Free Retribution by Cairo Page B

No, that shit wasn’t coincidence. And it wasn’t a damn miracle. That shit was planned. The nigga was toying with me. It had to be Jasper behind it. After everything that has happened, I can’t put it past him. I slept on that nigga once, but not again.
    And, now …I got his ass sleeping on me .

Eleven
    Karma is that cold bitch that’ll make sure a dirty nigga gets what he gets…
    â€œH ey, Pasha,” Lamar says, knocking on the door to my office as he pops his head in. I take in his six-foot-four frame, his smooth dark-chocolate skin tone, broad nose, and thick lips. His dreads are pulled back with a leather band, the tips dyed blond. He’s definitely eye candy for the women who come into the salon. “Do you still want me to hang around until you’re finished up?” He steps back to let Mona by. She’s fifteen minutes late.
    â€œHey, girl,” she says, taking a seat on the leather sofa. She sits back, crossing her legs. She looks stressed out. Her eyes are red and puffy as if she’s been crying. Something is clearly weighing heavy on her mind.
    â€œHey, you,” I say, glancing at her, then back at Lamar. “Yes, please, if you don’t mind. I’ll have a little something extra for you when I’m done.”
    He smiles. “I got you.”
    I smile back, wait for him to shut the door, then get up and walk over to where Mona is sitting and sit beside her. “Girl, what is going on? You’ve had me on pins and needles ever since you called me Saturday.”
    I give her a hug.
    She immediately bursts into tears. “Pasha, JT’s dead! And I helped get him killed!”
    My eyes pop open in shock. “Whaaaat? Girl, what do you mean ‘JT’s dead ’ and you helped get him killed?” Ohmygod, so that’s why Jasper’s running around acting all nutty. But he didn’t say anything about JT being dead. Only missing. Wait. Maybe he doesn’t know. “Was it some kind of set-up or something?”
    She shakes her head, clutching her chest, crying. It takes her almost five minutes to pull herself together before she’s finally able to speak. “No. It wasn’t a set-up. I mean it was sort of. But not like a robbery kind of set-up, or anything crazy like that.” More tears start rolling down her face. “But I got him killed, Pasha. I got my cousin killed.” She covers her face in her hands, sobbing.
    â€œMona, what the hell is going on? You need to pull yourself together and tell me what the hell you’re talking about.”
    She looks over at me, swiping tears from her face. “Pasha, you have to swear to me you won’t repeat this shit to anyone..” I stare at her. There’s a glint of desperation in her tone, and in the way she’s looking at me.
    â€œYou have my word. Now, please, tell me what the heck you’re talking about.”
    â€œIt…” She shakes her head, wiping more tears as they fall from her eyes. “It wasn’t supposed to go down like this.”
    â€œLike what, Mona? What wasn’t supposed to go down?”
    Her hunched shoulders shake. I get up and grab the box of tissues from off my desk, then walk back over and hand them to her. She takes a few, then starts blowing her nose. She takes a few more, wiping her face. I wait for her to finish. She shakes her head, shutting her eyes tight. I sit back down beside her. And wait for her to start talking.
    She takes a deep breath. Grabs more tissues and blows her nose again. “Okay. A few months back I ran into Cassandra at the Prudential Center after the Trey Songz concert and she gave me her number and told me she had something to talk to me about. Now, you know she and I have never been cool like that, but she said it was important. And that what she had to say I needed to keep it under wraps.”
    â€œOkay. And?”
    â€œWhen I finally decided to call her, she wanted to