Trust No Bitch 3: Deadly Alliance Page 7

  “If I was scared I wouldn't be here, now would I? You should be worried about me snapping your muthafuckin’ neck.”

  Big Zo smiled. “Is that what that nigga's dick do to you? When he fucks your pussy it damages your brain?”

  “You muthafucka. I told your ass I haven't fucked him,” she hissed, bringing the bottle up again.

  Big Zo grabbed her wrist and squeezed until she let the bottle fall from her grasp. Water spilled out at their feet, making a small puddle on the floor.

  He released her wrist. “Go get some napkins and clean that shit up. Right fuckin' now!”

  “Hmph. Don't hold your breath.” She folded her arms across her chest defiantly.

  Big Zo stood up and went to get something to wipe up the water. He had already determined her penalty for defying him. A dead bitch was much better than a disobedient one.

  When he had cleaned up the spill, he threw the wet paper towels in the trash can and returned to his seat. Neither one said a word for ten minutes. They only stared until Lissha broke the silence.

  Leaning in close to him and speaking low, she said, “Why do you have me working with Kiam knowing that the woman you had me visit on Miles Road a few years ago was his grandmother?”

  Big Zo figured that she would eventually find out. Obviously her and Kiam had been having intimate conversations. The thought of that nigga laying up in his pussy put a bitter taste in the back of his mouth, but he swallowed it for now.

  “Don't forget that back then we needed the money because you had ran through most of what I left with you. So don't come in here questioning me about it now.”

  Lissha couldn't say shit.

  “Anyway, how was I supposed to know that his grandmother would rather die than open the safe for you. Still, I didn't tell you to kill her. That blood is on your hands literally and figuratively.”

  Lissha narrowed her eyes at him as she bristled inside.

  “We do what we gotta do,” Big Zo went on. “Anyway, the nigga should've kept his business to himself. Back then he didn't know shit about me. He killed the old bitch himself when he told me about his stash.”

  “Daddy, that's cold.” She shook her head at his callousness towards Kiam.

  “Life is cold and then they got a cold ass hole to put you in on your way outta this bitch,” he reminded her. “Ain't no muthafuckin’ love for the next nigga.”

  “But what about me? Do you have any love for me?” Tears welled up in Lissha's eyes as harsh reality slapped the shit out of her.

  “You don't have to ask me that. Everything I'm doing is for us. The question is ‘do you still love me or has Kiam stole your love'?”

  “Yes, I still love you,” she answered without pause. It was true, she loved him dearly, but Kiam had infiltrated her heart without even trying to and continuing to betray him was becoming harder by the day.

  “Daddy, what do you think will happen if Kiam finds out that I did it? Are you concerned about that?” she asked in a whisper.

  “He won't find out because you and I are the only ones that know, everyone else believes it was Wolfman.” He smiled at the thought of how masterfully he had orchestrated that.

  Lissha told him what had happened at Kiam's when she looked inside the casket and realized who DeMarcus was. “It was a close call, Daddy,” she said. The anguish in her voice was more for the pain she had unknowingly caused Kiam than it was for her own safety.

  Big Zo hunched his shoulders like so what, you handled it. So what the fuck you tripping on? And in that moment Lissha realized that he would truly sacrifice anyone for himself, including her.

  “Daddy, I'm done,” she said. “I'll hire you the best lawyer money can buy but I will no longer do this to Kiam.”

  “Bitch, yes you will!” he said, scowling. “Or you'll die with that nigga.” He sat up in his seat and leaned in no more than two inches from her face, grabbing both of her wrists, pressing them against the table out of plain sight. “Don't forget your arms are too short to box with god.”

  “Maybe they are, but you're not Him.” She snatched away from Big Zo and stood up to leave.

  He stood up too and pulled her into a close hug, placing his lips against her ear. “Lissha, I may not be God but if you defy me I'll call your ass home,” he whispered.

  Lissha struggled to free herself from his cold embrace, but Big Zo held her tightly. With one hand he reached up and clenched her face firmly in his grip, forcing his tongue in her mouth.

  When he pulled back and unwrapped his arms from around her, he glared a stare that could freeze hell over. “Stick to the game plan, baby girl,” he said softly.

  But there was no doubt it was a threat.

  Lissha met his cold gaze with an icier one. She pursed her lips and hawked a glob of spit dead in that bastard's face. “Fuck you, I hope you die in here,” she said as tears began pouring down her face.

  Chapter 10

  The Crossover

  Lissha drove with tears and makeup running down her pretty face. Until now she hadn't regretted much of anything that she had done, but she had come to loathe the day she allowed herself to be manipulated by Big Zo. With an anger towards him that was quickly turning into animosity, she realized that the mind control he exerted over her had been going on for a long time.

  She thought back to when she was a young gullible teenager and he was an older and refined man with an intoxicating style and a gift of gab unlike anyone she had ever experienced.

  Big Zo's well thought out plans were formulated right there under her mother’s unsuspecting brow. Tracey, Lissha's mother, was Big Zo's number one side piece. She knew that he had a family somewhere but since her position came with benefits, she played it without complaints.

  When Big Zo was out of town with his family, Tracey wasn't just sitting at home waiting for him to return. She was a dime piece that attracted the eye of some of Cleveland's top ballers, and she was not the type to turn down every advance.

  Big Zo wasn't a fool, he knew that she possessed the potential to creep. He couldn't watch her 24/7 so he gradually recruited Lissha to report her activities to him. It began with a gift here and there, a cute ankle bracelet or a small diamond necklace, disguising his intentions by giving Tracey something too. He would send Tracey on drug runs out of town leaving him plenty of time alone with Lissha. They would go out to dinner or to clubs where Lissha was clearly too young to get in, but Big Zo's influence opened all doors. She quickly became enraptured with the respect that he commanded.

  One night they were out at a bar when a young nigga pushed up on Lissha. He was drunk and all touchy feely. Big Zo snatched him by the back of the collar and pistol whipped him close to death. That shit turned Lissha the fuck on, and she told herself that she was going to get her a nigga with a gangsta that mirrored Big Zo's.

  Being game tight, he quickly picked up on her infatuation with him. First he maneuvered his way into Lissha's heart and mind then in between her legs. The first time it was more like love although they both knew it was wrong. Every time after that, now that she looked back on it, was more like game. The careful way he made sure to begin and end each session with money, gifts, and praise.

  When he had her securely in his devious clutch he turned her into a willing spy against the woman that had birthed her. Eventually it was her reports that destroyed Tracey's position in Big Zo's life. Later, when Tracey discovered that she had been replaced by her own daughter, her whole life went into a downward spiral from which she had yet to recover from.

  Big Zo had always taken joy in Tracey's demise; he was a vengeful man that would stop at nothing to even a score or to one-up an adversary. Tracey had fucked Wolfman, Big Zo's fiercest rival, what better revenge against her than fucking her daughter? Not only fucking her but cuffing her.

  Lissha felt sick to her stomach as she realized how masterfully Big Zo had played her. That muthafucka hadn't ever loved me. He had purchased her morals and used her to avenge what Tracey had done to hi
m.

  The raw truth assaulted her like a putrid scent invading her nostrils. Lissha slightly swerved as she pulled over to the shoulder of the interstate, jumped out of her car and ran close to the wooded area to release the evil that rose up from her gut. She thought about the ruined relationship with her mother that was left in the wake of her betrayal and the many lives that she had taken, all to please him.

  Vomit continued to force itself through her lips like hot lava while the pain of her deceit grabbed ahold of her heart and squeezed. She was still heaving even when there was nothing left in her stomach to regurgitate.

  She rose up, wiped her mouth with the back of her right hand, and turned her head away from the puddle in the snow at her feet. A chilling gush of air blew across her face like a cold slap of reality. It was then that she realized she needed to turn all this shit around. Everything Daddy had taught her was now going to be used to destroy him and to make sure his ruthless, narcissistic ass never tasted freedom again.

  She couldn't respect the ho ass nigga that he had become behind bars, plotting a loyal nigga's downfall to regain his freedom. A true boss would never make moves like that. In her eyes Big Zo was no longer worthy of her loyalty. The nigga that deserved her total dedication was Kiam. Lissha made a vow to herself to do everything in her power to protect him and see that he rose to the top.

  She looked down at her wrist and saw the platinum and diamond Tiffany watch that Big Zo had bought her a month before he got knocked and it made her skin crawl. She gritted her teeth, took it off, and slung it as far as she could.

  Tears flowed down her face and her chest heaved in and out as she removed rings from her fingers and false illusions from her mind. Together she dropped them on the ground and crushed them in the snow. She pulled herself together and moved back to her car, walking with a new purpose.

  Pulling the passenger side door open she reached in and grabbed her cell phone and a bottle of water. She took the water to her mouth, gargled and spat, then dialed Big Zo.

  “Yeah, what's up?” he answered sourly.

  “I’m sorry, Daddy,” she cooed.

  There was no response for a minute or so but Lissha could hear him breathing. Finally, he let out a long sigh. “I knew my baby girl wouldn’t let me down,” he said. “Now tell me the truth, did you fuck that nigga?”

  “No, Daddy.” Not yet.

  “Okay. Do I still have your loyalty?” he asked as he looked out of the window of his cell at nothing but tall razor wire fences and guard towers.

  “Yes, Daddy, always. Just tell me what you need me to do and it’s done.”

  “Baby girl, just stick to the plan. I promise when this is all over Daddy is going to make you real happy.” He paused. “I know it’s hard on you, I can’t hold you and make love to you, but it’s almost over. Just ride with me on this. That nigga is about to do the type of shit that will seal his fate and unlock ours. That's what this is all about, right?”

  “Yes, Daddy. Whatever you need I got you,” she confirmed.

  “Alright. Hit me when you get in. I love you.”

  “I love you more,” she said then disconnected the call.

  **********

  Big Zo hurriedly dialed a number.

  “Hello?”

  “Hold up on that, I think she's back in the fold,” he said.

  “Are you sure, Daddy?” the female asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Ok, but if that bitch wavers again I'm putting two in her head. We're too close for her bullshit.”

  “Yes, baby we are. And I promise you that if she gives me another reason to doubt her loyalty I'll give you the go ahead and next time I won't call it off.”

  “Please don't,” she replied with disappointment. Killing Lissha would be more fun than a day at the park.

  “I won't,” he assured her. “Now take that clip out of your gun and let this play itself out. I love you.”

  “Love you too, Daddy. Bye.”

  “Bye, baby.”

  Big Zo hung up and sat down on his bunk, envisioning freedom that he hoped wouldn't be too far away.

  **********

  Lissha was back on the road with a plan fermenting in her mind. She hit Treebie up but was sent to voice mail. She hung up and called right back. The phone rang several times before Treebie clicked over.

  “Speak,” she slurred as she inhaled deep on her blunt.

  Lissha got straight to the point. “I need to see you as soon as I get back to the city.”

  “A’ight. What time you pulling in?” Treebie asked, looking down at her watch.

  “In about three hours,” she said, taking her speed up to ninety miles per hour.

  “Okay, I'll be here.”

  Lissha pushed her whip hard until she hit Treebie’s door. When she stepped out the car, her master plan was intact. From now on niggas better do more than watch their backs.

  When Treebie pulled the door open and saw Lissha with puffy red eyes she knew that the visit with Big Zo must have gone very wrong.

  “You good, LiLi?” Treebie asked.

  “Yeah, I’m straight. I just had a hell of an epiphany,” she stated, moving towards the couch while removing her coat.

  Treebie locked the door and set her alarm. “So what’s up?” She pulled her sweater closed and sat in the lounge chair and grabbed her wine glass.

  “Bitch what you in here doing, having a date with yourself?” Lissha looked around at the candles and the wine glass in Treebie's hand.

  “Sheeitt. A bitch been in here horny and regretful,” Trebbie chuckled.

  “Well, you and that happy ass trigger finger,” Lissha laughed then reached in and grabbed the blunt and lit it up.

  “I know, right? I should have at least bronzed the dick and tucked it away for kitty fun.”

  Lissha choked on the blunt as she busted out into laughter. “You need help,” she said, grabbing the wine bottle by the neck and taking it to the head.

  “So what’s good?” Treebie was interested in what Lissha had cooked up.

  Lissha took a deep breath then went in. “Tree, we been in this shit for a long time. We’ve seen the best come and the hardest fall.” She paused, took another swig, and then continued. “I don’t want to die over no bullshit.” She looked up into Treebie’s eyes.

  Treebie nodded.

  “We need to do those last licks that Spank had set up. Get that loot and get the fuck outta here.” She brought the blunt to her mouth and inhaled deeply.

  “Yeah, I think we done fucked Cleveland raw. Pussy won’t even get wet no more.”

  “We need to make this pussy cum a few more times before we blow though,” Lissha stated.

  “So what’s on the table?” Treebie asked as her wheels started churning.

  “Spank gave us these niggas out in Warrensville Heights. It’s supposed to be a big lick but we need the whole team on deck.” Lissha gave Treebie a stern eye.

  Treebie took a sip from her glass. “I been feeling a certain way about Bay. That bitch been up in that little nigga ass so tight if he shit, it gotta pay her a toll on the way out,” Treebie slurred.

  Lissha looked at her with a wrinkled brow then they burst out laughing. “Bitch, you stupid,” Lissha blurted as the visual played in her mind.

  “I’m serious as hell.”

  “I know and on the real she ain’t been right since you killed Donella. We all gotta be on point. We got niggas gunning for us on all sides,” Lissha reminded.

  “Yeah, I know. It's only a matter of time before Riz pops up and gets shit going,” Treebie said, sitting up and taking the blunt from Lissha’s hand.

  “Treebie, I know we have had our fallouts and we don’t always see eye to eye but just know I have always been one hundred with you and regardless of how this shit may end up falling I love you.” Lissha professed.

  “I know LiLi. I love you too and I got your back.” She looked over at Lissha with a probing eye. She sensed that her girl was conflicted and, i
f so, that could only involve Big Zo and Kiam.

  Lissha could feel Treebie trying to read her. For a fraction of a second she thought about revealing everything but she recalled what that had gotten Wa'leek. The words that had been on the tip of her tongue slid to the back of her throat.

  Treebie locked eyes with her. “Whatever you have going on just make sure that while you’re planning the cross you don’t end up crossing the wrong muthafucka,” she warned.

  Lissha took a deep breath and laid her head back on the couch. After a pregnant pause she sighed heavily and said, “I am trying to make shit right, Treebie. I just pray that I haven’t gone too far to turn back.”

  No words spoken were ever more prophetic.

  Chapter 11

  Where Angels Sing

  Prophecy was playing out in abundance. Big Zo had predicted that Faydrah's killing would set Kiam off and no truer words had ever left the mouth of a fake ass nigga. Only two weeks had passed since Faydrah was laid to rest and already the death toll had reached frightening proportions.

  Kiam, JuJu and the twins were leaving bodies sprawled out in the snow, slumped over in vehicles, and stinking inside of warm houses that would never be a home again. With each new kill, Kiam personally delivered to Ms. Combs a copy of the story in the local section of the newspaper, confirming that the streets were indeed bleeding for what they had done to her baby.

  Nobody was immune from Kiam's guns, he hit known enemies as well as their associates and anyone else that may have had a reason to cause him pain. Wolfman had lost a soldier or two to Kiam's vengeance but he had struck back quickly, ordering the gas bombing of one of Kiam's drug spots on Hayden Road in East Cleveland. The sudden rash of killings had sent the meek into hiding and the mighty into a huddle to strategize on how they were going to withstand his fury.

  At night the streets looked like a ghost town as Kiam's wrath caused a collective tremble from downtown to the suburbs, and daylight wasn't much safer. The sun didn't stop true killahs from lying in wait.

  Kiam followed the black Buick Enclave as it left the Mentor Mall. He was holding a conversation on the phone with Dontae but his focus remained fixed on the SUV which was two cars ahead of him. “What's up, Bleed?”