Jack’s laugh was sinister then he laid it out for LaTanza. “You think you’re getting the best of me? You want to know what really happened to your mom?”
Carlos pointed his pistol at Jack’s head yelling, “Shut the fuck up! I’ll peel your cap!”
LaTanza yelled, “No let him talk! I need to know why he did what he did to me.”
Carlos lowered his pistol but stood ready to do Jack as did Chavez.
“I killed your mom. You think that I was going to put up with her whoring. Shit, every time I knew she was out with your real father I came to you in the middle of the night. Call it what you want, but your mom didn’t have the decency to even tell you who your real dad was. He was just on the other side of town and ten years after you were born I found out that she was still fuckin’ him. Everybody in town knew it—even your friend’s parents. Your mother made me out to be the fool of the city so she had to go.”
The light from the hallway enabled Jack to see the tears that raced each other down LaTanza’s cheeks. He was in pain and had no sympathy so he decided to twist the knife he’d stuck in her.
“Aw, you cryin’. You can’t cry, you a woman now. Planning hits and shit. You know your mom and your sister knew about us,” he told her.
LaTanza cringed. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard.
He continued. “Yeah, they came home early one day and when I was on top of you I heard a gasp and when I turned around I saw your mom and your sister. She pushed your sister behind her and she stood frozen, and I fucking finished and didn’t give a fuck!”
Carlos shot Jack in the ass but this time he didn’t let out a sound. He just gritted his teeth, took the pain and continued to talk. “So it looks like everybody had a hand in fucking you!” He laughed a sinister laugh and that’s when LaTanza took the pistol from Carlos. She was about to put one in him when Chavez yelled for them to wait. Chavez was an expert at killing and he had to keep his boss’ ass in the clear. He hit Jack in the back of the head with his pistol to knock him out but not kill him. He needed for the man to still be breathing—for his blood to be circulating. He took out a syringe and filled it with heroin. He pierced a vein with the needle and plunged the drug into the man. They waited a while for the heroin to flow through Jack’s system. Chavez looked at his watch then told his boss, “Now it’s time.”
LaTanza was zoned out from the venomous secrets Jack had spat. She wondered could it have been true. She then squeezed the trigger. Chavez smiled as Jack’s head popped. Carlos was glad to see his woman take charge because he was going to have her put a round in Jack just like him and Chavez. His rule was on any murder he was involved in anyone who was with him had to have a hand in it also. That way there was no chance that that person would go to the police without implicating themselves in the murder.
Carlos purposely dropped one of the green bandannas in the hallway as they made their escape. He did so to make the police think that it was members of the rival Spanish Cobras who had entered the home. Carlos and Chavez were Latin Kings. They headed out the back door—the same door they had entered. The same door LaTanza had left unlocked. Before running into the back yard, Chavez jimmied and busted the lock to make the B&E look as real as possible. Once they were out of the house LaTanza did her part. She called the police and her acting kicked in. Once she knew they were on the way she got in the shower and balled up naked crying.
Chavez and Carlos made it to their car that was down the alley a safe distance away. Chavez nodded at the dope fiend that was standing on the corner. They had brought her along. She started walking down the alley toward the house with her drug addict stagger. The sirens grew closer and she was ready to tell the story the way she’d rehearsed. Chavez put the car in gear and they eased out of the alley, as the sun seemed to have risen out of nowhere. Carlos thought about his baby and what they had just gone through and how she had become his ride or die chick. He knew she’d be okay when the police arrived to question her. She’d play the traumatized role to the T and tell them that she had been raped by what looked to be a Spanish and black guy. They wouldn’t question her seeing as how her sister has been one of Chicago’s finest for three years and would pop up on the scene when she heard the call and realized that it was her father who had been murdered. Carlos leaned back, smiled and thought of his and LaTanza’s future as he and Chavez headed up the Dan Ryan expressway.
* * *
LaTanza left Doctor Hoffman’s office feeling just about the same as she did when she went in. The doctor gave her a prescription for some drugs to help her with her sleep, and the date of their next session. She had all the information she needed and wasn’t surprised at the part about Carlos. But she knew that LaTanza’s role in her stepfather’s death, no matter how she tried to justify it in her mind, was the cause of her anxiety and her mood swings. The rape, she has tried to shut out by an emotion of lashing out and applied violence to people she feels are a threat. All of this was noted due to Hoffman being LaTanza and Carlos’ shrink. The doctor was bound by secrecy of the doctor patient code of ethics and Carlos’ code of taking care of her if she spoke of any of his business.
LaTanza glanced at her Rolex as she navigated her way through the Lake Shore Drive traffic. She was on her way to the ritzy Gold Coast area of Chicago to see Jasmine. Jasmine was going to ride with LaTanza to pick up Carlita from the summer school and then they were going to have a late lunch. Something they have been doing for years for they were like sisters who have had each other’s back and nothing could separate the two. They both had gone from eating beans and rice three times a week to eating at restaurants where women broke their necks to kiss ass when they saw Oprah Winfrey walk through the door.
A New Beginning
Lisa looked in the mirror and almost didn’t recognize herself in the grey pants suit. She had her hair combed back and flipped on the ends. She was on the way to her new job as an administrative assistant—better known as secretary. Mr. Goldstein told her that she didn’t have to show up until next Monday giving her time to get adjusted to being free. Once she was released, she had Shay take her to the mall. She still had the money that Terrance had sent her while incarcerated. She had saved most of that money so she’d have some in case she got released early. She prayed every night that she wouldn’t have to serve all her time and God answered her prayers. Now all she had to do was live the straight and narrow like she promised the Man upstairs and she was on that path. Even though Goldstein told her that she didn’t need to show until next Monday, here she was on Wednesday, up bright and early to start something she wasn’t used to—a nine to five.
Sunlight shone into her bedroom that was located on the upper level of Shay’s expensive town home. She modeled the outfit for a moment realizing that it looked better on her now than it did when she tried it on in the store. She ran her hands down her curvaceous hips and smiled as she was filled with happiness to be free. She decided to get on her knees and thank God for helping her gain her freedom back. For she knew that it was His doing and His will that freed her and for that she always got on her knees and gave thanks.
“Are you going to come down here and eat or what girl?” Shay barked up the stairs at her girl who was taking forever.
The conservative heels clicked and clacked as Lisa walked down the spiral stairs. She had slipped on a pair of fashionable glasses she’d purchased at Pearle Vision that made her look intelligent. She entered the kitchen and Shay had it going on. French toast, eggs, grits, bacon and sausage links, she was ready to slam on everything. Shay had been hooking it up ever since she got out, and she thanked her girl for that. No more oatmeal, boiled eggs or that nasty as all get out biscuits and gravy. She couldn’t believe how a lot of the white girls that were incarcerated would be standing in line for that slop.
“You have the paper?” Lisa asked as she sat on the barstool.
“Nah, Mike took it,” Shay said as she poured some syrup on her French toast.
Lisa smi
led. “He spent the night again. Damn, I’ll be glad when I can meet someone so I can lie against a warm body. I don’t even know what that feels like,” she complained.
“As good as you’re looking, it won’t be long before some dude snatches your ass up. And I’m not fixing your plate. You’ve been out long enough, baby the catering stops,” Shay joked as she tightened the string to her baby blue silk robe.
Lisa began to fix her plate. She put some of everything on it and daydreamed, Shay noticed.
“What you thinking about?”
Snapped out of her daze, Lisa responded, “Oh nothing. Uh, I mean work.”
Shay rubbed a piece of the toast in the maple syrup. She chomped down on it then said, “I know you, girl. When Terrance came over here to see you and bring you that car, teeth and that dimple was all up in his face. Mike noticed that shit, too. T and you are my fam and his ass got a woman, but he still got love for you so that’s why he hooked you up with the ride and is going to get that apartment for you. We’re all from the block. Hell, he sends Peaches money every month. Our boy is real. But his heart is with Brittney so let’s be happy for him.”
“I am,” Lisa said as she sat on the stool with her plate in her hand. She was digging in on the food before it got cold. “It was just good to see him. Believe me, I’m over him. But really though, what sista do you know has the name Brittney. That’s white as all get out.”
“I know girl, I think she’s mixed?”
They laughed and gave each other five.
Shay continued, “But seriously, girlfriend is cool.”
Lisa looked at her friend and turned up her nose. “Cool. What you been hanging out with her?”
“Just a couple of times. Mike and I hung out with them. Went to a play and a dinner party they had.”
“I guess.”
“You’re tripping.”
Realizing that she was tripping a little she decided that she’d get Terrance out of her mind. At least in the sexual way even though that was going to be hard seeing as how he was the only man she’d made love to while she was incarcerated. That is by imagination when she decided to get herself off.
Lisa and Shay finished eating breakfast while they kicked it. Lisa then noticed the time and knew she’d better get to work. She downed a glass of apple juice then headed out of the door for her first day on the job. She got in her new Nissan Altima that Terrance had purchased for her. When he came over a couple of nights ago with the gift, she got so wet that she thought she was going to have to go change—just seeing him made her quiver. She wondered if it was because she hadn’t seen any good-looking men in a while or was it because she still had feelings for him? Either way he moved her. She eased her way into the silver car and turned the ignition. The car purred, she put it in gear and she was on her way—the start of the new Lisa. No more showing up when you wanted since the owner of the joint was your boyfriend. And that’s the way it was when she was the secretary/accountant/lover of Slim’s strip club. That was the past and the new Lisa was humble and just happy to have her life back.
“Go ahead and take a break,” Mr. Goldstein told Lisa who was filling out some paperwork.
“I’m okay. I packed a lunch so I’ll eat a little later after I finish this,” she said as she fingered a stack of papers that were on her desk.
Mr. Goldstein told her that he was going to be out of the office for a couple of hours for a lunch date and that she could reach him on his cell. He left the office and Lisa watched as the Cadillac DTS cruised out of the lot. Lisa went to the back of the office to retrieve her lunch. She was hungry but didn’t tell Goldstein because she was trying to let him see the hard worker in her. She sat at her desk and ate a chicken sandwich and a cup of yogurt. She heard the door open and she wiped her mouth as she looked up. She damn near choked on the bite of sandwich she was swallowing. The man standing in front of her in the Fed Ex uniform was sexy as hell. She couldn’t believe how good he looked especially in the delivery short outfit. He walked toward her with a white cardboard envelope.
“Good afternoon,” he greeted her. His voice was smooth. Eyes were alert. Teeth were white. Hair was closely cropped and lined as if it were done with a straight razor. He was about six feet tall and skin was a dark shade of brown. “A package for Goldstein and Associates.”
“Oh, I can sign for it,” Lisa eagerly stated.
He handed her the clipboard and pen. He tore off her copy and handed it to her. “You must be new.”
“Yeah, just started. You can tell?” she asked wondering was it that obvious.
“Yep, this is my route and I have never seen you in here before.” He put his hand to the side of his mouth gesturing that he only wanted Lisa to hear. “And you are sooo much better looking than the woman they had in here before.”
He gave Lisa a smile that said a thousand words. She knew that he could see the nervousness on her face. She had to do something and did the easiest thing there was to do.
“My name is Lisa,” she said as she stood so she could extend her hand to him. And as they shook she knew that he liked what he saw. The pantsuit fit her toned, body well.
“My name is Devin Anderson.” They broke their handshake. “So Lisa, you must be new in town.”
Lisa hesitated. She definitely didn’t want to tell him that she had just been released from Federal Prison. So she thought of saying the next best thing. “Well I’m originally from here, but have been out of town for the past year and a half but now I’m back in the windy city.”
“That’s good. I mean there aren’t too many cities better than the Chi, so welcome back.” He slowly walked backwards towards the door. “Well, I guess I’ll be seeing you around. Or should I say hope to see you around.”
Lisa smiled. “Okay, have a good day, Devin.”
“You too.”
She watched as he walked back to the white FedEx van.
Eyes glued on his ass. He had to have played some kind of sports she thought as she admired his tight body. He got into his van and drove off. She made a mental note to ask him out the next time he delivered a package to the office. She kind of wished she had asked him while he was standing in front of her but didn’t want to come off as desperate. He said that the office was on his route so she knew he’d be back. She picked up the phone and dialed Shay. She just had to tell her about the man she had just met. Being locked up around nothing but females made her hunger even more for the opposite sex and she was ready for dinner, movies, plays, walks in the park and hanging at relatives house’s on holidays. That’s what she wanted, and that’s what she was determined to get.
* * *
Another package finally made its way to Goldstein’s law office. It took about five days—five days too many. UPS had made deliveries, but Lisa was craving for the boy in the blue uniform, not the brown. Once Devin made his way back she didn’t have to make her move—he beat her to the punch. He asked her out for lunch on Saturday and she gladly accepted, seeing as how most weekends she did nothing but hang with Shay and her boyfriend and she was tired of being a third wheel.
The weekend came and Lisa thumbed through the closet looking for something to wear. Shay was sitting on the bed enjoying every minute of it. She was glad to see her friend so excited about going out on a date even if it was just lunch. Devin had offered to pick her up, but she decided against it. For one, she had just met him, and two, it was Shay’s home and she didn’t think it would be right to give someone who was technically still a stranger her address, so they were meeting at the Grande Lux Café.
“What about this?” Lisa asked as she turned toward Shay holding a peach colored summer dress she’d purchased at Macy’s.
Shay shook her head.
“Why don’t you just wear those jeans and that multi colored halter top that you paid a grip for?” Shay stepped into the walk-in closet and grabbed a pair of Ciusppe Zanotti basket weave wedges and told her, “Here, these will set it all off.”
Lisa laid th
e items on the bed and looked them over. Shay noticed her look. “Girl, don’t be acting all brand new over going out. Hell, it was a time when you could pick out some clothes, shower, whip your hair up and be dressed in less than thirty. You haven’t been gone that long! And speaking of hair, who hooked you up?”
“My girl at On Point beauty salon on Stoney Island. And I know it hasn’t been that long, I just want to have a nice time.”
Shay smiled and nodded. “Ah, I know what it is. You’re feelin’ homeboy ain’t you?”
Lisa made a yeah-right face saying, “I just met him and it’s something to do besides tagging along with you and Mike. I don’t mean anything by it and I appreciate all that you have done, but when I’m with you guys I feel like a third wheel.”
“Well, you’re not a third wheel, you’re my girl. And besides, you move in your apartment next week so you’ll have plenty of space and opportunity to seduce ol’ boy. What’s his name again? Devin right?”
“Yeah, now can you step so I can get ready?”
“Bitch!”
“Ho!”
“Yeah, but I’m a good one.”
They both laughed as Shay left so Lisa could get ready for her first date in almost two years.
Welcome Home Son
The black GMC Denali was clean. It was a cloudy day but the humidity was high. Frank sat behind the wheel and Lucky in the passenger’s seat. They didn’t talk much as they sat. They had done a lot of talking five days ago when they drove up Interstate 94 and while they stayed at their hotel. After the couple of visits Lucky had with Anthony, he would come back to the hotel and tell Frank about Ant. Lucky and Frank would go out to dinner and it would be the same. How his son was big and strong and how he looked more like his mother. Anthony was very muscular and Lucky was thin, but strong also, and his limp was gone, compliments of the hip surgery he’d had several months ago.
The Corner II Page 7