He leaned in close to her ear and said, “Promises, promises.”
“Come on, bro!” Joey called from the door.
He was always impatient, he was naturally a nervous guy.
When Michael approached the door, Kevin was saying, “Thanks Vinnie, that was good. I’ll come look for you later when I get a break, if you can hook me up again.”
“Yeah, of course,” Vinnie told him, smiling.
Vinnie had given Kevin a joint a couple of weeks ago to say thank you for getting his back when some guy wanted to beat his ass for dancing with his girlfriend. The guy had gotten thrown out, and Kevin had the bartender fix the crew some drinks on the house. That started the guys move to the spotlight at Havanna’s.
When they walked through the door, the girl in the window smiled sweetly at them.
“Hi fellas.”
“Sweet Cindy, when are they going to let you come out and play?” Michael asked her with a smile to kill.
Michael was on, he knew exactly how to play his part, and he did it with perfection. Everyone he came in contact with felt special, because to him, they were.
She chuckled and blushed profusely.
“Take these, go on in and a have good time,” Cindy said, refusing to take their money. She passed them a fist full of drink coupons, barely able to hold them all in her hand.
“Thanks baby. Remember, you and I are getting married,” Michael said, taking the tickets.
“Go on now, you bad boy,” Cindy laughed.
The men strode in and everyone instinctively moved to the side, clearing a path for them. They had a presence about them, and it touched everyone around. It was electric, it was seductive, and it was powerful. The king and his court had arrived. It was time to get the party started.
Michael moved to the bar and leaned casually against it as he looked around. He was very comfortable here, and it showed.
“Mike, where have you been?” the attractive bartender smiled at him.
“Looking for you, Melanie,” he answered her, and placed the drink tickets down on the gleamingly shellacked bar.
“You know you don’t really need those, they’re just a formality,” she laughed, scooping them up and shoving them in a glass bowl behind her.
“They give them to me so I give them to you,” he said with a cocky grin.
She looked over his shoulder. “You have a new friend with you tonight.”
“Yes, this is Alex. He came all the way from Brooklyn just to meet you.”
“You are terrible, Mike. You’d better be careful or one of these days a girl is going to take you seriously and you’ll really be screwed,” Melanie laughed.
Michael bowed his head and laughed too. Michael knew how to play the game. He knew what people wanted; attention. And he gave it freely and abundantly. He also knew when you gave them what they wanted, they gave you everything in return. No exceptions.
“Alex, come say hello to Melanie. She’s the boss around here so if you need anything, come to her,” Michael called to his friend.
“I heard that Michael. Why do you want to break my heart?” came a man’s voice with a feminine lilt.
Michael laughed with sincerity. “Silvio, you’re my favorite, you know that.”
Silvio was a flamboyant, silver-haired wannabe drag queen, and the owner of Havanna’s. The air that surrounded him was like a cloud, magnetic and colorful, and full of rhinestone studded rainbows. He was tacky and flashy in the sweetest way.
“Don’t you boys know that I wait all week just to see you?” Silvio said, cocking his head to the side and pursing his lips.
“I only come back for you,” Michael flirted with him.
He genuinely liked Silvio. His pretentiousness was not threatening, but playful and endearing, making you love him instantly.
“You are so full of shit, Michael. But I can’t help but love you anyway.” Silvio turned to Alex, “And who is this scrumptious little morsel?”
“Silvio, this is Alex, a friend of ours from Brooklyn. I told him about your club, and he had to come see it. The man’s got moves like you wouldn’t believe.”
Alex was a dancer like Johnny, and he was very good at it.
“Ooh, I can’t wait to watch the two of you together,” Silvio said, his voice dripping sexual innuendo. “You must put on a show for everyone.”
“Silvio,” Johnny began, “we’re going to blow your fucking mind.”
They all knew how to play the game.
“Johnny, darling, I have no doubt you will.” Silvio looked at them as his eyes filled with lust, his message clear. “Oh, Melanie has a little present for you, something that might make your night a bit more enjoyable.”
The bartender slid her closed fist across the bar and waited for one of their hands to join hers.
“I’ll take that,” Paul said, reaching a long arm forward, and sliding his hand under hers.
It was small white pouch, folded several times. A gram of cocaine.
“Silvio, you’re too good to us. I’ll be sure to thank you personally,” Paul said, his own words hinting at an unsaid message.
Michael added, “The boys will enjoy it, thank you Silvio, for everything.”
These guys were good. Very good. The best at who they were and what they did. They used their most vital assets, themselves. That was something no one else had.
As promised, Alex and Johnny owned the dance floor. The cocaine fueled them even more and they enchanted everyone with their moves. They danced with different women, and each and every one of them felt they were the most beautiful and most wanted. When they in their arms, to the men, they were, for those few magical moments.
That’s why they were adored. Because of what they gave to people. Importance, significance, appreciation. The men, too, those who befriended them. There was no threat between them. On the contrary, they made them realize they had what they had as well, inside them.
Havanna’s was the place to be. Because everybody was a super-star.
But there could only be one king. And that was Michael.
He was restless tonight, no matter what he did, or who he was with. There was a hunger snaking through him that was making him prowl nervously, searching for something to ease the nagging uneasiness. He drank more than he normally did, which was unusual for him. He hated to get drunk. That made people sloppy. He hadn’t taken a hit of the blow, because he would have been more agitated than he already was.
Gina came up to him and gave him a smile full of promise. Animal heat ran through him. The beast inside him saw what it wanted. He needed release, hard, fast, and primal. Michael tried to fight it, but the more he did, the louder it got. ‘NO,’ he fought with himself.
He couldn’t ignore it any longer. He knew he needed to fuck, but he tried to fight the overwhelming desire. She took his hand and led him to the dancefloor. As she rubbed her huge tits against him, his balls tightened and his cock jerked, demanding to be satisfied.
That pushed him over the edge. He lost all reasoning as the animal took over.
He grabbed her hand tightly and pushed his way through the crowd, pulling her behind him as he went. Her short legs scurried to keep up with his long strides.
Michael walked them down a short hall which fed behind the DJ booth, to a door marked ‘Office’. Silvio had mentioned to him that he could use it any time he wanted to.
Now was that time.
Michael was fueled by lust. Hunger was raging inside him. He wasn’t himself. He wasn’t thinking, the need inside him had taken control. He turned the knob and the door opened. He pushed it wide and flipped the switch on the wall. Soft light fell over the richly decorated furnishings.
“Fucking Silvio,” Michael mumbled, admiring Silvio’s rich taste.
He stepped in with Gina’s hand still clutched in his. Turning to look at her, he saw she was panting, her breasts rising and falling with each breath. His cock jerked again, pulsing the hunger through him, blinding him further. He c
losed the space between them, and took her round face in his hands, then kissed her. It was greedy and hard. Her hands found his hard-on through his pants and she squeezed it. He growled into her mouth as his balls screamed at him, sending the heat searing through him.
There was no turning back, he was completely gone.
Michael pushed her dress down her shoulders until the massive globes of her breasts spilled out, begging him to take them. He lowered his face and buried it in her soft flesh, making her moan. The sound made him demanding and wild, as he pushed her gently into the chair in front of the desk.
She finally had him where she wanted him and she was going to make him come so hard, his head was going to explode.
Gina’s hands quickly freed his erection as it burst from the confines of his pants. Her greedy mouth latched onto it, sucking him with so much fierceness, he almost came.
Pulling himself from her mouth and gritting his teeth, he grabbed handfuls of her breasts and pushed them together, then slid his length slowly between them. He was going to enjoy fucking her tits, and he had every intention to make it last. Gina’s hands covered his as she began to move her round flesh up and down his shaft, rubbing him with her big tits. Her tongue peeked out and teased the glistening head.
“Fuck!” Michael growled as he began to move into her, rougher and harder.
As his balls grew tighter, the feeling he’d been craving began to fill him, satisfying a ravenous hunger he couldn’t control.
“Wrap your lips around it, and suck,” he commanded roughly.
When the heat of her mouth wrapped around his pulsing head, he slammed into it and filled it with his cum. She sucked it, starved for anything he would give her, until he buried himself against her throat.
He needed more, the clawing inside him wasn’t satisfied yet, it was only just beginning.
Michael pulled Gina to her feet and turned her to bend over the desk. The image of her big, round ass in front of him filled his cock again. He glided his hands over the smooth, downward curve of her cheeks, enjoying the feel of a woman under his hands.
This is what he was craving, this is what he needed. This put him in a place nothing else could. He was almost blind with it.
He slid the body hugging spandex pants over her ass and to her knees. The mound of her pussy called him to take it, wet and silky with her juices. She wiggled her ass impatiently, begging him to fill her.
He held her tightly by her hips and slid slowly into her depths. She moaned low and deep in her throat as he filled her. Every inch of submersion into her folds shot the drug his soul so desperately craved further and further through his body. This was the only high that would ever satisfy him.
He needed to fuck.
Nothing else mattered.
Natalie flashed through his mind, bringing with her a glimmer of guilt and shame. He cringed with the momentary enormity of it. The beast within him roared and grabbed hold of him, ravenous and hungry, blotting everything else out. Nothing mattered but feeding the animal, spurring him to pound furiously into Gina. He was consumed with it, forgetting everything and everyone else. This was an urgency in him so strong and demanding, like breathing. If he didn’t do it, he would go insane.
Michael let Gina drive him home that night and fucked her three more times, trying to chase away the lingering hunger inside him. It flittered just beyond his grasp, slipping through his fingers just when he was about to take hold of it.
The next morning as Natalie was feeding the cats outside, she heard the side-door open that lead to the apartment upstairs. She moved quietly to the corner of the building and peeked around. What she saw drove the first stake into her heart. Michael had his lips pressed against another woman’s mouth as she held her high-heels in her hand.
7 CHAPTER SEVEN
Michael sat on the edge of his bed, his head bowed and gripped in his hands, with a Marlboro Light clutched between his teeth. Pangs of guilt banged on his conscience. He wasn’t a total piece of shit that he didn’t feel it. He felt like that eight year old boy, worthless and no good, the feeling washing over him again and again. Toeing the golden shag carpet, he sat in his briefs, deep in thought.
He’d brought another woman home and fucked her until she couldn’t walk as Natalie slept downstairs. No matter how many times he played everything over in his mind, he knew he would have done it again. The realization made him sick. He couldn’t control his lust, the overwhelming need to fuck. The intensity of it was so powerful, it was almost scary. And no matter how hard he’d tried, he couldn’t control it. In that moment he was completely possessed by it. She didn’t deserve that. He tried to justify it by telling himself no one else knew about their relationship. Hell, he didn’t even know what to call whatever it was they had between them. What he did know was he had strong feelings for her, that she made him feel like no one else had, that she’d brought a blanket of soothing colors to his dark life. He also knew that she didn’t belong in the life that was beginning to unfold before him. He was fully aware of where things were going, and he knew everything that came along with it. And he had no doubt he couldn’t stop it, none of it. He had to keep her from getting dirty. But he was a selfish son-of-a-bitch because he didn’t want to let her go. At the same time, he couldn’t stop what was happening. Pain and guilt racked his body, torn with what he knew he had to do in order to accomplish everything he needed to. He couldn’t live like this, completely dependent on somebody else for survival, but having to do just that to fulfill a promise to a friend. He found his only way to break that dependency, and keep his promise, but it came with a very high price.
Natalie.
He knew he had to do something.
They had to move out and find their own place.
The pot had opened doors that might have otherwise been closed to them. Some, it gave them a couple of dollars in their pocket that they wouldn’t have had, like Johnny on campus and himself. When Melanie had passed the coke over the bar to them, Michael’s mind couldn’t stop the thoughts that began to form. He’d done blow in the past, but only in social situations, he wasn’t a cokehead, he never had been. But a lot of people loved it. A lot more than pot.
Michael had watched the boys’ party after they’d done a few lines. Their energy was contagious, pulling everyone into their reverie around them. Everybody was having a good time and they were happy. Yeah, they’d feel like shit today, but last night, the world was theirs.
Michael hadn't even taken a hint, he’d only observed, like he always did.
They had the cash to delve into other projects. But this wasn’t the place to do it. There was a lot of money to be made in cocaine, if you weren’t stupid and did it right. The capital they had was Paul’s, and Michael never forgot it. If they did this, he’d make his own money, the kind of money he’d never imagined having. The kind of money he’d never make in a restaurant. He could save it up, then pull out, and invest in a straight business. Maybe something up here. Then he could be with Natalie and be the man she deserved. Not this animal who could only think with his dick.
His mind went back to their time together, felt how the woman inside her blossomed and opened for him under his touch. He instantly got hard reliving it, and it shocked him because he’d just finished fucking his brains out last night. But it was a longing of the soul, yearning for the pure connection they’d shared.
That was a hunger that still ravaged him.
But right now, the plan was already starting to spur into motion.
And he knew what his part would be, there was no denying it.
***
Natalie was devastated. She ran to her room and locked the door. She couldn’t stop what she’d seen from playing over and over again in her mind. But when she visualized Michael making love to her, seeing in her mind the woman’s naked body under his, and his mouth filling with her huge breasts, that’s when she broke. The river of tears burst from her eyes as the sobs racked her body.
‘He warned me
,’ she thought as his words flashed in her head….
‘…I’m no good…,’ he’d told her.
Feelings of inadequacy consumed her, followed by self-loathing and revulsion. She continued to compare herself to the voluptuous woman, and fell short over and over again.
‘How could I be so stupid to think he could care for me?’ Natalie’s mind berated her. ‘I’m just a stupid kid with no tits, and no idea of how to please him?’
She blamed herself. It was her fault that he needed to find someone like her. Her mind repeated she was no match against someone like that woman, and never would be.
‘He felt sorry for you, you foolish little girl!’ Natalie heard repeatedly in her head.
And she believed everything, every last horrible thing.
Something died in her that day, a part of her that believed life was beautiful. That she was beautiful.
***
Lingering guilt still dampened Michael’s mood after spending the week with his son. Every minute he spent with him was magical, and it broke his heart each time he left him. It seemed everything about his life was making him feel guilty lately.
But it was time to begin their next step. If he wanted to change things, he had to get to work.
“Vinnie, how many people do you know that do blow?” Michael began offhandedly.
They were in a similar situation they’d been in before, sitting in the same place.
Cocaine was considered a glamorous drug. In truth, the high was incredibly addictive. At first you feel invincible, on top of the world, everything you’ve ever wanted to be, that’s what you were. This can be freeing. Then you need a little more, and a little more to get that feeling again. Until you’re so strung out chasing the high, paranoid, unable to function, as your face is being eaten alive from the inside.
But at first, it’s the miracle drug.
And everybody was doing it.
“Most everyone does a bump here and there. Somebody offers it to me all the time,” Vinnie answered him as he rolled up a joint.
“Do you think we can get a nice count from your people?” Michael asked him.
The Rooster Club Page 11