by Roy Glenn
“Probably all true.”
“You think so.”
“Try me,” he said.
“How did you get that scar on your right arm?” Shy asked.
“Lady tried to shoot me in the back, but she missed.”
“What happened to her?”
“Freeze shot her.”
“True story. You remember a woman named Dez?”
“Dez? Vaguely. Why?”
“It’s nothing. She’s one of my girlfriend’s cousins; you were supposed to be messing with her back in the day. I didn’t think you’d remember her.”
“What’s your point, Cassandra?”
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. About you, about us, and about me.”
“What about you?”
“See, that’s what I’m talking about. Most people woulda wanted to know what I was thinking about them. But not you, you wanna know about me.”
“If you like, you could tell me about myself first.”
“No, no, that’s all right. It’s just that my family is all shook up about you because you’re Vicious Black. That doesn’t concern me,” Shy said with a smile. “I ain’t afraid of you.”
“What’s bothering you, Cassandra?” Mike asked, looking very concerned about where she was going with this. It had all the look and feel of I never want to see you again.
“Wanda’s worried that I’ll hurt you. I’m worried about you hurting me.”
“I know. I heard you when you said it.”
“So.”
“So I’ll never hurt you. Cassandra, I love you. Like I’ve never loved anything or anybody.”
“Yeah, yeah. I love you too. But I need more than that. After what Ricardo took me through, I can’t stand for a man to be messing around on me. So you tell me, right now, what’s it gonna be like Black? Are we just going to play around with each other, have mad sex? Which wouldn’t be … nevermind,” Shy said with a smile. “You just tell me.”
“You want to know about me and Melinda, right?”
“For starters.”
“She’s done. End of story. And she knows it. If she doesn’t know it, I’ll make sure she does as soon as I get back to the city. I told you what the deal was with that. We’re fuck buddies, period. That’s not the case with us. I’m in love with everything about you. I respect you. I love talking to you. I love your sense of humor. The way you walk. The way you talk. Your smile, your eyes. Like right now, in this light, your eyes shoot through me.”
Mike got up off of the couch, walked over to the chair where Shy was sitting. He knelt down next to her, took her hand.
“Cassandra, you gotta believe me when I say, I want to be with you. Not just for now or for just a little while. Forever,” Mike smiled. “And that’s a mighty long time.”
“Okay, Prince,” Shy laughed. “You know, down there on your knees like that, I thought you were about to ask me to marry you.”
“Not this week. Next week maybe.”
Shy looked at Mike. She smiled and shook her head. “I hope you’re serious about what you say.”
“Dead serious, baby. I never want this to end.” Shy leaned over toward Mike and kissed him. “Now that I unveiled my entire campaign to you, you tell me now, what’s up with you?” Mike asked. “I don’t wanna have to be the last one to know.”
“I think I’ve made myself clear. I wanna be with you too, but I don’t trust you.”
“That makes us even. I don’t trust you. I don’t trust a lot of people. I know I’ll have to earn your trust, just like you’ll have to earn mine. But you’ll see. Nobody will ever love you like I will.”
“I like a man with confidence.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The early morning sun rose slowly over the nation’s capital. The ringing of the telephone interrupted the quiet calm of the morning. Shy reached for the phone.
“Hello.”
“Good morning, sunshine.”
“Good morning, Jamaica.”
“I hate to bother you, but is Mike with you?” he asked. Shy asked Jamaica to hold on.
Shy put the phone down and began to massage and kiss Mike all over his back until he woke up and rolled into her arms.
“Good morning, baby,” she said, kissing him softly on his lips. As Mike started to return the greeting, Shy rolled over quickly and handed him the phone. “It’s for you.”
“Yeah,” he said, agitated by the interruption.
“Get up,” Jamaica said simply.
“Be there in fifteen minutes.” Mike replied. Then he looked at Shy. “Make that a half an hour.” Then he hung up the phone.
“I feel special.”
“Why?”
“Because it only took you five minutes to get to me.”
“You’re silly.”
“And,” Shy said, as she rolled closer to him.
As promised, a half-hour later Mike reluctantly got out of bed and got dressed while Shy looked on. “I should be back at one, two max. You make reservations yet?”
“No, but I will.”
“What are you gonna do while I’m gone?”
“You mean other than miss you? Sleep,” she answered, rolling into the fetal position.
“Miss me, huh? You wanna come with me?”
“No. Something about being around that many law enforcement types.” She frowned and shook her head. “I can’t be so bothered. I’ll be here when you get back.”
“Well, keep it warm for me.”
Mike started to walk out of the room, but he stopped, turned around, and walked back to the bed. He kissed Shy gently on her lips.
“I knew you wouldn’t forget,” she said.
“I’ll be back,” Mike said, trying to sound like the terminator.
He returned to his room to get ready for the hearing. As expected, Jamaica’s hearing went exactly as Mike said it would. The board released Jamaica into Wanda’s custody. There was no reason that they wouldn’t. Mike had been a heavy contributor to a few local Congressional candidates over the years. It was a simple matter to call Glynnis Presley, his contact in New York, who called the appropriate Congressperson, who made the calls necessary for the hearing to go off without any problems.
With that behind him, Mike rode to the airport with Wanda and Jamaica and saw them safely on the plane before returning to the hotel to pick up Shy and head for Miami. He arrived at the hotel and went to Shy’s room.
“Cassandra, are you in here?” he yelled, but there was no response.
He went into the bedroom. There was Shy, lying in the bed with the covers pulled up to her neck and a big smile on her face.
“Hi.”
“Hi yourself.” Mike replied as he sat on the edge of the bed
“Did you eat yet?” she asked.
“No.”
“Good,” Shy removed the covers to reveal her naked body. She spread her legs slowly then she said, “Because the best restaurant in town just opened.”
“What’s the name of your restaurant?”
“Fit for a king.”
Mike laughed as he started to unbutton his shirt. “I’m starting to like you, Cassandra.”
“You loved me last night. Did I do something to displease you your majesty? If I have, just tell me and I’ll double my efforts to please you.”
Mike took off his pants and knelt down at the foot of the bed. He leaned forward on the bed and began to kiss her feet, then her ankles as he crawled up on his stomach. He kissed her thighs, first one then the other, and then he looked Shy in the eyes and smiled. He dropped his head and rested it on her stomach. Mike pushed up placing the weight of his body on his arms. She arched her back slightly and began to rotate her hip in perfect unison with him. He stared into Shy’s eyes.
“You have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen Cassandra. I could look in your eyes for hours.”
“You gonna stay in this position for hours?”
“I could.”
“I believe you,” she said
as her body began to quiver.
“Not yet.” He rose up and entered her again, slowly resuming the same slow rotating motion. Mike paused for a second, smiled at Shy then started to move slow, then faster and then slow again. Her body began to quiver again. He stopped. “Not yet.” Then he rolled her over until she was on top.
“You know, I’m starting to think you like me up here,” Shy said, as he placed his hands on her hips.
“What was your first clue?” Mike said as he moved her hips in the same slow motion.
“Ah, because you keep putting me up here maybe?”
He raised her up and then pulled her down to his chest slowly. He placed his hands gently on her face and kissed her. Shy stretched out her legs and moved her body in unison with him, trying to anticipate his movement.
“Okay, so I like you up there,” Mike said as they continued to make love.
“Why?”
“I like the way you move, I like watching you move.”
As hard as he tried not to think about it, Mike found himself making the comparison between Melinda’s and Shy’s sexual abilities. There were some differences in style, but there was something else. He and Melinda would fuck like animals for hours at a time.
This was slow and deliberate.
“How does it feel making love to a person and not an object?”
Without taking the time to marvel at the fact that Shy just seemed to read his mind or at least was thinking what he was thinking, Mike thought to himself; that must be it. He was having sex for the first time in years with somebody he was in love with. Mike cared about Melinda, but he never loved her. He wasn’t sure exactly how Melinda felt about him. He assumed that she was only in it for sex and money, never taking the time to find out how she felt. It simply wasn’t that important.
“I’m loving every moment with you, Cassandra. And it ain’t just sex. It’s you. I’m in love with you, not your sex,” Mike said, sliding his hand down her spine.
“Oooh, that sends chills through me.” Shy thought to herself how good this all felt to her. For her it wasn’t just the sex, although it was great. Shy too was deeply in love with Mike.
“I could make love to you forever. I never want to make love to anybody but you,” Mike said.
The intensity of their lovemaking was interrupted by the annoying intrusion of Shy’s phone. They didn’t seem to care, and continued to make love until both of their bodies shook violently in orgasm.
Shy and Mike both collapsed and drifted off to sleep. Before too long, Shy came out of her nod and reached for her phone. She looked at the number.
“Tony. What’s wrong now?” Shy dialed Tony’s number.
Tony answered. “Hello.”
“I sure hope this is important.”
“Shy, we got hit again,” Tony said frantically.
“Damn, who was it this time?”
“Me. At my crib.”
“How much did they take?”
“About a hundred grand and ten kilos,” Tony answered.
“Is everybody all right?”
“Yeah, we’re cool.”
“What happened?”
“Me and Rita were sitting here talking, when they kicked in the door.”
“How many was it?” Shy asked as Mike started to come out of his nod.
“Four. They came in, tied us up, and ransacked the place. Once they found the money and the product, they left. We’ve been tied up here all night. E just got here; he cut us loose.”
“Where’s Jack?”
“Jack’s on his way. When you coming back?”
“I don’t know. I’m leaving today for Miami to try to put something together. Taking this loss isn’t gonna help matters. Look, I don’t care how you do it, but you get up as much cash as you can and wait for my call. I may need you to meet me down there.” Shy was about to hang up but then she asked, “Tony! How much product we got left?”
“That was all the reserve we had. We’re done ’til we get some product.”
“All right, do the best you can and I’ll talk to you later.”
Shy hung up the phone and buried her head in her hands. Mike sat up in bed next to Shy and placed his hand on her shoulder.
“More problems?”
Shy laid her head on his lap. “Got hit again! Most of the money, all the product.”
“What are you gonna do?”
“Go to Miami and hope for the best. This is getting too hard. I’m committed to entirely too much money. I can’t keep losing money and product like this. I’ll be out of business.”
“I think that’s the point. Someone wants you out of business. Question is, whether it’s personal or business.”
“What do you mean personal?”
“Like when I killed André, that was business, but it was purely for personal reasons; you know what I’m saying.”
“I see your point. I didn’t think I had any enemies until these last few weeks.”
“Well you got one. A very smart one. One so smart and careful that Freeze can’t get anything on them. Even Angelo doesn’t know anything about them. Not much gets past those two.”
“Angelo, damn.” Shy sat up as a cold chill came over her. “If I live through this he’s gonna kill me, much money as I owe him.”
“How much do you owe him?”
“Quarter of a mill.”
“Angee won’t kill you.”
“How do you know he won’t?”
“Because I’ll tell him not to,” Mike said confidently.
“Seems like I’m only safe when I’m with you.”
“I’ll never let anything happen to you, Cassandra. I love you.”
“I know that, Black, but it just seems like everything is crashing down around me.”
Mike wrapped his arms around her like a blanket. She moved closer, resting her head on his chest. He kissed her on top of her head. Then lifted it up gently, and kissed her lips.
“It’s gonna be all right, trust me,” he said.
Shy felt safe. Once again the little girl in her Father’s arms, nothing could harm her there.
“Baby, there’s something I want to tell you. I was gonna tell you Friday but I got a little side tracked. And besides I didn’t wanna worry you with my problems. I know how you men hate a woman with problems,” she said quietly.
“That’s what I’m here for. What do you want to tell me?”
“Thursday night we did business. It went all right, but when we came out, we got pinned down. I didn’t know what was going on. We must have got in the middle of somebody’s war, because no one was shooting at us, we were just stuck there. I’m telling you it was scary out there. All of a sudden they just started shooting in another direction and we got away.”
She looked at Mike anticipating his reaction to her announcement that someone had, once again, been shooting at her. Or at least in her direction. She wanted to hear him say everything would be all right one more time.
Mike looked away from her for a moment then said, “I have a confession to make, Cassandra,” Mike said. Breaking the spell she had just cast.
“Not another girlfriend.”
“Not this time.”
“I’m listening.”
“I know all about what happened Thursday.”
“I’m not surprised. You get around.”
“Well there’s a reason I know,” Mike said reluctantly.
“Spit it out, Black. What are you trying to tell me?”
“Since the day you got robbed and that girl died, you’ve had a bodyguard,” he said with a sense of relief, like a weight being lifted from his shoulders.
Telling the truth is so liberating, he thought.
“What!” Shy pushed him away, vaulting from the bed. “You been spying on me!” she said angrily.
“It’s not like that. It’s not like that at all. I never wanted to know where you were or what you were doing; I just wanted to keep you alive.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Serious.”
“Who’s been following me?” Shy asked, not hiding her disbelief.
“Jap. He’s been on you all the time, unless you were with me. Except for that day. I was planning on picking you up that afternoon, but when you didn’t call, I had to send Freeze to find you. He found out where you were going and was waiting there for you with Jap. I was on the phone with him when the shooting started. Freeze and Jap drew their fire long enough for you to get away.”
Shy looked at him in disgust. She plopped down on the bed and bounced up again.
“Damn it, Black, I don’t know whether I should thank you or slap the shit out of you.”
“Both.”
“Don’t be funny.”
“I’m sorry, Cassandra. I know it was wrong, but I just couldn’t stand by and let something happen to you.”
“I can take care of myself.” Shy thought about what she had just said and smiled. “I know I haven’t been doing such a good job so far, but I can. And don’t get me wrong, I appreciate you looking out for me. I mean that’s twice you saved my life. But you could have told me.”
“If I had told you would you have agreed?”
“No.”
“See.”
“That’s not the point. The point is …”
Mike cut her off. “The point is you’re alive.”
“But that don’t make it right.”
She turned around and started for the shower, but she stopped. She turned around again and pointed at Mike as she walked toward him.
“I know what your problem is. You’re use to running over people. Doing whatever you wanna do. Well let me straighten you, Vicious Black; that stuff don’t work here.” Shy walked into the bathroom and came right back out. “You know, it’s things like this that makes it hard for me to trust you.”
“I was wrong. I’m sorry,” thinking he really had finally met his match.
“No you’re not.”
Mike smiled at Shy and got under the covers. Shy stood there for a moment expecting some type of response. When one didn’t seem to be forthcoming, she turned once again for the bathroom.
“Yeah, you’re right,” he said, and Shy turned around.
Mike propped the pillows up against the headboard. He crossed his legs and folded his hands behind his head.