by M. T. Pope
“Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!” I moaned as I covered my ears and rocked back and forth. It felt like my mind was unhinging.
I had been in this room, stark naked, for close to two days, my mind going round and round in thought, my past mixing with the present. I was on edge. I had my cell phone taped to my breast so that I wouldn’t misplace it.
Waiting on this phone call was chauffeuring me around in the mazes of my mind. I tried my best not to think about instability of my mind. My plans for Alex and me had kept me focused for so long that I didn’t really have to worry about it, but now I was staring it in the face. I was the crazy girl I tried to hide so well. I was the one who needed to be medicated. My mother was right. I was her. I was going to end up the same way that she was right now.
I wasn’t going to bring a child into this mess to suffer the way that I had for so long. I changed my mind. I didn’t want this to happen. I was going to end it for both of us. Right now.
“I’m sorry, baby Lexington.” I rubbed my stomach. “I thought this is what I wanted, but I was wrong.”
I rose up from the bed, out of my bedroom, and walked into my kitchen area. Tears flowed from my eyes as I reached into one of my drawers for a butcher’s knife. “I’m not fit to be your mother or to be alive,” I whispered. I palmed the knife firmly in my hands and raised it above my head to get a good momentum for the fatal blow.
I was startled by vibration of the phone taped to my breast, causing me to jump and drop the knife. I snatched the phone off of my body. I should have been in pain but I was numb to it all at the moment. The pain of my choices had hit me hard. I was remorseful for all of the lives that I took to make me comfortable. The lives I took to get a man who didn’t want me. I was a living, breathing fool.
“Hello,” I answered the phone. The enthusiasm of life I had days before had all but left my voice.
“You ready?” Troy asked.
“Yes.”
“Well hop in your car and meet me at the address I’m going to text you in a few seconds. You have fifteen minutes.” He hung up in my ear.
I looked at the phone, wondering once again how the tables got turned so quickly. But I knew all too well that you reap what you sow. I was now reaping all of it at once. At least that was what it felt like.
I dressed quickly without even washing up or combing my hair. I was a mess. I hopped into my car in just jeans and a pink T-shirt. I looked at myself in the mirror and didn’t recognize the girl I saw. The one I now saw looked broken and defeated.
“I’m sorry, Lexington, for almost ending your beautiful life before it even began. I am going to do one thing right in this world if it is the last thing I do. I’m going to bring in this world a healthy baby and give it to someone who would truly be a blessing to him or her,” I said and then I let out a small smile. I reached into the glove compartment of my car and found a brush. I brushed my hair back as best I could and then pulled off toward my destination.
It was too late for me but it wasn’t for my unborn child.
I pulled up to the predetermined destination and waited for what was next. A tap on the passenger side window caused me to jump. It was Troy.
“So glad you could make it,” he said and then smirked.
“Yeah.” I spoke nonchalantly.
“So let’s get down to business. I need you to get Alex to meet you somewhere, alone, and then I need you to bring him to this address.” He handed me a small piece of paper. I read the address quietly and remained that way until he spoke again.
“I will need you there within the next hour. Time is of the essence. Don’t forget, if you try to run it will only anger me and then I will be forced to turn you in and that baby of yours will be an orphan. I know that’s not what you want.”
I silently shook my head from side to side, with hesitancy written all over my face. He didn’t need to know my plans were the same.
“Oh, take this so that there will not be any reluctance on his part. You will have to use this, so don’t be afraid to do so.” He handed me a small Taser gun. “As soon as you help me you’ll be a free woman and all of the evidence that I have against you will magically disappear. One hand washes the other.”
I smiled and nodded my head. “Got it.” I just wanted him to get out of the car. The Troy I knew before this was all but a memory. The Troy I was looking at now was more obsessed than I ever was. The look in his eyes was very shifty and almost empty of feeling.
He finally got out of the car. I sighed in relief and I pulled off in the direction of the Black residence. I didn’t know how I was going to get Alex out of the house alone. This guy Wallace was with him everywhere he went since he’d gotten here. This was going to be a task.
I parked my car in front of the house. I had never been this nervous going into the Black residence. Maybe because most of the time I was entering the house with good intentions. This visit would be quite the opposite. I rang the doorbell and Li’l Shawn opened the door and peeked out. I could tell that Mrs. Black had everyone on lockdown and high alert. She had every right to do as she saw fit.
“Hey, Jasmine,” he said and then pulled the door back to let me in. I rubbed my fingers in the palms of my hands a few times as I entered. I walked into the living room and there was only Alex and Brittany sitting in the room. Alex had the laptop in his lap while he was doing something with his phone. I was sure he was still in track down mode.
“Hey, everyone,” I said trying to give off calmness. I sat down on the loveseat that was diagonally facing everyone. I was racking my brain with a way to get Alex out of this house without alarming anyone. “Hey, Alex. Where is Wallace?” I asked.
“Oh, he had to go take care of something. He’ll be back shortly.”
“Oh, okay.” I pretended like I was watching television with Li’l Shawn and Brittany.
“Alex, I need a really huge favor. I know right now is not the time, but I need to go to the auto parts store for some new windshield wipers and I don’t want to go in there alone. They try to take advantage of us females when we enter a store like that. I just want a guy with me so I don’t get ripped off or leave with the wrong thing.” I tried to put on a pitiful face.
“Your baby’s father not available?” he asked me. It kind of took my breath away that he would ask me that.
“We’re not on speaking terms at the moment,” I answered.
“Well, take Li’l Shawn. He good with that stuff.” It was like he was purposely trying to push me off on someone else. Next he would probably tell me take his little sister, Brittany.
“No offense to Li’l Shawn”—I looked in Li’l Shawn’s direction—“but I really would appreciate it if you would go with me. I’m more comfortable with someone my age. But I understand if you don’t have time for that at this moment.” I tried to sound convincing. Truth was I was only six years older than they were.
I sat back in the seat I was in and focused on the television. I had a disappointed look on my face. I remained completely quiet. Men hated it when women got quiet on them but that didn’t work on him for some reason. I guessed he really didn’t want to do it. I guessed I had to pull out my last hope card.
“Alex, I just need this one favor from you. I think you owe me at least this one little thing since I helped you out . . . a few times I might add.”
He looked at me for a few seconds. I thought he was in disbelief that I would bring up the favor he owed me at a time like this. I was desperate and desperate times called for desperate measures.
“Let’s go,” he said as he hopped up off of the chair. “We have to make this quick.” He speed-walked toward the car.
I was all smiles on the inside. I couldn’t believe that I got him out of the house. I hopped in the car and pulled off toward the destination I had already pressed into my GPS. I had the readout playing in my Bluetooth so that he wouldn’t be cognizant of where I was headed until it was too late. I had the Taser in my side jacket pocket ready to zap him at the
right time.
I drove for a few minutes and drove right past an auto parts shop.
“Jasmine, we just passed a shop,” he said with a little irritation in his voice.
“I don’t like that shop. A friend of mine told me to go to a particular shop.”
“Why couldn’t this friend go with you?”
I looked at him like he had lost his mind. “Because that friend is a woman and not a man.” I gave back just as much attitude he gave me.
“I’m sorry, Jasmine,” he apologized. “I’m just on edge right now.”
“I know; I am as well. I’m trying to keep my mind on other things. And not the disappearance of my best friend. I thought that this small outing would get your mind off of things for at least a few seconds.”
“I appreciate the thought.”
“Alex, could you look under the seat and see if you see my ring underneath it?”
“Sure,” he said as he bent over and reached under the seat for a ring that I didn’t lose. I quickly pulled out the Taser, flipped in on with my thumb, and pressed it to his side. Several quick jolts was all that it took to knock him out. Mind you I was driving and doing this at the same time. I pushed him back in the seat so he wouldn’t get any cramps or anything in the slumped-over position. I also didn’t want to bring any attention toward us, namely the police.
It took about thirty-five minutes to get to this location where Troy gave me directions to. He had me driving up winding roads and whatnot to get to Upper Marlboro, Maryland. It was a highly rural area. Large houses on large plots of land with fields as far as the eye could see. I never even knew about this part of Maryland and it wasn’t even that far away from Baltimore.
It was near dark when I pulled up. I spotted a car I assumed to be Troy’s. I called his phone and let him know that I was outside with his precious cargo.
It didn’t take him long to come out and hoist Alex over his shoulder and carry him into this old hillbilly-type home. It looked like it needed to be demolished or in need of a serious rehabilitation.
I stayed in the car hoping that he was finished with me, but he signaled me to come with him with the gun in his hand. I immediately followed suit. We walked into a mildew-smelling house that was still furnished with almost ancient-looking furniture partially covered with sheets. Up the stairs we went until we made it to a room with two individuals I knew very well. Ashley and Diana were tied up in chairs on the opposite sides of the room. There was a dresser with a vanity station and a mattress that looked to be covered with a dark stain in the middle of it. I cringed because it looked to be old blood. I knew the look of blood on a mattress and this was definitely it. It made me curious as to what happened to it. I had a feeling I was about to find out very soon.
Chapter 44
Troy
The Set
She’s dead! That was what I thought as I sat inside of my car. Ma Dear had taken her last breath with me sitting beside her. She tried to hold on but the illness got the best of her. The nurses tried to console me but I was beyond it. I was disappointed that she didn’t get to see this thing to the end. She wanted revenge so bad, but I guessed it was all on me now. Good thing everything was in place. I was doing part of this for her but it was mostly for me. I had my own agenda for payback that she didn’t know about.
I sat in my car a few more minutes before I made my way to “the set” as I called it. As soon as I left Jasmine in the parking lot I made my way here to let her know that I was on my way to finish the plan that was set. I didn’t know that I was actually going to see her taking her last breath. I actually wanted her to see the scene I had set up via video and then pass away. But, alas, it didn’t work out so here I was going to finish it off myself.
I drove with a content beat flowing through my fingers, tapping on the steering wheel as I drove to my destination. I pulled up to my childhood home and looked at the building that was still standing but barely. We had moved out of it after the incident, but never sold it. All of my siblings moved far away and I was the only one who was looking after it now. I opened the still-creaky door and walked up the wooden steps to the room where it all happened. Where my life was changed. Where my destiny was taken away from me.
“Good evening, ladies,” I greeted Ashley and Diana as I entered the room. They were nonresponsive because they were gagged. “I know you are wondering why you are here, but I can’t tell you that until the final participants in this reenactment show up. I’m so glad that you could make the cut of this scene.” I laughed heartily at my own joke. They didn’t get it but they soon would. They all would actually.
I set up the camera that I had brought with me and rearranged the scene the way it was that night. I wanted it as I remembered it. There were going to be a few “extras” in the scene but they would serve their purpose. I got the call that I was waiting for and made my exit at stage right, down the stairs and out to the car to retrieve the last cast member. He was out of it but as soon as he woke he would wish he was still unconscious. He had the best part of the scene I was about to shoot. I hauled him up the wooden steps and into the room with the others. I tossed him on the bed and then tied his arms and his legs to the bed. I pulled down his pants and exposed his body from the waist down. The size of his manhood not aroused was quite impressive and perfect for the scene as well.
The extra, Jasmine, was standing in the doorway with a confused look on her face. She didn’t know that her part in this scene was just widened a few seconds ago.
It didn’t take long before Alex awakened from his slumber. He wasn’t enthusiastic about his present state of being. “What the fuck is going on here?” he asked as he twisted to get himself free. He wasn’t going anywhere because I had him tied up good.
I pulled the tape from Ashley’s mouth and then Diana’s. They all began to throw obscenities my way but the gun I pulled from behind me shushed them all.
“First let’s start with the first question: who am I? Because I know you want to know who the hell I am. My name is Troy McNeal. Lee is my mother’s maiden name.”
“I don’t give a shit who you are. Why the hell are we here?” Ashley spewed anger-filled words my way. The feeling was mutual.
“Why are you here?” I walked around the room a bit before I answered. I wanted to keep them in suspense for a while. “I am here for vengeance. I am here for blood. I am here because your father, James Parks, took something from me. But before I finish with the why let me give you some back story. A good movie is always good with some back story or a flashback scene. I love those in movies.” I grinned as I thought back.
“My father was a really sick and perverted person. He was a pedophile of his children. The boys and the girls. He broke us all in sexually at the coming of age. He said he was doing us a favor. After he broke you in, he would treat you like royalty. You got whatever you wanted or asked for. Every child was given this opportunity. Every child would watch the end results of the other siblings’ ‘breaking in’ and then watch them get all that their heart desired.
“My mother was treated less than equal in these situations, which she tolerated but secretly became jealous of us all. She was not an attractive person but she had money. Her family did. That’s why my father married her. He wasn’t a loafer; he had a job. A very good one. But none of this was enough for him; he had to go outside the lines and draw other people into the equation. That is where your father comes into the picture.
“That greedy bastard wanted too much and my father did what he had to do to cut him off. But that didn’t stop your father from seeking vengeance. He crept in here one lowly night and took my inheritance from me. He took everything. I had to earn my own. I had to work my way up this pissy ladder of success to get to you all. But I made it and now I am going to end it all for you like your father ended mine the night he came in here and severed my inheritance.
“My father’s name was Charles McNeal. He was a Bank of America employee. It was where he met your piece of s
cum of a father. I don’t know what went wrong between them two but he came in here and cut off his dick with a knife, cutting off my chances at easy street and giving me the hardships of life. He was supposed to break me in. I was the last one. I watched from the shadows as he took revenge on my father. I was a quiet child and lurked around in the darkness with ease and agility. You see that night was the night it was supposed to happen. It was the day after my twelfth birthday and he promised to come in and give me my inheritance. But James Parks came in and cut it off. He cut it off!”
I was quiet for a few seconds as I stared at them all one by one. They looked horrified at my tale, but it was my family and my legacy. I was cheated and now they must die for it since their father was gone. They were next in line.
“So we are in here because our biological father cut some man’s dick off in revenge?” Ashley asked me. She looked at me as if I was crazy. “You have got to be fucking kidding me. All of this because your sick-ass father didn’t get to fuck you. You are a lunatic. Who does this type of shit? This is what I get for dating a white guy. I wanted to be different, give it a try. I knew you was too good to be true, but I went against my better judgment and all I have been through and threw caution to the wind and here I am now: tied the fuck up once again.”
The youngest of the siblings was sobbing in the corner that she was in.
“Don’t worry, baby Diana. It will all be over soon. I’m going to be getting rid of some bad blood out of this world very soon. James Park’s bad blood will be cut off when I end your lives. I am going to start with Alex and his manhood. Jasmine is going to do me a favor and get that monster to its full size and then it’s off with its head and you will watch him bleed to death.” I laughed out loud. Alex didn’t look too thrilled though.
“Next, I’m going to stuff the severed flesh in your mouth like I found my mother that night, Ashley. And then shoot you in the head. Finally the youngest gets the easy way out. Just a bullet to the head. That works for me. And to wrap the scene up, the wonderful Jasmine will be taking the rap for all of this because she is the master mind behind all of the killings you see, Alex.”