by Brick
“I suggest you call them now and say your goodbyes.”
My heart fell to my stomach. Tears clouded my eyes. “What does that mean?”
I knew what it meant. I just didn’t want to accept it.
“Sabrina, I need you not to be emotional right now, okay? I’m not being an asshole. I’m just telling you this is not the time. I need you to get it together because this is important. You have to know, without a doubt, that you’re willing to go to the end of the world and back with me. We can’t make moves to disappear if we have to unless you’re 100 percent with me. I know you don’t want to your leave mother and sisters behind, but if we have to move, then we have to move soon.”
I covered my mouth as my tears fell. Mama loved Lyric so much. It was going to kill her for us to disappear like we never existed. My sisters would be up in arms about it. But most of all, it was going to hurt for a long time knowing that this phone call could be the last I’d have with them. I moved closer to Marcel’s outstretched hand and took the phone.
A few minutes later, after my emotional response to our reality had subsided, I woke Lyric. It took her a minute to get her bearings about her. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. As soon as her eyes found Marcel, she made a beeline to him, jumped around his waist, and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“I-I-I did everything you said, Daddy,” she told him.
He gave a lopsided smile. “I know you did, baby. You did well too. Very good.”
I sat on the bed and dialed my mother’s number, praying she was awake at this hour. She answered on the fourth ring.
“Hello?” her voice was groggy, and it was clear the ringing phone had awakened her.
“Hey, Mama. How are you?” I asked.
“Sabrina? Girl, what are you calling me for this time of night? Everything okay?” she wanted to know.
I could hear covers rustling in her background. I assumed she was sitting up in bed, probably grabbing her glasses so she could see better. Sometimes Mama felt as if she couldn’t speak well without her glasses on. I had no idea how one correlated with the other, but that was just the way her mind worked.
“Um, yeah. I mean . . . I just wanted to talk to you. Lyric wanted to as well. We were up. She’s, ah . . . not feeling very well,” I said, speaking as truthfully as I could.
I knew Mama was smiling when she said, “Well, let me speak to my grandbaby. See what Nana can do to help her feel better.”
I handed Lyric the phone. “Hello, Nana,” she beamed.
“Hello, baby. You don’t sound sick,” Mama said.
“I hit my head.”
“Oh no. How’d that happen?”
Lyric looked at her father, and he shook his head. “Was running and hit it on the wall, Nana.”
Marcel and Lyric had a relationship that even she and I didn’t have. They communicated without words sometimes. I was sure his shake of the head was to tell her not to tell Mama the truth. She was a tough cookie, and it was all thanks to the man holding her in his arms. As I listened to my daughter speak with my mother, knowing it could be the last time I’d hear her voice in a long time, quite possibly for the rest of my life, was a humbling experience. Marcel and I had lived the good life, a modest one, but a good one. We weren’t flashy although the bistro did very well, and each of our side jobs was lucrative. We were both smart enough to know that living a flashy kind of life wasn’t the way to go.
Once Lyric was done, she handed me the phone again.
“She’s going to be just fine. Little thang smart as a whip. You and Marcel are doing a good job with her,” Mama complimented.
“Thank you,” I said. “Mama?”
“Yeah, baby. You sure you’re okay? You don’t sound so well yourself.”
I didn’t want her to know I was crying. My head fell back, and I looked up at the ceiling.
“I’m okay. Just tired and sleepy. Was worried about Lyric.”
“Oh, okay, then. I gotta get up here in a few hours and head to work. Let me get all the sleep I can. Dealing with old-ass Mrs. Drescher gets my nerves to jumping. Old-ass, rich, Jewish woman called me ‘colored’ yesterday,” she said, then laughed. “I have to be well rested dealing with her. I love you, baby, but call me tomorrow, okay?”
I knew that wouldn’t be possible. I wanted to keep her on the phone for as long as I could. I couldn’t and as bad as I wanted to find something, anything to talk about, I knew it was best I didn’t prolong the inevitable.
“I love you too, Mama.”
“Okay, baby. Now good night.”
“Wait, Mama.”
“Yeah?”
I just needed to remember her voice. “Have a good day tomorrow and always remember, no matter what, we love you. My family . . . We love you.”
I could hear her smiling. “I know you do. Rest well, Sabrina. Give my love to Marcel.”
I laid the phone next to me. I wanted to call my sisters but couldn’t bring myself to go through the whole thing again. Wondered if I should have called my father but thought better of it. Hadn’t spoken to that man in three years. I’d seen him plenty over the last three years, in passing and in social settings, but he wouldn’t spare me a second glance. Maybe starting over somewhere else wasn’t all bad.
Chapter Sixteen
Marcel
Having my family cooped up in my hidden bunker wasn’t the big aspiration I had in my goals of life for them. It honestly only added to how pissed I was about the situation. I had broken down to Sabrina the choices we had to survive right now. There were only two. Either we go, or we stay and fight. Giving Sabrina that ultimatum was more so about her finally understanding the life she committed herself to in marrying me. Was it fair? Nah, but it was unavoidable.
I lay, holding my baby girl at night, rocking her as was our thing. As we all slept, my other arm was also wrapped around Sabrina. Every morning around three or four—it always changed—I’d low-key leave to set things in order for us. That routine continued off and on for at least a week until I, ultimately, moved Sabrina and Lyric out of the bunker.
Every move I made was purposeful in regards to us possibly being watched and made damn sure that when I moved that my actions were always undetectable.
“Dad-dee,” I heard my daughter say as she sat in the backseat in her car seat swinging her little legs.
Sabrina was beside me watching me and surveying our surroundings as I asked her to do. She and I wore hats and leather jacket hoodies, while little momma wore a hoodie as well.
“What is it, baby girl?”
Switching lanes, my attention was on her but also on everyone around us while my gloved hands gripped the steering wheel.
I watched Lyric casually play with her doll. I had switched out the gun because I was with her and had a chip phone hidden in a soft clip in her doll’s puffs. The gun was hidden against Sabrina’s inner thigh.
“Can we see Grandma?”
That simple question had me thinking as I checked the van ahead of us that turned on to another ramp. That was our decoy just in case we were being followed. I had some friends working that one as we rode out of Atlanta.
“I’m thinking about it because Daddy is going to have to do some extra work.” I felt Sabrina’s eyes lock on me.
I was contradicting what I had told her earlier, but this was our daughter. I wasn’t ready to fully tell her that we might have to leave her only home.
“But Daddy has a question,” I said softening my voice into a playful banter.
“Yes! What is it?” Lyric spat out in happiness.
“How would you like to go visit some dolphins? Or ride the back of a tall giraffe? Remember those pictures I showed you?” I asked, watching her.
I moved into a new lane, then made a sharp turn up a ramp. Watching my surroundings, I then turned and headed toward Roswell.
“Yes, sir,” she said sharply, joyously laughing as she made her doll dance. “I want to ride the giraffes. I think we can hide better with the
giraffes.”
Shocked, I chuckled to myself, then glanced at Sabrina.
“Then maybe Grandma can come visit us, and aunties, yeah?” she added sitting up to make me stare her in her eyes in my rearview mirror.
Yet again, she was in my mind, as she always was since an infant. It made me smile. Made me adamant about protecting her and her mother. A major part of me was sick with the idea of leaving what I had built, but shit, I knew me. I could easily rebuild later, and if my daughter wanted to play with the giraffes, then that’s what we were going to do.
“I think that’s a damn good idea, baby girl. I promise that I’ll try my best to make that happen,” I said with warmth in my voice.
“Okay,” she said relaxing back. “It’s okay if you don’t. I’ll still love you, Daddy.”
Grinning wide, I relaxed and sped on. “I know you will, baby, and that and your mom’s love is all I need.”
Whipping our ride, I drove us through an underpass, then turned until we made it to a gated condominium complex.
“Wow, baby,” I heard Sabrina say.
“Daddy, where are we?” Lyric asked while I punched in codes.
“Your new home for now. We live way up there with the balcony,” I said pointing toward the massive high-rise.
Disappearing in a parking zone, I glanced at Sabrina and then leaned forward to open my glove compartment and pulled out a set of spare keys. “These are to a safe deposit box in BB&T Bank. If anything ever happens to me, if I ‘disappear’ for any reason, go empty that box. Then you and Lyric leave right from the bank to the airport. Make no stops. Do you understand me?”
Sabrina’s eyes held wild panic, but she nodded. I needed her to understand what I wasn’t saying, and it comforted me when I reached up to rest my hand against her neck that she stared at me all in like the very first day I saw her.
“You’ll be protected here, on my word. I have trusted eyes that will be watching you.”
“Whatever you do, we’ll follow,” Sabrina said, and it made me kiss her with loving passion.
Tongues dancing, I let my teeth nip her lower lip, then leaned back with the sound of her soft moan. “Just keep chill, and we’ll be a’ight for now. I can’t promise 100 percent safety, but you will be protected. So for anybody to get to you, they’ll have to go through hell first.”
After that, we found our way upstairs and in our new home. Lyric jetted inside as if she had lived in the large four-bedroom condo before. All I saw were her little Skechers flashing their lights, and it had both of us following until we found her in her room in her huge canopy bed.
“Damn, she just said fuck the rest and called dibs. She must have known what the deal was,” I said laughing while dropping my hoodie back.
Sabrina’s arms wrapped around me as we stood and watched Lyric rest. “You have her name on the wall and Doc McStuffins everywhere. Duh, she knew this was her room, and she’s like you. She sleeps on her own terms.”
Feeling embarrassed as I chuckled, I turned to get my arms around my wife. “True enough. Let me give you the rundown, though. As before, see that mermaid? There’s artillery there and under her bed, as well as in the closet. The chandelier in the entryway is rigged the same. The kitchen has three switches . . . one by the coffee machine, one under the ledge of the island, one by the refrigerator. They all trigger an alert and shift the kitchen into a safe zone with weapons.”
“Marcel—” Sabrina started.
“One second because I’m not done. Our bedroom and bathroom are decked out the same way with alert triggers. We have videos, and my additional eyes can be here under one second if something goes down. No one, and I mean no one, knows of this place. Don’t bring anyone here. I need to clear everything up first. If we decide to stay, then we’ll speak to the front desk and add names, okay?” I asked, explaining to make sure that she understood all of this. “There’re three exits as well, with three rides waiting for you. The Charger, a truck, and the ride we rode in. I need to go back out now, baby.”
Sabrina gave me nods, then abruptly stood back with a tilt of her head. “Really? You just dropped us in this gorgeous place, and you’re leaving?”
“Baby,” walking her backward, we found ourselves against a wall, and I planted my hands on each side of Sabrina’s head as I spoke to her. “All I want to do is stay under you and inside of you. Slip deep into you and bless our home right, but I can’t. Leo is who I have to deal with and is why I’m leaving. Keep chill and think about if we are going or staying. If you got any ideas about doing business with the mob or anything else, I’m listening. Otherwise, write it down.”
Sabrina’s gaze stared up at me. Our closeness was making it uncomfortable for me, had my manhood eager, but I knew that I needed to focus on this family. Even as my wife’s small hands slid up my chest, then her arms wrapped around me, I tried to check myself. Until she said, “Leo has an off-shore account. The money goes directly to a Ginny Briton and an L. J. Briton. I’m pretty sure that L. J. stands for Leo Jr., and I’m pretty sure that this Ginny is his mistress. And, baby? I’m pretty sure that this is one secret that he doesn’t want known. Maybe . . . Maybe you can use it as leverage.”
Everything she said had my mind churning. Leo had secrets that I knew could get him ousted from his state seat. However, something like what she was saying could do so much more.
He hurt my family; then I figured that I would only play well with the scales if I did the same to both of his families.
“Where is this account based?” I gently asked.
The flicker of anxiousness flashed across Sabrina’s beautiful face. I found myself kissing her temple and keeping our connection strong and reassuring.
Exhaling and looking away while shaking her head as if she was making a mistake, she whispered, “Anguilla.”
Grinning, I picked Sabrina up and took her to our room where I decided to push back an hour of my time and spend it making my wife’s walls quake and line them with my DNA. She was on my side, even though it was hard, and I wanted to honor her and show her how much I appreciated it. I also wanted her to know that she never has to sacrifice a piece of her morality ever again. I got that covered for the both us.
After putting her to sleep, I dressed in my best, shaved, slipped on my geek glasses, and then drove to the offices of Leo Giulio.
“Excuse me, sir?” was sharply said my way fifteen minutes later.
Checking out the short blonde with the cocoa-brown skin, I gave a respectable smile and stepped back from the oak double doors that led to Leo’s office.
“I’m sorry, I’m on the list,” I said flashing my aide badge.
“And you are?” she said swiveling in her chair to get a better look at me.
Better look meant my dick print as that was where her eyes were zoomed in.
Mama was sizing me up good, her eyes stripping me, and it had me coming closer.
“Director Aide to Mr. Giulio,” I said slowly, resting a palm against the side of her desk. “And he would most definitely want to speak with me.”
“Oh, I was under the impression that that position was vacant,” she said still studying me.
“No, ma’am, as you see, I’m here in the flesh,” I said back.
Whenever I was out of town, my position would go vacant until I got back. The rest of the aides handled all my “business.” Clearly, this woman wasn’t clued in on that, or she knew some shit that I didn’t, such as, technically if Leo was gunning for me, I should be dead. Which would make sense why the position was vacant.
“True, and very sexy flesh at that,” she muttered the last part as if I wouldn’t hear her. “Well, Mr. Giulio is busy right now.”
“That’s fine; he’ll still see me, cutie,” I said with a slick smile.
Before she could distract me anymore, I walked off and pushed through the door. Leo was definitely busy. Busy between the thighs of one of his female aides. I stood there watching as a pretty peanut-butter brown sista arched a
nd fondled her melon-sized breasts. Her fingers slipped over her cocoa areolas to pinch and tug at her nipples while her face was frozen in a mask of ecstasy.
A lot of smacking and slurping was going down while I took a seat and pressed a finger against my temple to watch the show. If it weren’t for Leo leaning back to strum his lover between her thighs, this nigga wouldn’t have even known I was there. Had I been trigger-happy as well, he wouldn’t have even been aware to plead for life because both he and his aide would have been dead by the gun that rested on my lap.
So I sat there and waited as the X-rated show went on . . . until he stopped and noticed my presence.
“Holy shit! Marcel,” he said, stumbling backward.
“Don’t mind me; go ahead and do your friend,” I said with a bored tone. “Don’t get me wrong, though, I see she was enjoying how you ate her, man, but you might want to flip her around and bust that nut. I’m just saying. Would make things more interesting. Don’t you think, cutie?”
The woman I addressed was embarrassedly gripping the front of her shirt as she watched. She quickly stood, but the slick smile that flashed on her face let me know she was the type that enjoyed being watched, but for all intents and purposes, she had to pretend as if she wasn’t. Which is why she tugged at her skirt and rushed out of the room. I was pretty sure she was so flustered that she didn’t even notice that I was carrying heat.
As she went by, I simply leaned to the side and watched her in approval. “I think you moved up in the game since your last one. Baby girl got a nice phatty.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Leo adjusting himself and pulling up his clothes. He haphazardly pulled his shirt closed, then took a seat. “What are you doing here? What the hell do you want?”
I watched him curiously. Nothing in how he addressed me said that he was a man who had put a hit out on me. Now, he could have been playing me, but I knew that he wasn’t from years of studying him and others I’ve come across in my work. So, it was really bothering me to conclude that something was up, and I had no clear clue what that was.