Malachi, page 29
The lack of evidence, no forced entry, wiping of the cameras, blind spot knowledge, and everything else. It all made sense. I’d been saying since the first day of trying to crack the case that someone had spent a good deal of time casing my home and plotting Anna’s murder. I imagined they staked out several times and watched us like hawks, waiting for their turn to strike.
It was only partially true. They didn’t have to stake out. They were invited into my home, around my wife, and around our child. They sat at our dinner table, tucked Aussie in some nights, and told me they loved me every chance they got.
“Aussie, go put on your shoes, baby. You’re going to Pop Pop’s house for the night, okay? Daddy has something he has to handle.”
“Is Mommy okay?”
“Yes. Mommy is fine. She went out for some fresh air. She’ll be back, okay?”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. Shoes, Aussie.” I snapped, needing her to focus on the task at hand and not Aeir’s absence.
It cut me deep to see the tears that welled in her eyes. She was so afraid of losing Aeir like she’d already loss Anna. It was detrimental to her mental and emotional health that I made things right between us, but for now, there were more pressing issues. We both needed time to cool down.
I’d said some things I didn’t mean and would have to live to regret. It was best that I gave her space for now. My heart and my head were all over the place. I’d allowed my obsession with Anna’s murderer to cloud my judgment and send me into a blinding rage. I only prayed that Aeir would forgive me and God would, too, for what I was about to do.
“I’m sorry, Aussie. Just put on your shoes, okay?”
“Okay.”
Her broken heart sparkled in her tearful eyes. I reached over and pulled her into my chest. I was responsible for all the pain she’d endured in the two short years she’d been on this earth. No matter what, I kept failing her. Aussie was my world, but I couldn’t seem to get it right with her. Since Anna, Aeir was the best thing that happened to her and I’d managed to ruin that for her, too.
Fuck.
“Daddy is sorry, okay? Mommy is a little upset about some things I said but I will make it better, okay? I promise. She belongs with us, Aussie. I can’t see my life any other way.”
I kissed the top of her head and rocked her back and forth until she stopped trembling from her tears.
“Better now?”
She nodded, letting me know she was as good as she could be under the circumstances. I felt the same.
“Alright. Let’s get some shoes on your feet and get you to Pop Pop’s.”
Because Aussie was emotionally impaired and I was running off pure emotions, I took the lead on finding a pair of shoes she liked, getting them on, and getting her to the truck. Once she was situated, I ran back into the house, down the hall, and into the guest bedroom.
I punched in the four-digit code and watched the wall slide to the right, giving me access to eighteen guns, including automatic handguns. I didn’t want any of those. This was very personal. I wanted to control every bullet that left my possession. I grabbed the Glock 40, a spare cell, and the black backpack that held clothes, several full clips, emergency cash, and a ski mask.
On my way out of the door, I shut off all the lights. When I made it back to the truck, Aussie was sound asleep. The forty-minute drive to my grandfather’s home felt like fifteen. I pulled into the driveway, barely putting the gear in park before I was out and in the backseat, unbuckling Aussie.
“Malachi?” Pops yelled through the yard.
“Yeah, Pops. It’s me. I need you to keep an eye on Aussie for me tonight. I have some business I need to handle.” I ran across his yard with both our bags in my hand.
“Is everything alright?”
“Nah,” I told him, handing Aussie over. “It’s not.”
There was no need to lie. He could see right through me if I did. Besides, it wasn’t a preference of mine on any day or at any time. It required too much energy to tell a lie and keep track of the lie you’d told.
He grabbed her bag and left mine in my hands. He took Aussie from me as we made it into the house. She was still asleep. While he got her situated, I began stripping down and replacing the clothes on my body with the clothes in the bag.
“Now, you want to tell me what’s going on?”
“I know who did it.”
I powered on the cellphone from the bag. When the home screen popped up, I dialed a number I knew all too well. Before sending the call through, my grandfather demanded I give him my undivided attention.
“Malachi, tell me what the fuck is going on.”
Lawe and Milo had it honest. They’d taken after our grandfather. Makai wasn’t too far from the tree. He was silent as he was deadly. He didn’t say much, but when he came, motherfuckers needed to move.
“Anna. I found out who murdered Anna.”
“How?”
“Aeir. She’s been having nightmares and shit every night. I’ve been hoping to hear her say a name or call out any details but she gave me nothing. Tonight, after we discussed the pregnancy, I asked her. I asked her what she’d been seeing in her dreams.”
“Pregnancy? She’s pregnant?”
“Pops. That’s beside the point right now.”
“Well, we’re going to get to that point before you leave, nigga. ’Cause if Aussie is in that back room and you need me to see ’bout her, then it means you’ve fucked up with Aeir. Your knuckle head ass better get it together, nigga. I’m not fucking playing with you, boy. I’ll crack your shit wide open.”
“You serious right now?”
“Nigga!”
“Alright. Alright. Calm down. Yes, we had a disagreement. I’ll sort that out when the time comes. Right now… right now, I need to be on my way to Hank’s.”
“Good, I don’t want you going out there alone. Hell, I was about to get on that phone and call Makai. Hank will do.”
“Not that type of party, Pops. It’s Hank’s head I’m gunning for. He ain’t going nowhere with me but to hell. And when I get down there, I’m killing that nigga again.”
“What?”
“Hank.”
“HANK? Big head ass Hank? I know you’re not talking about our Hank.”
“What other Hank do you know, Pops?”
He caught the end of his couch, easing his body down until he was stable and seated. He grabbed his head, leaning forward while propping his elbows on his knees.
“Hank, Malachi?”
There was no need to keep repeating myself. It was not time to convince my grandfather of anything. It was time to let Hank know he wasn’t invincible. Everything I’d given him, I needed that back. He’d taken too much from me. He had to die about it.
“Willie.”
“Malachi?” he whispered into the phone.
“Yeah. Where you at?” I headed out of the door, sure to leave my personal phone behind. If anything ever revealed my involvement, I didn’t want to hand them the guilty verdict before I was even tried.
“I’m leaving Hank’s in a few. Is everything alright?”
“It will be. Leave the door unlocked for me and disable the security system on your way out. I’m on my way.”
“I thought you’d never come.”
His words stopped me in my tracks.
“Did you know?”
“I didn’t but I’ve had my suspicions since day one. I simply had no proof. I’ve only been under his thumb, waiting for that proof. The minute I found it, I was prepared to clean your laundry myself, but I’m happy to assist.”
“This one’s personal, Willie. Take a vacation. You deserve it. When you touch down, we back in business.” I hopped into the truck and pulled out of the driveway, headed straight for my hideaway where I could switch vehicles.
“Say no more, Boss. See you soon.”
I hadn’t woke up this morning, thinking I’d find out my best friend of over twenty-five years had been a serpent the entire time. I kept my grass low, but time proved I didn’t keep it low enough. Instead of being weary of the snakes in my grass, I should’ve been more selective about who I let help me mow it.
The conversation we’d had that night replayed in my head. His plans were to attend Milo’s celebration. It wasn’t until he knew I’d be stepping out that he changed them, all for the sake of having unrestricted access to my wife. I’d played right into his hand.
“Yo?”
“Don’t yo me, nigga.” He chuckled. “What’s good?”
“Shit. Shit. Chilling on it.”
“It feels good in the B. Man, we’re outside. Why the fuck you always in the house?”
“’Cause good pussy lives here.”
“The same pussy that’s gon’ be there when you get back,” he reminded me.
“That’s not the point. Besides, peace, that shit is here, too.”
“I feel you on that.”
“But, contrary to popular belief, and by popular, I mean all you niggas, I’ll be outside tonight. The wife is forcing me out, so I guess I’ll catch up with you then, nigga.”
“You… coming out? For what?”
“Milo’s shit. He said he’d already talked to you about the shit because he thought I wouldn’t.”
“And you didn’t, until now.”
“Well,” I tittered with a shrug. “You already knew so it doesn’t matter. He told me you’re sliding through tonight.”
“And I was, but some shit just came up. I need to shoot out of town tonight to holler at them people.”
“Still in negotiations?”
“Yes, man, and they’re up my ass. I’m a gray strand away from finding another route, bro. I’d fuck with your people but you keeping secrets and shit.”
“You found that one, you’ll find another.”
Peacefully, without a care in the world, Hank slept next to his wife of twelve years, Isis. Besides Anna’s death, she was the best thing that had ever happened to the nigga. He didn’t appreciate her and slimed her out every chance he got, which should’ve been a red flag.
Naive to his betrayal, I chalked it up as another man who loved to get his dick wet. Truthfully, it was the mark of a snake. His lack of loyalty should’ve opened my eyes two weeks after his wedding when he pulled up on me with a new bitch on his arm. Disgust made it hard to stomach reality.
I tapped his shoulder with the tip of my Glock. He stirred awake, unsure of what was happening or why he was being awakened from his sleep. He rubbed the blurriness from his eyes, finally recognizing me on the other end of the gun. The ski mask I’d worn in to conceal my identity was above my eyes.
Hiding wasn’t an option. Before I sent his ass to hell, I wanted him to know who’d be meeting him down there. As if he’d seen a ghost, his eyes grew large. Pussy.
“Malachi!”
“Wake her up,” I insisted.
“What? Man, what is going on?”
“You know what time it is, nigga. The jig is up, you snake ass bitch.”
“Malachi, wha-what are… Wha—”
“Wake her up!”
“Can we talk, mane? It’s me. What is going on?”
“Wake her up.”
He nudged Isis.
“Baby.”
“Hmmm?” she groaned.
“Ba-Baby.”
“What is it, Hank? I’m sleep.”
“Wake up, Isis.”
She slowly came to, the sound of my voice startling her. She began to sit up, trying to figure out what was happening around her.
“Malac—”
FOW!
“MAL—What the fuck? Baby? Baby.”
“She dead, nigga. She can’t hear you,” I confirmed.
I felt better already, witnessing him crumble as he shook the body of his lifeless wife.
“Payback a bitch, huh?”
“Isis. Wake up!”
I was instantly taken back to the night I found Anna on the floor, lifeless.
The silence of the room, aside from my daughter’s cries, were eerie, deafening even. It wasn’t until I reached the edge of the bed that my world completely ended and every ache I’d experienced began to make sense.
“Anna!” I groaned, despair consuming me wholly. “MY LOVE.”
Looking around the room, I searched for answers as I felt my body weakening.
“Anna! My love. Anna?” I called from afar, scared to close the distance completely.
Fuck. Anna. Baby. Baby. Wait. Anna!
Her perfectly sculpted body rested on the floor beside our bed. A single gunshot wound to the chest pierced her beautiful heart, spilling her love all over the floor. As much as I wanted to drop to my knees and beg and plead for her to wake up, for her to stop pretending, for her to open her eyes, I couldn’t. Paralyzed with incurable pain, I remained still as Aussie’s cries grew louder and louder.
My chest imploded. My heart shrunk, shriveled, and flatlined a thousand times as tears cascaded down my cheeks. This wasn’t a sick joke or a dream. My worst nightmare had come to haunt me. I’d seen that crimson shit that stained her silk white gown far too many times to fool myself into believing that life was still inside of her.
She was gone. My sweet Anna was gone. She’d done what she’d promised to never do—leave me. And not for a little while. Forever.
My vibrating phone chipped away at my paralysis. The numbness began to retreat. Makai’s name popped up on the screen. Needing to feel his presence in my world, I didn’t hesitate to answer the phone. The sound of wind whistling in the background confirmed he was no longer inside of the club.
“You good, bro? I saw your text and something didn’t sit we—”
“Som-somebody k— Somebody killed Anna.”
It had taken two years, but I’d finally caught up to that somebody. Their identity left me gutted, but it had my trigger finger itching. The trance I’d been in for those two years, I snapped out in a moment’s time. Just like that, I could see clearly and my heart was no longer heavy. I breathed better, fresher oxygen. I didn’t feel like I was traveling down one dark road. There was light. There was life.
“Malachi, man. What the fuck, bro?”
“You’re no brother of mine. Your name isn’t Milo. It isn’t Makai. It isn’t Mercer. It isn’t Chem. You have too much bitch in your blood to ever be a brother of mine. Without me, you wouldn’t be shit. I brought you into the game. I put money in your pocket. I taught you the trade. I taught you how to hustle, but nigga, you were never a hustler. Everything you have was handed to you and I’m the fucking fool that handed it to you. My repayment? Killing my wife?”
“I… It—”
“In front of our daughter.”
My patience had worn thin. I had none for the nigga in front of me.
“Everything I gave, I’m getting back. See you in hell, bitch.”
I emptied the clip into his head, reloaded and emptied the second clip into his chest, hoping he died twice. I pulled the mask over my face, again, making my way through the house and toward the front door where I’d entered.
The sound of small whimpers made me backtrack, following the sniffling until I located the source. A small child, no more than seven months in age, clung to the bars of her crib. The pink and white nursery was designed beautifully with large, wooden letters hanging above the crib.
Di’Anna.
Anna. Hank’s guilt had eaten him alive. He carried Anna’s name over, keeping her alive in his head. Shaking my head, I realized just how far under a rock I’d been. I never knew he’d had a daughter or that he’d named her after my late wife.
Knowing that it was impossible to leave her alone, I combed my brain for options. I backtracked and went into Hank’s bedroom, removed his phone from the nightstand and hovered it over his face. I prayed the camera recognized his face with more than twenty bullets in his head, but I was out of blessings. Removing my gloves wasn’t an option, but I tapped the screen, anyway, hoping it would unlock. He was a simple nigga. He’d kept the same phone password since his first iPhone.
The gloves didn’t allow any of the digits I punched to go through. I laid his phone back on the nightstand and began searching for Isis’s instead. I located it and had no issues opening hers with facial recognition. I accessed her call log, tapping the first contact on her call log. Her mother’s voice appeared on the line as I re-entered the nursery. Without saying a word, I laid the phone in the crib next to Di’Anna, hoping her cries were enough to get her grandmother to their home so she wouldn’t be alone for very long.
I pushed my way out of the door, around the house, and down the alley I’d come from. When I got to the car I’d swapped Anna’s truck for, I searched for a bag of any kind. The car was spotless. There was nothing inside that would assist me.
I started the engine, driving as far as my stomach would allow before hopping out on side of the road and spilling my guts onto the curb. Hunched with my hands on my knees, I released everything in me. Reality had hit and it had hit hard. Not only had my friend killed my wife, but I’d taken his wife’s life and left their daughter motherless.
Hank’s death, I could live with, but forcing another child to grow up like Aussie had and endure what she’d been enduring since that fatal night, I couldn’t wrap my head around. In the game, an eye for an eye was the way to resolve any issues that arose. I wasn’t feeling too good about the resolution this time, but what was done was done. Just like Anna, she was a casualty of war.
EIGHTEEN
2.5 months later…
Lines formed in the carpet from the vacuum as I ran it back and forth across the floor. The level of satisfaction it gave me was unreal. From top to bottom, I’d cleaned my apartment and this was the final step. I saved the best for last each time.
Being in my own apartment reminded me of life before my accident and before my world was flipped upside down. From the moment I’d awaken until two and a half months ago, it felt like I’d stuck my heart and head in a blender, praying something good came of the foolish decision. The calm I experienced over the last two and a half months was appreciated. The silence had, again, become my safe space.
