The Dirty Divorce Read Free Page A

sheddin’ a tear by now. I’d raised both of my kids to be strong. In my line of work, weakness wasn’t an option.
    “Don’t worry, baby. I promise I’ll come back and get you. I’ll never leave you again. Who’s Daddy’s girl?”
    Denie was hesitant at first. “Me, your Baby Girl,” she said in a low child-like tone.
    “Damn right. You’re my pride and joy.” That was our little thing since she was a little girl. I knew that would comfort her…for the moment.
    Makin’ sure we weren’t bein’ followed, I hit a lot of back streets to watch my back. As I pulled into my mother’s drive way ten minutes later, I noticed the ice from the snow storm a few days prior hadn’t been shoveled, which was another thing for me to feel guilty about. Wit’ my mother sick wit’ Coronary Heart Disease, there was no excuse for her yard to look like that. I made a mental note to take care of that as soon as I got out the current mess I was in.
    Taking my .9mm from under my seat, I put it in my coat pocket and got out to open Denie’s door. Seconds later, we walked up the hill of the driveway wit’ my arm draped around her shoulder. Denie had been so quiet the past few minutes, I knew she had an attitude, but she had no other choice but to get over it.
    My mother took forever to answer the door. It was cold as shit as I rang the doorbell at least ten times.
    “Where’s your key?” my mother asked when she finally appeared. Her body seemed more frail since the last time I’d seen her.
    “Hey, Ma.” I bent down and gave her a kiss on her forehead. My mind so was distraught that I’d completely forgotten to use my key. “Sorry, it’s a lot on my mind right now,” I said walkin’ further inside. “Hey, can Denie stay here for a while? I have to make an important run.”
    “Boy, it don’t make no sense. It’s that girl’s birthday, and all you can think about is running those damn streets!” my mother yelled wit’ frustration. “Aren’t you too old for that mess?”
    Denie hated goin’ to my mother’s house, especially since all she did was ramble off quotes from the Bible and utter broken Spanish under her breath, and I couldn’t blame her. Ever since my father died ten years ago, she hadn’t been the same.
    “Ma, it’s not like that. This is important,” I replied. “Look, I gotta go.” I walked over to Denie and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Don’t worry, Baby Girl. I’ll be back.”
    The look in Denie’s eyes was pure sadness as she watched me walk out of the door.
    When I got in my truck, I could see her starin’ out of the livin’ room window like a little puppy. As bad as I didn’t want to leave her on her birthday, it was about her well-bein’ at this point. Not to mention, I didn’t know who these fools were or what I was dealin’ wit’, so my mother’s house was the safest place for her at the moment. I didn’t want to take any chances. My son, Juan, didn’t answer his cell phone as usual, so I left him a message lettin’ him know to stay at one of his girlfriend’s houses for a minute ‘til he heard from me. Like father like son, Juan had plenty of women. Ever since I’d bought him a 750 Li BMW when he graduated from high school, he’d definitely been a bitch magnet.
    My mind began racin’ again and I was officially in guerilla mode. How could I let these muthafuckas catch me slippin’? I knew that the recession and the recent drought in the game had caused a lot of dudes’ money to be fucked up, but I questioned who had the balls to come after me and my family. I loved my family, and everyone in the streets could attest to how much they meant to me. Now that somebody had decided to fuck wit’ them had me in a rage, and they were going to pay…big time.
    When Denie disappeared from the window, I zipped up my Northface coat, pulled my skull cap over my ears, and hopped back out the truck. I didn’t want her to know what I was up to. Runnin’ around the back of my