by D D Bridges
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I said, wrinkling my brow.
“Chill. I’m just trying to make conversation,” he said raising his hands defenselessly.
I had to literally bite my tongue to keep from cussing his racist ass out. I wasn’t looking for any trouble, but this dude was really pushing it. That was strike two.
“So let me guess… Your mother is the Hispanic half,” he said and I couldn’t believe that he hadn’t gotten the hint yet.
“What my mother is or isn’t is none of your concern, motherfucker.” He could tell by my tone that I wasn’t playing any games, nor did I find his antics amusing.
“Damn, my mistake,” he said. “I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that bitches want a man with a big dick, so they usually go after a black man.”
That was strike three. “You know what, why don’t you just shut the fuck up and finish my damn tattoo,” I told him, not giving away my true thoughts. He didn’t even know that his time was limited.
“Fine,” he said before going back to work. About an hour and a half later he was finished. The man definitely had skills and my tattoo was perfect, even better than what I envisioned. After looking at it in the mirror that was hanging on the wall I put my shirt back on.
“That’ll be 350,” he told me. I turned around and pretended as if I was reaching for the cash in my back pocket, but instead I pulled out my gun. I pointed it at him and let off a round into his torso. He fell back against the wall then fell to the floor. I walked over and stood over him.
“You talk too damn much,” I told him as I pointed the gun at him. “You must be crazy to think that I’m just gonna let you get away with talking about my mother like that.” He began to beg for his life but before he could even get more than five words out, I shot him in the head.
Gun still in hand I walked back to the front of the parlor. The girl who was behind the counter jumped back from me and knocked over everything on the shelf. She began to cry when she saw the gun in my hand and realized what I had just done. I pointed my gun at her. I couldn’t afford to leave any witnesses around.
“Please don’t,” she cried. “I’m pregnant.”
I stared at her emotionlessly. Maybe somewhere deep inside me I still had a piece of a heart left because I decided to have sympathy on her.
I snatched some bills out of my pocket, threw them on the counter, then said, “Give me your driver’s license.”
“What?” she said confused and still crying.
“Give me your damn I.D.!” I shouted and she frantically began searching through her purse. Her hands were shaking as she fumbled with her wallet. Finally, she managed to get her license out of the plastic sleeve and then handed it to me.
I looked at it briefly before shoving it into my pocket. I walked over to her and grabbed her face.
“If you go to the police or tell anybody that you saw me here tonight, I will find you and have you and your whole family killed.” I pushed her back against the wall and then got out of there as quickly as I could.
*******
After I left the tattoo parlor I went straight to the secret spot where I was supposed to be meeting Allen and Leah. He called me earlier that day telling me to meet him at 10 o’clock and to bring the money. I had taken $100,000 from my safe and put it in a duffle bag. I knew that withdrawing that much money from the bank would look suspicious. Allen originally guaranteed that his friend in the police department could make our little situation go away, but when he called me earlier today he didn’t sound so sure. I was hoping that he hadn’t fucked things up.
I pulled up to the spot and parked around back. Our secret meeting spot was an old run-down repair shop garage that Allen owned under a false name. We did all of our planning and scheming there, and it was the safest place for us to go if things got really bad.
I retrieved the duffle bag full of money from the trunk of my car and walked around to the front of the garage. I saw both Allen and Leah’s cars parked out front. I hadn’t seen Leah since the night at the warehouse, and I hoped that she was alright. After the way that Allen beat her that night I thought for sure that I would never see her with him again, but obviously I had been wrong.
Leah and I had known each other since we were kids. Her dad had been very instrumental in helping my dad start Kingdom Enterprises. Our families were together quite often, having dinner throughout the week, hanging out on weekends, and even vacationing together at times. My siblings and I looked at Leah and Jeremiah’s parents like they were our own aunt and uncle, and they had the same type of relationship with our parents as well.
When my parents divorced and my mom moved us to Miami, we lost touch with them. I hadn’t seen or talked to Leah in a long time. The night that we planned to set Darius up was my first time seeing her in over seven years, and neither of us mentioned to Allen that we knew each other. That was probably for the best. I had no idea that Leah was in an abusive relationship. She was so much better than that and I couldn’t believe that she was putting up with that type of treatment. There had to be something that I could do to help her, but another part of me felt that maybe I should just stay out of it.
I started to go inside through the front door, but instead I decided to pull up the metal garage door and go in that way. I dropped the duffle beside my feet and then bent over so that I could lift the door. I grabbed the bag with one hand while I lifted the door over my head with the other. I stepped inside and then let the door drop behind me. As soon as I turned around I saw Allen standing a few feet away holding a chain in his hand. I looked down on the ground and I saw Leah lying there unconscious.
“What the fuck?!” I let my words drag out before dropping the bag. My mouth hung open in shock and Allen didn’t even look up at me. All he did was stand there and look down at her while gripping the chain tightly. He was breathing hard and sweating, and by looking at her I could tell that he had exerted a lot of energy while beating her down. Her clothes were torn and she had bloody bruises all over her body. From the position of her body I could tell that she tried to get into the fetal position in order to protect herself, but it had been to no avail. I hoped to God that she wasn’t dead. Aside from the fact that Leah used to be like family to me, the last thing that Allen and I needed was another body on our hands.
Allen dropped the rusted chain and then brushed his hands off on his jeans, almost as if he had just taken out the trash. He grabbed his beer bottle from off the hood of an old car that was nearby and then turned in my direction.
“Did you bring it?” he asked in an eerily calm tone. I was still in shock and couldn’t believe that he was acting as if nothing was wrong.
“What the hell is going on, man?” I asked, pointing at Leah. “Do I need to call an ambulance?”
“Nah, that bitch is alright,” he slurred after taking a swig of his beer. “She came in here talking crazy. Talkin’ ‘bout how she ain’t gon’ help us no more. I had to teach that hoe a lesson.”
“Allen, you are obviously drunk and your judgment is clouded,” I chided him before knocking the beer out of his hand, causing the bottle to shatter on the floor.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, man?” he protested.
“Allen, when Leah’s parents find out what you did to her this time, they’re going to have you locked up,” I told him. “That is if I don’t have you locked up first.”
“Oh, so you gon’ rat me out,” he said, getting right up in my face. “I’m the one who’s trying to help you get what’s yours and that’s how you gon’ do me?”
“Why are you treating her like that? What did she ever do to you?” I asked, my voice calm and controlled.
“Don’t worry about her, okay. She just sleeping. We got business to take care of.”
I looked at Leah again and I still couldn’t tell by looking at her if she was breathing or not. I really didn’t want any part in whatever issues they had. I wanted to help Leah, but I was there on a missio
n.
I shook my head at Allen before snatching the duffle up by the handles. I lead the way up the wooden staircase to the empty second floor. There was absolutely nothing up there except a huge propeller-like fan that was built into the wall. The blades turned at a steady pace and the light from the street post right outside the building shined through providing the only light on the second floor.
I stood over near the fan and dropped the bag. Allen came and stood in front of me. He picked up the bag, unzipped it, then smiled when he saw what was inside.
“I knew you would come through,” he said. “But we need more.”
“More?” I said, looking at him sideways. “What the hell do you mean, more?”
“My guy said that Detective Willis isn’t budging on the case. He’s refusing to let anyone else take it. My man said that he can go over his head, pull a few strings, but it’s gonna cost us.”
“How much?”
“Another 150,” he said nonchalantly.
“So he wants $250,000,” I said, becoming slightly annoyed. “It sounds like he’s trying to make a small fortune off of us.”
“It’s not like that. Trust me; the man is worth his hire. He’ll take care of everything.” To me Allen sounded too calm and confident about this. It was my ass that was on the line and my money that was being spent. My gut was telling me that something wasn’t right about this.
“How do I know that you and this guy aren’t setting me up?” I said.
“What?”
“You two could be trying to milk me for all I’m worth, and then you let me take the fall anyway.”
“D.J. you’re talking crazy,” Allen said, finally beginning to show some emotion. “If you go down, then I’m going down with you. And why the fuck would I play you. I want Darius dead just as much as you do, but I can’t do it if you’re behind bars.”
“Well there’s got to be another way,” I said. “I don’t feel right about this.”
Allen sighed as he put his hands in his pockets and looked away from me for a brief moment.
“There is one other option,” he said.
“And what’s that?” I folded my arms and said.
“Well, we could just get Detective Willis out of the picture all together.”
I hesitated while I thought about his words.
“What do you mean get him out of the picture? What are you saying?”
“What I’m saying is that if the cop is dead then the case is dead too.” I didn’t like the look that was in Allen’s eyes. He was actually making me think that he was serious.
“Please tell me that you’re joking or that you’re too drunk to know what you’re saying,” I said. “You cannot possibly be suggesting that we kill a FBI agent. Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“No, I’m the one who’s thinking clearly,” he said. “That detective is the only thing standing between you and I executing our plan. We have got to get him out of the way or we have no chance of doing what you came here to do.”
“No,” I said definitively. “We’re not doing it. Now take that money and tell your boy that if and when I see some progress, then I’ll think about giving him some more. Until then, 100 k will have to do.”
Once again Allen followed closely as I went back down the stairs.
“You gotta tighten up, man,” I lectured as we marched down the wobbly staircase. “You can’t afford to get arrested for something stupid like a DUI or for beating up your girlfriend.” That reminded me that I needed to check on Leah. It was time that somebody intervened and got the girl some help, even if it was only temporary.
I walked over to the other side of the car intending to examine whether or not Leah needed serious medical attention. But when I got there, she was gone. I looked side to side, then checked under the car, thinking that she might be hiding, but she was nowhere to be found.
“She’s gone,” I said to Allen who was still standing by the stairs.
“What do you mean, gone?” Allen said as he walked over to where I was standing.
“I mean that she’s not here,” I said, breaking my words up like I was talking to a child. “She’s gone.”
Chapter X- Leah
The last thing I remembered was feeling a searing pain in the back of my head before I blacked out.
I showed up at the old repair shop, which had been our meeting place ever since I started working with Allen and D.J. I thought that after the way his plan failed Allen would have calmed down his attitude a bit, but I should have known better. As soon as I got there he was all up in my face asking me all kinds of frivolous questions. We ended up arguing and as soon as his first blow connected with my stomach I knew that I had made a horrible mistake by coming there.
I keeled over and fell to the floor and assumed that Allen’s assault would stop, but he became even angrier. He continued to hit me and kick me in my chest, stomach, and back. Allen always made sure that he didn’t hit me in the face. He said that he did this because my face was my best asset. I believed that he did it because he didn’t want people to know what went on between us behind closed doors.
After he grew tired of kicking and punching me, he grabbed an old rusty chain that was lying around and began to beat me with it. I remember crying out in pain and begging him to stop, but he whipped me like I was a runaway slave. I remember him dropping the chain and standing over me while all I could do was lay there and cry. My body ached so much that even breathing hurt. Finally, when his foot connected with the back of my head, I blacked out.
*******
The next thing I remembered was being carried up a flight of stairs. I was barely conscious and still in a lot of pain. I couldn’t tell where I was or who was carrying me, but whoever he was, he was very strong and yet held me so gently. He carried me into a bedroom and then into a bathroom. He closed the lid on the toilet and then sat me down on top of it.
“Leah,” I heard him say, but my vision was blurry and I still couldn’t tell where I was or who was with me. I started to cry because I was so confused and didn’t know what was going on. Was this man trying to help me or hurt me? I couldn’t take being hurt anymore. I’d rather die than be beat again. I was so sore and weak that I could barely sit upright.
The man grabbed me to keep me from falling over and then leaned me back against the tank on the back of the commode. He got up and moved away from me and I heard him turn on the shower. He came back over to me and began to remove my shoes. He began to remove the rest of my clothes as well. Afraid that he was about to rape me, I immediately became alarmed, but I was in no condition to protect myself. All I could do was lie there with my back against the commode as I sobbed quietly.
Once I was completely naked, he picked me up and carried me into the shower. When the hot water first hit my wounds it stung like hell and I yelped in pain. But after a while the water began to soothe my wounds and ease the pain and soreness that I felt.
The man whose identity I still didn’t know, just stood there in the shower with me. He was still fully dressed and held me while I cleaved to him for strength. He gently turned me around, making sure that the water could hit every part of my body, especially the parts that were all bloody and bruised. He lathered a rag and helped me clean myself. By the time we began to rinse the soap off of my body I was exhausted, even though he had done most of the work. I leaned my head against his chest as I let the water wash away the rest of the soap and blood. Unable to do anything else, I fell asleep in his arms.
********
I woke up in a soft, warm bed. I still didn’t know where I was, or even what time it was. I felt like I had been asleep for days. My body was still sore but not as sore as it was before. I wanted to move, but it seemed that I couldn’t. I was still very weak.
My other senses began to awake as well. I opened my eyes and realized that the room that I was in had a yellowy glow. I turned my head to the right and saw a lamp sitting on the nightstand. I realized that the lamp was the only light
on in the room, and I also realized that I had been there before. It was the room that I stayed in while I was at Darius’s house. How I ended up there I didn’t know.
My nose caught a whiff of a strange but yet familiar smell. It was hard for me to describe it, but I knew that I had smelled something like it recently. I turned my head to the other side and realized that Terry was sitting on the edge of the bed smoking a blunt. He had his back to me and was wearing a wife-beater and jeans. He put the blunt down and I watched as he held his head in his hands. He rocked back and forth a few times before dropping his hands, almost as if he was defeated. I wondered what was troubling and why he was there. Was he the one who saved me? But how could he have done that? How would he have found me?
My mind mulled over the things that I remembered happening and I thought about how he undressed me. Had he really seen me naked? As I thought on this, I began to realize that I was still naked. My body was nestled underneath a plush comforter, but there was no mistaking the fact that I didn’t have on any clothes. I instantly went into survival mode and began to try and formulate a plan to get out of there. I knew that getting out of the bed unnoticed probably wouldn’t work, but it was worth a try.
As soon as I tried to move and sit up, every muscle in my body resisted. Still, I willed myself to sit up. I got about half way up when a pain shot through my back, causing me to wince. The sound that I made caused Terry to turn around and look at me. He got up off of the bed and ran over to the other side where I was.
“Whoa, whoa, take it easy,” he said as he placed a hand on my shoulder and helped me sit all the way up. I barely had enough strength to push his hand away, but I did.
“I’m okay,” I told him, trying to find ways to move that wouldn’t cause pain.
“No you’re not. Look at you,” he said as he grabbed a chair that was nearby and then sat beside the bed.
