by Roy Glenn
“First, there was the woman that took us to your table. That was your table we were sitting at, wasn’t it?”
“My table, and yes I can see Tara rolling her eyes at you,” Mike said, wondering just how honest he was going to be with her.
“And then there was this other chick. I don’t know where she came from, but if looks could kill. I mean this woman looked like she wanted to kill me.”
Mike knew that she was talking about Melinda. Now was his big chance. Lay it all out for her. Right here, right now. Remember, no lies, no secrets.
He decided to be a typical man.
“That might have been anybody. I do know a lot of women. I happen to like women. I don’t necessarily trust them, but I like them. But I’ve never met anybody like you. I can’t stop thinking about you,” Mike said as he turned to face her. “I know all that sounds like a line from a bad movie, but it’s true. Since the first time I saw you, I haven’t been able to think about anything without thinking of you. Sounds pretty corny right.”
Shy got up and stood in front of Mike. She put her arms around his waist, and he put his hands on her shoulders. She said, “No, it doesn’t. Actually, it’s kinda sweet. To be honest with you, I’m in the same shape. As hard as I try, I can’t stop thinking about you either.”
“We’re both kinda pitiful. What are we going to do with each other?
“Just don’t dog me, Black. I don’t think I can stand it. Let’s take it slow.”
“I’m in no hurry at all, Cassandra.” Mike touched her face with both hands and kissed her passionately.
“I like that. I’d like more,” Shy said in as close to a Lauren Bacall impression as she could muster. She put her arms on his shoulders and kissed Mike. He ran his hands down her back then held Shy tight.
“Now that was a kiss,” she said.
“You ain’t so bad yourself.”
They began to walk back to Harrah's, holding each other’s hand. When they arrived back at Harrah's, they got into the limo and rode to the helicopter for the flight back to the city. When they reached the city, Mike and Shy got into the limo and headed back to Shy’s apartment building. They hadn’t talked very much on the way back. Shy laid her head on Mike’s shoulder, and he refused to let go of her hand. Every once in a while, without provocation, one would lean over and kiss the other.
The limo pulled up in front of the building. They got out and walked hand in hand slowly toward the building. They got in the elevator and kissed their way up to the fifteenth floor. The door opened then closed. They were still kissing. Finally, Shy pushed the button to open the door. They walked down the hall to her door. Mike unlocked the door and handed the keys back to Shy.
“Good night, Cassandra. I had a wonderful evening.”
“I am great company. And so are you. Can I see you tomorrow?” Shy said with child-like enthusiasm in her voice. “Why don’t I call you around one. Maybe we can have a late lunch or something.”
“I’ll look forward to your call.”
After one last kiss, Shy said, “Goodnight, Black.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Mike paced around his house waiting for a call from Shy. The phone rang a few times, but it wasn’t Shy. So, he didn’t answer. Mike let his pride get the best of him and called her, but there was no answer. He began to second-guess himself.
Maybe he should have waited to tell her that he tried to kill her father. Shy appeared to take it without too much grief. Maybe he was moving too fast or too slow for her. Perhaps he should have at least made an attempt to seduce her. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to. He felt he should take his time and cultivate a relationship that would last, one that was based on communication and trust. His success rate at building a relationship based on sex wasn’t that great.
Trust?
He thought about the fact that he hadn’t been completely honest with Shy.
That couldn’t be it, how would she know? Unless she had a spy.
Why not? He had Jap following her. Suppose she had somebody following him. Mike got up and started to look out the window for suspicious cars, but he stopped himself.
“Lighten up, Black. You’re starting to trip.”
This was one of the rare occasions that he regretted not having a cell phone. Mike really didn’t like being that accessible, but now he felt chained to his house waiting for a call. By the time 6 o’clock rolled around, Mike had just about given up on hearing from Shy. Although he still wanted to know why she didn’t call, the confusion and self-doubt that he was feeling earlier had given way to clarity and anger. Anger made his disappointment easier to take.
With that clarity, Mike focused in on two things. In his excitement last night, he didn’t put Jap back on Shy. He had counted on picking her up earlier so there was no need to call in Jap. It also dawned on him that he had not seen or heard from Melinda since Tuesday morning. Since she already knew of his interest in Shy, perhaps Melinda decided not to wait to be asked to step down. Not likely. Melinda enjoyed the perks too much to give them up voluntarily. He decided to do nothing about either one. He decided to leave the house before he went crazy. He got up and started out the door. When he opened the door, Bobby was coming up the stairs.
“What’s up, Bobby? Come on in.”
“What’s up, Mike? I saw the lights and I didn’t see your car,” Bobby said entering the house. “I thought something was wrong.”
“I was getting ready to leave,” Mike replied. “Were you at the club last night?”
“Most of the night. Why?”
“Was Melinda up there?”
“You know she was. For a couple of hours. Why?”
“Just haven’t seen her in a couple of days. That’s all,” Mike fired.
“What you so touchy about. It’s this whole thing with Shy, ain’t it, Mike?” Bobby went to the bar and poured a couple of drinks. “You better have a drink.”
“Make them to go, Bobby. I gotta get outta here.”
“Couple to go it is.”
“Come ride with me man.”
“Well Pam was expecting me. Let me use your phone. I left mine in the car,” Bobby said as he dialed the phone. “You eat anything today?”
“No.”
“She got you all fucked up; don’t she?”
“Why it gotta be all about that?”
The phone rang at Bobby’s house. Pam answered, “Hello.”
“What you doing, baby?”
“Feeding the kids. Why?”
“I’m on my way. Mike’s coming with me.”
“That’s cool. I got enough for him. How long y’all gonna be?” she asked.
“We’re at Mike’s house, no more than ten, fifteen minutes.”
Mike and Bobby left the house, taking the bottle with them. “Pam know about Shy?” Mike asked.
“Only her name,” Bobby replied. “I’ll drive, Mike. That way I have a reason to leave the house.” Mike got into Bobby’s’ car.
“Sometimes I wonder if you’re the same guy I used to hang out with back in the day. You know the one that used to tell jokes while he killed and tortured people.”
“Same guy. Just smarter. Given a choice between a gun or Pam, I’ll pick the gun every time.”
“Get the fuck outta here.”
“A man with a gun ain’t got nothing on Pam. Check it out. I can outshoot most people, but I can’t out talk Pam. And besides, they ain’t cooking no food, cleaning no house, washing and ironing for me, raising my kids, and they damn sure ain’t fuckin’ the shit outta me.”
“Is that what I have to look forward to?”
Bobby slammed on the brakes. “Is there something you ain’t telling me?”
“Shit! You made me spill my fuckin’ drink.”
“Fuck that shit. You planning on getting married? She’s bad, but she ain’t that bad to have your ass proposing.”
“You’re right she ain’t. Hope you brought the bottle.”
“Behind my seat. So, what’
s this look forward to shit all about?”
“All right. So, I have given it some thought. What’s so bad about that?”
“You? Thinking about getting married? You? And you asked me if I’m the same guy. I should be asking you who are you?”
“Freeze already did.”
“Must be pretty obvious if Freeze sees it. So, what’s up with her?”
“I don’t know, Bobby.”
“You better think of a better answer than that before you run up on Pam.”
“I thought you said Pam only knew her name.” Mike thought about Pam’s tendency for relentless questioning. “Nevermind. That’s all Pam needs.”
“So, you can talk to me now or the interrogator later. It’s your choice.”
“Okay. Let’s just say I am very interested in her.”
“Oh, bullshit. You’re in love with her. Or you’re just infatuated with her fine ass. You probably haven’t even fucked her yet, have you?”
“No,” Mike dropped his head as if he was ashamed to say it.
“See that’s infatuation. You just think it’s love because your dick’s hard. But fuck her for a while. Better yet, spend some quality time with her. If you feel this way next year or something like that, maybe then you can call it love.” Bobby pulled up in front of his house, put the car in park, and then looked over at Mike.
“So, what’s up with you? Why this woman got you so far out there?”
“I don’t know, Bobby. She just got me,” Mike said as he got out of the car and turned to walk inside the house followed closely by Bobby.
Once inside the house Bobby called to his wife, but there was no answer. Mike made himself at home, helping himself at the bar while Bobby looked for Pam. The table was set for three. The food appeared to be ready, but no sign of Pam. Bobby went upstairs to the bedroom. He found Pam on the phone. Pam motioned for him to be quiet as she continued her conversation. Bobby went back downstairs to join Mike at the bar. He explained to Mike that Pam was on the phone.
“And I guess she’ll be down soon.”
Bobby poured himself a drink and freshened up Mike’s. They sat down at the dining room table and waited for Pam to arrive. While he waited, Mike’s mind turned once again to Shy. Why didn’t she call? All of a sudden it dawned on him that maybe something was wrong. After all, someone was trying to kill her. He was too busy feeling sorry for himself to put Jap back on her. Mike asked Bobby for his car keys. Mike ran outside, got in the car, and frantically dialed the phone. Bobby followed him outside, laughing at him. Freeze answered, “Yo.”
“Freeze. Where’s Jap?”
“I just sent him to make the rounds. Why? You want him back on your girl, don’t you? I started to call you before I sent him out.”
“You should always follow your first mind.”
“Where she at?”
“That’s the problem. I don’t know where she is.”
“Don’t sweat it, Black. I’ll find her. Her boys always leave a trail. They talk too fuckin’ much. When I find her, I’ll put Jap back on her. I’m out.” Freeze hung up. Mike got out of the car and turned right into Bobby.
“You feel better now, Vicious?”
“Shut up, Bobby,” Mike replied. “Let’s just go eat.”
Where was Shy and why hadn’t she called? Shy was in the street making the rounds trying to collect as much money as she could. She hadn’t called Mike because she lost the number. She called and left a message for him at Cuisine. Sylvia promised to call Mike and give him the message. Which she did. There was no answer, so she left a message on his voice mail, which, by the way, she checks more than he does. Then Shy tried calling him at Impressions. She left her number for him to call. Shy had to remind herself, “I do have a business to run.”
She still waited for a couple of hours before hitting the streets. Shy hooked up with Jack and E later in the afternoon to try to put a deal together so they could start to recoup some of their losses. Shy couldn’t call Angelo because she owed him too much money. She thought about asking Black if he could put her onto somebody, but he hadn’t called her. Jack told her about a crew that said they could do business tonight around ten and their price was right. Shy didn’t like doing business with people she didn’t know. However, time and money were both short and she needed to make something happen now.
Bobby and Mike re-entered the house. They found that Pam was off the phone and had served dinner. Pam kissed her husband and then turned to Mike.
“Mike. You know I love you, right? But I’m starting to get tired of the lonely-hearts club you got. That was Melinda on the phone again. She’s all hurt because you haven’t called her all week and because you had this other woman sitting at her table at the club last Saturday.” Mike and Bobby looked at one another and started laughing. Pam laughed with them and continued, “She wanna know what’s up with this woman. But she seems to know all about her. She wants me to tell her what she should do. I told her I don’t know what she should do, but she should talk to you about it.” Pam sat down at the table. “So, Mike, who is this woman? What’s her name? And what’s more important, when do I get to meet her.
“Her name is Cassandra Sims. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever met.” Pam looked at Bobby nodding in agreement as Mike described Shy.
Bobby reached for Pam’s hand. “Next to you of course, baby.”
“Everyone calls her Shy. She’s funny, she’s very intelligent and she is very seductive.”
“So, when do I get to meet this woman, Mike? Check her out; make sure she’s the right one for you. And what about Melinda? She does have the right to know.”
“You’re right. She does. The last time I saw her we talked about it. Then she … she …”
Pam helped Mike finish his sentence, “She fucked you.”
“Yeah. Well,” Mike said with a smile.
“See, that’s where you went wrong, Mike. You should have stood your ground and made sure that she understood that it was over and why. But no, you fell right into her pussy trap. See she knows as long as she can fuck you, she can stay. Have you told Shy about Melinda yet? Or maybe I should say do you plan to?”
“No, I haven’t told her. And yes, I intend to tell her. I just haven’t had a chance yet.”
“That’s bullshit, Mike, and you know it. You should have told her right from the start. I know how y’all are. Bobby didn’t tell me about Cynthia for a long time. But you gotta be careful because Melinda knows all about Shy. First chance she gets, she is gonna step to Shy. So, ask yourself, is this what you really want to happen?”
“No, she needs to hear it from me.”
“So, when you gonna tell her?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s because he doesn’t know where she is,” Bobby threw in.
“What?”
“It’s a long story, Pam.”
Following Bobby’s lead, “Yeah, it really is. But thanks for dinner, Pam,” Mike said getting up from the table. Bobby got up and started to help Pam clear the table.
“What are you doing, Bobby?”
“What does it look like? I’m helping you.”
“Get out of here, Bobby. Don’t be too late. I got something for you,” Pam said taking the dishes from him. Bobby kissed his wife good-bye and he and Mike left the house, got into Bobby’s car, and drove away. Freeze would find Shy, and everything would be all right.
CHAPTER NINE
Shy prepared to do business Thursday night. She wasn’t particularly happy about the choices she was faced with, or her situation. Things had been quiet for a while. No one had tried to kill her, and none of her people had been robbed or killed. Shy thought it best not to made herself such an easy target, so she’d been keeping a low profile for the last couple of days. From time to time Shy wondered why she hadn’t heard from Black. Maybe he was busy. She thought. Or maybe he hadn’t gotten any of the messages that she left for him. Not wanting to appear to be a pest, she didn’t call him ag
ain.
But tonight, she was feeling kinda horny. After all, it has been more than a year, she thought. She definitely had sex on her mind.
Focus, Cassandra.
She sat down next to Jack. “Things just may be getting better. All we need to do is make this deal tonight and we’ll be back on track.” More to reassure herself than anything else. She got up, returning to her spot in the window.
“Everything should be cool tonight Shy, don’t worry,” Jack said noticing the troubled look on her face.
E walked over and put his arm around Shy. “Jack’s right. Don’t worry about a thing, Shy. Nobody is going to kill you tonight. Not while I’m here.”
“Where’s Tony? We could use another gun tonight in case something goes wrong.”
“He’s been having problems with his girl Rita lately. So, they’re trying to work things out. I guess they went out,” Jack replied. E smiled at Jack.
“That’s real sweet, but we could still use him,” Shy said.
“You shoulda got your new friend to back us up,” Jack said.
“Fuck him, we can do this without any help from him. I keep telling you, Jack, we don’t need him to handle our business. Believe me, Shy, he ain’t even thinking about you. He’s probably out somewhere with somebody else having the time of his life,” E said with fury.
But he was thinking about Shy.
“Where do you want to go, Mike?” Bobby asked.
“Let’s go see Cynthia,” Mike replied. Cynthia runs a gambling house for them.
“Cool. I haven’t been up in there in a long time. I wonder if Sammy is still pouring drinks there?”
“That ain’t what you’re wondering about.”
“What do you mean?”
“You were wondering if Cynt still gives head like she used to.”
“That was a long time ago, Mike. I’m sure by now her skills have eroded. But?” Mike and Bobby both laughed. This seemed to be just what Mike needed. Hang out for a while and have some fun. He’d had Freeze looking for Shy since Sunday. Freeze just missed her a few times.
