Assassins & Mob Wives: Couples Retreat

by Posey Parks

  Sydney peeked over her shoulder. “Are we drinking domestic or imported?”

  If we questioned a certain situation, we opted for bottled beer. We needed to be alert tonight.

  “Domestic,” we each stated.

  “Damn, where are all the black people?” Emoni read my mind.

  I sat on the stool beside her. “I don’t know.”

  “We should grab a table.” Carmen rolled her eyes at the old man sitting a few seats down from us.

  “Yeah, but not in the back. Near the dance floor.” Sierra pressed her hands in her back pockets.

  Zoey tapped Nadine. “Let’s grab that table right there.”

  “We’ll grab your beers,” I shouted over the music.

  I loved the old barn theme, that was why I chose this place. Candles in mason jars rested on the square wooden tables. I knew they didn’t have top shelf liquor, that was why we drank on the bus first. A smile hit my lips as I glimpsed at the dance floor. The string lights wrapped around the ceiling beams and pillars like a vine. The gray brick walls were the only thing in this place not made of wood. We gathered the bottles of beer and headed to the table where Zoey and Nadine waited.

  “Are we eating here tonight or on the bus?” Carmen glanced over the plastic menu on the table.

  “I’m not sure about the food.”

  “Hello ladies, welcome to Merv’s Bar.”

  I peeked up at the woman gripping a mini pad and pen in her hand. Her brown hair was pulled back in a slick side ponytail. She chomped on a wad of gum, then framed a smile.

  “Hi. I’d like to order four baskets of fries. Are the wings good?”

  She rolled her eyes as she scribbled on her pad.

  Tight lipped, I scanned the girls faces.

  Resting my chin on my fist, I checked out her name tag. “Angel, are we bothering you?

  This is the job you chose. If you don’t want to wait on us, then send another waitress over.”

  Her fist slammed on her hip. “Every night people like us walk in here wanting to get their line dance on.” She inched closer. “This ain’t the place. My advice: get your one dance in and be on your way. This isn’t a friendly bar,” she muttered through barred teeth.

  “But there were black people on the website,” I whispered.

  Her deep brown eyes softened as she leaned closer. “Sorry I had to be mean. I never want to. It’s not safe for you ladies here. If they find out, I’m warning you guys there could be horrible consequences for me.”

  The tiny hairs rose on the nape of my neck.

  “Angel, everything all right?” A raven head waitress approached.

  Angel face tensed.

  “Yes, everything is fine. We had questions about the menu.” My eyes narrowed at her name tag.

  “Is she new here or something, Sally?”

  Her smile dimmed. She squeezed Angel’s shoulder and walked away. My fist clenched. I wanted to wring her fucking neck.

  I tapped my waist. “We are ready for whatever these motherfuckers want to bring.” Leaning in, I held the menu in front of our lips and pointed at the picture of wings.

  “Bring three baskets of wings and the fries. We’ll pay cash. Place the order under the name Nancy. Act like everything is normal.”

  “Got it. Your order will be out soon.” She darted off toward the kitchen.

  Bringing the bottle to my lips, I scanned the bar again. Did anything stand out?

  “Why did you order food?” Emoni gulped her beer.

  “Because we have to play along like everything is normal.” A plastic smile fell across my face.

  “Shit, I hate to ask but we need stats on this place as far back as your husband can go.” I met Sydney’s cold gaze. She was ready to fight.

  “Three or four of us need to stay together at all times. Remember to watch your surroundings. Act normal.” I chugged my beer as I sashayed to the dance floor.

  Emoni, Sierra, and Zoey lined up beside me. Squaring our fists on our hips, we swayed from side to side, then clapped our hands to ‘Florida Georgia Line Cruise’. Staying alert as we danced, a giggle had to appear natural. That was the art of being assassins and mobsters. Let’s face it, they were mob wives which meant they were mobsters. They helped their husbands dispose of scum and often ran the day-to-day business. My eyes widened at Emoni as we moseyed to the left. She was the most lethal of the mob wives. Emoni was a Donna. She had several bodies under her belt. Shit, she killed her husband's bed bunny. I laughed inside. The bitch deserved it, no doubt. You never disrespect a boss.

  Sierra was another badass. She didn’t blink Tuesday when we murdered those rapists. Every one of these women were killers like me. No better person to have in your corner than someone willing to kill at the drop of a dime. I waved my hands in the air as I peered across the bar. A pasty, burly dude with a buzz cut gripped a pool stick as his eyes burned a hole through me. I could’ve been wrong. Maybe someone at the bar behind me held his attention. I’ll ask the DJ to play a song to see if his eyes fell back on me.

  We turned toward our table and kicked up the toe of our cowboy boots. Sydney bit her lip and rubbed her hand. Shit, something was wrong.

  “All right, ladies and gentleman, we have another song coming right up,” the DJ shouted over the microphone.

  The girls and I slapped hands as we sauntered to our table. I sat two seats down from Sydney. “What’s wrong?”

  “Ladies, your food is here,” Angel announced.

  “May I have the check too?”

  “Here you are.” She placed it on the table.

  I glanced at the amount. “I’ll pay now.” Slipping two hundred-dollar bills from the knot in my hand, I placed them on the bill.

  Angel’s jaw slacked. “I saw the bus you ladies climbed out of. Are you famous or rich?”

  “Nope, it’s a rental,” I lied. She didn’t need to know Brandon bought it for his wife.

  She laughed. “I get it you ladies are rich but are modest.” Angel winked.

  “Something like that.” Carmen cracked a rigid smile.

  “Keep the change, Angel.”

  “What?” her eyes bulged. “You’re giving me a one-hundred-dollar tip?”

  “You gave us a tip first. We appreciate it.”

  Her throat bobbed.

  She retrieved a pen from her apron, then leaned over and wrote on a napkin.

  “You ladies be safe now.” She stalked toward the kitchen.

  Emoni and I glared at the napkin.

  My heartbeat thudded my ears and a shiver shot up my spine as I read the word.

  Run!

  I glanced over their faces around the table.

  “What does it say?” Zoey asked.

  I slipped the napkin toward Nadine.

  “Sydney, what did he say?”

  “None of us have a signal.”

  My heart plummeted to my feet.

  Fuck. I gripped my ponytail as I scanned my surroundings. Did everyone’s demeanor change? Their cold, evil eyes stared at our table. They whispered amongst each other.

  “Time to move ladies. Hold your Glocks and beer bottles close.”

  We stood one by one. The entire bar halted. Was this fucking Children of the Corn or Get Out?

  “Leaving so soon?” Sally approached. A wicked smile stretched across her porcelain face.

  “I lost my appetite the second the food hit the table. Just didn’t look as good as the picture.”

  “I thought as long as the chicken was fried you girls would eat it?”

  A chuckle rolled from my throat as I moved closer. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  Her yellow teeth clenched. “Don’t play stupid.”

  I peeled off five crisp one-dollar bills from my knot of cash. “How about you visit a dentist on me.” I stuffed the money in her cleavage.

  “You rotten little nigger,” she roared.

  “There it is. I was waiting for you to rear your ugly little head.”

  I w
rapped her hair around my fist and twirled her into my arms. Gripping the neck of the beer bottle, I whacked it against the wooden pillar. The mob of people stepped closer.

  “I advise every one to back the fuck up,” I ordered.

  Emoni, Carmen, and Zoey drew their Glocks, waving them in our enemies faces. “You heard what she said back up right now. All white heads will roll in this bitch tonight.

  Holding the glass against the large artery in her neck, I walked backward toward the door. Sierra, Nadine, and Sydney pointed their guns in the evil faces that dared us.

  “You black witches ain’t leaving here alive. My daddy’s the sheriff and he’ll be walking through that door in just a minute.”

  “I have a bullet ready for every racist motherfucker in here tonight.”

  “I think you’ll change your tune. Jaime, bring her out.”

  A tall muscled guy burst through the kitchen doors, holding a gun to Angel’s head.

  “I’ll kill this token black bitch,” Jamie growled.

  The confederate flag was tatted on his neck. A long white apron covered his clothes. Maybe he was the dishwasher, and that was why I didn’t notice him.

  “Please don’t let them kill me.” Tears streamed down Angel’s face.

  “I’m ready to die for the cause.” I peeked in the direction of the voice.

  Steady hold on the gun he waved it in our direction. “Especially if I can take some niggers to the grave with me.” The burly guy stalked toward us from the pool table.

  “Take another fucking step and I’ll put you down like the racist white supremacist you are,” Zoey bit out.

  He grinned and stepped forward. The entire bar was silent. All eyes on that dumb ass. They didn’t know they weren’t messing with amateurs.

  Zoey squeezed the trigger twice. A bullet penetrated his arm and knee. The gun fell to the floor.

  Blood spewed everywhere as he dropped to the ground clutching his busted knee cap.

  “We ain’t the type of black folk that take shit lying down,” Nadine spat.

  “Every one of you can die tonight,” Emoni bit out behind me.

  “That’s right. I’ll burn this motherfucker to the ground with all of you rednecks in here.”

  I glanced over my shoulder. She held the lighter high.

  “Ok, ok. Just leave,” an older blond barked.

  Sydney turned her gun on Jaime. “Release her.”

  “Fuck no.” He pressed the gun into her temple.

  “Go ahead, shoot her,” Carmen ordered. “That way my sister and I can fill you full of holes.”

  They laughed.

  My eyes locked with Angel’s. “Duck,” I mouthed.

  She leaned forward. A bullet slammed into his shoulder and another into his abdomen. He wallowed in his blood on the floor like a fish out of water dying for oxygen.

  Gasps erupted around the bar.

  Angel scurried toward me. Shivering as she fell against my back.

  “Be strong and we’ll get out of here.”

  “You’ll do no such thing,” the bitch Sally snickered.

  “Anyone who tries to stop us from leaving, I’ll toss a fireball and burn you alive.” Emoni held the lighter high.

  “Why did you kill innocent black people?” I pressed the glass against her neck.

  Sally’s lip turned upward. “Because we could.”

  “You’ll never make it out of this town alive. I hope they catch, hang, and burn you all to a charred crisp.”

  “Fuck you bitch,” Sierra shouted.

  Carmen opened the front door. “Clear.”

  I slid the jagged glass down Sally’s cheek. “Thought I’d leave you with something to remember me by.”

  “Ah,” she cried.

  I shoved her to the floor, then slammed my pointy boot into her back. “I hope you piss blood for a week, you rotten bitch.”

  Curled in a ball, her hand shook over her bloody cheek.

  I held the door for the girls. They darted over the threshold. Emoni tossed her burning plaid shirt soaked in whiskey on the floor.

  “This is for torturing black people. Burn in hell,” she roared.

  Emoni and I barricaded the door with a metal bench.

  “Come on. We have to move,” Sydney yelled in a whisper.

  We hopped on the bus and Zoey peeled out of the parking lot.

  Our phones beeped not long after we drove away.

  “Sebastian, we need help.” Sydney cried into the phone.

  I stared at her shaking frame. She was terrified. Hell, we all were. We just committed mass murder. I wasn’t sure the President could get us out of this jam.

  Angel wouldn’t leave my side. “It will be ok.” I hugged her. “Is there somewhere safe we can drop you?”

  “No,” she sniffled. “They’ll hang me for ratting them out. My parents are dead. I have nothing.”

  “We’ll take care of you. But you have to pay for allowing them to lure black people.”

  “I’ve suffered for two years now. I was told if I ever said anything, they’d kill me.”

  Blue and red lights shined through the back windows of the bus.

  “Shit,” I yelled.

  “Angel, lay in the bottom bunk and close the curtain.”

  I strapped on my bullet-proof vest and placed two Glocks in my waist holster.

  “They will kill us.” Her lips quivered.

  “Take this.” I snatched a Glock off the table, stepped over, and wrapped her fingers around the handle.

  “If one of those bastards step foot on this bus, you protect yourself. Blow their fucking heads off.”

  “Sam.”

  I glanced at Sierra.

  “Here.” She tossed me a sniper rifle. I snatched an extra clip off the table and stuffed it against the small of my back.

  “Who the hell are you guys?” Angel’s eyes widened.

  “Their worst fucking nightmare,” Zoey smirked, swinging her sniper rifle behind her back. Holding the strap, she inched toward the door, clutching a Glock in her other hand. “Let’s go.”

  I grabbed her shoulder. “I’ll go first.”

  Climbing down the steps, I kept my hands low yet raised.

  “Slowly step toward me.” The trooper stood in front of his car, hand on his gun.

  “Officer, why were we pulled over?”

  “You have something on that bus that belongs to me?”

  I inched closer. “I’m sorry, I highly doubt that. We’re on a girls’ trip. It’s late and we just want to continue on our way.”

  He unclipped his weapon and smirked under the ugly ass brown hat. Peeking over my shoulder, his grin disappeared. “Ladies drop your weapons.”

  “No, sir. We’ll do no such thing. Tell us why you pulled us over,” Nadine demanded.

  “You Ladies were at the bar a few moments ago and took something that belonged to me.”

  My heart raced against my ribcage. “Officer, if you don’t have a valid reason to pull us over, we’ll be on our way.”

  In my peripheral I saw something white emerge from the darkness strolling through the tall grass.

  “You niggers ain’t going anywhere but to your graves.”

  My skin vibrated and bile rose in my throat as I met the man’s dark gaze through the two holes in the white hood.

  The girls gasped beside me. Never saw myself dying at the hands of men wearing sheets. Five more men draped in white robes clutched rifles as they strolled toward the officer on their horses.

  What the fuck could I say to get us out of this?

  “Place your weapons on the ground,” the officer ordered.

  “Like I said before, we have nothing that belongs to you. There’s no way we’ll unarm ourselves. If you’re standing with the men in robes, you just signed your own death certificate.”

  “Fuck these bitches. Go on the bus and get your property. We’ll keep these black bitches under our thumb,” the ring leader spat.

  The other guys laughe
d.

  “Show your faces. I’d love to see who I’m killing today.”

  I drew my Glocks.

  “That’s right, it will be a bloodbath on the streets of Tulsa tonight,” Carmen bit out.

  The officer backed up. “Angel, get out here,” he roared.

  “Are you calling a woman your property?” I tilted my head.

  “It’s not a woman. It’s his property,” the leader lashed out.

  The officer threw his hand up. “Shut up, Carl.”

  “You told us she was your pet,” Carl barked. “That’s the only reason she remained alive this long. Her boney ass should’ve been hanging from a tree,” he chuckled.

  The officer’s eyes slammed shut.

  I never felt more repulsed in my life. My heartbeat thudded my eardrums at an alarming rate. My children’s faces flashed before my eyes.

  “I love her and I just want her returned to me.” His brown eyes came into view as he inched closer.

  “I knew once you got a taste of that tar baby’s black ass you wouldn’t be able to see straight,” Carl snarled.

  He turned toward the other men. “I’m warning you. You know the power my father holds in this town. Back the fuck off.”

  The officer waved his hand at us. “I just want her back.

  She’s carrying our child.”

  My mouth dropped open. “The plot thickens,” I muttered.

  “You’ve crossed the line, Lincoln. I’ll see that you’re stripped of your title.” Carl stalked toward him.

  He twisted his glove in his shirt. “Get in the car and drive away. I’ll get the fucking pet.”

  Lincoln shoved Carl. “If you harm a hair on her body, my family will reign down on you.” He laughed. “I will deal with her for running as I see fit. Not you.”

  Lincoln stalked toward the police car and drove off.

  “Girls, he left us to our own devices. Looks like it’s a time to kill.” I smirked.

  “Back up or I’ll blow your brains out.”

  “You heard the lady. Back the fuck up now,” a familiar voice growled from behind.

  A sense of calm washed over me.

  Carl stepped backwards. “Jacob...Latters?” His brows pinched.

  “I love your work,” one of the men yelled out.

  “He’s a nigger lover. He’s married to some black girl.” My fingers tightened around my Glock. “I’m his wife. He’s married to a strong black woman.”