by ANDREA SMITH
“I think you’ve officially won that title now, Jack.”
“Ooh, gotten kind of lippy now since you’ve been fucking a biker, I guess,” he replied with a sneer.
“You don’t know shit about Slash and me,” I said, laughing at how truthful that statement was.
His face went rigid as he stepped towards me, ready to deliver more punishment. I didn’t cringe.
“Do it. Go ahead and do it and then watch. Because I promise you that I’ll bring down the wrath of Slash and the rest of the club on you. You can’t keep me a prisoner in here forever.”
“What have you become?” he asked, his voice steely cold and harsh.
“My own person.”
“We’ll see about that, Samantha,” he snarled.
“What name does he know you by? I’m presuming that you had enough sense not to tell him your true identity or where you live. I don’t think you’ve totally flipped out. If nothing else, you wouldn’t want to sully the good name of your father’s company.”
“Diamond Girl,” I replied, turning from him.
“Catchy,” he said with a smirk. “Here we go then.”
Jack pressed the letters on the keypad to type up the text message that he would send on my behalf to Slate. He held it up when he finished, just outside of my reach.
“Do you want to proofread this, Sammie?”
I looked at what he’d typed:
‘We r done, asshole. I decided to take a walk back on the side of sanity. Go fuck yourself! I’m too good for you. Diamond Girl’
I looked up at Jack and saw his evil smile as he pushed the ‘send’ button.
“What makes you think he’ll believe that I sent that?”
“Because Sammie, he has no other way to contact you now.”
Jack tossed the phone to the floor and smashed it with his foot.
“I have all of your cell phone records, along with our landline records. You haven’t called him from either phone. He hasn’t contacted you on either phone. The computer’s e-mail account shows you haven’t sent any e-mail messages to anyone for months.”
I breathed a sigh of relief that I’d erased my outgoing message with the attachment to Becky.
“Again, who are you to think I can’t get in touch with him whenever I want? There are other ways, you know.” I was trying to take a cocky stand with him.
“Oh, I know. But you won’t. Because if you do, I’ll make damn sure your daughter and your parents know exactly what it was that you’ve been up to these last few months. I’m sure they’ll be impressed with your private dancing skills at Sharkey’s. Did you know that one of those dances you gave in that private booth was for Susan? Yep, she videotaped it on her smart phone. I can make sure your daughter sees it and maybe your parents too.”
He was truly a monumental piece-of-shit. He had the upper hand, for the moment. I needed to bide my time. I needed to appear to acquiesce to his directives. I had some ammo of my own to sort out, and now was the time to do that.
I certainly didn’t want him showing that video to Lindsey or my parents. However, I was sure that, while he might have all of the bargaining power at the moment, which could change, I needed to keep my wits about me.
“You wouldn’t dare do to that,” I snapped back.
“Of course I would, Sammie. So I need to hear it from you, right now. Are you through with Slash?”
I took a few moments. I had to make it look as if it was a tough decision. I blinked back tears that I’d forced to materialize. I threw in a sniffle for good measure.
“Yes, Jack. I’m through with Slash. I promise.”
“Time will tell,” he laughed. “Don’t worry, that recording of your dance is in a safe place, for now.”
Fucking double-rat bastard.
“Go clean yourself up. Then call your employer and quit. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
I hurried off to the bathroom, slamming the door behind me and locking it. I assessed myself in the mirror. I had quite another shiner, courtesy of my not-so-loving husband.
I tore my wig and clothes off, and stepped under the hot shower. I washed all of Slate’s scent off of me, tears now rolling down my cheeks. I scrubbed all of the make-up off, trying to be as gentle as possible around the bruised, puffy area under my left eye.
I dressed in clean sweats and a tee shirt. I shampooed my wig, then conditioned it for storage.
I blew dry my own hair. It was actually to my shoulders now. I pulled it up into a ponytail and dabbed some concealer underneath my eye. I put my Nike’s on and pulled a hoodie on over my tee shirt. I descended the stairs where Jack was sitting in the living room, pecking away on his laptop.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Jack hollered.
“For a run. You’re welcome to come with me.”
“Maybe later,” he sneered, shaking his head. “For now, you stay put inside where I can keep an eye on you. Did you call Sharkey’s and quit?”
“Not yet.”
“Do it!” he bellowed, causing me to jump.
“Okay, okay,” I said, going to get my cell phone on the counter. It’d been smashed to smithereens.
What the…?
“Oh, sorry. My temper sometimes gets the best of me. You’ll have to use the cordless landline. I have it here beside me. Tell them you and your hubby are working things out, something to that effect.”
“So, is this how it’s going to be, Jack? Are you keeping me a prisoner here, not allowing me to communicate with family or friends?”
“Just for a few days until I’m sure all of this has really sunken in, Samantha, and to make sure your bruise heals up nicely,” he replied with a smirk.
I phoned Sharkey’s and left a message with Damon that I had to quit without notice. When he asked why, I simply repeated what Jack had instructed me to say. He didn’t press me further.
chapter 26
Four weeks later
~ SLATE ~
It had been a month since Sunny sent her ‘Dear John’ text to me. At first, I’d laughed it off. She was just pissed that I’d sent her on her way from my place without giving her a proper good-bye fuck or waiting with her at the bus stop like some drooling, pussy-whipped medieval knight.
Fuck that! She had no clue what was at stake here. She knew nothing about my life. I hadn’t wanted her to know. It was safer that way.
After a few days without her answering my text messages, I’d tried to call her. The calls went straight to voicemail indicating her phone was off. I’d figured the rat bastard was home.
Another full week had passed without my being able to get in touch with her. I’d worried that maybe he’d busted her. I might’ve misjudged the stupid fuck. It seemed unusual that he would have been in town for such a long period of time. Hadn’t she said he drove a truck for a living?
I’d stopped in at Sharkey’s a couple of times. She hadn’t been working. All I’d gotten when I asked about her was a fucking ‘deer in the headlight’ look. I guess they had to protect the chicks who worked there by playing ignorant. They wouldn’t tell me shit.
On my fourth visit to the shithole, just a week before, I’d literally bumped into that cute little black girl who’d danced at Jewels on my way out.
“Emerald?”
She had looked up at me and, I swear, she looked afraid.
“Hey, take it easy,” I had told her. “This ain’t my type of place or the rest of the club’s. I’m on a personal mission. I’m looking for Sunny.”
“I haven’t seen Sunny since she left Jewels,” she lied.
“Is that right? Then how in the hell did you know who the fuck I was even talking about?”
She was busted, big time. I fucking knew Sunny hadn’t shared her real name with those other bitches at Jewels.
“Okay, okay,” she replied, still looking scared and intimidated. “All I know is that Sunny calle
d in and quit without notice. She told one of the staff that she and her husband were trying to work things out.”
There it was: bam! How fucking stupid had I been once again? Chicks will fucking burn you every damn time they get a chance. Fuck that! Fuck her!
“Slate, are you okay?”
Emerald had seen that I was zoning out on this piece of information she’d just shared. I’d shaken off my rush of emotions, burying them back inside of me, where they would stay safe and quiet once again, maybe forever this fucking time.
“Yeah, I get it. Emerald, do me a favor, will you?”
“If I can.”
“If you should ever see Sunny again, will you pass this along for me?”
She nodded.
“Lean closer then. I don’t want anyone else hearing this but you.”
She had hesitantly leaned in closer so that I could whisper exactly what I wanted her to tell Sunny if she ever had the opportunity to do so. I swear to God, I’d never realized black people could blush. I’d been fairly certain that Emerald had.
“Got that?”
She had nodded slowly, indicating ‘yes.’
“Take care, Emerald.”
I brushed it all from my mind now. What good did it do to dwell on the past? Sunny was definitely filed away there.
She joined the ranks of ‘poor judgment on my part’ experiences. Hell, what was that old saying? ‘What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger’? I had the strength of Hercules these days. I was done with distractions like that. I had club business to take care of, which had to take priority over fickle chicks.
Just then, I heard someone knocking on my door. I pulled the blind up. Speak of the fucking devil.
“What’s up, Garnet? Did I invite you over and forget about it?”
“Don’t be like that, Slate,” she gushed, trying to be all flirtatious with me. “It hurts my feelings that you aren’t happy to see me. I figured you just might be feeling lonely these days, you know?”
“Well I’m not,” I lied. I had no desire to be with another chick just yet, and definitely not with Garnet…ever.
“Our relationship seems like a one way deal,” she whined, walking into my living room and tossing her jacket on the couch.
She was dressed in jeans so fucking tight they looked like they were painted on her. Her top wasn’t much different, pushing her tits up so high you could almost see the nipples. Her body didn’t do it for me, not like Sunny’s could. Fuck! There I was again, thinking of Sunny.
“So, Slate baby,” Garnet crooned, “what say I help fill the void that Diamond left?”
As if you ever could, you low-life clap-trap.
She was all up on me now, her titties rubbing against my bare chest, her fingers trying to dip underneath the waistband of my jeans. It was damn-near pathetic.
I wriggled free of her and turned away. That pissed her off monumentally.
“What? You don’t think I’m good enough for you, Slate? I’m better than Diamond could ever fucking be! Maybe I just won’t hear things anymore and let you know. Then you wouldn’t be so high and mighty in the OMC would you?”
I wasn’t in the mood for Garnet’s shit. I already regretted opening the door for her, but she did have a point, unfortunately.
“What the fuck do you want from me, Garnet?” I asked, not bothering to hide my exasperation.
“Your cock.”
Holy Christ! She isn’t making any boners about it either. Oh hell - why not?
I turned back around to face her, placing my hands on her shoulders. I pushed her down in front of me so that she was on her knees.
She fumbled with the zipper on my jeans, eager to spring my cock free. It took her all of a nanosecond. God damn, she did want it bad.
I closed my eyes pretending that it wasn’t Garnet’s lips and tongue on my prick. I wanted it to be Sunny’s. Sunny’s full, beautiful lips taking the length of me into her sweet mouth; Sunny’s soft moans as she kissed, licked and made it hers. I heard soft moans, only they weren’t coming from Sunny - they were coming from Garnet and it wasn’t even close.
I peered down at her from beneath my eyelashes. Damn! She was going to town. The girl kind of liked giving blow jobs.
“Umm, Slate, your cock’s the best. It’s so fucking hard and huge.”
Yeah, yeah; just suck it, bitch.
“I sure would like to see how that bad boy feels inside of me.”
“It is inside of you, Garnet.”
“You know what I mean. Inside my pussy.”
No fucking way…
“Maybe next time. I’d like to finish this way.”
“Mmmm, okay. I want to taste your cum anyway. I bet you have quite a load to give.”
I wasn’t too sure about that. I’d been on a marathon jack-off bender since Sunny had left. I only jacked-off when I thought about her, which was once, twice, or a dozen times a day. My fucking hands were blistered up good.
For now, I focused on my nut. I closed my eyes again, rocking back and forth on my heels as Garnet put her suction into overdrive. At least I was able to give my hands a rest as I thought about Sunny.
Damn, this was feeling good. I felt the familiar throbbing of my cock as I was ready to blow. I heard my own moans as my release was ready to explode. Garnet was ready and waiting for me to fill her mouth with my warm cum.
I timed it perfectly. Just as I was ready to spew, I pulled my dick from her mouth and released my climax. Warm, salty cum squirted out of me and onto her face, hitting her hair, eyes, cheeks and chin. She squeezed her eyelids shut, screeching as the salty liquid burned her eyeballs. Her hands flew up immediately, trying to rub where it burned, making it worse.
“You fucked up son-of-a-bitch! Why the hell did you do that?”
She was flipping out; totally furious with me. She blindly got to her feet, staggering into the kitchen to rinse her eyes and face off with cold water at the sink. I calmly put my cock back into my pants and zipped up.
“Hey, Garnet, I’m sorry. It was an accident.”
“Accident my ass! You’ve got issues, Slate.”
Oh, really?
She was slowly calming down as she was able to rinse the stinging, salty cum from her eyes. She had a dish towel, patting her skin dry.
She grabbed her jacket from the couch, shooting me dirty fucking looks.
“You know, I’ve covered your ass more than once. I didn’t deserve that just now. See if I cover for you again, you bastard!”
She started for the door. I was right behind her as she flung it open and started down the outside staircase. I was barefoot still, only wearing jeans. Spring was here, but it was still pretty chilly. I finally caught up with her halfway down the steps, grabbing her arm, and whirling her around to face me.
“What in the hell are you talking about?” I asked, glaring down at her.
“I’ll fucking tell you what I’m talking about. Some bitch named Susan was nosing around a couple months back. She was asking a whole lot of questions about your precious Diamond. I figured her old man was somehow involved. So here I am, wanting to make sure that no harm came to you because I liked you, Slate. I really did. I thought you fucking liked me, too. I told the bitch Diamond was with Slash; that they’re real tight and have been for a while. I pointed her in the wrong direction, just to save your ass from the drama,” she spat.
Now I totally felt like a piece of shit. I wasn’t sure who this Susan was, but if she was nosing around about Sunny, it couldn’t be good.
I pulled Garnet close, giving her a hug. “I’m sorry, Garnet, I really am. It’s just all about Diamond right now.”
She nodded her head that was now buried against my bare chest. The sound of tires screeching from the curb across the street caused my head to snap up and look over.
A blue Accord peeled out from where it’d been parked and sped past to the corner, it hadn’t bothered to make a ful
l stop at the sign. It hung a fast right and disappeared from sight. I could’ve sworn the passenger had long, streaky brown hair. It could’ve been Sunny’s twin.
chapter 27
It had been a month since Jack had blackened my eye and broke things off with Slate on my behalf. I now knew what it felt like to be a prisoner in my own home, and paranoid to wander from it.
The week between the incident and Lindsey coming home for spring break had proven to be extremely tense. Jack hadn’t let me out of his sight. He’d destroyed my phone, of course, and what was worse, he’d locked the office which had our desktop computer in it so that I could not access it. He’d kept our wireless landline phone next to him at all times, even when it was on the charger.
Becky had called once and he’d told her I was in bed with the flu. He told her I’d get back with her just as soon as I felt up to it.
If I balked or challenged him with anything, he held up the cell phone that contained the video recording of my dance for Susan. It was extremely provocative, proof that he wasn’t bluffing. There was no way in hell that I wanted my daughter to see it. I didn’t care so much about my parents, but not my Lindsey.
The ten days that Lindsey had been home for spring break had been filled with family activities. I was never out of Jack’s sight. When I was, I was with Lindsey doing some pre-arranged thing that Jack had set up. He’d kept my Mercedes remote in his pocket so that I couldn’t arbitrarily leave to go on an errand.
When Lindsey and I would go somewhere, he invariably called me back on the pretense of him not getting his kiss from me. He’d then whisper a reminder of what would happen, should I stray from the plan.
“You and Daddy seem closer than ever,” Lindsey had remarked with a smile. “I’m so glad, Mom.”
“Yes, he’s been home for a while,” I replied.
I’d kissed Lindsey at the airport as she headed back to Ithaca to school. I hugged her tightly, not wanting her to leave me alone with the monster that was both my husband and her father.
“Don’t cry, Mom. The semester will be over before you know it. I’ll be home for the summer and you’ll be sick and tired of me before fall semester starts.”