
**SILENT CRIES**

A Short Story Written by

Sonovia Alexander

_Copyright by True Glory Publications 2013_

**Published by True Glory Publications LLC at**

**SMASHWORD**

_**Facebook: Sonovia Alexander** _

_**Email: mizzesflick@aim.com**_

__

This short story is a work of fiction. Any

resemblances to actual events, real people, living or

dead, organizations, establishments or locales are

products of the author's imagination. Other names,

characters,

places,

and

incidents

are

used

fictitiously.

_****_

_**Editors:** Jacqui Darns, Shawnna Robinson _

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be

used or reproduced in any form or by any means

electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording or by information storage and retrieval

system, without the written permission from the

publisher and writer.

_Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any_

_Web addresses or links contained in this book may_

_have changed since publication, and may no longer_

_be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely_

_those of the author and do not necessarily reflect_

_the views of the publisher and the publisher hereby_

_disclaims any responsibility for them. ****_

## Dedication

__

_I dedicate this book to my sister Lashonta_

_Walker and my cousin Shaquana Moore. I_

_love you and miss you dearly Shaquana. I_

_know that she's smiling down on me from_

_heaven and saying job well done cuz. Sleep_

_on baby girl. Wish you were here to enjoy_

_this day with me._

## Acknowledgements

__

_I would like to thank God who has_

_blessed me with this talent to share with the_

_world. Thanks to my husband who is my_

_number one supporter and my 4 beautiful_

_children whom I love dearly. Everything I do_

_is for my family. I would like to thank_

_Shameek A. Speight for believing in my_

_writing and signing me to True Glory_

_Publications. It is an honor to follow behind_

_one of the most well respected bestselling_

_authors out there in the game. To the editors_

_Shawnna Robinson and Jacqui Darns; I_

_thank you both for making this possible. I_

_appreciate you. Special thanks to the_

_readers that have and will continue to_

_support me as I keep giving you all of me._

__

__

__

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_****_

## EPILOGUE

****

"Where are you?" she asked again.

He sounded impatient, "China, I told

you I was at my mother's house when you

called me ten minutes ago."

"Chino, don't get cute. I called you

over an hour ago and you said you were

home. You knew I was coming so where the

hell are you?"

"Yo, I'll call you when I'm on my

way," he said, almost cutting her off. "I have

to do a couple of things for my mother real

quick. I'll see you in a minute," Chino

disconnected the call.

China faced her cousin Q, "This nigga

think I'm someone to fuck with. Q, come

on. Yo, pass me my bag real quick. Let me

get my shit."

Q's hands absently grabbed the bag

and passed it over. But she looked worried

now.

"Cuz, don't do nothing stupid. You

need to just leave his dirty ass alone."

"I been with this nigga for two long

years and I'm not about to let him continue

to play me for a fool. He will learn this day

that I'm not the one. He's sitting there

kissing on some bitch and lying to me telling

me that he's at his mother's house. Hell no. I

took enough of his shit Q and you know this.

This will be the last time he disrespects me

and play me for another bitch. He's sitting

there kissing on the next bitch and feeling

her up while he thinks I'm home. These men

think they can beat a woman physically and

emotionally and get away with it because

they think the love we have for them is that

strong. Well his ass is wrong, dead wrong."

China ignores her cousin Q and gets out of

the car, which is actually parked right across

from where Chino and a female are

standing, engaging in small talk.

China crept up behind a parked car

and Chino's back. Q was right behind her

reaching for her 45. China took her 9mm out

of her pocket. She turned back, nodding to Q

before running up behind Chino and placing

the gun barrel to the back of his head.

Before the female he spoke with could run

or scream, Q had the 45 pointed at her

forehead.

"W-what the fuck are you doing? Do

you know who I am?" Chino asked.

"Shut the fuck up you lying son of a

bitch. I know exactly who you are. You're a

worthless piece of shit that should be dead.

You fucked with the wrong one. I told you

that you would get what was coming to

you."

"China, bitch is you crazy. I will,

fucking kill you. Put the fucking gun down."

"I'm not putting shit down pussy. You

think you're some kind of playboy or

something with your crooked ass dick?

You're a fucking fake ass pimp, nigga. You

don't have _shit_. Everything you got, _I_

bought. _I_ made you who you are. You were

a no body until you got with a bitch like me.

You played me for the very last time,"

China spit and cocked her gun back.

"China baby, listen to me. I'm _sorry_.

She doesn't mean shit to me. Let's talk

about this. You don't want to do this. You

know I love you. Please China, don't do

this."

"Go ahead and beg pussy. No one

feels any pity for you. Fuck you."

China opened fire, letting off four

deafening shots into the back of his head.

She faced Q and nodded. Q let off four

rounds into the girl's head before walking

away. China looked down at the only man

she ever loved, spit on him, walked back

toward the car and got inside. Q started the

engine and sped off.

_**Silent Cries**_

_****_

## CHAPTER ONE

"China, why are you doing this to us?

I love you."

It hurt to face him. But she did. "I

know you do E, but I'm in love with

someone else. I don't want to hurt you

because I _do_ care for you. I can't do this

anymore E. I have to follow my heart."

His eyes watered a little. This was

really, really hard. "What did I do wrong?"

he asked. He sounded confused and hurt,

"Tell me how I can fix this. You can't tell

me that after two years that you don't love

me. I was your first."

"You will always have a special place

in my heart but I'm done. I don't want to be

with you anymore. Don't make this harder

than it already is. I'll see you around."

"China, I'm going to wait for you no

matter how long it takes. You will be mine

again."

China left the pool hall where she

arranged to meet with him, and break things

off. Outside, her girls were waiting. Jalisa,

nicknamed Jewels was one of China's best

friends. Taliyah, called Ryder was another.

Qua, who they all called Q was China's

cousin. After growing up in the same rough

parts of Queens, they were known as four of

the borough's most notorious chicks. Not

only did they have looks—they would put a

bitch or nigga six feet under if pushed too

far.

"How did E take it?"

"He'll be alright. He's a good dude.

He will meet the right chick to love him and

treat him the way he wants to be treated.

Right now, I'm not that chick."

Ryder faced her with suspicion,

"When do we get to meet this new cat

you're so in love with?"

"Soon enough," she said. She'd been

seeing Chino for ten months, and had fallen

head over heels. When she had a man, it

wasn't serious. But they kept talking. And

three weeks ago, they met up, went to bed,

and sealed the deal. That's when she knew

she had to let E go.

"I'm hungry," Q said. "Let's go get

something to eat."

"Yawl go ahead, I'm going to lay up

with my dude. I'm missing him right now."

Ryder answered for Q, "China, you

really about to leave us and go be with this

dude after we walked your stink ass all the

way across town to dump this nigga E?" she

asked. "You can't be serious right now. I

thought we were hanging out tonight."

"Damn, bitch I see yawl asses every

day," she said. "I'm trying to see my nigga

for a night cap. I don't say nothing when

yawl bitches be cooped up in the house up

under yawl niggas. I don't want to hang out

with yawl tonight. We can do this tomorrow

night."

Ryder wouldn't let it go, "You said

that last night bitch. The whole purpose of

us walking you _down_ here was for you to

hang out with us _afterward_. Bitch we _all_ got

dick at home waiting on us as well, but we

haven't chilled with your ass in two months.

I have never known you to sweat a nigga

like that."

"Ryder, I don't sweat niggas. I made

plans with my nigga and I forgot all about it

until his text a minute ago."

"Fuck you China. That's that bullshit.

This nigga must be ugly as shit and that's

probably why you don't want us to meet

him. You probably don't want to be seen

with the nigga in public or something."

China laughed, "Stop being a fucking

cock blocker. You know I don't fuck with

any ugly dudes. Damn. Where yawl bitches

want to go?"

"Since

we're

already

in

the

neighborhood," Q said, happy now, "Let's

go to Juvee."

"Let's go before I change my fucking

mind," China said. "It better be popping in

this bitch or I'm out," she added. "I'm not

staying long either. Unlike yawl bitches, I

_like_ being under my man."

"We'll see how you feel about that a

couple of months from now."

The girls walked down the block,

toward the lounge that was usually packed

on a Friday night. By the door, Q rummaged

through her bag to find cash.

"It's on me tonight ladies," she said.

"We're about to have some fun."

After Q paid and got her change, they

walked in and found an empty table by the

door. The music was blasting and the place

was

packed.

People

were

enjoying

themselves, but China kept checking her

phone. She didn't know what to tell Chino.

Since they'd known each other, she saw that

he could be kind of jealous sometimes. And

she really didn't mind. It actually kind of

turned her on, in a way it made her believe

that he cared.

"Damn, are you going to check your

phone all night?"

China looked up quickly, as if she

was guilty of something.

Q rolled her eyes, "If that be the case

then maybe your ass should've left."

"Sorry," she said, lowering the phone.

"Let's get some drinks." China waved one

of the waitresses over to the table and they

all placed their orders. When her phone

vibrated a second later, she suppressed the

urge to see who it was. She didn't want her

girls to get mad again.

"Do you remember that chick Keisha

from Flatbush in Brooklyn that fucks with

that nigga Diesel?" Ryder asked. They all

shook their heads.

"You know he beat her ass on the

boulevard last night because she was talking

to one of his boys," Ryder added. "It took

three niggas to get him off her. She had

speed knots all over her head and her nose

was broken. He did that girl dirty."

"I hate pussy niggas that like beating

on women," Q said. "They should be shot

for that coward ass move.

"That shit was crazy. She could

hardly walk. Some lady helped her up and

put her in a cab and she left."

Jewels finally spoke, "You know

that's Mike sister right?"

"What Mike are you talking about

Jewels?"

"The pimp nigga. If his sister told him

what that nigga did to her then he gon get at

Diesel. My brother used to go to school with

Mike. That nigga used to spend the night at

my house all the time. His sister is only like

seventeen. She should've been her little

young ass home somewhere instead of

fucking with these lame-ass dudes." Jewels

took another sip of her drink and faced the

door. "Do y'all see what I see," she asked.

All the girls faced the door.

Before she knew it, China muttered,

"Oh shit." They all turned to face her.

"Bitch, what's wrong with you? You

know that dude?"

"Yes I do. That's Chino."

Q blurted, "Who the hell is Chino?"

"The dude I fuck with. What the hell

is _he_ doing in here?"

"I _know_ you're not fucking with that

dude that just walked up in here with two

bitches on his arm. Do we need to fuck

somebody up tonight? Because you know

_I'm_ ready?"

"Chill the fuck out Q. Let me go see

what's up. I'll be right back." China slid out

of the booth, heading toward Chino. She

walked up behind him and tapped his right

shoulder.

He turned, saw her and said, "What's

up?"

"Is that all you have to say to me is

what's up? Who the fuck are they?"

"Don't worry about that. I text your

ass one time too many and you ignored me

to go hang out with some bitches. I'm out

now with my home girls chilling. I'll call

you tomorrow."

She breathed through her nose. "Do

me a favor and don't," she said. "Fuck you

Chino." As she turned to leave, he grabbed

her arm and pulled her in close.

"Who the _fuck_ do you think you're

talking too!" he yelled. "Do I look like one

of them lame niggas you're used to dealing

with? Watch your fucking mouth. I will call

you tomorrow and you better answer your

fucking phone. Have a good night," he said

as he released her arm and turned to

continue chatting up the other two women.

China walked back over to where her

girls sat. They'd have a bunch of fucking

questions. But she was in no mood. She

plopped down into her seat.

Q broke the silence, "I know you're

not going to just sit there with that dumb

look on your face and not say who the fuck

those two bitches are that's sitting with your

man."

"Let it go Q. I'll deal with that shit

later. I'm not about to make a scene in

here."

"Fuck that. Bitch we have a reputation

to uphold and obviously those bitches don't

know who the fuck we are. Well today will

be the day that they find out. Sit your ass

there if you want to, but I'm about to fuck

these bitches up."

Q rose to her feet quickly. Ryder and

Jewels did too and followed her across the

crowded club and toward where Chino stood

with his two lady friends. China just

watched for a second, shocked by the

immediacy of it all. Then she leaped to her

feet and ran over to her friends, hoping to

stop them before they set it off. By the time

China bumped into a few people, and slid

past others, she had got there too late. Q,

Ryder, and Jewels were already on the girls

beating them out of their clothes. China

glanced over at Chino who looked to be

enjoying the show; China didn't like this

either. Bouncers started running over to

break it up. The two women staggered on

heels, with tousled hair and torn clothes.

China managed to gather up the girls and

steer them toward the exit. There was a cool

breeze outside and less noise.

"I can't believe yawl bitches did that

shit!" she said, louder than she wanted to.

"Yawl is off the hook."

"You're the one that's off the fucking

hook bitch," Q answered. "How the fuck

you're gonna let a nigga you broke up with

your first for, come up in a spot you're in

with bitches on his arm. What the fuck is up

with _that_?"

"I was going to handle that. That

nigga know how I am and how I give it up."

"Well, now he knows how we _all_ give

it up."

China looked away for a second and

saw Chino leaving the lounge by himself.

He faced every direction with a tense face,

saw them standing a few feet away and

started walking over.

"China let me talk to you for a

minute."

Q stepped to block his path, "You

don't have shit to say to my cousin nigga.

How the fuck you gonna bring two bitches

in this hood knowing your girl is from over

here."

"Stay in your lane ma. This is

between me and China. Keep that little

gangster talk to yourself. China, let's go."

"She's not going anywhere." Q

moved a little to further block China from

moving.

China sighed, "Q let me handle this.

I'll call you later."

Q spun and faced her with a furrowed

brow and hurt slit eyes, "I know you're not

leaving with this nigga?"

China gave them all an apologetic

look and stepped toward Chino.

As they left, Q shook her head, "Can

you believe that bitch is leaving with that

nigga? He disrespected her and she's going

to leave with him. I'm not feeling this shit.

I'm about to go get her ass right now and if I

have to drag her ass home kicking and

screaming, I will."

"Q you know she's not going to listen

to us," Ryder said. "Just leave her alone and

let her deal with that. China is far from

stupid and you know she's not going to let

this dude play her out like that. Let's get the

fuck out of here before those bitches call the

cops on us and have us locked up."

Q knew that Ryder had a point, "You

see how he just left them bitches in there all

fucked up?" Q said while walking away

with them. "I can tell that I'm not going to

like this guy if my cousin keeps dealing with

him."

"Calm down Q. Let's just go home.

We will get up with China tomorrow and

find out what the hell is up with this dude."

The girls reached the corner and Ryder

raised an arm to flag down a cab.

China and Chino meanwhile were

already in the dim front seat of Chino's car.

And China was just as unhappy. Before he

could start the engine, she told him to hold

on a minute.

"What the fuck was up with that

Chino," she continued. "You're trying to

play me? I just broke up with a good guy for

you because I thought you loved me."

Chino kept his face smooth and

unruffled as always, "China, I do love you,"

he said evenly. "Had you called me back I

would have told you what was going down."

_'Throwing it back on me'_ , she

thought. "Enlighten me Chino. Who the hell

were those chicks you came strolling into

Juvee with?"

"They're my workers."

"What the hell do you mean your

_workers_? What the _fuck_ are _you_ doing

hanging with your workers at one in the

fucking morning. What kind of work do

these bitches do for you looking like ten

dollar hookers?"

He changed his voice a little, "You're

asking a whole lot of questions. I don't feel

like talking. Let's go to my spot and fuck."

"Wait a minute," she said and stopped

talking. He almost sighed but turned

sideways to face her. "Who the fuck is you

talking to like that," she said. "Don't talk to

me like I'm some kind of bird bitch. You got

me twisted." Her jaw clenched and without

knowing it she was already turning toward

the door handle. "Fuck this shit. I'm out of

here," she opened the door and put her right

leg outside of the car when Chino's hand

flew out. She felt her head tilt sideways to

the left. Before she could register what was

happening, he was pulling her back in by her

hair.

"Close my fucking door bitch," he

growled. "Don't you ever try to walk away

when I'm talking to you? I will _fuck_ you up.

You better learn how to _respect_ your man. I

told you I want to go home and fuck, and

that's exactly what we're gonna do," he said

and released her hair and turned to face the

wheel as if nothing happened. Both of his

large hands gripped the steering wheel and

he sat there, facing the windshield. "Put

your fucking seat belt on and enjoy the ride.

Since you want to play like you're hard ball,

I'm going to teach your ass that I'm nothing

to fuck with." He released the wheel and

reclined a little. "Zip my pants down and

suck my dick now. You must don't know

what kind of nigga I am, but you will soon

learn to do what the fuck I tell you to do or

get your ass beat."

China faced him for a long while in

disbelief. Before he could look over at her,

she felt something crumble in her. Meekly,

her right hand went toward his groin and

unzipped his pants. She positioned herself so

she could bend over toward him. He started

the engine, released the brake, left the

parking spot and started driving them to his

house. 

## CHAPTER TWO

"Good morning. You were out all

night. Are you hungry?" her mother's voice

was soothing.

"No ma. I'm good," she said too

quickly. "I'm going to lie down for a while.

If anyone comes here or call for me, tell

them I'm not home."

Her mother stopped what she was

doing and looked over for a second, "I know

you're not asking me to lie for you. What's

wrong with you?"

"Forget it ma. Where's daddy?"

"He left for work already. Are you

sure you're okay?" Her eyes had that

searching look in them. She wanted to help.

China nodded and kept lying, "I'm

fine ma. I'll see you when I get up."

China walked towards her bedroom,

went in and actually locked the door behind

her. She walked over to her mirror and

slowly removed her sunglasses and faced the

black eye. She was surprised her mother

didn't notice that her face was swollen.

Before leaving Chino's place, she had

applied as much make up as possible to

cover the bruises, but they still showed. She

couldn't believe this nigga really beat her

up. She had never been in—let alone knew

anyone that was ever in or would ever even

tolerate the idea of an abusive relationship.

She couldn't see Chino anymore. That was

that. Q was right. But now she had to figure

out how to get away from him. He was well-

known on the other side of Queens and in

Brooklyn, she knew. And he had a lot of

people that ran with him. She fumed. She

couldn't tell her brothers or cousins. They

would try and kill him and it wasn't worth

involving her family in this. Much better,

she knew, just to leave him alone. But even

while she told herself this, she knew deep

down that he'd probably make her easy exit

from the relationship impossible. She

plopped down on her bed, pulled her covers

over her face while rolling over onto her

side, and quietly cried herself to sleep.

China's eyes popped open and she

was confused. She was in a dark space. But

then she instinctively yanked the cover off

of her head as the loud bang on her locked

door continued, and even intensified. She

shot a look at the television. The digital

timer said it was almost four in the

afternoon. She had slept almost nine hours

and still felt weary.

"Open the door China!" It was Q. "I

know you're in there because auntie said

you came home this morning. I will break

this door down if you don't open it up."

China rolled her eyes. She knew Q

meant it. Pretty soon she'd probably start

kicking the door in. China slid to the edge of

the bed and put her feet on the floor. She

shambled across the room, glancing at the

mirror to her side and wincing when she

once again saw her face. She stopped and

approached her bag. Q kept banging and

hollering. But China opened her bag, pulled

her makeup out and tried to quickly apply

some to the most noticeable bruises. She

then crossed the room, unlocked the door

and turned her back while Q was barging in.

She had reached the bed and was climbing

in, to lie down again when Q slammed the

door behind her.

"Why the fuck didn't you call me last

night to let me know that your ass was

good?" she began.

"Q, I'm a grown ass woman and I

don't need to check in with your ass.

Obviously I'm good. Shouldn't your ass be

at work somewhere?"

"Bitch it's Saturday. I don't work on

weekends. Had your ass been hanging with

us then you would have known that my

schedule changed a month ago. You been

creeping around with this nigga for almost a

year and when you make it official with

him, he bring some hoes into our hood. You

getting soft bitch over some dick."

"Look, I'm not in the mood for your

shit right now. I have a bad hangover and I

don't feel good. I'll talk to you when I get

up," she was back on her side, pulling the

covers over to hide her face. But Q wasn't

having it. She was at the foot of the bed,

grabbing the bottom of the cover.

"I am not leaving until you tell me

about this asshole you're fucking with."

"I broke things off with him last

night. There is nothing to tell your ass." The

cover was still on the bed.

"Stop lying. If you broke things off

with him last night then where the hell was

you up until this morning."

"Bitch you're not my fucking mother

so stop asking me all of these fucking

annoying ass questions."

"Whatever. Get your ass up and get

dressed." Q released the cover, thank God.

"We're going shopping and I don't want any

excuses. I'll be waiting on your ass next

door at Jewels house. Ryder had to work so

it will be just us three."

"Give me a few. I need to shower first

and throw something on."

"Hurry up. You got a half hour."

"Don't rush me. I'll be ready when I

feel like it."

While lying on her side, China could

see the mirror and in it she saw Q roll her

eyes, cross the room, open the door, leave,

and leave the door open. China threw the

cover off, leaped up and grabbed her towel,

toothbrush and makeup bag from the dresser

top and rushed to the bathroom. After

showering and throwing her hair into a

ponytail that stopped midway down her

back, China applied her makeup and threw

on a pair of black Capri pants with a black

and white Baby Phat T-shirt. She slipped

into her black Coach sneakers and grabbed

her black Coach handbag, inhaled, held the

breath for a second, then exhaled and went

to meet up with the girls.

They caught a livery cab to Roosevelt

Field Mall. They loved to shop. Q wore her

blue one-piece denim dress that was tight,

sexy, and emphasized her curves. Jewels had

on some blue low rider jeans with a red, blue

and white halter top shirt and white sandals.

They always looked their best even when

heading only to the store. They entered one

of their favorite shops to pick out selective

items. As usual, they split up and went into

their own sections to search for eye-catching

items. But China felt her phone vibrate.

Suddenly, the entire horrific ordeal came

back to mind. She looked down at the

phone. Chino's number appeared across the

screen. A chill ran through her. She would

ignore his calls and hope he got the hint and

left her the hell alone. She even turned her

phone off and kept shopping. After three

hours, they had found some items, spent

some money and decided to grab something

to eat. China was actually famished while

setting her bags down and taking her seat at

a table in a restaurant.

"Black is throwing a party tonight.

Yawl bitches want to go?"

"I'm down."

"I guess so. Don't look now, but that

guy over there next to the window is staring

at me hard."

"Bitch you're single again so go holla

at him."

"Shut up Q. I'm not about to approach

no dude I don't know. He's chilling with a

couple of people. I am _not_ going over there."

"Call him over here then. That nigga

is _fine_ as hell. Oh shit he's coming over

here."

"Hello ladies."

They all responded in unison: hello.

"Can I talk to you for a minute miss?"

China looked surprised, but rose to

her feet and followed the cutie a few feet

away from the table.

"I saw you over there checking me

out," she said. "How can I help you?"

He grinned, "You're very beautiful.

Do you have a man?"

"No I don't."

"What's your name?"

"My name is China. What's your

name?"

"Blue."

"Like the color Blue?"

"Yes. And yes that is my government

name."

She nodded and thought, _'Everything_

_positive so far.'_ "That's cool."

"Can I have your number so I can

take you out?"

"Do you have a pen?"

"No. We can walk over to the register

and ask the host for one."

"Just put my number in your phone,"

she said. "It's 555-365-0707. Use that

number anytime."

"I'm definitely going to do just that.

Don't be surprised if I call you later on

tonight," he licked his lips, touched her chin

delicately, held her stare for a second, then

turned and left.

_'The chat lightened my mood,'_ China

thought. She hugged herself while heading

back to the table where her order waited.

While sliding into her seat, she lifted a fork

and was already moving it toward the food.

"You bitch. You know you want to

fucking cheese. That nigga is _fine_. Look

they're leaving. Let's see if he has a car or if

he's a passenger-side riding nigga." They

rose quickly, rushed over to a window and

hid a little while watching the men and

China's admirer, leave the restaurant. And

every one of them approached and entered

their own high tech vehicle. China was

impressed.

"Girl you better hold on to that one.

That dude riding in a Benz. Maybe you

should invite him to the party tonight. That

could be a ride for us where we don't have

to pay for a cab."

"I'm not bringing a man to a party

where there is going to be a bunch of men

at," she answered. "No thanks. I'm about to

enjoy my single life."

"I hear that hot shit," Jewels said. "I

hope Ryder's ass get off work before we

leave because I'm not waiting for her slow

ass. It's going to be popping and they got

free drinks up until midnight. So we need to

get up out of here," Jewels glanced

impatiently at her watch. "We should get

home by eight-thirty. Yawl bitches should

be ready to go by ten."

"Jewels shut your ass up because you

know you're not going to be ready by ten.

I'm about to finish my food and take my

time doing so. I'm not rushing to get no free

drinks. I got money to pay for my own shit.

Ryder's ass won't come if we leave her and

you already know this."

"Lee's ass is coming too," Jewels

snapped. "She can leave with _her_ ass. At

least she will have a ride."

"Jewels chill the hell out. Lee said she

might not come if she doesn't get off by

ten."

"Whatever." Jewels grew even more

impatient with every passing second. "Hurry

the hell up with your slow ass," she added.

"I'm ready to go."

They finished their meals with China

eating quicker than she would have if Jewels

wasn't right there stressing them and

signaled for the check. It was even more of a

rush to leave the tip, head to the register, pay

the tab and pile themselves and their bags

into one of the cabs idling outside of the

mall. 

## CHAPTER THREE

_****_

The day had gone so well that China

didn't even really notice the bruises

anymore while dressing for the party. Once

she was ready, she reached for her phone

and turned it on. While a series of beeps

sounded, and a robotic voice with a

European inflection chirped Hello a few

times, China thought maybe Blue had called.

He said he may. Instead, she found a

whopping fifteen missed calls from Chino

and 11 of his text messages. She deleted his

texts without even reading them, tossed the

phone on the bed behind her then turned to

face the mirror again. Life was really too

short. He had his chance and he ruined it.

She reached for her makeup brush and was

raising it to her left cheek. The phone rang.

She saw the time on the TV set, rushed over,

lifted it and was ready to tell her girls she

was ready.

"Hello?" she asked brightly.

"Bitch I been calling and texting you

all day. Why the fuck you didn't get back at

me?"

"Get the fucking hint pussy," she said.

Her voice sounded colder. She had also

ruined her plan of easing out of his thoughts.

Still, she continued. "I don't fuck with any

abusive nigga. My brothers and cousins

would fucking _kill_ you if I told them what

the fuck you did to me, stay the _fuck_ away

from me and lose my fucking number

asshole." She ended the call with a hard

press of a button, took a deep breath then

continued getting ready. She was a bad bitch

and not about to put up with no nigga trying

to beat her ass and live to tell the story. She

was better than that and knew she could get

this dude hurt really badly if he didn't back

the fuck off. When her phone rang again,

she was ready. She yanked it off the bed,

swung it toward her ear and yelled, "Didn't I

tell you to fucking lose my number?"

"I thought you told me to call you

anytime. Are you good Shorty?"

She winced, "I'm sorry. Who is this?"

"Blue. The dude you met a little while

ago."

Not a good look, she knew. But she

said, "Oh. Hey, what's up?"

"I want to see you."

"I'm about to go to a party."

"I can meet you there."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"I like to have fun when I go out and

dance. I wouldn't want you to feel

uncomfortable if you came along and I

didn't spend time with you."

"I'm cool with you having fun," he

said calmly. "I also like to dance and have

fun. I won't cramp your style. I promise.

Please."

She laughed, "You don't have to beg.

You can come. Get a pen and write down

the address. I'll be there within the next half

hour or so." Once she was sure Blue had the

information, she ended the call. After double

checking herself in the mirror, she went to

her door, turned off her light, and went to go

meet up with the girls at Jewels house.

Q's mother Ann, her father Earl and

her aunt and uncle, Joe and Ike had bought a

two family home twenty years ago together.

Ann and Earl had the second floor and attic

while Joe and Ike took the first floor and

basement. Ann was a sales rep for an

insurance company. Earl was a psychiatrist.

They had two sons Dee and Day Day and a

girl Q. Not only was Earl over protective of

his one and only daughter, but so were her

brothers of their sister. Q was spoiled rotten.

She was taught how to fight by getting beat

up by her brothers, growing up to rough her

up and prepare her for anyone that would try

messing with her. She was a beautiful girl

and they knew that bitches would try her and

they wanted her to be ready to tear a bitch

up. Earl and Ike were brothers. They had

turned their lives around when they met Joe

and Ann. They gang banged, sold drugs,

killed people, and anything else involving

breaking the law.

Joe was a Principal at an elementary

school and Ike was a butcher. They had

three sons Ike Jr, Man and Demes. They had

two daughters China who was the youngest

girl and Snow. Being that the girls all grew

up in the same house; they considered them

all to be sisters since they all looked so

much alike. China was a little darker than

Snow and Q. They all had the same attention

from their brothers and cousins. They were

taught how to be ladies and how to be a bad

bitch as well. The three would soon get a

reputation in their hood that they were not to

be fucked with and if a nigga got out of line

with them, that's when their brothers

stepped in. Man was the oldest out of all the

youngsters and went to the Army at the age

of eighteen. He loved guns and was one of

the most ruthless dudes you would ever

come across. He used to steal his father's

gun and take it to school and beat dudes

down for no reason. He was crazy as hell

and Ike knew this about his son. He said the

best place for him to be was in the Army or

he would be found dead or in jail.

Jewels lived with her mother and two

brother's right next door to China and Q's

house. Jewels' mother had moved on the

block when she was five years old. Her

brothers hadn't been born yet. Jewels

mother, Latonya had met a guy named

Ricky who was a local drug dealer and bare

him two sons; Ricky Jr. and Terence who

were a year apart. Later on Latonya had

married Ricky who was killed four months

after their wedding by a gang he had beef

with. Latonya never remarried or dated

anyone since. She focused on her job and

taking care of her children. Jewel's used to

see the girls that lived next door to her on

their stoop all the time but was always afraid

to talk to them since they always rolled their

eyes at her when they would see her looking

over at them. She had befriended Ryder first

since Ryder lived in the same house but on

the top floor. Ryder's parents had the

upstairs and the attic of the house. Ryder

was always with her mother or at her

grandparents house which left Jewels with

no one to play with but her two little

brothers.

Ryder's mother and father had lived

on the block before any of the girls had

come around. Her father was a truck driver

and stayed on the road most of the time. Her

mother was a Certified Nurse Assistant.

Ryder had one brother who was two years

older than her. Ryder was happy when some

girls had finally moved onto the block so she

would have someone that she could play

with. She thought of going over and

introducing herself to Q and China who

were always outside in their yard, but

decided against it when she waved at them

one day and they gave her the finger. She

never tried going over to talk to them after

that. She was happy when Jewels had moved

into the apartment downstairs. Her and

Jewels had hit it off and had become friends.

Ryder barely had the chance to play with

Jewels because her mother would send her

to her grandparent's house while she

worked. When she would get home, Jewels

would be asleep.

One summer day, Ryder and Jewels

were walking to the store together and ran

into Q, Snow, and China. Ryder didn't like

the girls because she thought they were

cocky bitches. Ryder had bumped into Q

and Q turned and looked at her.

"Bitch, do you know how to say

excuse me?"

Snow and China had stopped walking

and turned their attention on both girls that

they knew lived next door to them.

"Why don't you watch where you're

going? You're the bitch you high yellow

heifa. You..."

Before Ryder could get another word

out, Q had jumped on her and they started

fighting. Jewels jumped in and not before

long; China was on her. Snow just stood

back and watched them fight. This was the

girl's first fight. Since she was six years

older than the girls she didn't get involved.

When she saw bloodshed, she broke up the

fight.

"Now all of you girls make up and

become friends. I don't think yawl want our

parent's to get involved in this. We are all

neighbors and we're gonna live next to each

other for a long time. I think it's time that

yawl start getting along," Snow said. From

that day forward, the girls became the best

of friends.

"I'm having a good time with you. I

hope the next time I get to see you it will be

just the two of us."

"I'll make sure of it," she said. She

did have fun, amazingly enough. "Come on

let's go outside for a minute. It's hot as hell

in here." She led Blue out of the club to cool

off in the seventy-five degree weather. It

was mid-July but cool for a summer night.

"Where are you from?"

"Long Island."

"What part?"

"Freeport."

"Cool. I know some people out

there."

This was when China noticed three

guys walking toward them and felt

something wasn't right with them. Before

she could tell Blue they should head back in,

one of the guys hit him from behind. He fell

forward, then to the ground. The other two

guys joined the first to stomp Blue out.

China was paralyzed. It happened so quickly

she didn't know how to react. Then someone

grabbed her from behind. The guy put a

hand over her mouth to keep her from

screaming and she was suddenly airborne,

being carried in his one-armed hug. She

tried to squirm her way out but she was

nearing a van. The others opened the door

and she was thrown in. The guy in front of

her had a gun pointed at her and warned that

if she screamed he would put one in her

head. The door slammed shut and she faced

the dark interior. She could hardly see

anything. She backed up until her back was

against a wall. She was scared to death and

didn't know what the hell was happening.

The only thing she could think about was

dying at that moment. She remained quiet,

not knowing what to do or say. She started

thinking hard but it was impossible under

these circumstances. When she opened her

mouth to speak, she heard the man that

grabbed her and threw her in this van. She

recognized the voice instantly and knew it

was Chino.

"Why are you doing this Chino?" she

asked. "Why don't you let me go and I will

forget this ever happened? You're a good

looking dude and can get any bitch you

want. Why won't you just leave me alone?"

"Shut the fuck up bitch," he growled.

"You violated and now your ass is going to

pay. You at a party with the next nigga and

just tried to break things off with me, bitch

you _got_ to be stupid. It's not over until I _say_

it's over. You want me to treat you like a

cheap hoe then so be it. You think you and

your girls are tough. I heard about yawl

stupid bitches. Try that shit with _me_

though."

"Chino let me go please. I'm not

trying to play you. We're just not

compatible. You didn't have to let your boys

do that to that guy. He didn't know anything

about you."

"Didn't I tell you to shut the fuck

up?" Chino reached over and punched her in

the face. She felt dazed as the blow took

effect. She tried to fight back, landing a few

blows of her own with both hands, but that

only enraged him. He pulled his pistol out of

his pocket.

"So you want to hit like a nigga right,

then you going to get fucked up like one."

He kneeled, reached out with his left

hand and grabbed her shirt. She tried to

knock his hand away but he grabbed hold

and brought her closer and proceeded to

pistol-whip her. She screamed for help. He

got even angrier when her blood splattered

all over his face and white polo shirt. He hit

her upside the head with the pistol until she

blacked out. He finally released her shirt and

she fell to the van floor. He pulled his cell

phone out and called the driver of the van.

"Yo, change of plans. Go to my

mom's crib."

The driver sounded nervous, "Is

everything alright back there man? I heard

Shorty screaming."

"Stop asking so many fucking

questions and do what the fuck I told you to

do." Chino abruptly ended the call. 

## CHAPTER FOUR

China awoke with a start from what

she thought was a nightmare. When she

looked around and didn't recognize her

current surroundings, she knew this was no

dream. She was lying in a bed inside of a

small room. She didn't remember every

event from the night before. When she lifted

her head, she instantly caught a migraine.

She leaned forward trying to rise but

couldn't. Her body ached. Wincing, she

leaned back on the bed and closed her eyes,

trying to remember what happened. As she

replayed the night in her head, she

remembered bits and pieces and came to the

conclusion that the only person that could be

behind this was Chino. She heard footsteps

and turned to face the door. There was a soft

knock. She was afraid to speak so she closed

her eyes and pretended to be asleep. She

heard the door open and someone walk over

to the bed. The person touched her face.

Chills ran through China's body. Her eyes

flew open and startled the woman that stood

over her.

"I'm sorry," the woman said. "I

thought you were still asleep. I brought you

some aspirin just in case you woke with a

headache."

"Who are you, and where am I?"

"My name is Amanda. I am Chino's

mother. He brought you here last night and

wanted me to clean you up. Sweetie, what

did you do to make him so angry?"

"What do you mean? Your son beat

me up and you think it's my fault? No man

has the right to hit a woman."

"Yes. That is true, but I know my son

and his attitude and he wouldn't do such a

thing unless you hurt him bad."

The woman was just as crazy, China

decided. She got right to the point. "Can I

leave?"

"You're a grown woman. You can

leave if you choose to. But I wouldn't want

to go out in public looking the way you do if

I were you."

China was confused now and nervous.

"Do you have a mirror?"

"You can go into the bathroom

outside this room and two doors down to

your left." China left the bed and felt pain

immediately shoot through every part of her

body. Somehow, she made it to the

bathroom. She was almost afraid to face the

mirror but did it anyway. She had to blink a

few times to see if the creature staring back

at her actually existed. Her face looked

disfigured and her head was bandaged. Her

nose looked swollen and both of her eyes

were blackened. Her lips were swollen with

dried up blood on either side of them. Chino

had done a job on her. She didn't even look

like herself. There was no way she could go

home looking this way. She used the

restroom, washed her hands, and hobbled

back to the room where she had slept.

Chino's mother now sat on the bed holding a

glass of water and some Tylenol tablets in

her other hand. China accepted both,

chucked the pills in her mouth, swallowed

them and then drank the water. She was

thirstier than she thought.

"Who bandaged me up?" she asked.

"I did. I'm an RN. I do this for a

living."

"Where is Chino?"

"He went to work. He said that he will

drop by to see you later on. If you're

hungry, there is food in the kitchen already

prepared. I think you need to get a little

more rest. I can try and fix you up the best

that I can so that you can look a little decent

going home. I know your family might have

questions. If I were you, I would lie. Chino

is a very notorious guy. I'm sorry this

happened to you." With that, Amanda rose

and left the room, shutting the door behind

her.

"What the fuck have I gotten myself

into?" China said aloud. "Where the hell is

my bag?" She faced every corner of the

small room and saw it by the closet door.

She got up and lifted the bag and rifled

through it and saw all of the contents were

still inside. She pulled out her cell phone but

didn't know who to call. She considered

what Chino's mother said a few minutes ago

and decided against calling anyone. She

curled up in a ball on the bed and cried

herself back into a peaceful sleep.

"Baby wake up."

_'What now?'_ she thought.

She opened her eyes and saw

someone's leg sitting on the bed and a hand

shaking her awake. When she realized it was

Chino, she sat up and recoiled.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said

calmly. "I'm so sorry that I did this to you

baby. You're so beautiful and I can't stand

the thought of losing you. I love you so

much. I can't believe I did this. Look at you

baby. Come here and let me hold you."

She hesitated before moving closer

and into his arms. He hugged her tight and

kissed her face while her tears rolled down

her cheek and onto him. She then hugged

him back and forgave him for what he had

done. She never saw a guy cry before and

knew it took a lot for a man to do this in

front of a woman. 

## CHAPTER FIVE

A couple of weeks passed. Summer

was ending. China and Chino got a little

closer and he wasn't hitting her. She had

actually told her girls and family that Chino

had rescued her from Blue, who got a little

aggressive about trying to get her to leave

the party with him. It was a lie but she at

least spared everyone the pain of hearing the

horrible truth. It was also even more

effective than she wanted it to be. Instead of

simply making it easier for herself she

wouldn't have to tell them what happened;

the story actually had her girls warming to

the idea of Chino being a good dude. He

even went out with them from time to time

and handled every check to get even further

on their good side. Q however still didn't

care too much for him and probably never

would.

China meanwhile had had her own

mixed feelings about Chino's family. The

mother was nice enough that day but China

and his sister didn't click. It was obvious

from the moment after he introduced them.

China felt something was off about her.

Then she was introducing Chino to her

parents. Her mother immediately exuded

distrust and dislike for him. Her father gave

him a firm handshake and seemed to like

him. Her brothers and male cousins however

shared her mother's opinion. Knowing how

they could be—no one should ever play with

them—she decided not to invite Chino over

to the house when any of them were around.

It was early September and the weather was

still fair. China needed to find something to

get into. She was tired of going to work and

back and forth to Chino's house, but she

would be worn out from Chino fucking her

all night and then working 8 hours while

using public transportation to and from. Her

social life seemed non-existence. She missed

her girls, but by the time she reached home,

all she wanted to do was sleep.

"What are you getting into today?" Q

asked. She waited in front of the house.

"Nothing," China said. "I'm tired. I

just got in from work and need to get some

sleep."

"I want to go to a club tonight. It's

Friday and I miss hanging with your stank

ass."

"Q I told you I'm tired."

"I bet if Chino came here right now to

pick your ass up you wouldn't be so tired."

"I'm not about to sit here and argue

with you. If I feel like going out by the time

I wake up then I will let you know."

"You suck. I'll talk to you later."

China turned to enter the house. She

couldn't understand why her cousin thought

she wouldn't be tired after working eight

hours at the post office. Dealing with

people, their different attitudes was stressful

enough. All she wanted to do was unwind.

Besides physical exhaustion, she was also in

a little pain due to the latest development

with Chino. This time, she arrived at his

house to find him with two girls in his car.

When she questioned this, he didn't respond.

She tried to break things off. He left the car

and attacked her with both fists right in front

of the chicks. They watched in horror but

didn't do or say anything to help. China took

the beating but knew if she ever saw the

both of them again she would put the beats

on them. After this attack, he took her to his

mother's house where she again bandaged

her up, gave her Tylenol and sent her to lay

down. Chino then fucked her when he came

in after doing what it is that he did. This was

last night. This morning, she had left straight

from Amanda's house to go to work. Chino

texted his apologies but she didn't respond.

By lunchtime, a messenger brought the

flowers he ordered. She chucked them and

the card into the trashcan with barely a

glance. She was tired of him beating her up

when he felt like it. She fought back but her

blows only made him hit her back even

harder. He always fought like she was a man

and left her with a black eye and bruises.

This wasn't healthy, she knew, but she loved

him and couldn't understand why. She had

met his three year old son and fell in love.

She hadn't met the boy's mother but thought

that if she and Chino rekindled what they

once shared, they could get their family back

together. But Chino ended these hopes by

saying the mother was a bitch and he

couldn't stand her. China wondered what

went wrong in their relationship, though she

pretty much had an idea.

"Hi sweetie," her mother said. "You

look tired. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine ma. Just need a couple of

hours of sleep. You look nice. Where are

you going?"

"Your dad is taking me out to dinner.

You're more than welcome to come."

"I'm good," she said. "I'm going to

bed. You two have fun and bring me home a

doggy bag."

"I'll see you later."

China walked inside of her bedroom

and closed and locked the door behind her.

She threw her bag on her love seat and

stripped down to her panties and bra. She

walked over to her dresser and pulled out a

t-shirt and shorts. After dressing, she jumped

into the bed and fell off to sleep.

She woke to the sound of people

screaming. She jumped out of bed and ran

out of her room and toward the noise. She

opened her door and proceeded down the

hallway until she reached the home's front

door. When she opened it, she saw Q and

another girl arguing. She walked outside

barefoot to see what the argument was

about.

"What's going on Q?"

"This bitch bumped me twice. I let it

go the first time but I'm not letting shit slide

a second time. Now she wants to be scared. I

told the bitch friends to go get her aunts,

mother, sister or anyone else she wants

because she not going nowhere until I whip

her ass. Her dumb ass friends left her ass.

I'm not going to fuck her up until her people

come so I can wear their asses out too."

"Let that girl go," China said. "She

doesn't want to fight."

"Fuck that. The bitch still didn't

apologize. She was hyped when her girls

were here with her and when I pulled out my

.45 those bitches left her ass."

"Bitch they going to call the cops on

your ass," China said.

"I don't give a fuck. My shit is

licensed. You know what? You want me to

let the bitch go? Okay." Q walked over to

the girl and punched her in the face. Once

the girl hit the lawn Q walked away, "Now

the bitch can go." Q headed into the house

and slammed the door behind her. China

knew her cousin was pissed and wanted to

really do the girl bodily harm. She was glad

for the poor girl's sake that the only thing Q

did was punch her in the face. Q had a

temper that could go beyond her own

control sometimes. China watched the

young girl get up off the ground and struggle

to her feet. Instead of walking, the girl

started off in a slow jog heading down the

block. China watched the girl pick up her

pace and start running. China shook her

head before heading back into the house.

She walked up the stairs heading into her

aunt and uncles apartment to check on Q.

When she reached Q's bedroom door, she

knocked softly then opened the door and

proceeded in without waiting for a response.

"What the fuck is wrong with you Q?

You're outside pulling out your burner on

these little young ass girls. Are you really

that fucking dumb?" China remarked

sounding annoyed.

"I do what the fuck I want to do. I

don't have to answer to you or anyone else

for that matter. Those little bitches thought

they were going to jump me and I had a

point to prove. I don't give a fuck how old

they are. When they step to me they better

step correct."

"I thought you were going out?"

China lay across Q's bed. She was still very

tired.

"This bitch Ryder went out with her

man and Jewels ass is sick. I need to find

some new fucking friends because yawl

bitches is washed up."

"You need to get laid. Where the hell

is Chris? Life isn't all about fucking fighting

and partying bitch. We're getting older. That

shit is over rated."

"Whatever. Chris had to do a double

at his job. I'm tired of him anyway. I need

some new dick. He's not hitting the right

spots. I need a thug to make my toes curl."

China laughed out loud, "You're a

fool. I'm going down stairs to get ready. I

see you need to get out. Give me a few and

I'll be ready." China rose up off Q's bed and

headed out of the house downstairs straight

to her bedroom. She walked over to her

closet and started scamming through the

clothing trying to pick out something to

wear. As China started taking clothing out

and throwing them across her bed; she heard

gun shots that sounded like they were close

to her window. She jumped to the floor and

crawled over to her bed and grabbed her

shoe box from underneath it and pulled out

her 9. She crawled over toward her door and

got up and started for the door where she ran

into Q who was coming downstairs with her

loaded .45 in hand.

"Is someone shooting at the fucking

house?"

"Yes bitch. That bitch I just punched

is outside with two niggas. They shot in the

air. I peeped out the window."

They then heard two more shots go

off and a girl screamed. China opened the

door and saw one dude running down the

block and the other on the ground. Q ran

passed China and let off three shots at the

dude that was running down the block.

China looked over at her cousin Day Day

who had let off the shots at the two dudes.

He was placing his gun back into the back of

his pants and walking back in the direction

from which he came. Q had managed to hit

the dude in the leg and started running in his

direction. She let off two more shots in the

back of his head then ran back toward the

house. China was close behind running into

the house and locking the door behind them.

They knew they weren't leaving the house

for the rest of the night. The cops were

going to be out looking for the murderers.

The only good thing about the block was

that no one liked snitches and everybody

always mined their own business. This

wasn't the first and would not be the last

time one of them shot at or killed someone.

China was pissed off because the police

were going to be squirming around the block

asking all kinds of questions. Whoever those

guys were, they obviously didn't know how

our family got down. Now China had a

feeling that the girl was going to come back,

but how she came back didn't cross her

mind at all. China went into her bedroom

and put her gun away. She climbed back in

the bed and waited for the bullshit that was

soon to follow the shooting. As quick as she

was to pull out a burner to defend her

family, she wish she had the courage to pull

the trigger on Chino. She loved Chino and

loved the roughness about him. She just

hated the fact that he liked to hit women.

China knew that she could easily whip

Chino's ass, but knew better than to fuck

with a man's ego. He would probably kill

her before he gives any woman the

satisfaction of beating his ass. China smiled

to herself thinking that when the time came,

she was going to give Chino exactly what he

needed. 

## CHAPTER SIX

"Why the fuck are you ignoring my

calls."

"Chino, get the fuck out of my

workplace before you get me fired. I don't

have time for your bullshit. I'm fucking

done with your stupid ass. Now get the fuck

out of here before I call security on your

ass."

"Bitch, you know you gotta leave this

mother fucker right. I'll be waiting for your

ass."

"Fuck you, you fucking dirty mother

fucker. Go get a fucking job. You're a bum

ass nigga."

Chino flipped his middle finger at

China as he exited the post office. It was too

early for the bullshit. China had an

exhausting weekend and it was Monday,

which was a day that she always wanted to

sleep through. People was staring at China

and chuckling at the little altercation

between the two of them. China went back

to work as if nothing happened. She told her

co worker a few minutes later to cover her

while she went to use the bathroom. China

walked into the back and pulled out her cell

phone and dialed Day Day's cell. When the

voice mail came on, she hung up and dialed

Q. Q answered on the second ring.

"What's up bitch?"

"Q, I need you to come and pick me

up from work."

"Bitch, the last time I checked, I

didn't have a fucking car. How the hell am I

supposed to pick you up?"

"I tried calling Day Day, but he didn't

answer his phone."

"He got locked up for the fucking

shooting. My mother just went to bail him

out about an hour ago."

"What the fuck happened?"

"I'll tell you when you get home.

What you need me to come get your ass for

anyway?"

"I wanted to go and have a drink."

China knew better than to tell Q the real

reason why she wanted her to come.

"We can get a drink when you get the

fuck home and change out of that ugly ass

uniform you be wearing." Q laughed at her

little joke.

"Shut the fuck up. I'll see your stupid

ass later." China hung up the phone and

headed back to her post. She prayed that

when she got off that Chino would be long

gone. He knew her schedule so if he decided

to leave, he would definitely be back. China

tried to block Chino out of her mind for a

minute as she worked and the thought of her

cousin getting locked up popped up in her

mind. She knew that somebody had to have

snitched on him. She started panicking

thinking about someone ratting Q and

herself out. She didn't know what to think.

Sometimes she hated the thought of having

such a real family. She comes from a family

full of vicious people. She got two uncles

serving life sentences for murders and an

aunt that got the death penalty for killing her

husband and his mistress. She even killed

the mistress' three kids who were asleep

when her aunt broke into the woman's

house. Her family was straight ruthless and

people knew about them all. China loved

being a bad bitch and having people think

twice about fucking with her or her family,

but she also feared that one day that

someone would kill them or they would get

locked up. China didn't want to be no bitch

playmate in jail and she didn't want to die

over demanding respect from people.

By the time China got off from work,

she called a cab and had one of her

coworkers wait with her until she was safely

inside. She told the cab driver to lock the

doors. She didn't know that she would be

this paranoid. She didn't feel like taking

chances on Chino following her and pulling

up behind the cab and grabbing her out of it.

She knew he wouldn't dare come on her

block with that shit because niggas would've

beat his ass off GP. When she finally

reached the front of her house, she paid the

driver and got out of the car and jogged to

her door until she was inside safe. She went

straight upstairs to find out what was going

on with her cousin. She knocked on the door

and her aunt let her in.

"Hey auntie, what's going on? Is Day

Day home?"

"Yes. He's upstairs in his room. You

know yawl need to be a bit more careful in

the shit that you get yourselves into. I'm not

going to be putting up my hard earned

money to be bailing nobody out of jail

anymore."

"Auntie, I'm not trying to go to jail. I

try to stay out of trouble."

"You already know how your mother

is. I know your ass was right out there with

them two fools shooting too."

"Auntie, I swear; I didn't let off any

shots. I didn't get a chance too."

"Okay. Q is waiting for you. She's in

her room."

China walked to Q's room and

opened the door without knocking. Q was

sitting at her desk on her computer.

"What are you doing?" Q turned off

her computer and walked over to her bed

and lay across it.

"Nothing bitch, why the fuck you still

got that ugly ass uniform on?"

"I just got home and I came straight

upstairs to find out what happened."

"The cops came through and did a

sweep and this dumb ass nigga made a sale

right in front of the cops. They took his ass

in and a few more dudes. The bitch that I

punched in the face was at the precinct and

pointed this nigga out as the shooter. One of

the dudes was her brother and the other was

her boyfriend. They didn't charge him with

anything yet from what I know. His lawyer

said it's her word against his. They don't

have a weapon or anything so his dumb ass

is good for right now."

"Oh shit. Did she tell that you shot the

other dude?"

"She said she didn't see the other

shooter. The shit won't hold up in court no

way because the bitch people sent her ass

out of town. She doesn't want to testify."

"She's stupid. She snitched and then

left. There was no point in her snitching

then."

"Go change your clothes so we can go

get that drink. Ryder is on her way over

here."

"Alright, give me a few and I'll be

ready."

As China left out of the apartment and

headed downstairs to go inside her house,

her cell phone began to ring. She pulled her

phone out of her pocket and looked at the

caller id. It displayed Chino's number. She

thought about ignoring the call but

answered.

"Hello."

"Come outside."

"Why?"

"I want to talk to you for a minute."

"I'm busy."

"China, come outside."

"Chino, go harass your other bitches

and leave me the fuck alone. I don't want to

be bothered with your ass."

"I need to talk to you for a minute. I

need you to do something important for me.

Please come outside for a minute. I'm not

going to do nothing to your ass. I just want

to talk."

"I'm coming."

China didn't know why she agreed to

talk to him. She went into her apartment

straight to her room and put her bag down.

She grabbed her gun and put it in the back of

her pants and proceeded outside to see what

he wanted. When she got outside, Ryder was

sitting on the steps.

"You're not ready yet?"

"I'm going to see what this nigga

want first then I'm going to get ready. Give

me a few."

"Hurry the fuck up. You could talk to

that nigga anytime. I need a fucking drink."

China ignored Ryder and walked over to

Chino's car.

"Get in."

"No. Say what you have to say

because my girl is waiting on me."

"Take this envelope and read this shit

carefully. I'm about to get into some shit

and I need you to help me with it. Don't

open that shit up in front of nobody. Put that

shit somewhere safe until you're alone. Get

back at me when you're done chilling with

your girl." Chino passes China a big yellow

envelope out the window and started up his

car. She backed away and he pulled off.

China went back into the house to get ready.

She put her gun back in its rightful place and

put the envelope under her mattress. She

pulled out some black fitted Levi jeans and a

red and black v neck Levi shirt. She took a

pair of red pumps out of her closet that was

stacked with shoes and designer clothes.

China and her girls never repeated an outfit.

When you had a job and no responsibilities,

this was something you could get away with.

After she was fully dressed, she grabbed her

bag and headed outside to meet the girls.

"This place is dead. We need to go to

another spot. We should go back to Juvee,"

China chimed.

"We only here to get drinks bitch.

Why the fuck we have to leave for?" Q

asked annoyed. She had her eyes on a cutie

sitting at the bar and didn't want to leave

yet.

"Why are you always flipping out?

We can stay. I just thought you might want

to go somewhere more entertaining. I need

another drink. You're going to make me

curse your ass out. We know you want to

holla at the dude by the bar." Ryder begins

to laugh knowing they both watched Q and

the stranger smile and make eye contact for

over an hour. Q begins to blush.

"Are we that obvious?"

"Yes. Go talk to him with your scary

ass." Q looks at both her cousin and friend

then heads over to the bar to talk to the

cutie.

"I need a man. I'm so tired of Chino."

"You two are the craziest couple I

ever saw. Don't think I didn't see your gun

in the back of your fucking pants. You were

trying to kill your man." Ryder laughs.

"No. I took it with me because I don't

know who around the way is looking for any

of us. And if I wanted to kill his ass, I

wouldn't try, I would do it."

"I hear you girl. I don't know what

the fuck is up with Jewels ass. She has been

MIA for a minute. When I hit her ass up, she

is always fucking sleeping. I hope her stupid

ass not pregnant."

"If she is then I'm happy for her."

"Her wild ass doesn't need a fucking

baby right now. Truth be told, none of us

do."

"When I'm ready to have a kid then I

will."

China notices a female enter the bar

and tries to figure out where she knows the

girl from.

"What's wrong with you? Why the

fuck you staring at that bitch like that?"

"I know her from somewhere but I

can't figure out where. Oh shit, that's Chino

sister. I don't like that bitch. When I first

met her, that bitch gave me attitude."

"You better be nice to your sister n

law."

"That bitch would never be any kin to

me. Fuck her and her brother. Fuck they

mother too. I don't like that bitch either."

"Damn. Who the fuck do you like?"

"Shut up. Q needs to make it quick

because I'm ready to bounce. I need some

fucking sleep. I should call Jewels to see

where the hell she's at. That bitch doesn't

like hanging with us all of a sudden."

"That bitch is bugging. I don't even

call her ass like that. It's always some shit

with the bitch. She sleeps all fucking day

and I hear her when she is leaving out late

nights. I don't see the bitch going to work,

she probably found some fake ass baller

who's tricking on her ass."

"I'm ready to go. I'm about to tell Q

I'm out."

China stands to walk over to where Q

and her male friend is when she notices

Ryder leap up quickly. Before she could turn

around to see what the fuck was going on

behind her, Chino's sister two pieced her

knocking her down to her seat. China was

dazed for a minute. It took her a few seconds

before she gained her full vision. She looked

over to see Ryder and Q stomping Chino's

sister out. China jumped from her seat and

tried jumping in when another female came

from behind and cracked her over the head

with a bottle. China fell to the ground and

the unknown female started kicking her in

her face, back and head. China balled up

trying to avoid the kicks but to no avail.

After what seemed like minutes passing with

the girl stomping her, it abruptly came to an

end. China got off the floor quickly

squirming from the pain and noticed the guy

Q was talking to holding the girl in a head

lock. Security rushed over and broke up the

fight. Q, Ryder, and China were held back

while the other girls were escorted out of the

building. China was tight. She was bleeding

from her nose and her head and side was

killing her. She knew this wasn't over by

far. 

## CHAPTER SEVEN

When the girls reached home, they

hopped out of the cab and went straight in

the house. China was plotting in her mind

about how she was going to get her revenge.

She couldn't believe what that bitch had

done. Q and Ryder thought the shit was

funny and didn't realize how bad China was

hurting. They didn't see the other chick

crack her over the head with the bottle

because they were too busy putting the beats

on Chino's sister. Q and Ryder headed

upstairs while China went into her house

straight to her bedroom. She had the right

mind to call Chino and tell him that his

sister was dead, but she wasn't one for

sending threats over the phone. That bitch

was definitely going to get hers. China felt

like going straight to see her and handling

her business. The thought kept crossing her

mind but her body was telling her to lie

down. Tomorrow was another day and shit

was going to get handled. China undressed

and pulled a t-shirt out of her drawer and

threw it on. She walked over to her bed and

remembered the envelope that Chino had

given her. She reached under her mattress to

retrieve it. She opened up the folder and

came across a few photos of females dressed

in skimpy classless outfits. One picture

stood out and caught China by surprise. She

couldn't believe the face that she stared at

on the photo. She wondered why Chino had

her picture and what dealings did they have

with each other. China looked into the

envelope and found a piece of folded paper.

She took the paper out and opened it up and

read the contents. China was shocked at

what she had just read. She was confused

and hurt at the same time. She felt a sense of

panic run through her. This was one night

that she would never forget. China put the

photos and the letter back into the envelope

and put it back under her mattress. She

turned off her light and lay across her bed.

Her body was aching and her nose was

swollen. She knew that she would be a mess

in the morning. China wanted this night to

end. She wanted to forget tonight but knew

that was impossible.

"China. I need you to run with me real

quick." Demes, China's brother burst into

her room waking her out of her sleep.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm tired."

Demes looked down at his little sister

and noticed the swelling in her face.

"Get the fuck up China. What the

fuck happen to your face?" he shouted

angrily.

"Demes stop yelling. I got jumped

yesterday. It's cool. Q and Ryder took care

of the bitches."

"Who are they and where are they

from?"

"I don't know. We were all wasted. I

don't remember what happened." China

lied. She knew that if she told him what

really happened and who was behind it, he

would want the address to finish what was

started. China pulled her cover over her face

and pretended to be sleep just to avoid her

brother. She wondered what she looked like

but was afraid to look in a mirror. It might

piss her off and make her want to tell her

brother. Demes left the room slamming the

door. China grabbed her phone and sent a

quick text to Q and Ryder's phone telling

them not to tell her brother what really

happened last night. She knew that her

brothers were crazy and that they didn't give

a fuck. All the men in her family were crazy

as hell and that's why the girls were the

same. Being related to some beasts in the

streets were hard to cope with sometimes

because the boys had a rep that needed to be

up kept and the girls had to hold that same

high standard even if they didn't want to.

She lay back down and went back off to

sleep. Not even a minute later, her phone

begins to ring. China sucks her teeth and

looks at the caller id on her phone. When

she sees Chino's number displayed against

the screen, she answers.

"We need to link up. Did you open

the folder?"

"Yes I did. Chino, did you fuck any of

those bitches?"

"No."

"Don't fucking lie to me. I'm making

my appointment to my doctor and I swear to

you, if I find out that you gave me anything,

I swear I will kill you myself."

"Listen, I don't have time for all that.

Did you see the numbers?"

"Yes I did. That's a lot of money

Chino. Why would you want me to be a part

of some shit like that?"

"You're my wifey."

"Chino, what the fuck is wrong with

you? We are not together."

"China, please do this for me. I need a

ride or die chick by my side. There is money

to be made and if something happens to me,

I want you to hold me down."

"Do you know that your sister and

some other bitch jumped me last night?"

"What the fuck are you talking

about?"

"While I was out last night, your

sister showed up and when I was ready to

leave, the bitch snuck up on me and punched

me in my face. My people got at her. Then

some next bitch hit me with a bottle and

started stomping me. This shit is not over. I

swear your sister and whoever that bitch

was, is going to catch a beat down."

"Calm the fuck down. I got this."

"You got what?"

"I have to focus on this shit right here.

I'll take care of my sister and whatever bitch

she had with her. Are you good?"

"Hell no I'm not good nigga. My face

is swollen and I had to lie to my brother to

keep him from going after them bitches.

Chino, you must don't know about my

family."

"I know all about your family. That

shit don't mean nothing to me. No man puts

fear in my heart and I don't give a fuck how

many bodies they got. They ain't the only

niggas that hold weight."

"All that sounds good, but I let you

get away with a lot of shit because of the

love I have for you. I'm not letting this shit

ride. I don't give a fuck what you say or

what you do. I'm not going to rest until I

beat your sister's ass. That bitch couldn't

shoot a fair one. She's a pussy."

"What do I have to do to get you past

this shit?" Chino was desperate. He needed

China to be on top of the game along with

him. He knew that if she got down with him

that he could train her to be overseer of his

empire if something was to go wrong. He

trusted China more than anyone.

"I want a fair fight with your sister.

Then we can talk business."

"When do you want to do this?"

"I'm ready now."

"I'll go scoop up my sister and her

girl and you get your girls. We can meet at

48 Park in an hour."

"That sounds good to me."

"No weapons China. That's still my

sister."

"Yea, okay nigga."

China hangs up the phone before

Chino could get another word out. She dials

Q's number and tells her what's going

down. She then hits Jewels phone but it goes

straight to voice mail. She calls Ryder and

when she answers, China gives her the

scoop. China gets out of bed and walks over

to her dresser. She looks into the mirror and

notices how bad her face looks and decides

that she doesn't want to go through with the

fight while looking the way she did. It made

her think about how Chino would have her

face looking the same way when he got

abusive. They were definitely related. China

couldn't back out now even if she did. She

sent a text her brother to let him know what

was going down. He text back that he would

be there. China didn't trust Chino. Any

nigga that would bring his sister to fight his

bitch was stupid as fuck. They were coming

to someone else's hood and thought that it

was going to be cool. Not in this hood.

China threw on a pair of sweats and a sweat

shirt. She put her timbs on and grabbed her

blade out of her bag and put it in her pocket.

She grabbed her makeup bag and did the

best she could to cover up the bruises.

Makeup did wonders, but you could still tell

that her face was swollen. China chucked it

up and waited for her girls to get ready so

they could handle business. The pain that

she encountered from the night before was

intense but she didn't care. She wouldn't

rest until she got back at this bitch. China

recalled multiple times how her and her girls

met bitches in the park to fight. She thought

those days were behind her. She didn't like

fighting all the time, but she wasn't one that

would stand for being disrespected. Most of

the time, the fights always occurred because

of Q. Q had a temper and would cut a bitch

just for looking at her the wrong way. When

Q fought, we all fought. If any of us had a

beef, we all had each other's back. There

were times when Ryder would call China

and tell her to leave work because some shit

was going down. China would make up

some excuse to leave work, hop on the train

and be ready to ride out with her girls. This

time was no different.

When the girls reached the park, they

sat at the first bench and waited for their

rivals to show up. China looked around to

see if she could spot Chino's car. She didn't

see him or the females. China looked toward

the basketball court and noticed her brothers

Demes and Man playing ball with 2 other

dudes. Demes gave her a nod. China felt

good knowing that her brothers were there

just in case shit got out of hand. China

looked back toward the streets and saw

Chino's car parked. China alerted the girls.

Four chicks exited the vehicle and walked

towards the girls. Q and Ryder stood next to

China. Once the girls got close enough,

China charged at Chino's sister. China

started throwing blows and wouldn't let up.

The other girls stood and watched. China

picked her opponent up and slammed her to

the ground. She then punched her twice in

the face before kicking her in the mouth

with her boot resulting in the girl's tooth

being knocked out. China kept beating her

until she grew tired. Q then pulled China off

the girl. China looked at the other 3 girls and

wasn't sure which one was the one that had

hit her with the bottle. She gave Q and

Ryder a look and they charged the other 3

females and went to work. China grabbed

her blade out of her pocket and sliced the

girl she was fighting across her chest

because she couldn't get to the girls face.

They kept fighting until a shot was fired.

The girls kept fighting until two more

rounds were let off. The girls got up and ran

back over to the car and jumped inside.

Chino looked over at China and gave a nod.

She was so disgusted with him that she

turned her head. Chino sped off while Ryder

and Q took a seat back on the bench to catch

their breath. Ryder had a busted lip and Q's

nose was bleeding. China knew the shots

came from one of her brothers. She looked

over in their direction and gave them a nod.

The girls got up and started walking back

home. China didn't feel any better about

whipping Chino's sister ass. She felt a little

distraught about the whole ordeal. If Chino

could watch his own sister get beat the fuck

up, he really didn't give a fuck about

anyone. Finding out that Chino was a pimp

had grossed her out and what made it even

sick was that he wanted her to be involved

in pimping bitches. What type of nigga had

she been dealing with? That explained the

reason why she always saw him with two or

more bitches. She didn't even put it together

a while back when he brought the two

bitches into the spot where she and her girls

were. He had told her they were his workers.

China thought about it as they continued the

walk home. Her mind kept reflecting on this

one particular photo and couldn't believe

that the person would stoop that low into

selling her pussy. China was ready to call

the chick up and ask her about it but thought

against it. She was concerned more about

her own pussy. She was definitely getting

tested for every STD and STI that was

known. She prayed that Chino didn't give

her anything even though they always wore

protection. Condoms weren't 100%. China

had to make sure that everything was good

with her body before she thought about

getting involved with Chino and his pimping

ways. 

## CHAPTER EIGHT

_**Q**_

"You have some good pussy. I can't

wait to get some more of that sweet pussy

again."

Q rolls her eyes as she continues to

get dressed. She had been fucking one of the

arresting officers that had locked her brother

up. He had made a deal with Q that if she

satisfied him whenever he wanted, he would

make sure that her brother's case gets

thrown out. It had turned out that the female

was going to testify against her brother and

Day Day was going down for both murders.

Q couldn't bear the thought of her brother

being locked down for both bodies when she

killed the other guy. Even though she didn't

like fucking the cop with the small pink

dick, she did what she had to do hoping that

it wouldn't bite her in the ass. Officer June

was a freak. He had handcuffed her to the

bed and had his way with her. Then he

flipped her over and performed anal sex on

her. Q had never let any man run up in her

ass before. Lucky enough for her, Officer

June wasn't blessed by far. When it was all

over, so Q thought, he called one of his co

workers in from out of the hotel bathroom

who had recorded the whole thing. He was

completely naked. Q had looked at Officer

June with a glazing stare and then back at

the other officer. She lay back down on the

bed wishing that this nightmare would end.

Q was already told of the other participant

the night before at the bar. Officer June was

the cutie that she was sitting at the bar

talking too. She didn't want to alert her

cousin or friend about who he was and was

glad that they didn't come over to talk to

him. Q didn't think anyone else was in the

hotel room with them. Once the other officer

was done having his way with her, he

ejaculated over her face. Q felt low down

and disrespected. She would've cut a niggas

dick off under different circumstances. The

other officer quickly got dressed and left the

room. Officer June had one more round left

inside him. Q counted down the minutes

until he released his juices inside of her. She

didn't want to shower or wash up. Q just

wanted to get as far away from him as

possible.

"Can I see you again later on tonight?

It will be just me and you." Q sucked her

teeth silently and turned to face Officer

June.

"I have to work tonight. I don't think I

can handle any more of your big dick

today."

Q quickly lied and held back her

laughter. She really wanted to tell him to kill

his self and his parents for fucking him up as

a child. Whoever circumcised his ass really

had it in for his mother or his daddy. The

man was no longer than her pinky finger. It

didn't even have any thickness to it. The

officer seemed satisfied with her gloating

about the work he didn't put in; so he let her

off the hook.

"What about tomorrow?"

"That's fine."

Q grabbed her bag off the table and

walked over toward the door. She felt

disgusted with herself. She couldn't wait to

get home to scrub her body. She ran down

the stairs of the hotel and went out through

the side entrance trying to avoid people at

the front desk waiting for their room. Jets

Hotel on Queens Blvd was the cheapest

hotel around in Queens. Q stood on the side

of the hotel and called a cab. She wanted to

get home and forget this shit ever happened.

Her brother would kill both cops if he knew

what they had done to her. Q loved her

brother and would do anything for him. Q

wished she could tell her cousin about it to

get it off her mind but knew that China

would probably open up her mouth and fuck

everything up. Q remembered when she was

about fourteen years old; Day Day had taken

her with him to a party that he wasn't

allowed to go to because he was babysitting

her. All his friends were there and he wasn't

going to miss out being with his little

girlfriend that night. It was no parental

supervision and they were going to live it

up. Q was told not to talk to any dudes at the

party or take any drinks from anyone. Q

being the girl that she was went against

everything her brother told her not to do.

She danced with one of Day Day's

classmates all night and drank from his cup.

He took her to a room in the basement in the

house and tried to fuck her. Q was nervous

because she was a virgin, but was feeling the

dude. He stripped her out of her clothes and

was rough. He was drunk and it made Q

uncomfortable. Day Day had watched the

two of them even though Q was unaware.

Day Day let enough time go by before he

went into the room and found the boy lying

on top of his sister with his hand covering

Q's mouth. Day Day beat the boy with a bat

that he had gotten from one of his boys. He

grabbed Q and helped her make herself

presentable before leaving the beating boy

downstairs. They both left out of the party

unnoticed. Day Day took the bat with him

and the both of them headed home. They

later learned that the boy had died. Q was

devastated while Day Day was unconcerned.

That was Day Day's first body. He and Q

never told anyone what had taken place that

night and the two of them had gotten closer

since then. Q felt that she owed this to her

brother since he was always there for her

when she needed him. She would do

whatever it took to keep her brother out of

jail. 

## CHAPTER NINE

_**Jewels**_

It was early Tuesday morning when

Jewels looked around the room waiting for

the doctor to come back in and wondered

how her life got so out of control. She was

one of the baddest bitches in south side. It

would ruin her reputation if people found

out what she was doing. It would kill her

mother if she knew that her baby girl was

selling pussy for her best friend's boyfriend.

She wondered how she would tell China, her

best friend, her sister from another mother,

that her man was pimping her. Jewels had

met Chino a month before him and China

started kicking it. He had tried to holla at her

but Jewels wasn't attracted to pretty boys.

He had told her about what he did for a

living and how much his bitches made a

night. The money sounded real good to

Jewels. She told him that she would give

him a call if she was interested. Later that

night, Jewels called Chino and asked him to

set up a date. He told her that she was too

good to be working the streets. He would set

up dates for her and they were to split the

money 50/50. The first night of fucking

random men, Jewels had come off with

$2500. She didn't make that much from her

job after putting in overtime hours. She was

hooked. When she found out that China was

fucking with Chino, she was afraid that he

would tell her. She didn't want anyone to

know what she did especially her girls. They

would never approve of what she was doing.

If it got out around the way, every dude in

the hood would be trying to smash. Jewels

loved the money she made and had fun

doing what she did. Every John that Chino

hooked her up with had a high profile. Some

were

doctors,

lawyers,

judges,

entrepreneurs, and counsel or congress men.

What bothered Jewels the most was how she

would be able to look China in the eyes if

she found out about her and Chino fucking.

It didn't happen once or twice. It happened

multiple times. Jewels felt guilty the first

time around, but Chino was a great lover

and she couldn't get enough of him. This

was one of the reasons for her avoiding her

girls. Every time they called for her to go

out with them to hang, she always made up

an excuse. She wasn't afraid of China, but

she knew that it would be war between the

two of them if this ever got out. Jewels had

spoke to Chino on one occasion and told

him that she wanted to stop but he

threatened to reveal everything to China if

she did. Jewels didn't want to lose a

friendship with any of her girls because she

loved them to death.

"Jalisa, I would like to see you back

in 2 months for your prenatal visit," The

doctor spoke as she took her seat.

"What do you mean prenatal visit?"

"Your seven weeks pregnant. As soon

as you take your blood work, you can go and

make your appointment. Here is your

prenatal vitamins and iron pills. Take the

prenatal pills once a day and the iron twice a

day. I'll see you back in two months okay."

Jewels stood stuck after hearing that

she was pregnant. She accepted the pills

from the doctor and got her bag and jacket

and headed towards the nurse's station to

give her blood. Jewels knew that there could

only be one man that fathered her baby. That

man was Chino. Jewels wanted to cry, but

knew this wasn't the place or time. She

knew that this was going to hurt China if she

found out that her best friend was not only

fucking her man, but carrying his seed.

Jewels sat and got her blood drawn, got her

appointment and left the clinic. Her mind

was fucked up because she knew that this

was something that China would never

forgive her for. All the years that they've

been friends will be destroyed because of

the wrong choice she made. Jewels walked

home from the clinic and ran straight into

Ryder. She was one of the last people she

wanted to see. She wasn't ready to face none

of her girls.

"Where are you coming from bitch?

We have been trying to get up with your ass

for the longest. What's going on with you?"

"I'm chilling."

"It's like that. What the fuck is up

with you Jewels?"

"Ryder, fall the fuck back. I'm not in

a good mood. I'll holla at you later. I need to

get home and get ready for work."

With that said Jewels picked up her

pace and kept it moving. She knew that

Ryder was fuming on the inside and if they

weren't girls, they probably would be

fighting by now. Jewels had other shit on

her mind than to be sitting there chopping it

up with Ryder. They were all close, but she

knew that Ryder would be just as pissed as

China would be if she knew what was going

on. Once Jewels hit the block, her heart

skipped a beat when she saw Chino's jeep

sitting in front of China's house. She wanted

to turn around and go around the block and

wait until they left, but she noticed China

waving at her. She picked up her stride and

waved back as she hurried into her gate,

pulled out her keys and unlocked her door.

She heard China call out to her, but she

ignored her and proceeded into her home.

She knew China was going to come by or

call. She wasn't ready to talk to her at this

moment. She needed to find a way to break

the news to Chino first. He would probably

tell her to get an abortion which was on her

agenda anyway. When she got into her

bedroom, she sat by her window and waited

for almost two hours until she saw Chino

pull off without China. Jewels picked up her

phone and dialed Chino's number. 

## CHAPTER TEN

"What's up girl?" China greeted

Ryder.

"I just saw Jewels a couple of hours

ago and the bitch tried to play me. I asked

her what she was up to and where she been,

and the bitch barked on me. I was about to

punch her in the fucking face."

China laughs, "I saw her too. I waved

at her and called her over, but she ignored

me and went in the house. She's acting real

funny. I was going to go over and check on

her but I didn't get the chance to yet."

"Fuck her. I don't have time for no

kid games. I'm not chasing after her dumb

ass. What are you doing tonight?"

"I'm supposed to go chill with Chino

in the Bronx. His friend is having a get

together and he asked me to go with him,"

China hated lying, but she was not about to

tell her friend the truth.

"Okay. Where's Q?"

"I don't know. She's probably

upstairs."

"I'm going upstairs to holla at Q. I'll

see you later."

"Okay." China picked up her phone

and was about to dial Jewels phone but

thought it would be better to talk to her face

to face. China checked her face in the mirror

to make sure she didn't need to touch up her

makeup. Her face was still swollen but not

as much due to the ice packs that she kept on

it. She left out of her house and headed next

door. She rang the bell and waited for an

answer. She hoped that Jewels would

answer. She waited about two minutes

before ringing the bell again. Jewels opened

the door.

"What's up girl? How are you?"

"I'm good. What's up with you?"

"Same ole shit. I was worried about

you. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Can we talk?"

"What do you want to talk about?"

"You."

"What about me?"

"Why are you acting all shitty?"

"I have a lot of shit on my mind. I'm

just keeping to myself."

"Let me ask you a question."

"Okay."

"Are you prostituting?"

"What kind of question is that

China?" Jewels tone was slightly on the

defense side. She had to play it cool hoping

that Chino didn't tell her anything. When

she spoke to him, he said that he didn't tell

her nothing about their dealings together.

"Since you acting all funny style and

avoiding us, I don't know how to come at

you. I can just get to the point. Chino told

me that he has a bunch of bitches that he

pimps and sent me a few photos of a couple

of them. One of the photos he gave me was

a picture of you. Again, I ask you Jewels,

are you prostituting?"

"First of all, I don't know what kind

of games your man is playing. Tell him to

leave me out of his sick shit. I don't fuck for

money. You have some nerve coming at me

with some bullshit. I'll talk to you later."

Jewels closed the door on China.

China sat there for a minute feeling

bad about thinking that her best friend

would result in such tasteless tactics. She

was a bit confused about how Chino got a

photo of her. She was waiting for him to

pick her up and was damn sure going to get

to the bottom of this. One of them was lying

and she had a gut feeling that Jewels was

hiding something. Right on cue, Chino

pulled up. China looked back at the door

that Jewels had just slammed in her face,

shook her head and walked toward Chino's

ride. When she got inside, she cut straight to

the point.

"I need to ask you a question about

Jewels."

"Who?"

"Don't play games with me Chino.

You know who the fuck my friend is. You

sent me a picture of her."

"Jalisa."

"How the fuck do you know her

government?"

"Listen, I need to get back to BK. Can

we talk about this later?"

"No. We can talk about this shit right

now. Are you pimping my friend?"

"No."

"Why the fuck did you have a picture

of her mixed in with those other photos. I

don't have time for no fucking games Chino.

I will bail out on your ass if you don't keep

it real with me. You want me to have your

back and do something that I think is

degrading, but you can't tell me the truth."

"Okay. She doesn't hoe and stand on

the beat like the other bitches. I book her

clients and she services them. They pay her

and we split it 50/50."

"I can't fucking believe you. How the

fuck can you do that to somebody I rock

hard body with. That's my fucking best

friend. What the fuck is wrong with your

trifling ass? I should've known that you

weren't shit. You brought your sister out

here to get her ass whooped and didn't give

a fuck. You don't give a fuck about nobody

but your damn self."

"First, Pam is my foster sister. I don't

give a fuck about the bitch. Your friend

asked me to put her on. I didn't know she

was your friend because I actually met her

before I met you. I told her what I do and

told her that if she wanted to make money, I

would put her on. She called and we been in

business ever since."

Tears rolled down her eyes. She

couldn't believe that her friend would sell

her pussy for a few dollars. She couldn't be

mad at Chino. He was a nigga that was out

to make money no matter who was willing

to make it for him. It wasn't like he was

forcing her to do it. She would be no better

than to helping Chino pimp bitches and

getting paid to take a bitch head off for

getting out of line or coming up short with

the money. She was ready to exit the vehicle

but before she could move, Chino pulled off.

She sat back and started thinking about what

the hell she was getting herself into. She

sighed and closed her eyes and reflected on

what Chino had exposed to her about her

friend. 

## CHAPTER ELEVEN

_**Q**_

"Listen, its New Years and I have

plans with my family. I need to go."

"I want one more hour with you. You

know I can't get enough of this sweet

pussy."

Q had been fucking Officer June for

four months now. Even though Day Day's

case was thrown out due to inconclusive

evidence, she continued fucking June

because she hated to admit it, but had caught

feelings for him. He wined and dined her

and bought her things just because. He took

her to Hawaii for a week. He had fallen for

Q. There wasn't anything that he wouldn't

do for her. She had moved out of the house

and into her own condo paid for by June.

You could say that the two of them lived

together because he hardly ever went to his

studio apartment in East New York. She

never brought him around her family

because she knew that it would be hard to

explain how the two of them got together

and besides, where she was from cops and

the hood didn't mix. Rather you were

labeled as a snitch or worse when fucking

with the pigs.

"I'll be back later on tonight babe. I

want to catch up with my family. I haven't

seen them in a few weeks."

"Okay. I'll go home and pack some

things. By the time I get back here, you

should be on your way home. I love you

babe."

"Ditto."

Q gives June a kiss on the cheeks

before heading out of the condo. She walks

outside and gets into her Nissan Altima that

she had purchased. She started the car and

turned the heat on high as it was almost

twenty degrees outside. She had been living

in the condo for a month. No one had been

to her place yet because she was afraid of

them finding out about June. She couldn't

wait to see China and Ryder. The girls

didn't really fuck with Jewels like that since

she had moved off the block two weeks after

her and China's disagreement.

"This is a nice ride bitch. I missed

your stink ass," China hugged Q and

checked out her ride. "Oh, you're not the

only bitch that got some wheels. Check out

my Mercedes in the yard," China bragged.

"Oh shit bitch, that shit is fly! How

the fuck did your postal working ass afford

some shit like that?"

"It's called credit baby. As long as

you got good credit and can make the

payments, you can get anything fresh."

"I know that's right cuz. It seems like

forever since we last seen each other even

though it was only a few weeks. We need to

go inside because it's brick out here."

The girls walked into the house and Q

followed China straight to her room. There

was a lot of catching up to do before going

upstairs to join the family.

"What you been up to? How's the

new place?"

"It's cool. I'm not finished furnishing

it yet, but it's getting there. I love my

condo."

"I'm happy for you honey. You damn

sure deserve it."

"So what's new? What have I been

missing?"

"Did I tell you that I was pregnant?"

"Hell no. You didn't tell me you were

pregnant bitch. By who?"

"What the fuck do you mean by

whom? Chino."

"I thought you two were broken up."

"Girl we break up every other week."

"How far along are you?"

"Almost four months."

"Bitch, I haven't been gone that long.

Why didn't you fucking tell me?"

"I just found out a few days ago. I

was still getting my period and everything. I

had got sick and thought it was food poison,

so I went to the hospital and that's when I

found out."

"Oh Shit. Is Chino happy about it?"

"Yes. I think he's more excited than I

am. I miss you. It seems like it's just me and

Ryder now. Jewels funny ass moved. She

doesn't call or come by. That bitch just

straight up left without a goodbye."

"Wow. What happened between the

two of you that night? You never told me."

"I found out that the bitch was

fucking niggas for money. She got mad

when I told her that someone had proof and

showed it to me. She denied it and left it at

that. I haven't spoken to the bitch since."

"What the fuck do you mean that she

was fucking niggas for money?"

"The bitch was hooking."

"No. I don't believe that shit."

"It's true Q."

"Who told you that?"

"It doesn't matter who told me. The

point is she was fucking for dough."

"That's some crazy shit."

"Her mother hasn't spoken to her at

all. She's worried about her. I stopped

worrying about another grown bitch when

she slammed the door in my fucking face."

"I can't believe this shit. That shit

hurts to know that our bitch is out there

doing some crazy shit like that." A knock at

the door alarms the girls.

"Come in," China shouts. Ryder

enters the room with a tear stained face.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

China asks with a concerned tone.

"I just got a call from Mrs. Tonya,

Jewels mother," Ryder burst into tears.

"What the fuck happened to her?"

China asked nervously.

"She was raped and beaten. She's in

critical condition. The doctors told Mrs.

Tonya she might not make it."

"What hospital is she in?"

"Jamaica."

"Let's go."

The girls raced outside and got into

Q's car. They drove in complete silence

worried about their friend. They were all in

their own deep thoughts. China couldn't

stop the tears from flowing from her face.

She felt guilty for what she had just admitted

to her cousin about Jewels. She loved Jewels

and didn't want to see nothing happen to

her. This was all fucked up.

When they arrived to the hospital,

they saw Mrs. Tonya heading back into the

hospital. China and Ryder jumped out the

car while Q went on to search for parking.

"Mrs. Tonya," China yelled out.

"China, Ryder, I'm so glad to see you

girls," she hugs the both of them.

"Q is parking the car. How is she

doing?"

"It's not looking too good for her. She

had the baby premature."

"She was pregnant?"

"Yes. Six months to be exact. China,

are you expecting?"

"Yes."

"Congratulations."

"Thank you. Can we see her?"

"They won't let us in because they are

working on her. The baby is fighting. It's a

girl. She's a pound and a half. The father

just left. That's why I'm just coming back

inside."

"Mrs. Tonya, how is she?"

"Q. She's not doing so well." Q gives

her a hug as tears fall from her eyes.

"She had a little girl."

"Jewels was pregnant?"

"Yes. She was six months."

"Oh my God, how's the baby doing?"

"She's fighting. She weighs a pound

and a half and she's beautiful. She looks just

like her father."

Q looked at China wondering if her

friend knew who fathered her baby.

"I guess we can sit in the waiting

room until the doctor comes and lets us

know what's going on." They all walk

towards the waiting room and have a seat.

"China, I just saw Chino."

"Where?"

"He was driving out of a parking spot

next to where I parked."

"I don't know what he's doing over

here. I'll give him a call when we leave

here."

Q's phone rang drawing attention off

the subject of Chino for the moment.

"Hey mom, excuse me while I take

this call," Q gets up and walks over to the

corner and tells her mom the reason why she

wasn't at the house.

"Can we see the baby?" China asks.

"We can try. I only got a glimpse of

her because they had taken her to NICU.

Let's go up and find out."

China

signals

Q

to

end

the

conversation. Mrs. Tonya talks to the

security guard and he lets them go up to the

second floor. When they reach the nurse's

station, Mrs. Tonya speaks with one of the

nurses and she escorts the ladies to NICU.

The nurse excuses herself as she gets the

doctor to come out and talk with the women.

"Hello. I'm Doctor Turner. The baby

is stable. You could look through the

window to see her if you would follow me.

I'll have the nurse roll her over to the

window so you all can get a better glimpse

of her."

"Thank you Doctor Turner."

The doctor walks back into the room

and whispers in one of the nurse's ear. The

nurse rolls the baby over to the window so

the ladies can see her closer. When China

looks down on the tiny baby with tubes in

her nose and mouth, her heart begins to hurt.

She hated to see babies in this kind of

condition. She was so helpless and fragile.

She hurt for the little infant as well as for her

friend. Her mind went on what Mrs. Tonya

had said when they arrived about the father

just leaving the hospital and then Q

mentioning that she had just saw Chino.

China moved in closer to the window and

could've sworn that the baby had some of

Chino's features. She shook the idea out of

her head of Chino fathering Jewels baby.

She knew that her girl could never do

something like that to her. The nurse

removed the baby from by the window and

closed the shades. The ladies walked out of

the room in silence.

Jewels' room is on the third floor. The

girls followed Mrs. Tonya up to the third

floor and into the waiting area.

"Excuse me. Are you Jalisa Thomas'

mom?"

"Yes I am."

"The doctor was looking for you. I'll

page him and let him know that you're

back."

"Thank you." A few minutes later, a

doctor walked over to Mrs. Tonya and the

other ladies.

"Mrs. Thomas."

"Yes."

"I'm sorry to inform you that your

daughter didn't make it. She expired about

twenty minutes ago. I'm so sorry for your

loss. There was nothing more that we could

do for her."

Mrs. Tonya dropped to her knees

wailing and screaming. The girls hugged her

and tried to console her as tears and cries

came from their mouths. The nurse came

over and helped them into an empty room

where they can mourn in private. 

## CHAPTER TWELVE

The girls sat around in Jewels room

staring at the pictures of them all when they

were younger at birthday parties, school

dances, trips and more. The girls reflected

on the good times with their friend. It was so

hard to say goodbye to someone you loved.

They couldn't believe that Jewels was gone.

Word on the street was that a pimp had her

beaten and raped because she was a snitch.

China and the others knew that was a lie.

They were going to find the low life and put

a bullet in his head. China walked over to

Jewels' desk and sat down. She opened up a

book that was lying on top of the table and

flipped through the pages. China closed the

book and looked around the room. She

walked over toward Jewels' dresser and

picked up her photo album book. She went

over and sat down on the bed and began to

look at each picture in the album. With each

passing photo, China tried to remember

what happened on that day or what they did

to have such huge smiles plastered on their

faces. China came across a photo of a

sonogram picture of the baby. She touched

the photo and was so upset that her friend

didn't tell any of them she was pregnant.

That explained why she was always

avoiding them and never wanted to go out.

China's heart skipped a beat when she came

across the next photo. It was a picture of

Jewels and Chino. He was posted up behind

her holding her stomach. She had a wide

grin across her face and looked happy.

China couldn't believe what her eyes saw.

She closed the book and put it back in its

rightful place.

"I'm going home. I don't feel well,"

China said trying her best to fight back her

tears. She needed to get out of the room

before the girls picked up that something

was wrong.

"I'm leaving too. I can't take being in

her room and seeing her photos. I can't

believe my girl is gone. This shit is sick. I

hope I catch the mother fucker who did this

shit because I'm gonna put a bullet in his

fucking dick and then in his fucking head for

the fowl shit he did to her. I was going to go

see the baby. Do you want to go with me

Ryder?"

"Yeah, I want to see how she's doing.

China, you don't want to go?"

"No. I'm about to go lay down. Let

me know how she's doing."

China walks out of the room with

Ryder and Q following close behind. She

was feeling so confused and hurt that she

couldn't stand to face Mrs. Tonya right now.

She hated that she had lost her daughter but

China didn't want something stupid to slip

out of her mouth because at the moment, she

hated her friend. To think that she would

stoop that low and fuck Chino and then have

his kid was unbelievable. Jewels had to be

the most selfish and grimmey bitch that

China had known. Only birds did stupid shit

like that. They were supposed to be sisters.

Ryder and Q stopped to talk with Mrs.

Tonya while China headed out of the house

and toward her home. When she got into the

house, she went straight to her bedroom and

closed the door. She fell across her bed and

began to wail. Chino had crossed the line.

He slept with her best friend and had a baby

with her. He even had the nerve to show up

to the hospital to see the both of them. She

couldn't stop the tears from flowing from

her eyes. She had let Chino manipulate her

into pimping young girls who ranged from

the ages of sixteen to thirty five. She had

badly beaten a few of them when the money

came up short because it was what Chino

wanted her to do. She was tired of him

controlling her, but she loved him and loved

the money that she made. It was easy money

and she didn't have to do anything but beat

bitches down and shop; two things she

enjoyed doing if necessary. Now that she

was carrying a life inside of her, she needed

a break away from that life and away from

Chino. She wasn't even sure if she wanted

to keep the baby. To know that Chino had a

daughter in the hospital fighting for her life

by her best friend was enough to make her

want to abort her own kid. A hard knock

made China jump out of her thoughts. She

wiped her tears away before getting up to

see who was knocking on her door so hard.

China jerked the door open.

"What!"

"Who are you talking to like that?"

"Sorry dad, I didn't know it was you.

What's up?" Ike walked into the room and

closed the door behind him.

"I'm going to ask you one question

and I want the truth."

"Okay."

"Are you pimping young girls?"

"Where did you get some idea like

that from?"

"Don't fucking play with me girl.

Answer the fucking question."

"No."

"Do that nigga you mess around with

pimp girls?"

"No."

"You can sit here and look me in my

face and lie to me. I know that you and your

girls built a rep for yourselves around town

and your name rings bells just because of

your family. This shit that I'm hearing about

you pimping bitches is not what this family

is about. This is a whole different kind of

game you playing. I can't protect you if you

can't keep it real with me. That mother

fucker doesn't give a fuck about you. If I

catch you with him, I'm going to put a bullet

in that ass. Stay the fuck away from him."

"I'm a grown woman daddy. You

can't tell me who to be with. I told you it's

not true. Why do you believe outsiders over

your own daughter?"

"Listen little girl, don't get shit

twisted. I will fuck you up. I'm your father.

You will do what the fuck I tell you to do

and that's all to it. Don't question my

authority. If you don't like it then get the

fuck out and stay the fuck away from here."

"I'm out."

China grabbed her bag and stormed

out of the house. She couldn't believe her

father spoke to her in that tone. She knew he

would beat her ass grown or not. She left

because she didn't want to be around when

he told her mother or aunt and uncle. China

didn't know who had told him about that but

then she should've known better than to

think that her family wouldn't get word

about what she was doing. Her father knew

people everywhere and that's one thing

China hated. She knew that she couldn't go

to anyone in the family for help because her

father would have a fit. Q was at the hospital

with Ryder. She didn't have anyone else to

call but Chino. She would have to set her

anger aside for the moment and stay with

him until she figured out what to do next.

She had to let her father cool down. She got

into her car and started it up and turned the

heat on because it was freezing outside. This

is not how she wanted to start her new year.

She didn't want to talk to Chino so she sent

him a text message letting him know that

she was on her way to Brooklyn and needed

to stay with him for a few days. She had

thought about going to the clinic tomorrow

to get the procedure done, but this put a

damper in her plans. She hated nosey ass

people. China pulled off and headed to

Brooklyn. 

## CHAPTER THIRTEEN

_**Q**_

"How are you holding up? I wish I

could've been there for you."

"I know. I went to see the baby in the

hospital. She's so tiny."

"I'm so sorry."

"I need to reach my cousin. Her and

my uncle got into an argument and he

kicked her out of the house. She's pregnant.

I never thought that he would do some shit

like that. He wouldn't tell me what

happened. I called my cousin Snow to see if

she had heard from her but she didn't. I

don't need any more shit fucking with my

head right now."

"Why don't you sit down and relax.

I'll run some water so you can take a nice

hot bath. I don't like to see you stressing.

Try to relax a bit then later if you like, we

can go look for your cousin."

"That's not a good idea. You know I

don't want my family to know about us.

They would never accept me fucking a cop."

"Is that all I am to you now is a fuck.

I thought we had something special going

on."

"You know what I mean."

"No. I don't understand why you want

to hide our relationship."

"Let me enlighten you since you don't

remember. We started off fucking because

you told me that was the only way you

would help my brother stay out of jail. You

invited one of your coworkers in the hotel

room to fuck me like I was a prostitute. I

agreed because I love my brother that much.

Would you like for me to tell my family all

that. My brothers would put a bullet in your

head so fast. They don't give a fuck about

you being a cop."

"Did you need to go there? I

apologized for everything. I know your

worth now and that's why I do everything I

can to make you happy. I just want to be a

part of your world."

"I told you that I'm not ready for that

yet. If you don't understand that then that's

something you have to work out yourself."

"I didn't mean to upset you. Let's just

forget it."

"Why don't you go home tonight? I

need time alone to clear my mind."

"Okay. I'll call you in the morning."

"I'll walk you to the door."

Q walks June to the door and he

kisses her on the forehead before opening

the door. Coming face to face with Day Day

and Dee, he stops dead in his tracks.

"Who the fuck are you?" Dee asked

grilling June.

"He was just leaving guys. I'll talk to

you later."

June stares the guys down before

walking around them heading toward the

elevator.

"Are you fucking my sister pig?"

"Day Day shut up. What the fuck is

wrong with you?"

"Why the fuck you got a cop coming

out of your crib one in the fucking morning?

Are you fucking my sister?"

"I don't think that's any of your

fucking business."

"Listen; don't come to my house with

that bullshit. What the fuck are you two

doing here anyway? I didn't invite you to

come."

"You want to step outside and handle

business bro. You talking shit like

somebody gives a fuck about you being

five-o. Fuck you nigga."

"No. Fuck you pussy. I'm the one that

kept your stupid ass out of the pin."

"You want a fucking medal nigga. I

could've done my time without your fucking

help. Q, you fucked this nigga to keep me

out of jail. That shit better not be true. I'll

kill his ass right now."

"Day, don't do this shit. He's cool."

"Are you fucking this nigga?" Day

Day shouted at her angrily.

"I can't do this shit now. June, please

leave."

Day Day and Dee pulled out there

piece and pointed it at him. They already

knew about June being in the crib.

"He's not going anywhere. Don't

even think about pulling out nigga because

I'll tear one in you right now. Let's go for a

ride."

"Day, don't do this please."

"Are you fucking begging for this

nigga's life? You're fucking him. Dee, get

him out of here," Day Day pushes Q in the

apartment and closes the door behind him.

"I can't believe you embarrassed me

like that."

"Are you fucking serious right now.

What the fuck is going through your fucking

brain stupid ass? You think this mother

fucker really gives a fuck about you. You're

too fucking hood to be so fucking stupid.

These mother fuckers got your ass posted all

over the internet fucking him and another

fucking cop. You trying to get this family

killed dumb ass."

"What are you talking about?" Q

started to panic. She had forgotten about the

other cop that was there filming the whole

thing. How could she have been so fucking

stupid? Why the fuck would he go this hard

and do so much for her if; Q thought about

what she was saying and wanted to slap the

shit out of herself. She got played.

"Anything you got in here that's

personal, get the shit now and get the fuck

out of here. I can't believe you got caught

slipping. Get the fuck back to the hood and

stay inside. Don't talk to nobody. You got

twenty minutes to get the fuck out of here."

Q picked up her pace grabbing her

meaningful possessions. It took her less than

15 minutes to gather what she needed and

the items that meant something to her.

"I'm sorry Day."

"When you reach the block, leave that

ride sitting on the corner and leave the keys

inside. Don't even turn the shit off. Let's

go." 

## CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing."

"Are you hungry?"

"I'm fine Chino."

"Do you want to go rest?"

"Yes." It hurt China to her heart

thinking about what he and Jewels had done

to her. If she didn't need him right now, she

would be resting herself preparing to go

abort her baby.

"I have to go run a few errands. I'll be

back late so don't wait up for me."

She didn't plan to but she just gave

him a quick nod. She wanted to call Q, but

didn't want to talk about what had transpired

between her and her father. She had known

that by now the whole family knew what

had gone down. She glanced at Chino before

undressing and grabbing a t-shirt off his

chair and throwing it on. He walked up close

behind her and wrapped his arms around her

stomach. China caught flash backs to the

picture that she had saw of him and Jewels.

She removed his hands off her stomach and

got into the bed. She wanted to kill him. She

had never felt pain like this before. The

more she thought about it, the more she hurt.

She closed her eyes tight to keep the tears

from falling. Chino turned the light off and

left the room. She was glad that his mother

and sister were away for the week. She

didn't know how she would be able to stay

in the same house with his sister after

beating her ass a few months back.

***************

China awoke out of her sleep feeling

nauseous. She got up quickly and headed for

the bathroom. She almost didn't make it to

the toilet. When she was done, she flushed

the toilet and ran cold water in the sink,

splashing water in her face. She left the

bathroom headed back for the room when

she heard moans coming from Chino's

mother's bedroom. She knew his mother

wasn't home and was curious to know who

was in the house besides herself. She crept

up to the door and listened as the sounds

grew louder. She could hear the female. She

turned the knob and eased the door open so

she could peak inside. She couldn't get a

good look because the room was dark. She

eased it open a little more and heard the

female chant Chino's name. China pushed

the door all the way open upon hearing

Chino's name and turned the light on. She

was furious that this nigga would bring a

female to the house and fuck her knowing

that she was only two doors down. She

knew that this nigga never gave a fuck about

her and definitely about their baby. The

female looked up at China as if she was

pissed that she had stopped her from getting

her nut off. China wanted to pound the bitch

out but thought against it. She looked at

Chino who didn't look a bit surprised to

have gotten caught slipping.

"What the fuck are you standing there

for? Turn the light off and come in or go the

fuck back in the room."

China couldn't believe the balls this

nigga had. He had never done no shit like

this before. She was in total shock. She was

stuck and couldn't move her feet. She

wanted to run in the room but she couldn't

believe what was happening at the moment.

"Did you hear what the fuck I said

China. Turn the fucking light off. That shit

is bright as hell."

She finally got up enough voice to

speak, "What the fuck are you doing

Chino?"

"What the fuck does it look like?"

Chino gets out of the bed butt ass naked and

cuts the light off. He gets back in the bed

and slips his dick back into the female he

was entertaining. China felt sick to her

stomach. She backed out of the room and

went back to his bedroom. She sat down on

the bed and thought about what the fuck was

going on right in her face. She couldn't

believe how pussy she was acting. China got

up and grabbed her clothes and began

dressing. She didn't know where she was

going but she knew she was not staying in

the same house with Chino's low life ass.

"Where the fuck are you going?"

"I'm going home. I can't believe you

just did that shit. I'm carrying your fucking

baby."

"You act like you're the first bitch

that carried a seed of mine."

China wanted to slap the shit out of

him. She continued to get her clothes on.

She wanted to get the hell out of there fast.

"Why the fuck you got niggas

pressing me about my business."

"What the fuck are you talking

about?"

"You tell me China. Some niggas

came to the strip asking me questions about

me pimping you or having you pimp bitches.

What the fuck is that about?"

"I don't know what the fuck you're

talking about. I don't know anybody out

here but your ass. My people don't come out

here for shit. If they were coming out here,

they wouldn't be doing no fucking talking."

"Take your clothes off."

"Are you fucking stupid? I'm going

the fuck home. I know you don't think I'm

going to ever fuck you again after you just

fucked a hoe up in the same house you had

me in. Fuck you nigga."

"No, fuck you bitch. I wish Jewels ass

was still here because she was an obedient

bitch. She knew how to play her position.

You always have to test a nigga."

China's mouth dropped when she

heard the mention of Jewels name come

from Chino's mouth.

"I hate you. You better stay the fuck

away from me," China grabbed her bag and

tried to walk past Chino who was standing

in the door way naked. Chino grabbed her

by the arm and pulled her toward his

mother's bedroom.

"Get the fuck off of me Chino."

"I want you to do something for me

first. When I'm done, maybe I'll let you

leave."

China noticed the girl still lying in the

bed playing with her pussy. China turned her

head away in the opposite direction. Chino

pushed China down to the floor and closed

and locked the door.

"Let me go Chino. I don't want to be

here."

Tears started to fall freely from

China's eyes. She couldn't take anymore.

She was ready to go.

"If you move, I will fuck you up. You

know I will. You got five minutes to get

those fucking clothes off."

Chino climbed back on the bed in

between the female's legs and entered inside

her. He started pumping in and out looking

over in China's direction to see if she was

getting undressed. He knew that she wasn't.

When he felt the female's juices flowing on

his dick, he climbed off her and walked over

in front of China and stuck his dick in her

face. China turned her head and tried to get

up. Chino pinned her down and climbed on

top of her and stuck his dick in her mouth

forcefully.

"Suck it bitch," he chanted. China

wouldn't. He forced himself deeper into her

mouth making her gag. "You're not getting

up until you suck my dick."

China knew that he was going to beat

her up anyway. She was not doing what he

said this time. She was too hurt and

disgusted with this nigga. If he was going to

beat her ass, she was ready for it. When

Chino pushed his dick further into her

mouth almost making her vomit, she bit

down on his shit as hard as she could. Chino

screamed in pain. She held her teeth down

on it for almost a minute before letting it go

and pushing him off her. Chino was bent

over in pain holding his dick in his hand.

China got up off the floor and kicked Chino

in the face before looking over at the female

then she took off out of the room after

fiddling with the lock. When she was out of

the room, she ran straight to the door and

unlocked it and ran out of the building. She

didn't stop running until she reached her car.

She turned around to make sure no one was

following her. She opened her car door and

got in and locked the doors behind her. She

started up her car and sped off. 

## CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"I'm sorry for waking you up. I hope

your mother don't get mad at me. I didn't

have anywhere else to go. I don't know

where my family is," China cried to Ryder.

"China, get in here hurry up. Where

the fuck you been? Bitch some crazy shit

been going down over here. Your family left

about two hours ago. They left Queens.

Cops kicked the door down and ran up in

there. They fucked yawl house up. Q told

me if I spoke to you before any of them did

to ditch your car and take a cab to Far

Rockaway. I don't know where at in

Rockaway. She said you would know what

she was talking about."

"What the fuck is going on? Call me a

cab real quick. This shit got me scared to

death right now. Why the fuck I have to

ditch my car. I'm paying for my shit. My

shit is legit." China for once was afraid to

call anyone in her family's phone not

knowing if the phones were tapped. She had

never experienced anything like this before.

She looked outside of Ryder's window to

see if anyone was watching her and nothing

seemed suspicious to her.

"I called for two cabs. I'm going in

the first one just down Sutphin to make sure

no one is following you. When the next cab

comes, you get inside."

"Ryder, I never been scared like this

before in my life. I don't know what the

fuck is going on. My dad and I had an

argument earlier and he kicked me out of the

fucking house. I come home to find out that

the cops raided my house. I don't know how

much more shit I can take."

"I know. Just take it easy for the

baby's sake. I don't want to see nothing

happen to you and the baby." A horn blows.

"Take your coat off and give it to me. Take

my coat. If anyone saw you come here, they

know what you're wearing."

"I'm afraid to leave the fucking

house. This seems like some shit out of a

fucking movie or something. Why the fuck

would someone be following me when I

wasn't here when the shit went down."

"I'm just making sure girl. Call me

whenever you get the chance. Give me your

car keys. I'll take your car to my cousin's

house tomorrow and park it in her garage."

"Thanks. I love you Ryder."

"I love your sensitive ass too. When

the other cab comes, get your ass out of

here." Ryder gives China a hug before

leaving out the house. Five minutes after

Ryder's cab pulled off, another cab pulled

up in front of the house. China zipped the

coat up and hurried outside looking around

before getting in the cab and giving the

driver the address.

China pulled up in front of the

building forty minutes later. She paid the

driver forty dollars and headed into the

building. She pushed the elevator button and

waited for it to open. Two fiends got off

when it came to a stop and the door opened.

China got inside and pushed the number

three button. When she arrived at her floor,

she walked around the corner and walked to

the first apartment. It was day break by this

time. China knocked on the door. She

waited for two long minutes before

knocking on the door again. She heard

footsteps and saw someone peep through the

peephole. The door unlocked and her uncle

let her in. He put his finger to his mouth as if

to tell her to keep quiet. China looked to the

left and noticed her brothers, father, uncle,

cousins and a few men she didn't recognize

talking low. Her uncle pointed to the back

room and without a word being uttered from

her mouth, she headed to the back. She

opened the room door and saw her mom and

aunt asleep on a queen size bed. She closed

the door and went into the next room and

saw Q sitting on the floor watching TV.

"Q. What's going on?"

Q ignored her. China walked over to

where Q was seated and saw tears falling

from her cousins eyes. She hadn't saw Q cry

in years. It touched her to see that her cousin

let her guard down and didn't try to wipe the

tears away. China sat down beside Q and

held her in her arms. She didn't know what

her cousin was going through or what was

going on with the family but she held her

cousin and shed a few tears of her own for

the pain she had going on in her life. Q

wiped away her tears and pulled up from

China's embrace.

"Q, what's going on?"

"I fucked up China."

"What happened?" Q looked away

and held her head down trying to control the

fresh tears that were threatening to fall from

her eyes.

"I did some stupid shit. I put the

family in some shit. I don't know what the

fuck I was thinking. How could I have been

so fucking stupid?"

"What did you do Q?"

"When Day got locked up, I met an

officer that was willing to let him off the

hook if I fucked him. I didn't want my

brother to go to jail so I agreed. The night

we went out to get some drinks and I was

sitting at the bar talking to that guy, that was

the cop. We were making plans to meet up

and handle business. That was the worst day

of my life China. He had another officer in

the bathroom recording the whole thing.

Then had the nerve to invite the mother

fucker in so he could fuck me. I felt so

cheap and used, but I did what I thought I

had to do to protect my brother. The bad part

about that shit was that after Day's case was

thrown out, I kept fucking the nigga. I

caught feelings for him because of the time

that we were spending together. It wasn't

about the sex because the nigga don't have a

dick. It became more of how he treated me

that attracted me to him. He knew the right

things to say to me. He took me to Hawaii

when I was gone for that week. Not once did

I think the mother fucker was setting me up.

The condo and the car were gifts from him. I

should've known his ass couldn't afford that

shit on his salary. I fucked up China. Now

our family is in jeopardy because of it. Day

and Dee killed him and the other cop. The

mother fucker had the nerve to post the shit

on the internet. You could see my face as

clear as day as if the nigga was standing in

front of us recording. I didn't know the dude

was in the bathroom at first. The first place

they came to when they found the body was

our house due to the video that was posted.

Of course, someone opened up their mouth

and snitched. They only got one body. I

don't think they will be able to find the other

one from what Day told me. We're leaving

in a few hours and heading to Jersey. Uncle

Bun set us up with a town house out there

until shit die down. This shit is so fucked up.

Our bank accounts are all froze. It's so much

shit going on that I have the slightest clue

about. I don't know much, but I do know

that they are looking for us. I'm glad your

ass went to Ryder because as pissed as your

father is at you, he was going straight to BK

to find you and kill Chino if you were with

him. He was tight when we couldn't reach

you. This feels like a fucking nightmare.

Snow and her family are already in Jersey.

These fucking pigs got all our photos.

Niggas was watching us for years. This shit

is just all fucked up." 

## CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm good mom. I couldn't have that

baby. So much shit has happened and now is

not the time to bring a baby into the world."

"I understand China. Get some rest.

I'll come and check on you in a few."

Joe walks out of the room closing the

door behind her. Q had taken China earlier

that morning to get an abortion. China cried

for hours once she arrived back to the town

house. She felt empty. They had been in

Jersey for three weeks and they didn't go out

or do anything. This was not something they

were familiar with doing. Chino had called

China ten times a day leaving obscene

amounts of messages for her. He needed for

her to put in some work for him. She

couldn't believe the balls his ass had to think

that she would do anything for him. No

matter how bad she needed money, she

would rather be broke than to work with

him. She hadn't told him about the abortion

and was sure that he wouldn't care one way

or another. She hadn't seen her brothers,

cousins, uncles or father for the three weeks

they been in Jersey. Her mother or aunt

would talk to her about anything they were

doing. They would simply say to leave it

alone. China prayed every night for the

safety of the men in her family. She had

cramps and was feeling a bit hungry, but

didn't want to get out of bed. She turned on

the television with the remote and tried to

occupy her mind by watching something

good. Q entered into the room a moment

later.

"I need to get the fuck out of this

boring

ass

town.

We

need

to

go

somewhere."

"Where the fuck are we going to go?

We can't do shit. Why don't you go to the

mall?"

"I don't want to go to a fucking mall.

I want to go the fuck home. I want shit to go

back to normal. I can't take living out here

anymore. I feel like a little fucking kid.

Valentine's Day is Friday and we gon be

stuck in this fucking house doing nothing."

"It aint like your ass got a man. You

won't be doing shit any way even if we were

in Queens. Just calm the fuck down and find

something to do. Go for a ride."

"I'm bored here. My mother and

Auntie Joe like it out here. This shit is not

the move." China's phone abruptly rings

interrupting Q. China looked at the caller id.

"Hello. Are you serious? Okay. Q is

sitting here with me now. I'll let her know.

Later."

"Who the fuck was that?"

"It was Dee. I guess your prayers

have been answered. He said we can go

back to Queens. Everything is good."

"Don't bullshit me China. That shit is

not funny."

"I'm not playing. Call Dee. Look,"

China passes Q her phone showing her the

caller id that displayed Dee's number.

"Bitch, get the fuck up. Let's go. I'm

about to hit Ryder up to see what she's up

too."

"Did you forget that I just had a

procedure done this morning?"

"Bitch, you gon be alright. Nothing

gon happen to your ass. I wonder what the

fuck went down for us to be able to go back

to Queens."

"I don't want to know. As long as I

can get the hell out of here and get back into

my own comfortable bed, I'm good."

"China, Q, did either of you get a call

letting you know that we could go back

home?"

"Yes. Dee just called my phone and

told me."

"Don't pack up anything here. Get up

out of the bed China and let's get moving.

Listen, shit is not over. We will only be in

Queens for a short while. We're heading to

South Carolina the end of next week. Too

much has happened and we got just enough

time to handle business back in Queens and

tie up loose ends. We can no longer stay in

NY. It's not safe for us here."

"Auntie, this is my entire fault. I hate

that I got myself tied up with that cop."

"Q, if you think that this is what all of

this shit going down is about then you're

wrong. This is way deeper than that. That

played a portion in all of this and made

things a bit more difficult, but this shit goes

way back. There's a lot of shit that has gone

down with this family over the years that

you girls have the slightest clue about. Do

you think that we were able to live the lives

we were living with the jobs we held. Listen,

one day when I have the time; I'll sit down

and tell you girls the whole story from

beginning to end. Right now, we need to

head out to Queens. This will be a good time

to follow up with Ryder and see what's up

with her." Joe walked out of the room and

left the girls alone for a moment.

China got out of bed and put her

clothes back on. She didn't know why the

hell they had to go all the way to South

Carolina. It was where her dad and uncle

were originally from, but it was no better

than being in Jersey. China grabbed her car

keys and bag. She put her North Face coat

on and zipped it up and headed out of the

room with Q following behind her in total

silence. China's phone rang again. When she

looked down at the caller id, it displayed

Chino's number. She headed out of the door

and walked toward her car so when she

answered her phone, no one would hear her

conversation but Q. She answered on the

fourth ring.

"Hello."

"China, baby I miss you so much.

What the fuck is up with you. I haven't

heard from you in almost a month. Did you

get any of my messages?"

"Yes. I got them."

"I want to see you. Where are you?"

"I'm in Maryland," she quickly lied.

Q looked over at her as they both entered the

car.

"What the hell are you doing in MD?"

"My family and I went on vacation.

We are on our way back to NY."

"What time will you be out here?"

"In four hours. I'll call you when I

reach there and you can let me know where

you are."

"Okay. I love you."

China disconnected the call. She

didn't want to hear that shit. Her mother said

that this was the time for them all to tie up

loose ends and she planned to. She looked

over at Q who had a questioning expression

plastered on her face.

"I got some shit to tell you. I need to

handle something real quick and I need your

help."

China started up the car, pulled out of

her parking space and headed for Brooklyn.

She went on and told Q everything that had

transpired through her and Chino's two year

relationship. China told her everything from

the beat downs to the pimping and the

relationship between Chino and Jewels. She

had told Q that Jewels' daughter belonged to

Chino. Q was in shock. She didn't know

what to say to her cousin. That was some

fucked up shit that their friend had done.

When China arrived in Brooklyn two

hours later, she parked across the street from

a building where he had his hoes staying.

She spotted Chino talking to a female.

She had called him an hour ago and

told him that she was on her way to his

mother's house. He said that he would be

there. She knew that was a lie because she

heard the female's voice and knew that it

had to be one of the hoes.

She picked up her phone and called

him.

"Hello."

"Where are you?" she asked again.

He sounded impatient, "China, I told

you I was at my mother's house when you

called me ten minutes ago."

"Chino, don't get cute. I called you

over an hour ago and you said you were

home. You knew I was coming so where the

hell are you?"

"Yo, I'll call you when I'm on my

way," he said, almost cutting her off. "I have

to do a couple of things for my mother real

quick. I'll see you in a minute." Chino

disconnected the call.

China faced her cousin Q, "This nigga

think I'm someone to fuck with. Q, come

on. Yo, pass me my bag real quick. Let me

get my shit."

Q's hands absently grabbed the bag

and passed it over. But she looked worried

now, "Cuz, don't do nothing stupid. You

need to just leave his dirty ass alone."

"I been with this nigga for two long

years and I'm not about to let him continue

to play me for a fool. He will learn this day

that I'm not the one. He's sitting there

kissing on some bitch and lying to me telling

me that he's at his mother's house. Hell no. I

took enough of his shit Q and you know this.

This will be the last time he disrespects me

and play me for another bitch. He's sitting

there kissing on the next bitch and feeling

her up while he thinks I'm home. These men

think they can beat a woman physically and

emotionally and get away with it because

they think the love we have for them is that

strong. Well his ass is wrong, dead wrong,"

China ignores her cousin Q and gets out of

the car, which is actually parked right across

from where Chino and a female are

standing, engaged in small talk.

China crept up behind a parked car

and Chino's back. Q was right behind her

reaching for her .45. China took her 9 mm

out of her pocket. She turned back, nodding

to Q before running up behind Chino and

placing the gun barrel to the back of his

head. Before the female he spoke with could

run or scream, Q had the .45 pointed at her

forehead.

"W-what the fuck are you doing? Do

you know who I am?" Chino asked.

"Shut the fuck up you lying son of a

bitch. I know exactly who you are. You're a

worthless piece of shit that should be dead.

You fucked with the wrong one. I told you

that you would get what was coming to

you."

"China, bitch is you crazy. I will,

fucking kill you. Put the fucking gun down."

"I'm not putting shit down pussy. You

think you're some kind of playboy or

something with your crooked ass dick?

You're a fucking fake ass pimp nigga. You

played me for the very last time." China

cocked her gun back.

"China baby, listen to me. I'm _sorry_.

She doesn't mean shit to me. Let's talk

about this. You don't want to do this. You

know I love you. Please China, don't do

this."

"Go ahead and beg pussy. No one

feels any pity for you. Fuck you."

China opened fire, letting off four

deafening shots into the back of his head.

She faced Q and nodded. Q let off four

rounds into the girl's head before walking

away. China looked down at the only man

she ever loved, spit on him, walked back

toward the car and got inside. Q started the

engine and sped off.

"China, why the fuck you didn't tell

me what the fuck you were about to do.

We're in enough shit as it is."

China stayed silent reflecting back on

what just happened. Q looks into the rear

view mirror and noticed that they're being

followed. Q pulls out her phone and dials

Day Day's number. His phone goes straight

to voice mail. She then dials Dee's number.

He answers on the first ring.

"Hello."

"Dee, China and I are headed to

Queens right now, but I think were being

followed."

"Where are you?"

"We're about to get on the BQE."

"What color is the car that's following

you and what brand?"

"It's a black Camry."

"Drive and don't speed. Stay on the

line. Put China on the phone." Q passed the

phone to China.

"Hello."

"What the fuck did y'all do? I don't

want to alarm Q because she's driving. What

the hell happened?"

"We put in work real quick."

Dee was all too familiar with that

code. He couldn't believe these two could be

so fucking stupid. He shook his head and got

in his car headed to meet up with them.

"Do you think this shit is a game

China? The two of you are just digging a

bigger whole for us all and you don't even

realize it. Don't be obvious, but look and see

how close the car is behind you." China

looked in the side mirror and saw that the

car was right on their tail.

"They're tailing us."

"Put the phone on speaker." China

presses the speaker. "Q, try to shake them.

Cut through cars and see if you can lose

them. I'm going to meet up with you as soon

as I can. Don't panic and stay focused. Pick

up a little speed but not too much. China you

keep an eye on the car and let me know

what's going on."

Q dips in and out of lanes trying to

lose the vehicle. She picks up more speed

and avoids hitting other cars. She kept

driving and focusing on the road. The car

was keeping up and getting closer to them.

Q tried to concentrate on making it off the

expressway without causing an accident.

Her exit was coming up to get off the

expressway. She presses down on the gas

and darts in front of a car making him

swerve to keep from hitting her. Dee tells

her to keep driving. He spots the car and the

vehicle that's following behind them.

"Q, floor it and run that light. I'm

right here. Go now!"

Q speeds through the light and a

second later, they here a loud crash. Q slows

down and pulls over noticing the car that

was chasing them was in an accident. She

looked to make sure that it wasn't Dee.

"Hello. Dee, are you still there?"

"Drive. Get the hell out of here. I'll be

alright. Let everyone know what's up now.

Oh shit!" They heard a loud bang.

"Dee!" China screams.

Q pulls off and speeds down the block

heading towards the house. When Dee

didn't respond, they knew that he had been

hit. China keeps checking to see if anyone is

behind them, but she doesn't see anything.

She knew that this was about to get ugly if

Dee didn't make it. They were in total shock

as they pulled up in front of the house. They

didn't know how to break the news to the

family but knew that it needed to be done

and quick.

Q hopped out of the car and ran

straight into the house. She ran up the stairs

and called out to her father. China was

trying to keep up but started cramping

because of the abortion she had just had

hours ago. Q blurted out what happened and

alarmed her family of what was going on.

Earl grabbed his pistol with everyone

following behind with their guns drawn.

Before they made it down the steps, shots

started going off. Earl posted up on the wall

and crept up the stairs to the attic and went

to the window. There were about five cars

parked in the street with men surrounding

the house and letting off shots. They

couldn't be sure of how many people were

there.

"Yo, we need to get outside. China

and Q go the fuck in a room and stay there.

Stay out of this. Ike, these niggas set us up.

They said a week tops."

China and Q was confused about what

their fathers were talking about. Q heads

down the stairs and China follows behind,

but she then hears a noise on the other side

of the door and runs back up the stairs to

hide. Q trips and falls while trying to follow

China. The front door was kicked open and

men ran up in the house. Q screamed.

_**SILENT CRIES 2**_

_**COMING SOON**_
