Charm City Part 1 (Welcome to Bodymore Murdaland)

by S. L. Walker

  Professor Heart had a small apartment not too far from the school in a decent neighborhood. He had his own car garage that led up the stairs to his apartment.

  Walking in, was like walking into a full size bachelor pad. There was no kind of ambience about his place at all. It smelled of men’s cologne, not the kind he wore, though, more of a woody smell, which was probably from a nearby candle. It was drafty and cold, which led me to believe he didn’t keep his heater on when he was gone.

  His first room was his living room that had a small three seater black leather couch and a matching leather chair next to his. He had a wide black table that was trashed with old food wrappings, a beer can, and magazines. He did have a nice size Tv and surround system. His lightly painted grey walls had not one single picture or artwork.

  “You can have a seat on the couch, I can put your things in my room,” he told me, taking my bag and backpack from me and walking to his room.

  He had a large living room window with matching long dark grey drapes. I went over and looked out of it, staring down at parked cars that belonged to other residences. A young man jogged by.

  “See something you like?” Professor Heart interrupted. “Are you cold? I can cut the heater on?” He walked into the kitchen.

  “Yes, please,” I followed him into his small kitchen. It had sleek grey counter tops and his sink was full of dishes and old food.

  “Sorry about all the mess, if I knew I was having company…” he smiled.

  “It’s fine, Steve,” I smiled back.

  “How about that hot chocolate?” He opened his cabinet door and pulled out a grey coffee mug and marshmallows.

  “Of course,” I told him. Can I look around?” I asked him, meaning can I go to his room.

  “Help yourself,” he said as he began to prepare my hot chocolate. I strolled to his room and no surprise everything was gray and white. I was beginning to think it was his favorite color. His king size bed sat dead in the middle of the room covered with a large white comforter. His small 35 inch TV sat on a rollable TV stand where he could position it anywhere in the room. His carpet was accented by a grey fur rug in front of the bed. He had candles all over everything he could sit them on and I noticed the cologne smell was coming from those. He had a bedroom bathroom that I walked in and looked around.

  It was surprisingly clean. No ring in the toilet, pee stains on the side, or shaved hair in the sink. There were also candles all over the sink and back of the toilet bowl cover. I opened his cabinet and it was jammed packed with medicine, shaving cream, razors, and other manly products. His shower was small with no tub.

  “Hey nosy,” he popped in with the cup of hot chocolate in his hand.

  “Sorry,” I laughed. “Thank you,” I took the hot chocolate from his hands.

  “You can get comfortable if you’d like. The heater will start working in a minute. Are you hungry?” I followed him back into the living room.

  “Yeah,” I told him.

  “Why you being so short? You nervous?” He walked up to me and held my shoulders.

  “I don’t know,” I honestly said. I was definitely nervous, but I was happy at the same time. A part of me couldn’t believe I was in his place and loved it, the other part of me knew I was making a mistake.

  “Relax,” he kissed my lips, reminding me of why I chose to come in the first place. He stopped kissing me and turned to walk away, but I grabbed him and kissed him harder, my cup steady in one hand and the other wrapped around his neck. Our lips danced and our tongues led the way. He slowly grabbed my cup from me, never leaving my lips and sat it on a nearby coffee table. Once my hand was free, I was able to caress his face and wrapped my arms around him. He picked me up, letting my legs wrap around his waste, and walked me to his bedroom. He slowly laid me down on the softness of his king size comforter. The fire was so hot between us, there was no putting it out at this point. He licked and kissed my neck, running his tongue over my diamond studded earrings. I returned the favor, licking his neck and kissing his cheeks and ears. The heavy breathing between us only said one thing. I pulled at his sweater and he pulled it off over his head. I took my sweater off, revealing my leopard printed bra. He kissed the top of my young breast and my heart raced. His tongue led down to my belly button and hovered over the band of my sweatpants pulling them down. I loved that he was taking the lead and wasn’t asking my permission. My body was giving him all the permission he needed.

  CHAPTER 29

  Eva woke up to the morning sun beaming through Professor Heart’s sheer grey curtains and the smell of coffee and bacon . She had almost forgotten where she was until she looked down at the ruffled sheets and her naked body. The small black clock on his nightstand said 7am. She rolled over onto his side of the bed and took in his sweet natural

  scent. She smiled at how amazing the night had been and how much more in love she was now. Everything she had daydreamed had come true. It terrified her.

  “Hey, you’re up,” he walked in the room with a white robe on. She gleamed at his presence. Even in the beginning of the morning he looked like an angel. “I made an omelet and bacon. Hot chocolate waiting. There’s a towel in the bathroom for you to use. Leaving at 7:45,” he leaned over and kissed her forehead.

  “Awe, thanks,” she said and playfully curled in the bed, not wanting to leave its warmth. He walked back into the kitchen leaving Eva to fight her way to get up. She stared up at the ceiling, replaying the acts of last night.

  I don’t ever want to leave here.

  She sighed and finally forced her way out of the bed. Turning on the shower, she grabbed her toothbrush out of her bag while she let the hot steam fill the bathroom.

  She hopped in the shower and began to wash.

  “Fuck,” she said, forgetting to grab her shower gel. She looked around and frowned at the male shower gel Professor Heart used.

  “Steve!”

  He instantly showed up at the bathroom door.

  “Want me to join you?” He joked.

  “If you want,” she joked back. “Can you grab my body wash from my bag, it’s the blue flower bottle,” she told him, peeking from outside his shower curtain.

  “Anything for you, princess,” he smiled and walked over to her duffle bag and unzipped it. She closed the curtain and began running some of his conditioner through her hair.

  He bent down to her bag and moved some hair products and clothes around including the small velvet bag. Eva’s gun and some wad of cash dropped out right in front of him into the bag. He squinted and he could barely close his mouth when he noticed what it was.

  “What the hell?” He asked himself shocked. He looked back making sure Eva didn’t see what he had found. He picked up the small wad of $100 bills and then the Ruger that Zara had given her.

  What kind of shit is she into?

  “Baby?!” Eva called out, wondering what was taking him so long. Startled, he stuck the gun and bullets back into her velvet bag. He found the body wash and walked over to the shower.

  “There you are. Were you lost?” She teased.

  “My bad, couldn’t find it,” He said, uneasily giving her the body soap.

  “You getting in?” She looked past the shower curtain, opening it a bit for him to join. Her long hair was wet from conditioner and he took in her petite frame. He was tempted, but now his mind was elsewhere.

  “No, I’m gonna eat real fast and get some clothes out, besides I’m not trying to smell like Blueberry Vanilla,” he smiled.

  “Suit yourself,” she blew him a kiss and closed the shower curtain. His heart grew heavy in confusion. He knew he could just ask because he wasn’t snooping, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

  Was she bringing that to school? Was she planning on using it on someone? On him?

  He couldn’t risk it. He quickly walked back over to her bag and took the gun out of the bag, hiding it in his underwear drawer. He would question her when he had the chance. He knew she would see it was
gone, but he wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to do anything stupid with it. The shower turned off and he hurried up and walked back into the kitchen, hoping she didn’t notice till after she was planning to use it.

  Eva hopped out of Professor Heart’s car quickly near the back of the school where not a lot of people gathered. Most kids were getting dropped off in the front of the school and the kids that were in the back were walking from home, not paying her any attention. She gave him one quick smile and scurried up to the school.

  She looked back and watched his car disappear around the corner to the front of the school for faculty parking. She then ran away from the school down the block to some nearby neighborhood houses. The clouds had begun to form rain when they had left his home and now started to squeeze a few sprinkles out. She dug in her duffle bag, feeling for the velvet bag her money and Ruger were in. Her heart stopped for a second when she pulled the velvet bag out with only her money in it. Thinking it had fell out in her duffle bag she frantically searched within the bag, moving her hands over her old clothes and bath products.

  What the hell? I know I grabbed it. Did it fall out in his car? Did I leave it at his house?

  Her mind stopped racing when she remembered Professor Heart fetching her body wash for her.

  “No, he didn’t,” she instantly became pissed. She couldn’t help but think there was no way he would take her gun. She searched the velvet bag for her money and counted it wondering if he took that, too. All $1,000 was there. Guess he’s not that trifling.

  She had stashed her other money in one of her shoe boxes at home. She had already made a total of $8,000 over the time they had started working for Treach, which for a 15 year old girl, was a lot of money. Hoping that he had good reason for taking her piece, she stuffed her things back in her duffle bag and jogged back towards the school before the first bell rang.

  $$$$

  After school, the girls all gathered in the parking lot waiting for Zara. The rain had come and gone all day, but the sprinkling never subsided. They had a new job with a new customer on the rich side of town and each of them were antsy to get it over with.

  “Where is she?” Tori paced back and forth with her pink leopard umbrella. They were heading over the side of town Lance lived on and she was planning to meet him after.

  “She’s coming, chill,” Raven told her, leaning on Zara’s car. “Why do you have that bag?” She turned to Eva who was also leaning on Zara’s car, spaced out with her hoodie on, thinking about Professor Heart. She had purposely been giving him the cold stare the whole time during class and he was acting suspiciously different. He had noticed her stares as well and even tried to give her a half smile to flirt, but she rolled her eyes and turned to her books. He knew she must’ve known he had her gun and it scared him even more. He wanted to know what she was going to do with it, but before he could say anything, she darted out of the class.

  “I might stay at your house tonight. Moms is gone for work,” Eva lied. She wasn’t even thinking about them questioning her extra baggage. She had left it in her locker the whole school day.

  “Here she comes,” Angel pointed, bundled in her baby blue puff coat. Her mind was also in another place.

  “Sorry, y’all, some bs with my teacher. Y’all ready to do this?” Zara unlocked her car.

  “Sooner the better,” Raven agreed, hopping in the front. “Yo, let’s stop and pick up our guns,” she told Zara. Eva, Angel, and Victoria filed in the back seat one by one.

  “We need to do something with these bags, man,” Victoria moved her backpack on her lap, irritated.

  “Put them in the trunk,” Zara told her, popping the trunk.

  “I got it,” Eva offered, knowing her bags were taking up most of the space. She hopped out and they all handed her their bags as she piled them all in the trunk. When she closed the trunk, her eyes set dead on Professor Heart’s car and he had his eyes set dead on her. She frowned at his lack of discreetness and hurried up and got into the car. “Let’s go,” she told Angel, looking out the window to see Professor Heart still parked close by.

  Professor Heart’s palms were sweaty and his mouth was dry with nervousness. He didn’t mean to be seen by Eva, which now meant his plan to follow her would mean he would have to be extra cautious. If she was planning something, she would be watching her back and now that she knew his car, he could easily be spotted.

  He watched Zara’s Mercedes pull off the school campus and make a circle around the back of the school and down a block. He slowly made sure he stayed three cars behind and parked on the side of the street in an empty space behind a pickup truck. It was the same spot Eva was about to dump her velvet bag, but didn’t.

  Raven hopped out and dug behind a bush, grabbing a backpack and quickly hopped back in the car. Professor Heart’s wipers weren’t that clean and the rain had picked up, so he couldn’t see what she had grabbed. When they pulled back off, he waited a couple cars and pulled off with them.

  The girls took him through the rugged neighborhood of Westville and through downtown. They headed north through downtown and the city streets quickly became grassy areas with big trees, filled with orange and yellow leaves. He made sure he continued to stay three to four car distances with every turn and light he came to.

  Where are they going?

  He knew he was wrong for following them and hoped that they were just on their way to shop at some out of town mall. But his gut told him something else. Eva had the gun for a reason and the way she acted in class told him enough. Her cold stare at the car dared him to fuck with her.

  He noticed they were hopping on the 695 freeway getting further and further away from home. Before he knew it, there were only a few cars on the road before they got off that freeway and hit the 129 freeway. He slowed down so more cars could bridge his gap and he wouldn’t get noticed. There was now only grass and road and they stayed on that road for about fifteen minutes. The girls made a right off the freeway onto Evans way. No other cars were getting off, so now he was the only car behind them. He panicked and put on his brakes slowing him way down to where he almost lost them. A car behind him honked, startling him. The car zoomed past him honking again. He put an apology hand up and sped up so he could catch the girls, now having one car to hide behind.

  Houses began to appear, growing larger and larger in size and the spaces between the houses did the same. The girls pulled up to a large gated Georgian home. They stopped at the gate and shortly after, the gate opened up for them. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get any further. He drove a little further down the street and parked.

  Okay, Steve, so what now?

  “This place is fat,” Eva’s eyes widened as Zara parked in front of the estate.

  “This is like a million dollar house,” Victoria’s eyes were just as wide looking out her window. Angel struggled to see in the middle seat through the front of the window and the rain drops.

  “It took a million years to get here. This is it, right?” Zara asked, looking at Raven.

  “Yeah,” Raven opened up her backpack and pulled out their guns. “Eva, where’s yours?” She asked her, handing all the girls their weapons that they all hid together. They all decided to leave their guns in one spot when they had to do after school runs. Zara was nice enough to let Raven stash the merchandise in her trunk since Treach was too impatient to let her grab them before the job.

  “I left it at home, my bad,” Eva lied. She knew she’d be asked and bringing up her gun only brought her back to Professor Heart.

  I swear he better have a perfect explanation.

  “Here, take this one. None of us cannot be strapped,” she handed Eva one of her Nines. Zara took her Nine out of her glove compartment.

  “Ready?” She asked them.

  “Let’s go,” Victoria added. Zara opened the trunk and grabbed the merchandise also stored in a small backpack. The girls all threw their hoodies over their heads, stashing their guns in their own personal secret spots
on them. Zara handed Angel the merchandise bag and they all walked up to the door in single file line. Before anyone could knock on the giant front door, a Butler opened it.

  “Mr. Willams is waiting,” he opened the door wide. He was your typical British butler. Caucasian, with a black and white penguin tuxedo on and balding hair slicked back. The girls looked at each other in awe.

  “How did you?” Raven began to ask.

  “Cameras,” the butler pointed to the small camera over the front door. “We have them everywhere.”

  “Tight,” Victoria smiled. She couldn’t help but gawk at how huge the house was. All of the girls couldn’t pick their mouths up from the floor. The front door was already bigger than a bedroom wall and the front had a dark wooden stairway that curved to the top.

  “This way,” the butler took them through a small door way leading into a classic style living room. Dark green drapes hung over the large windows; you could see the whole front of the home through them. He then walked them through another hallway that lead to windy stairs descending down.

  “Holy shit this is dope!” Victoria grinned, touching the marble stair rails.

  “Chill,” Raven shushed her, but couldn’t help but be overwhelmed either. The butler walked them down the curvy stairwell finally leading them past another large living room filled with couches, chairs, and a fireplace. They then passed another living quarters with lounge chairs and tables.

  “How many bedrooms is in this place?” Victoria asked the butler.

  “Seven,” another voice from behind them echoed the hallway. The girls turned around startled to see Jack, their customer in the flesh.

  Jack is about 5’10, crystal blue eyes, and almond brown short hair matching his almond brown facial hair, accompanied by a small beard. He wore grey jogger sweats and an oversized tee showing off his skinny muscles.