A Hood Legend

by Victor L. Martin

  Menage sat down and looked at Felix as he lit a cigar. Whoever did the hit took the wrong girl and he was helpless. How could he fully trust Felix? Maybe the same guy or people who tried to kill him knew he was back and were now going after his girl. He did it Felix’s way by hiding on his island, and now she was gone. He felt sick, as if he had to vomit when he thought of losing Chandra.

  Detective Covington had left minutes earlier and promised to call once he got more info from the bodyguard. Menage sat across from Felix, tapping his foot with his eyes closed. All they could do was wait to see if anyone called with a ransom. What if they really meant to take Rosita and found out they took the wrong girl? Menage shivered. Why couldn’t this be a dream?

  Detective Covington was so happy to have the gun out of his face that he totally forgot about the pictures of DJ and Tina, and the last thing on Menage’s mind was the surveillance tape in the armrest of his Benz.

  Felix’s helicopter brought Vapor to the mainland as a tear ran down Menage’s face. He looked at his watch. It was now eight minutes past seven.

  * * *

  Dwight pulled up in his BMW and parked behind the blue Lexus RX330. Lydia had called him earlier and said that her sales partner couldn’t make it, so Dwight told her to stay put and he would be there shortly. He was still feeling down about Menage but Tina was right. He had to move on. It was a full moon and Dwight searched the sky for the Big Dipper as he rang the doorbell. He was taken aback when Lydia opened the door. She was exquisitely beautiful, wearing a leopard print, silk backless chiffon Chanel dress. He couldn’t help but notice the small print of her nipples and he cursed himself when she caught him looking at her cleavage. Her hair was swept up off her shoulders, showing off her slender neck and smooth, brown skin.

  “Would you like to come in, Mr. McMillan, or stay outside?” she said. She received the reaction she wanted and thought that maybe she could seduce him into talking to find out more about Menage. Dwight smiled and stepped inside the apartment. As he walked past Lydia she scanned him from head to toe, admiring his Armani suit and black Italian Oxfords. She took his coat and placed it in the closet. She could see that he felt uncomfortable.

  “Red or white wine?” she said walking into the kitchen.

  Dwight couldn’t keep himself from looking at her tight, firm butt. “Damn,” he said to himself.

  “Are you sure it’s no big deal that we have the meeting here, Mr. McMillan?” she yelled from the kitchen.

  “No, it’s no big deal. I have all the forms out in the car for you to sign.” Dwight stood up when she came back with the wine.

  “By the way, you can call me Latosha.” He took the wine and smiled, not knowing what to say. She smiled back. “Let’s make a toast ... to a good deal and uh ...”

  “Let’s just start out with that,” Dwight said still smiling.

  Lydia sat next to him and asked him about his salon. He went on and on as she took in his every word while keeping his glass filled. He shivered every time she held her head back to laugh. When he spoke on how the women in his salon gossiped twenty four/seven, she caught him off guard by touching his arm and saying, “Now I see why they all want to sleep with you, Dwight.”

  Dwight couldn’t look into her eyes. He knew it was a pass, but he had will power and he was in love with and faithful to Tina. The woman before him was so beautiful but he had no desire for her. However, why was his heart pumping in overdrive and for God’s sake, why was the blood flowing between his legs?

  “Yeah, I know they feel that way, but that’s life ain’t it?” he said shifting his body to a position that would hide his erection.

  “Who is Menage?” she said filling up his glass again. “When I was getting my hair done, they were talking about him like he was Don Juan or something.” She crossed her legs showing off her toned thighs. Dwight rubbed his face, knowing he had too much to drink. He wasn’t drunk, but he had that feeling. “He’s my business partner and best friend,” he said with slight emotion.

  Lydia moved in for the kill. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she asked if he was okay and hoped he wouldn’t object to her touch. Dwight closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of her hand on his shoulder. With a remote device, she turned on the CD player and dimmed the lights. Toni Braxton’s “Just Be a Man About It” filled the room. Dwight drained his glass and took a deep breath. He knew he had to get control of things before they got out of hand, but little did he know that his defenses were already gone. Like R. Kelly said, his mind was telling him no, but his body was telling him hell yeah! He didn’t protest when she laid his head on her shoulder. Her body felt so soft and warm and he let out a heavy sigh before looking at her cleavage, confirming that she wore no bra.

  She caressed the back of his neck and closed her eyes. What am I doing? What about Menage, the DB-7 and the Mayor’s son? But what about me and my needs? To hell with it all, she thought. She slowly stood up and Dwight’s eyes widened. He was about to say he was sorry, but she placed a finger to his lips. “Shhhh,” she said. When he stood up, she replaced her finger with her lips. At first she thought she had misjudged him because he didn’t respond, but she was soon proven wrong.

  It was explosive when their tongues met, and her slender body seemed to vanish when he wrapped his arms around her. She wanted him to take her fully and she was willing to give her all. Part of her wanted to pull away, but her hand was already pulling at his belt to free him. Dwight ran his hand down her back, finding it easy to go under her dress. He rubbed her ass as he felt pre-cum dripping from his throbbing penis that she now held in her hand. She broke away from his kiss to see what she held in her hand and her mouth dropped open upon seeing his size. She led him to the loveseat and slid her dress up around her waist as he pulled down his pants. Dwight watched her as she leaned back and slowly pulled off her thong. One of her breasts fell out just as he got down on his knees. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he rubbed his penis against the folds of her moist opening. Dwight looked down to see himself sink inside of her. The heat seemed to travel through his entire body as he started to plow into her petite frame. Breathing through his mouth, he fucked her hard and fast as her hands pushed against his waist to ease up the pounding he was giving her.

  Lydia was in a daze. Never in her life had she had such an experience and never had she felt so full. The sound of flesh on flesh slapping together and the moans and grunting from the two sent them over the edge. She couldn’t believe she was about to climax, but she did. Her legs locked around him, trapping him inside her. Dwight winced at the pain in his back as he kept going, but knowing that she had climaxed put him in a frenzied state. He buried his face in her neck, let out a deep moan and jerked back and forth as she flicked her tongue across his earlobe. She released her legs from around Dwight’s waist and continued to moan as he slid out of her and fell back.

  Drenched in sweat, he realized what had just happened and he looked at Lydia, still lying on the couch with her legs spread. His mind began to race. Oh, shit, what if she gets pregnant? Damn, why didn’t I use protection? Better yet, what in the hell am I doing with another woman? Then he thought of Tina and how she didn’t deserve this kind of pain.

  Lydia stood up slowly, pulling down her dress. “I ... I’ll call you ... once the shipment arrives,” she said looking away.

  Dwight stood up and got dressed. “Latosha ... Miss Mandrick, I’m sorry about—”

  “No, Dwight ... it’s okay, we ... we just made a mistake, so think nothing of it,” she said cutting him off as he stood at the door. Then she closed the door in his face. Before he backed out of the driveway, she was already in the shower. If it ain’t one thing it’s another, she thought.

  * * *

  With her wrists cuffed to a headboard, Chandra slowly opened her right eye. Her left eye was swollen shut. She winced when she parted her lips that were also swollen and covered with dried, crusty blood that ran from her nose. She shut her one good eye and took a deep breath.
The room was dark and musky, and the silence didn’t bring her any comfort. Everything happened so fast that she wasn’t even able to get a call off to Menage before she was yanked out of the car. Trying to move her hands, she moaned out in pain and fright, realizing that she could move no more than an inch. Her feet were free, however, and she was about to see if she could reach the floor, not knowing that her efforts would be useless. But she felt compelled to try to escape because the headboard was thin and weak. Just as she was about to move, she gasped in shock as a hand roughly handled her breasts. Unable to yell, she moaned, sounding like a trapped animal with nowhere to run. Her purple satin blouse was easily ripped from her body. With her arms raised over her head, her breasts pointed upward underneath the black lace bra. The man groping her had no problem finding and squeezing them, even in the dark. All she could think about was her baby and Menage. She had to survive for the both of them. When she felt her bra being ripped off, she clenched her teeth and hoped for a chance to escape, thinking of anything but what the man was about to do to her. She felt no pleasure when his mouth covered her left breast. She crossed her legs and locked them together as his hand traveled down her stomach. Her body quivered as she tried to hold back the tears.

  “I’m going to fuck you and you’re going to like it!” the man hissed in her ear.

  Hearing him unzip his pants, she couldn’t keep herself from sobbing. She couldn’t think of anything to do to stop him, and she knew he would beat her if she fought him. She flinched when she felt something stiff and hot press against her cheek. She smelled his musky scent and realized the man had his penis near her face. Hearing him moan, she realized he was getting ready to rape her. She cried no when he pulled at her panties, his hand roughly cupping between her tightly closed legs. Her mind was made up that she’d fight to her death before she gave up ... but her child ... maybe if she gave him what he wanted, she would be strong enough to see another day. Just as she felt her legs being pried apart, the light was switched on, exposing her attacker. Still holding his penis with his hands between her legs, there was a look of shock on his face. The man who turned on the light reached for him and tossed his naked body against the wall with ease. Chandra thought she was saved, but when he spoke her world fell back down to hell.

  “You fool!” Scorpion said standing over the naked man. “If you want to get your rocks off, go and find some whore house. I don’t give a damn about the bitch, but my plan comes first. Now get dressed, get the hell out of here and go check on the others. And let this be your first and last mistake,” he warned.

  The mercenary thought about testing Scorpion’s limit, but if he did he might as well had kissed his easy mil good-bye. When he was dressed he slunk out of the room, making sure he got an eye full of what he was missing; maybe he’d get another chance to fuck the girl—yeah, that’s just what he wanted to do.

  Scorpion shut the door and stood next to the bed, looking down at Chandra and her exposed breasts. “Don’t feel thankful because the end result hasn’t changed—you’ll be dead. But I don’t blame that coward,” he said reaching down to stroke her left breast. “A coward is one who’ll take it, but I can make you want it and like it,” he added, caressing her face now.

  Who is this man and why are they doing this to me? Chandra thought. She glared at Scorpion and he smiled.

  “In due time,” Scorpion said and violently backhanded her across the face.

  She was dazed when he left the room. She struggled to not have a nervous breakdown. She closed her good eye to stop the room from spinning but it was no use. She opened her eye and slowly looked around the room. It was so small—no windows, no phone, nothing. The room continued to spin. Then she heard a sound. It sounded like wind whipping against an empty cardboard box. Looking around the room again, she noticed how tiny it was and its odd shape. And she recalled her attacker having to slightly duck when he left. She closed her good eye and the room, once again, began to spin. Chandra heard the strange sound over and over, and then finally, through her broken nose, she smelled seawater and realized that she was on a boat.

  Scorpion walked in on the five mercenaries playing cards in a small cabin near the bow. Smoke lingered in the air and a radio was tuned to a rock station. Scorpion glared at the man that he had grabbed just moments earlier. Sitting across from him was Myrmidon, cleaning a deadly looking pistol.

  “So when do we make the call?” Myrmidon asked, laying the pistol on the small table to pick up his cards. They were playing five-card stud.

  “Soon,” Scorpion said. “But first I’ll make him sweat—plus I have to tie up a few other things. I’m no longer with those assholes in D.C., but when I call Felix, I’ll demand a trade for the drugs and I’ll set it up for you to take him and his girl out at the same time ... unless you have a better idea.”

  “Yours seems fine,” Myrmidon said, looking at the two kings and three fives in his hand.

  Scorpion was pleased with Myrmidon’s personal thirty-five foot cruiser that carried radar capable of sweeping a thirty-mile radius, and he was more than happy to find that the four-stinger launched anti-aircraft missiles. “One must always be ready for anything,” Myrmidon had always said. The boat also had a tripod, concealed under a tarp that could hold an M-240B machine gun, located behind a hidden wall. The boat was nothing flashy and if a check was made, the Coast Guard would see that it was owned by a photography company in McKinney, Texas. Before leaving the cabin, Scorpion talked to Myrmidon alone and stressed the fact that the woman was not to be touched. Myrmidon watched Scorpion get on his jet skis and head back to Miami, which was nine miles away. He rejoined the card game and tried to stay focused, but he couldn’t; something else was on his mind. He ordered his men to go on watch and prepare to move further south.

  * * *

  Back at Felix’s mansion in Miami, Menage looked at his Rolex. It was a quarter to ten, and still no word from Detective Covington. He found himself in the same tight spot as earlier. Vapor lay asleep on the floor by his feet. Felix was now upstairs with Rosita. She took it hard when he told her about Chandra and her emotions were sincere.

  Menage hated the fact that he could do nothing for Chandra. He thought of the worst, and his stomach turned. He balled his fists so tightly that his nails drew blood from his palms. Sitting on his ass wasn’t making him feel any better, and he didn’t want to feel better; he wanted Chandra back. Ignoring the tears streaming down his face he stood up, and Vapor got up and stretched his front paws. Felix was at the top of the stairs when he reached the front door.

  “Are you leaving?”

  Menage stopped in his tracks. With his back facing Felix, he said, “Call me, Felix ... and don’t hold nothing from me. I don’t know if you ... we ... should tell ’em they got the wrong girl if Chandra hasn’t told them by now. I just want my girl back and nothing or no one will stop me from doing what I have to do, because it ain’t the same no more.”

  By the tone of Menage’s voice, Felix knew there was nothing he could do or say to stop him as he walked out the door with Vapor by his side.

  The cool breeze outside caused Menage to turn up the collar of his Ecko windbreaker as he made his way toward his Escalade. Taking out the third row seats, he put Vapor in the back. Sitting behind the steering wheel, he sat back and wiped his eyes. Vapor whined and stuck his head between the two front seats to lick his face. Menage got a hold of himself and reached under his seat to feel the steel of the MP-10. Starting up the SUV, he looked back at the mansion to see Felix’s silhouette in the doorway. Pulling out of the driveway in silence, he clenched the steering wheel with both hands, trying to control the madness and pain that overtook his body. His temples became tense as he flexed his jaws.

  The silence was driving him to the point of no return. “CD three, song nine, volume mid,” he said turning on the system by voice command. Maximum volume would have been too painful for Vapor’s ears, and he now stuck his head out of the window. Seconds later, “Smile” by Scarfa
ce began playing from the four fifteen-inch speakers. The song caused goose bumps to form over Menage’s entire body. Squinting his eyes in a hateful gaze, he allowed the words of Scarface and Tupac to seep into his torn soul. With the music still playing, he came to a stoplight and paid no attention to the girls on the corner trying to get his attention. He was on another level—in a zone. Something inside of him told him that his life would never be the same again. Some muthafucka was touching him by taking his girl. He managed to smile as he gunned the ESV when the light changed. He knew he’d see his girl again and he knew he’d see the muthafucka who took her. When he did, he knew he’d ask them to smile for him as he emptied the clip of his Glock 9. Smile for me ... won’t cha just smile ... for me ...

  * * *

  DJ was laid back on his couch with his feet hung over the armrest, brushing small stems of weed from his shirt. He was on the phone with Lisa, yelling over his loud stereo system.

  “So I figure I’ll stay with you tonight,” Lisa said.

  “Huh?” he said searching for his lighter. He was starting to dig Lisa. She didn’t bug him if he didn’t call or ask him a thousand questions. She was so down to earth and the sex was off the chain.

  “Boy, turn the radio down so you can hear me!” she snapped.

  “Hold on a sec,” he said reaching for the radio remote. “Okay, what you say now?”

  Lisa sucked her teeth. “I said I might stay with you tonight. Can you pick me up from work?”

  “Yeah, what time?”

  “Uh ... ’bout midnight ... is that too late?”

  “Nah, I’ll be there. Whatcha think—I got a curfew or something?”

  “Whateva, just be on time, DJ. Look, they just called me over the P.A. I’ll see you later.”

  When she hung up, he wondered if he should have told her about Menage and see if she could find out anything about him. He would have been surprised if she’d told him about Benita and Menage and even more surprised if she’d told him that the section Menage was in was guarded and off limits—even though it was an empty room which was unknown to her. DJ lit his freshly rolled blunt. Pulling deeply on the potent spliff, he closed his eyes and held the smoke deep in his lungs. Moments later, the coke-laced blunt had blurred his vision. Nodding his head to the music, his entire body seemed to pulse rapidly. He seemed to hear new words and beats in the song. Slowly exhaling through his mouth, he looked around his apartment.