The War Report

by King Benjamin

  “What’s up, my nigga?” she said as the two of them shared a long embrace. It was the first time they’d seen each other in years, although they’d had hundreds of phone conversations since then.

  “Good to be back home, you know?” He spoke in his usual slow monotone.

  “I’ll bet. Hold up a second.”

  She pushed the remote button on her fifty-five inch plasma and disappeared into her back bedroom. Bones took out his personal weed stash and a blunt. He hadn’t had a chance to smoke all day, with trying to stay focus on the duties he had planned for himself. As he split the cigar open with a thumbnail, Oshiwa came out of the bedroom jingling the keys to the Lexus and holding a white business card along with it.

  “Aww shit now, you bought me some weed.” she said.

  “If that’s what you choose to believe, be my guest,” Bones replied.

  “Shut up, nigga. Here go the keys, here the dealer’s name and number if you ever need to call him after we done, and on the back is the other number you asked about.”

  He took the card and flipped it over to read the back. The name, Carlos, was written in ink with a phone number under it.

  “How the hell you get his number that quick?” he asked curiously.

  “I told you my girl used to fuck with him too. He ain’t hard to find if you know the right people.”

  “Damn, that’s love. I really needed to catch up with him.”

  “Anything for you, big daddy,” she teased like always. Bones always thought her voice was sexy as hell.

  He finished rolling up the weed and passed it to her.

  She lit the blunt, took a seat on the leather sofa next to Bones, and crossed her legs.

  “I’ma keep it real,” she started. “I know why you wanted Carlos’ number, that’s why I made sure you had it. I heard that nigga is on that tip, and I think he would be a good addition to your team.” She took another hit and exhaled as she continued with sincerity. “I don’t expect you to tell me all your business, ’cause trust me, I don’t even wanna know. But whatever I can do to help, just let me know. I didn’t hold you down all this time to turn my back on you when you got out. So… just let me know if you need me.”

  He let her words sink in as they floated the weed back and forth. He knew Oshiwa was exactly the kind of girl he needed around at that time, and he also remembered the conversation he had with Skip about her. On the other hand, he knew she had grown accustomed to a certain lifestyle, and she could still have an agenda. Bones wanted to question her about her motivation, but after all the love and loyalty she had shown since his brother’s death, it wasn’t a conversation he felt that he needed to have.

  “I’ma extend the same offer to you, baby. If you need me for anything, I’m one phone call away. I ain’t the type of nigga to ever forget when somebody was in my corner, so if I got it, you got it, feel me?”

  “That’s good to know,” she said.

  They began to reminisce about Dontae and shared a few laughs thinking about his ways and all the good times they had shared. Oshiwa had been around for as long as Bones could remember, and it wasn’t surprising that when Dontae came back home, he ran back to her.

  “You know, you remind me of him in some ways, even though y’all don’t look shit alike. Just the real nigga shit y’all be on. It’s rare now days.”

  “Shit, who you telling?”

  “I know you know. But with you coming back, I just feel like I have a piece of him with me again, and it feels good.”

  Bones didn’t really know what to say. He knew she had a lot of love for him, but for a minute there, it was almost starting to feel like something else.

  “Did you ever get the tattoo with his name?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I got it right after I told you I was gonna do it. It’s right here,” she said, standing and turning to reveal a small tattoo on her left calf the read RIP Dontae.

  “Nice.”

  “Did you get any tats in jail?”

  “Yeah, I got one on my back.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s a skull and crossbones with my name over it. It’s gangsta.”

  “Well, let me see it.”

  Bones stood up and pulled the white T shirt he was wearing over his head and turned his back to her. He could feel her hands gliding across the tattooed parts of his body. Then her hands went from his back to his stomach and then his chest. Bones didn’t say anything. He had done too much time to be morally concerned about what would happen next. He had heard Oshiwa was amazing in bed, and now he wanted to find out for himself. He turned around and looked down into her eyes. As they shared an intense stare, he reached out and palmed her ass with both hands.

  “You sure this what you want?” he asked.

  “Been waiting for it a long time,” she said as she pulled him by the belt back to the sofa and nudged him back down on it. She unzipped his jeans and took out his rod. The length and width of it was impressive.

  “Ummmm,” she moaned as she took it into her warm inviting mouth.

  The sensations gave Bones the biggest erection he’d had in years, and he couldn’t do anything but throw his head back, close his eyes, and enjoy the skilled head master at work. She gave him all tongue and lip service with no teeth in the vicinity. Her jaws were tight like a virgin pussy and wet like a juicy apple. Just as he was about to cum, she eased his dick out of her mouth and began to undress.

  Bones stood up and lowered his pants and boxers as she climbed on all fours on top of the sofa. Her body was a flawless brown masterpiece of art.

  “Now come and kill this pussy,” she ordered, exciting Bones more than he wanted her to know.

  He dug inside of her, unprotected and overzealous. She was super tight; it was obvious she had been saving herself for a minute. Their cries of passion rang throughout the house as he tickled her guts, giving all of him that she could stand. He pinned her head down on the couch as he felt the rush coming through his body for the second time. She wasn’t going to stop this nut, he was going to release all of it right inside her.

  He grunted as the explosion shook both of them. She screamed in ecstasy right before he collapsed on top of her breathing heavily. This was just the pussy Bones needed to feel like he was officially a free man again.

  Chapter 6

  Heaven on Earth was a popular restaurant in Downtown Detroit that served a wide variety of food. It was also Michelle and Leslie’s go to spot. They had an elegant table for two in the middle of the restaurant, which made Michelle easily recognizable as her table was so exposed to everyone coming and going. She was quickly becoming a familiar face in the city, but she didn’t consider herself a celebrity. It was such a humbling situation whenever someone actually asked for her autograph. She ordered filet mignon and a Caesar salad along with a diet coke.

  “Now, all we gotta do is work on getting you a man,” Leslie teased.

  “You paying for your own lunch, slut, I’m tired of you already.”

  “I’m just saying. It’s been about nine or ten months since you stopped dating ole boy that shall remain nameless. Don’t you think it’s time to get back in the race?”

  “Guys play too many games. I just don’t need the distraction right now,” Michelle said.

  As if on cue, they noticed three handsome well-dressed men enter the restaurant. They were quickly seated up front close to the bar.

  “Besides,” Michelle continued, “nobody ever asks me out except for guys I work with, and you know my rule on that.”

  “Nobody else asks you out because you never go anywhere. Home, work, work home. This is the first time you even hung out with me in months. How you gonna find a man like that?”

  “I’m not looking for one. And when did you become such an expert on the subject of dating? You’ve been with the same guy for the last six years.”

  “Exactly, and I know… wait a minute girl,” Leslie said, calling her attention to the gentleman approaching them.


  “How you ladies doing today?” Jay said. He was dressed in a powder blue short-sleeved Sean John shirt with matching jeans, along with sky blue Maury’s gators with a tennis shoe grip.

  “Now wait a minute, Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome. Before you go into your mack mode, you should know that this big rock on my finger is to let the world know that I am officially off the market.” Leslie blurted out.

  “Shut up fool,” Michelle giggled.

  “Well, I don’t have a mack mode. I have a Jason mode that suits me just fine. But I came over because your friend looks familiar. Are you Michelle Mitchell from Channel 6?”

  “Yes I am, how are you?” Michelle said as she offered her hand and Jay accepted.

  “I’m doing well, how’s the food?”

  “I love it. This is my spot. We come here all the time.”

  “Okay, this is my first time eating here. I noticed your accent, are you from the south?”

  “North Carolina.”

  “Yeah, I got family in North Carolina, Roanoke and Charlotte.”

  “Get out of here! I’m from Roanoke,” Michelle said getting excited.

  “Uh oh, you bet not be my cousin,” Jay said drawing laughter from the women.

  “You never know. It’s a small world. Do you ever visit?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I was there two summers ago. We hung out a little in VA.”

  “I love VA,” Michelle commented.

  “Yeah, it was fun. Anyway, I don’t wanna take up too much of your time, but… I don’t see a ring on your finger. Are you seeing someone?” Jay asked, seizing the opportunity.

  Michelle was feeling his confidence, and he was attractive, but she had just finished saying it wasn’t the right time to focus on dating.

  “I am newly single, but right now I’m just taking a time out for self. But I’m very flattered you would ask.”

  “I understand,” Jay said unfazed. “Just don’t take too much time out. Everybody needs a special someone to share life with.”

  For the life of him, Jay didn’t know where the fuck that line came from, but it sounded good so he let it roll. He wanted Michelle’s attention badly.

  “Is that what you’re looking for, Jason? A special someone?” Michelle was still intrigued.

  “Most of the time, people don’t know what they want until they find it,” he stated truthfully. “But I’ll leave you my card if that’s okay, and you can give me a call if things change.”

  “That’s fine,” Michelle agreed, taking his card and saying waving bye with her free hand.

  Jay strolled back to the table with Gunner and E. The smell of his cologne lingered in the air after he departed, as Michelle glanced at the Damn Good Music business card. She was lost in the scent, and regretting the state of her personal life when Leslie snapped her back to reality.

  “Bitch what is your problem? You just let a perfectly good man get away.”

  “You don’t know a thing about him but his name. And I didn’t let him get away, I took his card,” she spat.

  “Well, I don’t need to know nothing about him, you do”

  Michelle went back to her food, as did Leslie, but she couldn’t help but glance up front to where Jay was seated a couple of times and wonder to herself what he was really like.

  After dinner, Michelle drove home listening to Beyonce’s first solo album, Dangerously in Love. She tried her best to sound like Beyonce when her favorite track, “Speechless” blared out of the speakers of her black Range Rover. She could hold a note, but she was no Beyonce by far.

  When she made it home, she changed from her dress and heels into a jogging suit and running shoes. Nothing could end the night better than a powerful workout session and the 24 hour Bally’s. Exercise had been her peace of mind since she was a teenager. She glanced at her cell phone which was plugged into the cigarette lighter, and wondered when was the last time a man had called her, besides her dad? For a split idiot second, she actually thought about calling her ex just to see how he was doing.

  “All I need is a good workout,” she reminded herself. “Some leg lifts, lunges, crunches, maybe a few sets of squats.” She said aloud. She would probably finish with the treadmill and then head home for a nice long bubble bath. That sounded like the perfect plan.

  __________

  Jay woke up thinking about the news reporter he ran into at the restaurant the day before. Since then, she had crossed his mind more times than he would have admitted to anyone but himself. She was so beautiful, and had the brightest smile he’d ever seen. Her skin looked so healthy and flawless, but her eyes were the most hypnotizing thing he noticed about her features. Her light brown eyes had a fire inside of them that gave you a first impression about her without even knowing the woman. He’d had more beautiful women than he could count, but Jay saw something so different with her, it was like a light bulb went off in his head. In Michelle, he saw a class act, with substance and ambitions. It was all in her eyes, he thought. What he didn’t see in her eyes was any hint of the gold digger syndrome.

  As he pulled into Bake’s driveway, he looked at the clock and noticed it was almost time for the midday news. He was sure that Michelle would be on there because he had gone back and forth yesterday searching for her on the nightly news with no luck.

  Jay rang the doorbell and a woman with large breasts and long weave answered wearing a T-shirt and panties. She spoke, giving Jay a seductive glance as he entered the house.

  He didn’t respond, instead he shot past her and began looking for the remote control to the flat screen mounted on the wall. Bake emerged from the kitchen wearing an apron and a chef’s hat. Jay could smell the odor of powdered cocaine settled all through the house. Jay couldn’t take him serious at the moment. His was focus on finding Channel Six.

  “What’s up, my nigga?” Bake said.

  “What up, I’m trying catch the news right quick, you dig?”

  “Why? What happened?”

  “Nothing. I wanna see Michelle Mitchell. I always knew she was cold muthafucka, but when you see her in person, oh my God!”

  “Where you see her at?”

  “Downtown at Heaven on Earth.”

  “You shoot at her?”

  “You know I had to shoot my shot, Shake-n Bake, but she wasn’t really talking what I was trying to hear, ya dig?”

  “Oh, you remember Precious don’t you?” Bake said noticing that she had made herself comfortable in the living room with them.

  “Yeah, yeah,” was all Jay would offer. “Let me holla at you for a minute.”

  The two strutted off to the kitchen where there were big cookie rocks of crack drying on several glass and porcelain dishes.

  “You sure you trust this bitch to be up in here while you doing all this? Sometimes you can’t let a bitch see too much,” Jay warned.

  “I know you don’t really know the bitch, but trust me, Jay, she’s a thoroughbred. I been fucking with Precious for years and years.”

  “Ok, my nigga, if you say so, then that’s what it is.”

  They slapped fives. Jay trusted Bake, and if Bake trusted her, then he had to believe he wasn’t thinking with his dick on this one.

  “Here go your girl,” Precious called out from the living room.

  “Aww shit,” Jay took off like somebody had yelled the police were coming, just to get in front of the TV and see Michelle. He was mesmerized by her every word as she stood in front of a hospital reporting a story on a flu vaccine that had strong side effects and had caused people to file a lawsuit against the hospital.

  “That’s a coooold muthafucka,” Jay said.

  “Damn Jay, you done became obsessed with this bitch overnight?”

  “Watch yo mouth, nigga!” Jay teased. “Naw, but for real, I gotta bump back into her.”

  “You know who could probably get you in contact with her?”

  “Who?” Jay asked at full attention.

  “That hoe ass nigga, Dawson. You know he be rubbing elbows with
all the high society muthafuckas.”

  “Damn, you right,” Jay said as he thought about the mayor’s son. Dawson was always talking about who he knew and what they did for him. He was definitely connected; there was no denying that.

  Jay still moved whole kilos hand to hand to the people that would only deal with him. After he made a drop off, he called Dawson to meet up with him, using the thousand dollars he owed him as an excuse. Really, he was trying to pry some information out of him about Michelle if he had any.

  They met on Lasher and Grand River in front of a Bookstore/coffee shop. Jay pulled up behind Dawson’s BMW 745 then got out and walked over to the passenger side. Dawson hit the auto locks and Jay cracked the door open halfway.

  “You got anything in the car with you?” he asked cautiously. Better safe than sorry.

  “Naw, you good, come on,” Dawson said as he took some paperwork from the passenger seat to make room. Dawson was Mahogany brown with curly hair. He dressed and looked the part of a boss, and even had the money to back it up, but somehow Jay just never bought into it.

  “Nigga you know you could have just got with me on the next go round. You didn’t have to drive all the way across town to give me this little shit.”

  “Actually, I had something else I wanted to holler at you about too.”

  “Oh, what’s going on?” Dawson said looking nervous.

  Jay went in his pocket and pulled out a bankroll of fifties and twenties. He peeled off twenty fifty dollar bills then handed them to Dawson.

  “You ever met the reporter that works for the Channel Six news? Her name is Michelle Mitchell?”

  “Yeah, I know her. Met her a few times when my pops was campaigning and whatnot.”

  “Oh okay, so you don’t know her that well?” Jay said going fishing.

  “No I ain’t never fucked her if that’s what you asking. I just know she’s a classy bitch, you know? And, I know she went to the Olympics back in 2000. I think she won a medal.”