“Let’s go to my apartment to pick up a few things.” Remy said into her ear. The warmth coursed through her body and her fingertips tingled. They ran hand in hand in the rain. As they approached Rue de la Decatur he led her around the corner to a narrow stairwell. Sugar Doll had never been to Remy’s apartment. Her heart picked up its pace. As they walked up the stairway she felt nervous. Remy opened the door, “Welcome to my humble abode.” He winked and held the door open for her to pass through. The apartment was cool and dark. The blinds were closed on the large windows which overlooked Tchopotulis Street. The air conditioner rumbled in the corner of the room from a third window which faced the street. The décor of the room was blue and green. There was a very masculine sense to it. The furnishings were subtle with modern lines. Sugar Doll looked around appreciatively. Remy had style. She had expected a stale smelling dormitory styled room with eclectic furniture but this had showroom quality.
“We’ve both had a trying day, let’s have a drink.” Remy went to a mahogany cabinet and pulled out a dark bottle of wine. Sugar Doll sat down on the plush forest green couch.
“This is a nice place you have here Remy. I’m impressed.” Sugar Doll nodded. He walked over and handed her a drink. The rain outside became a downpour. Remy smiled easily, he could see that she was nervous.
“Relax Sugar; Gonzales is only a one hour drive from here in drive time tops. We’ll be there in no time.” Remy soothed her.
“It’s not the weather that has me nervous Remy.” She said shyly looking into his eyes. They were an interesting color of blue, turquoise really. “It’s just all of the talk on the news and well…my mother that’s got me nervous.” Sugar Doll put down her drink. She could feel it warming her up in places she was unaccustomed to feeling.
“I understand, trust me, I’ve seen Mona in action, she can be pretty convincing.” Remy smiled.
“Yes, I’m surprised by her warmth today. I’m also curious about why she’s so interested in me all of a sudden. I’ve been singing at Beauchamp’s for months now.” Sugar Doll voiced what she had been thinking.
“I never hear you talk about it, shucks for awhile there I thought Big Ma was your mother.” Remy joked.
“In a real way, she is.” Sugar Doll said thoughtfully.
There was silence between them. Sugar Doll reached for her drink. Remy touched her arm and she returned the drink to the coffee table.
“I’ve been thinking about that night on the pier.” He said his face becoming flushed.
“Me too.” Sugar Doll sighed quickly.
“I wonder if…” Remy did not finish his sentence.
“If what?” Sugar Doll asked afraid of the answer.
“I don’t really know how to say it.” He answered looking away.
“If you made a mistake?” Sugar Doll asked a bit hurt by the thought.
“No, not exactly, but if we made a mistake. I think about you all the time girl.”
“But Bertrand,” he sputtered “And now your mother.” He turned to face her.
“Oh,” Sugar Doll said understanding. “Business.” She said flatly rising suddenly.
Remy stood with her lightly grabbing her arm, “Not business, not business at all.” He repeated softly.
“Then what?” Sugar Doll questioned anger rising up within her. Remy stepped closer to her and engulfed her in a kiss. The rain beat on the roof urgently. His tongue searched her mouth and his lips soft around hers were warm and pulsing. The rain was like music playing to their passion. As Sugar Doll gave into the kiss her body aching she realized that her question had not been answered. She would not give into him as much as she wanted to until she had the answer. She recovered herself and pulled away slightly not strong enough to break out of Remy’s strong embrace. She felt his desire on her and it almost melted her resolve.
“Then what is it?” She asked him softly, urgently, passion pulsing through her body.
“Monty, I’m glad you could make it.” Tony took the older man’s coat.
“Let’s just have a fair game. I came to play. Who’s the dealer?” Monty asked.
“Maurice.” Tony pointed toward the dealer who nodded in acknowledgement.
“Everybody trust Maurice?” Monty addressed the room of men.
“As long as Maurice deals a good game I have no problems with him.” Big Teddy from Alabama said in his loud drawl.
“It’s a game of chance.” Junior Boy said his youthful face belying his forty four years.
“Well, gentlemen before we begin can I offer you all a drink?” Tony asked.
“Rum and coke for me.” Monty said.
“I’ll have Scotch neat.” Junior Boy replied.
“Milk.” said Silent Eddie.
All of the men stopped and laughed.
“Ulcer.” Silent Eddie confessed.
Tony shrugged, “Get the man a glass of milk.” He nodded to Mona who sat quietly in the corner.
“If you could put a raw egg in it that would be good.” Silent Eddie added.
“Jesus!” Tony grimaced.
As Mona headed for the door. “Get me a drink as well, the usual.”
Mona nodded and walked downstairs toward the bar.
Tony didn’t ask Howard the Jew if he wanted anything to drink. He didn’t trust anybody and brought his own drinks. Tony learned a long time ago not to be offended. Howard had been poisoned years back by a prostitute who fleeced him. He had reason to be edgy. He didn’t talk much but he usually came with the most cash.
The drinks arrived and Mona took her usual spot in the corner. She had packed up both cars and was prepared to leave but she wanted to stay with Tony and leave together. He agreed thinking that the storm was overblown news and that they would probably have to only stay away for one night. This would be the last game of the season and the money would be laundered there at the club. It was time to do business.
“You ready man?” Kevin put his cap on and checked his guns. They stood in the alleyway next to the secret entrance to the game.
“I’m as ready as I’m going to be”. Bertrand said sweating profusely under the hot knit cap.
“Walk quietly.” Kevin admonished him as he jimmied the lock easily. There was no one there in the entrance which was a surprise. Monty usually bought his goons with him but the hurricane had made him careless. They crept up the narrow stairway. It was so quiet that both men turned and looked at each other. Had the location been changed? Kevin gestured that they should keep moving forward. They heard a movement, a ceiling fan?
“Now!” Kevin shouted.
He kicked in the door and Bertrand rushed in after him holding two Colt 45’s.
“Ya’ll put your hands up and no one will get hurt!” He screamed almost hysterically. Silent Eddie and Junior Boy threw down their cards.
“What the hell is this?” Monty asked Tony.
“Put your hands up motherfucker!” Kevin yelled pointing the gun at Monty’s head.
Monty slowly raised his hands up. Howard the Jew reached behind his back for his gun.
“Try it and I’ll blow your fucking head off man! Drop on the floor!” Kevin kicked the chair from beneath Howard and held the gun to his head.
Tony put his hands up almost casually. He was studying the bigger man. There was something familiar about him. There were five briefcases in the corner. Kevin backed slowly toward them. He kicked one down and knelt down to open it. As he opened it he saw that there was stacks of hundred dollar bills. “Jackpot!” He breathed. He closed it and kicked it over to Bertrand. He picked up two cases and handed another to Bertrand. He took the remaining three cases.
“If anyone follows us out of here we’ll blow you’re heads off. We have two men posted outside.” Kevin smiled beneath his cap.
“I won’t have to follow you Bertrand, I know where you work. I’ll just come by and pay a visit.” Tony said coldly.
Both men were stunned that he had been recognized. Kevin turned around aimed his gun and pulled
the trigger. Tony fell to the ground on his knees. Mona screamed. In the heat of the moment Howard the Jew reached his gun and fired two rounds into Kevin’s head. The blood exploded over everything. Bertrand turned and ran down the narrow stairway. He ran to the back alley into the pouring rain. He ran for his life, he knew that Kevin was dead. As he started the engine his only thought was getting out of the city.
“Down home where a nigger could get lost.” He pointed his car toward Plaquemines Parish. He didn’t have time to think. He didn’t have time to fear the hurricane. He only had time to look at the briefcase and drive.
Tony lay on the floor bleeding from his chest and shoulder. Mona leaned over him crying.
“Stupid nigger, didn’t he think I’d recognize him?” Tony asked. Sirens were approaching the club. Someone had called the police or ambulance or both.
“You set this whole thing up didn’t you Mona?” Tony asked.
“No Tony, don’t say that.” Mona cried.
“I’m going to live Mona, and then I’m going to kill you.” Tony’s blue eyes looked deeply into Mona’s.
“Like you killed my husband?” Mona asked.
Chapter Thirteen
“I’ve been feeling like this for a long time Sugar.” Remy encircled her waist. She could feel the warmth of his touch. “I want you to be a part of my life.” Remy kissed her gently as he pulled her closer. Sugar Doll felt her body pulsating with desire. She knew that she wanted him too. “I know that you have been well protected and…” his voice trailed off. Sugar Doll placed her finger on his mouth.
“I feel the same way.” She said. Remy grasped her in an urgent kiss his desire flowing through him. He kissed her neck as he trailed down to the swell of her breast. Sugar Doll gave a gasp in anticipation, she wanted him to go farther. He stopped and looked up at her.
“I know you haven’t been with anyone else and I want to make you mine.” His face flushed with desire as his blues eyes gazed intently into hers. She caressed his forehead.
“I want to be yours.” Sugar Doll breathed in as the rain poured down furiously.
Remy kissed her gently his tongue seeking the warmth of her mouth. He kissed her for a long and tender moment. He unbuttoned the front of her blouse. She gasped as he kissed her between each button. The butterfly kisses created a heat in her as Remy kissed her skin so lightly. Her heart raced as he came to the final button.
“I love you cher,” Remy whispered into her ear.
“What in the hell am I doing?” Bertrand could hardly see as he drove down the narrow river road. The rain was blinding. The windshield wipers were like two tiny sticks moving back and forth slowly. He was tempted to turn them off as the rain pelted heavily; it looked as though someone were on the roof of the car with a huge bucket of water. He was reminded of a car wash. He crept along the highway fearful that someone may still be down in the parish and that he was on the wrong side of the road. The ditches were filling with water and overflowing onto the old highway. Fear tingled down Bertrand’s spine. He drove toward the old high school that had withstood so many hurricanes in the past. As he turned down the familiar highway he saw that there was a huge gate surrounding the school. He hadn’t recalled this gate before today. He got out of the car and walked toward the gate to see the huge pad lock there. He looked at the high fence thinking to jump it. “Who you kidding fat boy?” He said disgusted with himself. He was soaked but it felt good from the heat of the car and his own fear. The rain dripped sense into his brain. He thought of the story of old Uncle Charlie riding out the storm on a tugboat. He thought that this seemed even better than hiding out in the old school which was probably full of snakes and raccoons and all kinds of spiders. He shuddered at the thought. He got back into the car with a renewed sense of direction. The sky was an angry purple and the rain was unrelenting. The cool feeling he’d gotten when he was out of the car now turned into damp discomfort. He remembered Mr. White had a tugboat near the dock. He didn’t think that Mr. White would mind so he headed for the Venice dock to prepare for the storm. With any luck there would be food on the boat as they were usually stocked for the crew. “Man this is going to be easy!” the image of Kevin’s handsome dark face flashed into his mind. Kevin was dead, and he was wanted. The feeling of salvation dissipated as he drove slowly down the narrow river road leaving the school behind him. His first instinct had been right. Had he stayed at the school he would have run into the Young’s a Vietnamese family who had cut through the south side of the fence. Bertrand had only been a few yards away from the cut.
Tony was transported to Charity Hospital as the old folks called it. It was now Central something or other. Sometimes after hundreds of years as an establishment it’s best to just leave good enough alone. It’s like Muhammad Ali, the old folks still knew him as Cassius Clay and that was that. Mona sat silently by Tony thinking about all that had happened. She couldn’t believe that kind, fat and bungling Bertrand would be involved in something like this. She’d known him as a boy and sometimes he even came to her club. He was always respectful and gave her information on Sugar Doll. She couldn’t stand to see this happen. She wouldn’t stand to see it happen. Tony hadn’t breathed a word to anyone about who had done this thing. The other goons had scattered even before the police had come. The storm outside was worse than ever. Tony had severe trauma but was put into the hallway. He was sweating profusely. It was hot but it was a remarkable thing for a man whose motto was “Never let them see you sweat.” People passed him as though a gunshot wound was nothing remarkable. She sat next to the bed. She’d seen the look in Tony’s eyes when she’d accused him of Karl’s murder so many years ago. It rang true and his eyes confirmed it. He didn’t say anything else before he went unconscious. Something inside of her had always known. The generosity, the filtering of conversation about Karl. The change in behavior toward Sugar Doll. She’d known all along but then she didn’t want to know. She didn’t want to realize that her “savior” was also her condemner. The man who stole the spirit of a kind and funny young man. She didn’t want to believe it but now painfully she did. “Why had he stuck with her all of those years? Guilt? Love?” She felt disgust for the man she’d loved for so long and now another relative was in trouble.
The lights went out. Everyone in the hospital broke into a frenzy with nurses running all over the place. She heard the word transported several times. Nurses began carting out patients. “Tony needs surgery! I should do something.” She looked frantically around but no one seemed to notice her. She should reach out, but then she saw Bertrand’s round innocent face and she sat back down quietly, invisibly. She reached for her purse and she walked away not looking back.
“You live by the sword, you die by the sword” Mona said this under her breath even as she knew Tony would die right there on that blood soaked bed.
Big Ma rang Bertrand for what seemed like the hundredth time. “Where is that boy?” She was becoming agitated. The storm had driven them to a hotel but she was able to afford her own room. It was good because she loved her privacy. It was bad because she knew that all of this worry with no one to talk to would bring up her pressure. Her head began to hurt which she knew was already a sign of problems. She reached into her little plastic sandwich bag which carried the bulk of her medications. She took the pressure pills and took off her glasses. “Nothing I can do Lawd.” But she knew that something was terribly wrong. Why hadn’t Sugar Doll tried to call her? She was the only reason she had the damned phone in the first place. She knelt beside her bed to pray. “Lawd Jesus, my children are out there in the storm and your word says that you will never forsake us or leave us as orphans in the storm. Bring them to safety Jesus, precious Lord. I beg for you to take them out of the eye of the storm.” Big Ma remained on side of the bed and as a sign of faith she did not cry. She got up and went to look out of the window expectantly.
Bertrand wiped the sweat from his brow. He drove down the path to old Fort Jackson. As he drove up the graveled hi
ghway he realized that he was not in the best place. The rain was coming down in buckets and the wind had picked up considerably. He shook off his feeling of dread. If Uncle Charlie could ride out a storm so could he. He climbed the small hill that was the levee. As he curved the corner of the levee he saw just how much the river had risen. He was afraid. Then he saw the tugboat in the distance and increased his pace in the old car. The big gray rocks spit out from under the tires. He imagined himself in the warmth of the tugboat and the rocking of the water and he felt hopeful. “Everything will be all right once I set foot on the boat.” The Venice dock all of a sudden looked like home.
Sugar Doll woke up with a start. A cold sense of dread ran over her as she turned to feel the warmth of Remy’s body sleeping peacefully next to her. The feeling passed and she was filled with love. She leaned over to kiss him gently on the neck. He stirred, “Look here cher, if you gonna be starting up with me again we can ride the storm out right here in the French Quarters.” Remy pulled her over his shoulder and playfully kissed her. Thunder cracked loudly outside.
“We should leave Remy, it’s not safe”. Sugar Doll looked worriedly out of the window at the obvious brewing storm.
“Relax hon, God ain’t gonna let nothing happen to the French Quarters.” Remy purred unconcerned.
“You promised my momma that you would get me out of town.” Sugar Doll sat upright determined not to be lured into the sexy warmth of Remy’s arms.
“When you are right, you are right. A promise is a promise, c’mon, get your things together and we can go. I’m not taking nothing cause I know it will pass over us but I understand how you feel baby and I always want you to feel safe with me.” Remy stood up and gave Sugar Doll a chaste peck on the forehead. “Oh, and I love you Sugar Doll.” Remy winked at her his beautiful eyes sparkling.
Sugar Doll's Hurricane Blues Page 10