Array Ashley - Murderville

Liberty was so afraid that she thought she would pee her pants. Being caught was not an option. The penalty would be too great if Samad knew of her insubordination.

“Relax,” A’shai said, sensing her apprehension.

A’shai gripped her knee and leaned in to kiss her cheek but was interrupted by the barrage of bullets that rained down on his car.

“Shai!” Liberty screamed as she covered her ears.

“Get down!” he shouted as he pushed her to the floor of the vehicle and grabbed one of the assault rifles. The windows in the limo shattered as Samad’s goons drove beside them, firing relentlessly. A’shai came up blazing as he pulled the trigger of his AK. “Drive this mu’fucka! Go!” he shouted in the midst of the all out gun battle. A’shai noticed that the car was zig zagging back and forth, making it hard for him to let off a clean shot and when he glanced at the driver he discovered why. His head was blown half way off and the car was going at full speed with no one to control it. “Hold on!” he said as he crouched over Liberty and waited for the impact as the car rammed through the showcase of a store front. Customers screamed and ran in every direction as A’shai and Liberty gathered their bearings. Slightly dazed by the impact the couple sat up as A’shai peered out of the back of the car. The goons were pulling to a stop in front of the store. “Let’s go!” A’shai said as he pulled Liberty from the car. He handed her the.9mm in his waistline and they made a run for the back door figuring if they got lost in the frenzy it was hard for them to be spotted. A’shai knew that one of Samad’s men would be waiting for them at the back exit so he came out shooting first. He had no time for questions and when he hit one of the goons dead in the forehead he felt no remorse. They ran back out to the busy city street and luck was on their side as A’shai raised his hand and stopped a cab.

Scratches covered them from the impact of the crash and A’shai could see the cabbie peering at them suspiciously. “There’s a big tip in it for you if you mind your business, fam,” A’shai stated. He looked out of the back window making sure that no one was following them before turning to check on Liberty. “You okay?” he asked.

She nodded her head as her shaky hand gripped A’shai’s gun. “Let me see that, ma,” he stated as he gently eased it out of her fingertips.

A’shai gave the cab driver directions to the private airstrip and when they saw the plane, both of them let out a sigh of relief. They were home free and once they were back in the city of Detroit, Liberty would be safe behind the protection of Baron’s organization.

A’shai held Liberty’s hand as they ran up the stairs of the jet. He went to greet his pilots and stopped when he saw the two white men slumped over the control panel with two bullet holes in the backs of their heads.

“Oh GOD, Shai…” she gasped as she covered her mouth. “He’s going to kill me. I shouldn’t have left!” She was beginning to panic, and A’shai grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

“I’m going to get you out of here. Trust me, ma!” he stated aggressively, adrenaline pumping through his body.

She nodded her head and he disembarked the jet with her right behind him. When they got to the bottom of the steps they saw Samad’s Audi A8 pull up. Liberty froze like a deer in headlights as time-for her-stood still. A’shai pointed his gun at the car as Samad emerged from the vehicle.

“A’shai, my good friend. It seems we have the same tastes in women,” he commented as he got out and lit a cigar.

A’shai wasn’t looking for conversation. He was fully prepared to go out blazing on Liberty’s behalf and as he gave Samad the screw face he pointed his gun unwaveringly. A’shai didn’t hesitate. He fired, spraying bullets everywhere and killing the bodyguards that had stepped out of the car with Samad. What Samad didn’t know was that A’shai had a marksman’s aim and was a killer at heart. Samad reached for his waistline, but A’shai fired a shot so close to his head that it halted Samad instantly.

Samad’s hands shot into the air. “Calm down, A’shai. This… we can work this out.”

“Put your keys on the ground,” A’shai stated.

Samad did as he was told and then said, “You are going to ruin your father over one bitch?” he asked.

“Get on the ground,” A’shai said.

Samad smirked and then put both knees in the dirt. “It doesn’t matter where you take her. I’m going to find her… I’m going to find you both and when I do, you’ll wish that you never saw her pretty face,” Samad threatened. As A’shai walked up on Samad he wanted to put a bullet through his brain, but he thought of the backlash that he would get from Baron.

“You’re going to die for some pussy, A’shai,” Samad stated.

A’shai hit him forcefully with the gun, knocking him out cold and then grabbed the keys to the Audi. He opened the door for Liberty and instructed her to buckle up, then ran to his side of the car and drove away, leaving one of the West Coast’s biggest drug bosses bleeding in the dirt.

A’shai and Liberty drove to the nearest bus station and caught a long ride back to Detroit. As the bus pulled away from the station Liberty began to bawl silently, putting her face in her hands to muffle her cries. A’shai reached over and wiped away her tears as he leaned into her ear.

“I love you, Liberty. Nobody is ever going to harm you again. I promise you on my life. I will die before that happens,” A’shai stated.

“What did you do?!” Baron barked as he stood before A’shai. He had never raised his voice at his son before, and Willow looked on in shock but didn’t interrupt. “Do you know what this has done? What you have done? All over a girl.”

“She’s not just some girl,” A’shai responded calmly as he stood before his father.

“Do you know the danger you have put yourself in? She has to go back! You will not be affiliated with her,” Baron demanded. He was so furious with A’shai that he couldn’t control the tone of his voice. This was by far the stupidest thing that A’shai had ever done.

Willow tried to peer out of the windows of her home to view the young girl that had made her son act so uncharacteristically. She couldn’t make out the figure in A’shai’s car. It was too dark outside, and the night time concealed her identity.

“She cannot stay here!” Baron hollered. “You went into that man’s home, murdered his workers, stole his woman! Did you not expect him to retaliate?! This is interfering with business, A’shai. She goes back.”

“She’s not going back,” A’shai said maintaining his position. “I thought you would help her the way you helped me.”

“No, you didn’t think at all! I will not go to war over a whore,” Baron charged. “She is not welcome here.”

“Then I guess neither am I,” A’shai stated. “She’s not going back to him. She’s with me now.” His arrogance enraged Baron, and as A’shai walked away Willow tried to intervene.

“Baby, think about what you’re doing,” she reasoned.

A’shai stopped and kissed his mother on the cheek. “I have thought about it, ma. She was all I thought of since the day you brought me here. I love you,” he said.

His statement floored Willow and revealed the depth of his attachment to Liberty.

A’shai turned his back on his mother and walked out as Willow called after him.

“Let him go!” Baron bellowed. “But if you walk out of those doors with that girl… you’re cut off! You hear me, Shai?! He’s the connect and your actions were disrespectful! He could have killed you!”

A’shai turned and rubbed the scar on the side of his face. “He should have… because now I’m gonna murk him.”