Dirty DNA 3: The Renegade (G Street Chronicles Presents) Read online

  The last thing I remembered was thinking why hadn’t Neko come for me? If he really loved me like he said he did, he would have demanded that he see me.

  My eyes fluttered closed and everything faded to black.

  Present Day…

  I never got quite right like that stupid Doctor Gandy said I would. I was far from right in my opinion. Once they let me out of that hospital, things never seemed to be the same. I wasn’t interested in anything but surviving. I couldn’t go back to dancing and that was one of the only things I was good at besides being a killer. My body was scarred from the attempt on my life. I didn’t dare get naked in front of anyone for money again. I found a bullshit job on campus at Howard University. All I could do was go totally legit. With my body all scarred up, I could never dance again; and I don’t know too many people who would hire a hit woman who had missed her own personal mark, so I left that career choice behind as well.

  Now all I have left in my life are scars, a huge chip on my shoulder and an insatiable thirst for revenge if the opportunity ever presents itself. Although I’m doubtful that I will ever run across Dread again…if I do, I will jump at the chance to rock his dome. All of my downfalls and everything I lost is because of him and if I see him, I won’t hesitate to shoot on sight. I wouldn’t give a damn if it were on a busy street; I would kill him…and this time, I would not miss my mark.

  Chapter Five

  Neko

  Something Ain’t Right

  My wife Rhina and I watched as YaSheema Nicole packed up the last of her things. I couldn’t believe that in the morning, she was going to head to the one place I didn’t want her to go. Although I had forbid her to go to Washington, D.C., she had applied to attend Howard University and had been accepted. I had secretly wished that they would have rejected her application so she wouldn’t go. I wanted the best for YaSheema Nicole, and that included a great education which was something my sisters and I never cared to get; we were raised to survive by way of our father’s methods of getting’ money; that is until tragedy struck and scared us straight. Well, it scared me straight.

  I was extremely excited to know I had raised my niece right and that she wanted to go to school; but I wanted her to do it closer to home and definitely not in D.C. After losing everyone I loved, there was no way I wanted her to start digging and have the darkness I tried to shield her from come out to rear its ugly head. I had tried my best to tell her as little as possible about her mother and her father and our notorious bloodline; but the more I tried to keep it under wraps, the more she inquired.

  When she was a little girl and first started asking questions about her parents, I had gone as far as telling her that they had both been killed in a car accident and were in heaven. That lasted until she was about twelve years old. Then she had been cleaning out the basement with her Aunt Rhina and came across old newspaper clippings of her mother’s death along with the only information I had on her punk ass daddy Dread. After YaSheema Nicole got an eyeful of the truth about her parents, she was hell bent on finding her father, claiming that she didn’t feel adequate and that finding him would complete her. No matter how much I tried to deter her from knowing the truth…the harder she pushed to find it.

  For two years after she found those old clippings, I had grown weary of trying to hide the truth from her. I finally caved in and told YaSheema Nicole that her father was alive; or at least that the last time I had checked he was alive. I secretly hoped the stupid muthafucka’ was dead. I told her just enough to keep her at bay. The little information I had given her seemed to keep her satisfied for a while; but not more than a month later, she was asking me all kinds of wild shit about her parents.

  Rhina tried to get me to tell YaSheema Nicole the truth, but she hadn’t lived the nightmare like I had. She didn’t know how detrimental my telling my niece about her past could be. Rhina thought the more YaSheema knew, the more likely she would be to just leave it alone. Obviously she didn’t know our niece. Rhina didn’t know the whole story behind why I had taken my niece and ran, and I never had any intention on telling either of them shit. The less they knew, the better off they would be.

  It was about a year after that when I started to notice a serious change in YaSheema; a change that scared the shit out of me. I had caught her talking to herself. I didn’t say anything the first time I had caught her looking as though she were having an argument with herself. She was seated in the family room supposedly watching TV when she started screaming shut up to someone who wasn’t there. I stood off to the side and watched my niece in horror as she yelled, cursed and screamed. She had a wild look on her face and it made my stomach turn. I had seen that face before. It had been many years ago. It was the same wild look her mother—my sister NiQue gave me the night she had come to kill us both.

  I eased into the room and when YaSheema finally looked up and saw me, she settled down like nothing had happened. She was her normal calm chipper self. I think that was the part that scared me the most. Her mother was the same way. She was calm one minute and the next she was full blown out of control. When I questioned YaSheema on what happened, she claimed she was caught up in the movie she was watching. I wasn’t buying it because I knew there was nothing on that television that would have caused the outburst I had seen. The local news was depressing, but it should not have caused her to go off the deep end.

  The very next time I caught her lunchin’ out was right after an extremely heated argument she had with my wife Rhina. After Rhina and YaSheema Nicole exchanged some unpleasant words, YaSheema Nicole ran off to her room, slamming her door behind her. When I climbed the spiral stairs to try to diffuse the situation, I could hear her talking to someone. It wasn’t her talking that made me stop dead in my tracks. It was what she said that made my blood run cold as the North Pole.

  “I hate that nosy ole’ bitch and if you don’t make her mind her fuckin’ business, I’m gonna’ wind up getting angry and you don’t want me to do that; do you?”

  “Takiya, just chill. She’s just doing what parents do. There ain’t no need to take shit to another level.”

  “Humpf! You might want to control that loose booty, big mouth slut then; because if she pops off like that again, ain’t no telling what I’ll do to her. And for the record…she ain’t our mother. Our mother is dead and she is probably the reason why. She got you and Uncle Neko wrapped around her finger, but not me! I know she’s the reason Uncle Neko won’t tell us what we need to know. We need to get at her ass and get her out of the way. Then maybe Unc will ease up on us without his loud-mouthed wife always barging in.”

  “She really ain’t that bad Takiya. You gotta give her a chance. Besides, how do you expect her to act with you wildin’ out every chance you get.”

  I heard the conversation from the other side of the bedroom door. I knew I was hearing my niece’s voice on both sides of the conversation, but it was like she was changing her voice. One minute it was YaSheema Nicole’s voice and then all the replies were her voice too, but the tone was sinister. It made shivers run down my spine.

  I had seen and heard some ill shit dealing with my sisters and something about hearing my niece talk to herself took me to the night I saved her from being murdered by her own mother. It was so eerily familiar. I didn’t want to open the door because I was afraid of what I would find on the other side of it. My hands trembled when I turned the knob. Once I opened the door, my eyes darted all around the room hoping that the wicked conversation that had taken place was between my niece and one of her friends. When my eyes landed on YaSheema, she was seated at her desk in front of her computer and she was all alone.

  “Who were you talking to?” I asked nervously.

  She whipped her head around and looked surprised to see me standing there. “Oh, I was having a webcam chat with one of my friends from school. Why?” she asked me curiously.

  “I just thought I heard something I didn’t want to hear. So, who did you say you were talking to again?�
� I asked, stepping further into her room. I was careful to leave the door open… just in case. I had noticed some strange behavior from her in the past, and I knew very well who her mother was and how troubled she had been before she died. I didn’t put anything past anyone who shared the same DNA as me. We were all screwed up and suspect of having severe issues.

  “Oh, I was talking to Cassandra from my English lit class,” she said nonchalantly.

  I knew she wasn’t telling the truth. There was no way she was able to make it from arguing downstairs to her room and chatting with anyone in that small amount of time. I started to press the issue; but I have to admit, I was shook and didn’t want to know any more. The truth might have made me keep a promise I had made to myself many years earlier. I had said that if my niece ever showed signs of being anything like my sister, I would drop her ass off at a mental hospital and never look back. Instead, I backed out of her room slowly. YaSheema turned her back to me and faced her computer.

  I stood there looking at the young woman I had raised and my love for her made me soften up a bit. Maybe she was telling me the truth. She was in front of her computer and she had never lied to me before so why would she start now?

  “Look, if you ever need to talk, YaSheema…you know your Aunt Rhina and I are here for you.”

  Then I turned to leave. Before I could get a few paces away from the door, she called after me.

  “Uncle Neko.”

  I stopped and turned around thinking maybe she was going to open up about what I had heard and her peculiar behavior. Instead, she kept her back to me.

  “Next time knock,” she said coldly.

  I started to reprimand her for demanding that I knock on a door that I paid for, but something in her voice told me that might not be such a good idea after all. Instead, I closed her door and let her be. I didn’t think I could face what I thought was happening.

  That was several years ago and I hadn’t seen or heard her act like that since that day and I was grateful she hadn’t given me any more reasons to think of dropping her off at an asylum; because if I had to, I would.

  Chapter Six

  YaSheema Nicole

  On The Midnight Train From Georgia

  I had made plans to go out with my girl Cassandra from Bankhead. We went to school together and she was one of my only friends. Honestly, she was the only person I could connect with. Anyone else that I seemed to try and befriend, Takiya had a problem with. Cassandra was the only one Takiya seemed to like and I was glad she allowed me to have at least one friend. I think Takiya only let me keep Cassandra around because she was never any real threat to us. It was bad enough I didn’t know who I really was or where I had come from. So it felt good to have one friend outside of Takiya who I was able to connect with.

  I started getting ready to go out. Cassandra and I had planned to hit up as many clubs as we could. It was our last night together and we wanted to go out with a bang. She was going to attend Spelman, and since I was going to Howard we planned to live it up our last night together until I came home for winter break.

  I beat my face with just a little eyeliner and eye shadow to match my blue tube dress that I had to practically beg Uncle Neko to let me get. I knew he couldn’t tell me no about the dress. I had been a straight A student and I had never been too much of a problem besides the shit Takiya got me into from time to time, which was nothing that had ever landed me in any real hot water. The only issues he had with the dress was that he thought it was too much for me. It took me two weeks and me being extra nice to Aunt Rhina before he finally agreed to let me have it.

  By nine o’clock, I had scooped Cassandra and her friend Vernita up and we were waiting in line at Club Inferno. We could hear the music pulsating through the speakers while we waited on the outside in the line to get in.

  I was chatting with Cassandra when a group of guys walked right past the line of angry waiting patrons and dapped up the security guards who quickly removed the ropes and let the guys inside.

  “Do you see that shit? He’s just gonna’ let them waltz right in like he doesn’t see us standing here,” Cassandra said fussing. She got out of her spot in the line and headed straight to where the bouncers were standing like they hadn’t done anything underhanded. By the way Cassandra’s nostrils were flared and the way her neck was rolling from side to side as she talked, I knew she was giving the overweight bouncer a piece of her mind. I left my place in line, leaving Vernita standing there. I could tell as I approached that from the looks of things, the bouncer was not happy about being told how to do his job by a feisty female.

  “How the fuck are you gonna let them go in ahead of us like we aren’t standing here?” Cassandra said, swinging her hair and pointing her long manicured finger in the bouncer’s face.

  “Look, lil’ mama. I suggest you get your lil’ hot ass in line and wait your turn like everyone else,” the bouncer said, laughing at Cassandra like she was a joke.

  “Hot ass? I know you ain’t gonna just disrespect me like that! Oh, I get it. You’re a faggot. You’d rather have a club full of sweaty men,” Cassandra shot back. I tugged at her arm and tried to pull her away. If she kept this up…we’d never get in.

  “Come on girl. Your arguing with him ain’t gonna get us up in there any faster,” I said, trying my best to talk her down. I knew my friend very well and she was not one to back down from anything. If she had a point to prove, she would go through the fires of hell to prove it.

  “Nah. Fuck that. He’s just being a butt munching faggot. He knows what he did wasn’t right. Just because no one else is gonna call him on his bullshit doesn’t mean I ain’t,” Cassandra said, pulling away from me and crossing her arms over her heaving chest. She planted her feet firmly in their spot and she wouldn’t move. She was determined to cause as much of a commotion as she possibly could.

  “You better listen to your bitch because she’s got the right idea…to wait like everybody else. So take your ass back over there and get in line before someone takes your spot and you watch the show from the sidewalk,” the bouncer said, clearly annoyed with Cassandra’s slick tongue.

  I had tried to handle things like a lady. I tried to be civilized, but this dude was asking for it. I knew if he kept up his tough guy act Takiya would surely start to stir and that was something none of us needed. Takiya turnt up was a bad situation.

  Did this nigga call us a bitch?

  Oh shit. It was too late. Takiya heard him and she was no doubt ready to blow. There was no way I could try and talk her down now. Even if I could, I would look crazy standing there talking to myself. I tried to suppress her, but she was angry. It didn’t take much to rile her up and now was no exception to her rules.

  “Nigga, who you calling a bitch?”

  It just slipped from my lips. I didn’t mean for it to. Takiya was in full effect and the more audience she had, the better. She was about to show her ass and she didn’t care who saw it. I wanted to turn around and run away, but my legs felt like weights were holding me down. I felt cold and then it felt like my temperature shot up twenty degrees. Explaining the rage Takiya was feeling over this man calling her a bitch was indescribable. I hated when she got mad.

  “I don’t see your momma with her shriveled up pussy out here, so you must have me mistaken for another bitch. Nigga, you ain’t nothin’ but a fudge packin’ undercover homo. That’s why you let those dudes in without a blink of an eye. See, I know your type. You’re just a sissy ass muthafucka’ pretending to be all hard by working at this pissy ass club. You only work here to play straight. I’ve seen your kind before. I can see that shit all over your face. You know what? You and your lil’ faggity friends can have this muthafucka’! I ain’t trippin off of this club,” Takiya said.

  She was furious and it really wasn’t that serious. There were a million clubs in Atlanta. We could easily go to any one of them. I didn’t need any drama. I was supposed to be partying the night away; not involved in an argument that really
wasn’t worth it.

  Vernita stood there with her mouth wide open. Even Cassandra stopped and gawked at us. I don’t think anyone was expecting things to escalate like they were.

  “I think maybe we should just find another club to go to ya’ll,” Vernita said, trying to diffuse the time bomb named Takiya who was now in full show out mode.

  “Yeah, maybe we should leave,” Takiya sneered.

  Cassandra didn’t say another word. She was so in awe of our behavior that she didn’t put up any more resistance. Vernita looked relieved that we were trying to be sensible and walk away like ladies. What Vernita didn’t know was that Takiya was mad and she wasn’t done with the bouncer. Not by a long shot. Vernita and I started to walk away when Takiya had to have the last word.

  “I hope you know this shit ain’t over, nigga. I’ll be seeing you soon and I’ma make you eat your words! You can bet that,” Takiya said with clenched teeth and her fist balled up so tight I could feel her digging her nails into the palms of our hands.

  Cassandra pulled me away from the bouncer and led me back to the car. We all got in and I felt everything happening in reverse. The weights I felt from before felt like they were being lifted. I felt like I could move. I wasn’t being guided and played with like the puppet Takiya thought I was.

  I knew she was close by and she was still very angry. I knew damn well she wasn’t going to give up that easy. Surprisingly though, she didn’t surface anymore that night, Vernita suggested we hit another spot called the G Street Bar and Grill in Stockbridge. I had never been there, but I was willing to go anywhere as long as it kept Takiya from making a scene. This was my last night in the A. I just wanted to enjoy it.

  We pulled into the bar and the tension in the car was so thick you needed a machete to cut it. We drove all the way over to Stockbridge in silence. Every now and again, I could feel Cassandra watching me. I know she was curious about my behavior. I had never tripped out like that before around her, so I knew she was shocked by what had gone down. I had always remained calm and level headed unless Takiya showed up to pull her lil’ strings. Little did I know, Takiya’s puppeteer show had only just begun.