“Yeah, this pussy is good as fuck, I know,” Bahli taunted. “This the best shit you ever had, huh?”
“Hell yeah,” Adonis moaned and grabbed fistfuls of her thickness. “Shit, Bahli, you ’bout to make a nigga come.”
“It’s OK, baby, I am too. Oh shit!”
Adonis gripped her slim waist and began to match her thrust for thrust. Spitting on his thumb, he shoved it deep into her butt hole even though he knew she didn’t like that too much. He didn’t care. He was beyond turned on at that point. Bahli was a freak who rarely told him no. He felt her begin to quiver until she had no more energy to match his strokes, but that was okay. He could handle the rest.
“Adonis! Adonis! Adonis!” she shouted his name over and over.
The clear juices coming from her love tunnel turned into a thick cream as she came all over his dick. That did it for him. He couldn’t hold back any longer. He shoved himself as deep into her as he could and came so hard into his condom that his toes curled. His entire body was rigid for a few moments until the overwhelming sensation passed, and then he collapsed on the bed beside her. Both of them needed a minute to collect their breath, but when she did, Bahli snuggled up to him.
“You always tryna make love to me,” she teased, running a finger across his chest. “I am not your soon-to-be wife. I be needing to get fucked sometimes.”
“I see,” Adonis said and kissed her forehead. “And I don’t have a soon-to-be wife anymore. I called it off.”
“Really? You kicked Becky to the curb? I’m surprised.”
“And why is that?”
“I don’t know. It just seemed like she had you wrapped around her finger.”
“If that’s the case, how did you come into the picture?”
Bahli smacked her lips. “Don’t play with me. I don’t know one man with a loyal dick. But that woman had you jumping through hoops for a while. You reminded me more of a Tom than an Adonis.”
“But you still always ended up in my bed.”
“Because that dick is a Tyrone,” she said, and they both laughed.
“Yo, you’re wilding,” he told her. “But, nah, you’re right, though. I don’t know who I was fooling with that one. I guess I was just tryna look at the bigger picture.”
“And what was that?”
“Money. Power. You know, typical nigga shit.”
“I hate you,” she said and giggled. “You already have those things, with or without Miss Thing’s money and connections. How did she take it when you ended it?”
“Bad. I saw her for who she really was,” Adonis told her. “Her lawyer sent a letter to the office talking about she wants me to compensate her for all the money she spent on me during the time we were together.”
“What are you gonna do?”
“I wrote the check,” Adonis said. “Fuck that bitch. I don’t need anybody for shit, and I damn sure ain’t gon’ let anyone hold things over my head. Her being out of my life helped me realize that she didn’t fit in the first place.”
“Good for you,” Bahli said and leaned up to kiss his chin, but he moved, so her lips landed on his.
She smiled big, showing off her braces. He didn’t know what she was thinking, but if it was anything deeper than what they had touched on the surface, she didn’t let on. He was glad for it. After finding out that he was a single man, most women would have posed the question, “So, what’s next for us?” But Bahli was the type just to let everything flow naturally. Right then, just lying together cuddled up felt good. There was no need to taint a good moment with complicated conversation.
She grew quiet after a while, and when Adonis glanced down, he knew why. She’d fallen fast asleep. Adonis too felt his eyes growing heavy, but the moment he decided to close them, someone knocked at the front door. He hoped that it wasn’t Jessica’s crazy ass because he didn’t have the energy to deal with her. He got up from the bed, careful not to wake Bahli, and put his boxers on and headed to see who was there. He peered through the peephole when he got to the door.
“You ain’t never heard of calling before you just pop up?” he asked, swinging the door open for Klax.
“Nah, not really,” Klax said, walking in the condo but not too far inside. “You got a bitch here or something?”
“Or something,” Adonis said with a grin.
“Well, this won’t take long. I need a favor.”
“What’s good, boss?”
“I need your help to get someone out of jail,” Klax said.
“No problem, who?”
“LaTron Walker,” Klax said, and Adonis looked at him like he was crazy.
“Yo, ain’t that the nigga who was hitting up your spots?”
“Yeah.”
“And ain’t he the one who fucked up your museum plans?”
“Yeah, that’s how he got caught up.”
“OK. Then why the fuck would you want to get him out?”
“It’s complicated, but you gotta trust me on this one. He’s with us now. I have a bigger problem on my hands.”
Adonis sighed and shook his head. There were some things about Klax that he just would never understand, that being one of them. He didn’t know what kind of game his friend was playing, but Klax had never steered anyone wrong.
“A’ight, man,” Adonis said. “I’m assuming if they locked him up because of that, then they had some pretty hard evidence. How’d they get him?”
“They found explosives in his home.”
“His dumb ass left the explosives in his home?”
“I don’t think he would be that dumb. I think they were planted.”
“By whom?”
“That’s what I need you to find out,” Klax said, handing Adonis a small piece of paper. “That’s the address.”
“You want me to go here?”
“Why not? It’s been a minute since you were hands-on in the field.”
“Because you always told me that you didn’t need me.”
“Well, now, I do,” Klax said, looking seriously at him. “I need you to come through on this.”
“Don’t I always?” Adonis said glancing down at the New York City address. He sighed. “A’ight. I’ma get on it.”
“Bet. I’m gonna head home for a few. Hit me when you have something,” Klax said. “And, Don?”
“What’s good, G?”
“Don’t you think fucking my sister’s best friend is cutting it a little close to home?”
“How—”
“She’s the only one in the city with a lime-green Camaro. The same Camaro that’s parked beside your car outside,” Klax told him. “What happened to Becky?”
“That shit is dead,” Adonis said. “After she let those feds in here, that was the last straw for me.”
“Yeah, Bahli would look better on your arm. But if you hurt her, I hope you know how Kleigh is coming.”
“Your crazy-ass sister, man,” Adonis said with a grin. He held the piece of paper that Klax had given him up in the air. “But I’m about to see what I can do for your boy. I hope you’re right about him.”
“He was just misguided, that’s all. Not all of us have the innate ability to want more instead of the same for ourselves. Sometimes, we all need a little bit of help to see a picture as a whole. We have bigger fish to fry.”
“You care to tell me more about what’s going on?”
“Right now, the less anyone knows, the better. Just do what you can for Tron as his legal counsel. Go as hard for him as you would for me. It’s important.”
“You’re the boss,” Adonis said and lifted a hand for a shake, but Klax just looked at it. Adonis grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, I might need to wash these.”
Klax shook his head with a small smirk before leaving the condo. When he was gone, Adonis kept his word. He went straight for the shower so that he could head over to New York City that morning. It was still early enough for him to do what he had to do and still have time to come back home and enjoy Bahli’s company
for the rest of the day. Rest of the day? He didn’t know what was coming over him. He felt as if she must have put that thing on him good if she had him wanting to get his business done and come back to her. When he was back in the room, he leaned down to kiss her on the cheek.
“I’m about to make a run real quick,” he said when her sleepy eyes opened.
“OK, that’s fine,” she said and went to sit up. “I’ll get dressed and leave when you leave.”
“Nah, you’re good; get some rest,” he told her. “When I get back, I’ll take you to grab some food. Maybe we can catch a movie or something.”
“Really?” she asked with a happy smile.
“Yeah,” he told her and stroked her hair. “I might be a little minute, so in the meantime, make yourself comfortable. Not too comfortable, though.”
“You’re so stupid,” she said, lying back down. “I’ll probably still be asleep by the time you get back. You really wore me out this time.”
“Nah, that was you,” Adonis said, going toward his bathroom.
His mind traveled to the place Klax wanted him to go. He didn’t know what he was supposed to be looking for when he got there, and if he didn’t find anything at all, he would have to figure out his next course of action. Either way, he couldn’t let Klax down. There was something about his friend’s presence that seemed off. There was a look of worry on Klax’s face that Adonis hadn’t seen in years, and it didn’t sit right with him.
Chapter 15
“In any given moment we have two options. To step forward into growth, or to step back into safety.”
—Abraham Maslow
Klax
When Klax got home, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He couldn’t describe the feeling, but after he looked up and down his neighborhood, he dismissed it. He pulled his car around the circular driveway and took notice that his housekeeper, Tallon’s, Toyota Camry wasn’t posted in its usual spot in front of the home. She might have gone to the grocery store since she was the one who handled all of the house’s affairs while he was gone. He didn’t think too much about it since he was going to be in and out anyways. He was just coming to switch cars to something more low-key so that he could move around with ease. He stepped out of the vehicle and put his brown Tims to work as he made his way toward the home. The wind nipped at his ears, so he threw the furry hood of his Prada coat over his head and tucked his hands in his pockets until he reached the door. He unlocked it, twisted the doorknob, pushed it open—
Boom!
The explosion of his three-story home sent him forcefully flying back in the air ten feet onto the pavement. The back of his head hit the concrete hard, but not hard enough to knock him out. Klax felt pain coursing through his body and heard a loud ringing in his ears. He groaned and tried to move, but his muscles betrayed him. Through extremely blurred vision, he saw black figures running toward him and thought his neighbors had come to see about him. He couldn’t make out the words they were saying, but the closer they got, he realized that they weren’t his neighbors. The automatic weapons in their hands were a dead giveaway. He tried to reach for his gun, but his motor skills failed him. The ringing subsided a bit, and when they got up on him, he finally could understand them.
“I’m about to air this nigga out right here,” a gruff voice said.
“Kill him, and that’s your own life. We’re supposed to bring him in alive. Knock his ass out, though.”
Klax was laid out on his back, staring up into the sun when a figure suddenly blocked his view. The next thing he knew, a man wearing Tims stomped him hard in the face, and then there was nothing but darkness. He didn’t know how long he was out, but a splash of coldness brought him back to reality after what felt like seconds. He coughed and choked on what he realized was water after a few moments. He blinked his eyes feverishly until his vision focused, and he whipped his head around to get a better look at his surroundings.
No longer outside of his home, Klax was in a large, partially lit room that smelled badly of mildew. It was hot, and the air around him was very humid. The walls of the room were cement, same as the floor, and just a few lightbulbs were on the ceiling, making the lighting dim. He tried to stand up, but when he found he couldn’t, he looked down at his arms and legs. His ankles, wrists, and torso were bound to a wooden chair, making it impossible for him to move. He was no longer wearing his coat or any shirt, for that matter. He was only in a pair of jeans and his Tims. Suddenly, his memory about the explosion and getting knocked out came back to him, and his heart pounded, not out of fear—out of anger. He summoned all of his strength and fought against his bindings, but it was no use. He could not get free.
“It’s quite a feeling, isn’t it? Feeling helpless, I mean,” a voice from behind him said.
He didn’t need to see the face to know whom it belonged to. He may have only heard it once, but that was all he needed for it to be etched in his head for eternity. Kyan stepped in front of him wearing a black True Religion sweat suit holding an empty bucket. He stood over Klax like a tiger overlooking his prey. The victorious expression on his face was enough to send fire through Klax’s chest. He almost wanted to laugh. He had been worried about everybody else’s safety but his own—the irony.
“Sorry about your crib, man,” Kyan told him with a nonchalant shrug. “We had some extra explosives after planting the others in Tron’s house. I’m sure you understand.”
“So first, Tron, and then me,” Klax finally said. “That’s the game you’re playing?”
“Does it look like I’m playing, boy? I mean, this whole shindig was entertaining; I can’t lie about that. Especially seeing that nephew of mine run around doing all of the hard work for me.”
“You might as well take the ‘neph’ out and just call him by his name. You betrayed him and killed his father in front of him. It doesn’t matter what you do to me. You’ve already signed your death warrant.”
“Who’s going to kill me? Tron? Maybe you haven’t heard yet, but he’s going to be gone for a very long time.”
“Is that right?”
“That’s right. And your family’s bakery would have been on his long list of charges had you not killed my men. I was going to take that building down too, but I admit I underestimated you. Which was why I knew I couldn’t half step it the next time.”
“So it was you that sent those niggas to my sister’s bakery,” Klax said finally believing 100 percent that it wasn’t Tron.
“Guilty,” Kyan said with a shrug. “I also knew he wasn’t going to have the willpower to break her heart by killing you, so it was time to take matters into my own hands.”
“Why am I here? I’m assuming you ain’t do all that and keep me alive just to tell me sorry.”
“Straight to the business, then, huh? A’ight, then,” Kyan said and placed the bucket on the ground.
He grabbed another wooden chair from a corner and dragged it in front of Klax. He sat down and leaned forward, clasping his hands together. Klax thought he was going to start talking, but he stayed quiet and curiously stared Klax in the eyes.
“You gon’ tell me why I’m here now or later? I got all night.”
“You’re a comedian too, I see,” Kyan said with a grin.
“Nah, I only see one clown here. And that’s you.”
“I wouldn’t be so quick to name call since you’re at the mercy of this clown-ass nigga,” Kyan said and pulled a joint from behind his ear before sparking it with a lighter he dug out of his pocket. He took a long drag and blew the smoke in Klax’s face. “You’re here because you have something I want.”
“And what is it that you want? Harlem?”
“Bingo,” Kyan said puffing on the joint again. “I want you to willingly step down from the throne and give me all of your territory.”
“And why didn’t you just kill me and take it instead of doing all this? Aah, yeah, I forgot, clowns love theatrics.”
“Now you should know better than that,�
� Kyan said. “If it were as easy as just killing you, you’d be burning right along with all of your property right now. Nah, I need you to let the streets know that I’m the NIC now. The clout you have is spread long and wide. Everyone speaks so highly of you, even your competition. So if I just take over, no one will listen to me, and there will be nothing but chaos. You know that.”
“And you think they’ll listen to me if I tell them that you got the juice now?”
“I know they will. These people, they think you’re their king.”
“Nah, they just look out because I do. That’s the problem with niggas like you. Everything is about control and power to you. So what makes you think that I would even consider some shit like that? You might as well have killed me. Because that ain’t gon’ happen. Not even if hell froze over.”
“Not even if I have something that you want?”
“You don’t have shit I want,” Klax said and spat at Kyan’s feet. “Fuck you.”
“I figured you’d say something like that,” Kyan said, shaking his head before his eyes went past Klax. He opened his mouth and shouted, “Come on in, NuNu!”
“You can torture me all you want. I ain’t agreei—”
“Klax!”
The tearful cry followed a door opening and shutting. It made Klax stop what he was saying in midsentence and finally, his poker face was broken. A tall, bulky man had entered the room, but he was not alone. He was dragging somebody with him. And that somebody was the one person in the world that Klax would die for.
“Kleigh,” Klax whispered when NuNu tossed her roughly at his feet.
Her hair was all over the place, and when she looked tearfully up at him, he saw globs of blood under her nose. Her right eye was swollen with a broken blood vessel, and it was apparent that it would be black by evening. There were a few cuts on her quivering lips and the nape of her neck. Never in his life had he felt so broken, but seeing his baby sister like that tore him apart inside. It was all his fault. She wouldn’t be in this predicament if it weren’t for him. Tears welled in his eyes but didn’t fall. The sorrow he felt for failing her was too much to bear.
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