Gently, he pushed up her legs and slowly pulled her knees wide apart until her glistening femininity was exposed to him.
Fully clothed, he crouched down at the bottom of the bed and buried his face in the thick dark hair of her pubis, his tongue stretching into the delicate opening.
Drinking from her youthful fountain, the man slurped greedily as though dying from thirst.
The bedroom door opened and slammed closed. Startled, the man jerked his head from between Gianna’s legs.
Bullet folded his arms, his legs spread apart. Looking at the man with disdain, he said, “Your fifteen minutes is up.”
“I need more time,” the man pleaded.
“Fuck that. You trying to eat her box out. Man, you gotta save a lil’ something for them other niggas. They tryna bust a grub, too.” Bullet laughed at the ludicrous notion of men paying to indulge in oral sex.
The man scooted off the bed and stuffed his hand in his pocket, extracting a wad of cash. “I’ll pay more.”
Bullet looked at him sneeringly. “We ’bout to have another bidding war.” Bullet glared at Gianna. “Put that wedding shit back on and take your ass out there in the living room.”
Mechanically, Gianna picked up the sheer lingerie.
“Don’t talk to her like that,” the man said reproachfully.
“Fuck outta here. That’s my bitch. I talk to her anyway I want to.” He shot a look at Gianna. “Ain’t that right, ho?”
“You right,” Gianna agreed.
Using the palm of his hand, the man wiped the sheen from around his mouth. “I can’t let those slimy bastards maul her like she’s a piece of meat. Take the money.”
With a look of desperation in his eyes, he extended the hand that held the folded currency.
“That’s two hundred dollars. Let her stay here with me. Why bother to go through the motions when you know none of those cheapskates is willing to bid more than that?”
Bullet looked up in thought and then fixed his gaze on the greenbacks in the man’s hand. “Hold up; lemme go run this by my partner.”
Moments later, Bullet and Flashy entered the bedroom together.
“What’s the problem?” Flashy sashayed toward the bed and began picking up the pieces of Gianna’s bridal outfit.
“I’m offering two hundred to keep her with me.”
Flashy positioned the tiara on Gianna’s head. “There’s people out there waiting to bid on her. You’re not the only one who wants to sample the goods.” Flashy sucked his teeth.
“What’s the point in parading her back out there? I’m willing to pay whatever you want.” The man smoothed his shiny black hair out of his face.
Flashy gave him a snide look. “Listen up, Senor El Creepo—”
“Yo, don’t be insulting the customers,” Bullet interjected.
“Well, I have a system in place. This Spanish-looking nigga needs to stick to the program. Lollipop will be back up for auction again as soon as I can get her in her costume,” Flashy said snippily, picking up the pair of white beaded heels. “She goes with the highest bidder!”
“I want to purchase her for the remainder of the night,” the persistent man said. “I’ll pay one thousand dollars if I can have her all to myself.”
“Sold!” Bullet shouted without hesitation.
Flashy frowned. “Not so fast, Bullet. We can make way more than that—”
Bullet snatched Flashy by the arm. “Who’s running this shit?”
“Don’t be so rough.”
“You stepping out of line, man. Don’t make me have to break your shit.” He gave Flashy a hard shove, causing him to stumble.
Flashy straightened himself up. “You don’t have to manhandle me to get your point across.”
“It’s a deal. Give me that stack, yo.” Bullet stretched out his palm.
“I can have her?” The man fidgeted with his tie, his eyes glimmering with lust.
“You got her for the next coupla hours, then you gotta bounce.”
CHAPTER 34
The sun peeked through the dark night and began to faintly lighten the sky.
Through the back window of Bullet’s car, Gianna watched with interest as Bullet and the man in the suit stood outside the house having a discussion.
Skittles and Bubbles, also in the back seat of the car, sat slumped against each other, both snoring.
The medication had begun to wear off about an hour ago. Taking a huge and desperate risk, she’d told the man who called her his bridal doll the facts…how she’d been kidnapped and forced into prostitution. In a frantic whisper, she’d provided him with her parents’ names and phone numbers.
He seemed genuinely horrified that Gianna was an unwilling captive. “Though I have a fetish, I’m not a criminal,” he assured her. “I’ll get you away from the slimy pimp, even if I have pay twenty thousand dollars. You’re worth it to me. After I satisfy my fetish, I promise to return you to your family.”
She crossed the fingers of her good hand, watching Bullet and the man with the fetish, hoping for a successful outcome.
With both pockets bulging with money, Bullet took giant strides toward the Cadillac.
Looking dejected, the man in the suit walked over to a long, dark car that was parked discreetly beneath a large tree.
“Big pimpin’!” Bullet yelled happily as he climbed into the driver’s seat. “That auction was off the chain!”
Gianna looked out the back window one last time, her heart sinking as she watched the long black car drive away. The man who liked dolls wasn’t going to save her.
Flashy sat up front in the passenger’s seat, his lips poked out in irritation.
When sunlight broke through the twilight and flooded through the car windows, Bullet threw up his arm, blocking the sun’s glare.
“Find my shades,” he said to Flashy, using a bossy tone.
“Do I look like I’m your goddamn servant? Find your own fuckin’ shades.” Rolling his eyes in righteous indignation, Flashy reached inside his purse and took out a pair of rhinestone-studded sunglasses. With great flourish, he affixed the gaudy sunglasses to his face.
“Here you go with your bullshit.” Bullet fished around inside the side pocket of the car door. He located his dark shades and put them on.
“You got some nerve, leaving me out here in this stuffy car while you discuss business with El Perverto.”
“Man, there’s a time and a place for everything. A lot of mufuckas don’t want to talk business with a homo.”
“Hmph. Nobody seemed to mind the fly-ass way I ran that auction.” Flashy punctuated the statement with three finger snaps.
Bullet laughed. “Yeah, you was on point with the auction.”
“So what did that pervert want to discuss?”
“You ain’t gon’ believe what that mufucka asked me.”
Gianna’s body tensed as she waited to hear her fate. Maybe there was hope.
Flashy folded his arms huffily. “I’m all ears and I’m braced to hear what kind of stupid arrangements you made without my consent.”
“I don’t need your consent.”
“We’re partners, aren’t we?”
“Yeah, but I don’t have to run every decision by you.”
Flashy frowned. “So what did you discuss?”
Bullet laughed. “That sucka wanted to buy Lollipop.”
“For how much?”
“It don’t matter. She ain’t for sale. Lollipop is gon’ be bringing in lots of dough for years to come. I told him he could keep on paying for her services, but I’m not selling my cash cow.”
“How much did he offer? You know I need a big payday to get my surgery.”
“He wanted to pay ten stacks. I wanted to laugh in his Spanish-looking face. But I did tell him that I had a baby for sale—”
Flashy gasped at the mention of Skittles’ baby. He jerked around to make sure she was sound asleep. Relieved that Skittles was snoring, Flashy asked, “Does he have enough t
o buy the baby?”
“He wasn’t interested. He’s feenin’ for Lollipop, so you know I’m gonna milk him for every dollar he’s got. But in the meantime, he’s gon’ put me on with some dudes who are into that type of thing. You know…mufuckas with serious dough. Dudes who get their kicks off of having sex with babies.”
Sex with babies! Gianna covered her mouth to stifle a scream.
“He said he’s gon’ put the word out. I told him that baby is worth at least fifty grand. If he can find me a buyer, he won’t have to bid on Lollipop no more. I’ll sell him her services at a fixed rate.”
Bullet turned the key in the ignition. Pushing the pedal to the floor, he skidded out of the parking spot and then roared down Bethel Road.
“Why don’t you wake up the whole neighborhood?” Flashy said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“What’s your problem, man? Why you always gotta be acting like a lil’ bitch? What? You mad cuz you wasn’t included in the transaction?”
“Newsflash! There wasn’t any transaction. And let me tell you something else… We are not in the city of Chester or the city of Philadelphia. This little borough is called Chester Township, and the cops in this neck of the woods don’t have shit to do except hand out speeding tickets to fools like you.”
“Fuck these hillbilly cops. I’ma drive the way I want to.”
“You sound so stupid.” Flashy shook his head.
“Fuck you.”
“You need to slow the fuck down, Bullet!” Flashy yelled as Bullet increased his speed.
“Don’t tell me how to drive my whip.”
“If you don’t drive like you have some sense, the next dollar you earn is gonna come from selling loose cigarettes in the state pen. These township cops have all the time in the world to listen to you try to come up with an explanation for why you have three minor girls in the back seat of your car.”
Quickly coming to his senses, Bullet slammed on the brakes, causing Gianna to lurch forward, jostling her about. Her bandaged finger hit the back of Bullet’s seat and began to pulse.
Tires screeched loudly as Bullet slowed down the car.
Bubbles and Skittles woke with a start. Groggily, they rubbed their sleepy eyes, but didn’t utter a sound.
Exhausted and demoralized, they sat helplessly mute, knowing better than to question anything that Bullet said or did.
It had been a grueling night of unending sexual abuse. No longer chemically restrained, Bubbles and Skittles were kept docile and compliant by the threatening appearance of Bullet’s serrated knife.
Additionally, each girl had experienced the terror of being shot at while her body was roped to a tree.
And Gianna’s partially amputated finger was a powerful deterrent to any acts of rebelliousness that might have entered their heads.
CHAPTER 35
“Pain.” Gianna whispered the complaint.
Skittles patted Gianna’s thigh comfortingly.
Bubbles looked at the bandaged finger and grimaced as if she were experiencing Gianna’s pain.
Neither Bullet nor Flashy heard Gianna’s soft cry.
“You’re feeling yourself, nigga,” Flashy continued to rant. “All that money we pulled in tonight done went to your head.”
Bullet made a snorting sound. “These coupla stacks ain’t about nothing.”
“Couple of stacks, my ass. That auction pulled in exactly three thousand and seven hundred dollars.” Flashy rolled his eyes again. “Do not try to play with my money because I counts every dollar. Yes, indeed.” Feeling self-satisfied, Flashy clapped his manly hands. Next, he began to bounce his shoulders like he was in church getting hit by the Holy Ghost, over and over.
“Whatever, man. I gotchu. Ain’t nobody tryin’ to steal nothing from you.”
“Uh-huh,” Flashy said doubtfully.
“Stop frontin’,” Bullet said with insincere laughter. “You gon’ get your fair share when we get back to the crib.”
“I know mufuckin’ well, I’m gon’ get mine.” Flashy twisted his neck, his Adam’s apple bobbing excessively as he continued his verbal tirade.
“Don’t get it twisted, nigga. I’m the one who set up that damn auction. You were hustling all stupid before I stepped up the game. I’m gonna let you slide and consider that statement about a couple of stacks as a slip of the tongue. But lemme find out you trying to beat me outta my cut—” Flashy did a theatrical shivering motion and another finger pop to announce his final statement. “I will shut shit down in a heartbeat. Believe that!”
“Chill out, man.” The scowl on Bullet’s face indicated he was losing his patience.
“Then stop playing with me. Even though I already put plans in motion, I swear to God, I will cancel the next auction if you try to get all Big Willy on me and shit. Think I won’t?”
Bullet shot Flashy a big grin. “You set up another auction?”
“Yeah, nigga. But this time, it’s at a different location. I’m about my business and staying several steps in front of the law. I keeps it moving.”
“When? And where’s it gon’ be at?”
“You got slimy ways, Bullet. If you was on the up and up, you wouldn’t have had any discussions about money while I’m cooped up in the car with these stank hoes.”
“Man, get over that. I told you…dude wasn’t feeling you like that. He’s a homophobic.”
“If that’s the case, then he shouldn’t have been feeling you either.”
“Yo, watch your mouth. Don’t be calling me a faggot.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“What’s up with the next auction?”
“I’ll let you know on a need-to-know basis.”
“Oh, it’s like that? I thought you was my shawty.”
“Don’t be trying to butter me up, now.”
“Man, fuck you. These hoes is all mine. You can’t hold no auction nowhere if I don’t provide the candy. Feel me?” Angry, Bullet made a sudden sharp turn.
Gianna’s body whipped from side to side, crashing into Bubbles and then into Skittles’ hard, bony elbow.
“Ow,” she hollered.
“Give her another pill,” Bullet said, glaring at Flashy.
“Ain’t no more. We ran out.”
Bullet’s jaw clenched visibly. “How you let that happen?”
“It was way past Lollipop’s bedtime, but you kept giving that weirdo more time.”
“Ahhh,” Gianna moaned from the back of the car.
“Check your pocketbook.”
Flashy jerked his neck toward Bullet. His mouth was stretched open as he enunciated each word. “The pill supply has been exhausted. We ain’t got no more!”
“What about at the crib?”
“I don’t keep that shit at my house.”
“Oh, God!” Gianna hollered. “It hurts!” Squirming, she clasped the bandaged finger at the knuckle, her face twisted in a pained grimace.
Moaning, Gianna rocked back and forth. Her head bumping against the leather upholstery, her bridal tiara knocked askew.
Bullet turned around and glared at Skittles and Bubbles. “Damn, can one of y’all shut her up?”
“Be quiet, Lollipop,” Skittles said with a sternness in her voice that she hoped Gianna would take seriously.
“My finger,” Gianna wept, tears now streaming.
“We gon’ get you some medicine in a minute,” Bubbles said in a harsh whisper. “Now shut up!”
“I need it, now!” Gianna screamed, ripping the tiara from her hair. With pain escalating out of control, her brain censors were disabled, and she no longer was concerned about facing Bullet’s wrath.
“Oh, Lord. I don’t need this shit,” Flashy said, fanning his face.
“We gotta get her some drugs!” Bullet shouted.
“We’re close to the Fairground Projects. We’re gonna have to swing through there. I know somebody who might have something.”
“This time of the morning?”
“Your greedy
ass should have been thinking about the time when you were allowing El Creepo to keep padding your pockets.”
“That was good money, yo. I wasn’t gon’ turn it down.”
Squinting out the window, Flashy said, “What street is this? I get confused up in these Fairgrounds.”
“Man, I don’t know nothing about no fucking Chester Township.”
“Oh, this is Engle Street,” Flashy said, after locating a street sign. “Keep going. Make a left at the corner.” Staring out the window, Flashy said, “Okay, now we’re on Peterson Street. I know where I am. Keep going all the way down until you get to Stewart Street, and then make another left.”
At cruising speed, Bullet followed Flashy’s directions.
“Right here. That’s his car,” Flashy said, pointing to an old-model Ford Explorer in the driveway of a white brick house that was at the end of a set of four identical, connected houses.
“Gimme some money.” Flashy stuck out his hand. Despite the glittery feminine jewelry, the bright polish and intricate designs on every fingernail, Flashy’s heavily veined hand exposed the masculinity he tried hard to conceal.
Bullet peeled off fifty dollars and handed it to Flashy.
“You got me showing up at the dopeman’s house all unannounced and desperate. You gon’ have to buy in bulk. Gimme at least two-fifty.”
“The drug game done changed something serious anytime a dope boy can charge a nigga up for some pain pills and shit.” Bullet gave Flashy the money.
Flashy rapped on the door and then disappeared inside. A few minutes later, he came out carrying a six-ounce bottle of water.
“Damn, these niggas provide water and shit to go with the pills!” Bullet was astonished.
Flashy gave Gianna two pills. He twisted the cap off the water. “Here, Lollipop.”
Gianna gulped down the pills. A few minutes later, she was enveloped in a drugged state of ecstasy.
“Hey, Skittles,” Gianna said in a whispery voice.
“Hmm,” Skittles responded.
“Some men wanna have sex with your baby. Don’t you think that might kill her?”
“What! Where’s my baby?” Hysterical, Skittles swung on Bullet, her small fists swinging at the back of his head. “You’re a fucking liar! You said my baby would be safe as long as I cooperated. Where’s my fucking daughter? If anything has happened to my child, I’m going to kill you!”
Stealing Candy Page 21
