Frantic : An Original Novel by Dupacalypse Now!

[Duwop]

Rich cursed himself. Already his lie was falling apart, he tried to regain himself “I..I..don’t know, maybe she was in a rush, I only went in my bathroom to piss, and when I came out she had a gun pointed at me. She prolly took some cash, but I never even counted any of it” he stared at Ace hoping he believed him

“Look man I just brought this money here so I could get my aunt back, I don’t want no parts of this shit. I haven’t had a clue about what was going on all day. Yea I fucked up when I got in that car with her, but I had no idea what the fuck was going on. Yall gotta feel that. You seen the girl before, she said come on, so I came” Rich pleaded

A few of the guys chuckled at Rich’s assessment of his actions. They had all seen Chilli when she was working as a bartender and her few weeks as one of Gus’s girl. They all knew how good she looked and couldn’t blame the guy for wanting to run off with a girl like that. Any one of them would have done the exact same thing if they were in his shoes.

Feeling like he might be winning some of the guys over he continued “Yea man it was stupid, I know, but I guess I was just thinking with my dick. I ain’t have shit to do with Mikey earlier, and I was just going to check in with my aunt to let her know I was leaving town for a while, when I found out yall had her. After that I was like fuck it, game over, bring the money back. Yea shorty was bad, but it ain’t worth my aunt’s life, so I brought it back. I woulda brought her back too, but she dipped on me, That’s truth I swear”

“Enough to put your life on it?” Another voice said as everyone turned to see Gus walk into the lounge area with Rich’s aunt Tammy by her arm. “Maybe you’ll put your Aunt’s life on that story” He said as he flung her towards Rich. She tripped on the way over and Rich stood up to grab her, as they both fell back into the couch. She turned and looked at Gus with more anger in her eyes than fear. She never trusted Gus even when he used to run with her little brother. She didn’t know everything that was going on but she got the jest of it and was very pissed.

“Okay Gus, so fucking what? Rich had a little girlfriend take a couple dollars from you so they could run away! It ain’t like you ain’t take the money from Ronnie to begin with!!” Tammy said very matter of factly

”Everybody know you kept allllll the money from that bank robbery Gus. Ronnie and his family…which is me and these boys…never got a cut of it. You got the audacity to get mad cuz they took a little of it back??” Aunt Tammy was furious with Gus. She knew the game her brother played. But even then there were things like loyalty. She knew Gus had no concept of the word


“That’s who you work for guys!! You make money with Gus, and you go to jail, instead of taking care of your family he gets you killed so he can keep all the money to himself!! Oh you think I didn’t know?? I been knew what you were all about, I just never said shit cuz I ain’t wanna see any of my boys go out the same way Ronnie did. But I always knew you were a dirty piece of shit”

Rich looked at his Aunt Tammy and then at Gus. The room was eerily quiet as some of the guys in the room were hearing all about this for the first time. Rich tried to put as much together as he could, but he still couldn’t. It was Ace to speak up first

“So that’s why that little nigga kept coming by here day after day?” He said looking at Gus

“You had his daddy killed and he thought he was gonna get revenge?” Ace started laughing

“Got Damn Gus, you a cold motherfucker, so what you think the little nigga gonna do now? You know he gotta be on his way here now that you got his aunt and cousin”

“Wait Mikey’s still alive?” Rich asked. Aunt Tammy looked at him confused “ Of course he’s alive, why you think that nigga got us both here? He really think holding us will keep Mikey from getting his hands on him. “ Tammy turned her attention to Gus “Trust me baby, ain’t a force on this planet that will keep that boy from getting his hands on you. You earned every bit of hell he gonna bring to you the second you had his daddy killed”

Gus finally tired of hearing Tammy’s spunk. He stood over her menacingly. Rich tried to get in between the two, but was met with a crushging hit from the pistol in Ace’s hand.

He then was punched very hard in the stomach by Gus himself.

“Oh so you do got some balls?” Gus said “hold him up” He ordered his guys

“Leave him the fuck alone Gus” Tammy shouted, as Gus finally gave her the back hand smack he had originally been gunning for.

At the sound of his Aunt being smacked, Rich dove towards Gus with everything he had knocking the two over a couch one of Gus’s thugs were sitting on…


“Ooohhh shit! “ Ace excitedly yelled “ Naw yo let them niggaz rock I wanna see how this goes” he told the rest of the guys as they all anxiously formed a circle around the two men exchanging blows on the ground.

The big man Ty that had patted Rich down when he first came in was holding back Aunt Tammy while everyone else was watching Rich and Gus fight each other.

Rich had just about every disadvantage in a fight possible. He didn’t have as much reach, power, or experience as Gus when it came to fighting. But he did have the speed of his youth, and tons of rage being built up. He swung as hard as he could at Gus when they finally both made it to their feet, and Gus easily side stepped him before delivering a vicious right hook to Rich’s body. The punch sent Rich back to the ground as Gus took off his jacket.

Rich made it back to his feet and put his hands back up. Gus jabbed at Rich a few times. Gus was smiling as Rich was trying to maneuver but caught more punches with his face than he slipped.

Gus threw a wild haymaker with his right hand that Rich was able to dodge and counter with an over hand right of his own. The pop that the punch landed caused all the guys watching to all shout in amusement at seeing their boss hit with a clean punch to the face.

The clean punch even surprised Rich who took just a few seconds too long to appreciate his work. This allowed Gus to deliver a thundering left hook to Rich’s Jaw that sent him to the ground again. This punch was too much for Rich. He felt two of his teeth moving very loosely in his mouth. He pushed his tounge against the one tooth, and felt it come loose.

He spit the tooth out of his mouth, and made his way back to his feet. Rich was able to keep his hands up, but his legs weren’t trying to cooperate. He felt like he was stepping in pot holes. He didn’t know where the ground was under him but with each step he tried to find it.

Gus then started peppering him with jabs and cross punches. He was mixing it up going low and high hitting Rich with everything he wanted to as the boy tried to fight back, but was too out of it to muster any type of attack. Rich was also too stubborn to quit. Rich knew this was likely the end and he wanted to go out on his sword. He had no idea where he was at anymore, but he tried his best to get it together. It was the kind of one-sided beating that causes men to shout, root wildly and almost primitively.

 

[Duwop]

Unknown to Rich or anyone else however the fight provided the perfect distraction for Mikey and his guys to sneak into the building.

The phone call Mikey made before leaving Sam Browns was to an enforcer that had arrived in town only 2 days prior. His instructions were simple. Wait for the call from Mikey, then move on Gus Briggs.

The new Commission had already begun to operate. Most people in the city were hoping on the bandwagon. The only hold out was Gus Briggs. But this was because of other members’ unwillingness to work with Gus. No invitation was ever going to be sent to Gus. A hit squad was being sent instead. Gus Briggs death was too important to too many powerful people for him ever to live.

While Mikey was not the head of the Commission, he was one of the architects. The major players felt his involvement was very important to its success. When he offered to take care of Gus himself, no one for a minute thought he truly meant he would attempt take on Gus’s entire operation by himself solo. They all just naturally assumed that he would stake him out, device a plan, and then call in for help.

A lot of the old school guys knew the importance of Mikey being the one who pulled the trigger. Especially the Italians. But no one was expecting the moves that had taken place earlier that day.

Once word broke on the streets about the attack on Ace and the heist on Gus’s safe, the Commission assumed it was a plan to bring Gus out of hiding so Mikey could take him out himself. The plan looked to be working as both Gus and Mikey ended up at Sam’s Brown house earlier that day. The shootout there almost ended the whole thing. When they got the call from Mikey that he had Gus and he was on the way to the club, the hit squad immediately went in that direction.

It was pure luck that saved Mikey’s life. While speeding down the freeway in the direction of Gus’s club, the hit squad happened to drive right in the middle of Mikey’s shootout with the cops. They quickly intervened by pulling in between Mikey and the police returning heavy fire that caused the cops to retreat and Gus to hide behind the cruiser. There was so much static on the police radio about the multiple shootings that instead of getting out and finishing the job, they pulled off to regroup. Mikey was also hurt very badly.

They were able to get the bullet out of his leg, but he lost a lot of blood. They had to get him to a doctor quickly.

It was there that he was able to organize a plan to go after Gus who would likely be holed up in his strip club waiting for another attack on him. Being that they knew where he would be, and that he would likely still have Mikey’s aunt for negotiation there would no reason to look anywhere else.

Mikey did however want to get a hold of his cousin Rich first so that he didn’t get involved. After realizing that Rich’s girl was the one who set Gus up for the heist that kick started a lot of the confusion, he thought it would be a great opportunity for his cousin to ride off into the sunset with the girl.

There was no reason Rich shouldn’t get the money and the girl Mikey thought. A good guy like that deserved it. He just hoped no one told Rich about Aunt Tammy. He knew Rich would risk everything for Aunt Tammy. He wanted to leave right away, but he needed at least a few hours rest first.

When he was able to move around again the first place Mikey wanted to go was to Rich’s apartment before going to the club. Mikey was pissed that he showed up to Rich’s too late to save Chilli. They saw two guys carrying her out of Rich’s building. It was obvious she was dead.

Mikey lost it. He jumped out of the van on only one good leg, but it was still sturdy enough for him to dive into the guy holding Chilli’s feet with a knife planted right in the man’s chest. Mikey had stabbed the goon several times until he was sure he was no longer with the living. When he looked for the other one, he wasn’t surprised at all to see that the squad quickly dispatched him. They placed all three bodies in the trunk of the car.

When Mikey faced Jim Waters, he couldn’t believe that he was about to shoot another woman so quickly. He always heard Jim was a coward. What other man would shoot two women like that? No one would mourn scum like that.

And now Mikey was watching as Rich was once again well over his head getting his brains beat in by Gus trying to be a hero. It provided perfect cover though. The guys Mikey was with were real pro’s. They took out the guys on the perimeter of Gus’s club with little to no problems. The hits were surgical. Mikey was impressed with the precision. And began to think on how much fun it would be running with guys like this on the regular basis.

They made not one sound as they approached the building from different angles. No one saw their approach. Mikey waited for Rich to go inside when they started making their move.

Things almost went bad when Mikey saw the two cops from earlier pull up. The squad car still had bullet holes in it and Mikey wondered if they had even checked the thing in. It didn’t matter. There was a sharp shooter in a vacant home with eyes on them. Both cops were dropped before they could even react.

It was looking too easy, but as soon as Mikey saw Rich squared up against Gus it all made sense. Guys like Gus him can’t resist the opportunity to hurt someone weaker than them. It’s a cruel nature that causes someone to do that. Someone that would kill or maim someone for no reason other than personal amusement is a trait that one usually sees in animals like raccoons, cats, and unfortunately pieces of shit like Gus.

Mikey silently signaled to his men to spread out into the room and take strategic positions against Gus’s guys. Right before he gave the move to light the room up he found himself smiling at his cousin Rich as he took another devastating hit that everyone was sure he wasn’t going to get up from. Richey boy fought his heart out, Mikey thought.

And even if Rich didn’t feel like a winner at the moment, Mikey saw all he needed to know that Rich would definitely play a part in this thing he was about to build.

 

[Duwop]

Epilogue

The ambush went sweet. Mikey and his guys swept in and hit Gus’s men all over the room before any of them had a chance to react. Ace of all people actually tried to beg for mercy saying he would gladly work with Mikey. He knew all about what Gus did to Mikey’s father, he heard all the buzzing about the commission Mikey was building, and he wanted in. Mikey not buying it for a second quickly executed him. He gave his Aunt Tammy a kiss as he found her cradling Rich’s barely conscious body behind the bar she managing to drag him to. While all the shooting scared her half to death, the shots were all in concentrated bursts. The hit men knew exactly who their individual targets were before one shot ever rang off. These guys were real professional. The only wild shots were from the few of Gus’s guys who managed to get anything off at all.

The only person who wasn’t shot at all was Gus himself.

Mikey had his aunt and his cousin taken out of club before Mikey dealt with Gus. Of course he tried to talk his way out as well, but Mikey just casually shot him in both knees. As Gus went to the ground Mikey cooly walked over to him and asked if he had any last words. He had no intentions of hearing them he just wanted the man to die in a state of confusion as Gus struggled to find something to say while Mikey shot him point blank in the head.

After spotting the bag full of money and drugs Mikey remembered that Gus kept a safe in the back. Him and the crew split the everything while taking all the computer’s and hardrives too. Someone would know enough about banking to find access to the rest of Gus’s money he had stashed but for the time being his tangible wealth was being passed out amongst everybody involved with no concern of retaliation whatsoever.

When Rich woke up in the hospital he found a still visibly shaken up Shelly. She told him about everything that transpired and told him how sorry she was about what happened to Chilli. She confessed that she still had feelings for him, and if he ever wanted to try to make things work again she would be there for him, even if she could never pull the same kind emotion from him that Chilli did.

Rich didn’t take the loss of Chilli as hard as he thought he would. The hole thing was like a dream anyway. Shelly seemed a lot more his speed. After talking to his cousin and his aunt, and even his boys, and realizing that he now had more money than he ever thought he would give her another chance. Atleast now she knows his friends and family, and they actually had money to go places and do things. To his pleasant surprise he discovered that she was a lot more fun when going out than he noticed before.

Shelly also discovered she enjoyed Rich’s company as that traveled together and experienced much more than they ever did their first time together. Aunt tammy ended up with the lottery ticket. Even though she felt Mickey was always entitled to Ronnie’s share of the money, she didn’t want anything to do with any of Gus’s. But she was all about taking a winning lottery ticket and cashing it in. She used the money to fix up her old house and then sold it moving to an even bigger one out in the suburbs.

Shelly learned enough about being a land lord to inherit Jim Waters business. Jim kept horrible records, and it was fairly easy for Shelly to assume responsibility for just about all that was in his name, as he never really took any measures to protect his property, and hardly paid any insurance at all. That and due to some of the money Rich now had they were able to buy and run all his buildings and start a legit property management company of their own simply called R&S Properties. Rich’s willingness to learn and run a business with Shelly satisfied all her aspirations for him and the two really set out to move towards a constructive future together.

The Commission Mikey set up went smoother than anyone could predict. The crime rate in the entire city dropped significantly as the competition and rivalry between neighborhoods and crews was at an all-time low. It seemed as if everyone on the streets was happy, and almost no conflict whatsoever really took place unless it was met at by a board that Mikey often sat in on. He was offered to sit at the head, but he really didn’t want the burden that came along with it, and just continued his duty as a guy that everyone could come to in order to find a resolution to their problems.

The last Rich heard from Mikey for a while was that he was called somewhere out in the Midwest to help some crooked politician run his campaign for reelection after facing a damaging scandal. Apparently politics was also in his realm of expertise.


At the end of the following summer Rich’s Aunt Tammy decided to have a huge cookout at her new house for the first Sunday of football. Rich and Shelly were excited to go. Timmy was there as well as other guys from Rich’s old neighborhood. They all teased Rich about how they all never come around the way anymore. Claiming he forgot where he came from ever since he decided to become a business man.

While Rich did rent out the building he used to live in as well as others in the community, he himself had gotten a nice sky condo downtown overlooking the city with a spectacular view. Shelly had wanted to move in with him, but he was adamant that they have their own places and regardless how well things were going they would still need their own space from time to time. She obliged, there were no wedding bells anywhere in the near future, so she really didn’t have much claim to his personal space.

When Aunt Tammy cane in the house to grab more buns from the kitchen she saw Rich sitting I the dining room by himself. She walked over to him and saw him looking through his phone. She sat next to him and saw that he was looking at pictures of a model of some sort. Her and some of her friends were talking earlier that week about how men are always trying to holla at some chick online they’ll never meet in person and ignore someone just as pretty right in front of them. Now she liked Shelly, and knew shelly was pretty, but she had nothing on the girl Rich was looking at on her phone, but she felt like bothering anyway

“Hmmph, Come on now Rich, that girl Shelly look just as good if not better than any of them hefas in that phone. And even if you was to meet one of them they’d only want you for your money, and that girl out there been with you when you was broke as hell not even that damn long ago” Aunt Tammy chided him

Rich took a minute before responding “Yea but Aunt Tammy”

“Ain’t no Aunt Tammy” She interrupted “You a business man now, you got you some money, you got you a nice place, a nice car, nice clothes, all that, and a nice woman who helped you get that…don’t mess it all up chasing after some instragram ho Rich, You’re better than that” she continued to scold her nephew

“You don’t understand though” Rich tried again “You never saw her, but this the girl who started the whole thing, this the one who had the balls to stand up to that dude Gus and take him for his shit. She was that bold and coulda just left after all that, took all his money and left, she could still be alive today had she just dipped after robbing that man” Rich actually had tears in his eyes for the in some time. Throughtout all the drama, Rich never teared up once. But the guilt sarted to hit him, how everyone around him was now well off. More well off than they ever had been before. “That girl could have all this we got right now, maybe even more, but now she dead because of taking her chance to go, she decided to stay for me” He just looked at his aunt then back at the phone “A girl this pretty, she had it all, money looks, smarts, and she gave it all up cuz of a dude she knew for only 2 days” Rich sniffled, and tried to get himself together. He never really addressed his feelings towards Chilli before. He always knew he really liked the girl, and he even texted to her that he loved her. But it was this new guilt at all his success and happiness that threw him over.

 

[Duwop]

After the full puzzle came together, Rich realized that he was set regardless. Whether it was from Mikey’s beef with Gus, or his outstanding luck from the lottery ticket, Rich would have made out either way. Sure he was living in a bullshit apartment and had a bullshit job not even a year ago, but his fortune was headed towards an inevitable change. He woulda came out on top regardless.

But Chilli, Chilli’s fate ended up with her not eveer getting to that point all because she met Rich. Had she not met Rich that day, she could have robbed Gus and gotten outta town without ever having to choose between happily ever after and being killed in a hallway by his old landlord.

And even worse once she did meet him, all she had to do was leave without him ad she STILL could have gotten away without facing her demise in the way she did.

It was because she came back with him. Because she didn’t want to go without him. Because he was too stupid to give her a better plan, and she was too trusting in her feelings to devise from it that she was laying in the ground now.


The most beautiful woman Rich ever knew in his entire life, and she was destroyed because of him. Rich didn’t know how to process this as it began to all come on him at once. He suddenly felt as if he didn’t deserve any of his new found wealth and success. To him the price of stealing such a gem from the world didn’t make any of it worth it.

Aunt Tammy listened to Rich as poured his heart out, and when it seemed he was finished she got up and walked over to the entertainment stand in the living room and removed a photo album full of old pictures.

She told Rich to come into the living room with her as they began to go through some of the old photos. Most of the pictures were of a much younger Aunt Tammy as well as pictures of Rich’s own mother as well. Rich smiled looking at the pictures. His Aunt Tammy was still a very good looking woman to be in her mid 50’s, but these pictures were something else. Rich actually found himself laughing out loud at some of the photos.

“Dang Aunt Tammy, yall had it going on back then” Rich said laughing as he gave his aunt the compliment.

“Had?” She asked mockingly “ Honey I still got it going on, you know black don’t crack” She replied. Which was true. Aunt Tammy was still very active, and never put on much weight. She wasn’t very tall for a woman, but she couldn’t be considered short either. She was around 5’8” and her legs were still well as toned as a woman her age who walked and jogged often would have. She was of a deep caramel complexion much like Rich, and her hair while short still had color too it (Even if she wouldn’t admit she had that color rinsed in every few weeks).

“I’m showing you these pictures, honey, to prove a point to you” Aunt Tammy said to Rich as he flipped through the album

“Yea what point is that?” He asked as his interest peaked

“Me and your mama, back in our day boo, we had it going on. “ she boasted as Rich snickered in agreement

“Yea yall did have that”

“We also got a whole lot of attention from the fellas as well, I mean back in them days you know everybody thought they were a pimp or player. Guys would ride around in Cadillac’s, everybody wanting to show off their bankrolls and what not, It was crazy, I mean you wouldn’t believe some of the crazy stuff these guys used to come up and say to us! On a daily basis we couldn’t escape it!” she said as she slapped her own leg amused with the memory

“Baby and when we put it on to step out, Child, they would be knocking themselves over to try to get the chance to spit some game at me or your mama…and sometimes they said some things we wanted to hear, but more times than not, we sent them dudes packing, it was very rare we came across any guys that really had it together.”

“Yea I bet” Rich said as he was listening, sure that his Aunt was going somewhere with it all

“One time there was this one guy,his name was Dexter Jones” She smiled hard as the memory came to her and she grunted 3 deep hums while looking into her imagination “Dexter Jones, now that was a man, He wasn’t no player like the rest of them, he was a working man, worked construction, no wife, no kids, he just liked hanging out at the spots with his buddies on payday….Well one day in particular when me and your mama were at the bar Rico’s over on 25th, Dexter saw me.” She said looking at Rich directly in his eye “And when I tell you I felt the world leave from under my feet the second he started talking to me, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t flying”

Rich smiled back at his aunt as he was enjoying the story.

“ He was tall muscular, dark skinned full beard, deep waves, and a voice that vibrated to your soul when he spoke Baby, if that man had told me right then and there get your bags let’s go, I woulda left, If he told me don’t worry about my momma, my crazy ass brother Ronnie, my little sister Deena who jaw was dropped just as low as mines when he spoke to me I swear woulda went. But he didn’t want all that. Nope he just wanted to talk. He took it slow, a real gentleman. Everybody liked him. Shit even Mikey’s dad liked the guy. When Dexter got shot afew weeks later, Ronnie was highly pissed and got into a real big thing with the punks responsible. It was over something stupid too like a parking spot or something, such a waste of a beautiful man.” AuntTammy recalled as her eyes seemed to be far off into another place.

“ I said all that to say this” She regained herself, looking at Rich again, and even taking his hand this time “I know I was a looker back in my day, that girl you was running the streets with that day all that shit with Gus happen, she was damn sure a looker too, so I think I got a little insight onto what she was thinking that day. See when you’re a woman who hears the same old tired rap from guys every day, and damn near every man you meet is only thinking with his little head, it’s always a major thing when you finally meet a guy who actually takes your breath away.” Tammy said to Rich

“ It doesn’t happen often, but every once in a while a guy like that comes across and it don’t take much time at all to change everything you think is important in your life. And from what you’re telling me you were that Dexter Jones to that girl Chilli, and I know you think you might have destroyed her life but I can promise you that you did the exact opposite”

“How’s that?” Rich asked

“ Well you gotta understand that a girl like her who can make her own way was always on the run bcuz she wasn’t happy. She had no motivation to stay anywhere, no one to really talk to really relate to, so to her life was just about chasing the next adventure. Like you said if she never met you, she would have left town that same day. But when she left she was still going to be looking for happiness, looking for that thing to really make her want to stay somewhere. Now we don’t always think that thing is a man, bcuz so many of them are so wack,” She laughed, and Rich laughed with her

“But when you do meet a man like that who can rock your world, who can make you feel happy, who can make you not think of anything else, you kind of just lose it. When she met you, she found a reason to not run. Sure yall had some serious danger right around the corner, but she was no longer in a rush. She was willing to hang back for a while, take her time. She was probably happier with you in those 2 days than she was for a long time Rich. And a lot more happy than she would have been if she left without you. She would have left this city still looking for that thing she was chasing with her head in the clouds. But luckily for her she found it before she got away, and to her it was worth dying for”

Aunt Tammy stood up and left Rich in the room with the photos and his thoughts. He realized that he never thought about how Chilli would have been if she never met him. He knew how he was before he met her. And he was just going through life. Not really interested in one thing or another. And he thought who to say that’s exactly how she felt. Sure she had the means to travel, but Rich knew from experience, that a lot of times just seeing things and doing things don’t really mean much if you don’t have someone to share those things with.

As crazy as everything was that happened that Day, If Chilli hadn’t died it actually would have been all worth it. If Mikey had gotten to Jim Waters a few minutes sooner, or if Chilli had just left out when Rich left out, everything with her death could have been avoided, and they’d both probably be living happy ever after on a beach somewhere laughing about the whole ordeal.

Yes her dying was extremely unfortunate, but Rich was starting to see that the spark he got from meeting her never truly died out. He looked at life differently, and while he was sad he couldn’t share it with Chilli, he knew that he at the very least owed it to her to go out and live life to the fullest. They definitely would have made the most of the opportunity together with all the new found wealth. Why shouldn’t he do so even without her. The new outlook made Rich smile as he stood up and took a deep breath. He began walking back out into the yard to join everyone else who came out to the cookout with a new appreciation on his face for his surroundings. Shelly saw the smile on his face and sensed his upbeat attitude and asked him

“Boy what you looking so happy about?” she asked with one hand on her hip

Rich looked at her, kissed her on the cheek and responded “Nothing much, but I want to ask you something….how would you like to travel and really see the world?”

 

[Goldie]

Good shit, I'ma try to finish reading this by tomorrow.