Deadliest Intuition

by E. Raye Turonek

  Ronald, on the other hand, worried about whether he could keep his secrets from being unearthed. Not only did he have to worry about the authorities, but Gertrude was becoming more immersed in the situation with Tiffany. In addition to that, Wilson, Grady, Tom, and May keeping an eye on him had become a concern. If Tom had done the things Ronald dreamed about, him being a good man to Gertrude would be the least of the gang’s worries.

  Gertrude could think of nothing other than the strapping, courageous gentleman sitting behind her. The fact he had agreed to come made her feel like a mound of melting butter. She hoped Ronald would be willing to sop her up. As her view through the passenger window changed from brick highways to dilapidated houses, her mind shifted to that of their mission. Gertrude realized then she had been selfish beyond belief. All that time, they’d been focused on her and Ronald’s relationship or lack thereof. Maybe if I had not made myself and my life such a priority to others, Tiffany would have never been in this situation. Was I just not listening?

  “How come she didn’t tell me?” Gertrude finally spoke.

  Brenda cleared her throat, resisting the urge to get choked up. “She probably doesn’t want you to think less of her. Tiffany is determined to do it all on her own. I guess she feels like people think she needs me to stay afloat. She’s trying to prove a point, but instead, she’s ruining her life.”

  “There’s got to be something we can say to convince her to come home.”

  “Trust me. I’ve tried everything. That guy she’s dating, Terrance. He’s a complete degenerate. He and his friends. . . I’m surprised you couldn’t tell.”

  Brenda made a left at the street she remembered dropping her cousin off at the last time she had seen her. “Speaking of degenerates,” she stared them down, recognizing the two young men that stood out in the front yard of the run-down flat with the dandelion-infested grass.

  Brenda parked in front of the house next door, breathed deeply, then let it out in a long sigh. “What am I going to say to her?”

  “I should go see if she’s even here, first,” said Ronald.

  Brenda instantly rebutted, saying, “Maybe, I should go with you since they’ll recognize me.”

  “I think you should stay in the car,” Ronald reiterated his stance with eyes glued on the pair as they stood clowning around.

  The lanky con man with the classic finger waves jogged back and forth along the crumbled sidewalk, reenacting how he had evaded mall security. He concluded the story by popping the collar of the Ralph Lauren plaid button-up he was wearing, then dusted off his loafers that matched . . . all being stolen goods.

  Daryl and Joey were proud thieves, already conspiring about when they would strike next. Although Joey was one of the ones who had gotten caught by security, the police let him off with a warning. They figured he was just a punk kid trying to fit in. The authorities assumed he had succumbed to peer pressure, as they often did. He had never once been convicted of a crime yet had participated in well over a dozen. Smooth, milky skin, short, black hair, a naked baby face, and icy-blue eyes gave him a “boy-next-door” kind of look. After his first few times of being released with a warning, Joey caught on quickly. He knew all he had to do was play that role.

  “Man . . . It was crazy, D. I thought I was going to jail for sure this time, but you know the kid found a way out,” he bragged, wearing a wife beater and a pair of jeans. The sneakers on his feet were dusty since the goods he’d grabbed during the snatch and grab had been confiscated during his detainment.

  “Yeah. You got away with your freedom, but you still dusty, homeboy,” Daryl teased.

  “That’s okay. I’ll be on top again soon. They can’t stop my shine.” Joey rubbed his flat belly as if to say he was hungry.

  Daryl sucked at his overlapping two front teeth before spinning the toothpick hanging at the edge of his mouth with this tongue. “You hungry? I made those hot sausages with some eggs. There’s enough for everybody. We’ll just have to figure out dinner.”

  “Who is homeboy rollin’ up? You know him?” Joey inquired, noticing Ronald headed in their direction.

  “Naw. He could be the boys for all I know,” Daryl answered, immediately brandishing a mean mug.

  “I’m looking for my cousin, Tiffany,” Ronald spoke up as he drew nearer, extinguishing their skepticism.

  “Oh, you’re related to Tiff. She’s cool peoples,” Joey remarked, believing Ronald’s lie as fact.

  Daryl was not so welcoming. Even if Ronald were related to Tiffany, he still didn’t want him there. “Yeah, well, Tiffany ain’t here.”

  “Would you happen to know where she is? My uncle is really worried about her. We just want her to come home.”

  Daryl crossed his arms. “Yeah? Well, like I said, she ain’t here. And we don’t know where she is, either.”

  “What about Terrence? Maybe he knows where she is,” Ronald offered up more of what he knew, hoping to get him to lay down his arms.

  “He ain’t here, neither.” Daryl spread his feet apart a little as if to say he was standing his ground on the matter.

  “Could you call him?”

  “Could you call him?” Daryl snapped back.

  “Hey, fellas”—Joey stepped between them—“chill out. There’s no need for things to get out of hand.” He attempted to quell matters. He couldn’t fight anyway, so it was best he kept things copasetic.

  “Look, Terrence doesn’t have a phone, and we haven’t seen him or Tiff at all today. You should probably check somewhere else.”

  “I’ll do that,” Ronald replied, not taking his eyes off Daryl, who, in return, continued staring him down as well.

  * * *

  Brenda smacked her lips, her impatience having grown. “I wonder what they’re saying.”

  “I don’t know, but whatever it is, I have full confidence that they can talk like adults and come to a helpful conclusion. Ronald is, hands down, the most levelheaded man I know,” Gertrude bragged with a smile. The smile and look of admiration on her face as she admired Ronald, however, slowly faded as the scene before her played out.

  Daryl thrust his finger at the side of Ronald’s head, threatening violence.

  Ronald’s reaction was instant once he felt the man’s dingy fingertip at the edge of his head. He grabbed hold of it, twisting it back until the bones in his wrist fractured.

  The kick he thrust into Joey’s stomach with his foot sent him butt first onto the ground and out of his way.

  Daryl howled in agony, his body bending back, then over in submission. Still, he refused to go down without a fight. He threw a haymaker in Ronald’s direction but a second too late because the left hook Ronald had launched landed before Daryl could make contact. The bridge of Daryl’s nose crushed under the pressure of his punch. The moment he hit the ground, blood that previously trickled from his flared nostrils had begun streaming. Daryl saw no other choice than to flash the 9 mm in the waistband of his jeans.

  “So that’s how you want this to go?” he threatened, spitting blood at Ronald’s feet.

  By then, the girls had both rushed over, prompting Daryl to conceal his weapon with the bottom of his bloody shirt.

  “Stop! What’s going on? There’s no reason for this,” Brenda pleaded. “We’re just looking for my cousin. We don’t want any trouble.”

  “Y’all way past wanting.” Daryl stood up. He and Joey both dusted themselves off.

  “Look, we’ll just leave,” Gertrude chimed in. She touched Ronald’s arm, calming his hard breaths. “I think we should get out of here.”

  He took his time backing off with a devilish smirk still plastered on his face. Ronald left without a word under the gaze of Daryl and Joey’s hateful stares.

  “I can’t believe they tried to jump you like that,” Gertrude fussed as they all piled back into Brenda’s vehicle. “Are you okay?” She turned to look at him.

  Ronald flashed her a grin. “I’m just fine, Gertrude. What about you? You seem a little s
haken up.”

  “I’m okay if you are.”

  “Then all is well.”

  “Let’s get out of here.” Gertrude turned to Brenda, who already started the car.

  She shifted into drive, then skirted off. “I’m really sorry about this, Ronald. I didn’t think it would come to this,” Brenda apologized.

  “I knew what I was signing up for when I agreed to come along. I’m a grown man who makes his own decisions. You’re not to blame.”

  Even though she didn’t find her cousin, Ronald’s admission made her feel a little better. The last thing she needed was to feel guilty about something else.

  Their ride home, much like the one there, was a quiet one. Brenda worried about her cousin’s safety. She hoped the consequences from the confrontation would not fall upon her cousin.

  Gertrude, on the other hand, had been turned on all the way. Her body burned intensely with a desire for Ronald. Sure, the fight had rattled her, but in hindsight, she realized Ronald was magnificent. Seeing him take charge like that, knocking his opponents left and right, turned out to be an aphrodisiac. Her body burned so hot that Ronald could smell the aroma of her perfume getting stronger.

  Like a lion stalking his prey, his eyes surmised every breath she took, along with each movement of her limbs. It was then Ronald decided he would have her in his bed for more than a thrill.

  Once they pulled back up at the house on Gable Street, Ronald said his goodbyes, then got out, leaving Gertrude and Brenda to talk. The moment he was behind closed doors, he had begun pacing the floor with one thought plaguing him. What would he do about Daryl and Joey? Back and forth, Ronald wore down the living room carpet. Then the epiphany dawned on him, right along with the realization that Daryl had spit blood and saliva onto his shoe. Ronald grinned in contemplation of his next move.

  Chapter 34

  A Passionate Release

  It was nearly midnight when Ronald exited the back door of his home to get to the garage. When he’d looked out of his living room window fifteen minutes before, he noticed Brenda’s car still parked in the driveway. Because he preferred to remain undetected, he thought it best that he traveled under cover of darkness. There was a switch along the wall he’d flipped on his way out, shutting off the porch and garage lights. The only witness to his crimes would be his sister, should she decide to show herself.

  Ronald locked himself inside the garage, where he had the Chevy lifted to access the room beneath his feet. He traveled that dark, narrow stairwell, it now having a battery-powered lantern hanging on the wall above the landing. Ronald snatched up the light on the way to three standing refrigerators along the cement wall. The first one he opened housed the corpse of Terrence, aka Tiffany’s boyfriend. Straps across his chest, waist, and legs held the body in place. Ronald looked down at his feet. One, of course, missing a shoe. “Let’s see who fate is smiling on.” He knelt, pulling the shoe off Terrance’s stiffened foot. To his surprise, his dead adversary wore the same size he did. That alone was confirmation enough for Ronald that his plan was meant to be carried out.

  * * *

  “See you later, hon. Get you some sleep and call me tomorrow.” Gertrude waved Brenda farewell as she backed out of the driveway. That’s when she heard the garage door open, then close again. She couldn’t see anyone there in the darkness, but she, of course, assumed it was Ronald, or at least she hoped so. “Ronald,” Gertrude called out to him as she walked further into the abyss, it darkening the closer she crept. “Ronald, is that you?”

  “Is that you?” he answered, wrapping his arms around her, then lifting her into a soft, passionate kiss.

  Gertrude couldn’t see Ronald, but she could surely feel him. His erect penis pressed against her thigh. The warmth of his breath on her neck as he nibbled beneath her ear made the moisture between her legs run down her inner thighs. He gently pressed her against the house. “I think you’re ready,” he said, lifting her legs around his waist.

  “I am,” Gertrude whispered at the base of his ear just as she tasted its lobe.

  Just as he started to take her inside, Gertrude’s words stopped him in his tracks. “Out here is fine.”

  Ronald had never fornicated outside before. Moreover, he gained no comfort by being so exposed. God forbid Aunt May look out the window and catch a glimpse of her niece’s bare caboose in the air. Instead, he opted for an equally exciting option. He carried her over to his conversion van. The bed in the back had already been laid out for Tiffany and Terrence’s bodies. Ronald gently set her down, then slid her linen pants down past her ankles. Gertrude kept her eyes on his as she eased her bottom back to allow him to lie on top of her. She had waited so long to allow him access to her.

  At last, him running his hands up her caramel thighs, then along her torso to grab at her voluptuous breasts had become a reality. The river between her thighs flowed for him, and although they couldn’t see much of each other, her hands could feel the ripples in his stomach, much like the muscles in his pecks. She wrapped her hand around the back of his neck, then pulled him in to her to taste her lips. Ronald eased into her smiling mounds as he caressed the side of her face. The rest of their garments came off in seconds, and so ensued the night they had been waiting for.

  Ironically, his suspicions were spot on. Aunt May spied out of her kitchen window as Ronald’s van sat rocking. “That boy and his weird music.” She shook her head with disapproval, then rushed off to search for Gertrude. She’d left the front door wide open when she walked Brenda out but had yet to surface. “Well . . . She can ring the doorbell if she’s out there. I ain’t letting all my cool air out,” Aunt May complained, shutting the door, then locking the dead bolt.

  * * *

  Monday morning in class, all Gertrude could think about was her escapade with Ronald the night previous. She fiddled with her mechanical pencil as the professor passed by her going on about the day’s lesson. She’d instantly felt the warm sensation between her legs become ever more intense as her daydream drowned out the sound of the teacher’s voice.

  Gertrude could practically feel his lips on her neck, his hands caressing her nipples, even the strength of his arms when he lifted her bottom to straddle his waist. Everything he’d done that night he had done with precision. Ronald made her feel appreciated, sexy, wanted, and, more importantly, cherished. Gertrude couldn’t wait to see him after school. She wondered if she had crossed his mind as much as he had hers. Had she performed well enough for him, she wondered. It certainly had been a long time since her garden had been deflowered.

  The professor tapped his knuckles on Gertrude’s desk to get her attention as he moseyed on by. “This part will be on the lesson, Gertrude. You may want to pay attention,” he reminded her.

  Gertrude nodded, adjusting her position in her seat as if that had transformed her into a model student. Her mind, however, stayed fixed. Fixed on her new man, and if he even considered himself as much.

  Knowing Ronald had been watching her for the last five minutes from the window on the door of her classroom would undoubtedly have boosted her confidence. He took in her beauty, notably the way her cheeks dimpled when she smiled. Even something as small as the way she would twist her ringlet-like coils around her forefinger when she was in deep thought didn’t get past Ronald.

  He noticed everything about her, and that which he wasn’t aware of, he planned to find out. When her class was over, Ronald waited by the door for her to exit. As the students filed out of the classroom one by one, he came face-to-face with one of his most recent nemesis, Joey. You’d think once they locked eyes, Joey would be running scared, but it was quite the contrary. He furnished Ronald a smirk that told Ronald everything he needed to know at that moment. It told Ronald they then knew where to find him. And if they knew where to find him, that put Gertrude and Brenda in danger as well. His reckless behavior had, for the first time, endangered someone close to him. Ronald knew it was up to him to rectify the situation. He shot Joey a smirk
back so that he knew Ronald wasn’t rattled. Although the look made Joey nervous, he had confidence in the fact that a squad would be behind him.

  Gertrude noticed the stare down as she walked out of the classroom. “Oh my God.” She cringed at the sight of Joey face-to-face with Ronald. She’d never even noticed that he was one of her classmates. Above all, she hoped they didn’t start fighting right there outside of the classroom.

  Joey had other plans, though. “I’ll be seeing you around,” he menaced, eyeballing Ronald before turning to Gertrude to reveal the name he had captured that day. “Gertrude, right?” he stated before strutting off, feeling as if he had gained the upper hand.

  Joey couldn’t wait to get home and tell Daryl that he’d seen the guy who’d ambushed them while they were standing in the front yard. That’s how they saw it. Ronald had ambushed them. Knowing where he worked was exactly the intel needed to carry out their evil plan. Joey and Daryl were out to prove to Ronald that he had messed with the wrong group of friends. Joey darted off the bus as it came to a complete stop on the corner of the block. The chill spot was just up the street, and Daryl was already there.

  Unlike his comrade, Daryl didn’t attend college yet benefited from the perks that came along with being Joey’s friend. He bussed tables at Capers, a local family-owned steak house in Detroit. Daryl had gotten the gig when he was still in high school. The managers paid him a pretty good salary for a busser back then. Nine dollars an hour, plus getting a fair share of the waitresses’ tips kept his pockets full in high school.

  Fast-forward four years later, his pay had only gone up one dollar. Yet, by then, Daryl had amassed an undying dedication to the owners of the business. It all but killed his will to progress in life. Sure, he got up and went to work, but he had nothing to show for it. He didn’t even enjoy his job. It made him angry, jealous, and, much of the time, a party pooper. If you had a dream you wanted to be crushed, all you had to do was mention said aspiration to Daryl. He’d surely dash your hopes.