Theodore III

I stormed into my house with blood still gushing out of my head. My encounter with my Dad had me a little angry, but after talking to Jazmine about it, just got me even more heated. The entire ride back to my house just had me thinking of shit I could do to hurt my Dad. His wife is dead, so doing anything to her wouldn't make any difference to him, especially since he never gave a damn about her in the first place. None of his children associate with him, but it's not like I'd do anything to Isaiah or Lindsey anyways.

Nothing will hurt my Dad since he has nothing to lose because he doesn't have any family and he's pushed everybody away, except for my Mama. Now, me and her have been through a lot of bad stuff in the past but I just can't bring myself to hurt her the way she's hurt me. I can't physically do anything to my Mama without regretting it, plus Grandpa would kill me if I did something to her anyways.

The only thing my Dad values is his reputation. He doesn't give a damn about money since he blows through it and has several outlets to get more. Money has never been an issue to him but his reputation is what's most important. Nobody really cares about how much money somebody has, all they care about is the weight your name carries when it's bought up. My Dad has a lot of juice solely on his name, which has in turn helped me, but what would he do if the only thing he cared about was tarnished?

I was thinking about doing something crazy to hurt him and send him away for so long that even Princess won't see him since he'll be locked up for so long. If I actually try to pin something on him then it could bring Mama down with him. I don't want to hurt her and I don't want to send her to prison because she's just not cut for that life. Mama's probably never been to jail a day in her life, or in trouble with the law for that matter, since Grandpa has always been around to save her. But she's collateral damage hanging out with my Dad. I've been telling her to stay away from him but she just didn't want to listen to me. Now, she's gonna have to go down if I want to pin something on him.

But Mama getting locked up won't hurt anybody or negatively effect anybody's life. All of her kids are grown and I'm taking care of all of her grandparents. I just feel bad about getting her locked up but my Dad needs to get out of my life. I can't kill his ass without receiving slack from the rest of my family about it and he's too much of a high profile person to just kill and have the public think he disappeared. His disappearance will be all over the news, so I need to pin something on him.

Because, what's so wrong with sending an anonymous tip to the police about how he has a body in his basement? I know Mama's the person that actually killed Milan, but it won't look like that to the courts. I mean, she'll look suspicious since she's the ex wife but not as much as my Dad since he recently tried to divorce her. It'll look like he was trying to speed up the divorce by killing her so he can be with Mama sooner.

I could pin that on them because it's not like they can drag me into anything. I didn't have anything to do with Milan's death.

"Damn son, who fucked you up?"

I looked up at Grandpa, who was walking down the steps with Isaiah following behind him. "Nothing," I sucked my teeth. I'm more than sure about going through with this plan, I just need reassurance about it all. I need a second opinion. "Y'all gotta minute to talk?"

"Yeah but you don't. Did Adonis beat your ass?" Grandpa asked.

"Man, if he let Adonis sneak him like that then he's off his rocker then," Isaiah shook his head. "Why you gotta hole in yo head nigga?"

"'Cause I got into it with Theodore."

Grandpa scrunched up his face. "You beat yourself up?" he exclaimed, before he turned to Isaiah. "See, you kept denying it but I told you his ass was losing his mind. He's been losing his mind ever since he got locked up in that house with Cashmere and Nicole. They probably slipped some drugs or some shit in his mouth when he was knocked out. Now this nigga out here fighting himself."

Isaiah laughed. "Maybe you right. He has been trippin lately."

I frowned. "Y'all having a whole conversation about me as if I'm not standing right here. Maybe somebody slipped something in y'all's mouths when y'all were sleep because there is another Theodore in this family."

"Your Dad?" Isaiah asked.

"No, your Dad," I corrected him. I don't want to be affiliated with Theodore Reed Jr. And based off of what I've heard about Theodore Reed Sr., I don't think I want to be affiliated with him either. It's like this name just brings trouble where ever it goes and it seems like every guys in this family with this name loses his mind at some point in his life. I know I've had my issues, I just hope I don't completely lose my shit like them. "I don't know who did it but I think it's Adonis, sent him pictures in the mail of me and Milan having sex. So, he finally found out after five years of it being oblivious. Me and him got to fighting."

"And he put the hole in your head?" Isaiah asking, making me nod my head.

"Yeah, but it's not as bad as it looks. I stomped his ass out."

Grandpa nodded his head. "Good. That's what he gets. Was my princess over there cosigning that fool?"

I nodded my head. "Of course she was and she even killed Milan," I whispered. "Her and Charmaine did it. I wouldn't have been caught dead at their house but Mama called me all frantically saying she needed my help with something. Turns out, her and Charmaine off'd Milan last night and she wanted me to dispose of the body."

"Did you?" Grandpa asked.

"No."

"Good. We got too much heat on us right now to have bodies dropping around us. Victoria's gonna have to handle that on her own."

"Shit, I'll let the police do it for me."

"What?" They both asked me.

"Y'all, I'm sick of my Dad's shit. I've been debating with myself whether or not I should do this but I'm thinking about pinning Milan's death on him. I just want his ass out of my life and I know taking money from him won't do anything since we both have money. I can't blackmail him because he doesn't have shit I want. The only thing he values is his reputation, so once it's tarnished, what will he have to fall back on?"

Isaiah sighed. "All that sounds good until your Mom goes down with him, possibly Charmaine too. And let's just be honest, somebody's gonna start running their mouth and we'll all be locked up together. I don't know about y'all but I'm not tryna get locked up. I got a date next weekend that I'm tryna go on, so you really don't need to do that."

"I agree. I'm all for hurting Teddy by any means but my princess would go down too."

I shrugged my shoulders. "So? I told her to stay away from him but she wouldn't listen. This is her punishment."

"You're crazy as hell," Grandpa shook his head. "My baby girl can't do prison and I'd kill you before you got her locked up because you're bad at your Dad. We all know he's a fuck boy but you could possibly drag the entire family down if you go through with this. What you need to be focused on is Adonis, because if he can send stuff to your Dad, then it's no telling who else he's sent stuff to or the other connections he has. Your Dad is just a distraction right now."

"I know," I mumbled. "I want Adonis and my Dad dead though."

"We can arrange that," Isaiah replied. "You already know how I've always felt about that dead beat. We've never had a relationship, so killing him won't faze me at all. Adonis don't mean shit to me either if he's going against the family."

"So, let's do it tonight then. Let's kill them both at the same time," Grandpa suggested. "You know, just take kill two birds with one stone."

"How are we gonna bring the two of them together though to do it?" I asked.

I had other people on my list that I wanted to off but I just wasn't sure. Adonis and my Dad were for sure getting taken out but what about Goldie and her family? I don't like the way she's been moving lately and part of me just wants to get rid of her and her family but then I'll lose out on money if they aren't moving weight anymore. But on the other hand, I don't have any information on them to implicate them on anything, except for what the police told me, which could just as well be a lie to get Goldie and I to turn against each other.

"Let's just invite them over for dinner or something and do it then. I'll even invite Victoria over because I know she'll make Theodore over, even if he is mad at you. We'll pretend like we want to sit down and discuss things with me as the mediator," Grandpa explained. "For Adonis, we can just tell him we're thinking about making some adjustments to the business like possibly making him the connect so you can focus more on the clubs."

Isaiah nodded his head. "Alright,t hat sounds good. How are we doing this though? Guns? Knives? Rope? How we taking them out?"

Grandpa smirked. "I really prefer to use my hands and watch niggas die a slow death, but I guess I'm too old school for y'all. I like to watch somebody bleed to death, or watch them gasp for air for the whole five minutes it takes for somebody to die because of lack of oxygen."

Isaiah scrunched up his face. "I don't like watching people die for that long. I just like to get it over with."

"Yeah. I get nauseous."

Grandpa waved us off. "Y'all just some bitches, that's all. Here's what we can do though. When they get in the house, we knock they asses out and take them downstairs. They'll be tied up to chairs and when they finally wake up, we off them any way we want them. I'll send out the invitations to them too, so it looks legit. Sound good?"

Isaiah and I nodded our heads, because Grandpa's planned seemed fool proof, plus there was no going against what Grandpa suggested. Once he put it out in the air, we were going through with it.

Lindsey

"Have you been having fun here so far inmate?" Officer Lewis asked as she walked me back to my cell.

I just got the chance to use the phone to call one of my family members but of course, nobody answered their phones. I called Theodore to check up on Daniel but his phone went straight to voicemail and so did Daniel's. I've only been in here a few days and I already feel like I'm missing out on what's going on, on the outside. I just want somebody to call me back so I can know what's going on behind these bars.

"Please leave me alone Officer Lewis."

She smirked. "Why? Are you gonna put your hands on me again?"

"Maybe," I frowned.

I don't know why she's always picking on me, even after I socked her in the mouth. Maybe I shouldn't have put my hands on her the way I did but she was pissing me off, just like how she's doing now. I just wanted her to get off of my d*ck and get out of my face but she's just so annoying. If I ignore her slick comments then she'll act like I'm not complying with her but then if I say something back to her then she'll say I'm being disrespectful and try to write me up or something. I just don't know what to do when it comes to her anymore.

"You know I can always use my taser on you just like how I used it when you hit me the first time. I'll leave your ass drooling on the ground shaking," she laughed. "That would be hilarious."

"It would be even more funny if you were laying on the ground drooling too."

She smiled. "Too bad you can't get to me to hurt me, and if you did, they'd put you in SHU so quick. You won't ever see the light of day again."

"I bet you'd be happy about that though, right?"

"Of course not. With you gone, who will I have to fuck with? You're my favorite prisoner."

I chuckled. "Oh, so you're one of those officers? You're the down low type that likes to play straight in public but then once you get around one of your favorite inmates, you take advantage of them in private. I bet you I'm only one of many."

"You're one of a kind."

"Well I'm the one that doesn't want you. I don't roll that way."

"You're gonna roll which ever way I want you to roll inmate or you'll be in SHU for disobeying an officer," she said as we approached my cell, which was empty. My cell mate wasn't back but I'm sure she'll be back any minute now since she was making phone calls with me. Officer Lewis pushed me into my cell. "You ever been with a woman inmate?"

I quickly pulled away from her and ran over to my bed. "Look lady, I don't do this shit. Alright? And I really don't think you wanna fuck with me."

She placed her hand on her gun as she approached me. "What the fuck are you gonna do inmate?"

"I'm gonna fucking yell for somebody else to come down here and check you. This is so unprofessional. I hope you know you can lose your job over this and if you even think about doing anything to me, my family will be up here so quickly to beat your ass. You don't wanna fuck with me."

"Your family?" she chuckled. "Oh, we all know what y'all do in here. Why else do you think you're such a high profile inmate? You're a flight risk because of your family and things y'all have access to. But trust and believe me honey, nobody in here is afraid of you or your family."

I shrugged my shoulders. "So come take advantage of me then since you aren't afraid of us."

"And lose my job over you?" she asked, laughing. "No thanks. Ain't nobody looking at you like that no ways and I'm not trying to lose my job over you. And for your information, I'm happily married with kids."

"And for your information, I don't care," I replied, sitting down on my bed.

For a second, I was a little scared about what she'd do to me. I've seen plenty of movies and shows where officers take advantage of the inmates because they're weak and powerless. I was afraid she'd do something to me and then try to blame it on me like I did something to me, so that's why I threw out that threat about my family. Based on my current circumstances with them, I don't even know if they'll come through for me so I'm going to have to start defending myself since they all turned their backs on me.

"I'm sure you don't care inmate," she said as she walked out of my cell. "But this is just a little for warning for you Lindsey, we're holding a spot in here for your brother. He'll be in here with you soon. You know which unit we're placing him in?"

I rolled my eyes. "My brother hasn't done anything."

"Oh, your brother's been a very busy boy lately. We can get him on multiple charges, more than what you know he's doing because I'm more than positive you know the things he likes to do. Sex trafficking, distributing large amounts of narcotics across the state, transporting narcotics across the border which is a federal offense, kidnap, killings, torturing...I could go on with all the shit we could get him on."

"Could," I repeated, "which means you have nothing on him, meaning you can't pin anything on him without cold evidence. And since you're talking to me about what could, might, or possibly be happening with my brother, why don't you focus on these other prisoners in here instead of trying to make lies up on my family? You already have me in here. I'm enough."

"No, because with him off the streets, this will slow down a large percentage of narcotics on the streets."

"As if somebody else won't step up and do these things you're claiming my brother does. You really sound stupid and you're wasting your time trying to find something that he's done. All he does his own his clubs. He's a family man, something your husband should be because clearly you haven't been getting any d*ck lately by the way you're riding me so hard. So, that's what you can do Officer Lewis. Go get some d*ck and get off of my brother's shit because he's innocent."

Officer Lewis smirked. "Alright, we'll see about that inmate. You have a nice day while we prepare a nice, cozy spot for your brother in our male unit. You two can be prison buddy's."

"Fuck you," I spat.

Officer Lewis laughed as she locked my cell so I couldn't get out. "I don't think you'd want that sweetie. Just like you tried to threaten me, I'll leave you with a few words."

I rested my head in the palm of my hand, annoyed by her. "Come on. Tell me the bull shit running through your tiny brain."

"You know what, never mind," she shook her head. "I'll let the shit pop up on you when both of your brother's get in here, and possibly even the cousin you're trying to fuck too. You have fun being alone."

I rolled my eyes as I watched her walk away from my cell. "Fuck!" I mumbled. Everybody probably isn't answering my calls because it's something going on that they aren't telling me about, like Theodore and Isaiah possibly coming here with me.

Adonis

I climbed into my car and immediately called up Danity. "It's done," I told her once she answered the phone.

"Good. How long do you think it'll take for Prince and his Dad to start fighting over the bitch?"

"Oh," I laughed. "I watched it all go down through the windows."

Danity and I are the ones that came up with the plan to expose Prince's affair with Milan to his father, seeing as though he's the only person who doesn't know about it. I couldn't send it through the mail without a return addressing and having them track it back to me, so I had to hand deliver it. Before they went out to pick up their mail, I slipped my anonymous letter into the mailbox because I've been trying to speed up this whole plan.

We already got Lindsey squared away in jail, thanks to my baby mama. Lindsey won't be coming out for 15 years, and based on my prior experiences with her, I'm more than sure she'll get more time added on to her sentence. She'll be lucky if she ever gets out of prison. So, the next person to take down was Theodore. I don't have much on him, except the business which I'm apart of, so I decided to fuck with his Dad.

Plus, it wasn't hard sending that tip to the police about him possibly being involved with Nicole, Tee Tee, Cashmere and Dylan's death. And I even told them police about what happened with Goldie's parents. I know they disappeared but I don't know who was involved in it since I'm more than sure they were killed, so I dragged Theodore into that as well as Goldie and her family because if Theodore's going down then so is that bitch. She'll be out of my way once I take over the family business and I won't have her family fucking with my money either. They're a liability.

Anyways, once I dropped off the mail to Teddy's house, I ran around the back to watch it all unfold in the kitchen. I already knew they'd get to fighting over some bitch like a couple of fools but I didn't think Prince would leave with blood gushing out of his head. I was more than sure Prince would beat his father's ass but I guess Prince isn't as strong as he likes to lead on because his father whooped his ass and left him running to his car to cry.

"For real?" Danity asked, surprised. "What happened? Was it a fight? Who won?"

I chuckled. "You already know what went down. They got to fighting over Milan, who probably doesn't even want either one of them," I explained. I don't see why the two of them were so fascinated with her in the first place. The only thing she had going for her was that she had a pretty face and she kept a steady job with the city, but that's about it. As far as her personality, she really didn't have one. Her opinion changed as soon as she got around certain people, so I always so her as spineless and brainless because she couldn't think for herself. Her body was just all right too. It's not like she was working with a big ass or some big titties, all she had was big lips. Shit. Maybe she was good in bed. Maybe that's what had the two of them fighting over her because I don't know what they were fighting over. She was pretty basic in the sense that you could find chicks like her anywhere. "But they fought for a few minutes and surprisingly, Teddy won. I mean, they were both throwing jabs but Prince left the house limping and bleeding all over the place. Aand of course Victoria pretended like she didn't know what was going on."

"Of course," Danity smacked her lips. "I knew she wouldn't get involved because she's known the truth for several months and never said shit to Teddy about it either. Teddy would probably beat her ass for knowing so long and not saying shit to her about it. I don't blame her though, especially after how you said Prince left the house bleeding. But do you think we've broken Prince down yet?"

I shook my head. "Nah. His relationship with his father never really meant much to him so this is just a bump in the road for him."

"So what can we do to break him down then?"

"The only thing that'll really hurt him and bring him down a few notches, would be if something happened to Princess. Now, I'm not trying to do nothing to no little kids so that's all on you. My hands are free from hurting kids but I'll do just about anything else."

Danity sucked her teeth. "Alright, fine. The only time we'll be able to get close to her is during her Girl Scout's meetings, so I'm thinking we do something to her then. When does she go?"

"On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday," I told her. Today is Thursday so she's going to have to get this done tomorrow or else she'll be waiting until next Monday to do it, and as fast as everything's moving now, it's no telling how long Prince will even let her be apart of this group or go to the meetings without protection. "Prince might be on to me so you need to get this done soon. Like tomorrow."

"Alright, I got it. I got it. Once I kill her tomorrow, then we'll have Prince in a vulnerable place to kill him soon after."

"And after him, we're gonna have to take out Isaiah and King. They'll be on to us and they'll want revenge so we gotta get this shit done soon."

"I want all of this done by the time Monday comes."

My eyes widened. "Monday? Danity that's crazy as hell. Bodies dropping all around us within days of each other is only gonna bring more attention to us and my family. And with more attention on us from the Feds, our business will go down and all we've been doing will be useless. We won't have money and we won't have a business to fall back on to generate more revenue."

"You're a smart criminal though Adonis, that's what I've always admired about you. Make this shit a clean kill, so clean that the Feds won't come snooping through shit. I know you can do that. Right?"

"Yeah, bu--" My sentence was cut short by the sound of my phone beeping. I pulled it away from my ear and saw that I had an incoming call from King, making me smirk. Prince must have ran his mouth to King about what I've been doing because he never calls unless it's an emergency. "Aye, I'm getting a call from King. Let me call you back," I said as I switched over to the other line. "What's up Unc?"

"I'm just trying to get down to the bottom of things with you and Prince. He told me you two haven't been seeing eye to eye lately and I think I know what's going on."

"What's up?"

"I know I gave Prince a lot at a young age. I probably should've given you more since I bought you into the game years before Prince even knew what was going on. You were already familiar with the business and how I run things, so I should've given you more because I think I gave Prince too much. I think he might be in over his head."

I slightly smiled. Shit. I'm glad he's seeing things my way for once since he always shows Prince and Isaiah favoritism over everybody else working for the business. It's like the rest of us don't even exist when the two of them are around. He gives them more attention and gives them credit for all the dirty work the rest of us are doing, when it shouldn't be that way. All of us deserve an equal opportunity to be apart of the business.

"Yeah but I'm not going to go against your decision. I think you gave him a lot at a young age though. All of the duties of the business should've been split equally between me, Isaiah and Prince."

"I completely agree," he replied. "I know Prince will be mad at me for taking away parts of the business for him but he's just not handling his business the way he should."

"I agree."

"So, I'm thinking we break it to him easily. I know you two haven't been seeing eye to eye lately but he'll control himself as long as I'm around, so I want you to come to my house for dinner tonight. You know, so we can tell him that you're going to take over his responsibilities so he can get his mind in check to make us some more money. How does that sound?"

I smiled. "Sounds good to me. Who's going to be there?"

"Me, you, Isaiah, Prince and possibly his parents. I don't know if you've heard about the shit that went down with Milan earlier this afternoon, have you?"

"Nah," I replied, acting as if I didn't know they didn't get into it over Milan. "What happened?"

"Teddy's late ass finally found out Prince was fucking Milan," he sucked his teeth. "I can't believe the two of them are out here fighting over a bitch, so Teddy and Victoria will also be at this dinner so we can all talk and go over things since Prince has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. I don't know what's gotten into him here lately but I'm going to put a stop to his shit tonight. So, I'll see you in a few hours?"

"Of course."

"Alright, well make sure you're on time too. I don't need anybody coming in late because Prince is gonna come downstairs and see everybody sitting around the table, waiting to talk to him. Be on time because we're gonna be at my house for awhile tonight. A'ight?"

"Yeah, I got'chu," I replied as he hung op the phone.

Shit. It kind of looks like things are finally starting to move in the right direction for me. At first, I was a little skeptical about teaming up with Danity to take my family down but it's helped open King's eyes to the bull shit facade Prince has been portraying to everybody. King has been moving wisely since he's considering taking some of Prince's power away from him. I just hope he remains wise and actually goes through with his plan tonight.

Aubrey

"I swear I hate your mother," Jazmine cried in my arms.

I took a deep breath, tightening my grip on her. I just don't understand why everybody is so against me and Jazmine's relationship. We've been together for years, took a break while I was locked up, but got back together when I got out because we're in love with each. I don't understand why our families don't see that we're in love with each other and just come to terms with our relationship because we aren't breaking up because of how they feel about us.

If anything,t heir dislike for us just draws Jazmine and I closer together because it assures us that's it's just me and her. We don't have anybody else on our side because they're all against us. The only person that's ever been honest, respectful, and completely behind what we have going on is Theodore and I'm appreciative of him for that but it's nothing like having the support of your parents.

"I know you do."

"I don't even know why we tried with her or my parents either. We should've known what was gonna happen meeting up with all three of them. No matter how hard we try to make things work, nothing will ever change. Their opinions on us will remain the same because they're so complacent and bent on keeping things their way. They don't care about us Aubrey and they really don't care about our baby. I don't want to bring my baby into this world, knowing it's grandparents will hate him or her solely because of the decisions we made in the past."

I scrunched up my face. "So what are you talking about then Jaz? You don't wanna bring the baby into this world?"

"No, especially not like this."

I frowned. I knew Jazmine was a lot more hurt than what she led on but I didn't think she'd let our parents effect her so much that she's considering getting rid of the baby. "I know you're upset but you're not getting rid of my baby. We've done too much and gone through too much for you to get another abortion. What if this is the only time you're able to have a kid, huh? What if something happens to your body during the abortion? What if you die?"

Jazmine sighed. "An abortion? Aubrey, I told you before that I'd never get one again."

"So what are you saying then?"

"I don't care about what our parents say though, I'm having this baby. We're having this baby whether they like it or not but I'm not bringing my baby up under these circumstances and I'm not going to continue to stress myself out either and run the risk of losing this baby. We've sacrificed too much to just let this shit break us."

"What are you trying to do then?"

Jazmine sat up in my arms and looked me in the eyes. "What if we just left Aubrey? Like, just run away. Me, you, and the baby and just leave all of this shit behind and never look back. I hate this place and all the people living here because all of them want to see us fail. I'm not bringing my baby into a world where it's hated. So, let's just go."

I sighed. "How are we supposed to just leave our lives Jazmine?"

"By just walking away."

"Shit ain't that easy. We're paying bills for our cars, this house, the lights, gas, you're still in school and we're both working. I don't know if you've forgotten but I have a record Jazmine. It's not that easy for me to just pick up, move somewhere and find a job like it's nothing. I have a GED that I got while I was in prison because I need at least a high school education to get some jobs but I can't find shit since I'm a felon. The only job I can get is working for Theodore but I can't just pick up and move the way you can Jazmine. My life is here."

Jazmine sighed. "Alright. I understand. I just wanted to pick up and move like we were supposed to after high school. It was supposed to be me, you, and Theodore but for some reason, our families followed us here."

"Fuck our families because they're all full of shit. You gotta start living your life with that in your mind Jazmine because they don't care about us, they never did. So, fuck them. It's all about us Jaz and we're not gonna run away from our issues anymore because it's gonna make us look immature just like them. We've already been the bigger people by trying to sit down and talk to them so we can all get along for the sake of the baby but they didn't wanna listen to us, so fuck them. We're gonna ignore them, remove them from our life and the life of our baby and we're gonna live our lives like they don't mean shit. We've been living without them for years, so I'm sure we can do it for the rest of our lives."

She slightly smiled as she wrapped her arms around me. "So, that means we're gonna stick together, right? Just me and you."

I nodded my head. "Of course."

"You gotta promise me you won't leave me and the baby Aubrey. I know how you like to get when you're mad sometimes."

"But I always come back, don't I?" I smirked, making her laugh. "But on some real shit, I wouldn't leave you and the baby. That shit was alright when it was just me and you but we're a family now and we're gonna get married soon anyways. I can't just walk away from my family that easily. And I love you too much to leave you."

"I love you too Aubrey," she smiled as she sat up and kissed me.

I wish we could've left. I wish we could just get up one day and leave and never come back but shit isn't that easy now. It was fine doing that in high school but now we actually have responsibilities and people are depending us, so we can't just run away as soon as shit gets hard. And regardless of if we have people depending on us, I'm not going to let our parents run us away from the life we created. They're not going to ruin us.

Theodore III

"That's one dumb ass nigga," Grandpa shook his head as he hung up with Adonis.

Isaiah chuckled. "I've been telling you for years we needed to get rid of him. He's the weak link in the business always getting into it with niggas and creating enemies, always sleeping with the prostitutes and never paying any of them and he's been against us from day one because he wants to be in charge. It's sad he actually thinks you're gonna turn on us Grandpa."

"He's a dumb ass, that's why," Grandpa replied. "And that's why I don't want him involved in my business if he's this dumb to agree to a ridiculous plan like that. He should know that I'm not turning against my family for him."

"He is family though," I added.

"Yeah, but he's far down the blood line. He almost doesn't even count," he said, making Isaiah and I laugh.

"Wait, you don't think Marlon will be upset if we kill Adonis, do you?"

Grandpa shrugged his shoulders. "And what the fuck is Marlon gonna do if I do kill his grandson? If he even tries to retaliate, I'm gonna know his every move. I taught him how to use a gun, so I'll know when he's going to shoot and how he's going to shoot because I taught him how to catch somebody off guard. And that nigga is too goofy to even think about retaliating against me. I've been beating his ass since middle school so he knows not to fuck with me. But lucky for us, we won't have to go through him retaliating because this is gonna be a clean kill and it won't be bought back on us either."

"What's the plan then?" I asked.

"I'm slitting their throats, simple."

Isaiah's eyes widened. "Wait. Why do you get to do everything?"

"Because the two of y'all are too scared to do anything, remember?" Grandpa scoffed. "I wanna kill Adonis for going behind my back and y'all already know I hate that nigga Teddy. I wanna do this."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Alright, that's fine with me but I'm about to head out. I gotta get Daniel and Princess out of the house before anything happens."

"Where are you taking them?"

I shrugged my shoulders again. "I don't know. I guess with Aubrey and Jaz."

"Fuck no!" Grandpa yelled. "I don't like that Jazmine girl. She really needs to be coming to this dinner tonight, Aubrey too."

I sighed. "They ain't even that bad Grandpa, so chill. I'mma just take them over there and come right back here. Just chill out."

Grandpa turned his nose up at me as he watched me tie up my shoes. "Daniel and Princess really need to be here. You need to be here."

"I'm coming back and I don't want them here when we're down in the basement killing niggas. What if they hear something?"

"The basement is sound proof, they won't hear a thing."

I shook my head. "Nah, I'm not cool with that. It'll be just my luck one of them come out of their rooms and see some shit they shouldn't have seen. Princess is too young to be seeing dead bodies and I told Lindsey I wouldn't involve Daniel in the stuff we do, so I gotta take them out and they're just kids Grandpa. Maybe you're losing your shit."

"Nah, I'm thinking with my brain. When are you gonna pick them up? In the morning? Tonight? Are you just gonna stumble over to their house with blood and guts all over you and casually pick them up?"

"That's why I'm gonna clean up and take a shower before I go--" I was cut short by the sound of the door bell ringing, which made Grandpa laugh. I scrunched up my face, confused. Why is he laughing? "I'll get it," I mumbled, walking towards the front door. Before opening the door, I looked through the peephole to see who was outside. Damn. I should've known he was up to something. Grandpa has never wanted the kids around when we're doing anything dangerous, but all of a sudden he does. It was all a ploy to get me to stick around the house longer so I could run into my parents.

"You like what you see out there?" Grandpa laughed as he walked up behind me with a bat in his hands.

"You always on some bull shit Grandpa," I mumbled as I unlocked the door. "That wasn't funny. I was supposed to be gone by the time he got here."

"Oh, stop acting like a bitch. You ready?"

"You're the one with the bat, you ready nigga?" Isaiah asked.

"Nigga, I'm always ready. Just open the fucking door and be cordial to him."

I sucked my teeth and did as Grandpa said. I was immediately met by both of my parents but my father's fucked up demeanor is what caught me off guard. I really wanted to laugh at the sight of his busted lips, bruised eyes and crooked nose. Damn. Did I break his nose?

"Damn, this nigga fucked up," Grandpa mumbled behind me, making Isaiah snicker.

Teddy scrunched up his face. "Something runny to y'all niggas?"

"Nah, nothing at all," Grandpa smiled.

Mama sighed. "Guys, come on, let's be mature. If we really came over to discuss what's going on with the family then we need to do that and be mature about it since we're all grown adults. This little kid shit isn't necessary."

"You're right," I replied. "You two can come inside."

"I still fucking hate you little nigga," my Dad said as he stepped into the house I'm paying for.

"And you're a bitch ass nigga. Now that we know the obvious, you can go into the dining room."

"Fuck you!"

"Fuck you too!" I yelled, trying to push him back but Isaiah stepped in front of me and pushed me back.

"Calm the fuck down," he whispered, "You get the front door."

I slowly backed up towards the front door as my Dad walked into the house and my Mama walked behind him. While my Dad had his back turned, I pushed Mama outside and locked the front door as Isaiah and Grandpa wrestled my Dad to the ground.

"What the fuck is going on!" Teddy squirmed under him. "Victoria! Victoria!"

"Shut the fuck up nigga," Grandpa growled as he pulled the baseball bat from behind his back and smashed it into my Dad's head.

I jumped back when brain matter splattered all across the foyer, getting all of us coated. Mama was banging on the front door and yelling for somebody to let her in as I looked down at my Dad's bashed in head. Blood and brain matter leaked out of his head from where Grandpa beat him with the bat, making me a little queasy. I knew we were gonna kill him, I just didn't think it would be this gruesome.

Grandpa bent down and used the end of my Dad's shirt to wipe the blood off of the bat. "One down. One more to go."

~~~

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How do you guys feel about this chapter? Was Theodore wrong to put the idea in their minds to kill his father? Were they wrong for killing Teddy the way they did? Were you guys expecting him to do? Will Danity actually kill Princess or will Theodore get to her in time? How do you guys feel about the officers trying to pin something on Theodore to get him locked up? How are you guys feeling this book?