by Elliott, K.
J-Black cocked the hammer of the gun. “You get over there beside him,” he told Nia.
She quickly obliged.
“Where the fuck is the money?” J-Black asked again.
“I ain’t got no money.”
J-Black slapped Tommy with the butt of the gun and fired it at the same time.
Nia screamed.
Tommy fell to the floor and covered his face.
J-Black laughed. “Bitch-ass nigga. I didn’t even shoot you. Get up off the floor before I pop one in your ass.”
“Hey, listen. I think you should leave before the neighbors call the police.”
“I don’t give a fuck about the police.”
“Tommy, give him the money,” Nia said.
“I don’t have no money here,” Tommy said.
“Okay, muthafucka, this next shot will send you straight to heaven.”
“I got some money in the dresser drawer,” Nia said. “It’s only a couple thousand dollars, though.”
“I need that,” J-Black said. “Stand up, man. We’re going upstairs with your wife to get the money.”
Tommy stood.
“Both of you go ahead of me. If you try any funny shit, I’ll be the only one laughing when this gun goes off again.”
Once they were in the bedroom, Nia searched frantically through the dresser drawers.
J-Black undressed Nia with his eyes. “Hey, sweetie, what kind of underwear do you wear?”
“Why?”
“You ever thought about doing lingerie modeling? I mean, you have the body for it.”
“No, I never thought about it, but thanks.”
“I bet you got thongs and all kinds of shit in your underwear drawer, don’t you?”
Nia looked disgusted with his question.
“Let me see your underwear drawer.”
“Hell no, nigga. Are you some kind of pervert or something?” Tommy asked.
J-Black turned the gun on Tommy. “Shut the fuck up.”
Nia opened her underwear drawer and she held up a purple Gstring.
“You want to model it for me?”
“Hell no!” Nia and Tommy said in unison.
J-Black pulled out the duct tape from his gym bag and bound Tommy’s hands and feet. Then he taped his mouth. He turned to Nia and smiled, revealing his crooked teeth. “By the way, my name is Black. What is your name?”
“I’m Nia.”
“So, are you going to model for me?” He stepped toward her.
She started crying. “I don’t want to.”
He put his arms around her shoulders. “Don’t cry. I promise I ain’t going to hurt you. Just put your purple thong on and walk around the room.”
“Then will you leave us alone?”
Tommy lay still, batting his watery eyes. He looked as if he couldn’t breath.
“I promise.”
She pointed at Tommy. “He don’t look like he can breathe.”
J-Black went over to him and ripped a hole in the tape, allowing air to enter.
Nia took off her jeans and stood in white laced panties that gripped her ass perfectly.
J-Black took off his pants then sat on the bed, stroking himself.
“What are you doing?” Nia asked.
“Nothing. Don’t worry about me; just walk across the room for me.”
She walked across the room then turned around.
When he saw her ass jiggling, he said, “Goddayum.”
“You’re a sick man, Black.”
“Put on the purple G-string and take off your shirt.”
She obliged. Moments later, she was standing wearing nothing but the purple G-string.
“Put some heels on,” J-Black ordered.
She went to her closet and slipped on some three-inch heels.
J-Black smiled then said, “Walk across the room.”
She followed orders.
He began to stoke his erection again while grunting and making faces. He suddenly stopped for no apparent reason, then he walked over to the underwear drawer and picked out a little red teddy. “Put this on.”
She put it on and walked for him again.
He walked over to her, naked from the waist down, penis swinging stiffly, and touched her ass.
“No touching. You promised you wasn’t going to do anything to me.”
He laughed then said, “I’m sorry.” He walked back to the underwear drawer and rambled through it until he found a black leather Gstring. He was about to close the drawer when he noticed two light blue diamond-shaped pills. “What the hell are these?”
“Viagra.”
“Whose is it?”
“It’s nobody’s.”
“It’s gotta be somebody’s. It’s in your drawer.”
Nia took a deep breath then said, “I was going to give it to my boyfriend to try.”
J-Black glanced at Tommy. “Nigga, your dick won’t get hard for this fine-ass woman?”
“Come on, man, we don’t have all day. What do you want me to do?” Nia asked.
“Put the leather G-string on and take that teddy off.”
When Nia put the G-string on, J-Black returned to the bed and started stroking himself again. Then he suddenly got an idea. “Nia, why don’t you bend over?”
“What?”
He cocked the hammer of the gun. “Bend over, I said, or I’mma put another hole in your ass.”
She bent over. He began to stroke himself faster and faster until he was about to climax, but he stopped. “Do you have a condom?”
“No, I don’t have any. Why?”
J-Black got up and walked over to the drawers. He couldn’t find a condom. He pointed the gun at Nia and ordered her to get on the bed. When she got on the bed, he pointed the gun to her temple. “Now take the G-sting off.”
“Please don’t hurt me.”
“Nobody is going to get hurt if you do what I say. Understand?”
Tommy squirmed on the floor.
J-Black turned. “I will blast you in the face if you move one more centimeter.”
“Tommy, don’t move. It’s going to be okay.”
“Take off your G-string.”
Nia tossed the garment to the floor.
“I’m about to show you what to do with your woman’s pussy, nigga. Since you’re having a problem with your dick, I’mma fuck her real good.”
Then he turned Nia on her stomach and entered her.
She moaned.
Tommy closed his eyes.
“Yeah, this is what the fuck I’m talking about. This is what you been missing, huh? That thug loving. I’mma give you that thug loving.”
Nia began to cry. “Come on, hurry up.”
“I’ll finish when I finish; you know what I mean?” J-Black said. He looked back at Tommy, who still had his eyes closed. “No need to close your eyes now. It’s real. I’m fucking your girl.”
Tommy opened his eyes occasionally. Tears ran down the side of his face.
J-Black continued to hump long and hard. He couldn’t reach an orgasm. The red teddy that Nia had modeled in was on the bed. He picked it up and started sniffing the crotch as he humped.
Forty-five seconds later he came. He hopped out of bed then put his boxers and pants on. “Bitch, give me the two thousand dollars you had … and I’m gone.”
Nia covered her face and cried.
“Give me the fucking money, I said.”
She stood, went over to the dresser, dug in the bottom drawer, and gave him two thousand dollars.
After he’d ordered her to walk him to the front door, he left running.
There was no car in sight.
*****
“What the fuck do you mean somebody broke in your house?” JoJo asked his sister Melody.
“Somebody broke in my house; that’s what I’m saying.” “Did you call the police?”
“No, not yet. I just discovered it when I got home.”
“I’m coming over.” He terminated the call in her ear
then called
Tommy.
“Hello.”
“Somebody broke in my sister’s house,” JoJo said.
“And … the same dude that robbed me the first time came back
and robbed us again; but this time he tied me up and sexed Nia. We’re on our way to the hospital so they can get his DNA sample.” “Something is strange. This sounds like an inside job; you know what I mean?”
“I know what you mean, Jo. Have you called Twin to tell him what is going on?”
“No, not yet, but I’m going to call the nigga in a minute. Now I’m on my way to Melody’s house to see what’s going on.”
“Call me when you get there.”
“Okay,” JoJo said. Then he asked, “Is Nia okay?”
“She’s all right. Still kind of shook up from the whole incident.”
“I can imagine.”
***** When JoJo got to Melody’s house, he ran and hugged his sister and her little son Tyree. “You okay, Sis?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. We weren’t here … thank God. I don’t know what I would have done if we were here.”
“I would have beat him up, Uncle JoJo.”
JoJo smiled at his nephew. Then he thought about what might have happened had his sister been home. He and his sister were very close. It was just the two of them; their mother was in a mental institution. He didn’t know if he would be able to handle it if something were to happen to her. “Did he take anything?”
Melody looked at her brother then turned her head briefly before resuming eye contact. “Yes. He took the money.”
“You’re kidding me, right?”
“No, JoJo. I had the money in a couple of Jimmy Choo shoeboxes. When I looked for it, it was gone.”
“That’s just fuckin great, Melody. That shit really makes my day.”
Melody covered Tyree’s ears then ordered him to go to his room. When the child was gone, she said, “So that’s all you care about is your damn money, JoJo?”
JoJo looked at his sister; tears had formed in her eyes. He stepped forward and hugged her. “You know that ain’t true. It’s just that I lost some money last week. All of this came at a bad time.”
“JoJo, I’m sorry.”
JoJo kissed his sister’s forehead. “Don’t worry, baby girl, it’s going to be okay.”
“Come here and let me show you the broken window.”
JoJo followed his sister to the back door. Glass was still on the floor. He walked outside and discovered a jacket on the back deck. “Look, Melody. Look what I found.”
“A jacket. The man must have left his jacket. Check inside the pocket and see if there’s anything else that we can use as clues.”
JoJo dug into the pockets and found four business cards and some keys.
Robert’s Used Appliances.
Robert A. Moray
Home # 704-555-2345
Cell # 704-555-8976
JoJo handed the cards to his sister. “Call the number on the card.”
Melody obliged. She called his home number first and got an answering machine. Then she dialed his cell phone number and nobody answered the phone.
Chapter 15
Mark Pratt and Ken Clarkson had coffee at a Starbucks around the corner from the office. This was the first time they had been together since Ken had walked in on Mark and Jennifer as they hugged. “So what’s going on with you and the girl?”
“What are you talking about?” Mark said.
“You know, the stripper chick.”
“Nothing is going on with her.”
Ken raised his eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
Mark avoided his eyes. “Yes, I’m sure.”
“Either you like her or she likes you.”
Mark sipped his coffee slowly. “Why do you say that?” “I just got a gut feeling that something ain’t right.”
“What are you trying to say, Ken?”
“I hope I’m wrong about this. I mean, the girl is dirt and she’s a
drug dealer’s whore. You don’t wanna have anything to do with someone like that, do you?”
The words drug dealer’s whore echoed in Mark’s ears.
“You need to be careful what you say about people.”
“I’m just saying, if you are fuckin with that girl, you’re in dangerous territory. I mean, I hope I’m wrong. This woman is a sleazy character, and all I’m saying is you don’t need to be involved with someone like that.”
“I’m not involved with anybody.”
Ken looked at Mark with serious eyes. “How old are you now?”
“Thirty-five.”
“And you aren’t married? What’s the problem?”
“I don’t know. I’m just waiting on God to send the right woman in my direction.”
“You’re almost forty.”
“Your point is?”
“I don’t have a point. I just know that marriage brings stability in your life.”
Mark looked confused. “Are you trying to say I’m unstable?”
“Just saying there’s a lot of temptation out there for a single man.”
“You have the same temptation that I have.”
“But I have my vows with my wife to keep me focused.”
“Well, I have Jesus.”
“Jerry Falwell, Jim Baker, and Jesse Jackson all had Jesus, too. Look where it got them.”
“What are you saying?”
Ken took a deep breath. “Just stay away from that woman.”
***** At Twin’s downtown condo, JoJo, Tommy, Twin, and Jennifer sat at the kitchen table.
“The nigga left a jacket at my sister’s house,” JoJo said.
“Where is the jacket?” Twin asked.
“The police got the jacket.”
“You went to the cops?” Twin asked.
“It was my sister’s idea to go to the cops, especially when I told her what happened to Nia. She just didn’t feel safe no more.”
“Does your sister live alone?” Jennifer asked.
“Yeah.”
“I think you should let her move in with you for a while, at least until they apprehend that creep,” Jennifer said.
Twin read the card aloud. “Robert A. Moray.”
“The nigga that broke in my house said his name was Black.”
Twin gave JoJo the card.
“He told you his name?” JoJo asked.
“Yes. Well … he told Nia his name.”
“Where were you when he raped Nia?” Jennifer asked.
“Tied up. He made me watch.”
“He needs to be brought to justice. This is the kind of person that needs a life sentence,” Jennifer said.
“Well, the police took a report and the hospital swabbed his semen sample from her.”
“So, how is Nia doing?” Jennifer asked. “I feel really bad for her, even though I’ve never met her.”
“She’s doing better,” Tommy said.
“So, are you sure that he is the guy that robbed you before?” JoJo asked.
“Yeah, the same nigga. He is one bold muthafucka.”
“I think the two robberies are related,” Jennifer said.
“Naw, I don’t think so,” Twin said.
“Shit. Sounds like they are,” JoJo said.
“If that’s the case that means it would have to be an inside job, and I know nobody in this room would be cold enough to set up no robberies,” Jennifer said.
“Shit just don’t seem right to me,” Tommy said.
“It’s an inside job,” Jennifer said.
Twin turned to face her. She was making him sick with her analysis of the situation. Now she had his friends wondering and considering an insider. He pointed toward the living room. “Jennifer, get the fuck out of here and let me and my friends talk.”
She looked at him and started to protest but didn’t. She just left the room with her head down.
“So what are we going to do now?” JoJo asked.
“Find the muthafucka t
hat has done this shit and have him knocked off,” Twin said.
“That shit is easy to say, but we don’t have no way of finding this man.”
“Shit, you’re the one who said you saw his face. I can’t believe you talking all this stupid shit,” Twin said.
“Yeah, I saw his face. But what am I going to do? Go all over Charlotte looking for him?”
“No, but we can call the muthafucka on the card,” JoJo said.
“Call him then,” Tommy said.
JoJo pulled out the card then dialed the number. A voice recording came on. “No answer.”
“Okay, we’ve been robbed, but we got to make this money. I got real estate that I want to buy. I got to get out of this business. I ain’t trying to go to prison.”
JoJo stared at Tommy long and hard. “I understand where you’re coming from, but understand this: We just lost money in Miami and now this coward done robbed both of us. We can’t let people think we’re pussies, and that they are going to just take from us.”
“I’m with JoJo. Ain’t nobody gonna take shit else from me. I will die for mine,” Twin said.
“I feel ya, but if we go out and find … Black, kill him, and catch a murder case, we ain’t going to be able to do shit.”
JoJo sighed aloud. “I didn’t think about it like that, but I guess you’re right. What am I supposed to do? I ain’t got no money, man. This shit has sunk my fuckin battle ship.”
“I done told you, what I have is yours. Manny’s brother wants me to come talk to him; let’s try to get down there.”
“Let’s drive then, ‘cause I don’t want to go through any of that shit like getting harassed at the airport,” Twin said.
“In the meantime, I’m still going to keep trying this Robert Moray character.”
***** JoJo was lying across the bed. He began to wonder about Nia. He wondered if she was okay. He hadn’t spoken to her since she’d been raped. He dialed her cell phone number.
She picked up after three rings.
“Hey, baby, can you talk?”
“Yeah. I’m at my mama’s house, but I’m feeling kind of tired, you
know?”
“I didn’t rest easy when I learned you got raped.”
“Ahh, that’s so sweet.”
“So how do you feel?”
“I feel kind of used up and dirty, and I’ve been having nightmares
of him.”
“Yeah, I know it must be tough for you.”
“Trying to get adjusted. You know what I mean?”