by Renta
The one good thing that has come out of the conversation was the director’s vow to not reveal our findings until Agent Forrest led us to the Russian. He didn’t know I didn’t need Forrest for that, but this was the biggest bust of my life. There would be a cold day in hell before I allowed anyone to steal my glory.
Minutes after we’d hung up, my phone had rung again—frustrated, I answered, “Yeah!”
“Well, who pissed in your cheerios?” a completely healthy sounding Angela inquired.
My mind carried me back to Janice. “Well, for one, you could have told me you were sick—I thought we were better than that and—”
“Wait, what the hell are you talking about, Harrison, sick?” my receptionist interrupted my rant. The tone and surprise in her voice told me that something was off.
“Well—didn’t you call in sick—that’s what the new girl told me.”
Angela was silent for a moment before she said something that made me race to the door in hot pursuit. “Uh—Harrison, I think we have a problem—” She seemed to ponder her next words, “I was in a wreck this morning on my way into work, and when I got out to assess the damage, someone robbed me! Funny thing is, the only things they wanted was my phone and car keys. I just arrived here minutes ago.
Chapter Twelve
The Reversal
~Goose~
~Two Weeks Later~
Boc! Boc! Boc! Boc! Boc!
Shots sounded off as a bullet hit their mark, I stared at Kamika Winslet in awe. The woman was a nice shot, and I knew she was hip to that fact. I was counting on her pride to help me bring my plans into fruition. It had been weeks since Pain had stumbled across the burner that was meant to bury me under the prison, and I’d laid down my plans to return the favor brick by brick. For the past few days, me and Tonya had been building a nice relationship. The day after we’d met, I’d taken her out to, ‘Olive Garden.’
That night after we’d eaten, I took her to the pier by Lake Dallas. We sat on the edge of the deck and watched the moon reflect off the frigid water.
“I had a splendid night, Mark, it’s been a while since I was able to just unwind,” she’d broken the silence.
I was so busy sneaking a peek at them big ass titties that her words caught me off guard. “Oh—that’s—that’s what’s up, lady. I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” I replied before reaching in my pocket and pulling out a gold wrapped object with a red ribbon tied in a bow. I handed it to her, and Tonya stared at it as if it was a wedding proposal that came too early. I laughed. “Well—are you gonna open it or stare at it like it’s a disease?” I asked with humor in my voice.
Her eyes lifted from the gift and found mine before she reached over and took it from my hand. A slow smile spread across her face as she unwrapped it to reveal white chocolate dipped strawberry.
“I had it dipped this morning and frozen; it may be soft to the touch, but—” my words trailed off as I plucked the fruit from her hands and held it up to her succulent lips.
Her round eyes found mine as her lips parted and closed around the tip of the strawberry. She moaned as she partook of the fruit—and as her eyes closed at half mass, I understood why it was so easy for the serpent to push Eve to violate the Garden. Women had a tendency to trust a man no matter how many times she’d been burnt for the act. She just wants to trust the man that builds and molds her. The man that opens her mind to the shit she was once blind to. As I came to terms with that truth, I realized that men had that same desire.
At times, we want to love and trust a mu’fucka so bad that we never take time to see beyond the hand that’s feeding us the forbidden fruit that’s used to open our eyes to the bullshit we shoulda already had ‘em peeled to. If we did, Eve woulda recognized that the serpent’s intent was never pure, and if Adam had been a thinker, he woulda recognized the serpent in his bitch by feeding him the fruit that a snake gave her.
Tonya’s eyes opened and it was if she’d read my thoughts. “What’s your intentions with me, Mark?”
I gazed out at the dark waters before popping the rest of the half-eaten delicacy in my mouth. “I intend to take you on a journey that you’ll never forget. It’s dark ‘round my way, mama,” I replied. She looked at me as if she didn’t understand, so I stood and offered her my hand to help her to her feet. “It’s dark and I need you to be the light to guide my steps.” I smiled at the smile my words gave birth to.
“Goose! Are you alright, baby? You just zoned out on me,” Kamika brought me back to the present.
I smiled at her before planting a quick kiss on her lips. “Yea…I was just so amazed by your shooting that I came up with an idea—a challenge.” I eased the confusion on her face.
She stared at me for a few more seconds and then she accepted my excuse. “Okay—what do you have in mind?” she asked as she reloaded her service weapon.
I held up my hand and ran off to take the bullet-riddled paper off the tree and replaced it with a fresh diagram of a man with a red target where his heart should be. I glanced around out of habit, it was good we were out in the country—far away from the ears of anyone that would botch my plans. I jogged back over to Kamika and reached in the duffle bag I’d brought a few snacks and toys in.
I pulled out a blindfold and turned to show it to her. “Any cop can hit a target so close up. That’s part of y’all’s training, but let’s see how you do blindfolded with an unfamiliar gun!” he challenged.
****
~Freedom~
Assata thought I was long gone—back in New York, but the truth was—I was still there in Denton, Texas. I hated to lie to him because as a woman, I didn’t believe in fabrications, but sometimes lies just had a way of finding residence in relations that wasn’t built to house them. That day that he showed up to my house, he’d caught me by surprise. I truly assumed he’d been killed by those crazy people, but his return not only contradicted my belief but also changed my plans. My body still relished in his touch—his kiss—him! If this was another lifetime, maybe our love would have been boundless, but we have to wait until that next lifetime to find out. I shivered in pleasure as I reflected on our last night together.
After hot tea, we’d talked about everything under the sun. we’d laughed, and I cried when he reminded me his aunt that was taken due to a good man that chose the worst road to travel. I opened up to him a little about my family. My family back home, and my younger brother that was stolen from me by heartless hands, men that lived the same life he lived. Somewhere in between the laughter and tears, our clothes were discarded, and I found myself standing in the middle of an empty living room facing a naked gangsta with images of the life he lived etched into his dark skin.
We faced off for what seemed like forever trapped within seconds—a lioness and the lion. When he pulled me into his warm body, my heart and soul seemed to hate him for the type of man he turned out to be but yearn for him for that exact reality. It was a beautiful contradiction, lost inside an out of control intimacy as our lips met under the moonlight pouring in from a bare picture window. If anyone was to walk close enough, they’d witness passion in its rarest form.
A growl escaped from somewhere deep inside him as his hands found my backside. Assata lifted me off my feet and took off walking with me until my back was plastered against the wall. I instinctively wrapped my legs around his waist, and my arms around his sculpted shoulders. Our tongues danced a slow—passionate dance, and with our eyes open—a queen gazed into the orbs that held a warrior’s deepest secrets. Assata plunged inside of my oasis with a delicious urgency. I inhaled deeply before burying my face in the crook of his neck, with each stroke the man seemed to be searching for Atlantis inside of me.
“Assata!” I moaned as I sunk my teeth into his shoulder. Heaven and earth ceased to exist as his pace became fervid. “Deeper—God!”
****
~Detective Winslet~
My eyes were covered by the black cloth, the feel of the pistol was familiar in a se
nse of my being used to handling guns, but it wasn’t mine! I didn’t know the make—the color—nothing, but I adjusted to the size and balanced it in preparation.
“Let’s see how good you are now, badass,” Goose taunted.
I focused and squared my shoulders off—I loved a good challenge.
Boc! Boc! Boc!
I squeezed the trigger three times—confident I’d hit my mark, but Goose wasn’t satisfied. He took the pistol out of my hand and placed another one in it.
“Now try!” he challenged.
Though the grip was different, and the weight was off, my confidence was heightened. Without hesitation, I squeezed the trigger until the slider jammed back indicating that the clip was empty.
Goose untied the blindfold and smiled at me. “Baby, where the fuck did you learn to shoot like that?” he exclaimed and pointed to the target.
A triumphant smile exploded across my face—the red spot on the target was completely gone. In fact, the entire chest and head area were shredded and as holy as the church. I couldn’t contain my excitement. “I told you I was bad, boy, keep that in mind while you’re running around here sticking your dick in those hot tail girls out there!” I kidded him.
Goose nodded with a funny smirk on his face that made me wonder if he was concealing a secret or if he knew I was dead serious!
****
~Detective Johnson~
I sat at my desk at the station—I’d decided to attempt to catch up on a few things, but my mind and intentions wouldn’t coincide with one another. While my intentions were to do what I loved the most, investigate, my mind was burglarized with thoughts of Mark. The man was a piece of work—though he wasn’t the caliber of man I’d usually be attracted to, every day that we spent getting to know each other contradicted everything I thought I knew about a street dude. Mark had allowed me a peek at his life, and it took my breath away to hear of his experiences in San Antonio.
I was surprised he didn’t grow up to be a killer like so many of the men that raised him. Instead, the man chose to come here for college to pursue a better life. That was admirable, but like they say—you can take the man out the streets, but you can’t take the streets out of the man. There was something-something different about him that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but I knew in time all would be revealed. We’d been seeing each other for weeks, and as unlike me as it was. I’d already given him my goodies. I was in love with the idea of him coming home to me every day. I was in love—already? Was it the sex?
I was deep in thought when a nearby phone tore through my reverie. I glanced around to see if anyone would answer the annoying jingle of the outdated device, but the station was all but deserted. Out of myself, and a few other lonely souls—people had lives outside of work and relished in their escape from the madness of detective work. To my relief, the caller hung up, but just when I was on the edge of slipping back into my thoughts, the irritating jingle started again. My eyes followed the sound to Winslet’s desk where with every ring—a red button glowed on the phone base. Sista girl was one of the ones that had a life outside of there, and she was probably out with her mystery guy that she was so secretive about.
‘What’s the big deal anyway?’ I wondered as I huffed my juiciness out of the chair, and over to the phone. ‘Kamicka acted as if the man was one of Americas most wanted or something.’ That was a thought that made me giggle to myself before answering the phone. “Division One Precinct—Johnson speaking.”
There was a brief pause ensued before a hushed voice came through the earpiece. “I know what you did last summer!” it sang in a sickeningly sweet tone before hanging up.
I was baffled as I placed the phone back on its base, and turned to go back to my desk, but before I could take a step in the opposite direction, the notification alert on Winslet’s computer stopped me in my tracks. I assumed she was in a hurry to leave the day before, and not only left her computer on but her e-mail as well. An attachment blinked red on the screen—I just knew that whomever the caller had been had sent it. I glanced around to make sure no one was paying me any mind before taking a seat in Winslet’s chair. I knew I was violating my girl’s space, but the detective in me overrode my respect for human privacy.
The screen was one of those smart ones where I could touch the icons—so I did. I instantly wished I’d never stuck my nose where it didn’t belong. What flashed on the screen stirred an earthquake of emotions inside me that was an iota away from driving me crazy.
****
~Assata~
I took the dozen roses off the passenger seat and stepped out the car as if I owned the entire apartment complex. The sun was out and reflected off my jewels, but the day was blinding with an arctic chill to the breeze. Like always, I scanned my surroundings for predators lurking in wait, but everything seemed peaceful. I shook my head in shame—the constant need to look ova my shoulda had become old. At a time in every street nigga’s life, he should come to the realization that the streets were a dead-end road. I was already at that point, and that was the mere reason I’d showed up to Armani’s spot unannounced. I’d read and reread the letter Jazzy had left, and I was certain that I was missing something.
Though I didn’t know what that somethin’ was, I was following my heart and giving it what it craved the most. Every animal had its weakness, and mine was Jazmina. The mountains she’d mentioned in her letter struck a chord with me cause I used to tell her that she’d gotten too big for the hood, and to run for the mountains, California. So, on a whim I called up to the college she used to go to—it was a long shot, but it paid off. I was able to bribe her last known residence out of a sweet flirtatious lady that worked in administrations. It was listed to a three-bedroom stucco in Long Beach, and me and the pound already scheduled a round trip.
Pain and a few of the homies had already driven our arsenal of heat out there so we’d be able to set the temperature if shit got ugly. I paused at Armani’s door—there were two things that pushed my instincts into overdrive and made me up the tool. One: it was too quiet, Armani had kids, and on weekends her son would come down to visit from his old man’s spot. Two: the door was ajar, and it wasn’t like Armani to be so careless. I hid the MP behind the bouquet of roses and glanced around to see if her truck was parked in its usual spot—it was.
‘That’s not a good sign!’ I thought as I used my foot to silently push the door open and slip into the living room.
The curtains were drawn closed, so it was dark—I stood still with the roses held out in front of me—my finger tight around the trigga, and ready to molest that bitch if trouble awaited me in the darkness. Everythang seemed cool, but I knew death wore many disguises, so I stayed on my toes as I crept through the apartment as silently as the plague of death that God sent through Egypt to force Pharaoh to let his people go. I had to pause again once I made it to the doorway to Armani’s room. An almost inaudible whimpering sound froze my heart in my chest.
I’d grown to love Lili like she was my own daughter, and there was no doubt in my mind that I’d paint the city red if any harm had been done to the child. I reached through the door and fumbled for the switch on the wall until I felt it, then flooded the room with light. It took me a minute to register what my eyes were capturing, but after the confusion wore off—my blood turned black in my veins. Lili’s tear-streaked face was facing me as she laid on top of Armani with her face against her mother’s bare chest. Armani stared at me wide-eyed as if she was shocked to see me, but the glazed over tint to her eyes was a clear indication that her soul had departed from that room long ago.
There was a lazy movement underneath the sheets that confused me because Lili was lying still—watching me as if she were in a trance. Either Armani had gotten a pet I didn’t know ‘bout, or her soul was trapped under that sheet searching for a way to heaven.
“Mr. Assata, please tell my mommy to wake up—the bad man left his special friend, and he bites my mommy,” Lili cried softly before raisi
ng slightly and placing gentle kisses all over her mama’s face. “Wake up, mommy, Mr. Assata is here to help us now. Wake up, mommy, please?” The child’s plea cracked my soul. She turned her innocent eyes to me. “Won’t you, Mr. Assata—won’t you help us?” she asked. Impulsively, I rushed over to her. I had to pry her hands away from Armani’s cold body. “No—no, Mr. Assata, my mommy’s cold, I was warming her up!” she cried.
An urgent hissing sound caused me to stumble back a few steps with the child safely in my arms. My eyes darted to the now still lump under the sheet, but a warm feeling caused me to look down to where I cradled the child behind her knees. Blood seeped from small puncture wounds that resembled a vampire’s bite.
“I—I’m tired,” Lili whined.
I rushed her through the hallway and laid her on the floor as gently as possible. “Stay here, baby, don’t move, okay?” I stared down at the beautiful little girl as I snatched my phone off my hip and dialed 911.
She was weak, and hot with fever when I rushed back into the room with the tool clutched tightly—I snatched the sheet off the bed. “What the fuck!” the words exploded out my mouth as a man’s worse enemy rose like a genie does from its bottle.
A long, black mamba snake swayed back and forth. Its black tongue flickering out of its mouth as it tasted the air. I knew that snakes were blind, and they use their tongue to sense their prey. “Nine-one-one, emergency center, state your emergency,” the operator came on the line. The giant snake seemed to smile at me as it flashed its fangs in a menacing hiss. “Nine-one-one—are you there?” The operator was persistent as I slowly backpedaled toward the door.