Project Queen II

by Teresa D. Patterson

  When Shae got home it was after eight. Imani had fallen asleep in her car seat. She got her settled into bed and went to take a shower.

  She was glad that Larry wasn’t there, but she was also sad. She wondered if he was with his new trick and got pissed off all over again. Larry was her husband and was supposed to be at home with her. He made his choice to leave, so be it.

  She couldn’t sleep so she went downstairs. The house was quiet. Toby was off doing what it was that he did. Shae had stopped trying to be his mother a few years earlier. He didn’t listen anyway. At least he’d graduated from high school. When he finally decided to make something of his life, he’d have a chance. It was up to Toby to do the right thing. She couldn’t force him to change. It wasn’t like he had anyone to pattern himself after.

  All of a sudden the silence was interrupted with loud music. Angry lyrics floated downstairs from Della’s room. Some lady was singing about busting the windows out of someone’s car.

  Shae remembered when Toby used to play loud rap music and how aggravating it had been to hear it. She thought about asking Della to turn the volume down, but decided to just leave her alone. She was still trying to decipher what Jimmy had told her.

  Tired of pacing the house, she sat down to watch television in the living room. A black duffel bag in a corner caught her eye. Thinking that it was something Larry left, she got up to retrieve it. When she picked it up, the heaviness surprised her.

  “What’s in here?” She bent down and unzipped it. Inside she found a bunch of DVD’s. She pulled one out and read the title. St. Pete’s Bitches Gone Wild. These were copies of the infamous video that her sister was in. She debated on whether or not she should find out what had Della on a warpath. Her curiosity got the best of her. She took a copy upstairs to look at it in privacy.

  Shae sat on the corner of the bed, watching the video in disbelief. After watching for a while, she was convinced that her sister was under the influence of something other than alcohol. When the men began doing vile, despicable acts, Della just laid there. When she got to the point on the tape where the men sodomized Della, she couldn’t sit still.

  “Those slimy, low-down motherfuckers. I will fuck them up,” she yelled. She had to tear her eyes away from the screen because it was making her so angry.

  It made her remembered the time when Dana held her down and forced her to have sex with him. She’d felt so weak and powerless. She could only imagine how her sister felt. Those men raped her; there was no other way to describe it.

  “What’s wrong?” Toby charged in looking fierce. “Why are you yelling?” He looked around, expecting to see someone else in the room with her. Finding no one, he gazed at his sister quizzically. “What’s going on? What’s all the noise about?”

  “Toby, why didn’t you tell me it was that awful?”

  “What?”

  “What they did to Della? Toby, why didn’t you tell me? I know she’s promiscuous and fast, but on this tape, it looks like she’s out of it. Is she drugged up? Nobody in their right mind would agree to be on film while they’re doing fucked up shit like that.” She pointed toward the television screen, where the tape was still running. Toby glanced at it and quickly looked away.

  “Damn. You got a copy of the video. I was supposed to give those to Della so she could destroy them. I forgot.”

  “What happened? What the hell am I seeing? Is it what I think? Did they drug her?”

  He nodded. “Someone slipped her a mickey, they gangraped her and videotaped it. She told me everything.”

  “Shit,” Shae swore. “No wonder she’s been acting so strange lately. She’s going through something. It can’t be good. I know how I felt when Dana forced himself on me.” She shook her head. “That poor girl. I have to talk to her.”

  “She’s been shut up in her room all week. She hasn’t been going out nor doing much of anything. I guess…since it happened,” Toby said.

  “I can’t blame her. I felt like shutting myself away from the world. I mean… to be violated in such a way, and then used and exploited. I just don’t know how she’s holding it together.”

  “She’s not,” he said. “She just snaps in and out of reality. She even talks to herself sometimes.”

  “What can we do? I feel so bad. I just talked to Jimmy and he told me about her being molested and forced to prostitute when she was a little girl.”

  “That’s fucked up.” Toby looked horrified by the news.

  “I know. It really messed her up in the head. All along I’ve been blaming her for things that she has no control over. Now, I really want to help her.”

  “I can take care of those niggas and everything will be cool. I’ll splay up their cars and houses,” Toby said, getting hyped.

  “Toby, you can’t take the law into your own hands. You can’t just go shooting up people’s property,” Shae told him.

  “The hell I can’t. Them niggas think they can just gang bang my sister and not suffer any consequences. Fuck that.”

  “Doing a drive-by won’t change what happened,” Larry intervened, stepping into the room. They both turned toward him. “This has to be handled the right way.”

  “When did you get here? I thought you were moving in with your white bitch?” Shae said bitterly, throwing him a sour look.

  “I came to get a few of my suits. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on your conversation,” he said. His gaze fell on Toby. “Shae’s right. You can’t just go around doing drive-by shootings. You have to handle it in a different manner.”

  “And what manner is that?” he asked, sarcastically.

  “It needs to be handled legally. Della will have to press charges and let it be handled in a court of law.”

  Toby stared at Larry for a long time. “We could kill them niggas. They can be kicking up daisies- just like that nigga Dana,” he added for emphasis.

  Larry broke eye contact and shook his head. “I can’t live with anymore blood on my hands. Dana was necessary. After what he did to Shae…and to you, he had it coming.” He frowned deeply. “I can’t go around playing vigilante anymore.”

  “I can.” They all whirled in the direction of Della’s chilling voice. She stood in the doorway with her hand on the knob, zombie-like.

  “Are …er…you planning on going somewhere?” Shae asked, hesitantly.

  Della wore an all black bodysuit, black leather boots, and black gloves. What alarmed them was the black veil she wore over her face. It was the kind that old women wore to funerals. Her lipstick underneath the veil was bright red.

  “No, not just yet. But in due time, I’m going to find Lester and the other two and let them know that payback is a bitch.” The bright smile she gave them didn’t match the look in her eyes.

  Anger festered inside of Della. She vaguely heard Larry talking to Shae and Toby, telling them to get her some help. Words like “white coats,” “padded wagon,” and “loony bin” floated on the air.” She blocked it all out. She was far from crazy, just mad as hell.

  The more she thought about what had been done to her, the more her emotions boiled over. The images of her sprawled eagle on the bed while they ravaged and mauled her body continued to haunt her.

  Men like Lester, Steve, and Donald didn’t deserve to walk upright. In her opinion, they were less than men…less than human. She pictured ways she could bring them down. Thinking about it brought her little solace. It would take action to give her the satisfaction her soul craved.

  Chapter Eleven

  Once Larry collected a few of his suits, he lingered around, pretending to search for forgotten items. Shae refused to even look at him.

  “Shae, I wish things could be diff-”

  “I don’t want to hear it. You made your bed now lie in it,” she said stiffly.

  “I really wish we could talk about this.” He sighed. “I won’t push the issue. Look, you don’t have to worry about any of the bills, car payment, insurance, none of that. I’ll continue to pay everythi
ng. Imani- Damn.” Suddenly, tears sprang to his eyes. “My baby girl,” he choked out.

  “Finally thinking about your daughter, huh? Well, it’s too late for that,” Shae said sourly.

  “Shit.” He ran his hands down the sides of his face. “God, I don’t want to leave my baby girl,” he said, his eyes pleading.

  “You sure as hell ain’t taking her with you. Not unless you want to die trying,” she said evenly.

  “I’m not going to argue with you tonight, Shae. Both of us have probably already said too much in anger,” he said tiredly. “I guess we’ll decide on visitation once I get settled wherever I’ll be living.”

  “I don’t want my daughter around that home-wrecking, white bitch,” Shae snarled.

  “She’s my daughter too, and even though you’re mad right now, you know I wouldn’t have her around anyone who would harm her. You know that. So stop tripping.”

  “Whatever Larry. Just get your shit and go. I’m tired of looking at your sorry face.” She stalked into the bathroom and slammed the door.

  Larry shook his head, sighed deeply, picked up his suits and left. He stopped by Imani’s room to give her a kiss on the cheek. Lying in her crib, she looked like a little sleeping angel. It hurt him to his heart to walk away from his daughter, but he had to. He needed to be in an environment where a man got treated like a man.

  Shae made sure Larry was gone before she came out the bathroom. Her eyes were glossy and red-rimmed from crying. The last thing she wanted was for him to see her broken. She’d get through the days ahead. It would be hard, but she’d make it through. She was a strong black woman.

  She’d been deserted by her father. She’d endured years of verbal and physical abuse from her mother. She’d survived being raped by Dana. She’d gotten stabbed and had her face sliced. She’d been in a coma. Her mother got arrested for poisoning her brothers and grandmother. Her grandmother died. She lost custody of the twins while Toby took to the streets. She watched a man die. All of those things happened, and, she didn’t break.

  But there was only so much one person could endure. Losing Larry was just too much for her to bear. It hurt her when she thought she’d lost him once before. However, at that time they hadn’t been married.

  How could he just walk away from their marriage? Leave the home that they’d built together? How could he leave his child? Most of all, how could he leave her?

  She plopped down on the bed, feeling total despair. She couldn’t stop the sobs that escaped her. She cried like her heart had been ripped out.

  * * *

  I know she’s upset, but she’s still shutting me out. That’s the reason we’re breaking up now,” Larry thought. Why can’t she see that?

  Larry was in a hotel room thinking about how his marriage had fallen apart. His first inclination was to run to Danielle so that she could lick his wounds. He knew that it was his male pride that was hurting because Shae had snubbed him when he’d tried to talk to her.

  When Shae got all ice cold and pushed him away, it hurt like hell. He should have told her how he felt instead of keeping it all bottled up inside. Instead, he’d confided in someone else.

  Danielle had been so friendly and so easy to talk to. It hadn’t been long before they were taking lunch breaks together. During those times, Larry told her all of his business. Danielle took it all in and seemed to be so sympathetic and understanding.

  Before he’d done anything physical with Danielle, he’d become emotionally involved with her. He’d heard somewhere that emotional cheating was worst than the physical act.

  Now, he didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hook up with Danielle so soon after separating from his wife. He would just lay low for a few days and see if there was any change in Shae’s attitude. It was unfair of her to expect him to hang around and just accept the way she treated him. He guessed she wanted him to slink around her like some mangy dog, lapping at her feet. Why? So she could kick him and send him scurrying into a corner with his tail tucked between his legs.

  His thoughts turned to his daughter. He already missed her. That was his heart. He would die if anything happened to her. He knew without a doubt that Imani would not be affected by whatever decision they made. She was always going to be daddy’s little girl, and nobody could take that away from him.

  His cell rang. Deep in his heart, he was hoping it was Shae calling to ask him to come back home. However, it was Danielle. He tried to hide his disappointment when he answered.

  Chapter Twelve

  Della could mope in the darkness forever, or she could take control of her life. She didn’t want to go out in public for fear of someone mentioning the tape. If somebody tried her, she’d lose it and bust a bitch in the head with a bottle. The last thing she wanted was to end up incarcerated. Wearing an ugly orange jumpsuit didn’t appeal to her.

  She had to dispel negative thinking and find a way to take her power back. She couldn’t get justice hiding away in her bedroom. Determination propelled her out of the house.

  Della found everything she needed at a pawnshop. If the sales person thought she looked strange in her all-black attire, black painted nails and black lipstick, he said nothing. He just gave her the necessary paperwork to complete for a background check. In the state of Florida, a gun permit wasn’t required.

  “There’s a 72-hour waiting period. But, come back in about four days to be on the safe side,” he told her.

  She didn’t mind waiting. She would abide her time and pounce at the right opportunity. Three days was sufficient to find out where that snake Lester had crawled. Every dog had its day, and Lester damn sure had his.

  She eyed some Taser guns in a glass case.

  “Do I have to wait to get one of those?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “I’ll take one,” she told the clerk. His brow rose when she gave him an evil grin. He still said nothing, rang up the stun gun, and placed it in a plastic bag. Satisfied with her purchase, Della strutted out the store, happier than she was when she’d entered.

  * * *

  The right opportunity came four nights later. Della went to the Mini Club on 34th Street and 5th Avenue North. She heard from a few people in the hood that it was Lester’s new hang out. Maybe he thought he could escape her wrath forever by hanging on the north side of town; he’d better think again.

  The club was small. Upscale, it was not. A few patrons shot pool off to the side on a lop-sided pool table. Others sat at rickety tables, engaged in conversations, eating hot wings and greasy fries, or drinking.

  An elderly man in a very colorful jacket danced alone on the dance floor. His movements didn’t match the beat of JayZ’s Big Pimpin’. He was obviously dancing to an oldies tune in his head, moving like he was on Soul Train. He had the audacity to still sport a Jheri curl.

  When Della spotted Lester sitting at the bar, she swallowed down her rage. His polyester suit wearing ass swore he had game. A bitch with fake hair was hugged up on him. Her smile showed big teeth with black and pink gums, a sure sign of gingivitis. Della approached and pushed her to the side.

  “Hey, what’s your problem?” the lady asked, irritated.

  “Bitch, take a walk,” Della commanded.

  “What if I don’t want to?” She glared at Della with attitude, not wanting to leave the side of the man who was supplying her with free drinks.

  “What if I beat your ass?”

  The lady flung her fake hair and huffed. “Whatever, bitch!” She gave Della the once over and decided that fighting her wasn’t worth the time. She stalked across the room where she attached herself to another poor pimp. She had high hopes of getting some man to pay her electric bill.

  Della slid onto the barstool beside Lester. He glanced her way then did a double-take. Instantly, his hand holding the glass of Hennessy began to shake. Della pretended not to notice his discomfort. It proved what she already knew, that he was guilty as sin. She instinctively knew that he’d been the one t
o slip something in her drink that night. That gap toothed bastard would be sorry.

  “Hey Lester? What’s up?” she purred, leaning close to him. He smelled like stale Black and Mild cigars and inexpensive cologne. She resisted the urge to gag.

  “Nothing much. What’s good with you?” he asked, gulping back his drink and ordering another one.

  “I sure could use a drink,” she hinted and he alerted the bartender to pour another one. “So, what are your plans for tonight, Les?” she asked, sipping the drink that the bartender placed in front of her on a napkin.

  “I haven’t made any. You know me, I’m down with whatever,” he said.

  “Yeah. You’re down with whatever. That’s what I like about you,” she lied. “What do you think about hooking up after we leave here?” She made sure to suck on the straw and lick it teasingly with her tongue as she spoke.

  Lester’s eyes bugged out. Della had never given him the time of day. She acted like she was too good for the likes of him. That’s why it had been easy for him to set her up. Now, here she was showing him some interest. He couldn’t believe his luck.

  “You mean you and me?” he asked, to be sure.

  “Yes. I heard that you joined the 12-Inch Brother Club. I had no idea you were slanging like that, Lester.” She gave him a sly smile and a wink. The sucker fell for it. Men like Lester loved to have their egos stroked. Lester was vain enough to think he was the shit.

  Lester let his guard down and loosened up. He smirked. “Yeah, I got it like that. I was blessed in the groin area. I got dick for days.”

  Della reached over, placed her hand on his crotch and squeezed. “I just bet. I sure would like to lick you like a lollipop,” she purred. “Would you like that?” She nibbled on his earlobe and stuck the tip of her tongue inside his ear. She whispered what she wanted to do to him. She felt his dick harden in her hand.