by T. Styles
Farah’s face flushed. Who were they and why did they assume they knew so much about her? “That sounds like a personal problem to me.”
“We not coming at you crazy or nothing, so there’s no need for you to be on the defensive,” Carlton continued. “We just wanted you to have people you could relate to because we know how it is to be alone.”
“First off, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but even if I did, why are you so interested in what I do? You don’t even know me.” She looked between them. She preferred to do things sneakily in the night and wasn’t into an audience. The only reason she didn’t stomp off was because she was interested in who they were.
“We know more about you than you think,” Mayoni advised.
“I doubt that very seriously.” Farah rubbed her face, feeling a breakout coming along.
“We know that if you keep doing things the way you have been, you’re going to end up in jail,” Mayoni added. “We know that the car right there has been following you wherever you go.”
Farah turned around and saw a gray rental car in the distance. The people in it ducked, but she could still see their heads.
“Who are they?” Farah asked them.
“We don’t know,” Mayoni said. “But they’re definitely fans and have been following you for a while.”
Farah frowned. “What is this all about?”
“Come with us,” Mayoni persisted. “Let us show you something, and if you don’t like what you see, we won’t ever bother you again.”
“What about the car?” She looked behind her.
“We know how to shake them,” Carlton replied. “Just follow us.”
Farah was following Mayoni and Carlton until suddenly they pulled into a gas station along with a white car. “What are you doing now?” she asked as she parked behind them. When she turned around, she exhaled when she didn’t see the gray car. She didn’t know who was in it, but she had a feeling it was Baker related.
Mayoni and Carlton exited their car and approached the white one, which had been behind them the entire time. Do they have a follower too? She observed Carlton walk up to the driver’s window while Mayoni walked to the passenger side. There was only one person in the car. When Farah saw Officer Nadia’s face in the left side mirror, she was about to pull off. The only reason she didn’t was for fear of being spotted. Things were getting weirder by the hour.
Carlton bent down, looked into the window, and said something Farah couldn’t hear. Before long, Nadia sped away from the scene as if her life depended on it.
Mayoni and Carlton looked at her car, smiled, and said, “Come on. We’re almost there.”
Without even telling Farah what happened, they got back in their car and she followed them to the destination. Even if she wanted to turn back she couldn’t. She had to know what Nadia wanted and what she said.
After driving quite some time, she ended up in front of a large, beautiful brick mansion outside of Maryland, in a rural area. The closest house near the mansion was about fifteen miles away. What am I doing here? She parked her car behind the couple’s black Escalade and sat for a moment. Part of her wanted to run, and the other part told her they were the answer to her boredom.
Mayoni and Carlton eased out of the truck and looked at Farah. When she hadn’t moved, they knocked on her car window. “You coming?”
Reluctantly she got out and stood in front of the home. “First, can you tell me what that was back at the gas station?” She looked at both of them.
“That’s Officer Nadia. She’s been following you too,” Mayoni said.
“What . . . ? For how long?”
“I’m not sure,” Carlton said. “But we know her face.”
“So she saw me?”
“Yes.”
Farah turned white. “Well . . . did she say anything?”
“Nadia is a cokehead. We let her know it, and promised to ruin her career if we ever caught her following you again.”
“Are you serious?” Farah responded, with her jaw hung.
“We don’t play like that,” Carlton said.
“This way,” Mayoni said, grabbing her softly by the hand. When Farah didn’t move she said, “Trust us. We got you.”
After considering that she didn’t have anything to lose and that they hipped her on to two cars that could’ve followed her as she committed murder, she decided to go with them. She followed them through the large mahogany doors and into a gothic-like foyer. Cherry wood and black dominated everything, including the furniture. When they approached another door, Mayoni said, “We know you’re going to love this.”
When she touched Carlton on the shoulder, he pushed open the doors and inside was a plethora of beautiful people. A quick count ended at fifteen. Most were black, and they ranged from light skin all the way to dark chocolate. They seemed united, and everyone was dressed in black with a tinge of red. For instance, the women either wore red shoes or red lipstick, while the men wore red iced-out rosaries. They were drinking from red wine glasses, and soft music played in the background. The ambiance captivated her immediately, and everyone seemed mystical. On the far end of the room was a wall, which was covered by black velvet curtains. It resembled a covered movie screen.
“What is this?” she asked them, looking at everyone in attendance. She couldn’t help but acknowledge the tingling sensation pulsing between her legs. The irony was, she was dressed perfectly for the occasion. “Is this a party or something?”
“Not really. It’s almost time for a show.” When she said that, someone activated a button on the wall, which opened the curtains.
Behind them was a glass wall. When she stepped closer, a woman sitting on a red-and-black chair, wearing nothing but a red sequined bathing suit, looked out into the crowd. Her chocolate skin glistened under the one light in the room, and her beauty was intoxicating. She seemed nervous but prepared, and Farah was glued to the scene.
Seconds later, a dude with long, neat dreads running down his back entered the room from the right. He stepped up to her and ran his hands down her long brown hair. At first she flinched, but when he continued to stroke her skin, she ultimately relaxed.
Farah examined her mannerisms. Her arms and ankles were tied lightly to the chair with black scarfs. Was she a victim or a willing participant? Farah wanted to know.
When he flicked a golden blade and ran it along the side of her arm, Farah felt the heat in the room turn up as everyone watched with anticipation. The woman wasn’t out cold or drugged like Farah preferred her victims. She seemed to be anticipating what would happen next.
After what Farah considered foreplay, he sliced the flesh on her shoulder. The woman licked her lips and smiled at him.
“Again,” she said as her voice amplified from the speakers in the room.
He sliced her again and she squirmed. “Do it again.”
Over and over he sliced her, and Farah was overly stimulated. She didn’t know who the man was, but she was drawn to him immediately. She hadn’t had that level of attraction since she met Slade Baker in the hallway of her building.
“Who is he?” she whispered to Mayoni.
Mayoni grinned, enjoying the way Farah’s eyes lit up. “His name is Bones. Why? You like what you see?”
She nodded slowly. “A lot.”
Focusing back on the scene, she saw Bones lower his upper body and suck the puddles of blood that popped up on her skin.
Just when she thought she’d seen everything, the door to the glass room opened and a beautiful light-skinned woman with long brown hair strolled up to them. She dropped to her knees, moved the woman’s bathing suit to the side, and slithered her tongue into her pussy. Bones continued to slice into her flesh, while other bloodsuckers tasted her sweetness. The scene was so sexual that, at this point, Farah was soaking wet.
“Everybody here has been tested for HIV and other diseases,” Mayoni said to Farah. “So you never have to worry about getting anything here but pleasure.”
&nbs
p; Farah focused on Mayoni and Carlton intensely. There was something else to this. She knew it. “How do you find the . . .”
“Are you talking about the women? Who get sliced?”
“Yes.”
“We call them Givers. Or Slaves,” Mayoni responded. “It’s whatever they prefer.”
“So how do you find the Givers?”
“There are more people out there than you realize who enjoy pain,” Carlton added, touching Farah softly on the arm. “It’s really easy. And the best part is, our Givers are willing and able to do whatever you desire. This eliminates your risk of being caught.”
“We’re like you, and we want you to join us,” Mayoni said.
Farah’s eyes moved rapidly. She focused on their expressions, then at the spectators, and then at the scene behind the curtains. Something in her heart said it was a setup. She was so jumpy due to the new world she was experiencing that she ran out of the room and then the house.
They quickly followed, and Mayoni yelled, “Where are you going, Farah?”
“Don’t leave like this! Let us explain!” Carlton added. When Farah didn’t bother to stop, Mayoni said, “Why are you so afraid?”
Needing some air, she stopped where she was and leaned on her car. She pointed at the house. “I don’t understand any of this. I’m so confused. I mean . . . why? How? Are you trying to tell me that everyone in there is a . . . vampire?”
They approached her, and Mayoni responded softly, “If you ask doctors, they’ll say we have Renfield’s Syndrome, but among ourselves, we simply say we are lovers of blood and pain. We’re not hurting anything or anybody, so for real, we hate tags.”
“But when you met me in front of the building, you called yourself vampires.”
“Because we knew you could relate to that,” Carlton interrupted.
“Well, what do you want with me?” She looked at the house. “You seem to have enough people who are with that shit back there.”
“We told you earlier,” Carlton added. “We want you to join us. That’s why we took our time and approached you when we felt the time was right. We don’t have these events every day, so this is special. You don’t have to be alone.”
“Whether you want to believe us or not, you are one of us, Farah.” Mayoni touched her on the arm. “And there’s no turning back now.”
After the wild evening Farah had, all she wanted was to go in the house, but the first people she saw when she exited the elevator leading to her floor were Judge and Grant. They faced her door, and chills ran up her spine. There was no way on earth she was walking into that fire, so she backed into the elevator and left the scene.
Chapter 16
Lollipop
“Niggas make slip-ups all the time, and I made one.”
The windows were wide open as The Vet cruised down the road with Lollipop in the passenger seat. They were on the way to meet Randy at an undisclosed location. After a group of Randy’s men, with Lollipop in the lead, attempted to murder the Baker Boys and were spotted, Randy went deeper into hiding. At the moment the only thing on his mind was talking to Lollipop about his reckless behavior.
Cloud-shaped puffs of smoke filled the truck, and two half-empty cups of Hennessy rested in the cup holders. Choosing to support Randy was proving to be more than it was worth for both men.
“I can’t believe how fat that bitch was,” Lollipop said, pulling on the sweet blunt between his fingertips. “Bet money if we put her near Coco, she would make her ass look like a sandwich. That bitch got the kind of ass you can eat off. It’s all real, too, none of that fake shit them bitches be pumping into their cheeks.”
“First off, are you talking about Coco? Ice-T’s wife?” The Vet looked over at him as he steered the vehicle smoothly.
Lollipop blew out a puff of smoke. “Who the fuck you think I’m talking about?”
“Nigga, that bitch you talking about back there is fifteen years old, which means she’s a child and incapable of being sexy in any kind of way. Second of all, she’s black, so even if she was a woman, which she isn’t, there’s still no resemblance.” He eyed him. “You so busy thinking about stupid shit that you don’t have your head in business. Because of you them niggas spotted us and been firing the few corners Randy had left. Do you understand what that means?” He paused. “Randy ain’t able to do business at all. Nothing is coming in, nigga.”
Lollipop set the blunt in the ashtray and grabbed his cup of Hennessy. “My head is in business. Niggas make slip-ups all the time, and I made one, but it ain’t ’cause of me Randy not making paper. With or without the slip-up, he’s at war with the Bakers.” He sipped his drink. “But what I really want to know is this: Do you have a problem with me or something? Because lately you been coming at me sideways.”
The Vet shook his head. “If you just realizing that I got a problem with you, there really is no hope for you.” He laughed. “I been had a problem with you, nigga.”
“What did I do?”
“For starters you’re sloppy and a fucking child molester. I don’t trust people like you.”
“I never t . . . touched a kid once in my life.” He squirmed in his seat. “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear, man.”
The Vet laughed, although he could feel his blood boiling under the surface of his skin. Here he was getting all worked up by someone he didn’t even respect. “Let’s just say you have your ideas and I have mine.”
Lollipop was fixing to spread his lips to say something sideways when The Vet’s cell phone rang. He observed the number.
“I think you got the wrong—”
“Hold that shit you about to say,” The Vet said. He threw his hand up in Lollipop’s face. “I gotta take this call.” He focused his attention on the phone and answered. “What’s up?”
“We waiting on you to deliver that package. Where is it?” asked Musty, one of Randy’s men. “It’s like you taking all day.”
“It’s under control,” The Vet said, looking over at Lollipop. “And it shouldn’t be much longer.”
“Well, hurry up. Randy trying to see that nigga like yesterday.”
“I can’t work no faster with you in my ear.” He frowned, not taking lightly to people telling him what to do. “We en route though.”
“I get that.... Oh, before you leave, I wanted to tell you that when we had my daughter’s party yesterday, the nigga Lollipop had your little girl hemmed up in the corner crying. I don’t know what it was about, but it didn’t look too good.”
The Vet was so taken aback that he almost hit the car in front of him.
“What the fuck, man!” Lollipop yelled. “You almost killed me. I know you on that call, but don’t forget you not alone in this bitch. Be careful.”
The Vet was about to steal him in the jaw, but Musty’s voice brought him back to reality. “Everything cool over there, man? You ain’t about to do something that can wait, are you?”
The Vet took control of the car and gave Lollipop a look that shook his soul. Focusing back on the call he said through clenched teeth, “Why you just telling me this shit now?”
“Number one, I handled the situation immediately. The moment I saw what was going on, I asked him why she was crying. I had the nigga off his feet on the wall, V. As a matter of fact, I didn’t let him down until Elena promised me that he didn’t hurt her. Beyond that there wasn’t much I could do because the nigga swore to God and all the moons that he wasn’t fucking with her.”
“Why wait until now to say something?” His fingers squeezed the steering wheel so tight it left indentations in it.
“Because I haven’t talked to you until now to put you on to what happened. I figured you could use a little inspiration anyway to bring him to us.” When silence met him, Musty said, “You okay, man?”
“I’ma holla at you later.” He hung up and looked over at Lollipop, who felt the tension.
“You all right, man?” Lollipop asked, moving closer to the window.
> The Vet remained silent.
“Who was that on the phone? Randy?”
“What happened yesterday at Musty’s son’s party?” He drove so slowly his speed was under the limit. “I’m hearing some things I want clarification on.”
Lollipop’s facial expression immediately looked guilty. “Aw, man, I hope this not about me disciplining little Elena.” He laughed. “The kids were playing too rough, and I went over there to say something to her. She probably took it the wrong way. You know how kids are when they have too much sugar and shit like that.”
“Since when do you feel like you can discipline my kids? Or anybody’s kids, for that matter? You don’t even have kids of your own.”
He swallowed everything but his tongue. “V, I know you not mad about that shit, man. For real, it ain’t even that deep. If I thought it was more I would’ve put you on to it right away, but you were kicking it with Musty and them and I honestly forgot to say something.”
The Vet continued down the street in silence. Besides, he wasn’t going to get anything near the truth from Lollipop. He was a liar and couldn’t be honest if someone spoke it for him. Instead of holding trivial conversations, he detoured and continued down the street in the opposite direction. When he finally parked, they were in front of the Platinum Lofts apartments.
Lollipop looked around the dark streets. “Wait . . . why are we here?” He searched out of his windows. “Don’t them niggas live in this building?”
“Yeah, but I gotta take care of something right quick.”
Lollipop moved to exit the car. “I’m going with you.”
“No, you not. Stay here. It’ll only take a minute.”
“You gonna be quick, right?”
He didn’t respond.
“V, you coming back, right?” Lollipop asked.
The Vet eased out of the car without responding, leaving Lollipop alone. The silence he received from The Vet on the way over there tugged at him, mainly because he knew he was dead wrong in more ways than one.
The truth was, Lollipop was totally in the wrong when he hugged little Elena too tightly at the party. When she sobbed and threatened to tell her father, he said he would sneak in her room every night and beat her until she was dead. When Musty walked up on the scene and caught him, at first he thought he heard too much. When it turned out he was only reacting to what he saw, he was slightly relieved. Now he knew it was foolish to assume so.