by Honey
* * *
“Damn! It must be my lucky day. I’m surprised to see you, ma. Welcome to the Gentle Beast. What can I get for you? My man, Percy, our bartender, can mix all kinds of nonalcoholic drinks. Just name it.” Rizz wiped down the countertop with a wet rag and nodded toward an empty bar stool.
“Shit, I need a real drink. Let me get a double shot of Hennessy.” Mink plopped down on the bar stool.
A puzzled look crept across Rizz’s face. “Hey, I thought recovering addicts didn’t drink or use any type of drugs. Plus, it ain’t even noon yet, ma.”
“Well, if your life was as fucked up as mine is, you’d be drinking, snorting, smoking, and shooting up too. I just can’t catch a damn break.”
“Chill, ma. Let me get you that drink, and then you can tell me all about it.”
After several double shots of Hennessy over a hard-to-believe recap of the last three years of her life, Mink was sloppy drunk. She was barely able to balance her body on the stool at the bar without flopping and nearly falling off. So, since business at the Gentle Beast was kind of slow, Rizz decided to leave work early to give Mink a ride home. But first, he needed her accurate address. The story she had told about living in a penthouse apartment on Park Avenue with some big Hollywood movie producer she’d met in Montana was bullshit. Like a typical dope fiend, Mink knew how to lie her ass off. Rizz thought her little tale was funny as hell while she was rambling it off as she threw back drink after drink. But now, the humor was gone.
“Yo, ma, where do you live? I mean like for real.” He picked up Mink’s purse from off the ground and tried to tuck it underneath her arm, but she was too wobbly to stand up straight and carry anything.
“T-take me . . . me to P-park Avenue, ba-baby,” she slurred. “I-I told you . . . you that’s w-where I . . . I . . . I’m s-staying.”
Rizz’s frustration spiked. There was no bigger turn-off than a good-looking chick slurring and stumbling around under the influence. Women in this condition often got raped out here in these streets.
“Hey, I’m about to take you to my crib and let you sober up over some black coffee. Then you can tell me where you really live, and I’ll take you there. Cool?”
Mink threw her head back and giggled as Rizz guided her down the busy sidewalk. “Cool.”
Chapter Forty-seven
“Watch your step, ma.” With a tight arm wrapped around Mink’s drooping shoulders, Rizz pulled her up the last two steps leading into the apartment building. They crept down the hall and stopped in front of the third door on the left. “Just lean back against the wall while I unlock the door.”
“Okay.”
This goddamn pocketbook! Rizz grumbled internally at the designer bag when the straps interfered with unlocking the door. Rapper Don Trip’s “Open Your Eyes” blasting from the apartment two floors above their heads had so much bass in it, the whole damn building was vibrating. Once the door was unlocked, Rizz entered with Mink stumbling close behind.
“I got to pee!” she squealed and started spinning around in a circle like a little kid.
“Yo, don’t piss on my floor, ma. The bathroom is straight down the hall, last door on the right.”
Rizz stood in the middle of the living room floor, wondering if it was a mistake bringing Mink to the crib in her condition. Shit, she was a stranger and a heroin addict at that. And although she was fine as hell, she had an insane imagination and a weak-ass relationship with the truth. After a few minutes, Rizz walked down the hall and stopped outside the closed bathroom door. Mink was running the faucet on the sink.
Rizz banged on the door. “Yo, are you good in there, ma?”
“I’m fine. I’m just freshening up a little bit. Um . . . Rizz?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Didn’t you say your brother served customers out of your spot?”
“Hell nah!” Rizz barked through the closed door. “I said I used to hold some stuff for him from time to time until a bitch he was dealing with got mad at him for cheating on her and snitched me out. Anyway, how come you wanna know about Brett?”
The water stopped running all of a sudden, and the door opened. Mink stepped out into the hallway topless. A pair of red lace boy shorts was the only item of clothing on her body. The rest of her clothes, including her boots, were in a pile on the bathroom floor. Rizz’s heart began to pound wildly at the sight of her smooth butterscotch breasts topped by hardened nipples.
Mink leaned in and kissed Rizz fully on the mouth. “I was hoping I could get a little taste of something to take the edge off.”
“Nah, baby, my brother don’t bring drugs up in here no more. And you don’t need to mess with any of that shit no way, ma. I thought you wanted to stay clean.”
“I just need one small hit, Rizz, and I won’t ever bother you again. I swear. And if you hook me up, I’ll fuck you real good. Ain’t a bitch alive that can put it on you like Mink.” She followed up her offer with another openmouthed kiss.
“Ma, I like you. You fine as hell, but I ain’t about to play middle man between you and my brother over some goddamn smack.”
“Please, help me out just this one time, Rizz. I swear I’ll do you right. Let me suck your dick.” Mink dropped to her knees.
Rizz didn’t waste any time snatching her up and pressing her back against the wall. “I wanna get down with you, girl, but I ain’t gonna fuck around with Brett and his work. Plus, there’s something I need to tell you about me. You see, I—”
“I don’t give a fuck! I’ve got condoms and money, so let’s make this shit happen!”
Like a desperate, out-of-control dopehead, Mink stripped out of her panties and grabbed Rizz by the back of the head. Her kisses were wild and sloppy with lots of tongue and saliva.
“Yo, stop! Stop it!” Rizz snatched away from Mink. “I’m trying to keep it real with you! I ain’t . . . I mean . . . Damn it, I’m a female.”
Mink froze and stared at Rizz for a few silent seconds. Then she smiled. “Bullshit.”
“I swear to God. I’m a woman just like you, but I’m gay. I came out back in my teens when I was in high school over twenty years ago.”
“But you said you have a son.”
Rizz nodded. “I do. I did a little experimenting fourteen years back and ended up pregnant with my son, Tyriq. He’s 13 now, and I ain’t been with a man since.”
“Damn!” Mink folded her arms across her bare breasts as her eyes traveled up and down Rizz’s body, from the black skull cap on her head to her Tims boots.
“Yeah, just what I figured. You don’t wanna fuck with me no more, huh? You’re ‘strictly dickly’ like a whole lotta other bitches claim until they experience a woman.”
Rizz studied Mink’s face carefully as she seemed to be seriously considering a dip in the lady pond. If she decided to dive in, Rizz was going to make sure every second was worth her while. She would treat her body so good that she’d never think about a dick again. Then maybe something solid could develop between them.
Rizz was sure she could help Mink get back on her feet since she was educated and all. And they could attend NA meetings together so she could stay clean. Yeah, Mink was possibly the woman Rizz had been wishing for since her last relationship. They could be good together and take care of each other. The possibility of wife and wife for life sounded good to Rizz.
Quietly and without another thought, she reached out and pulled Mink’s naked body snuggly against hers. She plunged her tongue between her partially open lips in a rough kiss. The taste of Hennessy greeted her exploring tongue as her hands squeezed and rubbed Mink’s bare ass cheeks. Rizz ended the kiss and pulled back to look into Mink’s eyes for a sign that Mink wanted this moment as much as she did. After a brief pause, she smiled with satisfaction and watched Mink’s eyes roll to the back of her head when her right hand left her butt to explore her hot, wet pussy with two fingers. Rizz entered Mink’s slick slit before she began to strum the full length of her hard clit. Their lips co
nnected again in another passionate kiss.
“Aaahhh . . .” Mink moaned into Rizz’s hungry mouth.
“C’mon, ma, let’s go to bed.”
* * *
Mink rolled over in bed and stared at the snoring body lying next to her.
Rizz? Oh, shit! No, I didn’t! Nooo!
Yes, she most definitely had. Drunk out of her mind and itching for a fix, she’d had sex with Rizz, hoping to persuade her to hook her up with her drug-dealing brother. Now that she had slept the alcohol off and her head was clear, Mink felt nauseated as she recalled all the things she had allowed Rizz to do to her. Then bile rose up in her throat and threatened to spill from her mouth when a memory of her going down on Rizz filled her headspace. Mink jumped up from the bed butt-ass naked and scrambled toward the door with her hand clamped over her mouth.
“Hey, where’re you going, ma?”
Rizz’s hoarse voice brought Mink’s sprint to a screeching halt. “I’m going to the bathroom.” She laughed nervously. “I’ve got to pee.”
When the room fell silent again, Mink took that as her cue to rush to the bathroom. She closed the bedroom door quietly and hurried up the hall. Once inside the bathroom, she shut the door, locked it, and hovered over the commode. Retching terribly, Mink’s body jerked as the contents of her belly oozed from her mouth and splashed into the water in the toilet bowl below. Through ragged and dry breaths, she continued to shake and heave over the commode, but no more vomit came forth.
Reluctantly, Mink looked in the mirror. Her soul wept at the reflection staring back at her. She didn’t even recognize the weary face. It wasn’t Mrs. Josiah J. Bishop, mother of Gem and Treasure Bishop and first lady of Atlanta, Georgia. No, the woman she saw was a complete stranger, the remnants of someone she used to know. Filled with raw emotions brought on by memories of her past life with Josiah and the girls when they were happy and content, tears filled Mink’s eyes. She missed her family, but she was in no condition to reach out to them right now. They were much better off without her because she hadn’t changed one bit. The hands of addiction were still wrapped tightly around her neck, choking the life out of her. Yet, her love affair with heroin was very much alive.
Mink stepped away from the mirror and turned on the shower. She adjusted the water spray to the warmest temperature her hand could stand. Then she rummaged through the large drawer below the sink and found a blue, well-worn shower cap and tucked her long hair underneath it. Before she stepped inside the bathtub under the hot water spray, she grabbed a burgundy towel and a matching washcloth from the wicker shelf. Finally, Mink pulled the shower curtain in place to hide behind it to try to scrub away her guilt, depression, and shame as tears trickled down her face.
* * *
“’Bout time your ass came out—”
“Aaahhh!” Mink screamed at the male stranger walking down the hallway toward her. She tightened the knot on the towel above her breasts and backed away from the tall, lanky dude, scared out of her mind.
“Chill out, girl. I’m Brett, Rizz’s brother. You must be one of her friends.”
Relieved, Mink doubled over, taking in deep gulps of air as she nodded her head frantically. She was too shaken up to speak. The long, hot shower had relaxed her and allowed her to push all disheartening thoughts to the far recesses of her mind, but Rizz’s brother had popped up out of left field and scared the shit out of her.
“I didn’t mean to scare you, baby. I just swung by to check up on my li’l sister. We got keys to each other’s spot, so we pop in on each other all the time. I didn’t know she was entertaining a hottie.”
Mink stood up straight and immediately checked Brett out. He wasn’t all that good-looking, but he wasn’t necessarily a monster either. He was a thin redbone, well over six feet with a sandy-brown mustache-and-beard combo and cornrows. He was rocking facial freckles just like Rizz. That rugged, bad-boy vibe was oozing from his pores. Yeah, “dope boy” was written all over his face. Just the thought of it made Mink smile.
Chapter Forty-eight
Brett may have been a tenth-grade dropout and a common street hustler, but he was a long way from stupid. The chick sitting on the passenger’s side of his black, pimped-out 2005 Cadillac DeVille was up to no good. One minute after introducing herself, she dropped the towel from her naked body and slid into her clothes in front of him in the hallway of his sister’s apartment like he was her longtime bae. Then she asked him for a ride home. When he insisted that she wake Rizz up to tell her goodbye and he was giving her a ride to her place, she came up with a bullshit excuse so quick that his head was still spinning. His sister wasn’t too damn tired to wake up and see her friend off. Nah, this Mink chick had crept out on Rizz. And she didn’t even leave a note.
“So, where do you live?”
“I ain’t going home right now. I want to hang out with you.” Mink smiled suggestively and placed her hand on Brett’s lap close to the monster imprint on his inner thigh.
He licked his lips and returned her smile. “I stopped by Rizz’s spot on my way home after I made my last drop for the day, so now, I wanna chill at the crib with some Jamaican food, a bottle of Cîroc, and some kush. You down with that?”
“I could definitely eat, and I like Cîroc. But you ain’t got nothing harder than weed?”
“How hard you talking about? You want some blow, or you like that brown sugar?”
“Brown sugar.”
“Damn, girl. You got money?”
“Yeah, I got a little bit of cash, and anything else you want.”
Brett looked in his rearview before he crossed over into the left turning lane. “Okay, baby, I got you.”
* * *
Norm M. was seething as he rode the elevator up to the twelfth floor. Mink had not checked in with him all day, and she hadn’t bothered to show up for NA that evening. Instinct told him she had hooked up with some bad character, more than likely the overweight, black guy he’d seen her talking to last night, and she was somewhere getting high. How had he been so stupid to allow her into his home after she’d left Serenity Springs before completing the treatment program? Good sex wasn’t an excuse for stupidity, and Norm M. felt very stupid at the moment.
He exited the elevator when it stopped on his floor, and the doors opened. Removing his keys from the left pocket of his overcoat, he walked down the quiet hallway toward his apartment. As soon as he unlocked the door and entered the dark living room, his house phone rang. He flipped on the light and hurried over to the coffee table.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Murchison, this is Sheldon at the concierge’s desk. There’s a young lady here named Mink Bishop who wishes to visit you. Should I allow her upstairs or would you prefer to come down and escort her up?”
Norm M. closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “Please allow Mrs. Bishop upstairs, Sheldon. She’s visiting me for a few days. Please make a note of that. Thank you.”
“I sure will, sir. Mrs. Bishop is on her way up.”
After he hung up the phone, Norm M. went and stood by the door to wait for his troublesome houseguest. He was still upset with the dumb mistake he’d made by allowing Mink to spend a week at his apartment. His better judgment told him to rescind his hospitality and send her on her way before she did something crazy that would turn his world upside down. He wouldn’t survive another scandal at this point in his life. The Meryl Streep movie was in the preparatory stages, he and Tawny had set a January thirtieth wedding date, and he would be back in LA two days before their little boy’s fifth birthday. Life was good, and Norm M. wanted it only to get better.
As if he sensed Mink’s presence on the other side of the door, he released the locks, turned the knob, and pulled. “Where have you been?” he snapped the instant she crossed the threshold.
“I’ve been running around the city, checking out drug farms. Ain’t that what you told me to do?”
The booming sound of the door slamming shut rattled
Mink. She spun around and glared at Norm M. as her hands roamed up and down her arms, which were folded over her chest. That’s when he noticed her glossy eyes and jittery body language. He felt instant rage.
“You look terrible. Have you been drinking and drugging with that loser you met last night?”
“Nooo!”
“Then why weren’t you at the meeting? He wasn’t there either. And look at you,” he growled, snatching one of Mink’s arms and yanking her toward him. “You’re high.”
“Let go of me! Who the fuck do you think you are?” She wiggled her arm free from his hold.
“I’m the person who has provided you with a warm bed, food, and cab fare since you landed on my doorstep. I must’ve been a fool to let you stay here. What the hell was I thinking? You’re nothing but a pathetic heroin addict.”
Mink shot Norm M. a heartless grin. “You weren’t saying that last night when I was licking your asshole. Nah, motherfucker, I was your baby then.”
“Well, you’re not anything to me anymore. Your gig is up, Mink. You may sleep in the guestroom tonight, but I want you out of here tomorrow. I’ll give you money for a bus ticket to Atlanta and a few extra dollars for food on your trip. But make no mistake about it. You are no longer welcome here. When I return home from work tomorrow, I expect you to be gone.”
* * *
Josiah looked up from his phone and smiled at Nelson singing along with Charlie Wilson on the radio as he cruised down I-75 South. “What’s up with you, my man? You’ve been mighty happy since the party at the church the other night. What’s going on?”
Their gazes met briefly in the rearview mirror. Nelson’s smile was so animated that his deep cheek dimples made a rare appearance.
“I’m always happy. You know that.”
“That may be true, but you’ve got this glow today that I’ve never seen before. Does it have anything to do with a certain single mother with three well-behaved kids that you transported to the party at my request?”
Nelson grinned bashfully. “Could be or could be not. But she is a nice lady, and she’s got some good children. They asked if I could pick them up for church Sunday, and, of course, I said yes. Since I’m a deacon and all, it’s my godly duty to help all souls any way I can.”