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Malek stood to his feet and walked out of the room. Before he stepped out of view, he said, “If Fredro becomes a problem, then he can get it too.”
    â€œHold up now, youngblood. I hear you, and I’m trying to save Halleigh too, but this is a suicide mission. Our two guns can’t go up against Fredro. Just think about it.”
    Malek nodded his head, let out a sigh, and then whispered, “You’re right, but I’ve got to figure out what to do before it’s too late.”
    Scratch just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders as he sat down to think. He didn’t have a clue either, and although just a minute ago he was pumped up, he felt in his bones that this thing wasn’t going to end well.
    He walked over to the mirror and straightened out his crumpled clothes, popping his collar. He looked at the bruises and bloody lip that Mitch’s goons had caused him and said, “That young boy Mitch got a thing or two coming, if he thinks he can fuck with good ol’ Scratch and get away with it.” Scratch turned from side to side, examining his profile. “We’re going to get you back, Hal.”
    When Malek returned to the room, Scratch turned to him and said, “First thing we need to do is count up this money and see how much more we need to come up with.”
    That thought hadn’t even crossed Malek’s mind. He and Scratch began to count out the money from the two bank robberies combined.
    â€œThis is only fifty-two thousand, and we done hit two banks,” Malek barked. “How do this nigga expect me to come up with five hundred thousand in three days? That shit is impossible, and he knows it.” Malek noticed his hands shaking. He picked up a stack of money and threw it back down on the table.
    He didn’t want to think about what Mitch would do to Halleigh if he didn’t come through with the ransom. Mitch had never had anything against Halleigh, as far as Malek could tell, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do something bad to her to get back at him. After all, Malek had made Mitch look like a bitch-ass nigga in front of Keesha, so it really didn’t surprise him that Mitch would want to make him look the same in front of Halleigh. Perhaps that’s all he wants to do is to make me look bad in front of Halleigh . It was possible that Mitch never had any intention of hurting Halleigh at all. Maybe all he wanted was to just strip Malek down to nothing by getting him for all of his money.
    Mitch probably thought that Malek was sitting on major dough, but the reality was, he was dead broke. Malek’s stupidity and naiveté had gotten him swindled and left his pockets on E . He was back where he had begun—at the bottom—but the only difference was, he didn’t have Jamaica Joe to lean on. Now his right hand was an ex-junkie, a far cry from the powerful reach of Joe.
    Malek was grateful for Scratch rolling with him. Besides, he couldn’t be choosy. Not a lot of people would rock with him right now, so he had to be grateful for Scratch’s loyalty. He didn’t know why Scratch was so loyal to Halleigh, but he appreciated it and began to respect Scratch and Halleigh’s friendship.
    Malek looked over at Scratch, who now appeared to have a worried look in his eyes. Malek could sense his pain.
    Scratch looked up when he felt Malek looking at him. “This some bullshit, youngblood. We gotta get Li’l Rina back. This shit ain’t fo’ her, man. It ain’t for her. She don’t deserve any mess like this. The game done gone stone crazy. All you young ones don’t know a thing about it. Women and children used to be off limits. Now you dummies are snatching ’em off the street as if they are the ones responsible for the chaos.” Scratch shook his head and ran his fingers through his matted ’fro. He then sat back and began to think of all the avenues of getting money. “This