Page 95 of Widow Mayker

“Your question should be, why am I here.”

“I’on give a fuck why you here, bitch!” He took a step towards me, but I lovingly tapped the barrel of my thirty-eight against my chest, stopping him in his tracks. “I’ma take that gun and kill you wit’ it, bitch!” he hissed.

Chuckling, I replied, “No… That’s not how this is about to go.”

Frantically, his eyes darted around, looking for anything or anyone to help him.

“Your brother is dead, your crew is dead. If your woman was here, she would be dead.” Smiling, I added, “You’re lucky if I don’t kill your mother.”

He growled, but a growl never put fear in me.

“I commend your love for your brother. However, you fucked up by shooting at my family… And injuring the love of my life.”

Recognition set in, and Jerell noticeably blanched. Still, he stood his ground.

“That nigga killed my brother!” he spat.

“No…” I giggled. “I killed your brother.”

“Fuck outta here! Ain’t no bitch get the drop on my brother!”

“I got the drop on you.” I shrugged. “And we both know your brother wasn’t nearly as intelligent or street savvy as you. I put a bullet through his head not three minutes after he hung up with you.”

Jerell growled and charged towards me. One warning shot to his gut had him staggering back and hitting the wall behind him. He slid to the concrete balcony floor and peered at me, shockingly so.

I stooped down to his level and sat before him. Wordlessly, he stared at me as more blood seeped from his wound, and his breathing became choppy.

“I’m sure that now you’re wishing you would’ve held true to your word. You told Jemell that there was going to come a day that you couldn’t save him. Now, here you are, bleeding to death because he didn’t give a fuck about you or anyone else for that matter. He killed a beautiful, innocent woman to protect himself. For that, I had to kill him. You attempted to kill my man. For that, I have to kill you.”

He snarled. “Fuck you! And fuck that nigga!”

Smirking, I sat with him and gloried in the way he grimaced in pain. “Are you dizzy yet?” He had to be. He was losing too much blood.

“Fuck…you!” he grunted. As weakness took over his body, his eyes rolled.

“Actually, it’s fuck you. Forever.” I cracked a tiny smile and shot him right between his startled eyes.

Sometime later, all clean and mind clear, I arrived back at Dr. Bell & Associates. I sat with Mama for a while, checked in on Heir and Shyah, then made a detour to the emergency department. I went into the stock room, searched for what I needed, then made my way to the restroom. Minutes later, I smiled down at the test. Now if only Von would wake up, so that I could give him the good news.

LEWIS

I walked into the Pensacola Police Department and inhaled a breath of fresh blue air. Yesterday, Interim Chief of Police Potter called to inform me that my transfer request had been approved and that I was welcome to start whenever I liked. It took me no time to rush back to Atlanta and pack my shit. I barely said bye to any of my colleagues and got the hell up out of there.

Mama was happy for me. She wasn’t even sad about me leaving Atlanta. While I thought she would’ve trailed me to Pensacola, she chose to stay in Atlanta. Auntie Jenny promised to keep my mama together. Lord knows that worried me, but I had to trust that God had my mama.

Box of belongings in hand, I made my way down the hall and to the elevator that would take me to the floor where my new office was located. On the third floor, I stepped off the elevator and walked the short distance to the space that I would call home for the foreseeable future.

Inside the partially empty office, light poured in from floor-to-ceiling windows and a large oak desk was positioned against the wall to the left of me. I placed the box on the desk and went to stand by the window. From here, I could see Escambia Bay sparkling in the distance. Pensacola wasn’t Atlanta. However, my drive to the farm wasn’t nothing compared to when I was still living in Atlanta.

Adir offered me a rental apartment inside Dr. Bell & Associates, which was great, considering Shyah had no idea about this move. Plus, I wanted to decrease the likelihood that we would slip up before saying I do. I was adamant about being in alignment with my lady’s boundaries. Later today, I would be surprising her with the news. Until then, I got to work cleaning and moving into my office.

As I cleaned, my mind strayed to my homeboy. After being on life support for five days, Von was finally able to be weaned off the machines. It was scary as shit waiting to see if his body would respond to being off the assistance. When he successfully made it through the first night, we were all able to breathe a sigh of relief. Adir thought it was best to keep him sedated until his body was a little stronger.

Everything he and I had been through over the years couldn’t come to an end this way. There was so much we had to talk about, so much he needed to know. I wanted to give him closure on our vigilante and assure him that I was with him until our last breaths. That was the type of relationship I had with Von. He and I must’ve been blood brothers in a previous life. He had to keep fighting. Not just for Maja and his family, but for me too.

A few minutes later, I came across a few nails that were left in the wall. Glancing over my shoulder, the nails were directly opposite my desk. I had the perfect photographs to hang there. Retrieving the first photograph from the box, I hung up the still of me, my mama, and my father on the wall.

“Sergeant Winston,” I mumbled to my father’s smiling face. I knew he was looking down and proud of the son he’d made.