He looked at her eyes, dark, chest rising heavy. “Somebody robbed them lil niggas I had gettin’ that weight off. Took every fuckin’ thing. I gotta go handle that shit.”
“Bae,” she said lightly. “You don’t even know who did it yet?—”
“And I don’t give a fuck,” Juelz snapped, cutting her off, tugging on his shirt. “I know who the fuck I gave the work to, Tasha.”
She stood, wrapping the sheets around her. “Just be careful, please. This is exactly why I wish you would leave that shit alone.”
He grabbed his keys and leaned in to kiss her forehead, his voice low and deadly calm. “They took some shit from some realimportant ass people, and I need that shit back or else we all dead.”
He was out the door before she could stop him.
Three hours later, Juelz was headed out to the meet-up with Mar at an old barn. The barn sat miles out, tucked behind dead land and broken fences, the kind of place where GPS always loses signal. No neighbors. No streetlights except one hanging bulb swaying from the ceiling, buzzing low like it was nervous too.
Juelz pulled in and killed the engine. Silence rushed in heavy. He stepped out, scanned the tree lines, then popped the trunk and grabbed his gym bag. As he moved closer, the sound of crying and whimpering grew.
He slid the barn door open, and there they were.
The two responsible for mishandling the duffel full of bricks, hanging from the rafters, swaying slightly, throwing long, crooked shadows across the dirt floor. Mar had the two guys’ wrists chained overhead, toes barely grazing the dirt. Their shoulders were damn near dislocated and burning. Mar stood off to the side, arms crossed, expression blank. He nodded once when he saw Juelz.
“Took you long enough nigga!”
Juelz dropped the gym bag. The sound echoed louder than it should have. He crouched, unzipped it slowly, deliberately. No rush. Juelz started digging through the bag, pulling out a circular saw blade.
One of the boys, Lil’ Rico, started crying harder, his exhausted, beaten body swaying side to side. “C’mon, Juelz… You—you don’t gotta do this. We can get the bricks back. I swear. We just?—”
CRACK.
The crowbar caught him straight in the ribs. Rico howled, his body swinging even more now. You would’ve thought Mar was hitting a piñata by the way he swung the bar.
Juelz started walking closer to the two. That alone made them start breathing even harder. Panicking. Scared as to what was about to happen.
“I told y’all niggas I needed y’all on ya toes. I told y’all that. So, since you two incompetent ass niggas couldn’t do it. Let's see how long y’all can stay off them muthafuckas.” He looked from one to the other like he couldn’t decide which one had fucked up the worst.
Lil’ Rico, shook his head fast. “Please, bruh?—”
Juelz reached up and grabbed him by the face, squeezing hard on his jaw. “Y’all didn’t just fuck up my money,” Juelz continued through gritted teeth, squeezing even harder now. “Y’all fucked up my chance with this big tyme connect.”
Juelz let go of Lil’ Rico's face and approached the other guy, K. He was shaking so hard that his bladder couldn’t take it anymore and just gave out right there. On him. On the ground, making a dark stain in the red dirt.
Juelz powered on the saw blade, and K began to cry out for help as blood dribbled from his lip. “Jue, please, man, don’t do this?—”
“You had one job,” Juelz said as he sliced K's chest with the saw blade. “One fuckin’ job. And what y’all boys do?” he cut his chest again, making an ‘x’ on it. He screamed out in agony, feeling the pain in his chest. K was bleeding now. Bad. The copper scent of fresh blood hit the air, mixing with the smell of hot ass urine and fear. It was a sickening blend. Juelz didn’t blink. He watched as the blood bloomed across K’s white tee, turning it a deep, heavy crimson that dripped onto the ground.
Off to the side, Mar's eyes were wide with excitement as he watched everything go down. He’d seen Juelz in action before,but not like this. There was no emotion in his eyes, just a cold, dark void.
“Damn, nigga, let me get some of that?” said Mar, as he took the tool out of Juelz's hands. He started walking towards Lil’Rico, the sound of the blade sending a shiver down his spine. Rico’s eyes bugged out, and he started swinging, trying to break free from the chains. Mar brought the blade closer to Rico's face, taunting him, nipping a piece of Rico’s ear in the process. The vibration was so loud it felt like it was rattling his teeth.
“Ma—Mar, chil—chill!” Rico yelled, his voice cracking under pressure. “I told you, we can...we can?—”
Mar cut him off by dragging the blade across his stomach, and his flesh split. Something wet and wrong spilled free. “You ain’t told me shit, lil’ nigga. Y’all wanted to play big boy games. Now it’s time for big boy prizes.”
Behind him, Juelz folded.
“Nigga, don’t tell me yo fuckin’ stomach can’t handle some backed-up ass intestines. I should saw off yo balls. Over there puking like some bitch. Getcha ass up!” said Mar, as he shook his head at Juelz.
Mar turned and continued to trail the saw blade all over Rico’s body. Rico’s cries were nothing but music to their ears, mixed with the vibration from the tool. His cry faded out quickly until his pulse was no more. Juelz got himself together, lit a blunt he had in his pocket, and took a long pull. He blew a slow, thick cloud of smoke toward the other guy’s face.
“Juelz! Mar! Plea, plea, please,” he sobbed, legs shaking as the chains rubbed deeper across his wrists. “Just let me down. I can get the bricks back, I swear?—”
