Lyfe Changing: Beyond Wounded Volume 1

By D.T. Williams

Derrick Lyfe is a well-known criminal throughout the streets of New York. Since his teen years he has made a career of robbing and hustling any and every drug dealer he and his friends came across. After taking on a high ranking chief of the drug world named Julio, he soon finds himself in accident that turns his life upside down.

Destiny is a former lawyer now art gallery owner. After sneaking away for the weekend she comes across a wounded and battered Derrick. Her first instinct of course is to help him but she didn’t plan on developing feelings for him as well. Through the course of their time together these two grow a strong connection due to both of them surviving a very fatal situation. All though they appear to be very opposite they both cannot deny the attraction they feel for one another.

• Language: English
• Publisher: D.T. Williams
• Release date: Jul 23, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310595882

D.T. Williams

My name is D. T. Williams. I was raised in Lake City, Florida where I have lived all of my life and now I reside in Orlando. I took a strong liking to books at a very young age and have maintained that same passion as an adult. I have always indulged myself in reading many books from different authors some of which inspired me to create my own work. Writing for me came a little later in my years; it first started out with poems, short stories until I finally created my first novel. I have now been inspired to showcase my talent to the world in hopes to entertain and inspire others. Now that I am pursing further education I choose to continue to grow in the knowledge of reading and writing. I hope you all will join me on this journey in helping me achieve success through my work

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Lyfe Changing

By D. T. Williams

Published by D. T. Williams @

Copyright 2015 D. T. Williams

Prologue

Derrick

My Rolex kept ticking as I waited for my target to arrive outside the apartment buildings on Green Point Avenue. Puffing on a black and mild, I sat comfortably in my seat, letting the light smoke fill the air as it escaped my lips. The night was dark and cold leaving the streets abandoned in these late hours, but unlike most people, I didn’t mind roaming the streets at night. I considered the pitch-black darkness to be a friend of mine. Still, in wait, I leaned back against the headrest of my Nissan, sighing in frustration. I wish this muthafucka would hurry up. It was a quarter to twelve, and I wanted to make it to Club Nitro to chill with my boys, De and Ray. We needed to discuss our next business venture, but this fool’s late arrival was causing a delay in my plans.

Glancing in my rearview, I noticed a couple of passersby struggling to get off the streets and into their homes quickly, knowing better than to be out at this hour. Good, I chuckled to myself. The fewer witnesses I have to deal with, the better. Shit had been known to get messy from time to time on late-night assignments and the last thing I needed was an unintentional dummy to get caught in the crosshairs of my mission. Speaking of dummies, here comes my target now. Oliver Omaya pulled up in front of his apartment building a little later than usual, hence my frustration, but I knew it was a matter of time before he finally appeared. Known as Double O throughout the five boroughs, he was a popular drug dealer who was good at promoting himself around the club scenes but his products were garbage. They were nothing more than party pills and generic weed for college kids to get high off of, nothing of real substance.

However, the shit was selling quite nicely among the community making Double O’s pockets fatter than a sumo wrestler. He may have been a joke of a drug dealer, in my eyes, but even I couldn’t deny he was making a good chunk of change. Enough to where I didn’t mind adding his numerous dollars to my bank account. After watching and studying his movements around town for a while, it was easy for me to catch him alone.

On the nights he wasn’t heading out to the docks to meet up with connects for another drug shipment, he was fucking around with some birds in the Bronx trying to get some ass from any simple broad in need of a few dollars. Good thing he was flying solo tonight. I was already on the edge and it would have been a crying shame for a defenseless female to get caught up in some of the dangerous shit that was about to go down right now. Inhaling sharply, I watched Double O step out of his shiny red sports car and head to the back of his trunk. His coal-dark skin contrasted with the white Armani suit he was wearing. That was another thing about this clown I didn’t like. He felt the need to flash his wealth around making it known throughout the world that he had money…once again, this fool was an easy target.

Slowly exiting my Nissan while he unloaded some drug and money bags from his trunk, a wicked grin spread across my face as I came closer to him. Taking in his stature, Double O was not a real threat body wise. He was tall and very skinny, clearly nothing to be worried about. Even so, after so many years in this game, I knew better than to underestimate my opponent. I snuck up behind him slowly, careful not to tip him off with the sound of my footsteps. Nonchalantly, he ducked down and reached for another black bag not even noticing my looming presence until…

WHACK!

Double O thudded onto the ground as the butt of my gun ran across the back of his head. What the fuck? he yelped loudly but grew silent as his eyes made contact with mine letting the increasing fear and panic show on his face. Who the fuck are you? Seeing the .22 caliber in my hand, Double O tried to scoot back from me as best he could but that was pointless.

I had him cornered like a marked rabbit and I was ready to go in for the kill. Look at his bitch ass. Does he really think he can get away from me? Realizing it was futile to escape my grasp, Double decided to take the good ole begging approach to save his life and his coins.

Look, bruh, it’s all good. I got a few stacks right in the trunk. It’s a lot of money, man, just take ‘em. As he tried to bargain with me over his life, I noticed his little punk ass reaching behind him for the pistol that I knew he carried from time to time.

Before he even touched the damn thing, I gripped up on my gun and repeatedly hammered his head against the ground. Double O howled in pain as the butt of my gun continually came down on his skull, making it bounce against the hard pavement like a basketball. Blood had permanently damaged that white Armani suit of his as he laid against the ground damn near to the grave. Feeling my hand grow weary, I leaned back up, examining the bloody mess I had caused.

Shifting his dead weight with the tip of my shoe I could easily tell Double O was out cold and not getting up anytime soon. Nighty-night. Moving slowly, I took a minute to get my breathing under control, giving the adrenaline that had surged through me time enough to subside. I always seemed to get a thrill when planning an attack on one of my many sitting ducks, especially when they least expected it. Call me a crazy, but the intensity that came over me while mauling these dumb deer was just as satisfying and pleasurable as fucking…well almost. One by one, I loaded all the black bags into my Nissan and left Double O’s sorry ass on the pavement as I made off with the loot.

Damn, boy, you put in work. I laughed, commending myself while looking into the backseat. Reaching back into one of the bags, I ran my finger across the green paper bound together by rubber bands and smiled. Yeah! That's just what I like. After my short celebration, I got onto the main road and switched into the fast lane, speeding ahead past other slow ass cars, and feeling high off life. A successful score like that always put me in a good ass mood and I knew exactly how I wanted to celebrate tonight. Taking off unto an exit, I drove off unto a nearby field easily locating the abandoned warehouse that I always used as I pulled up into the grassy area. Laying eyes on my custom Lamborghini that I kept hidden on the far right, I smiled brightly, seeing that my little angel was still perfectly intact. Hey, baby. You must have missed me, huh?

I was thankful that nobody ever came to these warehouses anymore since the nearby factory that used to own them shut down, leaving them wide open to be taken advantage of. This place made it perfectly easy to handle my business, stash my equipment, and exchange my cars that I loved so much. I wouldn’t be able to handle it if someone jacked my Lambo that I hid out here. A brutha would have been damn near suicidal. Making my way out of the Nissan, I removed the blood-stained gloves from my hands before tossing them in a nearby waste bag. Before finally heading out, I unloaded all the bags from the back of the Nissan into the Lambo and cranked up. Alright now. Let’s roll out. Strapping myself into the driver’s seat, the sounds of Tupac filled my ears as I blasted my speakers out of the warehouse and back onto the main road.

I bobbed my head to Ambitionz Az a Ridah while speeding down the highway back to my place. I needed to get cleaned up first before rolling out to Club Nitro. Although I was going there mainly for business purposes, I was not ignorant to the fact that a lot of fine ass women were known to be there and they were not about to catch me looking like a scrub. Shit, judging by the natural high I am on right now, I may have to break ‘em off a little something.

Chapter One

Taking Care of Business

Derrick

After rushing home and getting a much-needed shower and shave, I headed out to meet the boys for a late-night conference. Suited up in a dark burgundy button-up shirt and denim jeans I was looking pretty dapper if I do say so myself. I could hear the music blasting all the way from outside the club as I entered into the static-filled place. The neon flashing lights gave the dimly-lit club a nice allure as everyone gathered together drinking and grinding on the dance floor.

Alright, sexy ladies and fly fellas, get yo ass some drinks, then get on this floor and bounce something! the DJ yelled loudly into the carefully placed speakers.

As I strolled across the dance floor, I couldn’t help but take notice of the growing crowd of beautiful people, and I do mean beautiful. I noticed a couple of lovely ladies giving me the eye while the clowns they were with wore a scowl on their face, but I just shook my head and laughed. I wasn’t tripping over no hoes, not when I had business to take care of. Spotting my boys, De and Ray, at a table near the back, I easily made my way over to them. They seemed to be in the midst of a conversation with what looked like some of Magic City’s best strippers and didn’t even notice me come up.

Well damn…I could blast y’all asses to high heaven right now, and you wouldn’t have even known it. They all looked up at the intruder who had interrupted their conversation and smiled.

Boy, I thought yo ass was never gonna get here. What’s good? Ray jumped up and gave me some love while De and I just dapped each other up. I took a seat as they made room for me, kicking back while they passed me a blunt.

Desmond and Raymond Howard had been friends of mine since high school. For years, we were as thick as thieves (no pun intended), mobbing and robbing like it was a full-time job. We may not be working on Wall Street, but we were definitely hitting six figures. Although two years apart, you wouldn’t be able to tell that these two weren’t twins. They were both tall, stocky, and had a medium brown complexion. The double-mint twins was how I referred to them even though it pissed them off.

Damn, Derrick, you were supposed to be here an hour ago. What happened? De complained while leaning back in his seat, sipping on a Grey Goose bottle.

It’s not my fault that muthafucka rolled up so late. He had me sitting out there watching his place like a bill collector.

De simply grinned widely. Well, you did come to collect and ya boy was clearly past due. We all laughed, taking a moment to chill, cracking a couple of jokes and flirting with the ladies until I decided to switch lanes for a minute. I eyed De and Ray slowly, letting them know it was time to talk about business, and we were among mixed company. They caught my drift and nodded, taking another puff of the much-needed blunt we were passing around. De put his arm around the pretty brown girl with the cream-colored dress that looked so damn tight it could have been spray-painted on. He leaned to his right and whispered in her ear. Hey, baby girl, why don’t you take your friends and go buy us another bottle? Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as he handed her a couple of hundreds and moved her on her way.

Wait for me in the back, aight? he further instructed her. I watched as she gathered up the rest of her fine friends and headed towards the bar, but not before I got a couple of sneak peeks at what they were working with. The minimal clothing that they had on left nothing to the imagination.

Well, got damn. They’re straight out of an uncut video, huh?

And you know it. De smiled slyly. I don’t except anything but the best.

Seeing that we were finally alone, I put my game face on, ready to get down to business. Alright, boys, what do you got for me?

Ray slowly nodded as he began to bring me up to date about our new assignment. I’d heard through the grapevine there’s this Columbian cat named Julio, who running drugs on the east side of town. I ran into him around the way earlier this month through mutual connects. Sitting back and thinking to myself, I knew that name sounded familiar. I had heard of Julio before; he was becoming a big topic of discussion throughout the drug world. He had barely been in the states for a couple of years, coming all the way from Venezuela, and had already racked up enough workers and money to take over the entire city.

From what I know, he got a large house in the ‘burbs not too far from the harbor. There is a safe hidden in the floor underneath the bed and it’s filled with a shit load of money. I’m talking about mega Benjamin’s. De laughed heavily while taking another sip from his drink. Ray and I have been rolling with him for a minute now and will be heading out with him this weekend for a new shipment at the docks. While we are out doing that, we want you to be raiding the muthafucka’s house for every penny he’s got.

How much you think he is working with? I asked, feeling the buzz from the weed and alcohol already settling in my system.

From what I have seen so far, probably around five-million.

Covering my mouth firmly, I almost spit out my damn yak at the sound of those words. Now you know I had to be shocked as hell to be wasting some good yak. What? Five mill! They both nodded as if they couldn’t believe it either.

Hell, I was shocked too, shit. Ray puffed on a blunt as I passed it back. Muthafucka might as well have a bank in the house.

Well, then, what the hell are we waiting for? Let’s get to it!

Calm down, baby boy. De laughed at my enthusiasm. We can’t just go busting in on that fool. Julio ain’t stupid. He’s got mad protection on him.

I nodded, shaking off my eagerness and thinking more logically. I just couldn’t believe having access to all that money. Shit, five million would have me set for life.

So, if he is that strapped. How am I going to get inside the house? Needing to know exactly what I was getting myself into, I was ready for them to tell me the real deal and cut through the bullshit.

Well, he put me on security, so I’ve got access to the alarms, security codes, and all types of shit like that. I’m gonna give you the codes. That way you can disarm everything and case the joint. Ray winked as if he had everything figured out. De and I are gonna be the only ones with Julio at the docks to retrieve this month's shipment, so we will slip whatever we can get from him there. De nodded in agreement, but I wasn’t convinced.

Come on now, Julio got plenty of heat. Even if we do rob him, you think that fool is not gonna retaliate?

I didn’t say rob, De tried to explain. We ain’t gonna beat the muthafucka down. Listen, all you have to do is just slip into the crib and slip out with the money. This shit is too simple, baby. What’s the problem?

I didn’t know why I was suddenly feeling so unsure about this. We did this same song and dance a million times since we were kids. Pretending to be down with these high-end drug dealers and then robbing their asses blind without so much as a crumb left. Click. Clack. Boom. This was a job like any other, but things just weren’t sitting well with me, not at all. De and Ray picked up on my resistance and tried to reassure me about the situation.

Listen, Derrick, all you have to do is get inside the house, break into the safe and take the money. I’m going to give you the codes to get inside. You’ll be in and out no with worries. Now, are we good?

Taking a quick breath, I ultimately agreed to the plan, but I still felt unsure. Alright, alright, I’m down.

De and Ray smiled wickedly seeing that we all were on the same page. Good, we will all meet a little later through the week to discuss further details. But tonight… De smiled slyly looking from me to the fine and curvy women waiting for him at the bar. I’ve got other business to take care of. I suggest you find you some too. Both of them stood up, gave me daps and headed out to have a good time.

Laying back against my chair, I comfortably jammed to the slow music bumping in the club while trying to put my conflicted mind at ease. So many things were taking place so soon and it was starting to worry me, but shit, this five million was far from chump change. I sipped on my Cognac, heavily thinking about the pending plans for our next assignment. Being so consumed with my own thoughts, I didn’t even notice when she came up.

Tired, are we? her familiar voice drifted into my private thoughts.

I'm not too tired for you.

Trina strutted her thick sexy legs over to my table, taking a seat right beside me. She leaned in really close, making sure that she had my full attention. I was hoping to see you tonight; you’re a hard man to get a hold of.

The expression on her face was not so much sad as it was pouty. Watching her stick her lips out as if she were some spoiled teenager aroused me while a sudden laugh emitted from my open mouth. Trina was a known plaything of mine for years. I knew back then when I spotted her fine ass in the Broadway mall that she was a temptation I couldn’t resist. Oh, she was fine with a golden complexion, long black hair and pretty pink full lips, but she, like most women, came with a price tag. Hers was located right in her panties. The type of chick looking for a sponsor and too bad for her, I had enough financial obligations. Breathing deeply, I gazed at her curvy figure, which she was showing off well in a tight, low cut, crimson red dress.

Well, I’m here now. So, what’s up? I asked, curving her chin with my finger. She continued to pout at me a little as she spoke.

I miss you, Derrick. Why haven’t you called me?

Not really wanting to go through this One Life to Live drama with her again, I let out a low sigh from my lips as she continued to stare at me. You see, Trina and I had been hooking up for a good little minute. Everything was good until things went south, and I had to cut her ass off. She started to get the game twisted. She seemed to think that I was her man or something and that we were in a relationship. Please, I didn’t have time for that. I always knew once she got her head screwed on straight she would come on home and thank God, she didn’t disappoint. My buzz had most definitely kicked in, and I was ready to get into some things that involved some handcuffs and possibly a video camera. Licking my dry lips slowly, I leaned over to her, brushing up against her ear.

Well, why don’t you let me take you home and then you can show me how much you missed me?

Trina looked away for a moment and then back again as if weighing out her options. Derrick, I’m serious, I…

Silencing her, I placed my lips on hers, letting her feel the warmth of my mouth and the urgency that I had to get her back to my place. Pulling back from her just a little, I made sure to give her time to recuperate and decide if she was down. Trina touched the soft clouds on her face gently, still feeling the heat from our kiss permeating her mouth.

Now, what were you saying?

Easing back from me a bit and biting her lip, there was an extremely naughty look on her face that let me know she was ready to get into some trouble. Um…let me tell my girls that I’m leaving, she barely got out as she rose from the table.

Good. I nodded. You do that.

As a victory grin spread across my face, I laid back against my seat in perfect bliss. I still got it, baby, I thought to myself. Watching her well rounded ample bottom sashay across the floor and into the crowd, I chuckled to myself, imagining all the things I planned on doing to her tonight and the following morning. Finishing my drink, I looked out into the dance floor. Everyone seemed to be bouncing to the beat of some throwback jam and just having themselves a good ass time. As my eyes glanced over everyone in the club they couldn’t help but land on a beautiful girl smack-dab in the center of the crowd. I sat up straight to get a better look at her. She was about 5’9" with smooth chocolate skin, and waterfall curly hair.

Damn, I whispered, taking her all in. She moved around like a private dancer to a slow wind beat, giving me a perfect view of her well-built body. I liked the way her slim figure curved in that tight white dress she was wearing…looking like a sexy little angel. I couldn’t help but watch her as she wined to the music only for me.

Derrick…Derrick.

I heard my name being said really nice and slow. Was she calling for me? Derrick…Derrick!

Quickly snapping out of my trance, I looked up. Trina. She stared back at me