Dynasty

by Dutch

  “Beautiful, baby, ‘cause what me and you do ain’t nothin’ but grown folk business. I’ll see you in a minute.”

  Debra wasn’t overly impressed with Guy taking her to a concert. Brah had taken her to plenty, but she was impressed when she found out not only were they going to see Cherelle and Alexander O’Neal, they were going to meet them as well!

  Guy took her backstage and she got to meet and hangout with the duet that sang her favorite song, “Saturday Love.” The song had just come out and it was all you heard in the clubs. Now to be in their presence was mind blowing. She held her composure well and never showed how star-struck she was. Besides, in her eyes the biggest star was Guy. Alexander and his manager treated Guy with deference while Cherelle played flirtatiously like she had fucked Guy before.

  They hung out into the wee hours before Guy took her to the Hilton in Raleigh. They stood in the middle of the room hugged up like they were slow dancing to a rhythm only they could hear.

  “So... did you enjoy yourself tonight?” Guy asked.

  “Not as much as I am now,” Debra replied, eyeing him seductively. “Them people acted like you were the superstar! Guy this, Guy that, Guy, Guy, Guy,” she giggled, “I’m just happy to finally have you all to myself.”

  Guy chuckled, throwing his head back slightly. “Yeah, it gets crazy sometimes, but you’ve had my attention since the first time I laid eyes on you, sweetness,” Guy crooned.

  Debra closed her eyes and moaned. “Hmmmm, say that again.”

  “What? Sweetness?”

  “That’s it.” She smiled, eyes still closed. She suddenly opened them with one eyebrow raised. “Who else you call sweetness?”

  Guy smiled and kissed her gently. “Believe me, baby, I rarely call the same one twice. Now don’t look at me like that ‘cause we both know the life I live. But we also know, I’m not the chooser but I’m honored to be the chosen. So if tonight is all I have, I’m a use it to make the next man tomorrow pale in comparison.”

  Debra was glad Guy stopped talking, because another sentence would’ve made her cum on herself. “I wouldn’t be here if it didn’t include tomorrow, Guy,” Debra replied, “and as for the next man… life goes on and people grow out of things that fit before. So if I am the chooser then I definitely choose you.” She smiled then sucked his lip. “But I’m not the only one in a situation. What about your wife?”

  She knew Gloria by face, every available woman around knew who Mrs. Guy Simmons was. From the furs to the jewels to the Benz, Guy treated her like a queen, so they all wanted to be her.

  Guy caressed Debra’s cheek gently as his smile gradually faded away. “My wife’s position is rock solid with me, so you don’t have to try and compete, because you can have your own position… if you willing to play it, ya dig? You think you can handle that?”

  Debra knew if she played her cards right, she could have the world on a silver platter, so she didn’t answer with words, she simply sealed it with a kiss. A kiss that started with his lips and traveled the length of Guy’s torso as she removed his clothes along the way. If a man is truly in control, he has no problem in allowing a woman the luxury of assuming it. He relaxed as Debra covered him with kisses until she got to his silk boxers.

  He heard the breath catch in her throat, but she didn’t miss a beat, running her tongue along the entire length of his shaft and mouthing his nuts. Debra planned on fulfilling Guy’s every fantasy so he would grant her every wish. And Guy definitely wasn’t disappointed. It took her a second to get used to having so much dick in her, but once her womb adjusted she fucked Guy like she’d been doin’ porno tricks for years.

  Debra had never cum so many times in her life, nor passed out from the sheer intensity of an orgasm. But when she awoke, though her pussy would be too sore for sex for a few days, she had done what she had set out to do. Turn Guy Simmons out.

  “Guy! Hell no, girl, I’m a see him now! Guy, you hear me??? Put your window down!” Shantelle yelled at her girlfriend in the passenger seat then at Guy out of the window of her candy red ’85 Corvette.

  She was in the middle of the intersection at Elm and Slocumb Street when she spotted Guy coming from the opposite direction. Guy stopped in the intersection and put the window down.

  “Shantelle! We in the middle of the motherfuckin’ street!” Guy barked, horns blaring at them from both sides of the street.

  “So! You got yo’ business in the street fuckin’ with that bitch Debra!” Shantelle spat harshly.

  “Just pull over,” Guy sighed, then pulled up at the gas station called Darnell’s.

  Shantelle backed up and pulled in catty-corner to Guy. They got out about the same time. Guy could tell by her strut that she was on fire and her attitude made him chuckle. Shantelle Braswell was truly a piece of work. She was only eighteen and just graduated from high school. She was Hawk Bill’s younger sister but Guy had had her for a year. Hawk Bill was cool with it because before she got with Guy she was already in the street hustling, and he’d rather see her with Guy, despite his age, than with some do- boy knucklehead in the streets.

  Shantelle may’ve been young but she handled her business like a grown woman. She was 5’5” with the complexion of a Hershey chocolate bar, the waist of a wasp, the ass of a mule and the mouth of a sailor. She was the only woman besides Gloria that could spaz on Guy and get away with it.

  When Shantelle reached him, he snatched her arm roughly. “Bitch, you done lost yo’ motherfuckin’ mind, huh?!” Guy barked.

  “No!”

  “Then calm yo’ ass down and get in the goddamn car,” Guy seethed, opening the passenger door of his Eldorado, throwing her in then slamming the door behind her.

  When he got in, she was sitting with her arms folded and her lip poked out.

  “Now what the hell is you talkin’ about?!” Guy asked, pulling off.

  “You know what I’m talkin’ about, nigguh! That bitch!” Shantelle huffed.

  It had been a few weeks since he brought Debra into the fold. He had mainly taken her to spots out of town while she ended her thing with Brah, but in a small town, word travels fast, and Shantelle kept her ear to the street.

  “I’m tellin’ you, Guy, that bitch Debra ain’t no earthly good! She a money grubbin’ ho! Let that nigguh Brah have her ‘cause you only want her ‘cause she wit’ him!” Shantelle read him correctly and it made Guy smile because she knew him so well. “What’s so funny?!”

  “You. All in my goddamn business! Stay in yo’ place ‘cause I’m a grown motherfuckin’ man!” he barked.

  “Hmph, you need to act like one then,” she mumbled.

  Sssccrrrch!

  Guy slammed on the brakes just after turning the corner. He grabbed Shantelle by her throat and pinned her against the window. “Aw-iight now, keep runnin’ yo’ mouth wit’ that reckless shit and I’ma beat yo’ ass, you hear me?!” he cursed.

  “I hear you!” she replied, pushing his hand away. “I’m tellin’ you, Guy, I put up wit’ that wife shit, but you ain’t gonna disrespect me with that bitch! I’ma end up killin’ you or you gonna end up killin’ me, but I ain’t gonna keep goin’ for this shit,” Shantelle promised, tears of frustration forming in her eyes.

  Guy sighed and softened up. “Dig, baby girl, you know you my heart. Besides my wife, you the only—”

  Shantelle cut him off, “Nigguh, I’ma be yo’ wife!” she blurted out with the same seriousness of a child, which made it that much more intense.

  Guy smiled and caressed her cheek, but she slapped his hand away.

  “Nigguh, don’t try to hustle me wit’ that sweet shit,” she said, fighting back a smile.

  “Hustle you?” Guy echoed, knowing that’s exactly what he was about to do.

  “Damn right! Just like you do on them Jew-ass prices you charge me. I’ma stop fuckin’ wit’ you and go see Cookie and them in Wilson,” she chuckled.

  “Yeah right. That shit been stepped on so many times you can still see the foo
tprints.” He laughed.

  “Oh yeah, and ummm… I need five thousand dollars,” she informed him sheepishly.

  “Five grand? For what?” he questioned.

  Shantelle explained how she had fronted this Army dude off the Air Force base a pound of weed. When it came time to pay he straight up laughed in her face. He thought because she was a girl and he was a soldier that he could take advantage of the situation. He didn’t know she was a soldier, too. A street soldier. But when that hot lead hit his ass three times all the bitch came out of him, and he went to the police saying Shantelle tried to rob him. She bonded out, then sent word through a chick he was fucking asking how much would it cost to drop the charge and forget her name. He said five grand.

  Guy listened, shaking his head. He already knew Shantelle was a wild child. She’d already been to training school twice, at twelve and fourteen.

  “Why you don’t use your own money?” he probed, making a right.

  “Cuz.” She pouted, hitting him with that baby doll look. “I don’t wanna spend my own money.” She pushed the arm rest and slid across the seat and eased into his lap. “Please, daddy, I’ll be yo’ friend.”

  Guy threw his head back with laughter as he made another right turn. “So now you gonna hustle me, huh? Just like you ain’t wanna spend your own money on the car you drive and the apartment you live in and the—”

  “I love you,” she sang, kissing his mouth to stop him from talking.

  Guy had mad love for this young girl. She was definitely a go-getta and went harder than some dudes he knew. He would give her the five thousand because he wanted her to stack her money and get out the game.

  “Come by the pool room later,” he relented.

  She kissed him again as he completed the trip around the block and pulled up into Darnell’s again. “Thank you, daddy, just keep the five and have me an ounce waitin’,” Shantelle said.

  He shook his head. Heroin was six grand an ounce. “You got all the sense, don’t you?”

  Shantelle winked. “I learned from the best.”

  Guy had definitely taught her well.

  “And Shan, next time some shit like that happen tell me first,” Guy scolded her.

  “I know, I thought about it but I had to let that nigguh know, just ‘cause I got a pussy don’t play me for one,” she replied. And Guy understood. “And I’m serious about Debra. Leave her alone. Everybody know you fuckin’ Brah woman, now let it go. He talkin’ ‘bout what he gonna do to you, psychin’ himself up. But don’t worry, if I catch him, I’ma shoot him myself,” Shantelle said, kissed him deeply then got out.

  What she said to Guy was the last thing on his mind. It went in one ear and out the other, not knowing how much it would cost him in the long run.

  Chapter 16

  Vee wasted no time getting out of that hot ass Lincoln. He drove straight to the storage for his Bentley and the big guns. He grabbed two SK-47s and an AR-15 that he made fully automatic then he picked up his three most solid soldiers and jumped on highway 40 North, heading for Baltimore. The trip usually took five hours, but Vee made it in four. Guns or no guns, police or no police, his only thought was getting to Cat and Taheem.

  “Yo, dawg, we in VA now. You know these crackers don’t play,” one of his soldiers said, watching the speed-ometer exceed 100 mph.

  “Fuck them crackers,” Vee gritted then didn’t say another word all the way there.

  When he arrived, he found the apartment complex filled with police. The front of the apartment door was yellow taped. Seeing that, his heart dropped. He pulled right up into the midst of the police and hopped out, leaving the door of the Bentley wide open and the car still running. His man discreetly slid over into the driver’s seat and parked in a safer location, six apartments down.

  “Yea, though I walk through the valley of death, I shall fear no evil,” he whispered to himself, remembering that Ms. Sadie told him to recite Psalm 23 whenever he was in a tight situation.

  Each step seemed to take an eternity as he approached the apartment door. He was trying to prepare his mind for the worst. All Vee could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat. All other sounds seemed distant. He attempted to duck under the tape but was restrained by an officer.

  “Hey! You can’t go in there! This is a crime scene,” the officer informed him, looking at Vee suspiciously.

  “This is my girl’s apartment, yo,” Vee replied calmly.

  “And you are?” the police berated him like he was about to interrogate him.

  “Baby, over here!”

  Vee looked and saw the older woman that babysat Taheem. She was standing in front of her apartment talking to two plain clothed detectives. Vee approached her quickly and she threw her arms around his neck.

  “Oh my, baby... I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry,” she sobbed.

  “What happened?” he said, just above a whisper.

  “There’s been an accident,” one detective told him skeptically.

  Vee’s stomach dropped. The old woman took his face gently between her hands. “Baby… it… its Taheem. He’s dead,” the old woman sobbed, fighting to maintain her composure.

  Dead?

  Dead?

  Dead?

  The word bounced around in his head while his sense sought to make sense of it. “Dead?” he echoed. Hearing the word aloud made it real. He started shaking his head, pray-ing that this was a dream, but Vee knew he was fully awake. He squatted then sat on the grass, holding his head in his hands. The tears welled up in his heart, but he knew he had to get to Cat.

  “What happened?”

  “The poor child was always tired. She… she left the patio door opened that let out to the pool.” The old woman wiped her tears. “She didn’t know, baby. She was a good mama, but…,” her voice trailed off.

  “Are you the deceased child’s father?”

  “Does your girlfriend have a history of depression?”

  “Is she or has she ever been suicidal?”

  “What’s your name?”

  The two detectives hit him with question after question, but he didn’t hear any of it. His only statement was, “Where’s Cat?”

  “They took her to the hospital,” the old woman replied.

  “Please… take me to her.”

  The old woman drove him to Northwest Hospital. His team followed in his Bentley.

  When they arrived, he went up to the front desk and asked, “I-I need to see Kionna Richards, please.”

  “And you are?” the woman behind the desk asked.

  “I’m her husband,” Vee told her.

  The young lady behind the counter checked the computer then turned to Vee, “Yes, she’s in the emergency room.”

  “Can I see her?”

  “She’s in… room 23.”

  Vee left the counter with the old woman behind him. He scanned each door until he got to 23. He knocked once then slowly opened the door. He saw Cat balled up in a fetal position, shivering like she was cold. Her eyes were open and she was just staring at the wall. She gave no indication that she heard them come in.

  Seeing his woman like that made Vee feel so helpless and even more so alone. Not only was his heart aching from the loss of his only child, just looking at Cat, he could see that she would never be the same.

  “Cat. Cat, baby, it’s me… Vee,” Vee said as he tentatively approached the bed, but Cat didn’t respond. Vee looked at the old woman because he didn’t know what to do.

  “Kionna, we’re here child,” the old woman said in a comforting tone. “Are you cold, baby? Why don’t you get under the cover?”

  Cat still didn’t speak. The old woman sat on the edge of the bed and stroked her hair. “Baby, I know no words in the world can take away your pain, but just… baby, the Lord’s here. Lean on the Lord. This is one of them times when the only footprints in the sand are His. Give Him your burden, baby,” she said to Cat.

  Cat was still unresponsive. Vee walked around to the side of the ro
om Cat was facing and looked into her eyes. They seemed empty and dim. The sparkle that made them light up the room was gone and had been replaced by a blank stare. It was then that the tears finally fell from Vee’s eyes. He hadn’t cried since he was a child. He knelt by the bed and hugged Cat’s head. He felt her whole body become rigid as stone then she snatched away from his embrace.

  “Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me you bastard, it was you!” she screamed like a woman possessed.

  Both Vee and the old woman were taken by surprise by the outburst.

  “Cat! What are you talkin’ about?!” Vee asked, stunned.

  “You know goddamn well what I’m talkin’ about! It was you!” Cat screamed again, this time two nurses burst into the room.

  “What’s going on in here?!” the heavyset nurse wanted to know.

  “Get him outta here! I don’t ever want to see you again!” Cat cried. “Get out!”

  Vee’s heart felt like it had been ripped from his chest. To hear the woman you love deny you and push you away at the moment you needed each other most was too much for Vee to take.

  “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” the nurse stated firmly, while the second nurse tried to get Cat to calm down.

  “I needed you, Victor!” Cat cried in anguish. Those were the words that would haunt Vee for the rest of his life.

  Outside, the old woman explained again what had happened. She told Vee she heard Cat screaming on the patio. Every unit had its own patio, but it let out to the collective pool area. When she got out there, Cat was cradling Taheem to her chest. He was soaking wet and his little face was so bloated. She said Cat kept calling for him and muttering how she had only went to sleep for a minute. Taheem had crawled out to the pool, fallen in and drowned.

  As he listened, his mind went back to the dream he had told Ms. Sadie about. It all made sense to him then. How Cat was standing at the pool with her eyes closed; the beautiful fish that flew out of the pool. Fish usually mean pregnancy and water represents life, so fish leaving water can only mean death.