Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Being careful, I took my time with each word. “Let’s work together.”
“You would help me?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I’m different than I used to be,” I said.
His gaze saddened. “Death does that to you.”
“Yes, it does.”
“I never meant to hurt Troy.”
A heart-wrenching ache cut through me.
“I never meant to. I never meant to.” He blinked and tears fell from his eyes. “Never. Never. Do you hear me?”
My eyes watered. I was slowly losing it. All that careful soothing to Benny had come undone in my chest as he spoke about my brother. I no longer had the patience. Rage boiled in my veins.
“Never,” he said. “When I pulled the trigger, I died. Every part of me. I wanted to rush to that bullet. And he wouldn’t move. Did he know? Did he want it? He didn’t move. Did he have time? I ruined it all. Never. Never.”
“Shut up!” I screamed and fisted my hands. “Get me out of here. I can’t. I need air. Open the door.”
“Okay. Okay.” Benny patted the air, touched the knob, and turned it. “And then we can plan.”
“Yes,” I growled.
Benny got in front of me.
The door opened.
Scar stood in front with a gun pointed at Benny’s chest. My dad’s friend with the huge gash who’d been in our lives forever. The man that walked with a shadow hovering over him. He never had anything much to say to us, always lingering in the background with dead eyes and no smile on his face.
“What’re you doing?” Benny asked him. “I told you to handle the front.”
“You went too far, when you killed my son.” Scar pulled the trigger.
The bullet made no sound. It just zipped through the air, faster than the one that had taken my brother’s life. It whipped past and more came. I fell to the ground and covered my face. No noise left my lips. But in my head I screamed, Kill him! Kill him!
Scar shot out all of the bullets in one gun, pulled another out, and filled Benny with that load.
And Benny?
His body did a sort of dance.
The impact of the bullets had him twisting and turning in the small space.
His arms wagged around.
His tongue and mouth flopped open as if he’d already reached unconsciousness.
His knees went under and he crashed back, falling into me.
“Oh God!” I screamed as blood and his heavy weight fell onto me.
Scar jumped in the closet, pulled me out of there, and shoved Benny’s dead body to the side. Is he going to kill me, too? When Scar helped me to my feet, I turned back to Benny’s body and waited to see if he moved.
This had to be the end. Benny lay on his stomach. Blood pooled around his center. His face lay to the side. His eyes were open and didn’t move.
I hadn’t heard Scar step up closer or anything. But I saw another bullet zip by and land in the center of Benny’s forehead.
“He’s dead, Jazz.”
He’s calling me Jazz. Okay, I guess we’re friends. I guess he’s not going to kill me.
I stumbled back and faced him. “I-I thought Benny was your friend.”
“Yes.”
I scrunched up my face in confusion. “Yes?”
“Yes, he was my friend.”
I glanced down at Benny’s corpse. “Um, would you like to say anything else or are we just going to walk off and pretend like none of this happened?”
“I’m not a man of many words.”
“Could you tell me why you killed Benny?”
“He killed Troy.”
“And you cared because ...”
“I’m your father.”
I swayed a little. “Okay. Okay.”
“Are you all right, Jazz?” He didn’t make a move to grab my arm.
And then Sherman showed up as if out of the shadows. My knees wobbled a bit, but I was fine. “Okay. Okay.”
Sherman walked by Scar. “Just give Jazz a minute.”
I blew out a long breath to calm down. “Okay. Sherman, why are you here?”
“Mom,” Sherman said. “You think I really wanted to see Mickey Mouse? Naw, I needed to be close without you or Chase thinking I was near. Mom set Benny up. Plain and simple.”
“I was the bait?”
He gave me a sad frown. “You’re always the bait, Jazz.”
My voice scratched as I spoke, “What do you mean?”
“Mom used to say that little girls can make the most money. Get them smart and pure. Make sure no other man touches her. Get her in the books and a little degree. Any rich man would go after her with careful planning.” He reached for me, probably to help me walk.
I staggered away from Scar and him. “I don’t even get what you’re trying to say. I mean, I heard something, but this is not even a logical thing that one person can set up in their mind. Are you trying to tell me that Mom—”
“Look.” Sherman lowered and lifted up Benny’s body. “We grew up in the hood. You know how it is. Everybody had to play their position. A woman has boys in the hood. She’s thinking to herself, I’m going to put all of them in sports. One of these boys are going to have to hit it big and get us out of here. So she focuses on football or whatever. Makes sure he keeps his eyes on the prize.”