The Prada Plan 2. Ashley Antoinette

your gun down. Khi has been here all night, baby. Ever since we left your spot after dinner. We’ve all been right here,” Chase reasoned. “This ain’t on him.”

      Indie knew that Chase’s word was bond, and if Chase was willing to vouch for Khi-P, then Indie was indeed out of pocket. He withdrew his weapon and balled his fists as he paced back and forth. The stress and heart-ache was written all over his face, and everyone stared at him sympathetically as they silently searched for the right words to speak.

      “I’m sorry, fam. I’m going crazy right now. They got my baby girl,” Indie stated sincerely.

      Mekhi’s disgruntled disposition lightened when he understood the seriousness of the situation. Any other nigga who came at him would have encountered problems, but he knew when to stand down. He had to remind himself that they were shooters for the same squad just to get himself to calm down. The tension level was on high as they all observed Indie cautiously, but remained silent.

      Khi-P held out his hand and the men embraced as Indie gained his composure.

      “How is YaYa?” Trina asked, finally speaking up to break up the apprehension that had clouded the room.

      “She’s out of her mind,” Indie stated. “I need y’all over there with her right now. Make sure she’s okay and keep her calm for me until I make it home.” Indie went into his pocket to retrieve a stack of money, and he peeled off a few stacks to hand to each girl.

      “Don’t insult us. We’re family. We got you. We’ll make sure YaYa is okay,” Trina replied. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek before she and the girls exited.

      When the three men were alone, Indie turned toward Chase and Khi-P.

      “We ain’t got no beef like that out here. It’s all love in Houston ’cause we letting everybody eat. The only mu’fuckas I can think who even got the balls to pull some shit like this are those Tallahassee boys,” Chase stated seriously.

      Indie immediately regretted sweeping them under the rug. He had not viewed them as a serious threat, but obviously they weren’t playing games.

      “Then those are the niggas I need to see. Put your ears to the street to see who’s talking. It’s time to start lacing pockets. I need to speak to any and everybody who can give me any information,” Indie replied.

      Leah’s stomach twisted in excruciating pain as she drove away from her homemade cemetery. Her hands shook uncontrollably and her bloody fingertips gripped the steering wheel in desperation as she thought about what she had just done. She couldn’t stop the devious smile that crept across her face. She didn’t want to be so cold, but she was too good at it. Ruining the lives of other people was like a narcotic for her. She was addicted to misery and chaos. An evil dwelled inside of her that she could not control. Every time she tried to lock it up, it only grew stronger.

      As a little girl, the good parts in her outweighed the bad, but with every new sin that she committed, her soul rotted more and more. She no longer remembered what it was like to be a moral person, and after the heinous acts she had committed, it was way too late to turn back. Her blood-soaked car seat was a clear indication that she needed medical attention. She was bleeding from her womb and infection was an imminent threat, but she blocked the pain out as she pushed forward, determined, crazed over revenge.

      The crying…the wailing…the screams of her dead baby tormented her, causing tears to flow from her disengaged eyes. It was as if the baby’s spirit was haunting her, providing a deafening soundtrack as she sped through the country roads. Her conscience was begging her to stop the madness, but she couldn’t. Leah was too far gone and hell bent on settling the score. She could not stop herself if she wanted to.

      Waaa!

      Waaa!

      She turned up the radio to drown out the sounds, but they only grew louder. There was no erasing the bricks of burden that weighed heavily on her shoulders. She was haunted, and the shrill screams in her head were a constant reminder of the monster she had become. Her hands shook violently against the steering wheel as tears wrecked her. The thought of the things that had brought her to this point were sickening.

      Mediocrity and rejection had plagued her since childhood. The people that she put her trust in were always the same ones who let her down. She had never been enough; she was always second choice. Her cold heart was no fault of her own.

      People bring pain on themselves. YaYa made me do this to her. She made me the way that I am. Fuck her, Leah thought. The events she had set in motion were about to ruin Disaya, and she felt no inkling of remorse. YaYa had made her hurt in more than one way. Leah was intent on showing Ms. Morgan that karma was real.

      As Leah drove, flashes of her past plagued her, and she was taken back to the place where her lunacy began…

      Chapter Two

      “Oww,” Leah complained, cringing in pain as the sharp bristles of the hairbrush pressed against her tender scalp. “Mommy, that hurts.”

      “Girl, hush. I told you today is a big day. We’re going back to New York City. That’s where Mommy’s from. That’s where your daddy lives,” Natalie stated. Seven-year-old Leah could see the stars in her mother’s eyes, and an infectious smile spread across her young face.

      Natalie had regaled Leah many times before with stories of her father and the magnificence that life with him in NYC had to offer. She had waited for this day to come, and finally her mother was taking her to meet him. Dressed in her best Sunday dress, Leah couldn’t stop her eager heart from racing. Usually, she would complain about the itchy stockings and extremely tight hair bows, but she wanted to look her best. From the very first day Leah was born, she had been groomed for this reunion.

      “You have to be perfect, Leah. Everything has to be perfect. Your father only loves the pretty girls,” Natalie would say. “We can’t go back for him until you are flawless. Everything about you has to be just right, so that he will fall in love with you as soon as he sets his sights on you.” Her mother had drilled the ideal of becoming the perfect daughter into her for so long that Leah rarely made a mistake. From her appearance to her grades to her speech, she did everything without error.

      Despite her youthful innocence, Leah was well aware of what her life was missing. Every little girl in Durham, North Carolina had a daddy to call her own. Sadness filled her when she saw fathers with their daughters on the playground. Envy ate away at her when she saw her classmates get dropped off at school by the big men who loved them so much. She yearned for the missing piece in her life. She wanted a father to take her fears away and make her the center of his world. She dreamed of meeting her daddy every night, and now her mother was finally granting all of her wishes.

      “What is he like?” Leah asked excitedly as she turned to face her mother, only to receive a hard pop to the top of the head with the wooden hairbrush.

      “Quit asking so many questions, Leah, and be still. I’ve told you about your daddy a million times. Turn around so I can finish. I don’t have all day to get you dressed. Mama got to look good for Daddy too,” Natalie stated with seduction in her tone. It had been eight long years since she had seen Leah’s father, and the thought of him still caused her southern lips to cream in anticipation.

      Messing around with a taken man, she had known that she was simply a little girl playing adult games. At seventeen, her heart had been stolen by someone she could never truly have, but he made her feel so good that she didn’t care that she would never come first. When Natalie popped up pregnant, she thought that a baby would be the answer to all of her prayers, but when she was dropped off at the abortion clinic instead of accepted with loving arms, she decided to flee. Moving down South was the only way for her to have her baby in secrecy, but as she looked at Leah, she knew that it was time for the dark truth to come to light.

      I’m not the same little girl who ran away all those years ago. I’m going back to get my man and embrace the life that I was supposed to lead. I’m supposed to be his number one…his only. I have his baby. He can’t turn me