inside of his trap house watching his right-hand man try to figure out the next move. The chain of events had just rocked Po’s world, and he knew that he couldn’t just take the loss. He had lost close to $250,000 of straight drug money. There was no recouping that. He stacked that money up a thousand dollars at a time, anticipating the day that he could retire. He had lost the love of his life over that money, and now, in a blink of an eye, it was all gone.
“Everything is gone?” Rocko asked, already knowing the answer to the question.
Po slowly nodded his head while giving Rocko the coldest stare. He then reached into his Levi denims and looked at the note for the tenth time.
If you want your belongings back bring the girl to me.
Beneath the message was an address in Los Angeles. Po couldn’t believe what he was looking at. He knew that whoever the man was, he meant business.
“That mu’fucka took everything I had. All the money is gone. Every single dime. I have no money to go back to my connect with, nothing in the bank, and no product. Shit is all bad, bruh,” Po said as he shook his head in defeat.
“So, let’s just go grab the bitch up and serve her to the nigga on a platter,” Rocko said as he gripped his handgun tightly in his right palm. His short dreads were neatly twisted and rested against his jet-black skin. His short physique was toned and muscular. Rocko wasn’t too much of a hustler; he left that up to Po. He was an enforcer . . . a shooter. His game was murder. He had no remorse for any life he took, but was as loyal as they came. He had been running with Po since they were young boys.
“Shit is just fucked up. I saved her from the nigga at the hospital, and now I’m thinking about delivering her to him. I don’t know, fam,” Po said as he looked over at his friend. Rocko’s face instantly frowned up; Po wasn’t acting like himself. Rocko stood up and shook his head from side to side in disbelief.
“What’s wrong? You acting like you soft on the broad or something,” Rocko said, trying to figure out what was stopping Po from feeding Liberty to the wolves.
“It’s not that,” Po said as he dropped his head. He mumbled under his breath, “She reminds me of . . .” Po kept seeing Liberty, and then his slain girlfriend. Although they didn’t resemble each other physically in the slightest, Libertyreminded him of Scarlett. There was something about her eyes. Po quickly shook the notion and thought about his stash being gone. He then took a deep breath. “We have to go get her,” Po said as he started to devise a plan.
“Where is she? Do you know where she lives?” Rocko asked.
“No, but she left a bus ticket for today on the nightstand at the motel. She’s taking the next thing smoking out of the city. Let’s go. Hurry!” Po said as he shot for the door. Rocko followed closely behind, and just like that, they were gone.
* * *
Liberty sat on the outside bench, waiting for her bus. She had a one-way ticket to Arizona. She didn’t know what would be waiting for her when she got there, but she still was heading west. She only had the money that A’shai had put in a bank account for her, which was a tad under ten thousand dollars. Samad’s goons had cleared out the safe with the big money, so she would have to spend wisely to avoid going broke. Ten racks wouldn’t last forever, but she hoped that it was enough to help her start over. She was headed toward a new beginning while running from her past.
Liberty looked at her watch and noticed that she had three-and-a-half more hours before her departure. Her heart pounded and pain shot through her chest as she nervously looked around, hoping to God Samad wouldn’t find her. “Come on, come on, come on,” she whispered as she glanced at her watch again while anxiously tapping her foot on the ground. Just as she lifted her head, she noticed a tinted black truck pull in front of the bus station.