by Eric Pete
Melvin pulled out a handgun and began to level it at Akhet’s head. Kyne let out a scream that snapped me to attention like a splash of cold water. In that split second, I saw the love in her eyes and knew what I had to do.
Ignoring the people trying to tackle me, I raised the mike stand up and charged Melvin with it. I brought it down right across his wrist, causing him to shriek in pain. The gun went spilling across the slick floor and fell off stage. Jason North, like some kind of large sewer rat, quickly scurried after it. Slamming into Melvin was like hitting a brick wall, but I did it anyway. With his noninjured hand, he crushed me with a single punch.
I flew back onto the floor and prepared for the merciless beating to come. I had at least given Akhet a brief respite, I thought. With large fists and heavy feet pummeling me, I let my thoughts turn toward Val and Bobby . . . and my mother. Things fell silent just before I saw NOPD uniforms flooding into the place.
36
“So, what happened, Lance?”
“I dunno.” I pictured Melvin and them leaving us on stage and running out the back door just before the police got to us.
“All the damage in that place and you don’t know what happened? I find that hard to believe.”
“Things just got crazy.” I pictured Akhet lying there in pain and laughing as he reached out to give me dap as we were scraped up off the floor and taken to Charity Hospital. That was just before being brought to the French Quarter precinct for questioning.
“Your friend causes a riot to break out. Yep. I’d call that crazy, boy.”
Exhausted and tired of the questions, I blurted out, “Akhet didn’t start—”
“I thought you didn’t know what happened,” the detective said eagerly as he slid his chair closer. “Your memory clear up, boy?”
“I don’t have anything else to say. Can I go now?”
“Yeah. They’re about to set your bail, so you can go back to the cell in the meantime. I got one more question for you though.”
“What?”
“Do you know a guy by the name of Melvin Trips?”
“Name doesn’t ring a bell.” I didn’t know Melvin’s last name, but I was sure where the detective was heading with this. I still didn’t trust the police. For all I knew, this guy could’ve been on Melvin’s payroll.
“Sure you don’t know him? Dark brother? Hangs around On-Phire Records?”
“Oh. Yeah. I’ve seen him before.”
“Did you see him tonight at the club?”
“I dunno. There were a lot of people in there.”
“You sure there’s nothing you want to talk about?”
“I’m sure.”
The detective took a deep breath and sighed. “Suit yourself.”
After lighting up a cigarette, he signaled for the guard to take me back to the holding cell. A queasy feeling came over me at the thought of going back to that cage. Something about the smell of jail that never leaves you. I promised myself so long ago that I would never be back under any circumstances. With a slight limp, I entered the cell that was holding myself, Akhet, and several other people arrested in the club that night. The fact that none of the On-Phire crew had been arrested made me more comfortable with my decision to keep my mouth shut.
Akhet was back from his questioning session as well. He was sprawled across a bench and appeared to be taking a nap.
“Sorry about getting you caught up in this, bruh,” he said, taking his arm down from across his face. His lip was still swollen. “I guess I didn’t think things through.”
“Thought you were asleep.”
“Nah. Just didn’t feel like talkin’ to them in here.” He sat up and moved over to give me a place to sit. “Thanks for lookin’ out back at the club.”
“Fo’ sho,” I replied with a smile as I stole his line. “Shit kinda reminded me of the old days.”
“Yeah,” he continued. “ ’Cept I wouldn’t be feeling all beat up back then.”
“Things could be a lot worse.”
“I know, I know,” he agreed reluctantly. “What did you tell them?”
“You have to ask?”
“No. I might be in here for a while, bruh. They tryin’ to get me for incitin’ a riot. I had to find another lawyer. My other one was on Jason’s payroll.”
“I don’t think you’d want him representing you,” I chuckled. “You worried about Melvin trying to finish what he started?”
“You forget I’m bulletproof, my man. Shit, death ain’t nothin’ but a thang to me.”
“Even now . . . with Kyne?” I just had to ask.
Akhet waited for a few people in the cell to clear out. “Maybe things have changed some,” he said. “That’s why I did what I did. Shit. Cash Money and No Limit are gonna be blowin’ up my cell, ya heard? I just need to finish getting out of my contract. I put it on them in front of the whole world, boy. The whole fuckin’ world! On-Phire got nothin’ on me.”
Bringing him back down to earth, I replied, “Yeah . . . they do have something on you.”
We sat in silence after that. I didn’t mean to deaden his spirits, but Akhet knew what they had on him. We both did. This was serious and all his sleepless nights reminded him of it.
Weary from the night’s activities, I had closed my eyes and was beginning to doze off when next he spoke.
“I got an answer for that, Lance,” was all he said. I didn’t acknowledge him or ask what he meant. In fact, I simply kept my eyes closed as if asleep. There was something in his tone that disturbed me to my core.
My mind replayed the madness as I succumbed to sleep on that bench. I kept seeing Melvin pulling the gun out in my dreams, until the clank of metal snapped me awake.
My name was called.
I was free from the cage for I had been bailed out. In the old days, it would have been my disappointed mother waiting on me.
No sooner had I got up than a mumbling, half-asleep Akhet moved to claim the entire bench. It looked like he was comfortable and nobody in the cell was about to fuck with him. From the snores coming out of his mouth, they would have to wait ’til morning for their autographs.
I was given back my wallet and jewelry and escorted out to the waiting area where my eyes tried to adjust to the bright lights. A reporter from Channel 11 who was cute as hell, but always got the shit assignments, was waiting, but looked disappointed when she saw I wasn’t the almighty AK. I let out a grin as I worked out my sore shoulder and strolled by.
I saw Kyne standing there. She looked like she was cold with her bare arms exposed to the frigid air and her mascara was still dried on her face from where she had been crying.
“Are you alright?” she asked.
“Hey,” I said as I gave my friend a hug and kissed her on the forehead. “Thanks for bailing me out. I’ll pay you back.”
Lowering her already strained voice, she replied, “I . . . I didn’t bail you out, Lance.”
“Then who did?” I asked, confused at her statement.
“I did,” said the figure I hadn’t noticed watching quietly from the other side of the room the entire time.
37
I saw her, but my eyes didn’t believe it. “What are you doing here?”
“I can leave if you want me to,” she said coldly, as I still had my arms around Kyne.
Kyne backed up. “I’m waiting on AK,” she said as she moved clear of Valerie’s space. It was obvious the two of them hadn’t spoken a word the whole time they were out here.
I walked slowly, cautiously toward the woman I thought was a ghost to me. No matter how things had ended, I was relieved to see her. From the coat she was wearing, I could tell she had been asleep and had quickly thrown on something. I stuck out my hands, waiting for her to take them. She never did.
“Thank you,” I said, genuinely wanting to take her in my arms and kiss away all my pain. The issue of her deceit brought up by Renika was furthest from my mind.
“You already wasted your thanks on her.”
Kyne heard it, but appeared too drained to make a comment.
“I didn’t know. I thought . . . How did you know I was here?”
“Look, it’s late. I’m tired and I’m cold. Do you want a ride or not?”
We walked from the freezing air-conditioned lobby out into the humid French Quarter night where her Kia was waiting by a parking meter across the street.
Once we were under way, I decided to give it another shot. “Thank you. I mean it.”
With a heavy sigh, she replied, “You’re welcome.”
“How’d you know I was there?”
Stopping at the red light, she answered, “Renika. She saw the arrests on the news and called to wake me up. I had to do some calling, but they found you in the system.”
“You know I was surprised to see you.”
“I could tell,” she said, looking at me for the first time. “Thought I would just leave you locked up?”
“No. It’s not that. I thought you would’ve moved by now.”
She let out a laugh. “Moved where?”
“Carolina.”
“Why would I move there? Oooh,” she said, catching my drift. “With Robert? I never said I was moving with him. I only said that I was thinking about it. Is that what that blowup was about at my house?”
I felt myself getting angry. I started picturing Robert zipping up his pants again and that asshole smile of his before I erased it off his face. I pictured the ring I had for her and how I felt like such a fool. I was too tired to get into it, so somehow I managed to hold back. “Yeah, that’s what it was about. I thought you were moving. They told me at Delgado that day that you had quit. I had gone there . . . to talk to you.”
Shaking her head, she closed her eyes briefly before speaking. “I did quit. I got a better job at Entergy. I guess you should ask before just swinging on people, huh?”
“Whatever. Can we change the subject? I need to get my car.”
We learned that my car had been towed off and that I wouldn’t be able to have it released until morning. Val offered to give me a ride back there. It was obvious she had no idea I was aware of her betrayal.
As we crossed the bridge, I listened to HOT 104.5’s radio announcements for the next night’s parties. This was between the DJ asking people to call in with what they thought of AK’s announcement.
“Dat nigga . . . oops, can I say dis on da radio? Anyway . . . AK shoulda been left them, ya dig. They was jus’ holdin’ him back.”
“This is Tasha from the Seventeenth Ward and I just wanna make sure they didn’t touch my baby AK’s face ’cause he’s the sexiest rapper next to 50 Cent. Can I give a shout-out?”
“I heard AK don’t even write his own lyrics. If Jason North needs a real hot boy then On-Phire need to holla at me. My phone number is—”
“This Jimmy from Holly Grove. I was there and I seen the whooooole thang . . . from the VIP section, understand. Anyway, I heard AK threatening to kill Jason North in front of the whole club, then him and his posse rushed Jason and started beatin’ him down. There must’ve been about twenty of them and they was flyin’ off the stage. Kinda like them dudes in that movie, The Matrix. Even from the VIP, I was scared for my life.”
I hit the preset, changing the station to 98.5 WYLD. Aaliyah’s “I Care 4 U” was just ending.
“What really happened?” Val asked.
“Akhet left On-Phire. Things got outta hand. You saw the news.”
“Can he do that? He’s under contract, right?”
“He did. I guess he has a way out of it.”
“That’s your boy, so I know you know more than what you’re saying.”
Sensing Val’s curiosity, I had to cut her off. “Leave it alone ’cause I’ve said all I’m going to say.”
Back at my apartment complex, most of the lights were out. Most of my neighbors were asleep and dreaming of places I wanted to be. The only activity in my building seemed to be at Renika’s. Vaughn’s cruiser was pulled up on the curb and we could hear the faint thump of the bass from her stereo as we pulled up. Val saw the disgusted look on my face. I was sure she knew the lack of love Vaughn and I had for each other.
“Thanks for the ride, and for the bail, and for waiting on me. I’ll have your money for you later today.”
“You don’t have to sound like a robot.”
“You’re right,” I said, putting my hand on her thigh in a nonsexual way. “I just need some sleep.”
“I’m just glad you’re safe.” In a surprising move, she leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I didn’t know how to react, so I just looked at her.
“What?”
“Your hair. Is it darker?”
Like a schoolgirl suddenly realizing she was the center of attention, she began fussing with it. “Boy, no. It’s just the light. It took a lot for me to leave the house with it like this.”
“It looks fine,” I said as I opened the car door. “Good-night, Val.”
I imagined her saying some magic words to me that would heal all wounds, but I got out and prepared to get on with the business of life before that could become a reality.
With my first step out, I fell to the ground in pain.
“Lance, what’s wrong?” Valerie shouted from the driver’s seat.
“It’s nothing,” I said as I clutched my calf and tried to stand. “My leg’s just a little banged up. I’ll be okay.”
I don’t think she heard me as she had already slammed her car door shut and was coming around to tend to me. I motioned to her to get back in her car, but she would have nothing of the sort.
“Here. Let me walk you up.”
Step by careful step, Val assisted me until I got to my door. As I braced myself against the wall, she reached into my pocket and took my house keys out.
“Any women waiting in here to surprise me?”
“Yeah. I keep about eight around to do the cleaning and stuff. They’re probably running into the closet now.”
“I can make your other leg hurt, you know.”
I kept telling her I could walk on my own now, but she helped me inside after opening the doors for me. I took a seat on the couch and asked her if she wanted anything.
Seeming uncomfortable, Val looked around at her surroundings. It was as if she were looking to see if anything had changed since her last time here. “Would it be too much trouble if I slept over?”
“N-no. It would be no trouble at all.”
“I don’t want to wake up my family at this time of night, you know. Besides, you need me to take you to get your car.”
“Val, you don’t need to explain. It’s okay. Go get some rest. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
“I don’t want to put you out of your own bed. I’ll sleep out here.”
“Go! Now!” I ordered her. “Or we’ll both wind up here with no one getting any sleep.”
Val gave in and took off her coat, revealing purple silk pajamas. It really touched me that she would be in such a rush on my behalf that she did not change. I wondered how many other women out there would have done the same. I guess that’s why she is . . . was the woman for me. We said our goodnights and she retreated to my bedroom.
I took off my dirty, blood-spattered shirt and got up to change. In my room, I could hear Val arranging the pillows, as was her way. I needed to take a hot shower as my ribs and the muscles in my back were telling me the adrenaline was gone, leaving a lot of pain.
Still limping, I saw the back of Val’s head as the covers were being pulled up and over. Ditching my drawers, I walked around the bed and grabbed a pair off the floor from the clean wash stack I hadn’t put up.
In the bathroom, I let the steam from the shower fill up the tiny space. In my foggy mirror, I took my first look at the damage done. Small, knuckle-shaped bruises were visible in different places if you looked hard enough. I was lucky to have covered my face during the worst of it. After poking and rubbing at the spots that hurt, I pulled back the shower curtain and jumped
in.
Inside the shower, I let the warm water flow down my face and torso first. I turned around and felt the warm stream as it hit my neck, then moved to allow the pulsating spray to work up and down my back. God, it felt good.
I repeated this several times before grabbing the bar of soap. The clean, deodorant smell replaced the smell of dried sweat as I lathered my whole body from head to toe. As I closed my eyes, I pretended Val had appeared outside the shower and pulled back the curtain.
“Mind if I join you?” I imagined her asking as she removed her pajama top exposing her lovely, petite breasts. For breasts her size, her nipples always look enormous, as if belonging on someone two sizes up. I imagined seeing the goose bumps and faint hairs on her neck rise up as she removed herself from her bottoms one leg at a time. “It’s cold out here.”
As I continued to soap, I allowed my hands to go down to my crotch. I felt myself hardening and my breathing became shallow. I moved my slick, soapy hands slowly up and down the shaft of my dick and continued my pretend rendezvous.
Her imaginary hands were now feeling on my shoulders as I felt the warmth from her body pushing up behind me.
“Mmmm, does it hurt here?”
“Uh-uh,” I answered aloud as the shower continued beating on me. The water was beginning to lose some of its warmth, but I was oblivious to it. I was generating my own heat.
“How about here?” Her hands grasped my pectoral muscles and gave my chest a big squeeze before lightly twiddling my nipples with her thumbs. My dick reared up like a stallion in response to her coaxing. “Does it hurt . . . here?”
“No, it feels good,” I whispered as I braced myself with one hand on the tile of the shower wall. I imagined her tongue tracing up my spine from the small of my back to the back of my neck, letting her lower lip drag from time to time.
She let the palms of her hands glide across my abs before gripping the sides of my waist. I could feel the heat between her legs pushing upward against my ass cheek. Then I imagined her hands working their way down and around to my swollen shaft. She gripped the base firmly with both hands and began to play with it as if it were a lump of clay she was trying to mold. Harder and harder the squeezes came.