“I said I’m sorry!” Lavender screamed. “I didn’t know!”
“Didn’t know what?” Psalms questioned her. “Huh? You didn’t know what? You willingly came into our family fold knowing that your nigga was not here on some real shit, and you know it.” She put her shears to Lavender’s throat. “Where is Tank and the rest of the fuck niggas you work for?”
“He left,” she cried. Snot ran from her nose faster than tears fell from her eyes. “I don’t know where he’s at. I’ve called, and he won’t answer.” She cried harder. “I thought he loved me, but he doesn’t!”
“No, you think?” Psalms sarcastically replied, then laughed. “When did you realize that? Before or after he beat your ass?”
“He didn’t hit me,” Lavender said, shaking her head. “He never hit me.”
“Umm, baby, you must haven’t looked in the mirror or cannot feel your face because you are fucked up.”
“This wasn’t him,” she said. “It was her! I found them in bed together!”
“Oh, somebody else got your nigga huh?” Psalms laughed, then shrugged. “That’s just a little bit of your karma, baby girl. You couldn’t have expected him to be loyal to you when he had you out here playing the victim and shit.” She pushed the shears into Lavender’s neck, just enough to break the skin, and stopped. “You hate him enough to tell me where he’s at?”
“Probably with her,” Lavender answered. “All this is because of her anyway! Why couldn’t he pick me? Why didn’t he love me? I gave him everything! All these years, I was loyal! I did what he asked! I was where he wanted me to be! I got all the information he asked for! But he chose her!”
“Oh, whoa is you.” Psalms rolled her eyes. “You aren’t getting a second of sympathy from me because that nigga wasn’t loyal.” She pushed the shears into her neck just a little bit more. Lavender’s eyes ballooned, and tears rolled down her face faster when the realization of what was happening dawned on her. Psalm was slowly killing her. “Now give me the address where they are staying so these two can have something to do.” Lavender gasped a few times, and Psalms rolled her eyes. “You’re being dramatic.”
“Dramatic?” Trey asked low enough that only I could hear him. “She’s literally pushing a knife into her throat. Ain’t shit dramatic about that. Her ass needs to be on a case study because she ain’t all there for real.”
I chuckled when Psalms glared at Trey. From the way she looked, I did not doubt that she’d heard him. Lavender gasped again, and Psalms moved her head so that her ear was next to Lavender’s mouth. Psalms nodded a few times, then lifted her head.
“Thank you,” Psalms said, then pushed her shears into her neck and sliced from ear to ear. Lavender grabbed her neck as if it was going to stop the bleeding, then her body hit the ground. Psalms watched her for a few moments, then squatted, used her shears to cut off her head, and then stood. “I’m done here.” She walked away carrying Lavender’s head by her hair. “I have the address.”
“Um, what is she going to do with her head?” Trey asked.
“Her sister wants it,” I chuckled as I followed behind Psalms. She’d had her fun; it was my turn now.
Thirty minutes later, I was parked in front of a small building on the outskirts of town. I turned off my truck, checked my gun, and got out. Trey parked next to me and got out. I was ready to get home, lay up under Yale, and rub on her booty. I got out of the truck, looked around, and chuckled. If this nigga Tank wasn’t anything, he was funny as fuck. This was the same gym Citrine hosted fights in back in the day. I checked my surroundings, then approached the door and turned the handle. It was unlocked, which didn’t surprise me.
“You know this place?” he asked when I walked into the building and immediately turned on the light. The old building looked the same. A small ring sat in the middle of the room, looking like it’d seen better days.
“My brother hosted fights here back in the day.” I nodded. “I spent years in this muthafucka.”
“I hate gyms,” Trey said, looking around. “Shit brings up bad memories.”
“Four used to fight here,” I said as I started looking around. There was a funny smell in the air. I looked over at Trey and chuckled. “Let me guess, you didn’t know your brother was fighting?”
“Nah,” he answered, shaking his head. “But then again, I ain’t surprised about it, especially if it had some kind of connection toher.”
“I’m assuming the her you’re referring to is Corinthians,” I said, and he nodded. “Nah, he was fighting before--”
“It’s always been connected to her,” he interjected and walked away. “That’s all he’s ever cared about: protecting her. So if he was here, then it had something to do with her, trust me.”
It was something about the way Trey referred to Corinthians as “her” instead of her name that annoyed the fuck out of me. Trey had an issue with Corinthians.
We checked the entire building only to come up empty. “You think she lied about the location?” Trey asked.
I climbed into the ring and picked up a piece of folded paper that was in the middle of it. “Nah, he was here,” I chuckled as I opened the paper and read what was on it.
“How do you know?” he asked. I held up the paper and shook it. “Because this nigga left a note.”
“A note?” he asked, and I nodded. “What does it say?”
“How many branches of the tree will have to die until the problem is uprooted?” I read. “See you soon.” I put the paper in my pocket, then climbed out of the ring.
“What the fuck does that shit mean?” he asked when I passed him.
