by K'wan
“Well don’t you think you should’ve at least found out from him who it was that set you up before you cut his tongue out?” Animal asked.
“I don’t need him to tell me what I fear I already know,” Kahllah said sadly. There were only a handful of people who had the resources and intelligence to lay a trap for someone of the Black Lotus’s skill, and the list of those who had motive to want her out of the way was even shorter.
Just then the bedroom door swung open, causing Animal and Kahllah both to spin on the defensive. Animal was about to squeeze the triggers on his guns when he realized that it was only Ashanti. He stood in the doorway, gun raised and looking at the carnage in wide-eyed shock. When his eyes landed on Kahllah, covered in blood and with her privates exposed, his look of shock turned into one of concern.
“Big sis, what happened?” Ashanti asked, ready to punish whoever it was who had hurt her.
“Nothing my brother and I couldn’t handle,” Kahllah patted Ashanti lovingly on the cheek, leaving bloody fingerprints. “I’ll meet you back at the truck,” she told them and left the apartment.
For the first time Ashanti noticed that Animal was holding his pistols. It was the first time he’d seen Animal holding a gun in years and it filled his heart with great pride. “So much for promises, huh?”
Animal looked down at his guns. He thought that he would’ve felt ashamed for breaking his promise to Gucci, but instead, he felt alive . . . more alive than he’d felt in years. “I guess so.”
“Damn, Blood, how y’all gonna lay everybody down before I got my taste? I came all the way out here to Fag-Town and ain’t nothing left for me to do,” Ashanti said, sounding like a disappointed kid who had just found out he had to attend summer school and couldn’t go away to camp.
Animal suddenly had a fiendish idea. He knelt beside Klein, careful not to get blood on his clothes, began searching his pockets. It took a second, but he eventually found what he was looking for. “Bingo,” he smiled.
“What you doing, man?” Ashanti asked.
Animal twirled a key ring on his finger. “About to make this night worth your while.”
• • •
The minute Ricky had heard the shooting, he got out of dodge. He felt bad about what he had done to Kahllah because she had always been so kind to him. He’d first met her a few years back when she was on the West Coast doing a story on the secret life of Transgender Prostitutes. She didn’t treat Ricky like some sideshow freak, as everyone else had done. She was kind, respectful and caring. She’d even helped him find a room to rent because he was living on the streets. Kahllah had been one of the very few bright spots in his life since he had been out on his own, working the streets.
For as foul as what Ricky had done might’ve seemed, he felt like he didn’t have a choice. When he had been approached about helping lay the trap, Ricky was against it, but they made an offer he couldn’t refuse. They had taken his parents and young nephew hostage. He was given a choice between helping set Kahllah up or watching while his family was butchered. Ricky’s parents hadn’t said two words to him since he’d come out of the closet and he couldn’t have cared less what happened to them, but his nephew was innocent. Reluctantly, Ricky agreed. Now, because of him, Kahllah was dead.
Ricky wiped the tears from his eyes, careful not to smear his makeup. The night was still young and he had a quota to make, or risk the wrath of his pimp. There was no way he could work the strip anymore that night, so he move a few blocks down to one of the quieter streets. There wasn’t as much traffic as the strip, and it was mostly worked by outlaws and drug addicts, but it would have to do, at least for the night. A Mercedes came slow coasting down the streets. It was white with tinted windows, and shining like new money. It didn’t take long for the misfits who worked that section of Boy’s Town to come crawling out of whatever cracks and crevasses they’d been hiding in. They were a homely looking lot compared to Ricky. They were on him like vultures, but that was only because he hadn’t seen Ricky.
The man-whore hiked his skirt a bit so that his ass cheeks were visible, and sashayed across the driver’s line of vision. As expected, the driver took one look at her and shooed the others away. When the Benz pulled up in front of Ricky, his walk was triumphant, flipping his long blonde weave and rolling his eyes at the other prostitutes. He had snagged the prize.
The driver rolled the passenger window down. The dome light was out, so Ricky was only able to see flashes of the driver’s face in the headlights of the other cars passing them. “What’s good? What that mouth do?” He called out to Ricky.
“It’ll do whatever you want it to for a hundred bucks, sugar,” Ricky said, leaning deep into the open passenger window. In the pale light of a passing truck, he was able to see the driver’s face clearly for the first time. It only took Ricky a few seconds to realize where he had seen the driver before, but by then it was already too late.
“Can it swallow a bullet?” Ashanti asked, jamming the bulldog in Ricky’s mouth and pulling the trigger twice. Ashanti didn’t wait for the body to hit the ground before he pulled off. Animal had kept true to his word and made the night worth Ashanti’s while. If he wasn’t sure before, he was sure then that his big homie was back on deck. Rumor had it that a half hour later, when the police finally arrived to find Ricky’s body, smoke was still seeping out of his mouth from the bullets Ashanti put in his throat.
• • •
“Man that felt good!” Ashanti boasted, once they were back inside the SUV with Kahllah. They’d abandoned Klein’s car a few blocks away. “Animal, that was a slick ass idea you had about rolling on that He-she with Klein’s car, but what made you want to kill him?”
“Because it was Ricky who set us up. I saw him talking to the guys who ambushed Kahllah,” Animal revealed.
“That’s some cold shit,” Ashanti shook his head in disgust. “Kahllah, I should’ve bet you some money on all that shit you was talking about being able to trust that freak. You’re the main one always talking that ‘trust no one but your own shit’,” he did his scary voice imitation. “What you got to say for yourself now?”
“Fuck you, Ashanti!” Kahllah snapped.
“Damn, who pissed in your Cheerios? I was only playing. Fuck is your problem?” Ashanti asked.
“Leave it alone, Ashanti,” Animal told him. He knew Ashanti didn’t mean any harm, but after what Kahllah had gone through, it was no time for jokes. Animal felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket, and removed it to check the screen. It was the voicemail notification, but he also had fifteen missed calls from Gucci. Something was wrong. He quickly dialed her back and waited while the phone rang. Each time it rang, he felt his heart beat a little faster in his chest. He’d hoped nothing had happened to her or T.J. while he was out committing murders with Kahllah and Ashanti. To his relief, she finally picked up. “What’s wrong babe?” he asked, in a concerned tone. Gucci was talking so fast that he almost couldn’t understand her. “Wait, slow down. What???” Animal’s mouth dropped, as Gucci explained the situation. “Okay, I’ll be right there.” Animal said and ended the call.
Ashanti looked at his friend and the expression on his face made him uneasy. He wasn’t sure what Gucci had said to him on the phone, but whatever it was made him turn white as a ghost. “Everything good?” he asked.
“Nah, everything isn’t good. I need to get home, A.S.A.P.”
SIX
FOR A LONG WHILE ALL Animal could do was stare in stunned silence, with his mouth agape. The room felt like it was spinning and his heart was pumping blood to his face and head at such an alarming rate that he felt like he might pass out. He needed to sit down, but didn’t trust his legs to carry him the few feet to the closest chair. It felt like a bad dream and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t wake up.
Kahllah was perched on a stool in the kitchen, wearing one of Gucci’s bathrobes. Her long black hair was wet, and hanging around her shoulders. The first thing she’d done when the
y got to the house was take a hot shower to wash off the stink from the men who had touched her, and their blood. For as calm and composed as she was, you’d never know that she’d nearly been raped and had killed several people only a few hours prior. She sipped hot tea from a mug, watching everything and everyone from over the rim.
Ashanti leaned against the refrigerator, drinking a beer with a confused expression on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but a look from Kahllah silenced him. It was not the time or place for his street corner humor.
T.J. sat on Gucci’s lap, with one of his books in his hand. He flipped the pages, and rattled off in gibberish acting like he was reading to his mother. Every so often, Gucci would spare him a smile or loving touch, but her attention was directed elsewhere.
Animal did his best to avoid looking at Gucci. Every time he saw the hurt in her eyes, it cut him like a knife. Thought he wasn’t looking at her, he could feel Gucci watching him, her eyes burrowing into him, searching for an explanation. His dark past had seeped into her life and yanked the bottom out, yet again.
In the center of this tense moment was the impossible, Animal’s past and future colliding in the middle of his living room. Fire red hair fanned out around her face, while cold gray eyes stared at him, challengingly. Sonja had gained some weight since the last time he’d seen her, but it had been distributed in all the right places . . . breasts, thighs, hips, everything was looking right. It had been years since he had seen Red Sonja, and had it been up to him he’d have lived the rest of his days without ever having seen her again, but here she was, underdressed and as belligerent as ever. Not only had Sonja popped back into the picture at the worst possible time, she brought some life altering news with her.
A little girl, with auburn hair and almond colored skin sat on the couch, half paying attention to the cartoons playing on the big-screen television. Her dark eyes watched Animal like a hawk, studying him. It must’ve been just as eerie for her as it was for him, each seeing their face on someone else’s body. T.J. climbed from his mother’s lap and waddled over to the little girl, attempting to show her something in his book. She spared him a glance then went back to watching Animal. There was a calm to her that was far beyond her few years on earth. Even if it had not been for the little girl’s curly hair, and bowed lips, he would’ve known she was his. From the moment he’d laid eyes on her, their souls connected in a way that only those of Animal’s troubled bloodline could’ve understood.
“How?” was all Animal was able to blurt out.
Sonja rolled her eyes and mock slapped her forehead. “Jesus, do we have to go through this again?”
Animal gave Sonja a look and whatever smart remark she was about to follow up with died in her throat.
“Animal,” she began in a much more civilized tone, “I was as shocked as you when I found out I was pregnant with Celeste. You know how we were living out there and it didn’t exactly make for the ideal environment to raise a child in. Still, it didn’t change the fact that I was about to be a mother and there was nothing that I could do about it besides step to the plate and show our daughter better than we were shown.”
Animal looked from the daughter he’d just met to the woman he used to sleep with. Uncertainty and suspicion was etched across his face. “You’ve kept quiet about her all this time, now you suddenly pop up out of the woodwork with this Maury shit. Why didn’t you come to me sooner?”
“Because I didn’t need you!” Sonja snarled. Picking up on her mother’s hostility, Celeste got off the couch and moved to stand beside her, glaring at Animal angrily for having upset her mother. The soft touch of Celeste’s hand in hers calmed Sonja and reminded her of why they’d come. “Animal, is there somewhere we can talk?” she cut her eyes at Gucci. “In private.”
“Sonja’s right. This is something we need to discuss in private and not in front of these kids,” Gucci agreed.
“We is French and it’s a safe bet that your black ass has never been anywhere near France,” Sonja mocked her. “This is between me and my daughter’s father. Whatever Animal chooses to share with you after the fact, he’s welcome, but this,” she motioned at herself, Animal and Celeste, “is not your business.”
“Well this,” Gucci raised her left hand, flashing the big diamond on her ring finger that Animal had brought her, “makes it my business. Sonja, it’s bad enough that you have disrespected my home and my marriage with this foolishness and you think I’m going to further sit by while you go off to whisper more secrets into my husband’s ear? You got me totally fucked up.”
“Gucci—” Animal began, but she cut him off.
“Gucci my ass. I’ve played the naïve girlfriend through a lot of shit over the years, Tayshawn, but I’m no longer your girlfriend, I’m your wife. I need total disclosure on this one. You owe me that much.”
Animal looked back and forth between Sonja, who was standing there with her arms folded, looking irritated, and Gucci, who had her arms folded, daring him to deny her. He was in a lose-lose situation. “Fine,” he relented. “Kahllah,” he turned to his sister, “I know you’ve got some pressing business to attend to and I hate to impose—”
“No, it’s okay,” Kahllah cut him off. “You guys go and get this sorted out. I’ll keep an eye on the kids. It’ll give me a chance to spend some time with my niece and nephew,” she scooped T.J. in her arms. She was still sore from the beating she’d taken at Klein, but she was good at masking her pain. “Let’s go, pretty girl,” she extended her hand to Celeste. The child just stared at it as if she was weighing whether to bite Kahllah’s fingers off or not. She was definitely Animal’s kid.
“It’s okay, Celeste. Go with your auntie,” Sonja told her. “Maybe you can get her to tell you the story about the Black Lotus.”
Kahllah couldn’t hide her shock. Her angry eyes went from Sonja to Animal.
“Don’t worry, Animal didn’t spill the beans. Just know that you aren’t the only one good at doing your homework on people, especially when they’re family,” Sonja gave her a wink. “Your secret is safe with me.”
Kahllah wanted to leap across the room and knock every tooth out of Sonja’s mouth, but for the sake of the children and helping to keep the peace, she held her composure. She had heard stories about the infamous Red Sonja, and though she hadn’t known her for a few minutes, she knew that she couldn’t stand her. She would let it go, for now, but if she said something else slick Red Sonja would learn the hard way that Kahllah wasn’t as tolerant as Gucci when she jumped in her ass.
• • •
Animal felt much better when they were outside on the deck. In the house it felt like the walls were closing in on him. In the open space, it was easier for him to breathe. Animal slid one of the wooden chairs out from the table so that Gucci could sit, but she just rolled her eyes and instead leaned against the wall, glaring at him.
“Aren’t you going to offer to pull my chair out too?” Sonja asked.
Animal kicked the chair and sent it sliding in Red Sonja’s direction. She caught it with her foot, spun it around the correct way, and sat down gracefully. Her reflexes were still as sharp as ever. “Who says chivalry is dead?” she crossed one thick leg over the other.
Animal caught himself almost staring. “What’s your game Sonja?” he asked in an irritated tone.
Sonja shrugged. “It’s no game. Like I told your girlfriend ⊠”
“Wife,” Gucci corrected her.
“Whatever,” Sonja waved her off. “Like I was telling this broad, Celeste is your kid and it’s long overdue that you two met.”
“So we’re just supposed to take your word for it that Celeste is Animal’s?” Gucci asked.
Sonja gave Gucci a pitiful look. “You and I both know you’re reaching with that one. You’ve seen her, and they’re almost identical twins, but I do understand the mistrusting nature of hood-boogers. Every time you turn around some young bitch is trying to put a baby on a dude that doesn’t want to be b
othered. I dig it, and respect your suspicions, so I came baring gifts.” Sonja dug in her purse and removed an envelope, which she held out to Animal.
“What is that?” Animal asked suspiciously.
“A letter bomb,” Sonja joked. “Just open it.”
Animal opened the envelope and removed the folded piece of paper inside. He had to read it twice to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. He was speechless.
“And before you ask, yes, it’s authentic. You can even check out the clinic that performed the paternity test and you’ll find that they’re legitimate,” Sonja told him. “Knowing you, I knew I’d have to come with more than my words and a pretty face to convince you, so I took the liberty of having the test done before I came to you. I figured this was less trouble, unless you guys would’ve rather we’d done it on the Maury show?” she cut her eyes at Gucci.
Gucci snatched the paternity test from Animal’s hand and read it for herself. “This is bullshit,” she balled it up and threw it at Sonja. “Where would you even get a sample of Animal’s DNA to compare?”
Sonja smirked, as if she had been waiting for the question to be asked. “You must’ve forgotten that for the two years that you two were apart it was me who warmed Animal’s bed and attended to his manly needs. We practically lived together on the compound, so it was easy enough for me to get more than what I needed from the things he left behind when he came running back to you. We can debate this all day, but it still won’t change the fact that Celeste is Animal’s child, same as T.J.”
Animal ran his hands through his hair, grabbing two fists full of his roots and gave them a tug. Him focusing on the pain in his scalp was the only thing that was keeping him from having a meltdown and lashing out. “This is classic Red Sonja,” he seethed.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Sonja asked.
“It means let’s cut the bullshit and get down to the reason you’re here,” Animal spat. “By my count, Celeste should be about three, which means if you were really concerned about me being in her life, you’d have reached out long before now. You ain’t hurting for no bread, I doubt that’s the angle,” he leaned in and looked Sonja in the eyes. “Don’t fuck with my heart or my patience Sonja, cut to the chase and tell me what you want.”