by T. Styles
It startled both of them and Rosa quickly separated from Mason. Her expression guilty and full of secrets. There was also something on the counter out of Banks’ view.
“Nothing,” Mason spoke first, hiding the item. “Them cameramen keep eating our food and shit. So we were grabbing something to eat.”
“Yeah…uh…Bet told me about that. I’ll talk to—”
“Don’t bother,” Mason interrupted. “It won’t change a thing.” He sighed. “What you, what you doing up though?”
Banks walked slowly toward the counter, pushed him softly away and looked at a pitcher of sangria. An open coconut sat next to it, which had been pricked and cut several times.
Frowning Banks asked them, “What is this? Because I know neither one of you took to the night just to make fucking punch.”
Mason looked over Banks shoulder at the doorway, walked out into the hallway and quickly came back. It was as if the brisk bop stuffed him with enough energy to go off. “It’s a fucking plan! That’s what it is!”
Banks scratched his temple. “What you mean a plan? How is juice—”
“We have been going about things the wrong way,” Mason interrupted in a violent whisper. “When the man practically told us how to get rid of him. So I figure if we make this shit, and he drinks it, we be free.”
“Are you, are you saying—”
“It will be quick, Mr. Wales.” Rosa said softly, her accent thick with worry. “And in return, my daughter, my precious daughter would have the justice she deserves. What is wrong with that?”
Banks touched Rosa on her shoulder before running a warm hand down her face. He knew first hand how it felt to lose a child and in the rumble around the mansion he never got a chance to tell her that he was apologetic. He never got a chance to console her so that she knew she wasn’t alone. “I’m so sorry, Rosa. I truly am. For Emetine. For Oswalda.”
She looked down and more tears rolled like raindrops on a car window.
“Neither of the girls will die in vain, but you have to trust me. This is not the way.” He paused. “Now, please, leave us alone for a second. I want to talk to Mason in private.”
“Si’.” She nodded and walked toward the door. Before exiting she turned around and said, “Don’t drink the sangria. It’s already tainted.” She exited with the wind.
Banks dragged two hands down his face before clenching them tightly in front of Mason. It took everything in him to prevent ‘the laying on of hands’.
“What you doing? I can’t believe after everything you still with the dumb shit. When you know what it could cost us. I mean, what’s wrong with you? You on coke?”
“What, nigga? I got shit I gotta do for me and my people, man,” Mason shrugged. “Plans I wanna make work so that means getting back to Maryland. And the last thing I need is this Jamaican taking up all my time by putting me on a reality TV show like I’m some sort of bitch. This plan will work. Me and Rosa laid it all out. I’m surprised you didn’t use her before. She knows how to make poisons and all that other voodoo type shit.” He chuckled quietly. “Relax, Banks. I got this. I got us.”
Banks walked away, his back in Mason’s direction. “If you do this it’ll be a big mistake. Do you hear what I’m saying? I don’t know why but I feel it in my heart. Please, put the pause on all this until I can sort stuff out in my head. And I know my process slow but I’m thinking. I swear to God I am.”
“So why not fly us out right now? So we can go back home. Grab the keys or something.”
“Planes don’t use keys,” Banks corrected him. “And they have a man sleeping on my plane and Whoyawanmetabe’s plane too. They doing shifts and everything.”
“I get it,” Mason said pointing at him. “You just mad because you ain’t the one who thought of this poison shit first.” He smiled pointing at the sangria. “Don’t worry, I’ll let you keep the credit, just as long as you—”
“Mason, please, don’t do this.” Banks continued to beg like a repeated recorder, walking up to him. “You gonna fuck up what I got brewing.”
“You mean one of your slow ass plans?” He paused. “Nigga, my kids in this house now. My wife is in this house. I’m sorry, but I can’t trust your instincts. The cost is too heavy.”
“Mason, this dude is not like one of the hood niggas you know on the corner. It won’t be that easy to get at him. But since your mind is already made up, you’ll see.” Banks shook his head and walked away.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The cold air was making it known that the warm days were about to be a thing of the past, before old man Winter came through in all his vengeance. But for now, keeping court outside was still possible without suffering severe freezer burn while Mason stood behind Blakeslee in front of the school, as she trembled with fear.
She was waiting.
To try again.
The school bell rang a few minutes earlier and Nikki hadn’t exited with the throng of children who were already in the schoolyard and Blakeslee was losing nerve.
Could she tell her what was on her mind, without facing additional rejection? Rejection that stung so hard it caused her chest to literally hurt? Was she built like that?
“I don’t know about this,” Blakeslee said looking back at Mason who always appeared to hang over her shoulder. Watching it all. “What if, what if she—”
“Don’t worry about…” Mason squinted and looked across the way at the kids piling out. Sometimes he found pleasure in Blakeslee’s misery although he wasn’t old enough to understand why. “There she go right there,” he pointed a stiff finger toward the crowd.
Blakeslee followed his gaze and saw Nikki walking out of the schoolyard wearing a red leather jacket. It was new and Blakeslee shivered because she was quite aware that Hector purchased it for her, throwing his money around like falling leaves.
“She so pretty,” Blakeslee said, allowing a cool puff cloud of fog to roll from her lips. “One day when I get enough money I’ma take care of her better. Like get a Mercedes for her and everything.”
Mason looked at Blakeslee, careful to examine each part of her face. The soft way her braids unraveled from the rows around her hair. The way her yellow skin reddened the moment the cold air whipped at her cheeks.
“She not prettier than you though,” Mason whispered.
“Huh?” Blakeslee responded. She was so focused on Nikki that she didn’t hear a word he uttered.
“Nothing.” How he wished he could tell her what he felt but he was learning that when it came to Nikki, Blakeslee had laser focus and could be mean as a rattlesnake if someone got in the way. Infringing on her love for Nikki would be bad for business.
He had to back all the way up.
Blakeslee continued to watch Nikki from afar and smiled. She seemed graceful as she moved but more than anything, she was alone. Quickly Blakeslee headed toward her, smiling with hope big enough to fill the space that surrounded Baltimore.
“I’m going with you.” Mason said.
She paused. “If Hector sees you with me he’ll get mad that we still friends,” she looked at him and back at her. “Maybe you should just leave me alone, Mason. To talk to her. That way I can see where she coming from first.”
The fear of being isolated again by Blakeslee, because of Nikki, stung him like a wasp. He’d been a part of the trio before, only to be cut out like gangrene and he didn’t want that to happen again. He needed to be a part of Blakeslee’s world, above all else. “That’s the thing,” Mason moved closer, grabbing her hand. “I want to tell you something about him first.”
She readjusted her stance, as if bracing for the worst. Slowly she turned her body around to face him completely. Her brown eyes resting on him in fear, screaming please don’t hurt my feelings with terrible news. “What about…what about Hector?”
Mason moved closer, as if he was about to drop something so heavy he needed her hands to help hold it. “I never finish telling you what happened that night. At my party he fin
ger fucked this girl.” He tapped her shoulder with the back of his hand. “And, and get this, I think they had sex too.”
Her eyes widened. “You lying. I mean, why you ain’t tell me before?”
“I promise you I’m not lying. And I’m telling you now.” He shrugged. “You can ask him yourself if you don’t believe me.”
Now the bearer of bad news, Blakeslee rushed over to Nikki and ripped everything she learned about Hector in one breath. The finger fuck. The sex. The pride she felt about revealing the truth diminished when she saw Nikki’s panged face.
Hector, who just exited the building, approached his crying girlfriend at the wrong damn time.
Mason slid closer to the group also.
Embarrassed to have a crowd, Nikki yanked Hector’s hand and walked a few feet away from the duo. “Did you, you go to Mason’s party and…and…did you go?”
Hector shuffled a little, and stuffed his hands into his coat pockets. “Yeah, why, what he, what he, what he…say?” He looked over at Mason who grinned. “’Cause don’t forget people be trying to break us up. Don’t let—”
Nikki moved closer, fully prepared to claw at his face. “Did you finger fuck some girl?”
His eyes widened. “I mean, she was a freak and—,”
“I hate you!” Nikki stumbled backwards as tears rolled down her cheeks. “You promised you would never hurt me and you lied!”
He grabbed her elbow but she pounded at his chest with both fists. “But she ain’t mean nothing to me. I don’t even remember her name. I—”
That was worse.
At least a girl worth losing her for made things easier.
“I don’t care! You embarrassed me in front of my friends too.” She huffed and puffed. “I will never forgive you.”
“Nikki, please!” He put an arm around her waist.
“Fuck off me!” She slapped his hand off and stormed up to Blakeslee and Mason. Sniffling and wiping the tears away she said. “Ya’ll walk me home.”
“Sure,” Blakeslee responded, as if she was wearing a cape.
“We got you,” Mason added. “Don’t worry about shit.”
****
An hour later Blakeslee and Nikki were sitting on the stoop of their building. Nikki was still heart broken but her mood had lightened, allowing her to remember why she and Blakeslee were so close. Time flew by as the girls talked about their lives and it was as if they didn’t skip a beat. As if Blakeslee’s deceased mother hadn’t dragged her out of Blakeslee’s room, the night she learned they kissed.
They were as good together as the sun was to the sky.
The moon to the stars.
The sand to the sea.
All natural was their bond.
“…so her entire butt was out in class, Blakeslee,” Nikki said as she bumped her knee against hers as she laughed heartily. It didn’t matter that the cold from the concrete burned like fire on their butts. They were together once again. “I don’t know why the jeans split but it was crazy. Like, everybody was looking at it and we were like, are we really seeing her ass?”
“She may have wanted it out,” Blakeslee continued. “I mean you say she a freak and stuff.” They laughed lightly before things got quiet. It was a weird silence of things needing to be said although the energy was too tense to accept.
Blakeslee took the leap anyway.
“Nikki, I’m sorry about, you know…what my mother did to you. I know it hurt your feelings, I do. And I wish…like I wish I could take that back. And I’m sorry about Hector too.”
She sighed deeply, as if trying to blow the pain she felt away. To the forgotten place that held the past like bones in a graveyard. “It’s not your fault. I mean, he…he was wrong. He shouldn’t even have been there.”
“I know, but it’s still not right. He should’ve treated you better than that. He should have loved you like—”
“What he doing over here?” Nikki asked, interrupting the conversation.
When Blakeslee looked across the way, toward the end of the fence leading to the street, she saw Hector creeping like a rat preparing to steal food.
“Just ignore him, Nikki.” Her heart raced. She could feel his wanting to separate them again like a plucked grape from its vine. “All he gonna do is lie to you, right? You know that.” She grabbed her hand demanding that she stay.
Slowly she peeled away, her eyes on him as fixed as a flashlight’s shine. “Nah, I wanna hear what lies he about to pop off this time.” Without another word, she quickly ran over to Hector and when their eyes met, it was obvious that suddenly she wasn’t angry anymore.
Where was the rage?
Where was the pain she so easily expressed earlier?
Why hadn’t she kept the same energy?
Blakeslee was helpless and all she could do was watch her take him back again.
From afar she saw Hector speaking passionately, arms throwing up like branches in a storm. Mouth contorted as he expressed himself with the enthusiasm of a lost lover. His rage didn’t appear to be directed toward her, although if he threw his hands any more forcefully, Nikki could’ve gotten hurt.
After what seemed like forever, although it was only two minutes, suddenly Nikki turned around and walked back toward Blakeslee, as Hector remained at the far end of the fence.
Waiting.
Watching.
Smiling.
But why?
When she approached Blakeslee, her anger seemed to be geared toward her all of a sudden. Like Blakeslee was the one who broke her heart when all she wanted was to protect Nikki and make sure she was safe. “Is it…is it true, Blakeslee?”
Silence.
“Blakeslee, is it true or not?” She yelled.
She rose and walked down the steps so that they were eye to eye. “I don’t, I don’t know what you—”
“Did you set Hector up or not? To be with that nasty girl at Mason’s party?”
Blakeslee swallowed the lump forming in her throat as she realized she was set back once again. Of course she didn’t know what Mason planned. He did the worst always on his own. Still, when she went over the plans with Mason, she didn’t consider the blowback and now it was too late.
“I…I…didn’t know he would do that thing with the other girls. I didn’t know he would, he would hurt you like that. I—”
SMACK!
It took a few seconds but when Blakeslee finally realized she had been hit, Nikki had already returned arm and arm with Hector as they both walked away, taking Blakeslee’s heart with them in the process.
He won, but it didn’t stop Hector from turning back momentarily just to smile. Just to throw in her face that Nikki and he were supposed to be together, as God intended.
Blakeslee was sick to the stomach.
When she considered Mason’s plan, she didn’t know it would push her further back from her goal.
Further back from Nikki.
And for the moment, she wondered, what other trouble Mason would get her into in life. It would be years later before she got that answer.
****
Shay and Derrick Louisville had just left Minnie and Tobias who were eating sandwiches in the Nunez’s kitchen. After getting shot not to long ago and having his big toe cut off by Banks in rage, Derrick chose to spend the time on the island with Shay who needed his full attention due to losing Harris.
Now alone with Tobias, Minnie did her best not to look at his badly bruised face due to being knocked out by Whoyawanmetabe’s goon and the fight from Arlyndo on the beach. But it was tough pretending not to see the scars.
Minnie looked over her shoulder at the door.
“Don’t worry, the cameramen don’t come here.”
She smiled.
“Oh wait, you’re not worried about the cameramen.” He shook his head slowly. “You’re worried about him aren’t you? Arlyndo?”
Silence.
Tobias took a deep breath. “So you never told me how it tasted,” he continued, watc
hing her eat with a huge smile on her face. “Shay and Derrick seemed to like my food but you…I don’t know.”
A few bites fell from the corners of her mouth and he smiled as she tucked them back inside.
He had gotten his answer.
“Excuse me.” She giggled. “It’s, it’s delicious. Sweet and spicy.” She swallowed and took another bite. “What is it again?”
“It’s a turkey peccadillo sandwich. A favorite in my family for generations.” He placed his sandwich down, wiped his hands together and sat back. “Has raisins, garlic…I mean, a bit of everything to be honest.”
“Well, thanks for making this for me…for us.” She put the last bite down. “I’m stuffed.”
“Derrick and Shay…they’ve been together long?” He leaned closer. “I always see them on the beach, away from everybody else. I think they’re on to something. To throw the cameras off.”
“No, she’s the daughter of my father’s friend. Technically she’s…like our sister and Derrick is Mason’s son.”
“He doesn’t seem like them…the Lou’s.”
She nodded, trying not to think of Arlyndo who was the worst of them all. “He isn’t. Doesn’t like trouble.”
“So, tell me why you decided to let me cook for you again, Ms. Minnesota.”
She took a deep breath. “Guilt.”
“What happened between me and Arlyndo wasn’t your fault,” he paused. “I keep explaining it to you. Hopefully soon you’ll understand.”
“I know, it’s just that, Arlyndo is, he’s…harsh at times.” She smoothed her hair back even though it was tightly bound in a ponytail, with not a strand out of place. “He can’t control his temper. And the saddest part, the thing that keeps bothering me is I think he really tries.”
“I don’t get it.” He raked his fingers through his coal black hair. It seemed to shine more when he did, and Minnie noticed it all. To say the man was perfect was an understatement. “Why protect him like you do?”
She averted her eyes away from his beauty and looked down at what was left of her sandwich. “I don’t protect him. But he connects his life with mine and I’m afraid if he doesn’t get what he wants from me, he’ll, he’ll hurt me instead.”
