by CD Brown
As soon as all of Fudgie’s people were piles of dust, Maisie called the VampAmp headquarters. Pamela had been standing by, waiting for her best employees to walk away from the fight. She asked Maisie to put Sophia on the line.
“I’ve got a clean-up crew waiting to go. They’re all human so they can work through the day. We’re gonna clear out the place and take it over.”
“That doesn’t sound legal.”
“I’ll find a way. In the meantime, grab my two baby hackers and put them on the nearest computer.”
Horton was already in the guard room fiddling on a keyboard. “Way ahead of you. I’ll let you know if we find anything.” Sophia looked at the wall clock reading 3 a.m. “We’ll have to work quick, but have your guys grab all this hardware as well, just in case.”
Horton had to work around password protection, but he cracked it in fifteen minutes. “The password was ‘password.’ Jesus, how old are these vamps?”
The hard drive didn’t have much, but the Outlook was full of names, numbers and addresses. Most looked to be the homes of Fudgie’s enforcers, but four looked to be business offices: the old one on Fairfax which had been abandoned long ago, one in the Valley, and one in Beverly Hills. But the most shocking address was in Venice Beach.
“Are you kidding me?” Horton’s whole body vibrated with anger. “They’re two blocks from VampAmp!”
“That’s why they’re always two steps ahead of us.” Sophia leaned over his shoulder as he brought up a map application. “I’ll bet two bits they’ve got us bugged or something.”
“What is two bits?” Horton looked confused.
“Money old people spent,” said Maisie as she typed on the second computer.
“You have no idea what a quarter could buy you when I was alive.”
“I’m guessing a sandwich and a trolley car ride.” Maisie giggled at Horton’s jab.
“No, that was the price for a fuck. At least in my cathouse.” Sophia smiled at their shocked faces. “But we were pretty classy.”
But the jokes could wait. They now had three places to strike, all in the hopes they could catch Fudgie unaware. As Sophia helped Tamar and Jeremiah pile up the sunsuits for transport, Horton called out from the office.
“Look what I found,” he said as she walked back in. “They have a delivery for ten more sunsuits.”
“From Pasadena?”
“No, it looks like he used some other manufacturer. Probably to keep us off his trail.”
“Great. Now it’s finally our turn to get the jump.” Sophia looked back up at the clock. “Okay, let’s all get back to bed.”
On the drive back to Silver Lake, Jeremiah was quiet. Sophia knew this meant something was bothering him, so she spoke up.
“You were really awesome tonight. You were the key to victory.”
“You sound like a reporter after a football game.” He laughed, and she knew his funk wasn’t too serious.
“But still, you keep putting your life on the line for us.”
“See, you’re just like them.”
“Who?”
“Maisie and Horton. I love hanging out with them because we like the same music and movies and stuff. But it’s still us and them. And I’m a them.”
“You should hear us talk about humans.”
“But I am human. And so are you.”
“No, baby. Not anymore. We’re both something different. Lycanthropes still die of old age, but you get some life extension from the curse.”
“We don’t call it a curse anymore. We call it a challenge.”
“Whatever. You still have issues beyond human understanding. But your issues aren’t mine.” Sophie turned her body so she could look at Jeremiah while he drove. “You’re never gonna get what drives us. It’s the difference between friends and family. As of now, we—I mean vamps—are all the same blood. And we don’t have to like our own, but we definitely have to acknowledge them over others. Outsiders.”
“So it’s not me, it’s you?”
“Something like that.”
Jeremiah pulled up in the parking lot but didn’t turn off the car.
“Are you not coming in?”
“It’s real close to dawn. You’ll be out soon.”
“If we’re gonna fight Fudgie, then I need to stay up past sunrise. Let’s practice now.” Sophia popped her fangs and nipped the end of Jeremiah’s ear. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Hell, yeah.”
Sophia’s eyes popped open, her body not in her French Quarter apartment but at David’s house. She sat up straight, hoping that Chip, who David had turned the previous evening, would wake up.
He lay next to her. As she leaned over to see his face, he covered it with his hands. He groaned, sounding like a man waking up hung over after a three-day drunk.
The ceiling fan, the only thing able to keep the florid air moving, turned slowly above their heads. Sophia didn’t feel heat as badly as she had when she was human, but she didn’t like overpowering heaviness of the moist night air either.
She rolled Chip onto his back.
“It’s gonna take some getting used to.” She caressed his head, running her fingers through his thick, black hair. The color would be gone within a week.
“I’m still hoping it’s a dream. That I’ll wake up in my old room when the clock strikes.”
“Sorry, Chip. This is the next step. Not life, not death, just something in between.”
Chip wiped his face one last time and gazed into Sophia’s eyes. “The whole time you’ve been visiting me, you’ve been a vampire.” He tried to sit up, but he fell back again, his body too frail from lack of blood.
“Take it easy. You’ll need to eat soon.” She helped him sit up, propping him with the bed’s pillows as she sat on the edge of the bed. “And yes, this whole time.”
“Then why didn’t you kill me?”
“Why would I do that?” Sophia laughed. “Yeah, we need blood to live, but David and I don’t kill anyone and everyone. We make choices about who dies. You? You’re a good kid, helping the family, working hard. Taking your life away would be a waste.”
Chip’s smile was weak, his popped canines, ready for a day’s feeding, hung just over his bottom lip. “I thought you might be the one.”
“Don’t get too crazy yet.”
“I mean the one to take me away. I love my family, but I sat by the river and dreamed of a different life, a different way. Is that what I got now?”
“I don’t know if we’re going anywhere, Chippy, but your life is definitely different now. Or, as we say, your undeath.” Her look honed to a sharpness. “One thing that will be different? You’ll have to learn to kill. Take someone’s life directly from their veins so you can still walk and talk. It may not be easy, but it’s vital. David won’t tolerate any weakness in that area.”
Sophia knew this was the hardest part. Chip didn’t look ready for it, his shoulders slumping and his eyes drooping as if he was ready to cry. But she had a solution in her hip pocket.
“I think I know a few Black Hand guys you can practice on.”
His eyes widened and his spirit lifted. Sophia helped him out of bed to get him ready for his first hunt.
The delivery of the new suits was later in the week at the Valley location. But Sophia couldn’t stand Fudgie being right in VampAmp’s backyard without any sort of investigation. She decided to do it solo, with Jeremiah on call for back up. Besides, she needed him to give her a ride to Venice.
Trying to stay up into the sunlight had been way more difficult than she could imagine. While the blackout curtains kept her safe, the force of will it took to push past the dawn hours was monumental. She felt like she was drunk, like five to six drinks in and trying to pretend she was stone cold sober in front of disappointed parents. Her head felt heavy and everything was woozy. Each nod felt like the last one until she finally caved.
It had felt like a few hours, but Jeremiah said she had only made it fifteen minutes.
“Everything gets easier with practice. Plus I can stay up.”
“Don’t you have to be at work?”
“I’m good for another week. Show doesn’t start until then.”
“Okay. Hopefully, I’ll have better strength by then.”
So with Jeremiah at VampAmp and only a cell phone call away, Sophia set out to see Fudgie’s digs down the street. Instead of a sleek office building on the main drag, Fudgie’s new place was tucked in a cul-de-sac, a funky modern building with peaked roofs like a cathedral but constructed of flat grey concrete. An open balcony, the fiery red poles flush with the facade, stood between the two main points. The bottom floor, supported by thick poles, was cubed glass.
The balcony was the easiest access point, but she also knew the most open and vulnerable. Mist diluted her senses too much, so she went to bat form and flew to the open section. Four trees in planters the same circumference as truck tires provided her a hiding place.
She opened up her ears to listen for any activity. This time of night, only vamps would be there anyway. The only voices came from the very back where a light switched on. Sophia got as close as she could to eavesdrop.
Her senses picked out four bodies, but she couldn’t identify them without actually seeing. The first voice to speak was Fudgie. She kept her anger at bay while hearing him greet two people. He welcomed them in, offered some blood, then the other one spoke.
His voice was African American and she knew it right away: Scratch-dilla.
This was the second time Fudgie had turned a Bomb Squad member. Knowing that Fudgie had attacked them with the lamps in Boyle Heights seemed to have no effect on Scratch’s attitude towards the gangster. In fact, his voice sounded eager to please him.
“Yeah, man. I told that bitch we ain’t about their damn council.” Scratch coughed out a laugh. “We got on their nerves. Gave them hell at every turn.”
“See, that’s where you messed up.” Fudgie’s voice was calm, but she could feel his anger. “They took away your voting rights. Now we don’t have any way of influencing their actions.”
“Fuck that, bruh. You said yourself we gonna take them down.”
“I was hoping to catch them unaware. Or at least further so. They found my place in Vernon, but they haven’t done anything yet. I need to know what they found out. So, go make peace.”
“Seriously? You want me to show her my belly like Alpha did?”
“Yes. Then you will bite her hand on my command.”
“All this playing around ain’t my style. Why don’t we just go in? Boom boom boom.”
“Because she’s stronger than you. And me, too, I’m afraid to admit. The only way to take her down, to take them all down, is to have surprise on our side. That’s been working.”
“But…” Sophia felt the change in Scratch. Fudgie must have glared or shown him a deep face because his voice choked. “Okay, okay. We roll over. I get you.”
“Good. Now get outta here. I want to head home.”
Sophia flew down to street level. Changing back to human form, she called Tamika, the Bomb Squader who she thought would take over for Alpha.
“Hey, this is Sophia. Can you talk?”
“Yeah.” A wary edge covered her tone.
“You happy with Scratch being in charge?”
“Hell no. He done started in with all this bitches and hoes crap. That we ain’t nothing but servants. Shit was old in the ‘70s and it’s real old now.”
“Do others feel like you?”
“The women do. But the men? Maybe a few don’t like it, but they got all the power now. They ain’t gonna give it up easily.”
“They will when I get there. Expect me soon.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Just get the women ready. There will probably be a fight. But afterwards, you might get what you want.”
“Amen, sister.”
She wanted to nail Scratch for this, but she had to show her own patience. She had the chance to find Fudgie’s lair. That would level the field right quick.
She went to mist form as the Bomb Squad Escalade drove past her. She hovered near the garage entrance until the Lincoln Continental, one of the last big ones, maybe from the ‘80s, rolled out. The drive wasn’t far, to the canal section of Venice where only walkers could enter. Fudgie parked in a handicapped space, the blue tag hanging from his rear view. He walked into the neighborhood, Sophia smelling the sulphur sharpness of the waterway. She kept way back so as not to alert him. She could see him from two blocks away go into one of the small cottages that lined the area. His was plain, unlike the others decorated with banners, wind chimes and porcelain statues of frogs, unicorns and gnomes. Fudgie’s place could have been abandoned, a look familiar to anyone who knew vamps.
She noted the address, then floated out to the street where she reformed and called Jeremiah. Telling him where she was, she said, “Come get me. We have to go to South Central.”
“They don’t call it South Central anymore. It’s South L.A.” Jeremiah drove the 405 south, one of the few times this interstate wasn’t jammed with cars.
“That’s stupid. Why would they change it?”
“Because when people hear South Central, they think crime and violence.”
“I guess names are powerful. But only if people use them.”
In the months since Sophia had first gone to Bomb Squad HQ, little had changed about the outside. She saw Tamika waiting for her in the parking lot, her white dreadlocks blowing in the cooling winds.
“This better be good. Cause they all ain’t about you taking over.”
“I’m not taking over your cabal. But we have to get rid of Scratch.”
“That’s what I’m saying. I need to know why.”
“You’ll find out.”
Tamika opened the door for Sophia who turned to Jeremiah. “Stay out of this one, boo.”
“Us and them?”
“This time, yes.”
As Tamika led Sophia inside, she could see the place had gone through a radical revamp. Gone were the traces of ‘70s, replaced by hip hop. Posters of NWA and Snoop Dogg, multiple pictures of marijuana leaves and movie posters—Scarface and The Godfather in particular—now hung on the walls, plus all of the furniture was white leather and every lamp and table was gold plated.
“The boy went ghetto fabulous on us.” Tamika pursed her lips. “Did it without asking, too.”
As Sophia took in the new surroundings, Scratch walked into the front room. He looked at Tamika.
“The fuck she doing here?”
“She got something to say.”
“I don’t have to hear it.” He turned to Sophia. “Get the fuck out. You ain’t invited.”
“Too bad.” Sophia turned to Tamika. “Call them in.”
“Don’t listen to her.” Scratch grabbed Tamika’s arm as she walked past, but she growled and scratched him across the face, drawing deep scars on his face. He bent over, a quick curse from pain, then stood back up as the gaps closed. He faced Sophia. “I’ma rain hell on you if you don’t get out.”
“Fudgie wouldn’t want that.”
“The fuck you saying?”
“I’m saying you threw away your allegiance to the Council to be in Whaloosie’s pocket. But I bet you didn’t tell your cabal.”
“Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you liked Lil Bun better than Alpha. Maybe you don’t like being controlled and think Fudgie will leave you alone. Or you think he’ll share the power with you. But that’s stupid.” Sophia could see the edges of the room filling with the other Squad members.
“You calling me stupid? Cause you the one who can’t see for shit.” He pointed over his shoulder. “They all know that. Them rich white folks you hang with don’t respect us and I sure as shit don’t respect them. Game respects game. And Whaloosie�
��s the only one with game in this town.”
“You serious?” Tamika clenched her fists by her side. “That man’s people killed Alpha.”
“Bitch, I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you.” Scratch pivoted to get his people in his sight without turning his back to Sophia. “Alpha thought he was strong. But he was just a bitch like the rest of them people. We got to be with the man who has the power, not no stupid white people committee.”
“Fudgie didn’t just kill Alpha. He ashed a bunch of y’all in Boyle Heights during the fight with the Muertos.” Sophia addressed the room. “Alpha was my friend, but he was also someone who knew respect. Fudgie will use your power until you don’t have any left. Then he’ll wipe you out.”
“See, Alpha told me about you.” Scratch smiled, wicked and knowing. “You ain’t nothing but a ho. A true dick-sucking, john-fucking ho from way back. And the day I can’t pimp out no ho is the day I’m out.”
Scratch’s claws came out and he hissed to show off his fangs. Sophia stood stock still, arms folded.
“You want to go there? You want this to be your last moment?”
“I’m gonna slap your ass around, then show you who’s boss in this joint.”
“Stop this, Scratch.” Tamika had her arms raised, claws extended. “We ain’t following nobody who’s with Whaloosie.”
“That so?”
Without a word, the lines were drawn. All eight of the women and three men sided with Tamika, while four of the men joined Scratch who stepped toward Tamika.
“Told you, fellas. Our women are weak-minded. They think they strong, but don’t want to follow a real man. Once we get rid of y’all, we’ll just get a bunch of thralls up in here. Be a real party without you bitches.”
Sophia walked next to Tamika. “I’m with the bitches. You four think you can outmuscle me?”
“They always talk you up.” Anjani, a thin but ropey vamp on Scratch’s side, threw his hands forward. “But you ain’t shown me nothing.”
“You heard the man,” Scratch said. “We think you ain’t…”
Sophia flashed to Anjani and slit open his throat. Pulling him forward by the hair, she wrenched his head off and his remains floated to the floor.
