I heard the man screaming before I turned the corner and saw what they were doing to him. Remmey had the man down on his knees and Carl was holding the man's arms tightly behind his back.

I froze.

Just like I did with the girl.

I just...kept freezing up.

All the time now.

The man saw me in the shadows. His eyes shifted over to me when he saw my movement, but he didn't say anything. He just closed his eyes again, and his body started convulsing. It was like...nothing I had ever seen before. It was like he was made of rubber, and the more Carl pulled on him from behind, the more he shook. I couldn't figure out what they were doing to him, and I didn't want to know. But my feet were glued to the ground, so I couldn't run away.

When the man opened his eyes and looked at me again, Remmey turned to follow his gaze. When he saw me, he immediately started walking toward me.

I wanted to hightail it out of there.

I wanted Remmey and Carl to think that I hadn't seen shit.

It was never like this when Wally B was around. I would have never walked up on him doing anything like this.

I started sobbing and covered my face. I was scared. I didn't want them to think that I knew or saw anything.

I could feel Remmey coming closer to me, and then I could feel his arms around me.

"Jazz..." Remmey kissed my face and held me closer. "Jazz, calm down." He ran his hands slowly up and down my back and arms.

I wanted him to stop touching me.

I wanted to ask him what Carl was doing to that man to make him shake like that.

A sudden wave ran through me as memories of being surrounded by twelve girls and held down by at least seven of them suddenly flashed through my mind. I shut my eyes tighter and stiffened in Remmey's arms.

"Jazz...you shouldn't be back here. This ain't nuthin'...you want to see."

I looked up into his eyes. They were warm and kind. Which is what made me think that I could say what I said next.

"Remmey...let him go." Remmey just stared at me and his face clouded over. "Please..."

Remmey took his hands off me and backed away. I looked over his shoulder and Carl was still holding the man from the back. The man was still convulsing, harder now. It looked like he may have passed out. Carl still was holding the man up by his hands, still tied together behind him.

I looked back at Remmey, my eyes huge. "What're you doin' to him?"

Remmey ran a hand slowly over his face and took a step closer to me.

"Jazz...don't ever ask me 'bout my bid'ness. Ya heard?"

I looked up into his eyes and knew that he would only tell me that one time.

Remmey watched me for a minute and then turned and walked back toward the man. He walked right up to Carl and shoved him out of the way, snatching the biggest knife that I had ever seen away from him. I guess Carl had been holding it behind the man's back, and that's why I didn't see it before. It didn't even look like a knife. It was too big to be a knife. Like two feet long.

And it was curved on the end.

Remmey held the knife up above his head and then sliced through the air, down behind the man's back.

One clean swoop.

The man's arms finally broke free and I thought Remmey was letting him go.

But then the man fell forward.

And I saw blood.

A lot of blood.

And then I noticed one of the man's hands was missing.

I scanned the ground and saw it lying not far from Carl's boots. Remmey looked back at me, straight into my eyes, and then followed my gaze to the dismembered hand on the ground. He looked back at me again and then kicked it away like it was a rat.

A human hand.

He didn't even look at it when he kicked it.

Like that man's severed hand wasn't even a blip on his radar.

Remmey turned to Carl and snapped "How the fuck Wally B leave you in charge and you can't even handle your own shit? Wally B do this shit all the time. No problems. Get some bid'ness about yourself young nigga." Then he shoved the oversized blade into Carl's hand and pointed to the man.

Carl looked down at the man, and then over at me.

"Get the fuck out of here Jazz," Carl hissed, before hacking at the man again.

I left.