Power

by Kenya Wright

  Now, I’ll be giving them an order, covered in bubbles and wearing a bath towel.

  “What’s your idea?” Mary Jane called out to me.

  I paused in the doorway and turned to her. “It’s fair to say that Butterfly is in love with me, because I saved her all of those times.”

  “That and the fact that God personally sculpted your body and cock from magic clay and had his top angels blow breath into your lungs.”

  I opened my mouth.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “Let’s focus. Yes. Butterfly probably fell for you, because you are her hero.”

  I smiled. “And because I have power.”

  “Maybe.”

  “It’s not a maybe, Mary Jane.”

  “Sure, it could be the power, too.

  “Power.” I raised a finger. “It is the number one reason why Butterfly loves me. This is why I could never love her or any of the other women I met in the streets. When they fuck me, they’re fucking the Beast of Din City. When you’re in my bed, who are you fucking?”

  “Noah. The Ruiner of Good Jokes. The Lord of Long Monologues and OCD cleanliness. The Mocker of Pop Corn and all things that are junk food. The King of Odd Beach Glass Meditation. The Purveyor of Pounding My Pussy. I could go on and on.”

  Damn. I love her.

  I couldn’t help it. I rushed to her, almost slipping on the wood flooring. I took her into my arms and she shrieked a little before I devoured her lips. When I pulled away, lust pooled in her eyes and I bet she didn’t remember what we’d even been talking about.

  “Could you be a part of this life?” I landed a kiss on both of her cheeks. “Tell me the truth.”

  “I wouldn’t want to be.” Panting, she tried to move away, but I wouldn’t let her.

  “I don’t think I would want to be with the Mary Jane that loved my power. You’ve only been with me for this long and you’ve already seen too much shit.” I traced her bottom lip with my thumb. “After a year in this life, you won’t be telling jokes and giggling with the guys. You’ll be holding a gun, probably scared about whatever new enemy that I’m fighting, because in the end, my Mary Jane, there will always be a new enemy.”

  She frowned. “What are you saying?”

  “If I left this life, would you leave me?”

  She twisted her face in confusion. “Leave you? Of course not. I would hold a huge going away party and be happy that you’re not in these streets getting yourself killed or even worse. I mean. . .seriously, if we had kids or something. . .not that I’ve been thinking about that recently. . .but if we did, I would be scared as hell for them.”

  “Kids?” My heart shifted from booming to slamming against my ribcage. “Kids?”

  She’s going to have me on fucking heart medication by next week.

  “Ignore that.” She moved my hand away from her face. “What are you trying to tell me?”

  “If I lost my power, would you stay by my side?” I asked.

  “Duh.”

  “You’d be there, if I was broke?”

  “I’m a college kid and raised by a single mother who taught school. I know all about being broke.”

  “That’s why I fucking love you. That’s why I was able to warm to you.” I slipped my hand down to one of her breasts. Those wet nipples had been enticing me the whole time.

  She pushed my hand away. “Noah, stop. What’s your idea?”

  “If I lost my power, Butterfly would not be there for me. She’d be sad about it, maybe. But she would be gone to the next man with power.”

  Mary Jane shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “If Domingo or Rasheed had killed me, she’d be with whoever beat the other. That’s a fact. All this time, the war wasn’t about being next to me. It was about her being next to my position. She couldn’t rule over my men because she’s a woman, but if she puppet mastered another man, there would be no problem. And when someone came after the guy and killed him, she’d just replace him with another fool. She doesn’t love Noah. She loves my power and reputation.”

  She tossed me a skeptical look. “I don’t know. She may really love you.”

  “Let’s see.” I kissed her forehead and walked off to talk to my men.

  “But what’s the plan?”

  I left. My dick had gone stiff from touching her. I had to get the damn erection down, before talking to them.

  “Noah? Noah!”

  Vinese’s words hit me again.

  “Choose what you really love and fight for it, Noah.”

  Chapter 26

  Noah

  On a visit to the city, a moron catches sight of the full moon, and asks his father if other cities have moons just like it.

  –Philogelos (The Laughter Lover)

  Fuji and 305 waited in the living room while I grabbed Crusher. No one had said anything about my walking in the towel, but I knew one of the motherfuckers were joking on me as I rushed off. No one knew where Crusher was, but I had some ideas. I headed to the guest room where we’d put the red-head. Sure enough, that stupid Beauty and the Beast song played in the room.

  She’s already scared, man. Now you’re going to sit your ugly ass in there and play this shit.

  I cracked the door a little to peek in on him, praying to God that he hadn’t been cutting off her fingers or doing worse. Mary Jane would fucking kill me if Crusher hurt her.

  The red-head still crouched in the corner, but at least she’d stopped shaking.

  Good. She’s alive.

  “The song, Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorites.” Crusher pressed a button on his phone and lowered the volume a little as it came on. “The chick who’s singing it is from this old tv mystery show. Murder She Wrote. You ever heard of that?”

  The girl sat there with wide eyes and a closed mouth.

  “Well, anyway. I didn’t know the chick could sing too. I thought she only knew how to solve mysteries and what not.” He started the song over. “I like this song, because it’s all about how love is good no matter what you are and how throughout history people have been in love. Sometimes, when I’m killing people, I think about who that person might’ve loved and I hope that they enjoyed the person. Some of them probably loved a whole lot. Back in the day, I tried to keep their hearts, but Noah never let me. Well, one time he did, but it stank up the place and. . .”

  The girl returned to shaking.

  “Oh I’m sorry. Noah says, sometimes I should keep certain things to myself, when I’m talking to a chick.” Crusher changed the song to Hakuna Matata as if that would be enough for her to forget what he’d said. “This keeps me in a peaceful zone. You ever heard of this?”

  Tears fell from her eyes.

  Oh, God.

  I stepped in. Crusher stood. The girl dove for the floor, but instead of going for the bed or somewhere far away, she got behind Crusher’s feet.

  O-kay. I guess it’s cool to be with the monster that you know.

  “What are you doing, man?” I tightened my towel on my waist.

  Crusher frowned. “Why aren’t you wearing any clothes, boss?”

  “Never mind all of that. Come in the living room.” I stepped out. “And stop bothering her.”

  “She likes the music. When I play it, she doesn’t shake.”

  I walked off. “Sure she doesn’t.”

  After closing her bedroom door, Crusher followed behind me. “She let me give her a sandwich.”

  “Well, she won’t eat anything else from you, after that heart story.”

  “I probably shouldn’t talk about killing people to her.”

  “No, chicks don’t dig that.”

  “What do they dig?” he asked.

  Come on, man. I don’t need any more problems this week. Correction. This year.

  I stopped in the hallway and looked at him. “No.”

  “What?”

  “No, you cannot keep her. She’s staying here to heal and eventually she’s going to fucking talk so we can help her. Then
she’s out of here to whatever family she has.”

  “What if she doesn’t have any family?”

  “Doesn’t mean you can kill her, Crusher.”

  Rage blazed over his face. Usually it didn’t scare me, but this time I stepped back. In that moment, I wished I had my gun. Crusher wasn’t a hot head. Serial killer in some ways, sure. But not some murderer in need of anger management. He did things due to some fucked up shit in his childhood, but only if I allowed it. Most of the time he painted, listened to his Disney music, and remained chill.

  Crusher was not chill at this moment.

  I wish I had my gun right now.

  His hoarse voice roared out of that big mouth. “I would never hurt her!”

  Silence filled the space. His big fists shook on his sides.

  What the hell is going on with him?

  I kept my voice low. “Okay, Crusher. You won’t hurt her.”

  His expression changed to neutral. “And I want to keep her.”

  “Don’t fucking push it.” I walked off.

  “I’m keeping her,” he muttered and I pretended not to hear him, not ready to deal with this new side of Crusher. If he was serious, I’d have a real problem on my hands. Neither one of us were punks. When we went in, we fought to kill.

  I’ll deal with this Crusher stuff tomorrow.

  It must’ve took an hour to explain my plan to Fuji, Crusher, and 305.

  The whole time I talked to them, they kept the craziest expressions on their faces. Fuji’s eyes continued to widen as I paced back and forth in the towel. Whereas 305 just kept rubbing his forehead like he was confused. Crusher glared at me with his furious eyes, still probably pissed about our conversation in the hallway.

  “And so if I retire, you see, then Butterfly might make a move, but it will be with someone that has time for that bullshit.” I adjusted the towel a little, feeling it loosen on my waist. “If I don’t have the power, she won’t have the motivation to go after me and Mary Jane will be safe.”

  305 raised his hand. “Can I ask you a question, Boss?”

  “Sure, go ahead.”

  “Okay.” He squinted his eyes as if studying me. “So, what have you drank or ate in the last twenty-four hours? Are you feeling dizzy or—”

  “Motherfucker, I haven’t been drugged.”

  A boom came from outside the hallway. Without even checking to see who it was, I yelled out, “Come on in, Mo, you creepy little bastard. You might as well hear this too.”

  The door opened. Embarrassed, Mo slowly walked in and stood next to Fuji.

  Why does he always have to hide and sneak around? Maybe, he’s been hiding all of his life. But from what? Maybe, I should ask him more about his life.

  “Did you hear everything, Mo?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure.” The boy raised his head and gave me that haunting stare. Since being in my employment, those eyes had filled with more death. His skin had turned pale, giving him more of a ghastly look and less of a healthy boy.

  The boy’s goddamned eyes would probably disturb my dreams tonight. When I’d met him, I was sure that he’d killed. Now he’d watched enough death to turn any soul into stone. Guilt twisted in my core. I knew I’d helped harden him and now that I was leaving this life, I wasn’t so sure that had been a good idea.

  I can’t change anything now. Maybe, I’ll make sure the boy has something of his own, after I leave.

  What could I give him?

  “Why aren’t you sure, Mo?” I asked. “Did you hear the conversation or not?”

  “I did.” He had a teenaged voice, but his fucking eyes told me that he was an old man. For some reason, I just couldn’t look away while he continued to talk. “Because, boss, it sounded like you said that you’re going to stop running Din City.”

  “I did. And your thoughts?”

  Fuji and 305 eyed the boy. Crusher continued to pout.

  Mo shrugged. “Can I keep it real?”

  I nodded. “Go ahead.”

  “It sounds like some punk ass shit to me,” Mo said.

  Silence moved between us. Mo didn’t stir, but the others did. I hadn’t been big on opinions in my reign, but shit was changing. Everything came out clearer, once I really looked at what I loved about my life. There’d been a time when the cold beat of the streets kept me hypnotized. In some ways, Din City and I had a rocky love affair. I fucked her and she fucked me. The only problem was, I wasn’t sure if I enjoyed the sex at all. Had those gun-smoked orgasms been worth it?

  I’d seen my parents struggle as a kid and believed that I wouldn’t be them. Once I started giving them money, I thought their lives would change. No matter how much I gave them, they remained true to themselves. Mom and Dad could’ve been in a goddamned mansion, but they wouldn’t let me get more than a little two-bedroom cottage out in the country. I’d tried to buy Dad a boat, instead he wanted a new fishing rod and claimed that walking to the small lake by the cottage was more fun than manning some machine. He talked about the peace of it all, the music in the wind blowing through the leaves.

  Mom could’ve donned fur coats and diamonds. Every time I bought them for her, she gave it away to charity and reminded me that her wedding ring was all the jewelry she needed. I’d tried to get her to hang with Din City’s high society ladies, but she always refused, preferring her butterfly garden and checking on the many bird houses she’d hung all over the yard.

  How my parents behaved around each other made me want to vomit all of the time. They had no concept of how not to touch the other in public. Dad’s hands were always on Mom and if I complained, he’d simply tell me to shut up and get my own woman.

  Well, Dad, I’ve got my own woman. I fucking get it. Now, I want a goddam cottage far away from everyone. Now, I want to fish with you in the morning, garden with Mom in the afternoon, and pound my cock into Mary Jane all night long.

  Money can’t buy that.

  I nodded at Mo. “You’re right. It is some punk ass shit.”

  305 scowled. “Maybe that cannibal chick gave you something.”

  Fuji turned to him. “Cannibals? When did you all see cannibals?”

  “Long story.” I waved that away and returned to Mo. “What I think is that Butterfly doesn’t want Noah the man. She wants the power. What do you think?”

  Mo shrugged. “Everybody wants to be you. You’re the Beast.”

  “Cannibals?” Fuji said again.

  “Shut up about the cannibals.” I backed up and leaned against my Buddha statue. “So Mo, what if tomorrow I’m in the unemployment line or better yet, what if I’m applying for food stamps. What would Butterfly do?”

  305 chuckled, “Fucking laugh like I’m doing.”

  I glared at him. 305 stopped. But at least his joke had made Crusher smile a little.

  Going back to Mo, I said, “What do you think would be Butterfly’s next move?”

  The little guy scrunched his face up. “She may still try to kill you, but most likely she’d think that you were already done. She’d probably be. . .what’s that word? Intrigued. She’d probably want to know how low you could go in life.”

  I placed my hands in my pockets. “You’re a smart fucking kid.”

  The boy started to say something else. “But then. . .”

  “What?” I asked.

  “She’s going to probably go after whoever is in charge.”

  “Oh, yeah. It would matter who I put in place.”

  305 raised his hand again.

  Annoyed, I turned to him. “What?”

  “Since you’re not going to be my boss anymore, can I ask you to put some clothes on and then finish this discussion?”

  “Shut up,” I said.

  305 frowned. Crusher chuckled.

  Mo stepped up. “If you drop out of the game, who are you putting into power?”

  “Someone I trust.” I crossed my arms over my bare chest. “As far as I’m concerned, you four are the only motherfuckers that I trust to run the city
. Well, there’s a fifth person, but I would only use him, if there was no one else. So who wants control?”

  “Hell no.” 305 shook his head. “I’m not stupid. I don’t want anything to do with running Din City. This ain’t even my fucking city. I’m MIA all day, baby. If I didn’t have that warrant there, I’d be salsa dancing with some beautiful Cubana right now.”

  I turned to Fuji. “You?”

  “I’d planned on going where Mary Jane and you go,” he said.

  “Jesus.”

  Fuji shrugged. “You would need a bodyguard, boss, even in the unemployment line.”

  “I have enough money to never have to stand in an unemployment office, Fuji. It was just an example.”

  “Mary Jane needs a manager,” he offered. “And she can never be too safe. Butterfly might still try to kill her.”

  Letting out a long breath, I left it alone. It didn’t matter what I said. In the end, Fuji and Mary Jane would come up with some stupid plan that I had to go along with.

  I’ll have to get a damn cottage built next to ours for his stupid ass. What is happening to my life?

  Crusher spoke up before I asked him. “I’ll be busy, boss.”

  “With what?” I asked.

  He wore an odd expression. “I’m going to try to figure out who Harmony is.”

  I held out my hands. “Who the fuck is Harmony?”

  “That’s what I’m calling the song bird in the room. I want to know who beat her and I want to get that person and hang them by their feet in my apartment for seven days. I want to have fun. I want that person to be my guest.”

  A headache hit me as I let out an exaggerated sigh. 305 and I exchanged glances. We’d have to talk about Crusher’s infatuation soon, before something crazy happened. Crusher on a rampage would not be a good thing for Din City or even the east coast. I wasn’t going to be in power, but I would still keep a short leash on him. He’d started as a good friend years ago. Messed up in the head, but devoted to me to the end.

  Focus on the problem now. That’s all I have to do.