The Past
“What are you not telling me, Yummy?” I watched as she fidgeted with her fingers while looking down at the paved walkway of the park we were standing in. My heart was beating a mile a minute as I tried to understand what she meant by this ‘we couldn’t be together’ shit.
“You lied to me, Emmy. You told me you weren’t in the streets, but I find out that not only are you dealing drugs, but selling guns too? Do you know how humiliated I was when my parents told me that? I defended you, Emmy, and you lied to me!”
“Baby, look?—”
“No. I have to go.” She turned and stormed down the pathway, and I rushed to stop her.
“Yummy!”
“Don’t stop me, Emery. Just let me walk away. Don’t make this hard for me. I’m leaving for college in the morning, so just let me go.”
“I can fix this. Don’t do this shit, baby.” She reached up, stood on the tips of her toes, and wrapped her arms around my neck, hugging me tight. I wrapped my arms around her waist, holding on to her and the tears that were threatening to fall. Icouldn’t lose her. She was the only thing peaceful in my life, and I didn’t know what I would do if she walked away from me.
I could have told her the truth, but I wanted to keep her as far removed from my criminal life as possible. She wasn’t just some around-the-way hood rat I had running product for me. Yummy had class, grace, with a touch of hood in her. She wasn’t just the recipe to my heart; she was the meal that fed my soul.
She released me and then kissed my lips softly, using her thumb to wipe away the tear I hadn’t noticed escape from my eye.
“It’s already done.” Her words punched me hard in my chest as she pulled away from me and continued walking.
“Y-Yumi!” I yelled after her, voice cracking like a bitch. She never turned around to look at me. I watched while she got inside her car and pulled out of the parking space and out of my life for good.
The Beginning
“The blue boys on the way. I repeat, the blue boys are on the way! Get the fuck out of there!” Lieutenant Destin yelled over the walkie-talkie.
“How much time we got?” I asked him.
“Less than three.”
“A’ight, y’all, let’s move out,” I told my brother, cousin, and our crew.
“Somebody had to tip them off. Why the fuck is Des telling us shit this fucking late!” my brother, Emil, fussed.
“Don’t worry. He’s done. Let’s get the fuck out of here.” I could hear the sirens and helicopters getting closer as I walked over to the hidden brick wall, scanning my thumb, and it lifted.
“What about the last of these guns?” Mook asked.
“Leave ‘em. Let’s go!” Everyone began walking through the tunnel except my brother. I swear, I hated that he was so money-hungry and hardheaded. He hated to leave money on the table, but all money wasn’t good money. “Mill! Leave that shit and let’s go.”
“This is money, Em.”
“That shit can be replaced! You cannot!”
He contemplated for two more seconds before grabbing a handful of guns and then rushing through the tunnel just as the sirens were outside of the warehouse. I let the wall close behind us as we made our trek down the tunnel.
“Bro, the next time you want to cut shit so close, make sure you let me know in advance so I can leave your dumb ass,” I told him.
“Nigga, you always leaving ya plate half-empty! When I eat, I’m scraping the fucking plate. Fuck what you talmbout. What you need to be concerned with is why Des bitch ass informed us so late that them bitches was coming for us.”
“It don’t matter no more. He’s done.”
“He better be. I got a good mind to creep in his house with the Pooh Shiesty and do his bitch ass in.”
“Aye, Cuddy. You need to be lying low after that shit at the bar. Don’t go piling no more bodies up,” Ellis, a.k.a. Mook, told him.
“He’s right, Mill. You need to be cool,” I agreed.
