Goodfellas

by Carl Weber

* * *

  “Thanks for dinner,” Lance smirked, relaxing his head comfortably on Ebony’s inner thigh. He could still feel her body shivering as they lay in the plush hotel bed. Ebony was the type of woman Lance dreamed about. She had the looks of a model and the body of a goddess. The combination was breathtaking. He had never been more turned on in his life. He sat up, scanning her body from head to toe.

  I could make love to this woman forever, he thought to himself.

  Ebony hadn’t had sex in a long time, and Lance’s oral skills had left her moaning, groaning, and calling for the Lord. She was hot, horny, and exhausted but yearned for more pleasure. She sat up and pushed him on his back. She leaned forward and gave him a passionate kiss. While their mouths were intertwined together, her hand moved down his body and grabbed his dick. She began to caress it until it was hard again; then she swung her leg over him like a ballerina. Straddling him, she began to feed inch after inch of him into her wetness until she had it all inside her. She let out a gasp of satisfaction and began to rock her hips back and forth.

  Lance could only lie back and enjoy the ride. His eyes rolled back into his head. The sound of her phat ass slapping against him filled the room.

  “Give me that dick, nigga,” she shouted. “Give . . . me . . . all . . . that . . . fuckin’ . . . dick.” She was dominant and controlling, continuing to aggressively bounce up and down on him without stopping.

  Lance couldn’t take it much longer. He felt his climax approaching like a runaway train. Beads of sweat covered his forehead and began to run down his face. He gripped Ebony’s ass cheeks and thrust his hips, trying to match, pump for pump. She accepted the challenge, but he was no match for her. She rode him faster and faster.

  “Oh shit! I’m ’bout to come,” Lance groaned, pulling out of her and exploding on her ass.

  Ebony exhaled deeply, collapsing on his chest. She felt his thick, warm come dripping down her ass. She looked at him. He was exhausted, breathing heavily with his eyes closed. She smiled, basking in the moment. “That was good.”

  “Hell yeah,” he sighed.

  An hour later, they climbed back into his BMW and headed for Ebony’s apartment. As he drove, a satisfied grin came across his face. He could still smell the sweet scent of her on his lips. It was a gratifying feeling. He felt himself getting harder at the memory of being face deep in her warm, wet vagina. Halfway to Ebony’s apartment, his phone buzzed, and he looked at the number. “Fuck!”

  “What’s wrong, daddy?” Ebony asked in a sweet tone.

  Hearing her call him daddy brought a smile to his face. He knew he had put it down. “I need to make a stop and take care of some business real quick. You don’t mind, do you?” he asked.

  Ebony hesitated briefly before speaking. “I . . . I don’t know about that, Lance. I really just wanna go home and get in my bed. It’s late.”

  “You got a curfew or something?” he joked. “Nah, seriously, it’ll be real quick. I promise,” he assured her with charming eyes.

  Ebony folded her arms across her chest. “OK,” she pouted playfully. “Go handle your business.”

  “Thank you,” he smiled, then made a U-turn.

  Fifteen minutes passed before Lance pulled up in front of a pool hall and wing spot. Expensive cars were parked all around the popular hangout. Lance opened his glove compartment, and Ebony’s eyes lit up, seeing bottles of pills inside. She made sure to conceal her excitement, not wanting to alarm him. He took out one of the bottles and slammed it shut.

  “I’ll be right back,” he promised, then opened the door and got out.

  The moment he vanished from her sight, Ebony began wondering if she could slip a few pills into her purse without him noticing they were missing. She looked out the window nervously, thinking he could come back at any time. Before she opened the glove compartment, she began to have second thoughts. Taking pills from the doctor’s office was one thing but taking from Lance felt like stealing. It felt wrong.

  Nah, I ain’t no thief, she told herself and aborted the mission. Instead, she switched her attention to her surroundings. There were several men standing in front of the pool hall talking. Ebony could tell they were in the game. Their loud jewelry and expensive clothes told their story immediately. That’s what she appreciated about Lance. He moved discreetly and didn’t advertise his occupation to the world.

  The entire lot was filled with luxury vehicles. Ebony knew she was in the midst of real hustlers and street niggas. The scene made her a little uncomfortable, and she started to get impatient. As she scanned the parking lot, a specific car held her interest a little longer than the rest. She was certain that she recognized the black Mercedes. Just then, Lance walked out the front door of the pool hall and got in.

  “That didn’t take long, right?” he looked at her and said. “I told you it would be quick.” He smiled, turning the key in the ignition.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  The sound of gunshots sent everyone scattering and stunned Ebony, causing a loud ringing in her ears, the bright flashes lighting up the inside of the car. The powerful blast entered Lance’s head just behind his left ear. The bullet burst through his head before exiting through his face. The force of the shot blew the back of his head off, along with a portion of his brain. Blood and brains splattered all over the dashboard.

  Ebony looked over in time to see Lance’s body slump over into her lap, blood spilling from the back of his head. She began screaming hysterically at the top of her lungs, looking down at the gruesome sight. She was ready for a straitjacket. She could feel her skirt absorbing his warm blood. Her heart was hammering in her chest. She was forced to swallow her next scream, or maybe it got caught in her throat when she found herself staring down the barrel of the same gun that had just killed Lance. Ebony closed her eyes, throwing her hands up in surrender like they were bulletproof and prayed that no more shots came. Surprisingly, they didn’t, but when she opened her eyes, she wished she hadn’t. Ebony was staring Lance’s killer right in the face and couldn’t believe her eyes. Before she could find her voice, he walked away from the car.

  “Oh my God . . . Oh my God . . . Oh my God,” Ebony repeated, flying into a frenzied state of panic. She struggled to get Lance off her lap, tussling with his body but couldn’t budge him. He was too heavy. Her legs felt trapped underneath his weight, pinning her to the leather seat. Her heart raced uncontrollably, tears running down her face ruining what was left of her eye makeup. She continued to push and squirm, wiggle and twist until she freed herself, clearing her escape from the car. Ebony took off running, snatching her shoes off in the first few steps, then stopping in her tracks. She turned on a dime and scurried back to the open car door. Reaching inside, she popped open the glove compartment, grabbing the remaining bottles of pills and threw them into her handbag as she fled the scene.

  A short time later, Ebony stood in front of her apartment, trembling, trying to get the key in the door. She was a nervous wreck, turning something so routine into an unmanageable task. She had hailed a taxi home but didn’t say a word the whole ride. She couldn’t get the image of Lance’s bullet-riddled head out of her mind.

  One minute we were fucking, and then . . . She couldn’t even bring herself to finish the thought.

  “Fuck,” she complained about her shaky hands, frustration getting the best of her.

  Already stressed out and skittish, the sound of footsteps at her rear rattled her completely. She fumbled everything in her grasp, sending her shoes, handbag, and keys tumbling to the ground. She yelped as the man appeared from the shadows. It was him. Lance’s killer.

  “Sshh.” Tez put his finger to his lips, holding a gun in his other hand. “Pick up the keys and open the door,” he instructed her. Knowing that East wasn’t at home, he’d rather continue their conversation inside her apartment.

  “Please,” she begged, her face wrinkling into an ugly cry. “I won’t say anything. I promise.”

  Tez hushed her again. “
Open the door.”

  “Please,” she continued to beg. “I got East,” she cried, hoping by mentioning her son’s name, it would somehow save her from Tez’s wrath.

  “Open the door.” This time he repeated himself with irritation in his command. Ebony didn’t say another word; she just did what she was told. “Sit down,” Tez demanded, closing the door behind them and locking it.

  Ebony took a seat on the couch. Burying her face into her hands, she began crying harder. She couldn’t believe how her night out had gone so wrong.

  Tez stood there watching her cry, wondering, what were the odds? He had been searching for Lance for weeks. He owed Tez money and hadn’t been answering his phone calls. Lance moved so stealthily, he was hard to catch up to. And just like that, he pulled into the wrong parking lot at the right time. It was like he fell right into Tez’s lap. Lance never saw it coming, but Tez never imagined Ebony being in the passenger seat. He almost killed her purely off of reflex. Truthfully, he was still wrestling with the thought. It went against everything he believed to leave a witness to a murder. But his love for East trumped what he knew needed to be done, and that’s what had him torn. If Ebony was anybody else, she would’ve already been dead, but he had already taken enough from East.

  Tez walked over and took a seat next to Ebony on the couch. “Look, Tweet, I’m not here to hurt you,” his raspy voice always made him sound like a lifetime smoker, although he never was. “I just wanted to make sure we have a clear understanding about tonight.”

  “Why’d you kill Lance?” she cried out. She was so distraught.

  “That’s none of your business. You should just be more careful about the company you keep,” he informed her. There was no need for details, and there wasn’t any emotion in his expression. At least not the type Ebony expected from a man who had just murdered someone. “What you seen tonight can never be talked about again. Not to your homegirls. Not to your family. Not even to East. You understand me?” he declared. “If you do, we gonna have to go down a road I’d really hate to travel with you. I love East, and I never want to do anything to hurt him. . . .” He stopped himself from talking, feeling a bit choked up. He began shaking his head, grasping the depth of his love for East.

  Ebony looked up, and for the first time, she saw emotion in his face. His eyes were watery. The expression had only appeared when Tez spoke about hurting East. She could see the deep affection he had for her child, and it touched her soul. Although he may not have known it, Tez had just endeared himself to her, not in a romantic way but like family. She would hold his secret for eternity and never speak on it again.

  “I gotchu, Tez. I promise. My lips are sealed forever. You have nothing to worry about,” she assured him through her sniffles.

  He stared into her eyes and couldn’t find the lie. With most people, that wouldn’t be enough for them to live, but tonight, it sufficed. He stood up, tucked his gun into his waist, and walked to the door. Ebony got up and followed him.

  “Thank you, Tez. Thank you so much,” she whispered softly. She was grateful to him for sparing her life, but strangely, she was thankful for him being in East’s life too. He may not have been the clean-cut role model she once envisioned him to be. That was kind of a fantasy anyway. Everybody from the neighborhood had some type of dirt with them; it came with the territory. But Tez loved her son, this she was sure of. She was also certain that a time would come when East might have to get a little dirty. Tez could teach him things she never could. Vital things a boy growing up in the slums of Miami needed to know.

  Ebony closed the door behind him. She was still a bundle of nerves. As soon as she locked the door, she exhaled deeply and broke down crying again. The reality of it all hit her at once. She had come so close to losing her own life. Although her tears were mostly for herself, she mourned for Lance as well. Her tears rained down her face. She needed something to cope. Her eyes darted to her handbag on the couch. She snatched it up and removed the bottles of pills she had taken from the glove compartment. Still crying, she spun the bottles around to read the label. To her dismay, they weren’t Xanax. Instead, they were Percocet. She quickly removed the top and put two in her hand. Ebony was so emotional, at that moment, she didn’t care. Her only desire was to not feel anything for a while. No stress, no fear, no anxiety, no sadness. She hated being at the mercy of her feelings. She dreaded the roller coaster of emotions that was sure to haunt her. She wanted to be numb to it all.

  Chapter Five

  For East, it started like any other day. Sitting in the living room trying to spend time with Ebony before he headed to the gym. Recently, he noticed that his mother had become withdrawn and a bit antisocial. She didn’t call or visit her best friend Angela as much as she used to and spent most of her time lying around on the couch or sleeping. Ebony wasn’t her normally affectionate self when it came to her son either. She was moody, easily irritated, and tended to forget things or just didn’t care about them. East understood the pressure she was under and figured she was down from not being able to find a job during the past few months. Like a loving son, he tried his best to help her get through it. He wouldn’t ask for things he knew she couldn’t get. Instead, he became self-reliant in order to ease the burden.

  “Ma, you really need to get out of this house today,” he said, opening the blinds. “Look how nice it is outside.”

  “Boy, this Miami. It’s always nice outside. I don’t care about that,” she dismissed. “I’ma be right here watching this marathon of First 48,” she said.

  Suddenly, like it had come out of nowhere, Ebony started breathing really hard. First, she reached for her neck, feeling as though someone had their hand wrapped around her throat. Then she grabbed her chest, feeling a searing pain. She kept breathing harder and harder. At first, East cracked a smile, thinking that she was joking around. Ebony would do all kinds of stuff to make him laugh.

  “Ma, stop playing,” he chuckled. But Ebony didn’t stop; she just kept gasping for air. “Ma,” East said. This time there was no laughter in his voice. He knew she wasn’t joking. He froze momentarily, in shock and disbelief. Unbeknownst to him, she was going into cardiac arrest from all the Percocet pills she had been taking.

  Call 911, he thought to himself; then he shouted it.

  “Call 911!” It was like he was telling someone else in the room to do it. But there was no one else. Just him and her, like it always had been. East raced to the phone and dialed. “Hold on, Ma,” he pleaded as tears filled his young eyes. “They said they’re on the way,” he told her.

  Minutes later, East opened the door for the paramedics, and they rushed over to Ebony who lay unconscious on the floor. They ripped her shirt open and began working on her. Soon after, she was being put on a stretcher, taken out of the house, and put into the back of the ambulance.

  East followed the paramedics out of the house. Outside, all the neighbors were on the stoops and porches looking on in. They had expressions of sadness, anxiousness, and fear on their faces.

  Ms. Angela came racing out of her house just as they were putting her in the ambulance. There were tears running down her face, and she was screaming frantically. Screw and Shantelle looked on in shock.

  For East, it all seemed like a blur. He couldn’t even remember the ride to the hospital. Tez met them when they got there. Angela sat directly across from him, crying and praying with her twins at her side. Shantelle rubbed her mother’s hand, but deep down, she wished she was sitting next to East. It broke her little heart to see him so hurt. Tez sat right by East’s side for hours and hours, until eventually, one of the doctors came out to the waiting room. Spotting him, Tez and Ms. Angela rose to their feet to greet him. East remained seated, but he would never forget the words that came out of the doctor’s mouth. “She didn’t make it. Your mom . . . didn’t make it. I’m sorry.”

  East felt like he had a huge knot in his stomach. He began to cry hysterically, experiencing all kinds of emotions that he had never
felt before. Tez had tears in his eyes but showed strength, not letting one fall until East got up and hugged him. He buried his head in Tez’s chest and cried like a baby.

  Chapter Six

  Five Years Later

  The beautiful, long stemmed rose in Lauryn’s trembling hand paled in comparison to the flawless diamond on the same hand she clutched it in. Her heart was heavy and aching as she stood in front of the beautifully sculpted statue of a weeping angel, hugging the headstone. Lauryn had been to her father’s grave site hundreds of times in the past few years. She came dressed in black like always. The same way she had on the day of his funeral. Every time she made him the same promise. Every time it felt like it was the first time she had been to visit. It was like picking the scab off a wound. The initial pain would return as soon as she pulled up in front of the cemetery gates.

  After losing her father, there was something inside of her that would never heal. The memory of his death would start playing in her mind before she could even get out of the car. Up until then, it had been the worst day of her life and the most pain she had ever felt. Even now, it was still a crippling feeling. She felt sick just being there. She placed her hand over her midsection as she felt it lurch. Her chest threatened to cave in as she fought back tears, trying to find the words to say, even though they were always the same.

  “I miss you so much, Daddy,” a mournful cry escaped her lips, grief consuming her. She keeled over, falling to her knees, hugging the headstone tightly before tracing her fingers over it.

  East stood a few feet away, silent, dressed in all black as well. His young features were stoic, his baby face remaining in a hard expression. His hand close to the gun on his waist. He was there to do a job. The woman he was guarding was the boss’s new, young wife, Lauryn Wheeler. Ricardo had entrusted him to keep his most prized possession safe. He was close enough to protect her if needed, but not close enough to invade her privacy. His natural instinct was to offer her comfort. It bothered him to see her broken and in such pain, but he knew better. He knew to keep his distance. Still, East found himself staring at her in admiration. Even in such sadness, her beauty was rare. It delighted the eyes. Her glow was radiant. It was like the sun lived in the lining of her skin. Her full lips and doelike eyes had put men twice his age in a trance. She could have any nigga in the city if she wanted. She had always appeared regal to East. Putting on a brave face for the world to see. But in that moment, her willingness to be vulnerable in front of him allowed him to see how delicate she really was. He turned his face away, ashamed that he was witnessing such a private emotional moment. He thought it better if he waited for her by the car. She didn’t even notice him walk away.