Skull Island

by T. Styles

  And that’s what she did.

  The next day, Banks and Mason were sitting on the stoop eating candy alone. As usual, Mason had enough money to feed the needy. But as they sat and ate the treats, Mason was curious about something. “You different.”

  Banks shrugged.

  Mason laughed. “I say you different and you brush me off?”

  Banks looked at him. “What you want me to say?”

  “I want you to tell me why.”

  Banks sat the candy box down and brushed her hands to remove any crumbs. “Remember Mr. James? Who use to live downstairs?”

  “Yeah, was always yelling and cussing us out when we played in the hallway.”

  Banks laughed. “And it never worked.”

  Mason nodded. “Nah! Fuck that nigga still. I ‘on’t care if he moved or not.”

  Banks looked down. “But his wife, Mrs. James, when she opened the door, she used to come out and smile when we were in the hallway. Never said nothing mean and just…asked us to keep it down. She was always so calm and I liked that about her.”

  “I know…but to be honest she used to scare the fuck outta me. First of all she was tall as fuck and—”

  “I’m serious!”

  “Okay, dang,” Mason said.

  “Anyway you were scared of her because you didn’t know, like, where she was coming from. Because she was always cool.”

  Mason nodded finally understanding what Banks was saying.

  “I’m gonna move like Mrs. James for the rest of my life,” Banks continued. “Calm. Because all that other shit don’t be working. Not for me anyway.” Banks shrugged, picked up the candy box and started eating again.

  ****

  Minnie, Joey, Shay, Cassandra, Roxana, Derrick, Spacey, Bet, Jersey, Howard and Patterson sat on the sectional in the living room, looking up at Tobias, Rosa, Ives, and Mason who stood before them. The room was tense but what they also noticed almost immediately was that there were no cameras.

  The Lou brothers were happy to see Jersey back because after she exposed her weapon, the cameramen knocked her down and removed it, later taking her in the lockdown room below the house.

  But where were Whoyawanmetabe and his men now?

  “I want to say something,” Mason said quietly. “Before we go any further I want to say that I wasn’t…I didn’t know about any of this until the last minute.”

  Everyone frowned, as their eyes looked to one another for some clue of what he was referring to. They were already on edge after dealing with Banks’ death. Their hearts couldn’t take much more.

  “Pops, what’s this all about?” Patterson asked moving uneasily in his seat. “Just say it.”

  Mason was about to speak until Rosa interrupted and said, “Please remain calm first. And then we’ll tell you.” Her voice was low but her words were firm. When everyone settled down she turned her head, looked at the doorway and took a deep breath. “Mr. Wales.”

  The room was thick with gasps.

  Who was she calling?

  Everyone sitting on the sofa widened their eyes except Jersey, as Banks walked into the room limping but alive. Although shot in the upper body, the blow impacted his gait. As far as they knew he was buried days earlier and that was the end of it but they were wrong.

  What was that thing that they buried?

  Packed and shaped wet sheets?

  Not aware, Bet fell dizzy and almost hit the floor from a seated position. Had it not been for her sons, she would’ve landed face first on the marble.

  Minnie on the other hand ran up to Banks and hugged him tightly. All of the pain, all of the hate she felt for her mother prior was released and turned into love for Banks. She didn’t care why he was alive, just that she was able to hold him again. And although he was in pain due to the bullet wound, he welcomed the embrace.

  In awe, the others quietly talked among themselves, afraid that they were dreaming.

  “Sit down, sweetheart,” Banks said softly. “I have a lot to explain.”

  Minnie held him tighter and slowly she returned to her seat, happily clutching Shay’s hand.

  “Dad…what…what’s going on?” Spacey asked mouth hung open. Body trembling.

  “After Jersey told us who Whoyawanmetabe really was, I realized what he wanted. Every painting Mason had done out of blood was personal.” Banks swallowed the lump in his throat. “So I knew he wanted this one to be personal too. And what better way to do that then by killing me and using my blood? It was the reason the other painting he created of himself didn’t work. He didn’t even use Arlyndo’s blood.”

  “Pops, you said you knew about this later.” Patterson said. “Did ma know too?”

  “I was a part of the original plan,” Jersey admitted speaking for her husband. “We only told your father after the fact. So when he was painting he thought Banks was dead.” She rose and stood next to Banks. “We figured it would be more real if Mason didn’t know because—”

  “They didn’t tell me ‘cause they thought…they knew I’d probably fuck it up,” Mason said. “Like I, like I did with Arlyndo.”

  Everyone silently agreed.

  “But the blood…there was so much of it,” Minnie said. “I saw your body, dad.”

  “You didn’t see my body. They shaped sheets heavy with water. And the Nunez family and Jersey had been draining their own blood for days,” Banks moved closer. “I had a clinic built in their home for first aid care a while back. For blood transfusions, cuts, broken bones and stuff like that since we aren’t near a hospital. Rosa spent time as a nurse in the war in her country, and had some knowledge on blood draws and how to heal some illnesses. It was another reason I hired her family.”

  Everyone was stunned at Banks’ level of preparation.

  “But we had to be safe.” He continued. “The amount of blood we needed could’ve killed someone.” He sighed. “That’s why they’d been drinking tons of water. That’s why they’ve also been weak and eating fruit and sweet treats. To control their blood sugar because we had to collect enough to convince Whoyawanmetabe that I’d actually died. I thought of every inch of this plan. Even knowing that the last time I planned something like this, Harris died and I could’ve died too.” He looked down. “But I had to take a chance.”

  “So…” Both Derrick and Shay spoke at the same time.

  He smiled at her. “You can…you can go first.”

  Shay nodded, took a weighing breath and looked at Banks. “So, the thing with uncle Mason and Bet was planned too?”

  Banks glared but then released the tension in his face. It didn’t matter because everyone had seen the expression that he couldn’t take back. And so they had their answer.

  “The plan was to get Mason mad at me and Jersey over us getting closer. That way she would pull the gun and fake shoot him but I would jump in the way. No one knew that Bet and Mason would sleep with each other but we used that incident to our advantage. The code to alert Tobias that we were moving on the plan was by yelling, ‘I’M SICK OF EVERYTHING AND EVERYBODY IN THIS MANSION!’ Which Jersey did, so the Nunez family came running to execute their part. Everything was thought out.” He looked at his wife and Mason. “But their affair.”

  “So mom did fuck uncle Mason,” Minnie snapped.

  “Minnie, not right here…not like this,” Banks said.

  Minnie calmed down.

  “But you were actually shot,” Derrick said, trying to divert the attention from his father’s whorish ways.

  “He was,” Tobias said. “By me.” He stepped up. “I shot him from across the room. The gun Jersey had was blank. We didn’t want him to get hit that close. And we knew the commotion would throw everyone else off from which direction the shot rang out.”

  “But I thought they took all the weapons.” Patterson said.

  “They did, but—”

  “We had a few hidden,” Tobias explained, interrupting Jersey. “He didn’t know about those. They were in my sister Emetine and Ar
lyndo’s graves. We snuck them out, fearing Whoyawanmetabe would find them. When it was time to use them, we dug the weapons up. And had to rebury their bodies due to desecrating their graves.”

  Minnie took a deep breath. “So Whoyawanmetabe is dead?”

  “Yes. The cameramen too,” Banks added.

  “But I thought we couldn’t kill him because we didn’t know who he really was,” Minnie continued.

  “But we do know him don’t we?” Banks said looking at Bet. “While I was trying to get more information on him in private, I thought about what your mother said to me when we were in the room one night.”

  Her sons, who had been holding her hand, released her as all eyes fell on their mother.

  “She said, ‘He always starts shit when he doesn’t get what he wants.’ And I thought, how could she know what he always wants unless she knew him? But when? She never dealt with him back in the states. That was all me. With some time, I was able to get a hold of a secret phone in the Nunez house and found out they used to date from her mother. I know longer was concerned about his reach or him being in business with Nidia. His beef was between me, Bet and Mason.”

  “The bodies, where are they?” Joey asked. “Of the cameramen? And the pilot.”

  Banks looked at Rosa. “A friend of the Nunez’s had them all removed. Buried on this island. Including the pilot.” Murdering the pilot made Banks angry but he understood why he had to go. He was essentially a witness. “But let me worry about all of that. For now, I’m gonna fly you all home.”

  “But you’re still hurt,” Minnie said.

  “I have my co-pilot,” Banks said winking at Spacey. “So we good.”

  ****

  Banks sat in his lounge looking for a drink in his bar when Mason strolled inside. Feeling his presence, he looked back at him and shook his head. “So it’s true. You really did drink up all my shit. I thought I had enough stashed for a year at least.” Banks flopped on the sofa. He moaned when the bullet wound stung a little.

  “Can we talk?” Mason asked, tucking his hands in his pocket.

  Banks looked up at him, his face still battered and bruised. Quite frankly it looked as if he’d been through hell.

  But by now Mason knew it was Banks’ plan to get him to fight him so hard. He needed it to look real.

  “About what, Mason?”

  “The thing with Bet, I’m…I’m sorry.” He ran a hand down his face. “I didn’t know things were going to go that far. I didn’t know…we would…I mean.”

  Banks smiled and shook his head softly. “Are you sorry? I mean are you really? Or are you sorry you got caught? Because there’s a difference, man.”

  “I’m sorry for it all.” He sat on the sofa but Banks scooted away. “This, this shit been ripping me up inside. I mean…when I lost my son.”

  “Don’t do that!” Banks pointed at him. “Don’t put Arlyndo in it. I lost my son too but I didn’t fuck Jersey behind your back.”

  “It’s different! He was my blood.”

  Banks’ eyes widened. “Wow.” He fell back in the sofa.

  “I didn’t mean it that way! I…I…” Mason felt as if he was making matters worse. “Of course he’s your son.”

  Silence.

  “You were my best friend, even through the fire,” Banks said softly. “And you destroyed that.” He rose.

  Mason flopped back. “So is there anything…anything I can do at all? Say the word and it’s done.”

  “You can do something.”

  “You got it,” he repeated.

  “For once, stay out my life.” Banks walked out leaving him alone.

  CHAPTER TWENTY–FOUR

  The plane was in flight.

  Banks and Spacey spoke quietly about the weather conditions and how to avoid the pending storm headed their way. If he chose to go through the meaty clouds, turbulence would be bad for all aboard but they’d get there sooner. If he chose to go above the clouds, he would add about thirty minutes to a smoother flight, something he wasn’t interested in doing, considering everyone aboard still looked at him as if he were a ghost.

  He was preparing to make a decision when Bet approached him, rubbing her elbows repeatedly as if cold. “Banks, can we…can we talk?”

  He sighed deeply.

  “I have the controls, Pops,” Spacey said. “Talk to ma.”

  Banks nodded and walked over to the side where a loveseat sat in the cockpit. They both sat down. “What is it?” He fell back into the sofa, rubbing his knees twice.

  “I thought about the poisons that Rosa made and I’m not sure, but I believe Oswalda was poisoning me. Before you returned to the island. When the three of us were alone.”

  Banks didn’t doubt it but he knew she was making an excuse for her weird behavior. The thing was, she’d been crazy in Maryland. “Could be.”

  “Is it true that you…you gave the Nunez family the house?” She placed a strand of hair behind her ear. “Because if it’s true what she did to me, she doesn’t deserve anything.”

  “It was their house to begin with.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, the land anyway. I don’t want to get into much more right now.”

  “Can you, I mean, I know you don’t want to talk to me.” She looked down. “Since what happened, happened to you—”

  “When Whoyawanmetabe first came on the property and he avoided the Nunez house, it made sense. They weren’t there. But when they returned, and he killed Emetine, I wondered why he kept the cameras away from their home still.”

  “So, so why?”

  “Because he found out later who they really were.” He paused. “And he was afraid.”

  “Delray has never been afraid of anything in his life.”

  He smirked. Since the truth was out that she knew him, she sat too comfortably in this space. Technically he felt well within his rights to steal her in the jaw for the deceit but it wasn’t worth it, not anymore.

  “I’m sorry,” she said touching his leg. “For saying his name like that.”

  He glared.

  She removed her hand.

  “Like I said, he was scared.” Banks repeated. “He knew that he fucked with the wrong family. He didn’t see them coming. Thought it was just us.”

  “Did you?”

  “No…and now it’s too late.”

  “What does that mean?”

  He sighed deeply and looked over at Spacey who was handling the controls with confidence. He looked so comfortable and at peace at the helm that he wondered if the flying bug didn’t come for him too. It made him proud that one of his children could possibly follow in his footsteps. But whether he did or didn’t, Banks would not force him.

  “We going through the storm,” Banks said to Spacey having made a decision. He looked back at her. “And I’m done with you.”

  “Banks, can we—”

  She was speaking to herself, because he had already taken his position back with Spacey where he belonged.

  ****

  SIX MONTHS LATER

  The sky was gray because a winter storm was coming.

  Banks sat comfortably in the luxurious study inside his mansion in Maryland looking at the box of memory cards and cameras Whoyawanmetabe used to record the families. At one point he wanted to look at them, but now couldn’t bring himself to see the footage.

  When his housekeeper walked inside he covered the box with the lid. An older black woman with a gray bun and loving spirit, he liked her the moment he laid eyes on her. “Sir, Mason is here.”

  Banks tossed his pen and dragged his hands down his face. “Let him in, Gemma.”

  She nodded and walked away.

  A few seconds later, Mason entered, a whole ten pounds lighter as if he had the pounds to spare. Dressed in a waist length chocolate fur coat dusted with droplets of melted snow. “I see you cut your hair.” He pointed at Banks’ short-cropped curly style. “I liked it better long.”

  “I know. Anything to make me look like a woman.�
� Banks said laughing once. “That was always your thing.”

  Mason was surprised he mentioned being a woman because in the past he avoided such topics like the plague.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Banks asked.

  “Uh, nothing, I guess, it’s just that you don’t normally talk about being a…you know.” He shook his head. “Even got me scared to say the word and I love pussy.”

  “I do too, nigga.” Banks took a long pause. “But you remember Mr. James?”

  Mason stared at him crazily. “You playing right? The nigga used to run us out the apartment building when we were too loud in the hallway. But his wife—”

  “It wasn’t his wife. She was trans.”

  Mason was shocked. “Nah…how…how you know?”

  “I always knew. Just never said a word. Wanted it to stay her secret.” He paused. “And outside of the calm way she was all the time, which is how I built my life, I loved how she stood in her power. No matter what they did to her. I mean, they threw wet shit at her windows…her car. Called her faggy and she still knew who she was.”

  “I threw some shit at her car a couple of times too but it was only because she looked strong in the face.” He laughed. “I ain’t know she was a man until now.”

  “I know what you did and it always fucked me up. It was another reason why even though we were close, we were never as close as we could’ve been, because I would say to myself if he could do that to her, what would he do to me?”

  Mason felt bad. This was not how he wanted to show up at his house. “It’s different with you.”

  “Maybe.” Banks shrugged. “I ain’t know that back then. Anyway, through it all, nothing bothered her. She didn’t leave that building until her husband died. Took everyone’s jabs and held her head high everyday. Not me though. After losing the island I worked all my life to build I realized that I was running. Away from other niggas who didn’t deserve my pain. How could I say I’m like her when I broke her code?” He paused. “Well I’m through with that. And I’m not saying I’m not fucked up when people throw who I am in my face, but what I’m not gonna do is take shit to my heart. No more hiding. Which is another reason I gave up the island.” He paused. “The nigga Whoyawanmetabe made me realize it was my personal hell.”