Life After Death

by Cliff White III

  I looked him in his face and smiled.

  "Samuel Boswell. How's life treating you? You don't even remember me, do you? You have sent so many black men to prison, it's impossible for you to remember them all, huh? How many innocent men have you sent to death row?"

  I could tell – when he heard death row – he recognized me.

  "Yeah, it's me, Christopher Combs, enjoying my life after death. See, y'all not used to a victim of the justice system coming home looking for some revenge. Surprise, here I am to get mine. You should have given a damn if I was innocent or guilty. The evidence against me didn’t add up at all but you still went all out for a conviction and got it. Probably the biggest of your career. Do you know I was twenty four hours from getting executed three times? So, you are about to die man! Isn't this feeling so fucked up? Knowing you are about to die and can’t do anything to prevent it is the worst feeling in the world. At least you won't have to go through that two more times."

  His eyes filled with terror as he watch the silencer go from my side to being pointed at his body. Pfff! Pfff! Pfff! The three shots to his midsection had him shaking like I would have if the state had gotten the OK to shoot that poison into my veins. I felt even more satisfaction as blood stained more of his shirt. I handed the gun to Redman.

  "You wanted in. This is the only real way in."

  Redman smiled as he walked up to the shaking Boswell, placed the barrel of the gun to his forehead, and pulled the trigger three times! I watched as brain, blood, and bits of bones splattered all over the floor. And then joy exploded inside of me!

  We ran through the house – taking valuables to make it look like a violent home invasion. I snatched an expensive Breitling watch, which was my favorite brand because of my favorite magazine, The Robb Report. We calmly wiped the entire house down of fingerprints, and then calmly walked out the front door as if we were invited guests. I felt a thousand pounds lighter during our walk back to the car!

  Chapter 5

  We were back in Redman's apartment in a little less than an hour, along with the company of two beautiful strippers. We all had our own bottles of peach Caro. I had Pineapple. Redman had Peach. Samantha had raspberry, and Fatima had Pineapple, like me. I was looking at the strippers, thinking I couldn't wait to eat their asses, damn how Kevin Hart feel about it! Redman caught me staring at them, and bust out laughing.

  "Samantha and Fatima, this is my brother that I'm always talking about. He got out today, so I need y'all to welcome him home right!"

  Fatima jumped up and stomped over to Redman.

  "You are just going to play with me like that? One day I'm supposed to be your girl, and now you want me to fuck your brother?"

  I looked at Redman and smiled as he pulled Fatima onto his lap.

  "Listen, Fatima, this is something I want done for my brother. I tell you what! We'll just have a big orgy, and this will be the only time any other man will ever touch you, so make sure your freak ass enjoys it!"

  Both girls burst into laughter, which caused me to giggle. Samantha took a big gulp from her drink, hopped up, and held her hand out toward me.

  "Come on, sexy! I'm trying to catch all of the sexual frustration you have bottled up! Can you handle all of this? "

  She spun around and smacked her ass cheek causing it to shake which almost caused me to end before I even got started! I grabbed her hand, blushing. (I heard that girls these days were really aggressive.) Redman and Fatima were right behind us. As soon as we entered the bedroom, I pushed all of the bags onto the floor, and started to strip. Samantha stepped into my face, and kissed me passionately. I kissed her as my entire body began to shake with anticipation. She stepped back and smirked.

  "Girl, he shaking. We ready to turn this boy out!"

  They both stepped up and finished undressing me. As soon as my shirt was off, they both rubbed on my ripped stomach and chest. As they unbuckled my belt and pulled my jeans down, they both laughed because they could see that I was as hard as can be. They pushed me onto the bed, and then slid down until they were each holding a foot. Each one put three toes in their mouths. I closed my eyes trying to enjoy the intense sexual feeling that was coursing through my entire body. I haven’t been touched in a sexual way in over a decade and it was a lot for me to handle – coupled with the realization that I was finally a free man –caused tears to run down my cheeks.

  Chapter 6

  After having sex we enjoyed a King’s breakfast that the girls cooked for us. Then, it was time for Redman to go out on the block and get some money. He handed me an all black outfit along with an all black .44 Magnum and told me I was his gun man today. I followed him down the block, and sat across the street, watching him hit fiends with crack and heroin. I was surprised that he was doing hand to hand but after a couple of hours of watching non-stop traffic and thousands of dollars filling all of his pockets, I understood he was out here getting all of his money. I smoked a blunt with the big ass gun on my lap daring somebody to attempt to harm my little brother. I banged out to Redman's iPod, and chilled for about an hour until the crowd was gone. Then he headed over to where I was sitting and smoking.

  We hugged as if we hadn't seen one another in months. I knew that he missed me as much as I missed him. That showed through his actions. To be forced to be separated from the people that I really truly loved, produced emotions that I couldn't even begin to describe.

  "What up Big Bro? You see how tight I'm running my shit? I haven't caught a drug charge in over a year now and I have been doing hand to hand the whole time. I figured, if I’m going to be in the game, I’m going to do it all the way. Why only make about thirty six thousand off a kilo selling weight, when I can make more than double that, breaking it down. I got two lawyers on retainer and I keep a few killers on the payroll. In about another month, I'm going to move my spot up the street into the Town and Country apartments. I move my strip every sixty days. Makes it hard for them peoples to slap them steel bracelets on my ass. You know?"

  I smiled, trying to take it all in; how grown he was now, versus when I went to prison.

  "That's real smart. Most dudes stay still while they balling till the feds knock their dumb ass off!"

  He shook his head no and sparked up a blunt.

  "I knew you were rotting in there, and, without me, you'd really be alone in this cold world; so I made sure I stayed out here. These fiends are really who paid all that money for your lawyers, so I had to make sure I was out here to get it!"

  I stayed silent for a minute, fighting the tears that were struggling to rain down my face and embarrass me. After I regained my composure, I looked at him in his eyes.

  "I will never be able to express how grateful I forever will be for the love that you showed me while I was up in hell on earth. Thank you for the lawyer money, man. I love you little brother, and I can't wait to handle whatever you need me to do. You can have anybody in this world killed just let me know who and then worry about something else."

  Redman looked at me and smiled as he wiped a tear away from his eyes.

  "Big Bro, I wasn’t going to let them crackers murder you. I'm happy as shit you home. I feel whole again. Switching subjects for a second, If you enjoyed my girl last night, too bad! That was your last time getting a bite of that cookie!"

  We laughed and gave one another a pound.

  "What up with Samantha? She is truly off the chain! How many times you hit that?

  He laughed, though he knew I was fishing for info. “Last night was our first and last time. As far as her personal life is concerned she is dealing with some dude who is getting money who he is beating her ass but she keep going back to him for his money. I already offered to kill him but she hasn’t said yes or no. She has been lusting off your pictures for a while now so she'll probably be around more than she usually is. Forget all of that for now, who is next to catch a taste of our vengeance?"

  I dug the list out of my pocket and looked only for far away addresses. Since we had
already killed somebody local, it was only sensible to stretch it out. I got to California and stopped.

  "Where is California, Maryland? I never heard of that spot. Sounds like a hillbilly town!"

  He smirked as he thought for a few moments, and then snapped his fingers.

  "That's going toward Ocean City. That's a couple hours from here."

  I smiled and sparked the blunt that he had just passed to me.

  "That's perfect. We can't have a bunch of bodies dropping right around here."

  He looked back across the street, and saw that the fiend traffic was picking back up.

  "Man, wherever you say we going, that's what it is. Look, let me finish off these couple of ounces and I'll be right with you."

  I looked at a semi-pretty woman who was in line to get some crack. She looked a little dusty, but her face was cute. And her ass was sticking out there just like Nikki Minaj’s does. I immediately got excited.

  "Alright go get that money. Look, give that chick in the tight jeans some pills for me, and tell her that she belong to me for a while."

  He laughed and gave me a pound. He then jogged across the street, walked up to the chick, and whispered in her ear. Our eyes locked for a second; then she looked at Redman, and shook her head “yes.” He went into his dip and gave her some pills. I met her in the street, and we began to talk as we walked toward the apartment. I was ready for round two!

  Chapter 7

  According to the GPS, we were about twenty minutes from the guy’s house. We realized that two hours had flown by as we had rocked out to a Reggie Noble mix tape. Redman turned down the radio and looked at me.

  "Though it doesn't really matter 'cause he is on the list, but who is this cat that we are ready to kill?"

  I looked at him and smiled.

  "Good question. I don't even know. Let me check the list."

  I scrolled down the list until I saw California, MD. I looked across the page and smiled as it said "jury foreman." He definitely deserved to be killed; better late than never! I looked over at my loyal little brother and smirked.

  "He was the foreman on the jury. I remember him, too. The big white dude with the mean eyes. Whenever our eyes would meet, I could always feel hate radiating from them. I knew how he was going to vote even before the trial started. Can't wait to see what radiates from his eyes in a few minutes!"

  I laughed along with Redman as I dialed the soon-to-be-dead white man's phone number. He answered on the third ring.

  "Can I speak to Mr. John G Patterson?"

  "This is he. Who is this, please?"

  "This is Rubin Cottrell, from USA Today. We are attempting to interview former Jury foremen of murder trials. Many are reluctant, but we need some brave souls to share their experiences so that people can understand what goes on in a jury room during jury deliberations. Are you brave, Mr. Patterson?"

  A few moments of silence passed before he cleared his voice.

  "I'll do it."

  "Excellent. I'll notify my boss with the good news. When will be a good time for you to do an interview, and would you like your wife and kids to be there?"

  He laughs.

  "My children are grown, and it's just me and my wife. Anytime in the evening will be fine."

  "Excellent. I'll check the calendar and get back to you in order to solidify a date."

  "That sounds like a plan. Talk to you soon, Mr. Contrell."

  "Good night to you, Mr. Patterson."

  After hanging up, I looked at Redman, and we both laughed. Excitement was flowing through our veins after just talking to one of the people who had sentenced me to death. He tried to kill me. How many times do people talk to the person that tried to murder them?

  "Lil Bro let’s go find a spot to eat and chill ‘till it gets dark."

  We were able to find a Taco Bell and the Doritos tacos were worth the years of lusting after them for years! We kicked it about a bunch of nothing for about an hour – until it was dark. Then we both suddenly looked at one another as soon as the sun fully disappeared, and got up without saying a word; it was time to kill, again!

  Chapter 8

  As soon as I pulled up and parked in front of John Patterson's house, we both put on our gloves and checked our guns. We walked to the front door quickly – trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. When Redman pressed the door bell, I pulled out my knife and concealed it behind my leg. My heart began to race like crazy when John Patterson peeked out the window beside the door, hesitated, then began to unlock the door. Once the door was open, he extended his hand.

  "John Patterson. And you are?"

  I smirked.

  "Pissed the fuck off!"

  Before he could react, I stabbed him twice in the stomach with powerful upward swings. He began to stumble backwards, holding his stomach wounds as blood seeped through his fingers and dripped onto the expensive, plush, tan colored carpet. We then calmly walked in, and Redman calmly closed and locked the door before he turned off the porch light. I slowly and silently followed John Patterson in the direction he was stumbling.

  "Honey, who was that?"

  Seconds after her question lingered in silence, he led us into the kitchen. At first, she doesn't notice us because she had her undivided attention focused on the food she was cooking on the stove; that was the most delicious smell that I had experienced in over a decade. When she heard the thud of her injured husband hitting the floor, she looked down at him, then up at me. The way she maintained her composure was extremely impressive. She started to walk toward him, but I gestured "no" to her - using my bloody knife.

  "You stay over the stove and continue to cook that delicious smelling food. There's nothing you can do to save his life. He dies today for what he did to me."

  Her eyes bored into me – displaying curiosity, anger, and fear.

  "What possibly could my husband have done to you that was so terrible that he deserves to die?"

  "He was in charge of the jury that wrongfully put me on death row because they got tired of being locked in a room for several hours. I was released yesterday because of DNA and though I’m happy to be home, I’m mad as hell at the people that did not take their responsibility serious enough. My life did not hold a lot of value to them so their lives don’t mean shit to me. Welcome to my LIFE AFTER DEATH."

  This revelation caused John Patterson's head to quickly lift off the ground, and his eyes searched my face. It only took a few moments for recognition to seep into his eyes. He then put his head back on the kitchen floor, and began to cry. Then he looked back up at me, with his eyes now radiating the hatred that I remembered being scared to look at during my trial.

  "There were twelve of us, pal. I didn't find you guilty by myself."

  I chuckled as I pulled out the list of names and waived it toward him.

  " You damn sure didn’t so you will recognize a few people that was involved in this case down in hell, so don't feel alone. All of you all are about to catch this taste of vengeance. See, I'm forced to take matters into my own hands because the justice system doesn't care if an innocent man is sentence to death. There is no formal law that punishes a jury once it’s proven that their conviction was the wrong one. So, I’m the judge and executioner and I have sentenced a lot of people to death though I might get to all of them. And you, John Patterson, are now sentenced to death. Any last words? You..."

  Redman walked into the kitchen and stood over John Patterson with his gun pointed at his head.

  "Come on, Big Bro, with all this movie type shit. We from the hood. Just body the chump so we can get up out of here."

  I met his intense glare and smirked.

  "This is not your regular 'hood type drama. These murders are going to be therapeutic for my soul. I have played these murders out in my mind for 14 years. I have said this same speech to him and others in my mind so many times . Only way for me to get real closure is for me to hear answers to certain questions, and the ones I kill – they have to suffer for a lit
tle while before they die. They have to feel what it's like to be on death row. The best

  “ Barb wire fences and brick walls does not define death row. If you was held hostage and that person knew they was going to die, they experienced what it’s like on death row. If you was in a car that was destroyed during a violent crash and you still here to tell people what it was like to survive, you was on death row. I also want to understand what happens in the jury room while somebody’s life hangs in the air. I'm doing this my way. If you in a rush, roll out Negro. I'll take their car and meet you home. What you going to do?"

  After we engaged in an intense staring match, Mrs. Patterson suddenly turned around and diffused the tension with two words as she glanced helplessly at her husband.

  "Dinner’s ready!"

  I looked at her, and the pain and sorrow in her eyes would had penetrated my heart before I spent over three thousand days awaiting death. Now, my heart felt warmer at the sight.

  "I'll make the plates. Redman, take her to get some stuff to patch him up and get him a new shirt. I'm not trying to look at all of that blood while we eat."

  Redman looked at me, shaking his head in a sarcastic way, as he followed Mrs. Patterson

  Chapter 9

  I walked to the stove and began to laugh as I stared at a pot of baked lamb with oil and oregano – a popular Greek dish. I also knew what was in the other covered pots even before looking in them. One had to be Avogolemono, which is the sauce that is poured onto the lamb, and the other pot had to be Rice Pilaf, which is placed around the lamb once the Avgolemono is poured onto it. As I lifted the tops and saw that I was correct, I just laughed. I then walked to the refrigerator – knowing that I would see a bottle of 1978 Montrachet wine. When I opened the refrigerator door, I smiled and my mouth watered in pure anticipation.