by ANDREA SMITH
His face went rigid as he stepped towards me, ready to deliver more punishment. I didn’t cringe.
“Do it Jack and I promise you that I will bring down the wrath of ‘Slash’ and the rest of the club on you. You can’t keep me a prisoner in here forever.”
“What have you become?” he asked, his voice steely cold and harsh.
“My own person, Jack.”
“We’ll see about that Samantha.”
“What name does he know you by? I am presuming that you had enough sense not to tell him your true identity or where you live. I don’t think you have totally flipped out. If nothing else, you wouldn’t want to sully the good name of your father’s company.”
“Diamond Girl,” I replied, turning from him.
“Catchy,” he said with a smirk. “Here we go then.”
Jack pressed the letters on the key pad to type up the text message that he would send on my behalf to Slate. He held it up when he finished, just outside of my reach.
“Do you want to proofread this, Sammie?”
I looked at what he had typed:
‘We r done asshole. I decided to take a walk back on the side of sanity. Go fuck yourself! I am too good for you. Diamond Girl’
I looked up at Jack and saw his evil smile as he pushed the ‘send’ button.
“What makes you think he will believe that I sent that, Jack?”
“Because Sammie, he has no other way to contact you now.”
Jack tossed the phone to the floor and smashed it with his foot. “I have all of your cell phone records, along with our landline records - you haven’t called him from either phone. He hasn’t contacted you on either phone. The computer’s email account shows you haven’t sent any email messages to anyone for months.”
(I breathed a sigh of relief that I had erased my outgoing message with the attachment to Brenda.)
“Again Jack, who are you to think I can’t get in touch with him whenever I want. There are other ways, you know.”
“Oh, I know. But you won’t. Because if you do, I will make damn sure your daughter and your parents know exactly what it was that you’ve been up to these last few months. I’m sure they will be impressed with your private dancing skills at Sharkey’s. Did you know that one of those dances you gave in that private booth was for Susanne? Yep, she videotaped it on her smart phone. I can make sure your daughter sees that and your parents as well.”
He was truly a monumental piece of shit. He had the upper hand - for the moment. I needed to bide my time. I needed to appear to acquiesce to his directives. I had some ammo of my own to sort out; now was the time to do that. I certainly didn’t want him showing that video to Lindsey or my parents; however, I was sure that while he might have all of the bargaining power at the moment; that could change. I needed to keep my wits about me.
“You wouldn’t dare do to that to me, Jack.”
“Of course I would, Sammie; so I need to hear it from you, right now. Are you through with ‘Slash’?”
I took a few moments; I had to make it look as if it was a tough decision. I blinked back tears that I had forced to materialize. I threw in a sniffle for good measure.
“Yes Jack; I am through with Slash. I promise.”
“Time will tell, Sammie,” he laughed. “Don’t worry. That recording of your dance is in a safe place for now.”
(Fucking rat bastard . . .)
“Go clean yourself up. Then call your employer and quit, got it?”
“Yes, Jack.”
I hurried off to the bathroom slamming the door behind me and locking it. I assessed myself in the mirror. I had quite another shiner courtesy of the rat bastard. I tore my wig and clothes off and stepped under the hot shower. I washed all of Slate’s scent off of me; tears now rolling down my cheeks. I scrubbed all of the makeup off, trying to be as gentle as possible around the bruised, puffy area under my left eye.
I dressed in clean sweats and a tee shirt. I shampooed my wig then conditioned it for storage.
I blew dry my own hair; it was actually to my shoulders now. I pulled it up into a ponytail and dabbed some concealer underneath my eye. I put my Nike’s on and pulled a hoodie on over my tee shirt. I descended the stairs where Jack was sitting in the living room, pecking away on his laptop.
“Where in the hell do you think you’re going, Sammie?”
“For a run, Jack. You are welcome to come with me.”
“Maybe later,” he sneered, shaking his head. “For now, you stay put inside where I can keep an eye on you. Did you call Sharkey’s and quit?”
“Not yet.”
“Do it!” he bellowed, causing me to jump.
“Okay, okay,” I said, going to get my Blackberry on the counter. It had been smashed to smithereens. What the…?
“Oh, sorry; my temper sometimes gets the best of me. You’ll have to use the cordless landline. I have it here beside me. You tell them you and your hubby are working things out, got it?”
“So, is this how it’s going to be, Jack? Are you keeping me a prisoner here, not allowing me to communicate with family or friends?”
“Just for a few days until I am sure all of this has really sunken in, Samantha; and to make sure your bruise heals up nicely.”
(Fucking rat bastard - you are dead . . .)
I phoned Sharkey’s and left a message with Damon that I had to quit without notice. When he asked why, I simply repeated what Jack had instructed me to say. He didn’t press me further.
CHAPTER 25
Four weeks later.
[SLATE]
It had been a month since Sunny had sent her ‘Dear John’ text to me. At first I had laughed it off; she was just pissed I had sent her on her way from my place without giving her a proper good-bye fuck or waiting with her at the bus stop like some drooling, pussy-whipped medieval knight.
Fuck that! She had no clue what was at stake here; she knew nothing about my life. I hadn’t wanted her to know; it was safer that way.
After a few days without her answering my text messages, I had tried to call her. The calls went straight to voicemail indicating her phone was off. I had figured the rat bastard was home. Another full week had passed without my being able to get in touch with her. I had worried that maybe he had busted her; I might have misjudged the stupid fuck. It seemed unusual he would have been in town for such a long period of time. Hadn’t she said he drove a truck for a living?
I had stopped in at Sharkey’s a couple of times; she hadn’t been working. All I had gotten when I asked about her was a fucking ‘deer in the headlight’ look. I guess they had to protect the chicks who worked there by playing ignorant. They wouldn’t tell me shit.
On my fourth visit to the shithole just a week before I had literally bumped into that cute little black girl who had danced at Jewels on my way out.
“Emerald?”
She had looked up at me and I swear she looked afraid.
“Hey, take it easy,” I had said, “This ain’t my type of place or the rest of the club’s. I’m on a personal mission; I’m looking for Sunny.”
“I haven’t seen Sunny since she left Jewels,” she had lied.
“Is that right? Then how in the hell did you know who the fuck I was even talking about?”
(She was busted big time. I fucking knew Sunny hadn’t shared her real name with those other bitches at Jewels.)
“Okay, okay,” she had replied, still looking scared and intimidated. “All I know is that Sunny called in and quit without notice. She told one of the staff that she and her husband were trying to work things out.”
There it was; bam! How fucking stupid had I been once again? Chicks will fucking burn you every damn time they get a chance. Fuck that! Fuck her!
“Slate? Are you okay?”
Emerald had seen that I was zoning out on this piece of information she had just shared. I had shaken off my rush of emotions; burying them back inside of me where they would stay safe and quiet once again; maybe forever t
his fucking time.
“Yeah - I get it, Emerald. Do me a favor, will you?”
“If I can.”
“If you should ever see Sunny again, will you pass this along for me?”
She nodded.
“Lean closer then; I don’t want anyone else hearing this but you.”
She had hesitantly leaned in closer so that I could whisper exactly what I wanted her to tell Sunny if she ever had the opportunity to do so. I swear to God, I had never realized black people could blush; I had been fairly certain that Emerald had.
“Got that?”
She had nodded slowly indicating ‘yes.’
“Take care, Emerald.”
I brushed it all from my mind now. What good did it do to dwell on the past? Sunny was definitely filed away there; she joined the ranks of ‘poor judgment on my part’ experiences. Hell, what was that old saying? ‘What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger’? I had the strength of Hercules these days; I was done with distractions like that. I had club business to take care of which had to take priority over fickle chicks.
Just then I heard someone knocking on my door. I pulled the blind up. Speak of the fucking devil.
“What’s up, Garnet? Did I invite you over and forget about it?”
“Don’t be like that, Slate,” she gushed, trying to be all flirtatious with me. “It hurts my feelings that you aren’t happy to see me. I figured you just might be feeling lonely these days, you know?”
“Well I’m not,” I lied. I had no desire to be with another chick just yet; and definitely not with Garnet ever.
“Our relationship seems like a one way deal,” she whined, walking into my living room and tossing her jacket on the couch.
She was dressed in jeans so fucking tight they looked like they were painted on her; her top wasn’t much different, pushing her tits up so high you could almost see the nipple. Her body didn’t do it for me; not like Sunny’s could. Fuck! There I was again; thinking of Sunny.
“So Slate baby,” Garnet crooned, “What say I help fill that void that Diamond left?”
(As if you ever could; you low-life clap-trap.)
She was all up on me now; her titties rubbing against my bare chest; her fingers trying to dip underneath the waist band of my jeans. It was damn near pathetic.
I wriggled free of her and turned away. That pissed her off monumentally.
“What? You don’t think I’m good enough for you, Slate? I’m better than Diamond could ever fucking be! Maybe I just won’t hear things anymore and let you know. Then you wouldn’t be so high and mighty in the OMC would you?”
I wasn’t in the mood for Garnet’s shit. I already regretted opening the door for her; but she did have a point unfortunately.
“What is it that you want from me, Garnet?”
“Your cock.”
(Holy Christ! She wasn’t making any boners about what she wanted I guess. Oh hell - why not?)
I turned back around to face her; placing my hands on her shoulders, I pushed her down in front of me so that she was on her knees.
She fumbled with the zipper on my jeans, eager to spring my cock free. It took her all of a nanosecond. God damn, she did want it bad.
I closed my eyes pretending that it wasn’t Garnet’s lips and tongue on my prick. I wanted it to be Sunny’s; Sunny’s full, beautiful lips taking the length of me into her sweet mouth; Sunny’s soft moans as she kissed, licked and made it hers. I heard soft moans; they weren’t coming from Sunny though; they were coming from Garnet. I peered down at her from beneath my eyelashes. Damn! She was going to town; the girl kind of liked giving blow jobs.
“Umm, Slate; your cock is the best. It is so fucking hard and huge!”
(Yeah, yeah; just suck it, bitch.)
“I sure would like to see how that ‘bad boy’ feels inside of me.”
“It is inside of you, Garnet.”
“You know what I mean, Slate; inside my cunt.”
(No fucking way!)
“Maybe next time, Garnet; I’d like to finish this way.”
“Mmmm, okay; I want to taste your cum anyway. I bet you have quite a load to give.”
(I wasn’t too sure about that; I’d been on a marathon jack-off bender since Sunny had left. I only jacked-off when I thought about her which was once, twice or a dozen times a day. My fucking hands were blistered up good.)
For now I focused on my nut; I closed my eyes again, rocking back and forth on my heels as Garnet put her suction into overdrive. At least I was able to give my hands a rest as I thought about Sunny. Damn this was feeling good. I felt the familiar throbbing of my cock as I was ready to blow; I heard my own moans as my release was ready to explode. Garnet was ready and waiting for me to fill her mouth with my warm jism.
I timed it perfectly; just as I was ready to spew, I pulled my dick from her mouth and released my climax. Warm, salty cum squirted out of me and onto her face; hitting her hair, eyes, cheeks and chin. She squeezed her eyelids shut, screeching as the salty liquid burned her eyeballs. Her hands flew up immediately trying to rub where it burned, making it worse.
“You fucked up son-of-a-bitch! Why in the hell did you do that?”
She was flipping out; totally furious with me. She blindly got to her feet, staggering into the kitchen to rinse her eyes and face off with cold water at the sink. I calmly put my cock back into my pants and zipped up.
“Hey Garnet; I’m sorry. It was an accident.”
“Accident my ass! You’ve got issues, Slate!”
(Oh really?)
She was slowly calming down as she was able to rinse the stinging, salty cum from her eyes. She had a dish towel, patting her skin dry.
She grabbed her jacket from the couch, shooting me dirty fucking looks.
“You know, I’ve covered your ass more than once, Slate. I didn’t deserve that just now. See if I cover for you again, you bastard.”
She started for the door; I was right behind her as she flung it open and started down the outside staircase. I was barefoot still only wearing jeans. Spring was here, but it was still pretty chilly. I finally caught up with her halfway down the steps, grabbing her arm, and whirling her around to face me.
“What in the hell are you talking about, Garnet?”
“I’ll fucking tell you what I’m talking about. Some bitch named Susanne was nosing around a couple months back. She was asking a whole lot of questions about your precious Diamond. I figured her old man is somehow involved; I wanted to make sure that no harm came to you because I liked you, Slate. I really did. I thought that you liked me, too. So I told her Diamond was with Slash; that they’re real tight and have been for a while. I pointed the bitch in the wrong direction just to save your ass from the drama.”
Now I totally did feel like a piece of shit. I wasn’t sure who this Susanne was, but if she was nosing around about Sunny, it couldn’t be good.
I pulled Garnet close, giving her a hug. “I’m sorry Garnet, I really am; it’s just all about Diamond right now.”
She nodded her head that was now buried against my bare chest. The sound of tires screeching from the curb across the street caused my head to snap up and look over. A blue Accord peeled out from where it had been parked and sped past to the corner; it hadn’t bothered to make a full stop at the sign. It hung a fast right and disappeared from sight. I could have sworn the passenger had long, streaky brown hair. It could have been Sunny’s twin.
CHAPTER 26
It had been a month since Jack had blackened my eye and broke things off with Slate on my behalf. I now knew what it felt like to be a prisoner in my own home, and paranoid to wander from it. The week between the ‘incident’ and Lindsey coming home for spring break had proven to be extremely tense; Jack hadn’t let me out of his site. He had destroyed my phone, of course, and what was worse, he had locked the office which had our desktop computer in it so that I could not access it; he had kept our wireless landline phone next to him at all times, even when it was
on the charger.
Brenda had called once and he had told her I was in bed with the flu; he told her I would get back with her just as soon as I felt up to it. If I balked or challenged him with anything, he held up the Android phone that contained the video recording of my dance for Susanne. It was extremely provocative, proof that he wasn’t bluffing. There was no way in hell that I wanted my daughter to see it. I didn’t care so much about my parents, but not my Lindsey.
The ten days that Lindsey had been home for spring break had been filled with family activities. I was never out of Jack’s sight; when I was, I was with Lindsey doing some ‘pre-arranged’ thing that Jack had set up. He had kept my Mercedes remote in his pocket so that I couldn’t arbitrarily leave to go on an errand. When Lindsey and I would go somewhere, he invariably called me back on the pretense of him not getting his ‘kiss’ from me. He would then whisper a reminder of what would happen should I stray from the plan.
“You and Daddy seem closer than ever,” Lindsey had remarked with a smile, “I’m so glad, Mom.”
“Yes, he’s been home for a while,” I replied.
I had kissed Lindsey at the airport as she headed back to Ithaca to school. I hugged her tightly, not wanting her to leave me alone with the monster that was both my husband and her father.
“Don’t cry, Mom. The semester will be over before you know it. I’ll be home for the summer and you will be sick and tired of me before fall semester starts.”
“I doubt that very much, baby girl,” I had sobbed. She was so precious to me. I loved her so very much.
The following week after Lindsey had returned to college, Jack remained at home. He had spent hours upon hours in the office on the computer. He had multiple hushed conversations with someone that I could only presume was his ‘right-hand’ bitch/nark, Susanne. I had spent my time cleaning, cooking, and working out in the yard since it was time for spring clean-up. I had no means of communication unless Jack allowed it.
He had allowed me to call Brenda a couple of times; she had wondered what in the hell had happened to my cell phone. I had lied, telling her it went through the laundry and I was waiting on a replacement. Jack would sit right there when I was on the phone listening. He created a world of paranoia for me with each passing day, leading me to believe that even when he did hit the road again, there would still be eyes and ears on me no matter where I went, or what I did. It was a mind game of huge proportions. It was working.
