Hell's Diva by Anna J. Read Free Book Online Page A

bathroom. “I gotta take a piss.”
    When Wise closed the bathroom door, Ruby whispered to Monique, “Mo, open the window right there.” Ruby pointed to the kitchen window.
    While Monique opened the window, Ruby dragged Darnell’s limp body to it. Monique looked at Ruby, confused.
    “What you doing, Ruby?” she whispered with confusion written over her face.
    “Grab his legs. I’m throwing him out of the window.”
    Monique shook her head while grabbing Darnell by his feet. Monique thought that Ruby was really insane. She’d be damned if she ever crossed her.
    Both women shoved Darnell’s body out of the window, letting it drop nine stories to his death. People sitting around and walking around the projects heard a loud thump, then turned to see Darnell’s body slam head first into the cement and watched his brain pop out of his head. Women screamed and guys around the projects gaped at seeing their boss, friend, and some enemies to Darnell, splattered on the concrete.
    When Wise came out of the bathroom, Ruby stood in front of the bathroom door as he came out. Ruby put her finger to her mouth, gesturing for Wise to say nothing. “We gotta get out of here,” she whispered.
    “Where’s Darnell?” Wise asked, trying to look around Ruby’s shoulder.
    “We threw him out of the window,” Ruby replied.
    “Y’all did what?” he yelled, pushing Ruby out of the way. “Y’all bitches is crazy! We were supposed to tie him up! Then when he woke up make him take us to his stash!” Wise said. Wise walked to the door, pissed that the plan had somehow changed. “I’m outta here! Y’all bitches is stupid!”
    Ruby and Monique followed him out the door. In the piss-smelling hallway you could hear Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh’s “The Show” blasting from someone’s apartment.
    Wise mumbled all the way to the elevator. He changed his mind, walking to the staircase with Ruby and Monique in tow. When they entered the graffiti-covered stairs, Monique and Ruby pulled out their silencer-equipped 9 mm, and as Wise descended, they both pumped bullets into his back and the back of his head.
    As his body rolled down the stairs, Ruby stood on top of him and emptied the clip in him. Ruby didn’t hear the footsteps coming up the stairs, and she couldn’t see behind the walled staircase.
    When Mecca came around the landing, she almost stepped on Wise’s body. Mecca jumped back in shock, and then looked up at Ruby and Monique, both with guns in their hands.
    “Mecca, where are you coming from?” Ruby whispered.
    Mecca looked at Wise, then back at Ruby, barely able to speak. “The…the elevator is broke.”
     
    “You didn’t see where that life was headed then Mecca?” Lou stared at Mecca, shrugging his shoulders with his hands up.
    “That had nothing to do with me.” Mecca snorted.
    “I didn’t say it did, but you saw the evil that’s attributed to the lifestyle. After that, why didn’t you see it wasn’t worth it?”
    “What other choices did I have? My aunt was everything to me. She was what I wanted to be. It was all I knew!” Mecca cried.
    “I doubt that, Mecca. There were people in your life who didn’t live like that. There were people who wanted better for you. You turned your back on those people,” Lou said.
    “Who? What people? I don’t remember anybody trying to change me. Most people I knew either was in the game and the ones that weren’t had they hands out for money for things they didn’t have,” Mecca countered.
    Lou shook his head. “That’s why I’m here. You have a bad memory, Mecca. So I’ll remind you.”

Chapter Seven
    Many waters cannot quench love; neither can the floods drown it.
    Songs of Solomon 8:7
    By the time 1990 came around, Mecca and Dawn were knee-deep in the drug game. They gave Ruby’s workers the packages of crack and collected the money. Dawn managed the spots in Coney Island while Mecca managed the spots in Brownsville.
    Ruby had spots in each project in