Justice Black: The Game Never Ends

by Gartia Bansah

  There was a noticeable change in his apartment. The parrots were quiet, and the room had a perfumery scent. There were fresh dishes in the kitchen drain and an opened bottle of wine on the counter. She’d been here. He chuckled at her “I never drink” lie and headed to his bedroom.

  “What the hell?” he said. The bedroom door wouldn’t open; he carefully pushed against it and nearly tripped over the towels. Kaitlyn was asleep on his bed. She looked perfect, even with the sweats and sneakers, but not with his best driver in her hands. She looked peaceful, and her lips looked as if they should be lightly kissed. He gently sat down on the bed and carefully pulled her into his arms and did exactly that. Kaitlyn woke startled and in a fighting position.

  “Duchess, it’s me, Justice.”

  Kaitlyn finally crawled through her sleepy haze and recognized the dimples first and then the man.

  “Tobiah?” Relieved, she wrapped her arms fiercely around his neck; inside she silently chided herself for sleeping so soundly. That was it, no more wine. “Why didn’t you call me to pick you up?”

  “You taste like wine.” He grinned. “I knew I’d be here late but definitely would have come earlier if I’d known you’d be here in my bed.” He cocked his head with an exaggerated perplexed expression. “Frankly,” he said, “I don’t know why that papa bear complained.”

  She playfully pushed his shoulder. “That’s not funny.”

  His next kiss was a strong hunger that she impatiently matched. His hands were rough yet gentle and possessive when he covered her breasts over her thick top and soon made their way underneath. With calloused hands, he gently caressed her and whispered, “Duchess,” as if he were under her spell. Before she could speak, he lowered her back on the bed and extended his body over her, careful not to hurt her. She was beautiful, and he wanted her. With one smooth move, he reclaimed her mouth. She was sweet wine nectar. He suckled her throat and slowly moved back to her mouth as she drew in her breath.

  Kaitlyn’s hands wandered over his body as if she’d always known him and imitated his touches, which quickly left his breathing hard and rapid. She held him tight and moved her hand under his shirt, lifting it off, and caressed the scars on his skin. Touching them was sensual to him. She lightly kissed each as a means of silently saying, “I’m sorry you were ever hurt.”

  Justice hesitated. “It’s all right,” Kaitlyn whispered. It was time to be whole again. She needed Justice and felt he needed her.

  I can’t do this. What are you doing? he asked himself. It was his battle of right and wrong. But this was his Duchess, and there was no wrong. He sat and pulled her onto his lap. He needed to see her when he asked the question.

  “Duchess,” he sighed between her kisses, “listen to me.” He took her face and framed it between his hands.

  “Yes?”

  “Honey, what happened to you?”

  Kaitlyn knew what he wanted and the reasons why.

  “I’m with the most handsome man in this universe right now,” she joked.

  “C’mon, Duchess. I need to know.” He was serious. “Baby, you sleep ready to run. Why?”

  “I understand what you need to know. Give me time, please.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Kaitlyn wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. She couldn’t bear to look at him; she needed his understanding and comfort, not his pity. She’d tell him, but not the worst part. Not now.

  “I was nineteen,” she began slowly with earnestness, “when I decided that I needed to know that I was not scarred by something that had happened in my past.” Her shoulders dropped an inch. “So I decided it might as well be Lance. We were friends, and he was nice to me. But he had a hard time with the condom. It took him forever to get the thing on, and then he tried kissing. I told him that kissing wasn’t necessary. He kept pushing and sweating and asking if it was in and whether it was good. I didn’t know what I was supposed to feel, and I wanted him to hurry, so I said yes. Truthfully, I believed something was wrong with me and my body, not Lance. Things got awful; I yelled for him to get up, and I hurried home, took a long, hot, scrubbing shower, and called Grandmom and told her what I’d done. She didn’t lecture me. She said I was an adult. She said Lance was a fool and the first rule that I should have learned was if a man had to ask whether it was in, he had no business there.”

  “You told your grandmother? Honey, he didn’t do anything.”

  “I know that. Grandmom would have found out anyway. She always said my eyes were a dead giveaway if I did anything ‘improper.’ I would have felt ashamed every time I looked at her. She trusted me to always use good judgment. I didn’t dare tell Momma.”

  Justice moaned, still in disbelief that she’d told her grandmother, but her eyes were telling.

  “I tried again one other disastrous time to have a sex life, but he wanted to tie me down. I refused to go through another ugly catastrophe and gave up on intimacy.” She smiled impishly. “That is until now.”

  She tried to make light of everything, yet it didn’t fool him.

  “Honey?” He knew damn well that wasn’t the real reason for sleeping as she did.

  “There are virgins out there, you know, Justice, even men. I’m sure you won’t have to ask whether it’s in.”

  “I’m not touching that,” he laughed.

  “I wouldn’t.”

  “I want to see you.” He carefully raised her arms above her head and slowly removed her top. Her white lacy bra was an ironic clash to the sweats. Tonight he would bring out the lost side of Dr. Joseph as he removed it. He gave special attention to each nipple until they were brown peaks; Kaitlyn pulled him closer for a deeper touch.

  Satisfied, he returned to her mouth and whispered, “Damn Lance. If he’d known what to do and got here first, I’m afraid I’d have to hunt him down like a thief.”

  “Truly?” she giggled.

  Justice finally had everything removed. “You’re beautiful. Dance with me, love.” He tested her strength but didn’t trust himself to be gentle, yet he was determined to chase any fears she harbored about intimacy, sex, and herself. He wanted her to know the difference between screwing and making love. He would go as slow as possible for her.

  Kaitlyn tried to relax, but he had inflamed her body in a way she didn’t think was possible. Maybe she shouldn’t have waited this long. She quickly dispelled that notion. It was her choice. She hesitated, and then she moaned when he slowly and gently entered her.

  He didn’t want to hurt her and steadied himself. She was ready, and with one gentle thrust, he pushed to the hilt, gently coaxing her with tender words until she relaxed.

  Kaitlyn felt completely overwhelmed by his power and welcomed his strong body into hers.

  “Come to me,” he whispered.

  Her heart beat in sync with his as she matched his strength. Her mind at that moment forever imprinted his face and that moment in her heart.

  Justice felt the magnetic pull was complete. Kaitlyn was his.

  Kaitlyn finally heard a moan. Was it her? She couldn’t tell. The sound was so remote. Then she heard it again. It was theirs.

  “Wow,” she managed to say. “So you missed me.” She coyly laughed and relaxed in his arms. “A little?”

  “Yes,” he whispered against her lips. “A lot.”

  “That was some dance,” she whispered against his throat. “Thank you.”

  Justice chuckled and protectively held her until they finally drifted into an overdue peaceful sleep.

  “Hey!” he later woke with a yell. Kaitlyn pinched him and was sitting on his stomach. “What’s wrong?”

  “Justice Black, you lied. Seymour did not run away. I nearly had a heart attack.”

  “Oh.” He calmly rested his hands behind his head, contented with her position. “You found Seymour?”

>   “Unfortunately, Seymour found me. You shouldn’t keep that thing here. That is a miniature dinosaur.”

  He laughed. “So that’s the reason for the stuffing under the door.” He thought of his prized club. “You were going to hit poor Seymour with my best driver.”

  “Yes. He sneaked in here uninvited; I was planning to do just that.”

  He couldn’t help himself and shook his finger at her. “Now that’s animal cruelty.”

  “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

  “Now why on earth would I ever do that?” He tried to look shocked that she’d even asked. He needed to hold that over her for rainy days.

  “You could be more forgiving. I would be.”

  He had to laugh at that. “Oh no you wouldn’t. Don’t worry. He goes with the others.”

  “Don’t count on that,” she countered. “Besides, they have a cat.” She laughed. “You want him eaten? Frankly I’m surprised those birds haven’t done it.”

  “They like Seymour.”

  She still hadn’t fully answered his question.

  “Are you good?”

  “I’m extraordinarily good.”

  Kaitlyn relaxed on his chest and made warm, light touches on the sensitive areas that she’d discovered on his body.

  Justice groaned. “You sure are.” He didn’t know how long he could take her touches; her curiosity moved her hands and fingers over his stomach. He swallowed hard.

  Kaitlyn heard the sound and was pleased with his reaction. She started a trail of kisses from his throat to his chest. “You are so beautiful.” She marveled at his well-honed body. Except for two keloid scars under his rib cage, his body was otherwise smooth and perfect.

  “Come here,” he whispered.

  “Tobiah…” She couldn’t form the words.

  “I know, sweetheart.”

  “Then you know that means I’ll take whatever you give me. No strings attached.”

  He was touched by her words. “Duchess.”

  “We’re adults, and I trust you.”

  “You shouldn’t,” he teased.

  “I know.”

  “We’ll talk later. I promise, Duchess.”

  “I’ll hold you to that.”

  She hadn’t told him the truth. But she would.

  “Tobiah, please dance with me again.”

  He smiled. “Kiss me.”

  When she did, he made more perfect light strokes that promised to send both back to that place that forced their ghosts far behind for now.

  chapter

  FORTY-FOUR

  “How could you be so incredibly foolish to go to that complex? If you mess this up, you’ll regret it. Why did you go there? And you took that stupid woman too?”

  Before Ed could answer, he was slapped.

  “Never go there again unless you are told. You are to do what I tell you and nothing else.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? I never went anywhere. You must be mistaken…” Then he thought again and became silent.

  “Don’t lie to me,” the chairman warned.

  There were too many damn spies. He hated the chairman for hitting him. He rubbed the sting. For now he’d take it but not for too long. Soon he’d even that score too.

  “Eunice, enough is enough. You need to do something.” Today Avery had taken chocolate-walnut cookies over as a neighborly gift with the real purpose of getting invited inside the house. No one had been able to do that since the couple moved in three weeks ago.

  Eunice thanked her and tried to hurry back inside.

  “Eunice, I can’t take hearing you scream your head off most nights. Last week when that fool locked you out of the house in the rain, I could have hit him myself. Something has to give. Let us help you.”

  “Yes,” Helene said. “Honey, my first husband was like that man of yours. I got out before he killed me or I him.”

  From an outside view, the family that lived at 209 Coach Street was like any ordinary family in this exclusive neighborhood, including the occasional arguments. The one exception: this family was rarely seen. They’d pull into their garage and close the door, and they repeated the same routine daily. Lately arguments had escalated into the early-morning hours, and the fights were scary. Eunice was always on high alert.

  Helene added with disgust, “I spoke to Jacobson about the appalling words that came out of his mouth, and he cursed me. Next time I’m calling the police.”

  “Please don’t,” Eunice begged. “I understand you want to help, but everything’s fine. We were kidding around that day. It’s nothing serious.” She looked anxiously down the street. If he caught her outside, she’d pay for it.

  “You can’t handle that asshole alone. You need a real man,” Helene said without any shame, looking at Eunice’s blackened eye and her wrapped wrist. Eunice had blamed it on a fall due to the careless workers leaving tools on the sundeck. At that time she’d seen no reason to question her further. After all, Eunice Russell was a nurse.

  “Look, I have to go. Please don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine,” Eunice pleaded.

  “Eunice,” Avery said, “I’m older than you, so I can tell you one thing: don’t let any man treat you like this. It may be easier said than done, but that’s not love. That’s sickness. Don’t be sick with him. And you don’t need for your daughter to grow up seeing that.”

  “Listen to her, Eunice,” Helene added. “I have a friend who doesn’t care if he lives or dies, and he would handle Jacobson. Just say the word.”

  Eunice rushed inside; Ed was there, waiting. He startled her. He’d come through the alley and used the back door.

  It was by pure accident that Eunice’d learned his name was Anderson Edwin “Ed” Drayton. He’d sent her to the car to bring in beer; she’d found hidden under the car seat a small box of letters from her sadistic half sister, Tansetta, who went by the name Tansy. Her laugh was strange, and she thought, The joke is on me. Tansy had written to Ed about a huge property for sale. Together, Tansy and the chairman came up with the perfect plan to put Ed with a desperate woman—me. He was brought here to get rid of Justice Black. When I confronted Ed about his name, he merely laughed and said, ‘So what?’

  Ed interrupted her thoughts. “If those meddlesome women come over here one more time, I’ll make you regret it. As a matter of fact, each time one comes around, you’ll get it.”

  Eunice flinched. Already weakened from his last rage, she moved her painful body to get ice for her bruise. This time Ed had cracked a cheekbone. She didn’t need X-rays to tell her that. She had taken care of enough facial injuries to know. She had no more sick time and had to pretend her daughter was sick again so others could donate time.

  She mumbled, “I should have left him at that restaurant. At the time, I thought the eye patch was sexy; I soon learned it was one of the most sinister parts of him. Ed Drayton is a self-servicing, abusive man. But yet I stay.”

  When they married, Ed had insisted she keep her last name, as he believed in a woman’s right not to be branded with the cliché of having to carry the husband’s last name. “What a laugh,” she whispered. They were not married. The so-called justice of the peace was a friend of Ed. The whole thing was a ruse just to use her name for the house.

  “What are you mumbling about?” Ed pulled her arm and forced her to look at him. “You have been standing against that sink for damn near half an hour talking to yourself.”

  “Nothing, Ed. I was only thinking.” She flinched against the pain. “Ed, you’re hurting me.”

  His eye was blazing red. He asked, “You want to fight me?”

  Her voice quivered. “Please, Ed, let me go.” She lightly touched his hand, her eyes locked with his. She used to fight him, until she realized he enjoyed it. After he’d beaten her, he’d wanted sex. She’d l
earned his explosive signs and stopped fighting altogether. “You want some coffee?”

  “No.” He shoved her away and watched her drink the coffee.

  Her hands trembled as she steadied the cup to her lips. “Ed, I need my heart pill.” She glanced toward the locked cabinet.

  He kept her medications locked away and kept the key. His excuse was to protect Taylor and because Eunice lost the keys once. Ed removed a pill and hugged her. “You mean a lot to me, you know, Eunice. I get crazy sometimes; don’t forget you’re my woman.”

  She’d heard that so many times. Sadly, it felt good hearing it.

  “I know, Ed. I’m sorry.”

  “I’m under pressure from the house I’m trying to sell, and I am worried about you, Eunice.”

  Eunice knew the real reason Ed was edgy. Her ex had filed for full custody of Taylor. She had no plans of fighting it. Ed was a coward and wouldn’t interfere.

  She closed her eyes when he stroked her broken arm. “Thanks, Ed.” She thought how at first he was gentle, but then his touches became nothing but painful torture.

  Lately he had become such a fanatic about the world changing. He hated her co-workers. It drove him crazy when they gave her a ride home. Yesterday she’d barely made it inside the house before he shoved her against the wall. He shouted that no foreigners, blacks, or gays were to ever come to his house. Although he never admitted it, Eunice believed he was mixed race himself, and surely he had to know about his macho friends Kurt and Aslan.

  Ed circled her like a caged animal. “You remember what you have to do tomorrow, don’t you?”

  “Yes. I’m to take the car into BrightTown tomorrow and go the farmers’ market, take the black trash bag, and leave it in the gray Dumpster.”

  He moved toward Eunice and jabbed his finger into her injured shoulder. “I told you to take the Brown Street exit!”

  Eunice swayed. “I know that,” she cried.

  “Then say it.” Ed’s threatening voice took on a deadly tone that made her stomach jump.