Murdergram, Part 1

by Nisa Santiago

  He continued to watch Cristal, ignoring what his friend was saying to him. Oddly, she had his undivided attention. He looked like he had seen the ninth wonder of the world when looking at Cristal, captivated by her young beauty. They locked eyes. Who was he? Was this handsome specimen of a man only there to watch and spy on her? Was he too being paid by the Commission to make sure Cristal didn’t stray from the instructions given to her?

  He was intriguing. His clothes were name-brand, stylish blue jeans that just covered the fresh beige Timberlands on his feet. He sported a little jewelry: diamond piercing in his right ear, and a platinum and diamond watch.

  This man screamed either drug dealer or danger. Cristal was able to read people. She quickly sized him up and knew his type—womanizer, bad boy, from the streets, maybe a gun runner. He probably represented trouble. And it was the last thing she needed to come in her direction.

  Cristal finished off her food, dropped a twenty on the table for payment, and walked toward the exit. As expected of him, the stranger moved her way with the intentions of trying to strike up a conversation with her.

  He followed Cristal out the door and hollered, “You are an extremely beautiful woman, and can I get your name?”

  Her back was to the man and her attention wanted to be elsewhere. It was her first day in SoHo, and already she had the men’s attention. She wanted to continue walking away from him, but she was captivated by his strong, raspy voice and how fine he was.

  “My name is Hugo,” he continued politely.

  Cristal turned toward him and remained stoic. It had been a long moment since she’d had sex. The Farm taught her how to suppress her sexual urges, but that was on the Farm; this was now. She knew that she couldn’t get involved with this man. She had other priorities to take care of. She didn’t have time for intimacy with anyone.

  “I just want to know your name, that’s all,” Hugo added.

  “My name shouldn’t be important to you. I know your type,” Cristal responded with a scowl.

  “And what is my type?”

  “Not mine,” she coldly replied.

  “Wow, a bullet to the heart. You gonna be that difficult, huh?”

  “I’m not someone you should be getting involved with anyway,” Cristal warned.

  “And why not?” Hugo moved closer to the woman of his dreams.

  “Because, I’ll break your heart.”

  “Well, a broken heart can always be fixed. I wanna take you out. I wanna get to know you. You caught my attention inside and believe me, that is something hard to do. Women come at me; it’s not the other way around.” He was straightforward, no chaser.

  “I don’t go out,” Cristal uttered sharply. “And you are a cocky nigga, aren’t you?”

  “When I see something that I like, I go after it.”

  “But you don’t chase women, right?”

  “I chase nothing but the best.”

  Cristal remained aloof.

  “Damn, you are one hard woman to make laugh or compliment. What are you, bionic?” he joked.

  “Sometimes.”

  “Well, Ms. Bionic, what will it take to get your name and have you go out with me? Just one date, something simple,” Hugo said cordially.

  “Nothing is ever simple.”

  “It could be.”

  “Well, I’m not a simple woman.”

  “I can already see that,” he said. “Damn, you about ready to have a man on his knees asking you out. But I don’t beg.”

  “You never should beg. Unless it’s for your life,” Cristal responded.

  He chuckled. “You’re different. I can see that. But I like different.”

  “And you’re wasting my time,” Cristal replied coldly.

  Hugo chuckled again.

  “Is my rejection that amusing?” she asked.

  “You’re intriguing.”

  Cristal turned and was about to walk away from him. She had entertained him too long. She had better things to do with her time. Hugo jogged up to her. He gently grabbed her arm and Cristal was ready to put a hurting on him, but she restrained that feeling and scowled as though he’d just tried fondling her.

  “Damn, beautiful, you need to lighten up a little. But I do like your style,” he said.

  “Well, like it from a distance,” she shot back.

  “Ooh, now that’s cold.”

  “I’m a cold bitch.”

  “Well, you need a man in your life to melt some of that ice in your heart and eyes,” Hugo said.

  “And you that man to melt my cold heart, huh?” Cristal returned with sarcasm.

  “I am.” Hugo smiled. His pearly white teeth and full lips were appealing, but Cristal was unreceptive to his charm and silver tongue.

  Cristal started to walk away from him again. Hugo kept his cool and award-winning smile. “So, it’s like that, beautiful? The cold shoulder, the sharp tongue, and the attitude? You know I’m a really nice guy when you get to know me.”

  Cristal kept on walking.

  “A’ight, but I promise you this, we gonna see each other again, and when we do, then it’s meant to be, and I’m not hearing any excuses from you,” Hugo shouted at her.

  Cristal walked on.

  Hugo kept his eyes trained on the fierce beauty and watched her bend the corner. When she was out of his sight, he still looked that way. He was stuck on stupid for a moment. No woman had ever had the audacity to reject him. Cristal was the first and it turned him on even more. He kept a mental memory of her along with her unfriendly attitude stored somewhere inside of him.

  A moment later, his friend exited the café with both their orders in his hand.

  “You bagged that, yo?” he asked.

  “Nah, she was colder than Aspen during ski season,” he joked. “She wasn’t trying to hear one word I said,” Hugo replied, being honest with his friend. He had no reason to lie on his dick.

  “She probably a lesbian then,” his friend mentioned.

  Hugo shook his head. “Nah, she ain’t a lesbian. I can tell.”

  “Yeah, whatever, bitches today be switching up on a nigga. Don’t stress that, though, there are more hoes out there.”

  But he was stressing it. There was something different about this one, Hugo thought. He knew it. The way she moved, and the ways she spoke, even her sarcasm, it left him awestruck, somehow. Hugo wasn’t going to forget about this one. He had a feeling in his bones that they were going to cross paths again. He would bet on it.

  ...

  Cristal walked into her condo and immediately began peeling away her clothing. She walked into her bathroom with her bare feet feeling soothed against the white, tiled floor. She started to run some lukewarm bathwater into the porcelain tub and pulled her long hair back into a bushy ponytail. The tranquility inside her new place was calming like drinking a cocktail on a Caribbean beach.

  She lit some scented candles she’d just bought from a fragrance store in the area and placed them strategically around her tub. The off white walls and ambient lighting created a radiant glow. Cristal turned the radio to Hot97 and slowly submerged herself into the tub, allowing the lukewarm water to engulf her petite frame and propel her mind into this journey of slackening.

  She closed her eyes and moaned.

  This was life after the Farm, nothing but bliss—from the bottom to the top. The only thing missing was some alcohol and a joint to smoke. Besides that, it was the perfect scene. Hugo came into her mind briefly. The man was the archetype of fine and sexy. Cristal was proud of herself; before her training on the Farm, she would definitely have given Hugo the time of day, probably even fucked him that same night. Now, she didn’t entertain it. The last thing she wanted to do was fuck up a good thing, especially over some dick.

  Fifteen

  Pike stared at Sharon’s thick frame as
she lay sound asleep on his comfortable bed. It was a sultry night, so she barely had any clothes on: T-shirt and panties, the perfect tease to him, especially since he hadn’t fucked her yet. He lit a cigarette and took a few pulls. His mind was fixed on the chocolate woman with long, shoulder-length natural hair and shapely figure, sleeping like a baby. She looked so beautiful asleep. She was even more beautiful when she was awake.

  Pike couldn’t avert his eyes from her. He wondered what she was dreaming about. The look on her sleeping face seemed so peaceful, like she was in some kind of nirvana.

  He hated to admit it to himself, but he was seriously falling for Sharon. There were so many good traits about her. So many things she did to make any man fall easily in love with her. And he was becoming one of those men.

  He went to the window, shirtless and clad in his boxer briefs, and gazed outside. He exhaled the cigarette smoke through the open window and then took a seat in the wooden chair. He started to think back to the day of the party when he had first pushed up on her. She was defiant then, and she still was defiant now.

  For some strange reason, he now respected that. She didn’t rush to open her legs to him like so many other women had done previously. It had been three months and she still wasn’t fucking him. The ironic thing was, he kept her around when if it was someone else, he would have been kicked them to the curb. The one thing Pike loved was pussy—slim, tall, dark, light, black or white, he’d had every type of woman in the book. He done sampled every type of candy in the candy store.

  Pike had chosen Sharon because she was different, and he knew out of all her friends that she would be more of a giver than a taker. She hadn’t proven him wrong yet. Since that first day, she did for him; cooking, cleaning, caring, and helping him move his drugs—risking her own life and freedom.

  In his opinion, Cristal, Tamar, Lisa, and Mona were no different from his ex, Mesha. They would say that they loved you, and get you open and believing in something that might be real, something genuine—but instead of being a good woman, a great girlfriend and lover, they would become his dependent—like children. He wasn’t looking to take care of any children. If he wanted children, he would make some of his own.

  Pike felt women were always begging once they fucked him. He hated when a woman asked him for anything. He had been so spoiled most of his life by eager college scouts, coaches, teachers, neighbors, and cheerleaders. They fed him whatever he needed or asked for: sex; drugs; maybe changing a failing grade into a passing one by his teachers because he was the star of the basketball team; bitches doing homework and assignments for him; money under the table to play for certain teams in summer and spring tournaments; or scouts buying things—jewelry, clothes and most of all, his popularity. Everything was at his beck and call.

  He was a spoiled man growing up. His talents on the basketball court were a gift and a curse. Now that he found himself becoming a has-been, he wanted to feel spoiled again. He wanted the overwhelming attention he used to receive. He was still a great baller on the courts, but he was getting older every year and more forgotten. The new bloods coming up were twice as fast and strong.

  She was beautiful to him, even though she was the least pretty out of her crew. Pike was used to dating dime pieces. He had been with women so attractive that one look their way was hypnotic. Sharon couldn’t physically hold a candle to the majority of the women in Pike’s past, and at first, he only wanted to fuck her. What he didn’t factor into his plan was that in spending so much time “using” her over the past few weeks, he would actually fall in love with her. She was so loving and nice to him. His own mother didn’t treat him as good.

  Pike remained seated by the window smoking his Newport. He watched her. He became captivated by her. He didn’t want to lose her so he stopped treating her badly. It took a strong woman to stick around something negative and continue on with a positive attitude when it was so easy for her to leave.

  Sharon moved in her sleep and suddenly woke up. She turned to her side to see Pike seated in the chair by the window finishing off his cigarette. She propped herself up against the headboard and asked, “Is everything okay?”

  Pike nodded. “Yeah, I just couldn’t sleep.”

  “Why not?” she asked with some concern in her voice. “You want me to make you some tea?” She was always concerned about him and doing something for him.

  “Nah, I’m good.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah, don’t stress yourself. You already do too much.”

  Now Sharon was wide awake. She happened to smile at him and he smiled back. Their chemistry was just there; it wasn’t forced or anything, they just seemed to connect like Legos.

  “What time is it?” Sharon asked.

  “One o’clock,” Pike answered.

  Sharon removed herself from the bed, scantily clad, placing her feet against his stylish rug. Her body seemed to sparkle like diamonds on the ocean floor in the moonlight coming through the window.

  She stood up, and now that she was up, it was going to be hard for her to go back to sleep. Pike took one final pull from the cigarette and tossed it out the window. “I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said.

  “Nah, I’m a light sleeper,” she said.

  Pike lifted his buttocks out of the chair and walked toward her. The two locked eyes and the tension between them was so strong, it would have been able to support a truck from twenty stories up.

  “You sleep like a princess,” he said to her.

  Sharon smiled. Pike looked like a Greek god in his tight boxer shorts with the outline of his big dick showing. His abs rippled like water crashing onto the beach and his biceps looked strong enough to support her in any position they found themselves in.

  Pike wanted her so badly it ached like hot, sharp needles being stuck into his skin. He felt such a salacious feeling inside of him that one look at Sharon’s scantily clad body covered in chocolate made him rise to attention.

  So many times she’d turned down his subtle advances or harsh approach for sex. So many times he had gone to bed sexually frustrated and horny. So many times he felt the urge to leave the cock-teasing Sharon alone and do him, because it was always easy to do him with any woman he wanted. But what was shocking to him was that since Sharon had come into his life, he hadn’t thought about any other woman, and surprisingly, he hadn’t had sex in weeks. Pike found himself only wanting Sharon more and more.

  Pike stood behind Sharon, pressing his body against hers, and wrapped his arms around her, placing his hands on top of hers. It was a romantic position. She didn’t resist him. His strong and alluring touch against her skin was comforting. Her heart felt like it was about to race out of her chest. Sharon closed her eyes. Pike could feel the fullness of her ass against him, his chest against her back. His arms were strong but his hands were gentle.

  With her eyes still closed, Sharon lay her head back against Pike’s strapping chest for a moment and they just stood in his room, dreaming. Now this was her nirvana. He started to massage her shoulders. She felt like melting in his arms. His chiseled frame rubbing against her started to make her pussy wet, drenching her panties with her womanly juices. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her ear, and at that moment, she felt like his woman. She felt loved and truly wanted by him. She leaned back into him fully, subconsciously rubbing her ass on him and she detected the slightest movement in his boxer shorts. His snake was growing in his boxers and was ready to be released and coiled inside her pulsating pussy.

  “I love you,” Pike uttered unexpectedly.

  It came suddenly to Sharon. She was shocked to hear those words come from Pike. Has he ever uttered these words to any other woman? she asked herself. Pike wasn’t the one to fall in love with anyone. The next thing she felt were his lips pressed softly against hers, his tongue softly exploring her mouth. Pike pulled her body tightly to his and Sharon cupped his face
in her hands. They kissed passionately. Their tongues and breathing entwined. His hands explored her back, and the farther down they went, the more she moaned into his mouth. One kiss turned into deep soul kissing, and there was no turning back.

  Sharon folded herself into his arms, feeling her nipples harden against his naked chest. They kissed passionately; the sensations engulfed her. Pike sucked her tongue gently into his mouth and she tasted considerably fresh.

  Their lips parted, and Pike uttered huskily, “I want you so bad, baby. I need this. I want to feel you so much.”

  She felt every bit of his yearning from his heated breath. Pike fondled her body as he started kissing her neck. His technique was sensational. He soothingly sucked her hot spot and nibbled on Sharon’s flesh while his hands pulled her closer, rubbing his woman all over.

  They both fell on the bed and started making out like two teenage lovers in high school. There was something breathtaking about being in the arms of Pike—a black man. She felt his muscles against her, the power of his grasp as he pressed his full body weight into her. He had put his leg between hers and she started humping on him.

  The little clothes that they wore were slowly peeled away from their bodies, and their nakedness became entwined on his bed. Sharon’s body was magnificent from head to toe, and Pike’s hard flesh was ready to conquer the unfamiliar territory between her legs. She took his hand and placed them on her succulent breasts and he started massaging them. Instinctively, his mouth found her nipples and he started sucking on them like they were ripe pieces of fruit. Sharon moaned from the feeling of his mouth against her skin. She held her tits up for him, feeding him, throwing her head back and enjoying the sensation of Pike’s tongue moving from one to the other, licking her hardened nipples.