Faydrah Combs now felt like thick clots that threatened to clog his arteries and stop his heart from pumping. He was there to identify her body but his mind had yet to accept that she was dead.
No, that’s not my Eyez . It can't be.
He had just left her at home an hour or so ago; had just kissed her lips and looked into those beautiful eyes of hers and told her not to worry. Now they were telling him that it was her on this steel gurney. Fuck no! He had to have firm confirmation. His shorty wasn't dead!
Kiam's gaze eased slowly down her covered body and settled on her belly. My baby rang loud in his mind and for the first time in years tears clouded his eyes and forced themselves down his face. He let out a deep breath fighting back more tears as he thought of the excitement that he and Faydrah had shared over her pregnancy.
I'm going to give you a son who's strong and handsome just like his daddy, she had gushed exuberantly.
Kiam could hear her voice as clearly as if she was whispering it in his ear. He closed his eyes but the tears continued trickling down. He sniffled them back and stilled the ache in his heart that was contracting with the intensity of unbearable pain. Again he blew out a deep breath and tried to stiffen his legs. Slowly he reached out and uncovered her face.
What Kiam saw wobbled his knees and crushed whatever kindness resided in his heart. Some muthafucka had done the ugliest thing to the most beautiful person in his life and for that the world was going to pay.
“I fucked up, baby. I let you down,” he said as a lump formed in his throat. He stood there in virtual shock, wanting to hear her voice; needing to have her reach out to him, but that was not going to happen. What the enemy had done to his girl was irreversible and ruthlessly final.
He dropped his head under the guilt of knowing that he had left her alone and open to the revenge of his enemies. It was a mistake that he was powerless to undo and the reality of that was like a pair of strong hands wrapped around his throat strangling