Power

by Kenya Wright

  “But what is this path? Why are there so many death cards on the table? All the times you’ve read for me, I’ve killed and murdered even more. Death has never come up. Why now? Who will die? Is it the person I love?”

  “Change your path. Figure out what you want to save.”

  I hit the table. “Just tell me what to do, goddamn it!”

  She remained still.

  “You made these cards.” I pointed at her. “How many times did you paint death?”

  She no longer touched the deck or the table and wouldn’t even look up at me. “I only painted one death card.”

  My insides crumbled into themselves. My eyes watered. For the first time in forever, I was more scared than I’d ever been in my life.

  “Go, Noah.”

  I backed up and rubbed my face with both hands. “Will you let me talk to Night Shade?”

  “No. I won’t let my daughter walk this path with you. There are too many wrong bones.”

  My voice came out low. “Wrong bones?”

  “Wrong bones in the wrong place. Wrong bones, Noah. People that shouldn’t be dead. Blood that is too innocent. Crying where there should be laughter. Fire and destruction where there should be beauty and love. A festival of pain.”

  “Is this in my city?”

  “Choose what you really love and then fight for it, Noah. Look for the light in the darkness and run fast toward that light, like you’re about to die. Never look over your shoulder at the darkness. Any light you see, boy, you run for it. That is all I can say or those wrong bones might come my way.”

  Pissed and freaked out, I left. The urge to kill someone hit me hard, but I swallowed it down. That was exactly what Vinese had been talking about. Death and darkness. If I had to win this war, it must be some path of light and love. Whatever that meant.

  Who the fuck fights a war with love? Find the light? Where the hell was it? Besides Mom’s eyes, I’ve only seen darkness.

  I got to the limo. 305 already had the engine running. As soon as I shut the door, he rushed us away. I bet a million dollars we’d be speeding and probably would be out of Ebony Forest in less than a few minutes.

  “Any light you see, boy, you run for it.”

  The only other time I saw light in my life was when I closed my eyes and meditated. With my lids shut, light shimmered all around me. It glowed in beautiful golds and bright white. Sometimes, shapes skittered by as I kept my mind still. Sometimes, a violet circle pulsed in front of me. I’d read that it was supposed to be the opening of my third eye. But I paid no mind to that shit. I meditated to keep the nightmares away and exercise my head to make clear decisions, not open some metaphorical mind’s eye and reach a higher level of consciousness.

  The limo bounced a few times as 305 surely zipped over roots and rocks. The odd shaped trees sped by my window, dancing in the wind. They appeared to be watching our departure. All of those skeletal tree sculptures, from the stiff branchy horses to the towering moon-eyed man.

  My phone rang.

  Fuck! I forgot to check on Mary Jane.

  I took it out and answered. “Yes?”

  A kid’s voice sounded on the line. “Boss. This is Mo.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Three weird-looking bitches got your lady. They all look like each other. One has blue hair and—”

  “What the fuck did you say? They have Mary Jane?”

  “Yeah. They flattened Fuji’s tires and—”

  “His tires?”

  Did that motherfucker take her out of the loft!?

  Mo continued, “Yeah. After you left, Fuji carried her out of there in all these blankets and I was like, I better follow his dumbass ‘cause I’m smart like that.”

  I’m going to kill Fuji.

  “They went to her college dorm. I parked next to them. When they went upstairs, these crazy girls got out of a van and stabbed his tires. I think they’d been waiting there the whole time—waiting for her to come back there.”

  Of course somebody was watching the college! That’s why she wasn’t supposed to go back there! Fuji, what the hell where you thinking? Do you even think anymore where she’s concerned?

  I considered the things that I’d done in the past couple of days and realized that I probably hadn’t been thinking much around her either.

  “When Fuji and her came out,” Mo said. “The girls surprised them. Then something weird happened. MJ kneed Fuji and left with the girls.”

  I held my head in my hand and massaged my temples. “She kneed him?”

  So you tried to save the poor bastard? I bet you think that I shouldn’t touch him now.

  “Yeah, she kneed him. He fell to the ground and then the girls helped her to the van. Fuji was still on the ground when they drove off.”

  Of course he was on the ground. Where else would he be when Mary Jane wants to have her way?

  If I’d been full of fear before from the card reading, now anxiety spilled out of every pore. The image of the death card flashed in my head.

  “Choose what you really love and then fight for it.”

  Then Mo said the only thing that could ever make me happy during such a messed up day. “I’ve been following them this whole time. We’re down South, right before you get to the scary woods area.”

  “Ebony Forest?”

  “Yeah. They carried her out and took her to one of those abandoned plant buildings. It’s easy to see this one. Lights are everywhere.”

  “Any light you see, boy, you run for it.”

  “Lights?” I asked.

  “Yeah. There are neon butterflies on lampposts. Like when the city put up those decorations during Christmas. The whole block is lit up and you can see an old…”

  “Miller Plant?”

  “I think it says Miller.”

  So Butterfly is going down memory lane now. Why hadn’t I considered our past together? Is that how I could beat her?

  Miller Plant would be a big deal to her. She probably thought it was our place. She’d said it enough back in the day. That dingy ass building was where I’d first met Butterfly.

  When we were young, these three boys had tricked her, slipped something in her soda, and brought her to the abandoned plant to have some fun. She’d still been conscious when Rasheed, Domingo, and I had stumbled in on the group. Those boys had no idea our bosses kept guns on the top level. Domingo told them to leave. Ignoring the situation, Rasheed walked off to the stairs to finish our task.

  But me, I didn’t really like motherfuckers that took advantage of nice girls. I beat the shit out of them so bad, one of the guys’ legs still hadn’t healed back. I didn’t think those boys would ever do that shit to another girl again.

  After the beating, I cleaned Butterfly up, gathered her ripped clothes, and gave her my shirt. Once Domingo and Rasheed told me that the guns had been untouched, we took Butterfly home. In the dark and trying not to make a sound, I broke into her house through the back, carried her in, and put her to bed, without waking up her parents.

  After that, I couldn’t get rid of her. She was like a goddamned puppy.

  “Your enemy sits in the shadows, plotting your demise. You’ve allowed this for some time, ignoring the problem for too long. If only you can take off the blindfold from your own eyes, look in the past, and see the solution.”

  Scared for Mary Jane, I sighed and spoke into the phone. “We’ll be there.”

  “You and who?” Mo had the nerve to ask.

  “Me and the fucking army.” I hung up and group texted 9-1-1 with the plant’s address, the whole time counting how many guns I had in the trunk.

  “Choose what you really love and fight for it.”

  I’d figured this war was about who controlled Din City. At least, that was how I saw it. But it was looking like the war dealt with who owned my heart. Did Butterfly even care about the money, street game, or having power over all my soldiers? Did I even care about that anymore?

  No.

  “Choose
what you really love and fight for it.”

  I’d thought Vinese meant Din City, but it was bigger than that. In the end, I no longer gave a fuck about this city, the drugs and gun game, or all my soldiers that depended on me. Like I told Domingo that night at his son’s birthday party, our men would follow who ruled next. They stayed loyal because I made them that way.

  But Mary Jane, she represented the possibility of more in my life.

  “Choose what you really love and fight for it.”

  I grabbed my gun from under the seat. “I choose you, baby.”

  Chapter 23

  Mary Jane

  One day, a moron asked his father,

  “How much liquid does a 2-quart flask hold?”

  –Philogelos (The Laughter Lover)

  In this odd brothel

  where brick wall met silk,

  sensual moans met rough grunts,

  and perfume mingled with cigar smoke,

  a beautiful woman stood on the stage with chains attached to her legs.

  There was an elegance to her that could not be denied even as silver locked her ankles and jailed her to the hooks on the floor. She was a cascade of color—draped in a rainbow of sequins and silk that trailed all around her. Yet the high split, that started above the singer’s thigh, showed the trapped ankles and angry welts on her legs.

  Someone had whipped her too many times.

  Someone had tried to defeat her.

  Yet, she sang with so much emotion, telling us all that no one could beat away or silence the melody inside of her.

  Her skin was its own poetry—an enchanting display of soft, pale flesh among purple bruises. Her face revealed a beautiful pain. Her cheeks sank in--probably from starvation, but her eyes shined emerald green. Full lips. She captivated me. Crimson red hair spilled down her shoulders, dripping like blood and curling at her waist into tiny fists.

  All I could do was focus on her music, instead of my dangerous situation.

  “I romance the darkness inside of you,” she sang. “Let its blackness break my heart into twisted breaths and feathered cries of agony.”

  Her voice flowed in the air—dancing on the notes that the man played on the piano behind her. “Who loses when you love me in sweet bruises. Cruel kisses seducing the evil in my own soul. You have all of the control and I don’t ever want to be free.”

  The song rose and pirouetted like a ballerina, dipping at the right times and leaping during the melody. Water filled my eyes, but I refused to cry.

  How am I going to get out of this? Did Mo see us leave? Was he in the van? Maybe he saw. . .or. . .maybe he didn’t. Maybe he slept in the back and missed everything.

  Although a packed room, no one else had chains—but the singer and me.

  What is this bitch Butterfly going to do?

  Naked women rubbed against the clothed men in the crowd. The women filled the men’s mouths with wine. Others placed their nipples against the men’s lips. Smoke hovered over us all. Wicked laughter disturbed my listening to the song.

  “I sing, because I can no longer cry or beg you to stop.”

  So haunting were those lyrics. Each one shedding away the singer’s layers and exposing her to the audience. No one even really cared, most of them had sex there in the open. I recognized one of the men, a lawyer I’d seen on television, but couldn’t remember the case. His fat belly jiggled as a tiny girl bounced on top of his little dick, fake moaning and pinching her nipples. Four men stroked their dicks while naked twins writhed on the table, probably awaiting their drops of sperm. They had to be sisters, but still they lapped at each other’s cunts like it was the right thing to do.

  My stomach turned. I directed my attention back to the stage. What else could I look at? Butterfly hadn’t shown up, yet, but I knew she’d be coming. Those stupid triplet chicks had called her on our way here.

  Once we arrived at this factory looking brothel, the triplets placed me in the VIP section by myself, in the back of the audience. Anyone could see me and no one helped. None of the women or men did anything more than continue their dive into lust and money.

  Good job, Mary Jane. You’re caught. You should’ve never had Fuji take you out. Now what will happen to him? If he doesn’t kill himself, Noah will.

  Thinking of Noah hurt. My heart ached like I’d been stabbed in the organ, over and over.

  Noah. Noah.

  I pushed him out of my mind, scared that the tears would spill from my eyes.

  How am I going to get out of this? I doubt she’ll let me be like the singer and chain me to the stage to tell jokes. It wouldn’t be a bad life compared to death. But. . .Butterfly. . .she would probably kill me.

  After binding my legs to the floor and my wrists high above me, the triplets tore away at my clothes in front of everyone. Some of the men had glanced over their shoulders and licked their lips when the blue-haired one spread my thighs and exposed my center to them all.

  “I don’t see what the big deal is with you.” She’d laughed and flicked my clit.

  I tried to kick her, but couldn’t.

  “That looks like a regular old pussy to me. I don’t see why Noah and Butterfly are in such a fuss.” She tried to touch me again and I leaned forward with so much force that I head-butted her.

  “You bitch!” She rubbed her forehead and stumbled back. “You’re lucky Butterfly told me that I couldn’t hurt you.”

  “No, you’re lucky that I have these chains on.”

  She gestured to the bandages on my chest and arm. “Yeah. You’ll really give me a beating.”

  Laughing the triplets left me there, naked and chained. The crowd went back to enjoying themselves.

  Suddenly, everything changed—just like that.

  First, I swore I spotted a big ogre of a man with his arm in a sling. He stood at the edge of the stage watching the singer. But he looked out of place. For one thing, he had a sling on his arm like he’d recently been injured. The other thing, a stuffed animal of some sort was in his other arm.

  He must be security or something. He’s definitely big like one of Noah’s men.

  That huge guy rocked his head to the lyrics. It was odd that this monster of a man would be so captivated with the song when others merely ignored her. They didn’t see the beauty in her lyrics, but he had.

  What’s in his arm? Maybe it’s a gnome or dwarf. Why the hell would a huge guy have a stuffed animal in here?

  The guy stepped closer to the stage with his mouth open and his hand almost squishing the stuffed animal.

  “Cruel kisses seducing the evil in my own soul.” She turned to him and her crimson strands spilled over her shoulder. “You have all of the control.”

  The big man stopped walking forward as if scared to freak her out? He reminded me of when my childhood friend would try to sneak up on stray cats. It was in his stance. He hunched over a little, trying to make himself smaller. He even lowered his face like he was shielding it in the dim lighting. All the while, he squished that dwarf in his huge hand.

  This is the strangest place I’ve ever been. . .chained to.

  Her voice continued its dance, but emptiness no longer filled her eyes. She focused on him.

  “Who loses when you love me in sweet bruises. And I don’t ever want to be free.” All of her concentration remained on him. “You’re a cruel symphony.”

  He was hypnotized. With each new lyric, he moved closer—no longer playing it safe. He was the moth, she the flame. She’d lassoed him with her lyrics and steadily pulled him forward.

  Why does he look so familiar? I wish he would turn around.

  Someone whistled in the far back. I couldn’t figure out who’d done that. The big guy with the dwarf continued to stand in front of the stage in a trance. The singer and he held a magnetic charge. The person in the back whistled again.

  “I romance the darkness inside of you.”

  The big guy glanced over his shoulder. Rage covered his face. He clearly did not want his e
ntertainment to be interrupted.

  Holy shit! Is that Crusher?

  Before another thought hit my mind, red laser dots appeared and scattered throughout the room. Tons of bright dots decorated most of the guys’ faces in the crowd. The singer paused while others spotted what I’d seen and began pointing at each other as if to say, “Hey, you’ve got red dots on your head!”

  The music stopped.

  And that big guy with the stuffed dwarf growled at the stage in a hoarse voice. “Duck.”

  That’s Crusher!

  The singer fell to the ground and covered her head. I would’ve too, had I been able to. Thank, God, I was in the back.

  Instantly, the red-dotted faces exploded! Tons of them. Noah!! Blood splattered. Heads exploded. Bullet holes appeared where eyes had been. Hollow and empty, men fell to the floor. Some slumped onto the women who’d been fucking them. Others crashed into tables and sank to the floor. Glasses and plates shattered. Sparks flared and the stink of blood drenched the air.

  Oh, my God! Noah!

  Crusher with the stuffed dwarf, turned around, grabbed a running guy by his head, and crushed his head together with one hand. A crack appeared at the forehead, bone breaking and splitting flesh. The eyes popped out of the socket. Mouth gaped open and spilled out liquid. Only a gash of meat and shattered skull remained in the big guy’s hand. Blood splatter sprayed all over him.

  Did he just do that with one fucking hand? A terrifying shiver ran through me. Now I know why they call him Crusher.

  Chaos ensued. Women screamed. People ran, bumping into each, falling over turned-over chairs, and pushing others out of the way. More bullets fired. There was murder in the air now, no more singing or fucking, simply pain and blood.

  How did you find me, Noah? Mo must’ve seen it all! I love you, you little creepy boy!!

  Armed men stormed into the building. Hundreds of them. A fucking army, all scarred and deranged looking. They weren’t playing around. With each person, the crazy men would pause for a few seconds to check the girls’ faces before they killed them, making sure it wasn’t me. Most hands gripped a gun. Some held machetes and saws. Many smiled amid slicing and shooting. Others laughed while they tore limbs from bodies. It was a demented battle. I knew the guys were on my side, but I still couldn’t stop the tremors of terror ripping through me or the bile rising in my throat.