by Zane
“When do you think I can come back?”
“This is crazy, dog!”
Tasha listened intently, letting each sentence sink in every time Rinaldo paused to allow the person on the other end of the line their say.
“You know this is all your fuckin’ fault, right? I do your ass a favor and this is what I get for it.”
“I don’t give a shit about the money! What about my fuckin’ life? My mom must be worried sick about me!”
Tasha had heard enough.
“Rinaldo?”
Rinaldo jumped, not realizing Tasha was within a stone’s throw of him. He turned around and forced a smile.
“Just a minute, baby.”
He went back to his conversation.
“Is everything okay?” Tasha asked.
“Just a second, Tasha!” Rinaldo lashed out at her.
“I’ll holla at you later.” Rinaldo leered at Tasha, as if to imply she was being intrusive. “I said I’ll holla at you later!”
Rinaldo slammed the phone down.
“Who was that?”
Tasha noticed that Rinaldo was sweating profusely and wondered what the deal was with that. It was only in the low seventies.
“Don’t worry about it, Tasha. Let’s go. Our table’s probably ready by now.”
They started back to the Sea Barron. Rinaldo pulled a switchblade out of his waist pack, popped it open, and started digging dirt from underneath his nails.
“Where’d you get that?” Tasha asked, taken off guard by the sharpness of the blade.
“I bought it earlier in the when you went to the bathroom. Is there a problem?”
“No, no problem.”
Chapter Nine
Roz was sorting laundry in the basement early the next morning when Tasha came down into the laundry room.
“Good morning,” Roz said, smiling at Tasha.
“Good morning.”
“You look well-rested.”
“I am.”
“So things are turning out good, then?” Roz asked, placing her dark clothing in the washing machine.
“Very, very good.”
“You guys were up and out early yesterday. Where’d you go?”
Tasha helped Roz out by putting some washing powder in the machine. “Chesapeake Bay.”
“Aw, how romantic.” Roz was trying her best to practice the spiritual principles she and Tasha had agreed to. She wanted Rinaldo gone, but figured she might as well be friendly since he had to be leaving soon. “From the looks of it, you also did some serious shopping.”
“Not me. Rinaldo.”
“He’s going to have a hard time trying to carry all that back on the plane,” Roz said jokingly.
Tasha sighed. “He’s not going back.”
“Excuse me?” Roz asked loudly. She was convinced she was hearing things.
“I said he’s not going back to California.” Tasha went over to the door and closed it, keeping her back to Roz. “I decided to come down here instead of waiting for you to come back upstairs. I have a feeling this is about to get ugly and I don’t want Rinaldo subjected to it.”
“You don’t want him subjected to it,” Roz said angrily. “Is he your son now or something?”
Tasha swung around to glare at her.
“Rinaldo’s decided to relocate. He’ll be staying here temporarily.”
“Oh no, the hell, he won’t be.”
“Yes, he will. Rinaldo’s going to get his own place, but he has to find a job first. That takes time.”
Roz took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.
“Tasha, I’ve known you have problems dealing with men for quite some time, but this takes the cake. Don’t you see how foolish this is? He set you up big time. He intended to come here and freeload off you the entire time.”
“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Rinaldo spent a ton of money on me yesterday and he didn’t decide he wanted to stay until three o’clock this morning.”
“Aw, I get it!” Roz slammed the lid of the washer closed and almost ripped the dial off setting it to heavy wash. “You think you pussy-whipped him so hard that he can’t pull himself away. What’d you do? Deep throat his dick? Hum on his balls? Lick his ass? What?”
“I’m not going to even dignify that with an answer. I won’t allow this to turn into a full blown altercation, no matter how tempting it is. The decision has already been made and it’s final.”
“So I have no say in the matter whatsoever?”
“No, not really.”
“In that case, Rinaldo doesn’t need to worry about getting his own place. He can just move in here permanently.”
“What?”
“I’ll pack my things, put them in storage, and go sleep on Juicy’s pull-out sofa until I get another place.”
Tasha rolled her eyes up to the ceiling.
“You’re such a baby, Roz!”
“And you’re such a fool!” Roz opened the door and walked out into the hall. “I’m not living in this house for one more day if that man’s staying here! Period!”
“Fine!” Tasha screamed.
“Fine!”
Chapter Ten
“I thought the post office was closed?” Rinaldo asked.
Tasha parked her car in the empty post office parking lot.
“It is. I just need to check my box. I haven’t been here in a week and it’s probably crammed. I ordered some new checks and they should be here by now.”
“Okay, but hurry up,” Rinaldo said while Tasha climbed out the driver’s side and fumbled with her keys to find the one for her box.
Tasha went inside and checked her box, the sixth over from the top and the ninth one down. As suspected, it was overflowing with mail. Tasha realized she was bad about checking her box, but didn’t appreciate the postal workers shoving too much in her box. They could rubber band it and put a notice in her box to retrieve it from the counter.
Tasha tossed the pile of mail on the service table where people filled out certified receipts and priority mail slips. Her box of checks had come and she was relieved about that. She was running extremely low.
In all the years Tasha had been coming into the Spencerville Post Office, never once had she glanced up on the wall in front of that table. Somewhere between the subscription renewal notice for Essence and her cable bill, her eyes were drawn upward. Tasha had to cover her mouth to hold in the scream.
Rinaldo cussed under his breath. Tasha was taking way too long in the post office and it was hot as hell outside. She had the keys so he couldn’t turn on the air.
He got out of the car and stomped inside.
“What’s taking you so long?” he demanded to know, spotting Tasha over at a table shoving mail into her purse.
“Sorry,” she uttered, turning to face him. “I was just sorting out the junk mail so I can toss it.”
“Anything interesting?”
“No, nothing.”
“Well, let’s go baby. We’ll be late for the movie. Didn’t you say there’s always a line?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s jet. I don’t want it to sell out.”
Tasha followed Rinaldo back out to the car, trailing almost ten feet behind him.
“You and Roz had it out this morning, huh?” Rinaldo asked, wondering why Tasha had been so quiet since they left the post office.
“Something like that,” she replied despondently.
“She’s upset about me staying?”
“She’s moving out.”
“Damn! I didn’t mean for that to happen.” Rinaldo turned the radio down until it was barely audible. “Maybe I should just go.”
“Maybe you should,” Tasha said eagerly. A little too eagerly for Rinaldo.
“Tasha, I can’t figure your ass out for anything. You want me to stay. You want me to leave. You need to make up your damn mind.”
Tasha didn’t respond. She just kept her eyes straight ahead on the road, like sh
e was doing some heavy thinking.
“You got any more of those Altoids?” Rinaldo asked, reaching over the back of Tasha’s seat to retrieve her purse that she’d tossed in the rear. “My mouth’s dry.”
“No, I don’t have any,” Tasha replied, trying to grab the purse away from him before he could open it.
Rinaldo yanked it away from her.
“Please don’t go in my purse!” Tasha pleaded.
“Why not? I went into it the other night,” Rinaldo said suspiciously.
Tasha gripped the steering wheel, bracing herself for the madness that was about to start. It took Rinaldo less than five seconds to find it.
He unfolded the crumpled wanted poster with his picture on it along with his real name and a long list of felony charges.
“Now I get it. They had this hanging up in the post office, huh Tasha?”
Tasha didn’t utter a word. She was terrified.
“Fuckin’ women! Fuckin,’ fuckin’ women!” he yelled out, ripping up the wanted poster and tossing the remains out of his window.
“Rinaldo, I don’t want any trouble.”
“What were you planning to do? Turn me in the first chance you got?”
“No, I just want you to leave. I won’t tell anyone about the poster. I swear.”
Tasha prayed he believed her. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she spotted the poster on the wall earlier. Rinaldo was wanted by the FBI for bank robbery and murder, among other things. She’d stayed in the post office as long as she could, trying to figure out a way to escape, but there wasn’t one. The post office was closed, no one else came in to check their box, and her cell phone was in her glove compartment.
When he came in to get her, she shoved the poster in her purse along with her mail and decided she’d wait until they got to the movies to take action. The movie theater was always jam-packed and she would’ve told Rinaldo she had to go to the ladies room once they were seated and summoned the police.
“Oh, I know you won’t tell anybody,” Rinaldo lashed out at her.
“What does that mean?” Tasha asked, dreading the answer.
“Nothing. Just drive. I need to think.”
“Think about what?”
Rinaldo reached over and slapped her on the side of the head.
“About what the hell to do with you, bitch!”
“Rinaldo, as far as I’m concerned, none of this ever happened.” Tasha rubbed her head, feeling a migraine coming on. “You were never here.”
“Cute. Real cute.”
“I can just drop you off at the airport. You still have a ticket, right?” Tasha wasn’t altogether sure Rinaldo had a return ticket. When she’d asked him about it the night before, that was when he’d brought up his interest in relocating. “Maybe you can exchange it to catch a flight out right away.”
“I can’t go back home.”
“Then you can exchange it to go someplace else.”
“I have a better idea. Get on the highway.”
“The highway?”
“Yes, the highway. Head north toward New York.”
“For what?”
“Because I fuckin’ said so, that’s why!”
“I don’t want to go to New York.”
Rinaldo took the switchblade out of his shirt pocket and popped it open. The blade glistened in the sunlight.
“And you think you have a choice?”
Chapter Eleven
Tasha reluctantly got on the highway and headed north. All the warnings Roz had doled out flashed through her head. She thought about her mother and how heartbroken she would be, even though they didn’t get along most of the time. She thought about her father and how guilty he would feel because he didn’t intervene when he found out how she’d really met Rinaldo. Mostly, she thought about dying and all the things she hadn’t accomplished and all the places she hadn’t seen.
“Rinaldo, can we please just talk this over?” she pleaded as they passed the exit for the Baltimore Harbor.
Rinaldo let the switchblade relax on his thigh but kept a tight grip on it. “Those bank robberies, they were never my idea.”
“But you did them anyway.”
“Sammie needed a fourth man and everyone else is either locked up, sporting wheelchairs, or six feet under. I had to be there for my dog.”
Tasha thought about how stupid his comment was. If someone asks you to do something because all of his normal partners are crippled or dead, why the hell would you do it?
“Are you the only one they’re looking for?”
“Yes. This bitch decided to be a hero and pulled off my ski mask,” Rinaldo replied nastily. “I got caught on camera, just like in those stupid made-for-TV movies.”
“Did you hurt her, Rinaldo? Is that the murder they’re talking about on the poster?”
“Let’s just say she won’t be pulling any masks off again.”
Tasha decided her fate was left totally on her shoulders. She had to fight to survive.
“I love you, Rinaldo. I really do,” she stated convincingly since it was partly true. She had loved him until she saw his picture on the wall.
“Shut the fuck up! You’re just sayin’ that shit because you think I’ll let you go!”
Rinaldo slapped Tasha upside the head again. Tasha started crying. If he wouldn’t even talk to her, what could she do?
“Pull over. I need to take a leak.”
Tasha had to force herself not to grin. That was the opening she’d been waiting for.
“I’ll get off on the next exit and find a gas station.”
“The hell you will! Pull over on the side of the road. I’ll piss in the woods.” Rinaldo lifted the switchblade and rubbed it up and down Tasha’s arm. “Don’t make me hurt you, Tasha. I’d hate to have to hurt you.”
“Okay.” Tasha put her blinker on and started to slow down. “I’ll pull over. I won’t make you hurt me.”
Tasha pulled over onto the shoulder and put the car in park. Rinaldo turned off the ignition and took the keys. He opened the passenger side door and grabbed Tasha’s wrist.
“Get out the car.”
“For what? You have the keys. I can’t go anywhere.”
He slapped her again. This time, right across the mouth. She could immediately taste the blood.
“Get out the car!”
Tasha allowed him to pull her out of her Saab and down toward the dense woods lining the side of the highway. She looked at the traffic but cars were flying by at the speed of light. There was no way to signal someone for help and not get stabbed before they had the opportunity to stop or call for help.
“I promise if you let me go, I won’t tell a soul.”
Rinaldo tightened his grip on her wrist and jerked her. “Didn’t I tell your ass to shut up?”
They got into the woods and Rinaldo selected a gigantic maple to do his dirty work. He made Tasha stand there and watch, never loosening his hold on her while he sighed in relief as he urinated.
While the mere thought disgusted her, Tasha came up with a plan.
“Ummmmmmm, don’t put it away,” she said seductively, staring down at Rinaldo’s dick. “It looks so good to me.”
“Stop playin’ games, Tasha.”
“I’m not. You know I never got to taste you.” Tasha used her free hand to caress Rinaldo’s shaft. It hardened with little effort on her part. “Isn’t that what you wanted? Don’t you want me to taste you?”
“Right here?” Rinaldo asked, starting to heat up.
“Why not? You already have it out.”
Rinaldo pulled Tasha to him, pressed her back up against the tree, and shoved his tongue in her mouth. He pressed the head of his dick up against Tasha’s belly button. She was still working the shaft with her hand.
He broke the kiss, sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and said, “Since you put it like that, go for it.”
Tasha got down on her knees and went to work on his dick. She’d never imagined ending up like that
. She could feel the switchblade teasing her hair as Rinaldo guided her head back and forth to catch a steady rhythm.
“Aw, that’s it baby. Work it, boo.”
Tasha started sucking him harder and harder until he freed up her hand. She reached underneath his shaft and rubbed his balls with her fingers. Rinaldo got caught up in the ecstasy, retracted the switchblade and put it in his shirt pocket. He wanted both hands free to aid Tasha with fucking her mouth.
That was the move Tasha had been waiting for. She slowly let his dick out of her mouth and started placing baby kisses all over it. She worked her way down the underside of his dick and then licked his balls. Then she bite them as hard as she possibly could.
Rinaldo shrieked out in agony. Tasha jumped up and ran for the highway, flailing her arms and screaming, “Help!”
“You fuckin’ bitch!” Rinaldo yelled after her, falling down on the ground in pain.
After it was all said and done, more than a dozen cars pulled over to see what was going on with Tasha after they spotted her and the blood covering her lips. One of them was a state trooper and Tasha had never been so happy to see a police cruiser in her entire life.
Chapter Twelve
Tasha broke down in tears when the police first brought her home. Roz was packing up her dishes in the kitchen when Tasha walked in and fell into her arms, weeping.
“What happened, Tasha?” Roz asked, staring over Tasha’s shoulder at the uniformed officer in their doorway.
“Rinaldo! Rinaldo!” Tasha was hysterical.
“Rinaldo what? Did he hurt you?”
“Yes, but not just me. He’s a bank robber and a murderer and the FBI was looking for him and he tried to make me go to New York with him and I just knew he was going to kill me!”
All Roz could say to that mouthful of information was, “Damn!”
People rallied around Tasha for the next week. Every one from her parents to Roz to Juicy to Angie, who decided to take a break from giving up the drawers to men from BlackGentlemen.com.
Tasha was through with not only BlackGentlemen.com, but also the internet period. She packed up her computer system and donated it to a shelter for abused women to use in their employment training courses.