Silence of the Nine

by T. Styles

  “He’s right but I know somebody you haven’t bagged yet,” Mole said.

  “Who?” Leaf asked curiously.

  “Chloe.”

  Leaf tuned him out just as Chloe walked in with Keaton. Mole was right. To the day, Chloe had remained untouched by him. Her blue jeans looked painted on as she switched through the gymnasium toward the bleachers. Every step she took caused her ass to jiggle. Her hazelnut complexion gave her a baked appeal and Leaf’s dick stiffened when she ran her pink tongue over her lips. He wanted her. But there was one problem, her nigga, Keaton.

  Keaton’s father ran some projects in Baltimore City but Leaf’s family owned the buildings. This fact was what determined that the Lincoln Estates were nothing more than a drug front.

  Ordinarily Leaf would respect Keaton and leave his bitch alone but Chloe was just too sexy to ignore. It wasn’t like he didn’t try getting at her though. He would brush past her in the hallway intentionally and she wouldn’t even bat an eye his way. He would throw elaborate parties at the extra house his family owned in a Baltimore suburb and invite her and Keaton, and he would show up without her. He did all he could to get her attention and nothing worked. Oh yes. He wanted her badly. She was a challenge.

  As the basketball game continued, he stared her down as if he could see through her clothes. And when she whispered in Keaton’s ear, grabbed her purse and walked down the bleachers, the entire gym paused as if they were about to recite the pledge of allegiance.

  Although Leaf knew Keaton’s background, he knew nothing about Chloe’s. She came to the high school last year and the next thing he knew, she was on Keaton’s arm. The travesty was that Leaf didn’t even get a chance to lay down his pimp game first. He wasn’t at school that day. It was the one day he regretted playing hooky because he missed his opportunity. But hindsight was twenty-twenty.

  “Damn, that bitch bad,” Mole said with his jaw hung as she walked toward the exit.

  “I’ll eat her pussy on her period,” Bops said.

  His friends were right. She was cold. Leaf decided that he was going to meet Chloe in front of the girl’s bathroom. Since the boy’s bathroom was on the other end, he hung around the water fountain as if he wanted a sip. He knew she went inside because he could smell her expensive perfume lingering in the air. Leaf knew quality when he smelled it because his mother only wore the best.

  When she came out of the bathroom, Leaf bent down and took a sip from the fountain. Chloe stood behind him, waiting. He wiped his mouth and allowed her a drink. She smiled and bent down to get a sip. Her back arched, sending her ass straight up in the air. It looked as if the sun had risen and Leaf was gone.

  “I was wondering when you were going to make your move,” she said as she rose up and wiped her mouth with her fingertips. Her lips glistened. “You move too slowly, Lincoln.” She turned around and allowed her eyes to roll over him as if he were a brand new luxury car.

  “I don’t know what you talking about,” he lied while trying to remain cool.

  She giggled. “Lincoln, let’s keep it real. You be brushing up against me in the hallway, sending me invites to your little parties and shit. All I’m saying is that everything you doing ain’t hard enough for me. If you want this pussy, you gotta come stronger.”

  Leaf was shocked. In all of his life, he never met a chick with game more thorough than his. The way she ignored him at school, he didn’t think she knew he existed. He would have to play it cool or Chloe could have his mind fucked up.

  He decided to call her bluff. “I’m trying to fuck. That hard enough?”

  She pushed off of the wall, grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him with her into the girl’s bathroom like a dog. She pushed open the green stall door and they both strutted inside as if they were one.

  She sat her Louis Vuitton purse on the piss soaked floor and Leaf watched as she pushed her jeans and red panties to her ankles. The curves of her body were as sexy as he envisioned. She turned around and placed her hands on the graffiti covered bathroom stall as if she were under arrest. The diamond rings on her fingers sparkled along with the $5,000 tennis bracelet on her wrist.

  As he eyed her body, he couldn’t believe his luck. The anticipation and chase had been so extensive that he never imagined it would go down like this. He felt like he was on cloud nine until he remembered he was a Lincoln. He was a king. And shit like this should happen to him all the time.

  So he removed his dick from his jeans and pushed into her pussy. It was warm as her walls squeezed his shaft. He placed his hands on her waist and slow fucked her before going hard. Her moans were not too loud. Not too strong. But heavily erotic. Her tongue eased out of her mouth and she licked her lips as if she just ate a spoonful of her favorite ice cream.

  Leaf pushed in and dipped out of her soggy box until he exploded inside of her as if she belonged to him. No doubt it was everything he wanted it to be.

  Chloe eased her clothes up and he zipped his jeans.

  She turned around and looked into his eyes. She winked and kissed him softly. “I knew we would fuck good together.” Her face was prettier up close.

  “Then we have to do it again,” he said.

  “Anytime.” She kissed him gently, leaving a peppermint trail on his lips before she walked out the bathroom.

  CHAPTER 14

  NINE

  “Is there no pity sitting in the clouds, that sees into the bottom of my grief?”

  -William Shakespeare

  Nine was lying in bed staring up at the dark ceiling. Her mind was flooded with hopes, desires and aspirations for her life. Even though she never had one. In the books she read over and over, she learned of worlds outside of the mansion but how could she access them? She was concealed like a dark, ugly secret. Her grandfather hated her. Her mother cared more about how Nine looked than how she felt and her father only gave her charity smiles.

  Feeling frustrated, she rolled over on her side and cried. She needed an escape and if one didn’t come soon, she was afraid she would act aggressively.

  Lately Nine had evil thoughts and a sensation to express herself violently. She could no longer count the times she had become aroused while envisioning stabbing or killing another human being. Isolation and limited contact with people caused her to see them as objects, and she didn’t want that. She wanted to love. She wanted to dream. She wanted to live.

  The remorse for her evil feelings was so great that she prayed to the God Fran told her existed. The one who answered everyone’s prayers but hers. But nothing worked. She had developed an appetite for inflicting pain on others and she would soon see it realized.

  She rolled over onto her other side and tried to go to sleep but the hunger pangs in her gut were making it difficult. She hadn’t eaten a bite since yesterday morning and her stomach groaned until she heard laughter in the larger part of the house. Curious, she eased off of the bed and tiptoed toward the door. She pressed her ear against it and listened attentively. When she heard her voice, she trembled.

  Horrified, Nine backed away from the door and sat on the chair at her desk. Five minutes later, twenty-one-year-old Alice, Kerrick’s prized granddaughter, entered. Her eyes were as evil as her spirit but no one would know it. Besides, the monster was beautiful. Her light brown hair had long, cascading curls and her cheeks were naturally blushed. Her eyes were hazel and her lips were rose colored, giving her an innocent appeal when she was anything but. The black dress she wore hugged her curves and she brought an air of doom with her.

  Alice was a sick young woman who had been molested by her father all of her life. And now she was acting out on others.

  Alice strutted deeper into the room, holding a brown paper bag in her hand. She wasn’t supposed to be in Nine’s room. As far as Kerrick knew, no one but those who lived in the mansion knew Nine existed. But Alice, on a hunt to feed the weed habit she had developed, found her one day two years ago. When she asked Kerrick if anyone else lived there but them, he said of
course not. That was Alice’s cue to do with Nine what she willed. And she did a lot.

  Alice closed the door behind her and leaned against it. “Hello, number Nine. How are you?”

  Nine sat in her seat, trembling. She feared Alice more than anything. Kerrick, although brutal, activated restraint when he abused her. There were things he wouldn’t do, like touch her face or take her life. With Alice, Nine couldn’t be sure. She got the impression that if she did or said the wrong thing, Alice would have her murdered and she was right.

  “I brought food,” Alice said, raising the greasy bag in the air. “Hungry?”

  Nine’s bladder released and urine soaked her left foot before splashing against the floor. Alice scared her that much.

  “Oh my goodness, you’ve wet yourself again,” Alice said in a condescending tone. The more afraid Nine was, the wetter Alice’s pussy grew. “Aren’t you happy I came to visit you? Outside of that dirty maid, I know you don’t have any friends. But thank God you can always count on me.”

  Nine nodded her head slowly although it was a lie.

  Alice removed a piece of fried chicken from the bag. She strolled closer to Nine and placed it under her nose. “Doesn’t it smell good?”

  Nine’s mouth began to salivate and she licked her lips. “Yes,” she responded, her upper lip brushing against the seasoned crust.

  “Lick it,” Alice ordered.

  Nine was about to bite it instead, but Alice said, “If you bite it, bitch, I will kill you.”

  Nine swallowed the air in her throat and licked the chicken. She tasted the saltiness and her stomach grumbled. “That’s a nice little slave,” Alice cheered. She walked over to the bed, removed her black heels and said, “Now come lick my foot. And I’ll give you a bite of my drumstick.”

  Nine was about to rush toward her when she said, “You know the rules, number Nine.” She pointed to the floor. “Always approach me on your knees.”

  Nine dropped to the floor and crawled toward her. A trail of urine followed as she moved. When Nine made it to Alice, she placed the bottom of her foot in her face. Nine ran her tongue up and down the heel of her foot before licking her toes. When she was done, Alice’s foot was clean.

  Alice’s box juiced up and she hated herself for being so aroused by Nine. There was something extremely seductive about her. Something regal. In a way, although she was confined to a room, Nine was God-like. Which was why she took pleasure in dominating her.

  Horny, Alice placed the bag on the bed, raised her dress and played with her pussy until she exploded on her fingertips. When she was done, she kicked Nine in the face and said, “Keep your fucking hands off of me! Before I tell grandfather on you! You know how much he loves me.” She grabbed the chicken and stomped toward the door.

  Nine wrestled with whether or not to say something to her about the deal they just made. A year ago, she wouldn’t dare speak to her unless Alice asked a question. But with each day, Nine was changing.

  So she licked her lips, and swallowed the taste of Alice’s dirty feet from her mouth. “Cousin,” she said softly. “May I have the chicken like you promised?”

  “No you may not, bitch. Now that you licked it I have to throw it in the trash anyway. I don’t want nothing you ate in my body.” She rushed out and slammed the door behind her.

  CHAPTER 15

  NINE

  “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?”

  -William Shakespeare

  Nine was sitting at her desk reading her books. The lamp above the pages illuminated the novel that held her attention, taking her mind off her hunger for the moment. It was ten o’clock at night and she was reading The Life and Times of Ted Bundy: The World’s Most Charismatic Serial Killer.

  If she wasn’t reading Shakespeare’s works, she was studying serial killers. She wasn’t interested in the ones who were caught early on after only murdering a person or two. She was only engaged if they killed twenty or more.

  She ran her finger over the cool page and read it out loud:

  “Ted Bundy was described as both charismatic and friendly, but behind the facade was the twisted mind of a serial killer. In just four years, he was able to kidnap and kill 30 young women in the United States. Sometimes he would pretend to be an authority figure or a disabled person to lure his victims. But on other instances he would approach them with a smile, win them over, rape them and dismember their bodies. He often kept their heads as souvenirs.”

  “Nine! Nine! Don’t you hear me talking to you?” Nine heard a voice call from behind her.

  She slammed the book shut, turned around and saw her grandfather standing in front of her. His face was crinkled in anger. He placed a plate on her desk as he stood over of her. A half eaten steak, a few mashed potatoes and green beans sat on top of it. She wanted to dive in but his expression froze her movements.

  “I’m sorry, grandfather. I was reading.”

  Kerrick lifted the heavy book and read the title. “Why would you be reading something so violent?” he asked as if he hadn’t beaten her with whips, murdered people for sport and kept her locked in a room in the basement. “Putting this sort of filth into your mind is not good.”

  “I don’t know, grandfather. It brings me pleasure.”

  He gave her an accusatory glare and dropped the heavy book on the table. The desk rocked slightly. “Where is Fran?”

  “I don’t know.”

  His gaze bounced around her room. “When you see her, tell her I—”

  “Kerrick, come right away,” Victoria yelled as she appeared in the doorway. “Something terrible has happened.”

  Hearing the fear in his wife’s voice, Kerrick rushed toward the door. Before he exited, Nine said, “Grandfather, I’m sorry I disrespected your dinner party the other week, and forced you to have to beat me. I only pray that I can work to earn your forgiveness.”

  Kerrick was surprised that she spoke to him. In a way, he was proud but he would never show it. Instead, he scanned over her and walked out to tend to his wife. As always, he closed and locked the door behind him.

  Nine scarfed down the food and waited five minutes before curiosity got the best of her. What had her grandmother so shook? When she couldn’t take it anymore, she crept toward her bed, raised the mattress and grabbed a six-inch metal rod. She rushed toward the door, inserted the object in the keyhole and popped it open. She was a master at opening locked doors, a secret she didn’t even share with Fran.

  When it was open, she exited the room and entered another door off of the basement. Inside was a huge generator, along with the heating and air-conditioning systems, used to operate the estate. Behind the walls of the mansion, Nine walked up the homemade staircase that led to an air duct and crawled in until she reached the vent that connected to the living room.

  Through the slits, she saw a handsome older light skinned man, a beautiful white woman and a teenager with curly hair who was covered in blood. Her heart skipped several beats when she saw the teenager’s face. He was very attractive and she wondered why she’d never seen him before.

  When she heard their voices, Nine focused on the conversation.

  “Kerrick, I realize I haven’t seen you in years, but I need your help,” the man said.

  Kerrick glanced over the teenager and then the white woman. “Corrine, can you leave us alone please?”

  “Sure,” she said with a quivering voice. Something had clearly upset her.

  Kerrick waited until she disappeared before speaking to the man. “After everything you’ve done, Justin, give me one reason why I should protect you.”

  When Nine accidently bumped the inside of the vent, the conversation ceased. He turned toward the sound and walked over to the vent to check it out. He realized it was nothing.

  CHAPTER 16

  LEAF

  EARLIER THAT DAY

  “The strength of twenty men.”

  -William Shakespeare

  The cafeteria was bustling with the sounds
of teenagers eating and chatting about their lives and troubles. Leaf, on the other hand, didn’t have a care in the world. He was at the table with Chloe, the baddest bitch in the high school. The other teenagers whispered about them and everybody wondered what would happen now that Leaf Lincoln had snagged the unattainable Chloe, who still had a man.

  When Bops saw that everyone was focused on his friend instead of their cold pizza, he leaned over to Leaf and said, “I don’t like this shit, man. The nigga seemed real mad in math class. He don’t like how ya’ll been going hard over the past few days.”

  To Leaf’s right was Chloe and to her right were her friends who all thought she should’ve been with Leaf a long time ago. In their minds, there was nothing better than a Lincoln but another Lincoln.

  “I’m with Bops,” Mole said as he sucked down a bite of pizza. “The nigga been eyeing you crazy. I think we gonna have to roll on him.”

  Although his friends were worried, Leaf was unbothered. He leaned toward them so that Chloe couldn’t hear his words. He doubted she would anyway since her and her friends had been running their mouths non-stop about how cute Leaf was.

  “So I’m supposed to be mad that he can’t control his bitch?”

  “This nigga’s a hothead, Leaf,” Bops said seriously. “You already fucked her. Maybe you should scale back on the quality time and shit. That’s all I’m saying.”

  “Who said I fucked her?” he smiled.

  Although he loved the ladies, he never told his friends details. They always formed their opinions based on how the girls acted when he cut them off. Chloe was the first girl he ever spent time with after he hit. He had to admit, she was interesting.

  “It don’t matter if you did or didn’t,” Mole said. “Keaton think you did and he out for blood.”