Lickin' License Part 2: More Sex, More Saga

by Intelligent Allah

  “They still got that bum-ass Taurus,” Domingo mumbled to himself as the Twins pulled up just off the corner of Flatbush and DeKalb Avenues in the car they had used to kidnap Candy.

  Jahiem walked inside, followed by Tahiem. They sat across from Domingo as he was snacking on French fries.

  “What's good?” Domingo greeted them.

  Tahiem nodded and Jahiem said, “You tell me.”

  “I'm waiting on them to get back at me,” Domingo said, because he had not yet heard from Candy or Rich.

  “You don't wait when it's time to bring it,” Jahiem said.

  “Everything is a process, ya heard?”

  “People speed up processes all the time.” Jahiem balled his fists on the table.

  “Location,” Tahiem said.

  “Yeah,” Jahiem added. “Still no location?”

  “They could be living in a brownstone in Harlem or Forest Projects in the Bronx.” Domingo paused. “Listen, man. Ain't no statute of limitations on murder. So people don't murk shit, lay low, then pop up and tell you where they at.”

  “Your phone?” Tahiem said.

  “Yeah, call 'em now,” Jahiem demanded.

  Domingo shook his head and waved his hands in front of him. “Hold up, hold up. Let me fuck this cow. Y'all just hold the legs.”

  “What?” Jahiem scowled.

  Domingo was gearing up to pull the .45-caliber Sig Sauer from his waistband if things became unmanageable. “And that shit you was hollerin' about what go down when the bread come in wasn't kosher.”

  “Meaning?” Tahiem asked.

  His Twin added, “Yeah, what that 'posed to mean?”

  “When it come to Rich’s dough, that pie gotta get split three ways.” Domingo pointed at Jahiem and Tahiem, then himself. “Three equal ways.”

  Jahiem grinned and turned to his brother. “I like homey.”

  “Y'all just give me a minute, ya heard?”

  “Just don't let nothin' happen to my sister 'cause you draggin' your feet,” Jahiem said.

  Domingo watched as the Twins stood and walked out of McDonald's. He questioned if his plan was a wise one. If Rich and Vanessa didn't surface soon, Domingo was going to end up in the crosshairs of the two loose cannons he had pointed at Vanessa and Rich. And if he was able to manipulate the Twins into killing Rich and Vanessa as planned, and unhand Rich of his money, there would almost definitely be a problem over how the money was disbursed.

  Domingo pulled out his phone and called Candy. “Ain't nothin' like a pretty face on face time,” he said, watching Candy through the small screen on his iPhone.

  “I got a lot of shit on my plate, so don't stop me from eating just because you wanna talk some freaky shit.”

  Oh shit. The OK Café. Domingo noticed the red and white striped awnings on the Atlanta restaurant he had eaten omelets and sour dough French toast at nearly every day of the month he spent in Atlanta several months earlier. Behind Candy was the West Paces Ferry Road eatery Domingo knew was unique to the southern city. “Where you at, Candy? I need to see you. You with Rich and Vanessa?”

  “Yeah, we just finished eating.”

  I knew it.

  “Forget where we at. You supposed to be telling me where a few people at.”

  “All right, all right. I'm onto something, but it's not definite. I'll know in a minute. Just be on point. You'll hear from me.”

  “Good. Get at me as soon as you hear something.”

  “I got you, Mamita.” Domingo watched a bright smile light up Candy's face. She was sporting red lipstick and a black spaghetti-strap dress. The color contrasted perfectly with her light skin and dark hair.

  “Why you staring at me like that?”

  Domingo didn't realize that he was transfixed on her beauty. “You know I been flirting with you since I first seen you, right?”

  “What else is new?”

  “I was seventeen back then and you thought ya boy was just a lil dude with a crush on you, but I was dead ass. And I'm nineteen now, Mamita. On some real shit, keeping it a hundred, I don't know no other way than to say I'm feelin' you.”

  Candy was frozen.

  “I know you still stuck on Rich, for whatever reason, but another man don't stop these feelings I have every time I see you or think about you.”

  “How do I respond to that?”

  “Every statement don't require a verbal response. Just know that as long as you lookin' as sexy as you do and you handlin' yourself on some grown woman shit, ya boy gonna be comin' at you hardbody, ya heard?”

  Candy giggled. “You crazy.”

  “But Rich, you need to put a fork in him, 'cause he done. Old school like Shelltoes and Run DMC. I'm ACGs and Drake, ya heard?”

  Candy giggled. “Call him old school, but don't forget to call him dangerous. And you ain’t crazy.”

  “Crazy in love on some Beyonce shit. Real talk, though, I wanna see you.”

  “You must wanna see Rich go crazy.”

  “I'll go against a tank with a shank to get to you.”

  “So you suicidal?”

  “People dying all day every day in the hood over dumb shit. Why not die for a cause? For my future wife?”

  “Wife? You sure think big.”

  “Everything about me is big.” Domingo winked at Candy.

  “I hear you, but I gotta go.”

  “Just make sure you come back.”

  “Get at me when you hear something.”

  “Get at me when you ready to get at me,” Domingo said.

  Candy smiled. “Bye.” She hung up.

  Domingo looked around the McDonald's. He felt he was wearing Candy down. He could see himself swooping in and scooping her up once Rich and Vanessa were out of the picture. The fact that he knew they were in Atlanta placed him one step closer to their demise.

  Domingo left the restaurant. He hopped in his Expedition and turned on Jadakiss's I Love You mixtape. He pulled off nodding his head to the music. He made it to Red Hook Housing Projects, and he headed for his building until he noticed Chanel's Escalade parked in front of Vera's building. He pulled up behind it and walked around to the passenger side.

  Chanel let him inside as she dug through her Fendi satchel. “I was coming to check Vera,” she said.

  “Got good news.”

  Chanel looked up at him.

  “Just got off the phone with Rich,” Domingo lied. “He down in the A with Vanessa.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “The ball is in my court. When I say jump, they gonna ask how high.”

  “So basically, wherever you tell 'em we at, they gonna come and try to get us?”

  “You know ya boy call the shots around here.” Domingo smirked, adjusting his Cartier specs.

  “So basically, my life is in your hands?” Chanel paused, looking down. “This shit is serious. They really wanna kill me.”

  Domingo gently touched her cheek and shifted her face. Chanel's hazel eyes were on the verge of distilling tears down her dark skin. Domingo could see that beneath all the conceit that defined her personality was a woman fearful of the very streets that molded her, the very streets where she helped scar Candy for life.

  Chanel stared at Domingo in silence.

  “You all right?” Domingo asked.

  “I'll be all right when Rich and Vanessa is dead.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CANDY

  Candy was not surprised about Domingo's attraction to her. What amazed her was that he had momentarily ceased the humorous flirtations for a candid proclamation of his feelings for her. She liked his boldness and could see herself having a one-night-stand with him, but she respected Rich's devotion to her. Still, she had to make a move. As she reflected on Domingo, she was almost certain that her sexual prowess could sway Domingo to kill for her, eliminating the need to finance the multiple homicide.

  Despite what the future for Domingo was, Candy had to cope with Vanessa. She gotta be crazy. Vanessa had explained to Rich an
d Candy that she loved them, but she had feelings for Peg and Heather that made it hard for her to leave them behind. Vanessa argued that her relationship with Candy and Rich was virtually nonexistent. Vanessa discussed all of this in the presence of Peg and Heather inside of the OK Café.

  Candy stood outside the cafe talking to Rich as they waited for Vanessa to emerge from the eatery with Peg and Heather. “This is some real soap opera shit,” Candy said. “Vanessa's leaving us for two white chicks.” Candy laughed to shield the pain of the predicament.

  “Vanessa wants to do everything, but she doesn't know what she wants. If that makes any sense.”

  “Since I've known her, she's been like that.” Candy thought of how Vanessa was dating Rich when she became ensnared in the love triangle that became their three-way relationship. “A couple of weeks and she think she know these chicks.”

  Candy watched Vanessa step out of the restaurant with Peg and Heather flanked by her sides. Her eyes honed in on Heather's curves. I ain't never seen no white girl that thick. Candy couldn't help but wonder what sex was like with Heather. Then she glanced at Peg and thought of what it would be like to have an all-woman threesome. To Candy, Vanessa's relationship stance said that the all-woman experience was the winner in the battle of the sexes.

  “We've decided to stay in Atlanta for a week,” Vanessa said. “It's the best way for me to decide where I'm going with my life.”

  “So we supposed to just sit around like everything cool, while you decide if you wanna give up Coco on steroids and Paris Hilton on crack?” Candy asked.

  “Excuse me,” Peg said with a look of shock on her pale face.

  “Easy,” Vanessa warned, putting her hand on Peg's shoulder.

  “We didn't come out here looking for problems,” Heather said.

  “Then why the fuck did you come out here!” Candy barked. “Because that bullshit you said inside the restaurant about supporting Vanessa wasn't convinci—”

  “Perhaps it's because you fell short in the support category,” Peg interjected.

  “What!” Candy pointed her finger in Peg's face. “Don't get fucked up in the middle of this street.”

  “That's it.” Rich stepped in between the women, facing Candy. “Be easy.”

  Vanessa said, “I'm sorry, Candy.” She stomped off.

  “Look what you did,” Peg told Candy, before following behind Vanessa.

  Heather looked at Rich and Candy. “Vanessa really loves you guys. She's just going through a lot right now. Sorry.” She stepped off to catch up with Peg and Vanessa.

  “Can you believe this shit?” Candy exclaimed. “And you just stood here and let her get that bullshit off.”

  “If you would've calmed the fuck down, shit would've went different.”

  A vein popped from Candy's head and her eyebrows slanted downward. “This little white ho talking all reckless and you beefin' about me?”

  Rich responded to her rhetorical question, but Candy was so consumed with anger and thoughts of releasing it that she didn't hear Rich. I gotta call Domingo. She walked off.

  “So you just breezing too?”

  “Everybody else need time to think. I need some time too,” she said as she stormed ahead without turning around. All she could think of was how she had traveled down south, made up with Rich and went to jail because of him, only to have him not defend her. She felt betrayed. There was no way she would even stay in the same state as Rich. If he loved her, he would have to catch a flight to New York and find her like she did, coming to Atlanta to reunite with him.

  * * *

  Hours later, Candy was still vexed. She was so vexed she disregarded the phone calls from her manager. Her declining business would only upset her more. She had decided to stay in Atlanta for a few hours and think her problems out over some drinks. She had expected to receive a call from Rich and Vanessa, seeking to rewind the saga that had played out. Neither of them cared. That was what Candy thought. So she found herself nursing a bottle of Moscato while seated at a table in front of the bar inside of Haven, the upscale Brookhaven restaurant. She decided to call Domingo.

  “What's good, Mamita?”

  “I need to see you tonight.”

  “It's like that? Guess our conversation earlier touched you.”

  “Meet me Uptown. One-hundred and Twenty-fifth and Morningside.”

  “That's Morningside Park, right?”

  “I'll be on the first bench on Morningside.”

  “When?”

  “Soon. I'll call you back.”

  “Ya boy gon' be in the building, ya heard?”

  “Bye.” She turned off her phone and headed for the airport.

  During her flight, Candy burst into tears. She felt disrespected by Vanessa and Rich. She could still see Vanessa's face in the back of her mind as she strolled into the airport and introduced Peg and Heather. She imagined Vanessa living with them and having sex with them during the entire time she and Rich were looking for her. And Candy could see the emotionless look on Rich's face as Peg interfered with their personal affairs. Peg had no position, no authority, and no say in anything that went on between Candy, Vanessa and Rich.

  These were people who had killed for each other. Candy had once choked out Chanel and slammed her head into a locker in her shop because Chanel appeared to be thinking of laying her hands on Vanessa. Candy had stood by Vanessa's side as they both pumped bullets into Chase's body after Rich had kidnapped and tortured him for his involvement in Candy's torment. But all of that meant nothing, because of two white girls Vanessa had known approximately three weeks in contrast to the three years she had known Candy and Rich.

  When the plane landed, Candy called Domingo and caught a cab to Morningside Park. The black and silver strap Burberry watch that matched her dress read 10:49. Eleven minutes 'till he gets here. Candy had told Domingo to meet her at 11:00. She exited the cab and sat on the bench outside of the park, just off the corner 125th Street in the heart of Harlem.

  Candy felt uncomfortable being back in Harlem. She was like an intruder in her hometown. The old buildings looked different. The new buildings were startling. The people strolling on the summer night seemed to step to a different tune than the Harlemites Candy had grown accustomed to. She had made trips to the neighborhood on occasion with Vanessa since they left the neighborhood. They would steer the streets late at night, peering through tinted windows for any sign of the women that had crossed Candy. But the anger and vindictiveness that fueled Candy clouded her vision more than the tinted windows. Yet things in Harlem did not remain static. Candy had become comfortable everywhere from Long Island and Las Vegas to Balmville and Atlanta. But the streets she was raised in were now foreign.

  She watched the street light cause the rims on Domingo's Expedition to glisten as he turned the corner. The sound of Jay-Z's Brooklyn Go Hard blasted as his truck came to a halt and the door opened. The fly guy in Prada specs and a matching jean suit stepped toward her in high-top Prada sneakers. Candy had to admit, Domingo had grown since he was last in her presence. His thin frame had filled out and grown tall. His hairline and mustache were perfectly trimmed.

  “What's up, Mamita?”

  Candy stood and hugged Domingo after he pecked her on the cheek. “Look at you.” She smiled, looking up into his eyes. “I used to look down at you.”

  “I been tryin' to put you on, Mamita. Ya boy ain't no lil kid, ya heard?”

  “Even with these heels on, you still taller than me, and I'm damn near six feet.”

  “I make Rich look like a kid now.”

  Candy rolled her eyes. “Please, whatever you do, don't mention Rich's name.”

  Domingo squinted his eyes. “Rich? Rich who? I don't know no Rich.” He grinned.

  Candy giggled. “You crazy, but you catch on quick.” She paused. “We broke up. Rich and Vanessa no longer exist in my world.”

  “That leaves plenty of room for me.”

  Candy paused, staring at Domingo, trying to
figure him out and figure herself out. She needed to balance her sexual attraction to him with the feeling that she was doing something wrong. As she looked into his green eyes, she could tell he knew something was plaguing her mind.

  Domingo gently grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him until his hands were on her huge hips. Their faces were separated only by inches. “Listen, Mamita. I know you got a history with Rich. But Rich is history.”

  Candy nodded. “A lot of memories.”