by J Peach
She continued apologizing as she clung to my arm as if not wanting to let go. It then dawned on me that she was drunk as well.
Rochelle grabbed my head and put it on her shoulder. “I’m never taking my eyes off you again. You’re never leaving my sights, I promise.” She hugged me tightly.
My eyes rolled, and I literally had to struggle to get out of her damn hold. “Rochelle, damn.” I snapped, mad that I had to wrestle to get out of her grasp. “Calm down, God. I’m alright. We’re good,” I assured her. Rochelle’s lip came out, forming into a pout, and she nodded. I just started laughing at her drunk ass. “You’re cut off for the night. You’re not drinking shit else.” Saying that seemed to kickstart her senses, and she rolled her eyes at me.
“I’m kid free. Bitch, I’m getting fucked up and taking home somebody’s son or daughter. If you’re sure you good, let’s go get a drink. You need something stronger than water. Hennessy! I’ll be back,” she exclaimed excitedly then walked off to the bar.
I simply shook my head as I watched her go.
I didn’t know what to say about Rochelle. That was the first time I had seen her drunk. Hell, then again, aside from having lunch with her, we never really hung out before. I now saw that the girl didn’t know how to control her liquor intake, apparently. She was simply all over the place.
“Yo’ girl needs to chill,” Nya stated, pointing to Rochelle, who was rubbing all over the guy she had been dancing with. “That nigga gonna keep feeding her ass drinks until she can’t do shit. The nigga looks like a damn creep for real. He gonna have to get from up here before Akil makes it here.” Nya’s head shook as she stared at Rochelle and the dude.
Mentally, I nodded, agreeing with Nya. Although the dude did help me out, he seemed to stay close to Rochelle. I hoped like hell he wouldn’t try no bullshit on her. Even so, I was definitely going to stay close to her, just in case.
“I’mma stay close to her just in case he does try her,” I told her, and she nodded. “I’ll let her know he has to get from up here.” I didn’t wait for a reply as I got up and headed to the bar. “Hey, you’re gonna have to go back downstairs before my girl’s husband comes back. He doesn’t like strange dudes hanging out up here, and I’m not trying to get anything started.”
“You’re coming down with us, right?” Rochelle asked.
“If you not gonna watch her, she’s not allowed to leave from up here. Nessa, you can look at me sideways all you wanna. But I’ll easily get on that phone and call yo’ nigga to let him know yo’ ass was just attacked, and you can deal with all that crazy on your own,” Titanya exclaimed with her cellphone out. “Look, I’m all for fun or whatnot, but when she became reckless, I’m not with that at all. Nessa, I get you wanna be a good friend and look out for your homegirl, but I’m not about to put her carelessness over your safety. You’ve already been hurt once, and if Jerome finds out about that, it’s gonna be a fuckin’ problem. All I’m saying is think smart, or I’ll do it for you and call Rome.”
She said it threateningly, which I didn’t understand. Why would Jerome snap off over something we couldn’t control? Then again, that was a dumb thought because it literally took nothing to set that damn man off.
“I hear you, and I’ll be alright. Plus, what is calling Jerome gonna do really? That man isn’t going to stop what he’s doing because I got hit over the head.” I didn’t see Jerome dropping everything he’s doing just to come to the club because I got bumped upside the head or for not listening to her, which wasn’t the case; I just didn’t want to leave Rochelle alone or cut her fun out because I got hurt.
“We’ll dance through a few songs and be back within twenty-thirty minutes. If I’m not back by then, you can drag my ass up here whether she’s done or not. Okay?” I bargained with Nya. I knew she was just trying to look out for me like I was doing with Rochelle. Even so, I just couldn’t turn my back on Rochelle and let her go off on her own because if something happened to her, I would blame myself for not being there for her.
Nya rolled her eyes. “Twenty minutes, Nessa, that’s it.”
“Come on, Chelly. We can dance through a few songs and come back up here,” I insisted, for Titanya and the twins’ benefit. I was going to be more careful and alert about who I danced with.
Rochelle grabbed my arm, and we walked to the lower level. Once we got to the dance floor, she seemed to have forgotten all about the dude who she was with as her entire focus seemed to be solely on me.
“Janessa, so you fuckin’ with bitches now?” Montrell yelled at me as he glared at Rochelle.
We had been having fun and dancing through several songs when we bumped into Montrell on the dance floor. He was all over some chick and seeming to be having a good ass time until he saw me. I was ready to go because I didn’t feel like arguing and fighting with him.
“Trell, don’t worry about what I’m doing. Go finish having fun with your girl.” I pointed to the female who had been grinding all on him. His best friend, Que, was beside him, looking irritated with Montrell.
“What’s up, Nessa,” he spoke, tossing up two fingers at me.
“Hey, Que,” I waved at him, feeling his frustration. “Can you get your homeboy? I don’t feel like doing this with him tonight.” I wasn’t about to be in a crowd of people arguing and fighting with that man.
“Let’s go, Nessa.” Rochelle’s hand tightened around mine. She too seemed pissed off.
“Bitch, if you touch her, I’ll knock yo’ ass the fuck out!” Trell yelled at Rochelle, pushing her back and jerking me out of her grasp.
I yanked my arm, trying to break free of his hold. “Montrell, let me the hell go! What the hell is wrong with you? We’re not together anymore, so leave me the fuck alone. Let go of me!” I yelled, pushing at him while trying to get free.
Montrell didn’t reply. Instead, he literally hoisted my ass up like I weighed nothing at all and hauled me off the floor. The thing that really blew me the most was that nobody bothered to intervene at all. Folks saw Trell dragging me off and did absolutely nothing.
“Man, Trell, we don’t have time for this bullshit. You can do this shit later. Right now, we got other shit to handle,” Que told him once we made it in the hallway.
“Que, shut the fuck up. I don’t give a fuck about that shit right now. Yo’ ass can go take care of that shit. You don’t fuckin’ need me holding yo’ gotdamn hand. Get the fuck on,” Montrell snapped at his best friend.
The murderous look that overtook Que’s face surprised me, and I hoped he was about to knock the shit out of Montrell, so I could get the hell away from him.
“Who the fuck you talking to, Trell? I ain’t this bitch. I’ll lay yo’ hoe ass out. You better find yo’ fuckin’ mind talking to me, or you gon’ lose that bitch behind this hoe,” he spat out before pushing the shit out of Montrell, making him stumble into the wall.
The action caused my body to jerk sideways because of Trell’s hold on me. Que didn’t say anything else as he walked out.
“Fuck you, Que,” he spat, glaring at his back while righting himself on his feet. His harsh stare then came to me, and he pulled me into the men’s bathroom. My eyes simply rolled as I stopped struggling to get away. “This how you really choosing to leave shit between us? And you out here fuckin’ with bitches now?”
I just threw my hands up. I didn’t know what to say to Trell. Nonetheless, I was so damn frustrated with him. I wanted to sympathize with him in the beginning because I knew he was truly hurting, but at that moment, I didn’t give a damn. I was so over his gotdamn antics. It was as if he wanted me to whine and cry with him, but how could I? It wasn’t like he was giving me a chance to miss anything about him. Although I wouldn’t.
“Everybody you see me talking to don’t mean I’m fuckin’ them, Montrell, damn. What I do and who I do it with isn’t your concern anymore. Leave me the fuck alone, please! You’re not even giving me a chance to miss shit about you, Montrell. You keep doing shit like this. Sh
owing your damn ass and embarrassing us. Everything is this way between us because of you, Trell, not me—”
“Bitch, you took everything from me in a fuckin’ night! I’m doing this shit because I want my fuckin’ family back, but yo’ ass can’t see that shit because you wanna be a fuckin’ hoe!” he yelled, getting in my face. My head turned, and I moved slightly back. “Yo’ ass tossed me to the fuckin’ streets once you got this damn job. Yo’ ass left me and took the fuckin’ kids. We were a mothafuckin’ family, Nessa, and you broke that shit up so you can hoe around at clubs.”
The seriousness behind his pissed off tone caused me to laugh. It was ironic how he was blaming everything on me. He didn’t voice his actions that set everything in motion.
“If you wanna blame me for breaking up our family, cool. But did yo’ ass think about ‘our’ fuckin’ ‘family’ when you was out there fuckin’ with Carrie? You know Carrie, right? The mother of your soon to be child. Nor had you thought about ‘our’ fuckin’ ‘family’ when you threw us—me and the kids that you’re crying about—out of our home and told us not to come back, or you would beat my ass. Are you thinking about any of the shit you’ve done to me these past several years that’s made me not want to be with you? No! You’re not, because what you’ve done don’t fuckin’ matter since you’ve apologized, right? That’s not how shit works, Montrell! We’re done! We’re not getting back together—”
The hard hit to the side of my face sent me into the wall. To my surprise, I wasn’t shocked by the action. Part of me was expecting it, actually.
“Shut the fuck up! I don’t wanna hear that bullshit! We ain’t fuckin’ done—”
Just like he had done, I hauled off and slapped the hell out of him with everything I had. The back of my hand connected to his mouth and cheek. The shock that showed on his face was immediate. He wasn’t expecting that.
“You’re going to be hitting me, Montrell. That shit is dead. I’m not your gotdamn punching bag. I’m sick and tired of this shit with you! God! You wanna sit back and blame me for everything, but all this, every single thing that has happened is your fault. I’m over this shit with you!”
Montrell wiped his bloody lip and started laughing. “The only way we’ll ever be over is if one of us is dead. You either kill me, or I’ll you. I don’t know about you, but I ain’t ready to die.” He spat on the floor as he pulled a gun from his waist. “Are you?” The question held so much menace behind it.
My breath got caught in my throat. I felt my lips moving, but not a sound left my mouth, making me speechless. My mind seemed to have stopped working as well. I didn’t know what to do or say. I was completely stuck and hopeless. No one was in the bathroom; we were alone. I was going to die on a cold bathroom floor.
“You shattered mine, so it’s only right that I break yours.” He cocked the gun and aimed it at my heart.
Sneak Peek of Part 3
Chapter 5
Unknown
Secret Admirer
Kicking the body out of the trunk and onto a platform cart, I released a deep breath before sliding out of the truck. The male was heavy as hell, so I couldn’t physically carry him to his dumping grave. It would’ve taken too much effort to do that, and I didn’t have a lot of time to spare. I had other things planned for the day.
Once I got to the side of the dumpster, I took out the machete and slit the man’s throat, then I stabbed it deep into his anus.
Flipping him over, I got a tight grip around his chest and then propped him up against the brick building. I picked that spot specifically because I wanted the man to be found within a day or two. Given trash pickup was in a couple days, this was the perfect site for him.
Stepping back, I smiled at the man’s blood splatted face. I watched as the blood ran from his eyes, mouth, nose, and now throat.
I felt no empathy for him. He was a punk-ass mothafucka who had death coming to him. He should’ve known better than to do what he had to Janessa. I couldn’t allow anyone to hurt her; I didn’t understand why anyone would. She was so sweet and caring. She was refreshing. How could anyone not fall in love with her?
I knew I did. I had fallen in love with her the moment we met.
The beeping on my phone alerted me that it was time to go. I had one more thing to do before I met with my lover.
After parking my truck in the garage, I went inside, going straight to the basement. “It’s about time yo’ punk ass woke up,” I spat, slapping the fuck out of the man I had tied to the chair.
“Ah! Shit!” he hollered out as he began to thrash around.
I punched him square in the mouth that time. “Shut the fuck up! Screaming like a fuckin’ bitch.” The back of my fist socked him in the jaw, causing his body to go sideways.
“Let me the fuck go!” he yelled.
“Nah, I don’t think I will. Quite frankly, I think I like you tied up. You don’t seem so… ballsy when you don’t have your hands. You actually seem kind of scared.” Laughing, I went to the black vanity, where I kept the little trinkets I had gotten from Janessa. Picking up a tube of red lipstick, I removed the top and rolled it up.
“Come on, please! Just tell me what you want. If it’s money you need, I got plenty of it. You can have whatever I got, just name it,” he pleaded with me.
“You sound so fuckin’ pathetic, begging like a whore.” A hard burst of laughter left my mouth, and I glanced over at the blindfolded man. “You’re begging me to let you go. Aren’t you the least bit curious as to why I took you in the first place?” Turning away from him, I stared at my reflection in the mirror, then smiled a little. Taking Janessa’s lipstick, I applied it to my lips. My eyes shifted to the captured photo that I had taken of her.
She was so gorgeous; I loved staring at her. She was such a beautiful soul, someone who was so vibrant with life. It was crazy how bad I craved her. How bad my body ached to possess hers. I had never in my years of living wanted a woman as bad as I yearned for Janessa.
“Aye! Yo!” the man continued to yell for my attention.
Growling, my eyes shot to him. “What the fuck do you want? I was having a gotdamn moment, which you fuckin’ interrupted. You better have a great fuckin’ reason for disturbing my thoughts. Otherwise, I’m going to bash your fuckin’ skull in.” Grabbing my hammer, I pushed myself away from the vanity and went over to him. “What?” I barked, raising my hammer.
I watched as his mouth opened then closed. “Who are you? Why am I here? What the hell did I ever do to you?” He shot off questions back to back.
After processing his questions, I dropped the hammer. The action caused him to jump as the metal hit the cement floor. “Those are all great questions. You’re here because I really fuckin’ hate you.” I spat on him before walking behind his chair. “I think you’re a bitch ass nigga. Yet, the real reason you’re here, though…” My hands went to his head, and I pulled it back.
“Aah!” He started screaming as my nails dug deep into his flesh, drawing blood as I continued to drag my nails up the sides of his face.
“You have information that I need right here.” I tapped his forehead before sucking on my index finger. The copper taste of him filled my mouth. Hawking, I spat in his face. “You’re going to tell me every fuckin’ thing you know about Janessa.” His body immediately tensed, and I laughed. “Yeah, she’s why you’re here. And, believe me, I have ways of getting what I want out of you, voluntarily or not. It’s gonna be fun for me either way.” Grabbing a chair, I pulled it closer to him and sat down.
“Let’s start off with something simple… like… um… what’s her favorite color? Ooh, what type of food does she like? I’m an amazing cook.” Jitters attacked the nerves in my body as I got excited to learn more about Janessa.
I wanted to know everything, so I could make her happy.
“You grabbed me because of her?” He let out a humorless yet nervous chuckle. The tenseness in his body, however, never left. “I don’t know shit about her, and if I
did, I wouldn’t tell yo’ twisted ass shit—Aaah!” A high-pitched scream left his mouth as I thrust my knife into his thigh.
“Twisted?” Grabbing the leather straps from the wall, I went back to him and wrapped it around his throat. With a hard jerk, he fell backward out of the chair. With the thick strap around his neck, I dragged him to my wall of chains. Tightening the leather strap around his throat, I snapped it together then hooked the loop onto the chain. I then stripped him out of all his clothes.
Once he was secure, I went to my booth of toys and got my favorite lightweight baby.
“Involuntarily, it is.” Smiling, I pushed the cattle prod against his face.
“Aaahh!” he screamed.
“Let me get a Hennessey and Coke,” I told the barman before turning my attention to Janessa.
My eyes followed her until she reached her table. She looked so damn amazing, like always.
The red top and blue jeans she wore hugged her every curve. She had her hair in my favorite style. Slightly untamed and pulled into a ponytail. It showed her gorgeous face.
A glare covered my features as I caught the slight swelling to her cheek. I was so pissed that Montrell’s cowardly ass had the nerve to put his fuckin’ hands on her like that. I couldn’t wait to give his ass that same gotdamn treatment. My lips twisted into a smile as thoughts of torturing that bitch ass nigga filled my mind.
“Here you go…”
My drink was placed beside me. “Thanks.” Bringing the cup to my lips, I took a drink. It wasn’t until I brought the glass down that I realized I still had on Janessa’s lipstick. “Gotdamn it!” I never wore her lipstick outside the house.
The reason I wore her lipstick was because that was the only way I could kiss her for the moment. But that damn bastard distracted me before I could take it off.