Changed Man

by Roy Glenn

  Changed Man

  By Roy Glenn

  Escapism Entertainment

  © Copyright 2017 Roy Glenn

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living or dead or to real locals are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places, and incidents is entirely coincidental.

  Chapter One

  Wanda was crying. Bobby was sitting across from her, staring out the window of the limo, looking like he wanted to cry. We just buried one of our best friends, so I had been fighting back the tears all day, because I had never known pain. Not like this.

  I don’t have much family to speak of; it’s just me and my mother. Her father died when she was six, and her mother, who I had never met, died when I was young. So, I never lost anybody that was close to me, never lost anybody that I loved, never lost family … until now.

  Vickie was my family. Not that gangster shit we do for money. Vickie was my sister and this shit hurts like a mutha fucka because I killed her.

  How could I have been so fuckin’ stupid? I don’t care how fucked up I was, the second I opened my eyes and saw Vickie sitting there, I should have snatched that bag up and locked it in my safe. But I didn’t. If I had, Vickie would still be alive, Wanda wouldn’t be crying, and I wouldn’t have to fuckin’ feel this way.

  Now, I am not an emotional guy. I mean, no one was ever gonna accuse me of being a man with sensitivity, but over the last few days I’ve run the gambit. Shock, anger, guilt, but mostly what I feel is pain. Pain because I killed her. I was in shock when I kicked in the door and found her. I remember feeling numb at first, and then disorientated because I couldn’t believe it was happening.

  That didn’t last long because it very quickly turned to rage and anger at myself because I killed Vickie. I called Andre and he called his police and they took care of everything.

  Since it happened, everybody has been telling me that it’s not my fault, but I can’t accept that. They say Vickie was on a path of self-destruction and there was nothing I could have done. That’s bullshit! All I had to do is put the fuckin’ dope away and I wouldn’t have to feel this guilt.

  And neither would Wanda.

  I looked over at Wanda, she hadn’t stopped crying, so I moved over and put my arm around her. I can’t even imagine what she must be feeling right now. As close as me and Bobby are, that’s how close she and Vickie were. She was her best friend. I know if somebody took Bobby from me, I’d wanna kill them.

  But she can’t, because it’s me that took her.

  Wanda buried her head in my chest and cried harder, her body shaking against mine.

  “I’m sorry, Mike,” I heard her whimper.

  Wanda doesn’t blame me for Vickie being dead. No, Wanda blames herself.

  Wanda thinks that, at best, we share the blame because we saw what was going on with her and we should have done something about it. And she is absolutely right. She’s right because we talked about it. Me and Wanda were in the office at The Late Night talking about Vickie and her drug problem.

  “You think we need to get her some help?” I asked her that night.

  “You talking about rehab?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t think we’re at that point yet,” Wanda said and then Freeze came in. After that, things started happening quickly and then me and Bobby were off to kill Wes and we never got back to it.

  “I should have done something to help her,” Wanda cried in my chest because she should have done something to help her, and so should I. So, Wanda shares my guilt. But Wanda being Wanda, she wants to shoulder all the blame.

  But she can’t … because she didn’t kill her, I did.

  “It’s not your fault, Wanda,” I said and held her a little tighter to comfort her.

  “I knew what was going on and I should have done something, Mike.”

  “It’s not your fault, Wanda, it’s mine.”

  “I wish the two of you would stop that shit!” Bobby yelled. “Does it really matter whose fault it is? Vickie is dead! You know how fucked up it is for me to say that shit?”

  Neither me nor Wanda said anything, but Wanda did stop crying like she was.

  “Shit, we all knew what Vickie was doing and we all shoulda did something about it, but we didn’t. We all let her get out of control and now she’s dead.” Bobby looked me dead in the eyes. “Mike, you didn’t fuckin’ kill her. You didn’t put that pipe in her hand.”

  No, I just stupidly left the pure for her to put in that pipe laying around, I thought but didn’t say because he lost his mind the last time I said it.

  Bobby tapped on the window. “Driver, pull over. I’ll walk the rest of the way. That way the two of you can have your pity party and I ain’t gotta hear that shit.”

  The driver pulled over and Bobby opened the door. “I’ll get with y’all tomorrow,” he said and got out, slamming the door behind him.

  It made Wanda giggle a little. “Kinda touchy?”

  “Give him a break. He’s right, you know. We do sound pretty silly. It’s my fault, Mike. No, it’s my fault, Wanda.”

  “I guess it would make me sick too,” Wanda said, and the driver headed for her apartment. When we got there, she told me that she didn’t want to be alone, so I went in with her.

  Once we were in her apartment, Wanda changed out of her funeral dress, while I took off my jacket and that fuckin’ tie. I rolled a couple of bobs and made us both a drink. Wanda came out of her bedroom and plopped down on the couch. I handed her a drink and sat down next to her.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I don’t wanna talk, Mike. Just sit here and hold me.”

  “I can do that,” I said and put my arm around her.

  For the rest of the afternoon, me and Wanda sat there smoking weed and drinking in complete silence. Both of us in our heads thinking. Thinking about the friend we lost and dealing with our guilt until Wanda fell asleep.

  It was raining when I left Wanda’s apartment, but it was only water, so I walked home thinking about killing whoever got Vickie hooked, but knowing how impossible that would be. I know that it had to be somebody who buys from Andre, but still, the point is the same.

  “Then I’ll kill them all.”

  Chapter Two

  When I got to my apartment building, I saw Veneshia standing in the doorway waiting for me. After me and Bobby killed a pimp named Silky, she said that by right and tradition, she and the rest of Silky’s women belonged to me. She was Silky’s bottom girl, so now she was my bottom girl. And I gotta say, Veneshia had proven her value when she put Bodie in place for me to kill.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to make sure you were all right, daddy.”

  That daddy shit again. That’s the other thing; since she claimed me as her pimp now, she calls me daddy. I didn’t bother to say anything. “Come in out the rain.”

  The elevator in this building is slow, so we took the stairs to my apartment. When we got inside, I went to take off my wet clothes. Since I was reluctantly her pimp now, Veneshia wanted to do it for me, and since I was feeling some kind of way, I let her help me out of my suit. She folded the pants neatly, put them on a hanger and promised to take the suit to Howard’s cleaners in the morning.

  “I’m going to take a shower.”

  “You want me to bathe you, daddy?”

  “No.” I laughed a little. “I think I can do that myself. But, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, daddy.”

&
nbsp; “You don’t have to call me daddy, you know.”

  “I know.”

  “Where are the rest of the ladies?”

  Veneshia looked at me like I was stupid. “They out on the corner humpin’.”

  I started to say, in the rain? But I realized how stupid that would sound. That was their job. But that’s when I remembered that I was gonna find a safe place for them to work. “Find them and get them off the street.”

  “And do what with them?”

  “Bring them here.”

  She looked at me like I was crazy. “You sure you don’t want them out there workin’?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  “Okay, but you know niggas like to pick ’em up some pussy in the rain,” she said.

  “What I tell you?” I said louder than I needed to, and she quickly raised her arms to cover her face.

  “Yes, daddy,” she said and backed away from me.

  I held up my hands. “Look, you never have to worry about that anymore. Okay?”

  “Okay,” she said and slowly lowered her arms.

  “I will never hit you. Understand?”

  “Yes, daddy.”

  “And if anybody ever hurts you, I will kill them.”

  “Okay,” Veneshia said and I could see the change in her posture. She and the rest of Silky’s women had lived in fear of him for too long. I guess that’s why I killed him. I went and got some money and tried to give it to her.

  “You go get those women.”

  Once again, Veneshia looked at me like I was stupid. “I don’t need no money. I got your money. I been holding it for you since you killed Silky, daddy.”

  I shook my head. “Go on and get out of here.”

  I handed her the key so she could get back in, I got in the shower and then I went to bed.

  I don’t know how long I had been asleep when I heard somebody tapping on the door. I got out of bed, put some pants on and went to see who it was. I opened the door to the sight of a woman. She was soaking wet.

  “Hey, Black. Veneshia said I should come here.”

  I looked at her for a second or two and then I realized that she was the one that Silky was slapping around like a rag doll the night we killed him. I had to laugh because she looked a lot better than she did that night. Shit, I guess all of them looked better now that Silky wasn’t kicking their ass.

  “Make yourself comfortable,” I said and went back to bed.

  A few minutes later, she was sitting on the bed next to me and tapping me on the shoulder.

  “What?”

  “Your couch is hard. I can’t get comfortable.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Can I get in the bed with you? I promise not to bother you,” she said.

  I opened my eyes and looked at her. She had taken off her wet clothes and only had on her thong. I shook my head because she definitely looked better than she did that night.

  “Go ahead.” Or maybe it was just because she was naked.

  She quickly got under the covers. “Thank you, daddy.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Star,” she said, and she really was a star. I wondered what made a pretty young woman like her start selling her body on the street to anybody with a couple of dollars.

  “Your real name?”

  “Stephanie.”

  “Go to sleep, Stephanie.”

  I heard Veneshia when she got back with the other women and it wasn’t long before she came in the room.

  “I’m back, daddy.”

  I opened my eyes wide enough to see Veneshia standing with her hands on her hips and then she kicked Stephanie in the foot to wake her up.

  “Ouch.”

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

  “He said it was all right.”

  “Bitch, if you don’t get the fuck up from that bed right fuckin’ now …”

  “Yes, Veneshia.” She got out of bed quickly.

  “You need to learn your place.”

  “Yes, Veneshia. But he said it was all right.”

  “I don’t care. Get your ass outta here and close the door on your way out.”

  I laughed a little as Stephanie rushed out of the room.

  “Bitch need to learn her place,” Veneshia said once the door slammed shut.

  She was right, of course. She was bottom girl; by right and tradition, if anybody was going to sleep next to me it was her. Veneshia locked the door, got naked, got in bed with me and put her arms around me.

  “Good night, daddy,” Veneshia kissed me on the back of my neck and held me.

  Chapter Three

  The following morning, I woke up alone in bed. Veneshia was gone, but if that was bacon I was smelling, I knew where she was. I came out of the room to find Veneshia sitting in my chair with her leg crossed, smoking a bob and reading the paper and, of course, she had the ladies working. Three of them were cleaning the apartment; one dusting, one swept the floor, while the other held the dust pan. Stephanie and another woman were in the kitchen cooking breakfast for everybody.

  “Good morning, daddy,” Veneshia said and got up quickly.

  The other ladies stopped what they were doing, rushed in the living room and formed a line in front of me like I was going to do inspection or some shit.

  “Good morning, daddy,” they all said.

  “Stop calling me that.” I took a breath. “Is the food ready?”

  “Almost,” Stephanie said. “Bacon and pancakes are done. I just need to fix some eggs.” Veneshia nodded and the two of them went back in the kitchen.

  “Let me know when it’s ready,” I said and was about to go back in the room thinking about taking a shower.

  “You gonna take a shower?” Veneshia asked.

  “I was thinking about it. Why?”

  “You want one of them to come bathe you?”

  “No,” I said and closed the door behind me.

  My intention for the day was to find them someplace safe to work. Once I found them a safe place to take their men, I would take over the corner and make sure they were protected. And I also wanted to make sure they were healthy. “So, they all need to see a doctor,” I said aloud.

  When the food was ready, Veneshia sent Stephanie in with it. She offered to feed me, but I told her no and thanked her for the food and she left the room.

  She was probably wondering what kind of pimp I was. I laughed and started eating.

  One that ain’t no pimp.

  I was a thief, a gambler, and an enforcer. That’s what I am, or should I say was, until I killed Silky. Andre’s business was drugs. All that other shit meant little to him and that’s where I saw my opportunity; in gambling. But the whole pimp game, I never had any interest in it. The only one still running hoes was Drew now that Bodie was dead. After that, his hoes went to work for Drew and he put them right on the corner.

  But Drew didn’t want Silky’s women, said they were too busted up to work for him, and they were. With the exception of Veneshia, all of them were looking beat the fuck down the night we killed Silky. Like I said, they all looked a lot better now. Their wounds had a chance to heal; they even look like they got some new clothes. I’m sure that was Veneshia’s doing.

  I got up and came out of the room on my way to the kitchen to take my plate. Two of the ladies practically ran over each other trying to take the plate from me.

  Veneshia stood up. “Okay, ladies. Play time is over and it is time to get to work.”

  “No!” I said and all of them jumped. “All of you need to see a doctor today. Complete physicals for everyone.” I pointed in Veneshia’s face. “Understand?”

  “Yes, daddy, I understand.”

  “Come on,” I said and went to my room. “And stop calling me that.”

  “Yes, daddy.”

  I gave her my doctor’s number and tried to give her some money, but the result was the same. She rounded up the ladies, and I went to see Andre.

  After extending his co
ndolences again, we talked about business for a while and then he sent me to collect fifty large from Wilson Goode. He was a hustler, but for some stupid reason, he let Andre talk him into putting some product in the street. Obviously, it didn’t go well for him, so now he gets a visit from me. Since I couldn’t find Bobby or Freeze, I called Nick.

  “Come scoop me up, I gotta make a run.”

  When we got to Wilson’s apartment, nobody answered, so I kicked the door in. I went inside and there was Wilson, along with two very pretty ladies. They were both naked and all Wilson had on was his underwear.

  Then I looked at the coffee table and my eyes narrowed.

  “What the fuck! What the fuck you mutha fuckas doing here? And my fuckin’ door! Y’all gonna fix my door.”

  Wilson was shouting, but I wasn’t listening. All I saw was the dope and those pipes on the table. I looked at the two women and all I could see was Vickie. Neither of them looked anything like her, but in my mind, they both became her.

  “Andre sent us. He wants his money,” I heard Nick say and then Wilson started yelling some shit back, but I was all in my head about Vickie.

  I looked at the women and the blow on the table and wondered how many times Vickie had been in this situation, freakin’ some nigga like Wilson for cocaine. I looked at Wilson and wondered if he had ever had Vickie like that.

  “You two get dressed and get outta here,” I said.

  “They ain’t gotta go nowhere. Y’all ain’t gotta go nowhere. They were just about to leave.”

  “I ain’t gonna say it again,” And with that, both ladies got up and went in the bedroom. “Go with them, Nick.”

  While Nick was watching the ladies get dressed, Wilson was wolfing some shit at me, but I knew it was for the benefit of the ladies, so I let him talk.

  My mind was still on Vickie and why I didn’t do more to help her. I knew that we should have, but I agreed with Wanda that she wasn’t that far gone that we needed to do something. Now, both of us are beating ourselves up over our decision to do nothing when we should have done something.