by Rae B. Lake
I stood and walked just as slowly toward the door. She wasn’t going to get the drop on me, no matter who she brought with her. I knew I had to take her out quickly, and hopefully, that would give me enough time to get Angel and make it out the window. I had no idea how many people were out there.
My heart began to race, and I stood ready by the door waiting for them to come in. As the door began to swing open slowly and I watched as Jazmine entered, and someone followed behind her.
“You lying, bitch!” I roared as I barreled into Jazmine, my momentum picking her up and knocking her hard into the corner onto a table.
“What in all the fuck, this is what I don’t understand, motherfucking no good, no common sense having, shit-eating, dumbassed always got to mess up a fucking gift. I don’t fucking get it. Why….”
I held Jazmine down on the table but turned toward the other person in the room. It was an older woman; her long grey hair swung down to her butt in a tight braid. Her skin was weathered and full of wisdom, but it was the intense flow of expletives spewing out of her mouth that caught my attention. I had never heard someone curse so much in my life.
A small stinging pain in my side brought my attention back to Jazmine, who I was subduing on the desk. I looked toward the pain, and sure enough, she had a small knife pressed right between my ribs. All she had to do was push, and it would be lights out.
"How about you back off? " Jazmin demanded, her eyes never leaving my face.
"Fuck that! Jam that shit in, there’s no way I’m letting you leave with Angel."
"Hey, crazy man, no one is going anywhere with the little girl." The older woman was still standing behind me, and she dropped the bags she was holding down to the floor.
"Ink, I told you that you could trust me. When the hell are you going to start?" Jazmine muttered as she dropped the knife from my side.
"Who is this woman?" I backed up a pace, never letting either of them get closer to Angel.
"Hey cockstain, this woman is over here. You can talk to me. Let that girl up." I backed up a little more, and Jazmine stood, her eyes soft, but the knife still firmly placed in her palm.
"Fine, who the hell are you, hag?"
The woman squinted as she moved in my direction. "I would be careful who you insult. The last thing you need right now is more enemies. This woman." she pointed to herself "is Catori, but you can call me Tori if you wish. Jazmine came to me in a panic, saying there was an emergency at her house. She didn't tell me who was here only that they needed medicine she didn't have access to. I brought what I could. Is that a sufficient explanation, or do you need to threaten us some more? "
"Inkpop? What's going on?" Angel struggled to sit up on the bed.
"Hey, relax, kid." I rushed over to her with the older woman at my side.
"Why are you arguing? Is it safe?" Angel croaked another round of coughs wracking her frail body.
"Child, don't you worry about anything. We are going to take good care of you." Tori smiled sweetly at Angel as she rubbed her hair.
Angel smiled as she laid back down and tried to go to sleep.
"What the hell happened to this little girl? She has pneumonia for sure; you are lucky she doesn't need a ventilator. Yet." She pulled out a big plastic bag of clear fluid and a few tubes; there were some alcohol pads and other liquids. None of which I was familiar with. I felt almost useless, and I wasn't used to not playing the leading role in taking care of her. My eyes honed in on the small package the old woman was pulling apart, and the tiny needle she took out. My body lurched forward, but Jazmine was behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder, keeping me from grabbing the old woman's hand
"Ink, Angel needs fluids, that’s what this is, okay? It'll hurt for a second, but it's for the best." Jazmine spoke softly by my ear.
I nodded, "Angel, baby? This lady is going to give you some medicine, okay? She needs to give you a needle, and it's going to hurt but only a little. "
"Okay, Inkpop.” The little girl looked at the needle as Tori carefully pressed it to her skin. She hissed in a breath before she turned her head to me and buried it into my arm.
"Almost done, little one." Tori cooed.
The entire process was twenty seconds at most, but it was almost excruciating to watch. I felt my body relax when Tori taped the needle in place and moved onto the plastic tubing it was attached to.
"What is that? Water?" I looked up at the big bag Tori had hung on the wall using a wire hanger.
"Yeah, it's saline."
"Tori, I would ask you to stay, but I know you have to get back. Tell me what we need to watch out for." Jazmine asked from where she was standing.
"Here, this is an antibiotic, and this one is an expectorant, this one is for pain." The woman shoved medicine after medicine into Jazmine's hands and told her what each one was. "If her temperature reaches 104 or higher at any point, you need to find a way to get her to the hospital. She won't make it if you can't keep her temperature down. I’ve already set up the IV, so the one bag should last about twelve hours. After that, you can disconnect it here," she showed us where we could pull it apart. “Try and get her to drink on her own. If she doesn't, there are three more bags in here, just in case." The woman looked around the room and then back at Angel. "You should have everything you need. I'll pray to the Spirits they help her through." Tori reached up and hugged Jazmine tightly before she put a hand on my face and stared into my eyes. It felt like she was looking into my soul, and it was uncomfortable as fuck. "As much as I want to give you hope, we both know your pain is far from over. You’re going to have to deal with this. Deal with it before it kills you or the people you love." She tapped me softly on the cheek before she turned and walked out of the house.
I looked over to Jazmine, who was simply standing next to me but not saying a word.
"So, is she a doctor or something?" I asked, attempting to break the tension in the room.
"Ink, I get you’re worried, and the two of you have had a rough time, but I can't have you attacking me every time I come home. I've had to worry about people trying to take my life since I was a child, and when I moved here, I promised myself no more. I don't want to regret helping you." She turned to look at me, her eyes full of emotion.
I shook my head and turned away. There was no way I could promise her I would no longer be on guard. We had been through too much, and just like the old woman had said, it was far from over.
"Jazmine, I wish you could understand. I wish I could explain to you what we’ve just fucking come from. Then you would see why I act like this. Why I feel like everyone is the enemy."
She put a hand on my arm and pulled me down to the chair. "So tell me, Ink. Let me in."
I didn't know how to go about telling her this story. Just thinking about it was enough to put me in a bad place, but this woman had quite literally risked her life for us several times, just today. She deserved an explanation.
“I’ve been treated like a wild animal for the past four years, all because I was loyal to people who were not loyal to me.”
We sat there for hours as I told her bits and pieces about what happened to Angel, and to me, I purposely left out some information just in case she wasn’t as with me as she said she was. She accepted everything I had given her, and although I could see the different emotions playing out on her face, she never once interrupted me. When I was done, she peppered me with questions, and a few times, she reached over and squeezed my hand, showing me more compassion than anyone had in years.
“So they made you think they were raping her?” Jazmine shook her head in disgust as she looked over to the now comfortably sleeping little girl. “What kind of monsters are these people?” Her head whipped back in my direction, fury now blazing from her eyes.
“They are the type of monsters who would rape a ten-year-old girl. They knew it would break me; it was the only reason they did it. The fucked up part is I know for sure if we were still there, they probably would have done it
for real. There is no low they won’t go. So you see, that’s why I can’t go back. It’s why I can’t let them retake us.”
“Well, what are you going to do? Hide forever? That isn’t going to work. What about the police? FBI or something?”
I chuckled, “You think these fucks don’t already have the police in their pockets? I fought in front of a man who was a state senator. This family has ties everywhere.”
“What about you? Do you have anyone that can help us? You said you were loyal to some people at one time, what about them?”
“No!” I barked at her. I would rather die than running back to Wire and his gang of bitches. There was no way I would ever ask for their help.
“Okay, okay.” She stood and paced in front of me. “Well, I am quite sure I don’t know anyone that can get us out of this jam. For now, I guess we’re just going to have to hide for a bit.”
“I really appreciate everything you’re doing for us. It’s more than anyone has done for me ever.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Well, since we’re here, maybe you want to do something about this mop?” She stepped forward, her body closing in on my personal space. She put a hand in my long stringy hair and finger-combed it softly. Just once to indicate it was long.
I leaned forward, almost expecting my movement to be stilted by the chains, forgetting just for a second I was a free man again. A man who hadn’t been near a beautiful woman who wasn’t sadistic in four years.
She was a beautiful woman. She had many piercings; at least seven in each ear, two in her nose, one in her eyebrow, and one in her lip. I wondered if she was pierced anywhere else. Her hair was short, almost pixieish, but it was full and had a slight wave to it. The tips looked to be dyed a slightly lighter color, but I couldn’t tell. She had a very defined waist, and her hips sprang out a little, but for the most part, she seemed to be holding most of her weight in her breasts. She wore big shirts and sweaters, but even through all that I could see, she had breasts I could have fun titty fucking. I groaned.
I leaned into her some more as she pulled my head forward so she could see what the back looked like, “You know I have some scissors and clippers here if you want me to shape this up for you?”
I grunted, she thought it was in affirmation, but it was the proximity of my face to her pussy. It had been so fucking long. I inhaled her scent, and I could feel my body begin to spring to life. The need I had buried so long ago because I knew I would never fuck again, ignited inside of me instantly, unfortunately so did my cock.
The cock still trapped inside a device made for me to feel pain every time I became aroused.
“Yeah, later. Where’s the bathroom.” I pushed away from her a little more roughly than I should have, but I had to move, or I’d be crying in pain shortly.
“Uhh, it’s right through there.” She pointed to a door, and I hurried into it. I pulled my pants down, and I could already see the drops of blood as the needles began to stab my sensitive skin.
“Shit, shit, shit! Stop.” I closed my eyes and tried to get the thoughts of the beautiful woman in the next room out of my head. After a few months of Ruby’s games, I’d learned how to shut down any arousal I felt. It was usually effortless to do, but Jazmine had me wanting her more than I’d ever wanted any woman. I was sure it was just because I’d been without, or because she’d been so good to us. Or, fuck it, because I had a dick and she had a pussy. Any of those reasons would have made sense. I took in a few deep breaths, and I relieved myself; usually, that helped too. Men can’t cum and pee at the same time, so urinating helped with the arousal. After a few seconds of relaxing in the bathroom, I was able to walk back out in only a tiny amount of pain. I knew what my next mission was, though.
I didn’t know how to go about doing it. She asked me to trust her, and I was really trying, I knew Angel would be out for a while. “Jazmine, I know I don’t even have the right to ask you, but I need to go out for an hour or so. Would you mind watching her until I get back?”
“Sure.” She said, taking a tentative step toward me. “Everything okay? I thought you didn’t want to go outside?”
“If they catch me alone, I can deal with that. When Angel is better, she will tell you who you can leave her with. I just can’t have them catch the both of us.”
That tongue ring popped out of her mouth again as she contemplated what I was saying. “Hmm, I don’t know. Too many things could go wrong. Are you sure you don’t want to wait until she is up, and then we can all go?”
“No, I need to get this done tonight.” I walked closer to her and grabbed her hand. I hadn’t shown anyone besides Angel any form of care, so just grabbing her hand was a big deal for me. “I’ll be back. I didn’t go through all that shit just to get captured again. I wouldn’t leave her alone like that.”
Jazmine looked up to me and nodded her head. “Okay, she will be safe with me. Go do what you need to do, and I’ll be here waiting for you.”
I turned and walked to the door, “Oh, one more thing, Can I borrow your truck?”
“I should have known,” she smiled as she dug in her pocket and pulled out her keys, “If you bring my baby back here with one scratch I will dye your hair purple.”
I let out a laugh before I covered my mouth so I wouldn’t wake Angel. That was the most ridiculous threat I’d ever heard in my life, and I had been threatened a lot.
“I’ll be on my best behavior, I promise.”
I walked out of the house, a smile on my face until the fresh air woke me up from my fantasy. I pulled the hoodie up over my head and did my best to cover my face. Who knew who was out here. I had to watch my ass at all times.
Chapter 10
I pulled the huge delivery van in front of the shop. It was almost nostalgic how similar everything looked. Things had changed, but for the most part, everything was the same. The Chinese spot that Vida used to love to drag me too was still there. The dive bar was still there, and the locksmith was still open as well.
That was my destination, a locksmith. I needed this shit off my dick immediately, what I wouldn’t give to jerk off.
I pulled the gun from under the seat where I’d hidden it and put it in the waistband of my pants. I jumped out of the van and made sure that my hood was up over my head. I walked in swiftly, and thankfully there were no other customers in the store.
“Sorry, my man, but we’re closed for the night. I’ll be open first thing in the morning. Nine am.” The man said as he grabbed his coat and what looked like his lunch bag from behind the counter.
“Are you a locksmith?” I asked, making sure I had the right person before I threatened his life.
“Yeah, but I just told you I was closed. You’re going to have to come in tomorrow, or you can go down to Dembsy street, there’s a twenty-four-hour locksmith there.”
“Sorry, tonight is not your lucky night.” I pulled the gun from my pants and pointed it at him. I kept it low, though, so no one outside would see it.
“Oh shit! Oh shit! Wait, I have nothing in the till you can see for yourself.” The man threw his hands up and shook his head back and forth in panic.
“Put your fucking hands down, I’m not going to hurt you, and I don’t want your money. I need you to unlock something.” I said quietly.
He began to drop his hands a little and looked around, “Well, what is it? A safe or something because I don’t have the equipment I need for a large safe.”
I shook my head and lowered my weapon slightly. “I wish it were a fucking safe. Get what you would need to pick a padlock or something like that. The key didn’t look very extravagant.”
He reached into a drawer and picked up a small case, which I was assuming held what he needed.
“We need to go somewhere private. You know just in case I have to shoot you because you do something stupid.” I tipped my head to the side to see how he would react to the threat.
“Nnno, no, I wouldn’t… won’t. I mea
n, I’ll be cool.” He stuttered out as he walked back to a small door, I followed behind him.
“Do you have camera’s back here?” I asked him once we were in the back room.
“Yeah, this one up here.”
I looked in the direction he pointed and reached up to pull the cord, attaching it to a power source.
“What I’m about to ask you to do is very fucking sensitive and quite personal. If I ever hear you’ve gone around and told this shit to anyone, I will come back and put a fucking bullet in your head. You understand?”
The man nodded his head quickly.
I sucked in a deep breath. This shit was embarrassing, but what fucking choice did I have? I saw his face scrunch in confusion when I put the gun down in front of me and began unbuckling my pants.
His eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he caught a glimpse of the intricate torturous device encasing my manhood.
“The fuck?” He turned the light on and moved a little closer to me. “Holy shit! I have seen my share of fucked up foreplay but never nothing like this. The little lady that put this on took off with your money, didn’t she?” He looked up to my face, a smile on his. He thought I would have someone put this on me voluntarily? If I didn’t need him, I would have smashed his teeth down his throat.
“Look, I’m not here to get into my life story with you. Just get this shit the fuck off my dick, and I’ll be about my merry way.”
“Okay, let me see what I’m working with here.” He sat on a small stool and rolled to me, and his head was incredibly close to my dick. It was uncomfortable as fuck.
He touched it gently and lifted, trying to see where the locking mechanism was. “This shit isn’t for foreplay; this is some sort of torture device, you see this part here?”
I looked down at where he was pointing. “It’s a tripwire for the most part. If you had tried to take this off on your own, there was a high chance a security mechanism of some sort would have kicked in. I don’t know what is in the silo, but it would have completely activated.”
