Messiah sat in one of his many cars. He was a collector of sorts. Old schools, foreigns, bikes; he had a thing for speed. It made his adrenaline race; and as he sat inside the big body BMW, rolling up, his music knocked so loud from the speakers that he couldn’t hear his cronies’ wisecracking around him. He wasn’t much in the mood for flexing, but he couldn’t go into hiding. He had to be on the scene, following his normal routine, to combat the whispers that he had been the hitter behind Lucas’ murder. Niggas went into hiding after they got their hands dirty. Messiah was right there, out in the open, because he bore no guilt and wanted no implications, but his mind was a million miles away. Tupac was the soundtrack to his life as Hail Mary rang out in the night air. The bass was so heavy that it rattled his chest, as he nodded his head ever so slightly to the beat. The car wash was packed, and the night sky sparkled with stars, as the city’s finest pulled into the establishment for the simple purpose of being seen. Women walked by his car, with no destination, just to give him a glimpse of their assets. They wanted to be chosen and Messiah knew he had his pick of the litter, but tonight, his mood was off. Thoughts of Morgan infiltrated his mind. To his own dismay, she had found her way into a place where no man or woman had ever been able to before - his heart. Not even his mother or father occupied space there; but somehow, Morgan had broken the lock. He didn’t like the distraction. When he should have been thinking about his next move, he was zeroed in on a woman - a young one at that. The tender feeling in his chest had him feeling like a sucker. He had seen how loving a woman had brought down the best hustlers over the years. His best friend, Noah, had gotten gunned down for thinking with his heart. Messiah refused to let the same happen to him. Love made men sloppy and unfocused. It was a weakness and Messiah prided himself on having none. He lived a life of limited attachments because he always wanted to be able to walk away from everything at the drop of a dime. I’m already spending too much time on this, he thought.