Smiling at the thought I paused, trying to remember what the hell name I saved him under. When I realized I was past the Bs my heart stopped and restarted itself. I cursed so loud the people on the street probably heard my ass. This wasn’t my phone. Angelo’s dumb ass picked up my phone by accident on his way out. Why did we have to have the same exact fucking model? I gulped down the drink in my hand. When that ain’t make me feel any better I launched the empty glass against the wall.
He never left out this late at night, and he never mentioned a meeting with no damn woman. Cheatin’-ass motherfucka. We could have gotten a third wheel if he wanted to play. I’d done a couple girl-on-girl strip parties back in the day. It’d been nothin’ to get a cute plaything for a few nights; hell, it’d take some of the boring sex stress off me. But this . . . this mistress shit wasn’t happenin’, not on my watch.
Even though you was ready to let Big get it, that’s ironic. Karma maybe?
No, Angelo was fuckin’ with the wrong one.
Chapter 4
Warm Kitty, Soft Kitty, Little Ball of Fur . . .
The house had been buzzing with activity and the last officer had finally come and gone. Trey was upstairs in my bed. He’d finally worn himself out crying over not being able to keep that damn cat. I’d have to go find him a puppy or a goldfish as soon as possible to make up for it. The chance of that thing being microchipped with a tracker or something crazy was too much of a risk. It was almost four in the morning and Towanna was about as frazzled as I was, if not more so.
“Towanna, you gonna be okay?” I approached her timidly. She was sitting in the darkened kitchen, nursing a drink. She rarely drank but you’d never know that from looking at the half-empty vodka bottles on the table.
“Fuck if I know. Been in damn near twelve years and I ain’t never lost a partner before.”
She wouldn’t even look at me and it made me feel a hundred times worse. I’d forewarned her about taking us in. Death and danger had been my damn best friends these last few years.
“What’s in the glass?” I nodded, trying to move to something lighter since I was too choked up to apologize for her loss and too stressed to think of more to say.
“Pixy Stix. Cherry, grape, and watermelon. Three Olives. One and some change parts each.”
“Damn, that sounds a little too potent for me; can I just tap one of your bottles?”
She scooted one toward me and I tipped it to my lips, frowning and gasping because that mess tasted like straight-up Robitussin.
“You such a fuckin’ lightweight. Go get ya ass one of the kids’ juice boxes out the got-damn fridge. Wastin’ my shit,” she growled, snatching the bottle right out of my hand.
“The hell I am; you just an angry-ass somebody when you drink.” I snatched the bottle back, ready to smack her ass with it one good time if she kept this bullshit up. Her anger set off my own temper and I went from sad to furious in a heartbeat. “You can’t hold this shit against me, Towanna. Yes . . . I’m sorry about your partner, I really am. But don’t you go turning into no asshole over something you volunteered for. I ain’t come to you for help, you came to me.” I scowled at her and took a long swig. Visions of glass shattering all up the side of her head made me feel a little better as I imagined using it to literally knock some sense into her. How dare she cop that kind of attitude with me?
“Michelle, why you gotta be so damn selfish and shit?” Towanna sprang up out of her seat. Her hands were fisted at her sides and I gripped that bottle ready to go to war. Everybody handles death and alcohol differently and in my opinion she wasn’t handling either one well.
She was fast. Even intoxicated she managed to lash out and get the upper hand. The heffa moved with Bruce Leroy–esque lightning speed. The bottle was wrestled from my fingers before I could even raise it. She was also stronger than I imagined. A picture of me in the emergency room trying to explain two broken wrists flashed through my head as she bent my wrists back in a painful vise grip, wrapping her arms around me, pinning my arms behind my back. Tears welled up in the corners of my eyes from the pain.
“I risked my life and Ennis gave his!” she yelled in my face, spraying tiny speckles of Pixy Stix–scented spit onto my skin.
“Really, you think I don’t know that shit. Let me the fuck go, Towanna. You have a right to be upset, but you need to shut up. The officer they’ve got posted outside might hear you and you’re gonna wake up the kids,” I replied quietly, setting my own anger aside to give her a wide-eyed look of warning.
Towanna didn’t pay me any mind; she just replied in outrage, “You think you the only one with kids? What about Ennis’s kids?” She shook me, her face twisted in anger before pulling me into a tight python death squeeze of a hug. “Man, you so damn selfish. He could have kept that kitten. You can’t even see when someone in love with your ass. When someone would do anything for you, risk they life for you and your kids.” Towanna’s voice had transformed into a warm whisper against the side of my neck.
Her grip loosened on my wrists but she kept my arms pinned behind me. My breath caught in my chest. I struggled to wrap my angry mind around her avalanche of words and feelings.
Just keep piling it on there, buddy. I already feel like shit about Ennis and now we’re gonna add love into the equation, too.
“Towanna, you don’t even know me well enough to be in love. If so then you’d know my auntie had a black cat named Lucky that tormented the hell out of me when I was little. He could open doors and everything, would pee on me when I was asleep. I hate cats. My favorite color is sky blue. And I like girly drinks that make me feel pretty when I say them: Bellini, Tequila Sunrise, piña colada . . .”
The liquor, the drama, her closeness were all overwhelming. How was I even supposed to respond to something like that? Who the hell dropped a love confession in the middle of an argument? Confused and tired I dropped my head onto her shoulder for lack of anything else to say. I wasn’t ready to think about love or talk about love. When the time was right I just wanted to fall and have them fall right back.
Larissa could barely reach my neck unless she was standing on something or I was sitting down. Those were my exact thoughts as surprisingly soft lips brushed against the side of my neck.
You can’t cheat on the dead right? Then why did this feel so wrong?
Her fingers massaged my wrists in the places that she’d most likely bruised. I was still a little pissed off, and scared, definitely frustrated beyond reason.
I shook my head against her shoulder. “Pin them back like you had them and bite my neck.”
Maybe it won’t feel like cheating or I won’t feel as bad if it hurts.
My breath hissed from in between my teeth as she did as directed. I closed my eyes, the world went spinning, and I let myself enjoy that sinfully erotic feeling that comes with a little bit of pain. When she alternated sides I moaned and bit her back, smiling against her neck when she gasped in shock. Towanna leaned back and looked at me, surprised at my brazenness.
Yes, sweetheart, momma can get rough too. Don’t let the look fool you.
My expression was guarded but my thoughts were X-rated. She was so close I could see the light dusting of freckles along her cheeks, and the copper flecks in her eyes. I made the mistake of letting my gaze drop down to her lips. I had the worst weakness for some pretty-ass lips.
Completely giving up and giving in, I kissed her. She tasted like plums and Pixy Stix, and if I wasn’t tipsy yet her lips were getting me the rest of the way.
“Fuck all the misery out of me.” I actually moaned that into her lips. I didn’t mean to say it. That wonderful thought bubble slipped out of my head and hung in between us like a fog cloud.
I might as well have said “abracadabra.” No sooner had the words left my mouth, than my robe came off, her belt buckle clinked, and our clothes vanished.
She sat down in one of the wooden kitchen chairs, pulling me down to straddle her lap. We both giggled when it t
eetered under our weight. The legs were uneven thanks to Trey’s handiness. He’d taken all the screws out of the thing one day when he was supposed to be taking a nap. I’d put it back together but it just wasn’t exactly the same after that.
The giggling stopped when Towanna’s lips made a journey from my earlobe down my neck. She blazed a hiking trail with her tongue. Goose bumps rose like the tiny marks hikers leave on trees. If she lost her way in the dark she could always follow the trail back to my lips. I couldn’t stay still, and I damn sure couldn’t be quiet. Parts of me were waking up that had been lying dormant for months. She went from my neck to my nipples as her hand slid down in between us.
Fuck, when was the last time I shaved? She’s probably gonna think I’m some kind of hippie cavewoman.
“Mommy?”
The sound of Trey’s voice snuffed all of the flames in a small whisper of cold water. Thankfully the power was still out so the kitchen was dark. I got dressed with lightning speed and snatched up my robe before scooping him up, heading toward my room.
“What’s the matter, baby?” We were almost fully up the stairwell.
He was already dozing off on my shoulder. His voice was quiet and groggy from sleep. “I woke up an’ you were gone. Da man in my room said go find you.”
My foot slipped and I almost missed a step. Fear shot through my chest, stopping me like a brick wall. “Trey? Baby, were you having a dream?” I whispered shakily next to his ear as I stood frozen in place one step away from the landing.
“No,” he whispered, shaking his head into my neck.
A chill ran down my spine and my ears rang from straining against the silence in the house. Warning bells chimed in my head. In those seconds it felt like I was torn in half.
Get Lataya or go get Towanna? Pull the gun out of my robe pocket or leave it concealed just in case?
Something rustled at the bottom of the stairs and I turned slightly, thankful Towanna had pulled it together. The warning was on the tip of my tongue when those warning bells jumped out of my head and manifested in front of me.
“Snowball.” Trey squirmed, suddenly wide awake as we both laid eyes on the kitten. It tiptoed out of the shadows of my bedroom, and instinctively I backed down a step. We’d sent that cat off with the cops. There was no way it could have gotten into the house. The blue ribbon had been replaced with a small golden bell attached to a red collar. It jingled softly but in my mind it was as loud as bells ringing from a church tower.
“Towan—”
I called for help but it was too late. Pain exploded in the back of my head and the world lit up in a burst of bright flashes before everything went dark.
Chapter 5
Houdini Who?
“Chelle? Michelle . . .”
Towanna’s voice was a faint murmur against the jackhammer trying to crack through my skull as I came to. Something, a pillowcase maybe, was thrown over my head. Panic flooded back over me. My hands were tied together behind me and from the sting in my ankles my feet were bound too.
“Did you see who did this? Where are they and where are the kids? Please don’t tell me they got the kids,” I whispered anxiously into the darkness.
“Don’t know. Someone must have come up behind me right after you left. One sec I’m watching you walk away, man, and then it was dark and shit. I heard voices earlier, been quiet for a minute though.”
“If they hurt my babies I swear . . .” My words were cut off by the tortured wail building up in my throat. I groaned as an alternative to screaming my frustration.
“You been out for a good while. I started countin’ when I heard the front door close. 1,320 seconds. That’s about twenty-somethin’ minutes right? ”
I waited for her to say more, and when she didn’t, I prepared myself for the worst. No one would go through this much trouble just to tie us up and leave. Trey was in my arms what seemed like moments ago and now this.
“Michelle, I need you to stay calm okay?”
“Towanna, am I not sittin’ here calmly right now? You ever seen a woman get assaulted, wake up with a sack over her head, kids MIA and be as fuckin’ calm as I am right now?” I’d been clenching my teeth and fightin’ one hell of a headache. The harder my heart beat the more it hurt.
“No, see, I kind of overheard some shit. They was whisperin’ about you comin’ up off some drug money you stole or somethin’ like that. Man, I think the plan is to hold the kids and ask for a ransom.”
Did she just say stolen money and ransom in the same sentence? I ain’t steal a dime of what I took from Rah. That was my money; hell most of it was even in my name. I worked, cried, and bled for that money.
“There wasn’t no drug money. I don’t know where they would have gotten that info from.”
She sighed from somewhere beside me and I could tell she was frustrated and probably more scared than I was. Her partner had already given his life and she was probably worrying about following in his footsteps.
“Shit, Michelle, man. If there ain’t any money you’re . . . we’re gonna have to come up with something. I can’t do this by myself, yo. Think about it, is there anywhere that nigga might have hid the money?” She sounded frazzled and on the verge of panicking.
“No, not that I can think of. I’ve got my own money. I can pay damn near whatever they ask.”
I sure won’t about to tell her what I’d done. Those grimy little details went to the grave with Larissa and Rah, and I wasn’t about to unbury them for anyone. Not even Towanna.
She got quiet for a minute, so quiet that I thought she might have passed out or died on me.
“You hurt? You are okay right? I didn’t even think to ask you earlier. I’m just so worried about my babies. I’m sorry.” Speaking into the pitch black, not being able to see her reaction or condition, felt awkward as hell.
“It’s cool, I understand. Think I’m still tipsy and that knock upside the head ain’t help. Everything’s catchin’ up with me. Gonna close my eyes for a sec.”
“You can’t go to sleep. What if you have a concussion? You might not wake up. They might come back any second and—”
“And, I ain’t gonna be any good if I’m tired. Just too much adrenaline for one day, man. Count to a thousand and then whisper or something. That’ll wake me up.”
I’d started to tell her again that sleep wasn’t a good idea but she had a point. If we couldn’t do anything at the moment, she could at least get some rest. Straining against the silence I contended with counting the beeps from the alarm system every sixty seconds. Somewhere around 319, the front door opened.
“Oh shit, Towanna, I think they’re back.”
My heart was in my throat and I squeezed my eyes shut to block out the feeling of helplessness. There was a presence beside me. I could feel it there staring down at me. It didn’t make a sound and I felt lightheaded from holding my breath listening. The air around me shifted and I could tell it’d moved away. The beeping from the alarm system felt like sonar. It pinged crystal clear and whenever the person moved in front of me the sound was deadened just slightly.
If they gonna kill me let ’em do it and get it over with. All this waiting was pissing me off just as much as it was scaring me.
“Hey, hey don’t fuckin’ touch me! Get your hands off me. I ain’t got nothin’ for you and neither does she.” Towanna’s shouts went silent with the sickening thud of something connecting with flesh.
Lord, let her be unconscious and not dead. This isn’t going to end this way; it can’t. Not after everything I’ve been through.
It was so still and quiet in the house. I couldn’t stop the scream that shot out of my throat as rough hands dug into my skin. The small metal buttons from my pajama top sounded like jacks as they scattered across the floor. It might as well have been ten degrees in the house from the way I was shaking. Air whooshed against my exposed skin as my shirt and robe were slid off my shoulders.
Is a gun on me right now? Stay calm, gotta stay c
alm. The worst they can do is hurt the kids. I can handle anything anyone does to me as long as they’re safe.
I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I tasted blood as my bottoms were yanked down to my ankles. Bracing myself, I waited for what I knew was coming.
These niggas won’t gettin’ the satisfaction of seeing or hearing me beg for mercy or my life. I’ll scream and cry in my head before I do it out loud. God, why couldn’t I just have a fair fight at least once in my life?
My chair was tilted back and I could hear the rustle of plastic being slid underneath me before I was lowered to the floor.
I could see the headlines in the papers already: MICHELLE LAURELFOUNDBRUTALLYRAPEDANDMURDEREDINPOLICEOFFICER’S KITCHEN. All the years I’d lived secretly fearing how or when I’d die. Wondering what day God stamped over my life like an expiration label. It wasn’t like in the movies. There’s no superhero or heroic neighbor who bursts in to save your ass at the last second. No bomb goes off and no fights break out. There’s no random act of kindness by your captor that suddenly sets you free. It’s all you, and for the first time through the entire ordeal I quietly cried.
Something feather soft brushed up against my cheek, sliding around my shoulders and across my back. There was a soft meow beside my ear and I knew they had Trey. Something moved along my feet in the plastic. They were teasing me with a damn kitten, really? I was hurled back into bed at my aunt’s, trapped staring up into Lucky’s demonic yellow-orange eyes while he sat on-top of my chest growling. The sound of plastic over my head had me waiting for a knife, gunshot, or the raping to start.
The air was starting to get stifling hot all around me and I thought I’d suffocate when I heard Trey’s voice beside me.
“Mommy, where is the money?” His little singsong voice made my chest heave.
Pinned beneath my own body weight, my arms began to throb and ache.
“Mommy, they don’t like closed bags.” Someone had to be coaching him. There was a click and I thanked God it was some kind of recording and he wasn’t there in person seeing me like this as the first question was played back for me. Shaking my head, I refused to answer. They might as well kill me now.
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