His asslookedtired.
“I’m surprised Bri isn’t over there,” Zoo noticed.
“Her ass talmbout she needed to go home to clean up. Know damn well she lyin’,” he mumbled the last part while throwing another one back.
I snatched the bottle from his hand when he tried to pour another shot.
“Sit yo’ ass down and listen. Yeen drinkin’ no more. I’on give a damn if you sleepin’ on my couch tonight. You’ve had enough.”
Mugging me, Brooklyn plopped on one of the deck chairs.
“We gotta add Vick's moms to our list. Naomi believes that ugly bitch poisoned her.”
“What!” Zoo’s loud ass exclaimed.
“Yep,” I confirmed. “She fed her some shit both nights prior to her miscarriages. That ain’t no coincidence.”
“Hell, no it ain’t!” Zoo seconded. “Mane, what’s up with these crazy-ass females? Since when they started doin’ grimy shit like that?”
“Oh, they’ve always been doin’ grimy shit. The older they are, you can best believe they done offed a husband or two and collected that insurance money.”
Zoo cracked up. “Hell nah!”
“So, we gotta have a plan on how we gon’ get her muhfuckin’ ass. She could’ve killed my woman.”
Brooklyn, who was laid out across the deck chair, spoke up. “Nah, we can’t touch her, bruh. She’s a woman. You think Vick knows anything about what she did?”
“Fuck that!” Zoo and I popped off at the same time.
“As much as I wanna put a hot one in Vick, I’on think he knew. His mama was too sneaky. So, I say we put a hot one in her.”
“Nah, y’all niggas listen. Killin’ a woman gon’ bring too much heat. We gotta figure something else out. What she does for a living, who she hangs with, where she likes to eat at—we gotta do shit different. I agree she needs to be handled, but not in that way.”
“For yo’ ass to be drunk as fuck, you got some sense ‘bout ya,” Zoo said.
I wasn’t trying to hear that shit even though Brooklyn was right. Already simmering over the bullshit Teddy pulled at me and Naomi’s proposal dinner, I was at the point where anybody could get it. I wasn’t nicknamed Sin for nothing. Once my anger was over the cliff, reeling that shit back in was like tussling with the devil.
So, regardless of what Brooklyn’s drunk ass said, I was gon’ have to see about Vick’s mama.
“We’ll focus on Teddy and keep our eyes on Vick’s moms until I can figure out what the hell we gon’ do with her.”
“Cool,” Zoo agreed.
“Bet,” Brooklyn slurred and stood to his feet. “I’m goin’ home. Y’all niggas let me drink allat shit.”
“I hope yo’ ass fall in the grass and get ate up by some fire ants,” I said.
Zoo busted out laughing while following Brooklyn down the deck stairs. Brooklyn’s ass almost missed that last step, leaving Zoo to have to steady him from falling.
“Nah, don’t help his ass.” I chuckled when Brooklyn flipped me the bird.
Once I watched them go through their respective back doors, I went back inside my house. I stored the bottle of Hennessy with the rest of the alcohol I owned, then went to shower. Damn, I hadn’t stepped in hot water since being at the hotel. I spent longer than usual under the spray, reflecting on how I was going to avenge my woman. Because if one thing I wasn’t gon’ do, is play about Naomi London-Smith.
CHAPTER 4
BRIANNA
Thunderous knocks at my door had me jumping out of the bed and reaching for my bat. I was kicking my own ass for turning down Brooklyn’s offer to go to the gun range and for him to buy me a gun. Here I was now, scared as shit with a bat I had since I was a teen playing softball. The closer I got to the door, the louder the knocks became.
