The Streets Have No King

by JaQuavis Coleman

  Big approached Basil with another guy who was tall and lean. He was a clean-shaven, dark man with strong facial features. Big was all smiles as he slapped hands with Basil and they embraced.

  “Yo, this the guy I was telling you about. T.D., this is Basil. Basil … T.D.,” Big said as he pointed his thumb toward Basil. Big’s friend extended his hand and Basil instantly recognized him. He was the star wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins.

  “Nice to meet you. My guy Big said you’re the man that made it snow in here,” T.D. said while shaking Basil’s hand.

  “Is that right?” Basil asked modestly as he shot a look at Big and then focused back on T.D.

  “Absolutely. I see you got this party stocked up. I might need you to do the same for mine,” T.D. said.

  “Indeed. I will get your number from Big and I will be in touch,” Basil said smoothly, knowing that he’d made another strong connection.

  “No doubt. I tried some of your product. That shit pure. Looking forward to becoming friends,” T.D. said.

  “Same here,” Basil responded. A waitress walked by with a bucket full of champagne bottles. Big stopped her and grabbed one out. He then popped the cork and released a small fountain of bubbly volcanoes.

  “Well, now that we got that out of the way, let’s enjoy this party. I got my man to go to Club Liv and grab the baddest bitches in the club. The stretch limo just pulled up. So fellas, if you would … focus your attention on the door and look at God. Ain’t he good?” Big asked in a joking manner. Almost on cue, the door opened and in came a member of his crew. The crew member held the door open and a line of the most beautiful women they had ever seen came in. A line of all dimes, nothing less.

  “Gentlemen, welcome to heaven,” Big said as the stampede of beautiful women entered. All eyes were on them, the top-twenty pick of the litter. Basil admired the view then his heart dropped when he saw a few familiar faces: Moriah with two of her friends from back home. Basil felt himself get short of breath and butterflies began to form in the pit of his stomach.

  “Excuse me. I have to take a leak,” Basil said just before he went to the opposite side of the room where the bathroom was located. He hurried into the bathroom and closed the door. He rested his arms on the sink and looked in the mirror. He dipped his head low and turned on the faucet. He splashed water on his face, trying to regain his composure. He took a few deep breaths and decided that he was ready to reenter the party. He knew that Moriah was coming into town but he didn’t expect her at Big’s private party. As Kane had requested, he had put some Cartel goons at her hotel without her knowing, but never had he thought that she would end up in the same spot as him. He hadn’t seen or spoken to her since the night he left her back home. The love of his life had just walked into the room and it threw him completely.

  * * *

  Moriah, along with her friend Nia and Nia’s cousin, walked into the private mansion party. They’d been picked out of the line at the club and asked to come party with the stars. Moriah wasn’t impressed with the offer, but Nia was excited and wanted to go so Moriah went with the flow. Besides, Nia had gotten all three of them free first-class flights to Miami, paid for by a guy she’d met back home. Moriah didn’t want to rock the boat.

  “Girl, this is nice,” Nia said as she looked around the lavish mansion with the highest ceilings that she had ever seen.

  “Yeah, it is,” Moriah said as she too looked around. All three girls had small black dresses on, all of them wore different designer heels. Moriah had her locks neatly pulled into a bun on top of her head and wore big diamond earrings. She was simply stunning. They went to the bar that was set up and ordered themselves a drink. As they ordered, a big tall man approached them and introduced himself.

  “Hello, ladies,” he said, making sure he looked at all three women, giving them an equal amount of attention. “My name is Big and I want to personally welcome you to my house.”

  “Thanks, Big,” Nia’s cousin said, her kitty getting wet just thinking about how much money he had. Nia was friendly as well, while Moriah was unimpressed. Mo had been used to money her whole life. Power was what intrigued her and she hadn’t met anyone other than Basil that met her standards. Moriah put on a fake smile to be polite and let her friends do the talking.

  Moriah got her drink and leaned against the bar, scanning the room while her girls engaged in small talk with Big. She noticed that there were mounds of cocaine on every single table and she instantly grew uncomfortable, never seeing anything like that before: people doing blow with not a care in the world.

  She looked over the room and couldn’t believe her eyes. Basil was walking out of the bathroom, looking as good as she remembered. He’d grown a small beard and was stylish as usual. Moriah instantly got butterflies and felt the urge to vomit. She grew nervous as she watched the love of her life walk across the room, and turned around facing the bar. She was embarrassed too. She didn’t want Basil to know that she was picked up at the club and brought to a private party as if she were a gold digger.

  “Moriah! Mo! Moriah!” Nia called, trying to get her girl’s attention. Moriah snapped out of it.

  “What’s up?” she asked as she looked over at Nia.

  “Big invited us to the VIP section upstairs, girl!” Nia said excitedly. Moriah, wanting to avoid seeing Basil, quickly agreed to go along with her.

  “All right, let’s go,” Moriah said hastily. Nia whispered something to Big and moments later, he led the way upstairs.

  * * *

  Basil sat back with Mecca on the couch and skimmed the room. Moriah was nowhere to be found. Where did she go? All of the loud music, drinking, and blow-sniffing going on around him, and the only thing he could think about was Moriah. Mecca nudged him with his elbow and leaned over to talk.

  “Yo, check it out. Big taking them bitches upstairs to get slayed,” Mecca said as he laughed and clapped his hands.

  “What? How you know?” Basil said just before he swallowed what seemed to be a bowling ball. He couldn’t believe his eyes as he saw Moriah walk upstairs with the two other girls and Big.

  “When you went to the bathroom he talked about the VIP section, where he got all the hoes getting down. T.D. already up there. Shit, that’s where I need to be,” Mecca said just before he turned a bottle of champagne up and took a few chugs.

  “Looks like upstairs is where the party is at, family,” Basil stated as he put on a fake smile, not believing Moriah was devaluing herself by being a groupie.

  * * *

  Moriah instantly wanted to go back to her hotel room and not run into Basil. She had already made up her mind that she would play it cool for a short while then leave. She wasn’t prepared to see Basil, and even though she wanted to approach him, she couldn’t do it. Not in this setting, at least. Moriah looked ahead as Big guided them through the long dark hallway. The house was the biggest she had ever been in. The farther they went down the hall, the quieter it got. Eventually there was no music at all, and the only sound was their heels clicking on the floor.

  “We’re almost there,” Big said as he continued to lead the way. Big got to the door at the end of the hallway and looked back at them.

  “Here it is. This is my special VIP room. Once y’all go in here, your life will never be the same. It’s nothing but millionaires and good times through this door. Welcome,” he said as he slowly opened the door. A red light illuminated the hallway and slow, sensual music by Sade came from the room. The girls walked in and what they saw blew their minds. There were numerous naked bodies throughout the room, grown men and women walking around naked. Moriah couldn’t believe her eyes as some of the most well hung men she’d ever seen appeared before her. “Oh my God,” Moriah whispered as the horse-hung men walked, talked, and sexed all around the room. There was a threesome going on in the corner as two black men slowly grinded a slim tall Caucasian woman, one in her mouth, the other was entering her from the back. Moriah was completely shocked as she put her
hand on her chest. She looked in the opposite corner, where a man was being ridden by a voluptuous Latina woman as she swung her hair back and forth while crashing down on his pelvis. There were no screams … just moans and the sounds of bodies slapping together. It was like nothing Moriah had ever seen before. A full-fledged orgy was going on with no holds barred. Moriah looked at her girl Nia and she seemed to be into it. Her cousin wasn’t fazed by it either, and Moriah was shocked even further.

  “Girl, this shit is crazy. Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Moriah said as she grabbed Nia’s arm. A bare-naked six-foot-something chocolate man walked over to Nia as Moriah was tugging her arm. He had absolutely minimum body fat and his body shone from head to toe. His abs were flawless, and his penis was slightly erect and hung just above his knees. Moriah quickly avoided eye contact, but Nia did the exact opposite.

  “I know who you are. You’re T.D. I watch you every Sunday,” Nia said as she smiled, tremendously impressed with what she saw.

  “That’s right, baby. The one and only.” He gently grabbed her hand and placed it on his ripped abdominal muscles. Nia squirmed in pleasure and giggled like a schoolgirl.

  “Oh my,” she said as her hand slipped down to his strong, semi-erect penis and gave it a stroke.

  “Yo, let’s go,” Moriah said, not believing her eyes.

  “Let’s just stay up here for a while,” Nia suggested without even taking her eyes off of T.D. Another man walked up and approached Nia’s cousin and began whispering in her ear.

  “Yeah … so … I’m about to go,” Moriah said as she took a step back. She was overwhelmed; this was definitely not her type of party.

  “Yeah. Yeah. I’ll catch up,” Nia said, as she was getting her ear whispered in by T.D. Moriah swiftly brushed past Big and exited the room. She hurried down the hallway, only to feel a hand grab her.

  “Get the fuck off me!” she yelled, not knowing who had touched her without permission. She looked more closely at the man and saw that it was none other than the man of her dreams.

  “Basil,” she said, surprised.

  “Hey, Mo,” he said calmly.

  “Hey,” she said in a soft tone as she dropped her head.

  “Where you going so fast. You don’t wanna stay in the jump-off room?” he said, just before he cracked a smile.

  “Forget you,” Mo said as she laughed with him and playfully hit him in the chest.

  “Come here, baby. I missed you so much,” he said in a joyful voice. He embraced her closely, bringing her right next to his heart. They were where they belonged, in each other’s arms.

  “Basil, I missed you too. You don’t know what I’ve been going through without you. It’s been so hard letting you go.” Basil knew exactly what she was referring to because he had been going through the same thing. “You just don’t know,” she said as she shook her head, buried in his chest.

  “I know … I know,” Basil whispered comfortingly.

  “I need you, Basil. You complete me,” Moriah admitted, feeling herself about to cry.

  “You complete me, ma. I love you.” He felt tears welling up in his eyes as well. The love that they felt was eternal. The magnetic force that they shared was second to none and their souls were intertwined. The laws of attraction had brought them back together and both of them knew it without saying a word. The world had a crazy way of making what was supposed to happen … happen. It was something perpetually strong that pulled them together and neither of them could explain it. Basil placed his hands on her cheeks, making her look at him in the dimness. Moriah couldn’t understand it but, even with no light, she saw him clearly. Her tears began to flow. Tears of complete happiness. She’d never cried before from happiness. It felt so good to her. That cry was better than sex or any other intimate encounter she could imagine. He slowly leaned in and kissed his soul mate with fire and desire. Basil couldn’t believe it, but he felt a tear drop from his eye as well. His soul rained for her; a beautiful rain.

  * * *

  Basil and Moriah had slid off and talked in Basil’s car for hours. They laughed, reminisced, and shared what they had being doing for the past few months. Three hours had passed and they didn’t even realize it. Basil was parked right outside of Big’s mansion and they saw the crowd begin to slowly leave, one by one.

  “You came here with your girl, huh?” Basil asked as he knew the night was about to come to an end.

  “Yeah, but I’m not sure if I’m rocking with her like that. She is not who I thought she was. She saw that big-ass horse ding-a-ling and went crazy,” Moriah said, sending both of them into laughter. Then Basil grew quiet as he thought about their time together coming to an end.

  “Changing the subject. I have something to tell you,” Basil said as he positioned his body so he was facing her.

  “What’s that?” Moriah asked.

  “I’m coming back home.”

  “Are you serious?” Moriah asked, excited, but then saddened when she thought about their situation.

  “Don’t worry. I don’t care anymore. I can not let you go. Not again. Nothing is taking me away from you. We just have to keep it low until I figure something out. Cool?”

  “Cool,” Moriah said as she unleashed a big smile. Just as she finished speaking she saw her friend Nia and her cousin walk past Basil’s car.

  “I guess you got to leave with your friends, huh?” Basil asked, understanding the etiquette of girlfriends.

  “Hold on, lemme see,” she said as she kissed him and got out of the car. She called Nia’s name and Nia quickly turned around.

  “Hey, where were you?” Nia asked.

  “Nowhere, just was talking to an old friend in the car. You good?”

  “Girl, am I? Hell yea. I had the best—”

  “Spare me the details,” Moriah said as she raised her hand with a smile. “But, I think I’mma call it a night. What you want to do?”

  “Well, you know the nigga that flew us out, Boone? He wants to chill so I guess I have to go see him. I don’t want to do him like that after he cashed out for the flights. I might as well squeeze a couple bands out of him before we leave,” Nia explained.

  “Oh, okay. If you don’t mind I’mma just head to the room. I have a little headache.”

  “Okay, that’s cool. He staying at the same hotel as us so if you change your mind, just come up. He’s in the presidential suite. Room fifteen hundred. Just come up. He has a few friends too,” Nia said.

  “They got money too, girl,” her cousin added as she snapped her hands in the air proudly.

  “Nah, I’m good. I’ll have my friend take me back to the room and y’all have fun,” Moriah said as she hugged and kissed her friends on the cheek. She then returned back to the car to rejoin Basil.

  “So what’s up?” Basil said.

  “They are going to go ahead. I’d rather be with you.”

  “I like that,” Basil said with a smile.

  “Cool, we can go back to my room. I’m at the—”

  “The Waldorf in Boca Raton,” he said.

  “How did you know?” Moriah said as she frowned.

  “You know Kane all over it. He called ahead and told me you were coming down. I got a few goons there right now.”

  “My daddy is a trip,” Moriah said as she smiled and shook her head.

  “You sure I’m not stopping you from having a good time with your friends?” Basil asked, just to double-check.

  “No, not at all. They about to chill with some guys from back home. I think she said his name was Boo or Boone. Something like that,” Moriah said as she frowned again, trying to remember the guy’s name.

  “Wait. Are you serious? Boone?” Basil asked.

  “Yeah, that’s what is was.”

  “He from the north side?” Basil asked.

  “Yeah, she did say he was from that side earlier this week.”

  Basil already began to put a play in his mind.

  “You know where he staying?” Basil asked
.

  “Yeah, he’s staying at the Waldorf. She gave me his room number too. Why?” she asked.

  * * *

  Boone and his two friends bobbed their heads to the music as the sounds blared from the portable speaker. They were inside the presidential suite on the top floor of the Waldorf Astoria, right on the beach. Boone was living like a king, in his eyes. He had on one of the hotel-provided terry-cloth robes with all of his gold jewelry on. He had just come up on some cash a few days before from the robbery he did with his cousin Vivian. Two girls danced on the bed as the men watched and threw money at them as if they were at a strip club.

  A knock at the door caused Boone to pause. He took another gulp of the champagne and then took the shot of tequila that was waiting for him on the bar top. He made his way over to the door to get the room service that he’d ordered. Five lobsters and a shrimp cocktail platter, to be exact. When he opened the door, he was greeted by two guns to his face. Two masked men backed him into the room as he held his hands up in fear. One of the men focused his guns on the other men and instantly ordered them to lay on the floor. The two girls began to scream in terror as they fell back on the bed, completely naked. One of the gunmen went over and delivered two blows, one for each girl, knocking them out cold. The other gunman was pistol-whipping Boone so badly that he lost a tooth and his mouth was leaking blood as his upper lip instantly began to swell. The once cocaine-colored white robe was now crimson red, completely soaked in Boone’s blood. The gunman that stood over Boone pointed his gun directly at Boone’s chest.