Array Ashley - Tale of the Murda Mamas

Anisa was livid, and before I could respond, Murder entered the condo.

“Where you been?” Anisa asked him. She got straight to the point, and from the look on Murder’s face, I could tell she had caught him off guard.

“Fuck you mean, where I been?” he shot back. “You know what’s up.”

“Yeah, I do know what’s up, and how you been acting lately ain’t it. I went into your safe today, and guess what I found?” she asked. Anisa was on a roll because she didn’t even give him a chance to answer. Her hands were on her hip and her neck was rolling while her mouth spouted words out like they were on fire. “Nothing, that’s what I found. It was empty. Are you fucking with another bitch?”

“Anisa, you’re wildin', ma. I don’t got time for this shit,” he dismissed casually. “I’ve got business I need to finish taking care of tonight.”

“You always got business lately! You never used to hit the streets like this before, and when you were out, the safe was full, not empty! So, you cashing out the next chick now?” she asked.

I could see Murder getting upset, but he was trying to keep his composure. But like every woman does so well, Anisa knew how to push her man’s buttons. “Look. I’m not fucking with another bitch, and you know better than to question how I move. I tried to wife you, Anisa. You said you didn’t want that. You didn’t want to take the risk, talking all that shit about me not being dependable and about you needing a nigga to change before you could commit. Now you in here making a scene in front of lil’ mama? What you want me to tell you, Anisa? You know how I get down. Ain’t shit changed. It’s never been about another bitch. It’s about business!” Murder reached into the duffel bag he was carrying and pulled out a thick wad of rubber banded money. “And since it’s all about the money, here!” He tossed that shit in Anisa’s face, then looked at her in disgust before walking out the door. “I’m out!” The door hit the hinges so hard that it shook the walls.

Anisa threw her hands in the air and screamed in frustration. “Fuck that! I know his ass is up to something!” She grabbed her keys off of the table and looked at me. “Put on your shoes and ride with me for a minute.”

“What? Anisa, I’m not even dressed! Where are we going?” I asked, astonished at how far she was taking this.

“We’re about to follow his ass,” she declared.

I wanted to tell her no, because I knew that Murder was faithful to Anisa. He was never home because of me, but of course I couldn’t tell her that. Anisa was tripping over money, making herself look like a real gold digger, and that wasn’t even her personality. Murder always took care of home. Whatever reason he had for clearing the safe, I knew it was a good one.

“Come on, Miamor!”

I slipped a hoody on over my camisole and slipped into some skinny jeans. I stepped into my flip flops and was out the door. I had never seen my sister and Murder even disagree, so this full-fledged argument was so out of character for them both. I felt like I was the cause of it. Everything was fine before I made the stupid mistake of kissing Murder.

We slid into Anisa’s Chrysler, and just as Murder pulled out of the parking lot, we tailed him, making sure we stayed at least a half block behind him at all times.

“Anisa, are you sure you want to do this?” I asked when I noticed us getting onto the bridge headed out of New York and into Jersey. The look she shot me told me to shut the fuck up and ride, so that’s what I did, even though in my gut I knew that something about the entire situation did not feel right.

“You don’t know Murder like you think you do, Miamor,” Anisa said. “The nigga ain’t the saint that he be trying to make himself out to be. You wanna know why you can’t answer the phone in the house? The type of business he’s into? The nigga is grimy, Miamor.”

“He’s a hustler, Anisa. He’s never done you dirty. How can you say that?” I asked.

“Baby sister, open your eyes. He ain’t a hustler. He’s the one the hustlers call when they got a problem or when they need to make a problem disappear. He’s a killer, Miamor. He would murk yo ass if the money was good. Why the fuck you think his name is Murder?” Anisa stated harshly as she floored the gas pedal, trying to keep up with Murder.

A killer? I thought incredulously. I’m around him all the time. How could I have not known? Why didn’t he just tell me? I’m a big girl. I could’ve handled it.

I was lost in my thoughts and couldn’t picture the attentive man I had come to know killing anybody, but then the look of rage that I had witnessed in his eyes the night of my party flashed through my mind. “I will murder a nigga over you!” he had said. I could hear his words as if he was in my ear whispering them at that very moment. Syllable by syllable, the phrase replayed in my mind. At the time I thought he was being overprotective, but now I knew that he had meant every word he had spoken. It was something flattering about the fact that he would take a risk like that over me. Instead of feeling fear, I smiled, but quickly wiped it off my face so Anisa wouldn’t take notice.

I felt the car jerk as she hit her breaks suddenly, and cut off her headlights. “There that nigga go right there. What the fuck is he doing way out here? He gone make me beat a bitch ass!” Anisa threatened. She was so blind with rage that she was not making sense.

As I looked around, I frowned. We were pulling onto a dead end street. There was nothing around us but old, abandoned buildings. “Anisa, I think you’re taking this too far,” I finally spoke up.

“I’m not trying to hear all that. All I know is if he’s meeting a bitch here, I’m gon’ fuck some shit up,” she said.

I sighed and noticed lights approaching from behind

“Get down. Here comes somebody,” she said.

We inched down in our seats until the car had passed us, and noticed that it was stopping directly next to Murder’s vehicle. The brake lights came on, and somebody stepped out of the car. It was hard to see because all of the street lights were busted out in this part of town.

“I can’t see shit,” Anisa whispered. “Can you see who just got out of the car?”

“I can only see Murder,” I replied.

“Fuck this!” Anisa said. She got out of the car and shouted, “Murder, what the fuck is going on?”

“Nigga, you trying to set me up?” I heard a man’s voice yell out angrily.

I scrambled to turn on the headlights because I still couldn’t see what was going on. Finally, I turned the lights on, illuminating the dead end.

Murder reached for his pistol, but before he could pull it from his waistline, the guy Murder had been meeting withdrew first, pointing a chrome.45 in Murder’s face.

“No!” I heard Anisa scream as she ran toward the scene.

“Anisa!” I yelled after her as I got out of the car.

Murder rushed the dude who had to be twice his size, and his sneak attack caused the guy’s gun to slide across the concrete.

“Murder!” Anisa cried out as she watched the two men tussle on the ground

Murder finally pulled his gun, but the dude wasn’t giving up easily. He grabbed Murder’s wrists and used his weight to his advantage as they struggled for power, both knowing that whoever ended up with the steel in their hands at the end was the only one leaving the scene alive.

Anisa ran straight into the confrontation, grabbing the guy by the shirt. He flung her to the ground and muscled the gun away from Murder.

I ran as fast as I could toward them. My flip flops came off halfway there and the gravel dug into the bottom of my feet as I sprinted toward my sister. He had the gun pointed their way, but never saw me coming. I picked up a brick and smashed it against the side of his face with all my might. It was like an ant going against a giant, because although it dazed him, it didn’t stop him from firing the gun. He slapped the shit out of me, sending me flying to the ground. I landed on my stomach, something hard digging into my side as I heard the gun shots ring out.