More Pain, Pleasure and Lies

by Qiana London

  “Oh please… You ain’t any better than me. You’re out here pretending to be noble and shit. Does sheknow you’re fucking my sister?”

  Snow knew there was no truth to that, but I could feel Donte looking at me. I promised him that I would do right by Desrinique and I meant that. But just in case he had any doubts, I wanted to make it perfectly clear that there was nothing to worry about. I turned around and looked at him while I addressed Diandre’s accusatory question.

  “I never touched your sister. She was simply a pawn in this game of cat and mouse,” I explained and then looked back at Diandre. “I was able to use her to get to you. And believe me when I tell you that she was more than willing to help.”

  I felt bad for referring to Fatima that way. She was asolid woman who I cared about. I didn’t have romantic feelings for her, but I’d taken a liking to her. I appreciated that she was willing to go above and beyond to help even if her motivations were fueled by a different reason. Anger swept across Diandre’s face instantly.

  I leaned closer to him and looked into his cold, dark eyes.“Oh, you’re mad because I played you at your own game? You ain’t the only one that knows how to manipulate people to get what you want.”

  He struggled with the ties again. “Man, fuck you andmy sister!”

  “Now see?” I said, chuckling. “That’s your problem. You don’t care about anyone except yourself. You fuck people over, and now that shit has finally caught up with you.”

  Diandre spit out the blood that was filling his mouth. “So what?” he asked smugly.“Are you going to teach me a lesson?”

  I turned around and made eye contact with Snow. I gave a subtle head nod, and he picked up the pistol and drill off the table. He turned on the electric drill as he walked over in our direction and handed me the pistol once I was within his reach. We positioned ourselves on either side of Diandre.

  “Not exactly,” I replied.“I’m going to make you wish that you never met my girl, and then I’m going to make you wish you were dead before I actually kill you.”

  I cocked the hammer and held it to Diandre’s head.I wasn’t going to shoot him. The gun was just another form of intimidation. Snow moved closer and aimed the drill at his thigh. I watched as Diandre’s chest heaved up and down and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He growled for as long as he could then finally yelled out in pain as Snow pushed the drill downward into his thigh. When the crunching sound of the drill hitting the bone started, Snow pulled the drill out of his leg and turned it off.

  “Fuck!” Diandre yelled through heavy breathing.

  I pushed the barrel of the gun into the open wound and moved it around.

  He yelled again and managed to get out a few more words. “I’m gonna kill you, bitch!”

  “You ain’t gonna do shit,” I replied calmly.

  I headed back to the table as Snow fired up the drill again. I sat the gun down on the table and picked up the pincers.I didn’t have to look over at Diandre to know that Snow was having his way with him. The blood-curdling sounds that filled the room were all the proof needed.

  “This is some sick shit,” Donte said to me over Diandre’s yelling. He pointed to the tool in my hand. “What are you about to do with that?”

  “It’s not like he’s going to need his hands anymore.”

  Donte formed a fist with his hand and held it in front of his mouth as he shook his head. I headed back toward Diandre, and Snow stepped away. I bent down so that I could look him in his eyes. He was beginning to lose consciousness. I slapped his face several times to wake him back up.

  “Oh no, you’re not getting off that easily,” I said.“Tay, come on and do what you need to do.”

  Donte walked over and stood next to me. He didn’t move at first now that he had a closer view of Diandre. “Damn, Khalil,” he said as he looked at the bloody number Snow had on him.“I actually feel sorry for this nigga.”

  “I don’t,” I replied.“He’s hurt too many people and even had his mother killed. He had this shit coming. Shit, we’re doing the world a favor.”

  Diandre looked up at Donte. He stared at him for several seconds, but he didn’t say anything. I thought he was going to ask for help, but instead, he spitblood into Donte’s face. If Donte had any compassion before, it was definitely gone now. He hurled forward, forcing the chair backward onto the cement floor. He punched Diandre repeatedly, alternating his fists on both sides of his face. I stood back as Donte beat his ass. But when I saw Diandre losing consciousness again, I set the pincers down and walked over to pull him off. I was able to pull him away, but when I let him go, he ran back and attacked him again.

  “Tay, it’s handled! He’s not walking out of here.”

  Snow grabbed Donte and pulled him back. He pushed him across the room a safe distance while I lifted the chair Diandre was sitting on back into an upright position.

  Melanie looked at Donte and casually pointed to a barrel near her. “Take a seat, Kimbo Slice,” she said and giggled.

  Donte reluctantly took a seat on the barrel and worked to regain his composure.

  Melanie checked her watch, and then stood up and walked over to the table. She picked up the signal jammer.“You need to hurry and wrap things up. The jammer needs to be shut off in twelve minutes for us to stay on track. Word is definitely out on the street by now. So once this thing is off, his phone will have a signal again and his location will register.It won’t be long before MacGyver and Nino Brown are headedthis way.”

  I was a bit disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to draw things out and make Diandre suffer more, but Melanie was right. We needed to get out of here soon because time wasn’t on our side.

  Snow grabbed the syringe of cyanide, and I picked up the pincers from the floor.As Snow headed over, I pulled another packet of smelling salts from my pocket. I cracked it and waved the salts under Diandre’s nose once again. He bobbed his head slightly before opening his eyes. He blinked several times as he attempted to see through his severely swollen eyes.

  “Just kill me, bitch. I ain’t afraid to die. I ain’t about to beg for my life,” he professed.

  “There it is,” I replied.“That’s the moment I’ve been waiting for.”

  He had finally given up. I opened the pincers and placed his pinky finger inside. He tried to save face and not react to what was about to happen, but his body became tense, which let me know that he was scared.

  “You ain’t gotta beg because your life is over.”

  I quickly closed the pincers and snapped his finger off. His yell echoed throughout the warehouse. He tried to look away, but Snow held his face and forced him to watch me dismember his fingers from his hand.

  “Hey,Khalil, I need to get to work,” Shelton said loudly over Diandre’s cries.

  “Roger that.”

  I stood up and looked at the pain Diandre was in. There was no doubt in my mind that he was ready to die.“You’re a fucking coward. You put your hands on the wrong woman, and I’ll be damned if you ever get the chance to hurt anyone else. I promised you that I’d let you know who the fuck I was, and now you know. I hope you burn in hell, bitch.” I turned my back to himand walked back to the table. Without turning around, I called back to Snow.“Do it.”

  I calmly placed the tools back into the duffle bag.Diandre’s muffled yelling rang throughout the room as Snow injected the cyanide into his neck. Moments later, the room was silent.

  “Well,now that that’s over…” Shelton started.“It’s time for me to do damage control.”

  He reached into his bag and carefully pulled outan IED that he’d created. He carried it slowly into the center of the warehouse and sat it down. He walked back over to his bag and pulled out a small wireless transmitter along with a few other tools. We all watched Shelton work in silence. He pulled out a few pieces of small wire and connected them to various points inside of the transmitter. Next, he pulled out some clothespins and machine screws. He took the clothespins apart, manipulated the
m, and reassembled them so that they could be used as an electrical switch. When he appeared satisfied with his creation, he connected it to the transmitter and sat everything on the floor. He assessed the room and reached back into his bag to pull out a line of tripwire. He cut a piece of the wire and attached it to the clothespins that were connected to the transmitter.

  “Are you all about ready to go? Once I put this wire in place, it will be timeto get out of here,” he explained.

  Melanie stood up and raised the signal jammer in the air.

  “It’s about that time,” she said.“Is it a go, Shelton?”

  “Yes, you can go ahead and shut it off.”

  Melanie powered off the device. Donte stood up and prepared to leave. From the distraught look on his face, I could tell that he was more than ready to go. I zipped the duffle bag and put my hoodie back on. Snow took off hisblood–splattered coveralls, threw themon Diandre’s limp body, and put his cap back on.

  “Y’all head out of that door over there. I already checked and confirmed that it locks from the outside. I’m going to jimmy the lock on this one so that it’s the only way they can get in,” Shelton informed.

  Melanie reached into her back pocket and pulled out a cell phone. She used her finger to scroll through a few screens before entering a series of numbers. When she was done, she slid the phone back into her pocket.

  “I just wired the money to your account, Shelton.”

  “Roger that. Thank you.”

  Shelton didn’t look up. Instead, he rigged the lock and focused on putting the tripwire into place. He gently secured both sides of the wire near the door. After it was in place, he stood back and assessed his work. He nodded to himself and then walked over and picked up the silver briefcase he’d brought along. He opened it, pressed a button, and hit a switch before closing it again.

  “Now we can go. This has the receiver for the alarm and detonator for the IED. When they come through that door, it will trigger the transmitter and let me knowthey’ve arrived. Then all I’ll need to do is press the detonator. After that,it’s a wrap.”

  We all filed out of the opposite door. Melanie, Donte, and Shelton walked over to her car and climbed inside while Snow and I quickly headed over to the truck. She started the ignition and rolled down the driver’s side window.

  As we approached the truck, she called out to us. “Khalil, we’ll be right behind you and Snow. I’ll meet you at the hotel after I take Shelton to his car and drop Donte off.”

  “Alright,” I replied. “We’ll see you there.”

  I started the ignition and drove out of the lot. I saw Melanie back up and leave in the same direction through the rearview mirror. Once I was on the road, I began to accelerate. In the distance, I could see a vehicle approaching fast from the opposite direction. I had no doubts that they were coming for Diandre since this wasn't an area that got a lot of traffic. I began to drive faster while Snow reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone and quickly dialed Melanie's number over the speaker.

  "I see them," she said when she answered.

  "You need to hurry and get away from there," Snow cautioned.

  "I'm on it," she said.

  She put the pedal to the metal. I could see her gaining on me through my rearview mirror. "Shelton, are you good?"

  The call was still connected.

  "Yep, I've got my finger on the detonator. I'm just waiting for them to trip the alarm. Keep driving, the transmitter will still communicate with my receiver, so don't worry."

  "Okay," she replied, her voice trembling.

  I could tell that she was nervous. "Mel, you've got this," I assured her.

  I burned rubber as I turned the corner and she did the same. Snow used his free hand to hold on to the bar above the passenger’s side window. I continued to speed down the roadas beeping sounded through Snow’s cell phone.

  “Brace yourselves,” Shelton said.

  I held the steering wheel with both hands as the explosion ignited behind us. Snow’s cell phone slipped out of his hand as the entire ground shook. Fortunately, I was able to maintain control of the truck, but Melanie began to fishtail on the road. I started to slow down in case she was going to need our help, but she was able to regain control of the car.

  Snow bent down and picked up his phone from the floor. “Are you still there, Mel?”

  “Yep, we’re good,” she replied through a static-filled connection.

  “Good, because if you didn’t make it out of there alive,I was gonna kill you.”

  “Nah. We always make it count and make it out. Remember?”

  “Damn right,” I shot back.

  I continued down the straightaway for a few more minutes before the faint sound of sirens began to emerge in the distance. I slowed down as I approached the intersection. Melanie pulled up next to me at the light shortly thereafter. Fire trucks and police vehicles sped past us from the opposite direction. We made eye contact with one another, and I gave her a head nod. She took a deep breath and nodded back. Once the last fire truck zoomed by and the signal turned green, we went our separate ways. I felt a sense of calm come over me. Our mission was accomplished and we all had lived to see another day.

  Chapter Eleven

  Snow walked over to the registration deskto obtain a key for Fatima’s room. She was under an alias, and he was checking in as her husband. While he waited for the concierge to issue a key, I took a seat in the lobby and allowed myself to relax for what felt like the first time in several days. I reached into my pocket and powered on my cell phone. The voicemail indicator came on right away. I pressed play so that I could retrieve the messages. The first three messages were from Dezzy. Each message was more frantic than the one before it. I smiled and shook my head. I knew the only way to put her at ease was to call her so that she could hear my voice. I was about to hang up and give her a call when Craig’s voice sounded into my ear.

  “Aye, hit me when you get this message. Some shit went down, and I need a favor.”

  I hung up my phone and was about to call him back when Snow turned back in my direction to get my attention. He nodded his head to let me know that we were good to go. I stood from up from the chair thatI’d made myself comfortable in and headed over to the elevator. I hit the button as Snow walked up next to me. We waited for the doors to open in silenceand didn’t speak again until we were inside and the doors had closed.

  “That shit was wild,” Snow said.

  “Tell me about it.”

  “Now that it’s over, you know I’m going to give you shit about being whipped, right? I’ve never known you to go this hard for a chick before.”

  “Yeah, well,this isn’t some random chick.”

  “Clearly,” he repliedand laughed.“So what’s next? Are you going to wife her?”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “Better you get trappedthan me,” he added as the elevator doors opened.

  We stepped off the elevator.“Hold up a minute. Let me shoot Mel the room number.” He used his phone to send a quick text message, and then webegan heading down the hall toward Fatima’s room.

  “I know you ain’t talkin’,seeing as how you’re catching feelings for Fatima and shit.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talk—”

  The look on my face made him stop talking mid-sentence. After all, this was me, Khalil, he was talking to. We slowed down as we approached the door.

  “Kiss my ass, Khalil.”

  We both laughed as he slid the key into the slot on the door. He opened the door, pushed it open, and headed inside. I walked in behind him and noticed that the room was particularly quiet. As we walked further into the room, I sawFatima’s purse on the bed,so she’d definitely been in the room. Snow walked over to the mini-bar and picked up several empty liquor bottles. I looked across the room and saw that the bathroom door was shut.

  “Aye,” I said, getting Snow’s attention.

  He looked at me and I pointed in the direction of
the bathroom. I stood back as Snow walked over, twisted the knob, and pushed the bathroom door open. Fatima had fallen asleep on the floor, and Snow accidentally startled her awake. She sat up abruptly and pointed a .357 Magnum at him.

  “Whoa! Whoa!” he said and raised both hands in the air.

  I moved closer as Snow slowly walked into the bathroom with her. Her makeup was smeared on her face and she looked completely distraught. Her hands shook as she pointed the gun at him.

  “Fatima,put the gun down. It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”

  “What have I done?” She immediately began sobbing, but she never lowered the gun.“I fucked up. I should have never agreed to go along with this. I’m just as twisted as my brother. I’m no better than him. I’m just as guilty!” She was rambling as tears fell from her eyes.

  Snow continued to move toward her.

  “Stop! Don’t come any closer. Please don’t.”

  “Fatima, look at me,” he replied calmly.

  “My mama is definitely turning over in her grave.”

  She didn’t acknowledge him. Fatima was having a conversation with herself. Snow was in arm’s reach and was about to reach for the gun when she stopped pointing it at him and held it to her head.

  “Fatima!” he growled out nervously.

  I heard the slight panic in his voice. She held the gun to her head and continued to sob. She closed her eyes and started to ramble to herself again. It seemed as though she was trying to work up the nerve to actually pull the trigger.

  “Hey, listen to me. You are nothinglike your brother. You did the right thing.”

  She opened her eyes and looked at Snow for the first time. “I’m a horrible person. What kind of sister helps take down her brother?”

  “A sister whobelieves in justice. Your brother wasn’t going to stop hurting people unless he was stopped.”

  “That’s what I keep trying to tell myself.”

  “It’s the truth.”

  Fatima looked Snow directly in his eyes. She never broke their gaze as she slowly lowered the gun. He extended his hand to her. She hesitated a moment longer, but eventually handed over the gun. He took it from her and gently placed it on the floor behind him before he pulled her into his arms. She began to sob again, and Snow held her tightly while she got it all out.