Power

by Kenya Wright

  “A little boy. I think he was Mexican or something. He had a Mohawk.”

  “What did he want?” Fuji cursed some more and slung the notebooks into a bag on my desk.

  “He didn’t say anything,” Tasha said. “He just waved, walked in, looked around like a detective and left. I think he had a key.”

  Mohawk. Knowing him, he picked the lock.

  Tasha continued, “After that, he left. It must’ve been the day after your Aunt came. And then your boyfriend, Harrold—”

  “We’re not dating anymore,” I corrected.

  “Well, he came here in a wheel chair with three guys. I think they must’ve been coming from baseball practice or something, because they all had bats. He left a message that you are to call him immediately.”

  Awesome. Harrold is seeking revenge. You may want to focus on healing, before Noah ends up killing you.

  “We have to go.” Fuji grabbed me up fast, not being as careful as he’d been earlier. A bag of my joke books hung on his other arm. “Tasha, if anybody else comes by, you call Mary Jane’s phone and let her know immediately.”

  Tasha grabbed her bible and scowled. “And who are you?”

  “Eh, do what I said, so I don’t have to slap you.”

  Shocked, she dropped to her knees. “The lord is my shepherd! He takes care of me!”

  “Really?” I shook my head while being carried me out. “You could’ve been nicer.”

  Tasha yelled off in the distance, “He leads me to green meadows and quiet waters!”

  “We don’t have time for nice.” Fuji huffed. “Fucking Butterfly knows your name, if she knows this is where you went to school. Next stop is going to be your families’ houses if she gets a good picture of them.”

  “What?!” I tensed.

  “Sorry, MJ. Everything should be fine. Noah’s had security on your mom since the first day you were in the hospital.”

  “He has?”

  “Yeah. I wasn’t supposed to say anything.” He sped up, the bag of joke books slapping his back with each step. “Now, he’ll probably have your mother brought to the loft and watched over. We probably have to—”

  “Excuse me? Do you realize I’ve been lying to my mother this entire time? Not to mention the fact that she will not like Noah because he’s a murderer—”

  “What are you more scared of, her dying or you getting into trouble?”

  “Hmmm. Let me think about that.” I attempted a joke, but neither of us had any humor left. Shit was becoming even more serious.

  We made it back downstairs and outside faster than we’d went up. Maybe we shouldn’t have taken our time in my room, because when we arrived at the car, someone had flattened the tires.

  Not good.

  “Motherfucker.” Fuji sighed. “I knew this was a bad idea. Noah is going to kill me.”

  “He better not touch you.” I held him tighter. Recognizing the van, I was glad Mohawk remained by Fuji’s car. I was about to say let’s just see if he’s in there, but then a female whistled behind us.

  Fuji turned us around. Three identical black women stared back at us, dressed casually, but elegant. All three had hazel eyes. Their faces were exact replicas of the other, but their hair was different. The one on the left wore braids. The one on the right was baldheaded and in the center, the triplet had blue waves.

  I recognized their black pants and horn shoes from Le Couture. They had to be Butterfly’s crew. The flash and expensive clothes screamed her, but most of all, one of them had a gun in their hand, pointing at Fuji’s head.

  Fuji’s voice shifted into a thunderous sound from nightmares. “Put that fucking gun down.”

  The blue haired one spoke up in a raspy voice, her hand shook a little as she held the gun. “Don’t make me shoot you, Fuji. We’ve had some good times. I’d hate to throw flowers on your casket. Just put down the girl.”

  “No.” Fuji’s voice became colder. “What do you know about a gun, NeeNee?”

  “That it goes boom and kills a motherfucker real fast.” Blue hair raised the point a little higher.

  “You’re not going to shoot me.”

  “Don’t play me, Fuji.”

  I swallowed down fear. “So. . .I really don’t want you to shoot Fuji. Is there a way that I can convince you to put that gun down?”

  “By getting into our van over there.” The baldheaded one gestured to it. “Butterfly got a price tag on your head. We’re just trying to collect. We don’t want to hurt you or anything.”

  “Bullshit,” Fuji hissed.

  I tried to climb out of Fuji’s arms. “Let me go.”

  “No.”

  “Eh, put me down.”

  “No.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? I’m a free woman. I have a right to go with the creepy triplets if I want to.”

  The weird women exchanged glances while we continued to argue. I looked around. A few students walked by, but no one noticed what was going on.

  “Are you fucking crazy, MJ?” Fuji asked.

  “Yes.” I hit his arm. “Come on. At least let me stand.”

  “You’re not going with them.” Slowly, Fuji let me down.

  “They’re going to shoot you if I don’t go with them. I almost lost Crusher, not that he is a bestie, but I would’ve missed him. If something happens to you, it’s going to be hard on me.”

  “Man, do you think I care about a bullet to the brain. I’m more afraid of Noah than these hoes.” He cleared his throat. “I mean women and besides, NeeNee ain’t going to shoot that thing.”

  “Relax. I’ll be okay.” Doubt filled my head, but what other option did I have. Butterfly was looking for me so hard that she might go for my family. I didn’t want that. I might’ve fallen for Noah and put myself into his dark world, but Mom and the rest of my family were innocent.

  “MJ.” Fuji’s bottom lip quivered. “You’re not going with them. They might not hurt you, but Butterfly. . .”

  Let that bitch come around me. She surprised me with the knife last time. Next time, I’m attacking first with anything in my damned hand.

  I stood up straight. Pain swelled in my chest. “Tell Noah that I kneed you in the balls so you couldn’t chase after me.”

  He twisted his face in confusion. “Tell him what?”

  I rammed my knee into his crotch as hard as I could.

  “MJ!” Fuji doubled over and crashed to the pavement.

  The three women exchanged glances again while the blue haired one put the gun away. The whole time, her fingers continued to shake. “Oh, shit. Uh. Get in the van.”

  “I need help.” I glanced at Fuji. “I’m so sorry, big guy, but I’d rather your dick hurt than your head explode from a bullet.”

  Besides, I have creepy little Mohawk boy around this parking lot, somewhere.

  The girls led the way and I took a page from my judgey roommate’s book. In my head, I prayed to God as much as I could.

  The Lord is my shepherd. He takes care of me. . .

  Chapter 21

  Noah

  A husband with bad breath covers his wife with kisses, murmuring

  “My dear, my Hera, my Aphrodite!”

  She, turning away, murmurs,

  “My Zeus, my dead cod, er, my dread god!”

  –Philogelos (The Laughter Lover)

  I have to end this with Butterfly.

  The chick knew every move I would make, before I made it. She’d anticipated me burning down her brothels. By the time my soldiers appeared with the gasoline, all of the places had been emptied out. I couldn’t find her anywhere. No one spotted her. Not one woman or man, no matter who I threatened, had anything helpful to say. Why did I never realize how much of an enemy she could be? And why did everyone think that I cared for her? Just because I gave her business and slept with her more than the others, they thought she was more than what she was?

  It was time to teach her and everyone else a lesson. This bitch has to go. She hurt my lady. That’s
a strict death sentence. And fucking Crusher got shot twice. That has never happened. Shit is out of hand.

  I had to resort to drastic measures. It was time to take a trip into Ebony Forest. I hoped I would make it out alive.

  Relax. Don’t think about the men and women with sharp teeth and hungry bites. Just go in and ask for help and then, get you and 305 out of there.

  “Keep on going forward,” I ordered.

  305 drove our limo leaving Din City and headed south.

  Proctor Road led into Ebony Forest, the best place to bury dead bodies. For some reason, the woods always reeked of burning cinnamon and honey. Imagine someone making a batch of cookies, but letting them cook in the oven for five hours.

  The full moon hung over skeletal trees. Although spring, in this forest, leaves never grew on branches. The trees forever remained towering stripped bodies, swaying back and forth amid a chilly wind. The deeper you moved into the forest, the more the trees leaned down to the ground. The more they began to shape into circular patterns and then something more—dead horses, stiff and beautiful. Bark and wood shaped into creatures that swayed in the wind.

  People claimed magic flowed through these woods. I didn’t have a good explanation. Life was a mystery anyway. Who knew what would come each day? Who knew what happened after death? Was there really a God or many gods? Was there power all around or inside of us?

  Focus. Go into the woods, get help, and get the fuck out.

  When I was young, Rasheed’s and my main job was to dig graves. Sometimes, that was all we did. We’d sit by five or so newly dug holes, rap some of our favorite songs, and talk about what girl had the biggest tits in our class. After a while, some soldiers would arrive with corpses and dump them in front of us. It was one of those first level jobs in the gang, sort of like a janitor in a major company. I touched my first dead body at too young of an age, held the cold thing in my hands, dragged it across the soil, and rolled it into my first hole. We got a hundred dollars for each body and did that for about a year, before being promoted to runners.

  Once I became boss, I cut that boys burying bodies shit. If someone killed a man, he could get rid of it himself. I didn’t have many regrets, but in my pursuit for money and street fame, I learned about death too soon.

  I might’ve done things differently, if I could.

  Should I even be here? If Mary Jane wasn’t Butterfly’s target, I wouldn’t even be doing this. Is my lady becoming my weakness? Am I thinking properly?

  The limo’s divider remained down allowing me to talk to 305, if I had to. He’d been filling in for Crusher, until he fully healed. Right now, I had to keep my most loyal close to me, and the undecided far away.

  We passed several trees that looked like guards. Their barked bodies bent over the path, as if they were wondering who was in the car. The wind whipped through naked branches and made them appear alive. One had two holes at the top. I remembered this one and leaned closer to the window to stare while we sped by. That particular tree had always haunted me the most when I was a kid. The moon always glowed through the holes, no matter where I stood as I studied it. The more Rasheed and I looked, the more we swore a face pushed out from the bark with a rugged beard and pointy nose.

  Kids had the craziest imaginations.

  305’s voice carried through the limo. “Boss, where are we going? And what the fuck is up with these trees?”

  “We’re going deep into the woods.” I should’ve been focused on the danger ahead, but instead, with a hard dick, I texted Mary Jane again.

  Me: Are you sleeping or ignoring me?

  Nothing.

  Me: Are you thinking that if you ignore me, I’ll rush back in a horny rage and fuck you?

  My dick hardened more in anticipation of her words. It was funny how hooked she had me. Just a text from her could drive me crazy. She hadn’t responded back since this afternoon. It wasn’t a big deal. Most of the time, she fell asleep watching a comedy show or was too busy playing chess with Fuji, who never managed to beat her.

  I can’t wait until you heal, baby. I’m going to tear that pussy up.

  All week, I’d been thinking about how I’d make love to her. Her naked body slipped into my mind at the most inopportune times. Those full, lush breasts bounced in front of my eyes, even as I ordered my men to kill.

  Fuck, Mary Jane. Your more addictive than the weed you were named after. Now, I know how Spiderman feels. How many times did the hero want to tear off that red suit, say fuck protecting the city, and go pound his spidey cock into Mary Jane’s wet pussy?

  The best part of fucking her was the moans. Women didn’t like to hear the truth, but in the end pussy tended to be pussy—a wet hole that any dick could push in and out of. What mattered was the actual woman possessing the pussy. She made the experience more or less. Mary Jane heightened every sense when I touched her—that perfumed scent circled me as I pumped. Her warm, soft skin smoothed against me in just the right way, and her lovely moans always had me scared that I’d come all over her, before even entering.

  What are you doing, Noah? This might be your last ride into Ebony Forest and you’re typing into your phone like a teenager.

  I checked my phone again and typed something else.

  Me: I want to taste you tonight. Do you think you’re healed enough for me to lick that clit?

  I grinned, knowing she would say hells yes. How many times had she begged me, until pre-cum spilled into my pants and I raced into the bathroom to take a cold shower?

  Why aren’t you texting me back, baby?

  I checked my phone again like a loser. This was a new feeling. Still no response. Worry filled my chest. I was just about to call Fuji when 305 disturbed my thoughts.

  “I didn’t know anybody lived out here,” 305 said.

  “I wouldn’t say the gypsies are exactly living.”

  “What does that mean?”

  I shrugged. “Just keep an open mind with these people, and don’t take out your gun, no matter how freaked out you get.”

  “The road is ending.”

  “Keep on going.”

  His voice sounded shaky. “We might get a flat or crash the limo into a tree.”

  I did my best to keep the fear out of my own voice. “Stop sounding like a punk ass motherfucker and drive the car.”

  “You’re the one who’s talking about people aren’t living,” 305 muttered.

  “Man, aren’t you used to creepy nature shit? You’re from Miami. They have alligators and swamps out there.”

  “Why does everyone say that? You all act like alligators be dancing in the streets.”

  “How about you focus on not crashing into a tree.” I slid the phone into my pocket. If I harassed Fuji, Mary Jane would make me pay. She’d already made it clear that I should have more respect for him.

  “You’re too hard on Fuji,” she’d said one night as I massaged her back, just wanting to put my hands on her body. She was naked and warm and I wanted to fuck her so badly I could’ve shot someone to get my erection down for a few seconds.

  Her healing process was killing me. But I had to wait. There would be no other women anymore. She’d guaranteed that the moment she got on her knees and pled with me to spill all over those sexy lips.

  “You want me to be nicer to Fuji?” I’d asked.

  “Yes, please.”

  I groaned. “I think Fuji would shit his pants if I started being nice to him.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “You know what? Maybe I should get you a puppy or something.”

  “I’m not a big fan of dogs. They expect me to do things with them, totally not as cool as cats. And what does a puppy have to do with you being nice to Fuji?”

  “Because you’ve taken him from me. That’s why. You’ve made him your puppy.”

  “You forced the connection by kidnapping me.”

  I was glad she had her back to me so she couldn’t see me pout. I barely did it, and the last thing I needed
was a goddamned witness. “I’m going to reassign Fuji if I come back up here and he’s playing cards with you on the bed.”

  She glanced over her shoulder. “Is that some sort of violation? Why can’t he play cards with me?”

  “Don’t have any other men on a bed with you. It makes me uneasy.”

  “Alrighty. I’ll make sure he never comes in the bedroom. We can play in the living room. You just demanded that I stay in your bed so. . .”

  “And now you decide to listen?”

  She turned for a few seconds and batted her eyes at me. “I always listen to you, my gangsta poo.”

  I frowned. “Since you’re listening. How about you stop making him laugh so much too. The shit makes me annoyed.”

  “Did you mean jealous?” she asked.

  “Never. I don’t think a man like me can be jealous.”

  “Of course not. And since you’re demanding things, can you really be nice to him?”

  “Oh, sure. Maybe, I’ll give him an employee appreciation card or a nice bouquet of flowers with the word thanks written on the vase.”

  She rolled over and exposed her breasts to me. “Are you making fun of me?”

  “No, my queen. I just need suggestions. I’ve never been nice to my guys.”

  “Maybe you can start by not threatening to kill him every other hour.”

  “He’s always around you. It irritates me. Every time I see him smiling in your face, I want to beat him with the butt of the gun. Not leave a mark or give him brain damage, but just make him scream in pain a little. Not a lot of blood of course, but a nice purple blooming bruise on his fat forehead.” I raised my eyebrows. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

  Shocked, she stared at me. “Are you joking?”

  I played it off. “Of course. Ha. Ha.”

  “Noah?”

  “It was a bad joke.”

  “Noah, seriously, be nice to Fuji.” She turned back around and rested her head on my pillow. “That’s my homey for life.”

  I groaned in irritation. “Fucking homey for life.”

  The limo bounced a little as we continued.

  “Boss, did you hear that?” 305 rolled the window down and leaned his head to the side as he drove. “I think I heard something.”