Gets No Love

by Eric Pete

  “You’ve said that before.”

  “I mean it this time.”

  “How’s Bobby?”

  “He was upset, but he’s okay now. I really didn’t want him witnessing any of that.”

  “Can I talk to him?”

  “No. I don’t think it would be a good idea. He might think that things are back on between us.”

  “Val, I love you so much.”

  “Don’t say that shit, Lance.”

  “Why?”

  “Look, don’t call here anymore. Okay?”

  “I love you. That never changes.”

  “So, when were you going to tell me about Kyne?”

  “I wasn’t.”

  “You son of a bitch.”

  “That was just once. We weren’t together then. I wouldn’t have let it happen if I knew things were going to change between us for the better.”

  “And if I didn’t come by that day at your job for lunch . . . would something have gone on then between y’all? I thought something seemed strange.”

  “Val . . . look. Why are you going through this?”

  “I have no idea. I guess it’s something I wanted to get off my chest. I don’t have any questions about that girl from the mall. I remember her.”

  “Val . . .”

  “She was at Jessica’s that night you took me out.”

  “Val . . .”

  “Guess . . . guess you were just dying to get in her pants.” Val was sobbing now.

  “Don’t do this. Please,” I said in a panicked manner. I was trying desperately to stop the torture. “If you had just married me then none of this would have happened.”

  “How dare you try to rationalize things that way,” she screamed. “I always thought you were too perfect. Boy, was I wrong. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I never want to see you again.”

  “I . . . never . . . said . . . I was perfect,” I spoke into the receiver. . . . But nobody was there to hear me. I repeated myself again and again into the dark silence of my bedroom until I was hoarse.

  25

  I watched Mr. Bourgeois as he closely looked over the documents I provided him with. He sifted through them, punched in some numbers on his desktop adding machine, and took down some notes. It was always interesting watching someone else do his or her job. The strange frowns that would come across his brow had me eager to ask all kinds of questions, but I chilled and kept my mouth shut.

  “Hmm.”

  “What?”

  It had been a few days since dusting myself off one more time and venturing out into the light to get on with my life. It had only been one day since Akhet shoved a bunch of papers in front of me and said, “Here.” I didn’t know what to make of them and wasn’t sure if Mr. Bourgeois would either, but took the chance.

  “Found out anything?”

  “This is just a rough assessment, mind you . . .”

  “Okay, okay,” I said as I fidgeted in the office chair.

  “But I’d say your friend is getting screwed.”

  “I knew it.”

  “And he should know it too.”

  “He’s never been up on the business end of things, Mr. Bourgeois. That’s how he got busted when he used to sell drugs.”

  “Perhaps that was a good thing for him then, eh?”

  “I guess you’re right.”

  “You know . . . Jason North and them are some dangerous folk.”

  “Yeah. I know.”

  “I have some contacts that work for the city. If your friend really wants the complete picture, I can place some calls.”

  “Do it.”

  It was a short drive from Mr. Bourgeois’ office to Akhet’s home, but I wished it were longer this day. My mind kicked around the information I had just received and was trying to make everything fit. It took a lot more than one call and lots of favors Mr. Bourgeois had to cash in, but they paid off. I only had to promise to keep his name as well as any of his contacts’ names out of it. I owed him big time.

  “How bad is it, bruh?”

  “First off, you owe me big time.”

  “How am I supposed to owe you if I got no money?” he joked. I looked behind him at his awards that were displayed on the walls of the office he rarely used. There had been just as many before Akhet with awards, but not a dime to show for their accomplishments, I thought.

  “I don’t have complete details and a lot of stuff I couldn’t get on paper. With a little digging and a good lawyer, you can probably turn this up.”

  “Damn. It’s like that?”

  “Huh, bruh?” I said, borrowing his favorite phrase. “Whose name is this house in?”

  “Mine,” he proclaimed proudly as if getting the right answer to a quiz.

  “Nope. How about the house in Houston that Jason’s supposed to be buying for you?”

  “You tell me, Regis,” he growled.

  “Found several houses On-Phire has in H-town . . . but none in your name.”

  “Well, maybe they just haven’t bought it yet.”

  “Could be,” I said, going along with his reasoning. I doubted it as nothing had been found in Akhet’s name after hours of digging.

  “Okay then. So that’s all you found?”

  “No. There’s more. On-Phire owns this house, bruh.”

  “Okay. I figured that much out.”

  “But they’re charging you to lease it from them. Somehow the use of this house is being deducted from what they owe you in your contract. And . . .”

  “And? What?”

  “And you owe back taxes on this place.”

  “Alright. I asked you to do a little checking. Now you’re startin’ to piss me off.”

  “Want me to stop now?”

  Akhet closed his eyes and covered his face. “Nah. Go ahead,” he said, muffled by his hand.

  “After your large advance, it looks like you owe On-Phire money.”

  “Oh hell nah!” he hollered, springing up from his seat. He slammed his fists down onto the wooden desk. “You sure about this shit?”

  “No. That’s why you need to get a good attorney and sue the pants off them.”

  He smiled as he agreed with my idea, then something changed. He lowered his head as if defeated before even beginning the battle. “I can’t, bruh.”

  “What do you mean you can’t?”

  “Jason ’n ’em did a lot for me when I got outta jail. They helped take care of things with my PO that was trippin’.”

  “So, they helped you with your parole officer. And? You’re doing gold off the South alone and are about to do platinum. I think you’ve more than paid them back.”

  “I can’t be goin’ into court over this stuff. I’ll just ask out of my contract.” Something about the way Akhet was suddenly acting wasn’t right.

  “You’re scared of something.”

  “What? You must be high.”

  “Talk to me, bruh.”

  He paced around the office, then pushed the door shut as if not wanting to be heard. I thought it funny, as we were alone.

  “Jason knows,” was all he said when he looked me dead in the eye.

  “About—”

  “Yeah,” he said quickly.

  “How?”

  “I’m stupid. I told him.”

  “When did this happen?”

  “That night I hung up on you and went by House o’ Blues.”

  “What were you thinking?” I yelled in frustration.

  “I was pissed, man. You’re my boy and you sho wasn’t there. Shit. I needed someone to talk to.”

  “Get yourself a dog, man. Sheesh. Who else did you tell that night?”

  “Just Jason. We was up in the cut. Just chillin’ ’n shit.”

  I tapped my fingers again and again on the desk. I didn’t look at Akhet for at least a couple of minutes. When I finally looked up, I calmly stated, “He’s got you, bruh. Jason North has you right where he wants you and there’s nothing you can do.”

 
“Uh-uh,” he replied. “I can still ask out of my contract.”

  “Now, that’s what I’ve been telling him to do!”

  Both of us jumped at the sound of her voice. She had opened the door to his office and strutted in.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked accusingly. This shock entrance was one too many. There she stood, just as she had weeks before when wearing my Saints jersey after our night of indulging. But this time it wasn’t a shirt of mine she was wearing. It was Akhet’s and it bothered me. Bad.

  “Staying over. What does it look like?” she answered back.

  Kyne walked behind the desk where Akhet had just been seated and leaned over in my face. “You’re going to catch flies in your mouth if you keep it open like that,” she said with a low, sultry laugh.

  Oh, hell no.

  26

  After picking my mouth up off the floor, I asked her, “What did you just hear?”

  “That AK wants to ask out of his contract,” she said as she plopped into the chair and put her feet up. “So, what did you find out? I just know Jason North is getting over on him. I told him he needed to get his contract looked at.”

  “What is she doing here?” I decided to ask Akhet this time. I was feeling pretty weird about this whole scene. He looked embarrassed and didn’t answer me. I wondered if Kyne overheard anything else, but when Akhet shook his head at me, that answered it.

  “What’s with the secret code, y’all two?” she asked. “Y’all keeping secrets from me?”

  “I think I’m the one that should be asking about people keeping secrets.” Ooo. Dead silence from both of them spoke volumes. Kyne suddenly put her feet down and Akhet continued standing near the door she had just come in. It looked like he wanted to run out of it. I felt a streak of anger well up inside me. “Kyne, you never finished telling me how you got in AK’s video. Just how did you work that?”

  “What’s with the third degree, Lance?” she snapped as if annoyed with my questioning. “Something on your mind?”

  “Yeah. Something is on my mind.”

  “What? Something other than Valerie for a change? Go on. Spit it out.”

  “Are y’all fuckin’ now?” I asked bluntly. I had a feeling of betrayal for some reason, but there was something else about it bothering me. “I thought y’all hated each other.”

  “Lance, it’s not like that, man,” Akhet fumbled around. “Well . . . y’see. When I gave her a ride home that day . . .”

  “You don’t need to explain things to him, AK. He’s nobody’s parent.”

  “I can’t believe this shit,” I sighed. “How could you? So you fuck me then turn around and fuck him?”

  “I don’t like your tone,” she replied.

  “You don’t have to like it. I just call it like I see it.”

  “Yeah, I fucked you. And you liked it too. Did I fuck AK too? Yes . . . but you know what? It was my choice, not yours. How dare you try to judge me all of sudden. I make my own choices in this world and I’m damn sure woman enough to stand behind them. Tell me, are you man enough to stand behind your choices?” I realized then that something was eating away at her as much as it was with me. Just as me and Akhet had a hidden code, so did me and Kyne.

  “Alright now. Both y’all calm the fuck down,” Akhet interjected, feeling it safe to approach the two of us. “I know I shoulda told you, bruh, but I ain’t had the chance. You ain’t been around, ya dig?”

  “No, man. She wanted to know if I was man enough to stand behind my choices. Well, I am. I’ll catch you two lovebirds later.”

  “Bruh, don’t go. We gotta talk about my contract ’n stuff.” He grabbed my shoulder to stop me.

  “Get off!” I yelled as I knocked his hand away. “Just get the fuck off me.”

  True to his nature, Akhet didn’t let up. He followed me outside to my car where it had just begun to rain.

  “Bruh. Talk to me, man. You can’t just walk off like this.”

  I chuckled. “Watch me.”

  “You actin’ like a jealous little bitch, bruh. Straight up.”

  “Watch your mouth.”

  “What you gonna do?” he asked as he booted up in my face. “Walk away like you’re already doing?”

  “No. I’m going to bust you right in your big, dumb mouth like I should have long ago.”

  Akhet drew back, hurt from my outburst more than actually threatened. In all our years of ribbing each other, I had never questioned my friend’s intelligence. I didn’t even mean it this time, but it just came out. “I thought you was my boy, but when it comes down to it . . . you a hater just like the rest.”

  It would have been funny if not so tragic. The two of us were now going at it like two kids in a schoolyard brawl. Fists flew, half of them missing, while we slid around on the wet grass of Akhet’s front lawn. My nose was bloody and Akhet had a mouse under his eye, but I don’t think either one of us noticed as we backed into the water fountain and fell in. Just my luck, I was on the receiving end of Akhet’s weight as he fell on me and drove my face underwater. As both of us struggled to get out, he righted himself first and hit me with another clean blow. I fell sprawling onto my back again—the weight of my wet clothing making me sluggish. Water splashed up again.

  Kyne had now run out onto the front lawn. In between gasping for air and struggling to get Akhet’s hands from around my neck, I could hear the sounds of her shouting. I couldn’t make out what she was saying and suddenly it was getting harder to think as the vice grip cutting off my air and sending water down my throat was asserting itself. Just as I felt panic set in and my arms beginning to fail me, Akhet yanked me up from under the water of the fountain and tossed me onto the grass. I went rolling as I tried to taste the damp, humid air again. Akhet was bent over and was gasping for breath.

  “Get outta here,” he panted. “You’re lucky I didn’t kill you.”

  “Th-that’s how it’s going to be?” I had risen to my knees at least and was tensing up to go at it again.

  Kyne interjected. “Stop this, Lance. Go home. Please. Akhet came to you for help. You should be trying to help him with his problem. Y’all two are supposed to be best friends but instead you’re acting all funny.”

  Both she and I knew why I was acting funny all of a sudden, but I didn’t want to admit it. My ego and emotions had gotten the best of me. I glared at the two of them as if some major betrayal had taken place . . . then took my leave after a couple of well-placed middle fingers were thrown up at the both of them. On the drive home, I tried to blast myself with the AC vents, but they couldn’t rid the dampness I felt deep inside my soul.

  27

  “I’m getting tireda takin’ yo money, boy.” His smile was god-awful and made me grimace every time he flashed it.

  “The game’s not over, man.”

  “That’s the same thing you said three rounds ago. Why don’t you jus’ quit? Some people waitin’ that gonna give me a challenge.” He was right. As much as I didn’t want to admit it and give up to the gold-toothed, dried Jheri Curl–wearing hustler, he was right. Maybe my subconscious had brought me to The Hole after work this Friday. Hell, it was still early as the sun had just gone down and I was already out a C-note.

  At the bar were the same tricks who had tried to take my life over Kyne last time I was here. They were now all smiles and trying to buy me drinks ’n shit, which I politely refused. I wasn’t about riding Akhet’s coattails.

  Speaking of Mr. AK, I hadn’t talked to him or Kyne in weeks and was trying to gain a sense of normalcy of some sort. I had remembered the phone ringing late one night awakening me from a decent slumber. It rang only twice. I let it stop and didn’t pick up. I knew it had to have been Akhet having one of his bad dreams again. He didn’t call back either. The funny thing was that I stayed up the rest of the night watching the phone, but still being too stubborn to call him back.

  “Are you gonna take yo shot or just look at the ball, boy?”

  “I’m going t
o take the shot . . . and your money,” I replied smugly. This had been the closest game of the night and I had a chance to win. I drew back and struck the white ball, driving it into the green ball with a loud clack. It bounced around before rolling straight for the corner pocket . . . and coming to rest right on the edge. I stared in disbelief and prayed for a large truck to drive by outside to jar the ball and change my fortune, but my luck was running true.

  “Ha!” he laughed as he drove the eight ball home and sealed my fate. “Go home, son!”

  I started to protest and try to talk trash, but my game was unusually lousy and spoke for itself. A guy that looked too young to even be in the joint was already rushing up to take my place at the pool table, so I paid up my money and moved on. “Use the money on a hairstyle from the last ten years . . . at least,” I said as I got a jab in on the “Soul Glow Man.”

  I sat at the bar as far away as possible from my two newfound friends and ordered a Hennessy and Coke. People from the neighborhood were starting to file in as the seafood buffet was being set up in the corner. Drinks were two-for-one so I drank on as the music went from the monotonous “Cha-cha Slide” to the soulful wailings of Alexander O’Neal’s “If You Were Here Tonight.” I watched as the ladies left the floor to feast on the buffet, leaving two couples trying to get in the mood as if that were their song and theirs alone. Their bliss and ignorance to the world around them, in particular my prying eyes, made me feel small and lonely. It was time to go.

  I downed my drink and left a nice tip for the waiter who always hooked me up and never watered my shit down.

  As I walked my familiar path to my car, short most of my money, I was careful to watch my back this time. I breathed a sigh of relief as my two friends from inside The Hole were nowhere in sight this time. A quiet ending to this day was just what I had hoped for. My hopes would have been dashed if I had noticed the headlights come on down the block behind me as I walked. I should have noticed, but I didn’t see them coming.

  I was in my car and about to pull off when the stretch limo came flying out of nowhere, cutting me off. If I hadn’t slammed on my brakes, it would have clipped the front of my car. I banged my fist on the steering wheel airbag out of shock more than anger.