Skull Island

by T. Styles

  “You gotta trust me,” he smiled. “Nikki not gonna like this shit. So she got to come back to you.”

  Suddenly, from a far, Nikki could be seen walking toward the building with her twelve-year-old cousin Elena. Although they were almost the same age, Nikki and her aunt took care of her since her other aunt was on drugs. Nikki coming to the building wasn’t a big deal, since she lived there too, but that didn’t stop Blakeslee’s heart from pulsing every time she saw her walk up.

  Mason grinned. “Go sit with Cora. Real close and shit.”

  “Why?”

  “Just go!”

  Blakeslee walked away with her head down and plopped on the cool stoop next to Cora just as Nikki approached the fence. When she saw Blakeslee with her arm around Cora’s shoulder she paused. “Elena, go in the house.”

  “But I wanna stay out too.”

  “Elena, go! It’s too cold out here. Don’t want you getting sick.”

  Elena trudged up the steps and past Cora and Blakeslee as she entered the building.

  Staring at Blakeslee and Cora who appeared to be heavy in conversation and ignoring her, Nikki moved closer to Mason. “Who, who is that girl?”

  Mason shrugged. “A friend…why?”

  “How come I never saw her before?” She squinted to see how pretty she was from the distance. She deemed she was alright.

  “You don’t know everybody we cool with, Nik.”

  Nikki rolled her eyes and walked up to the duo. She would find out herself what was going on. “Blake, can I talk to you for a second? In private?”

  “Why you wanna talk to him for?” Cora interrupted, a mouth full of food. “He with me now.”

  “Him?” Nikki said to herself. Although Blakeslee was doing a better job moving like a boy, she was a long way from being masculine, especially since her hair was still long.

  “Blakeslee, please. Can we talk?”

  Blakeslee was no match for Nikki’s begging and she knew it. As hard as she was going she was bound to relent. Sighing, she stood up and walked into the building, with Nikki on her heels. “What’s up?” She shrugged. “I was busy.”

  The moment the door closed Nikki cried in her arms. It was cool outside so she immediately felt the rush of her warm body against her own. This was intense. Blakeslee’s heart jumped as she pulled her closer. They hadn’t been this tight in forever so she felt woozy. “What’s…what’s wrong, Nikki?”

  Nikki separated from her and wiped her tears away. Her face was blushed red with stress. “I broke up with Hector.”

  Blakeslee’s eyes widened. “W…what…why?”

  “Because he was cheating on me again. This time with Amanda. One of my friends.” She shook her head. “I feel so stupid, Blakeslee. I feel like I knew he wasn’t no good but still I kept taking him back.”

  Blakeslee moved closer and inhaled the mint of her breath. “You not stupid. He’s the dumb one for doing you that way.” She grabbed her hand and led her to the bottom step inside the building where they sat down. “I’m sorry that he hurt you. Again. But you’ll get back with—”

  “I’m never getting back with him!” She yelled cutting her off. “Ever.” She sniffled. “And I know I’ve said that before but this time I’m serious. He doesn’t care about me. He doesn’t even like me. So why should I keep—”

  The door open and Cora appeared, interrupting their chit-chat. She scratched her sweaty underarm under her coat and sniffed her fingers. “You coming back outside, Blakeslee?”

  “Give me a second,” Blakeslee responded.

  “Why you friends with her when she treat you so bad? She’s—”

  “I’m talking right now, Cora!” Blakeslee yelled.

  Defeated, Cora slowly shut the door, looking at them the entire time, until the shut frame blocked her view. “You, you like her?”

  Blakeslee shuffled a little on the step. “She cool.”

  Nikki exhaled. Feelings demolished. “Can you hang out with me today? Maybe, maybe we can order some food. I got some money from Hector. Didn’t spend it all. I can use it on you if you want.” Her eyes begged for attention.

  “Why though? I mean, you can be friends with anybody else. Why you wanna spend time with me?”

  “Because I miss you.”

  That was all Blakeslee needed to hear.

  For the next month, the two never left each other’s sides. And although their relationship remained platonic, the bond grew thicker with time. Nikki finally realized how much she needed her in her life, and Blakeslee was on cloud nine just being in her presence. They finished each other’s sentences without trying. Told each other scary stories in the basement of their building and screamed in fear. Walked to and from school together and when Hector tried to talk to Nikki, it was Blakeslee who blocked his way with a firm hand to his chest.

  At the end of the day they just worked.

  But that didn’t mean everyone was happy about the reunion.

  Once again, Mason had been outcast and it hurt. In the past, it was the three of them but Blakeslee was careful with the time she shared with Nikki now, afraid that he would do or say the wrong thing, which would push her relationship with Nikki backwards when she was making strides forward.

  Nah.

  Plans of their trio were over to hear Blakeslee tell it.

  It was now all about Nikki.

  One day in particular things came to a head when Mason walked into the carry out only to see the two sharing a steak and cheese without him. Since Blakeslee never had money, he knew Nikki had foot the bill, which Mason had always took pride in doing. If Mason couldn’t use his money, who was he to Blakeslee?

  More importantly, how could he control her?

  Instead of confronting them, and saying how much he missed Blakeslee, he exited; never making it known he was there.

  “How are you?” Blakeslee asked, speaking from her heart as they continued to eat. “You seem kinda quiet lately.”

  “You mean about Hector?” Nikki said.

  She shrugged. “Yeah, kinda.”

  “I don’t care no more.” Her mouth said the perfect words but her body mechanics whispered ‘lies’. “I mean, he always get upset whenever we come here but he shouldn’t have been cheating. It ain’t my fault he—”

  “Always?” Blakeslee stopped chewing. A pile of sub lie dead on her tongue like a ball of concrete. “You, you still talk to him?”

  “Why you say that?”

  “I mean, we only started coming here after ya’ll broke up. So how he know about what we do now?” She grabbed a napkin and spit the food inside, unable to take anything more on her new sour stomach.

  “Blakeslee, you and me are just friends,” she said softly. “So I don’t wanna spend time talking about him. Okay?”

  Just friends. Just friends. Just friends.

  Blakeslee chanted the words repeatedly in her mind, trying to find the underlying meaning. If she took her sentence at face value, understanding her words would be simple.

  Nikki wasn’t interested in anything but friendship.

  And that shit hurt.

  The next day, after getting out of school for a half day, Blakeslee was eager to get back home. Besides, she had big plans with Nikki that they talked about all week. It would start with watching MTV videos in her apartment, and end with watching scary movies over pizza and coke. Blakeslee even stole a five-dollar bill from her father while he slept, not wanting Nikki to always pay for their play dates.

  But why did time move so slowly?

  As she sat in class, she literally counted the minutes on the clock until she could see Nikki's face. And then it happened. When the bell rang she jumped from her desk, knocking her seat on the floor in the process. Totally ignoring her teacher’s demands to pick it up, when she ran into Nikki in the hallway, the expression on her face gave her chills.

  Something was off.

  Walking up to her, Blakeslee shivered. “Nikki, what’s, what’s wrong?”

  “I g
ot back with Hector.”

  Blakeslee stumbled backwards. “But…but…he hurt you. He made you cry and you promised, promised to never get back with him. You told me that. Don’t you remember? Don’t you remember saying that to me?”

  Nikki looked down and when her hunched over shoulders caused the jacket she was holding in her arms to hit the floor, Blakeslee saw that it was Hector’s. That meant they were together-together. “I know. And I’m sorry.” She picked up the jacket. “But I gotta live my own life.”

  “You said he embarrassed you by sitting at lunch with the girl and—”

  “I know but—”

  “But what?!” Blakeslee yelled, her light skin reddening. All of a sudden the other kids who were so eager to leave the building, now crowded around to see what caused the fuss. “You cried for a whole week, Nikki. Don’t let him trick you.” She stepped closer. “Please.”

  “I’m sorry. I really am. But even if you and me were to be together, it would never last. You a girl. Just like me and that’s gross.” She kissed her on the cheek and walked away.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Whoyawanmetabe took liberties to light the fireplace in Banks’ lounge. Whether he did it to relax the man who he called a meeting with, or to irritate him, was of no consequence to Banks.

  Mr. Wales hated his guts.

  Whoyawanmetabe sat on the left end of the sofa, stirring his whiskey via soft ice rocks in the glass. There was one cameraman in the corner, but most were out and about with other family members.

  Annoyed, Banks walked into the room and took his position opposite of him in a recliner.

  “I’m happy you agreed to talk to me.” Whoyawanmetabe tilted his glass to his lips, allowing the alcohol to coat his tongue. “I know tensions are high so this means a lot to my cause.”

  Banks poured himself a drink and took a deep breath. “You have us where you want.” He took a sip and sat back, allowing the soft leather to take shape of his body. “I don’t see it as having much of a choice. Still, until you get what you want its best to be cordial.” He raised his glass once.

  The truth was, Banks had been faking not being available because he was afraid to have conversations alone with him. He believed that he was dead set on twisting an already destroyed relationship with Mason, which would ultimately cause Mason to make rash moves again.

  Resulting in another person getting hurt.

  “You know, as much as I look at you and I have looked at you long and hard. Both in passing and on the footage, I—”

  “So you do review the recordings.”

  “Sometimes.” He shrugged. “But what I find interesting is that I don’t see the femininity in anything you do.”

  Banks’ jaw twitched but he realized what he was doing. Trying to bait him. “Why would you? I’m all man.”

  Whoyawanmetabe offered a half smile that only rose on the right side of his face. “Maybe. In your eyes.” He took another sip. “Banks, as you know everything we do in life comes with a choice. You ignored my request to talk in the past and then well, you know the rest. The house came undone and bad decisions were made. People died. That makes part of this your fault.”

  Banks rested his ankle on his knee. “What will happen now?”

  “Hurt people, hurt people.”

  Banks chuckled once. “I don’t think Maya Angelou meant it like that.”

  “Impressed. You read.”

  Banks’ jaw twitched again. He was definitely well read. So he was tiring of the witty banter. “I’m here now. So what do you want with me?”

  “I want to know what’s happening with you and Mason.”

  The cameraman moved closer and Banks readjusted. “What you wanna hear?”

  “The truth.”

  Banks took a deep breath. “If I’m being honest—”

  “Please.”

  “If I’m being honest,” Banks started again, “I’d say he’s responsible for single handedly ruining my life. Has been doing this since we were kids. Always out of control, always making brash moves.”

  Whoyawanmetabe smiled. “Continue…please.”

  “I always felt like, like, I was somehow trying to protect him from himself, even if he thought he was protecting me instead.” He placed the glass down on the table and rose. “You don’t know how it feels to care about somebody so much but at the same time don’t want to be around them. That’s Mason. My reasons for not wanting his company have nothing to do with our past but everything to do with his erratic behavior.”

  Whoyawanmetabe leaned forward. “I can imagine how you feel.”

  “Can you?” Banks responded staring down at him. “This, this thing that Mason and I have together, whatever it is, is a gift and a curse. On one hand, I know no matter what happens in the world, its him and me. And on the other hand I know that no matter what happens fucked up in the world, it’s him and me. We mixed in no matter what and I’m fucking tired! I want to be free of him for good.” He clenched his teeth. “I want it to end and I’m starting not to care how it happens as long as it does.”

  Whoyawanmetabe smiled, as if he was preparing to eat a big juicy steak. “Have you talked to him? About how you feel?”

  “We been at each other for over a year now. So much has happened that it ain’t a lot of time left for talking about a nigga’s feelings. We may have done that once we got to the island but you were here.”

  He took another seat. “Do you love him?”

  Banks glared. “You enjoy disrespecting me don’t you?”

  “Why do you find the truth disrespectful? Why do you hide what’s inside, with what’s outside? You definitely look like a man but in the end you’ll learn that it never works. And as far as Mason goes, you two are in love.”

  “You think you’re smarter than you are.”

  “I’m rather intelligent.”

  “Are you?” Banks asked with a smile. “Because things don’t always go as planned. You could make a wrong move.”

  “You know where threatening me got Mason. Do you really want to go there now?”

  The cameraman lowered his device and touched the gun hump on his hip.

  Banks cut his eyes toward the goon then back to Whoyawanmetabe. “Look at where we are.” He raised his arms and dropped them at his sides. “I bought this place to live out my dreams with my family. Had it all planned out. And in the end I fucked up. I didn’t consider people using my island as a prison to hold my family and myself hostage. And now look? I’m begging you for an escape.”

  “What ya’ll in here talking about?” Mason asked walking through the door.

  Banks knew the only reason he was there was to get liquor, which lately had been his pastime.

  Whoyawanmetabe smiled and rose from the sofa. “Nothing that will interest you. He’s too busy hiding the truth as usual.” Whoyawanmetabe nodded at them both and walked out.

  The cameraman remained.

  “So you’re friends with him now?” Mason walked over to the bar.

  “Friendship doesn’t interest me anymore.” Banks sat down.

  Mason chuckled once and poured himself a mixture of white and brown. Liquid death. “You say that now but that ain’t what it look like.”

  “What do you want?” Banks crossed his arms over his chest.

  Mason flopped on the opposite end of the sofa from him. “I wanna know why you in here talking to this mothafucka after he had my son killed? I wanna know why he so busy trying to hold a conversation with you without me?”

  “You gotta ask him.”

  “But I’m asking you instead.”

  Banks smiled and shook his head. Mason was like a kid who liked to argue but worse. “I ain’t got time for this shit, punk.” Banks rose and moved toward the door. “Go somewhere else with that shit.”

  But Mason was still in his feelings. Placing his drink on the table he rushed over to him, yanking him by the wrist. “I’m talking to you!”

  Banks turned around and shoved him with full pa
lms to the chest. “Get the fuck back.”

  And so, Mason saw black.

  Grabbing Banks with both hands, he knocked him against the side of the door. When Banks was down, Mason hit him in the face with a hard right. Still enraged, he crawled on top of him and hit him repeatedly in the face, as if trying to destroy his good looks.

  Having a few inches over Mason, Banks did his best to block his blows but Mason’s rage was relentless. In all the time they’d known each other, Mason never once dreamed of beating his best friend.

  And yet there he was, welling on Banks as if he was a stranger on the street. He hated him for the past. He hated him for the present. And he hated him for the future he was certain would no longer include him.

  The blows grew so violent that the cameraman dropped his gadget and ran to get help. It took four able bodied men to pull him off of Banks, who at this point was passed out, on the floor, in his own blood.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Bet sat on the side of the bed, over Banks, dabbing his battered face with alcohol drenched cotton balls. Each time she tapped a bruise, a lightning rod of agony shot coursed through his skin. “Bet,” he groaned. “Be easy.”

  “I’m sorry,” she tried to be a bit more careful as she tapped the next swollen nodule. “I know it hurts.”

  He sighed. “I’ll be ‘aight.”

  She shook her head and tossed a bloody cotton ball on the bed. “You always keep it together. How do you, how do you do that? I mean look at you. You’re too red to be getting beat down like this. He could’ve killed you.”

  Banks touched one of the biggest knots on his forehead and moaned. “Falling apart never helped anything so why should I start now? Besides, the damage is done and now I have to deal with it.”

  “You know Mason well. What did you say to cause this much rage?”

  “It’s fine.”