No Justice No Peace (24 page)

“I love you,” she said softly.

I kissed her forehead and didn’t feel as if the timing was appropriate.  I got my popcorn and soda, then we headed for our seats.  When we walked by Dominique and his boys, he spoke to Anna.

“Hi, Dominique,” she said as we tried to keep it moving, but the crowd had everybody at a stand still.  I couldn’t help but hear one of Dominique’s partnas call Anna a stuck up bitch.  And then, he went on and on about how he’d rip her skirt off and tear her ass up.

Anna heard every bit of what he’d said and she looked over at me.

            “Don’t trip,” she said. “Just ignore him.”

            The son of a bitch treated me like a punk and got louder with the shit.  “Man, I’d wear that bitch out, you hear me!” he yelled.  I tried to hold my peace, but after that, I couldn’t.  I removed Anna’s arm from around me and maneuvered my way over to Dominique and his boys.  Anna pulled my arm, begging me not to go. Instead, I snatched away from her.

            “That’s kind of disrespectful, ain’t it?” I said, standing face to face with the brotha who couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

            “I don’t know what you talking ‘bout,” he replied.

            Anna pulled my arm again. “Kiley, let’s just go.  I don’t want any trouble.”

            “And neither do we,” Dominique said.  “Lorenzo get to trippin’ sometimes and he didn’t mean no harm.”

            Anna continued to tug at my arm, and after I stared Lorenzo down even harder, I turned to walk away.  I placed my hand around Anna’s waist and I’ll be damned if Dominique didn’t reach down with his hand and swipe it across her ass. No hesitation on my part, I took my fist and slammed it into his mouth.  The son of a bitch fell backwards and skidded on the ground.  He rushed up towards me and so did his boys.  I knew I’d soon be in a battle to save my life, but I’d been here and certainly done this shit before.  Papa Abrams always taught me that if I were ever in a fight with more than one person, to focus on one person and beat the shit out of them!  That one person just happened to be Dominique.  We fought like two wild dogs in an alley, fighting for some food. I’d busted the side of his face with my fist and karate kicked one of his partnas back into the concession stand.

“This is ridiculous,” one man shouted, moving his wife out of the way.

“Just call the police,” I heard. “Niggas always somewhere clowning.”

  No doubt, I was winning this fight, until I felt something hard come crashing down on the back of my head.  The hit was too powerful and quickly sent me staggering to the ground. I tried to get up, but I couldn’t.  I felt another punch in my back, on my side, in my ribs and then I watched as somebody’s black long Stacy Adams was making its way to my face.  I cradled my face in my lap and the shoe somehow missed.  All I could hear were Anna’s screams and I could see her trying to help me off the ground. I heard a smack, and I’d known somebody had hit my woman. When I’d realized I didn’t want to die in front of her, I rolled over on the ground, hurrying to get up.

            My body was aching all over, but that didn’t stop me from holding up my fist. 

            “Look at here, look at here!  This muthafucka got guts,” Dominique said. He’d had enough of me so Lorenzo charged at me again.  Since I knew it was time to give it everything I had, I took my fist and sent it flying with mega power behind it.  So much power that it knocked Lorenzo the fuck out. Dominique and his other boy came at me with everything they had, too, and so many people for screaming for someone to help me, including Anna. Punches were being thrown everywhere.  I couldn’t even see who I hit, but I knew some of my punches landed cleanly. So cleanly that it was obvious the son of bitches would soon give up.  Somebody yelled that the police were coming, and we all did what we knew best—scattered.

            I took Anna by the hand and shirtless and all, I made my way through the crowd.  Many people looked at us with disgust, some with sympathy.  Before the cops could find me, I hurried to my car to leave.  I reached in my pocket for the keys and tossed them to Anna.

            “Drive,” I yelled, in detrimental pain. She hopped in the car and I got in on the passenger’s side.  I leaned down and reached for my glock underneath her seat.

             “No, no, Kiley, please don’t,” she cried out. “Please don’t go there.”

            “Drive my muthafucaking car,” I yelled and reached further underneath my seat for the bullets. My forehead was lined with wrinkles as I loaded the gun and held it in my hand. Anna rushed off the parking lot in tears.

            Her hands shook while holding the steering wheel. “You’re scaring me.  Would you please put that thing away?”

            “Would you drive this fucking car like I told you to,” I yelled, slamming my gun against the dashboard. “Do you see what these punk ass fools did to me! Huh?”  Look at me damn it!  Do you see what the fuck they did?”

            She continued to look forward and made her way to the exit.  I searched the parking lot, and it was right up my alley when I saw Dominique and his boys heading for his car.  Anna saw them too and sped up to exit the lot.

            “Slow down!” I yelled.

            “You are not about to do this with me in the fucking car!  You’re gonna have to shoot me because I’m not stopping!”

            “No problem,” I said, and aimed the gun at her.  She slammed on the brakes and dropped her face into her hands. I opened the passenger’s side door and walked towards Dominique and his boys as quickly as I could.  They spotted me from a distance and that’s when I aimed the gun and fired.  I fired so quickly that the gun jerked my hand back as the bullets exited from it.  The empty shells hit the ground and fire sparked from the tip of the gun.  I watched Lorenzo’s body drop first, but Dominique and his other boy ran pretty quickly.  A bullet caught Dominique in the leg, and before I could send him off with his final goodbyes, I had to quickly reload my gun.  I did it as fast as I could, but his other partna turned around and fired shots back at me.  I dodged the bullets as they bounced around me, shattering glass from people’s cars.  As I fired shots back at him, I backed up to my car.  I stood completely still before getting in and concentrated hard as I aimed my gun directly at his head.  I pulled the trigger and the whistling bullet pierced his head, dropping him.

            Anna was in a serious panic, and as soon as I hopped in the car, she sped off down the road.  As the car was out of sight, she pulled over to the side of the road and put the car in park.

            Her entire face was pale and the tears poured profusely down her face. Her hands were shaking so badly, she let go of the steering wheel. She could barely get words to come out of her mouth. “I…I can’t drive.  Will you drive…please?”

            I looked behind us and got out of the car.  I ran over to the driver’s side and she moved over.  When I got back into the car, I sped off and made my way to the highway.  I’d been a fool to take Anna home, so I took her back to my place with me.  When I pulled up, I put the car in park, and spoke calmly.

            “This is why I didn’t want to be with you.  I knew something like this would happen.”

            “All I want to do is go home.  Just take me home and be done with it, Kiley.”

            “I’m not taking you back to your place.  Going there will put your life at risk.”

            “Take me home, damn it!” she yelled.

            I gave Anna a hard stare and seriously didn’t have time to argue with her.  I opened the door and placed one foot on the ground.

            “If you want to stay in the car, then do so.  I’m not taking you home, but if you want to go, you can always find another ride.  If something happens to you, I’m not gonna hold myself accountable.”

            I got out and slammed the door.  I made my way to the front door and was relieved to see my couch.  I plopped down, elevating my feet with my pillows and placing my arm across the top of my forehead.  I knew I needed a doctor, but I refused to go.  My ribs were aching and the back of my head throbbed with pain.  I could barely see my entire face in the rearview mirror when I drove, but my vision was blurred from my nearly closed shut and swollen right eye. My jaw line was numb and I’d spit up enough blood to donate it. 

            Making sure that Antonio wasn’t at Anna’s crib, I reached for the phone and called her house.  No one answered, and then I checked my messages to see if Desmon had called.  Surprisingly, he had.  He said he was crashing out at Antonio’s girlfriend’s house for one more night and said he’d holla at me tomorrow when he got out of school.  I was relieved and closed my eyes to think about something else other than my pain.

Chapter Fourteen

By morning, I could barely move.  I was able to turn my head slightly to the side to see Anna sitting in a chair directly across from me.  She had my oversized white t-shirt on and her legs were up in the chair while pressed against her chest. I glanced at her, turned my head and closed my eyes.

“Do you want me to call a doctor?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No.”

“Aren’t you hurting?”

“I’ve endured way more pain than this in my life.  I’ll get over it.”

“Kiley, you just can’t lay there in pain.  Let me take you to see a doctor.”

“I said no.  I just need some sleep, that’s all.”

“Then, let me help you to your room.  I put some clean sheets on your bed and fluffed out some pillows for you.”

“I need a joint,” I mumbled. “If you want to do something for me, you can roll me up a joint.”

“No,”

“Then, I’ll do it myself.”

I slowly eased up and pressed my sore back against the couch.  I then leaned forward, and reached for my bag of weed and papers on the table.  My hands were cut and bruised, but it didn’t stop me from putting together the joint I so desperately wanted.  I placed it in my mouth, taking a long and deep drag from it. So deep that it made me cough.  And when I coughed, my body ached. 

Anna stood up and removed the joint from my hand.  She laid it in the ashtray and took my hand. 

“Come take a bath with me.  I think you’ll feel so much better after you relax in the tub for a while.”

I stood up and slowly followed Anna to the bathroom.  She started the water and helped me out of my pants and shoes.  I felt helpless, but I was hurting too bad to remove my own clothes.  Anna got naked, dimmed the lights, and after she put her hair in a ponytail, she stepped into the tub.  She reached for my hand and I stepped in, sitting between her legs. 

The tub steamed from the hot water and it felt good as she wrapped her legs around my waist and dabbed my chest with a soapy wet sponge. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against her chest.

“I don’t even know where to begin to tell you how sorry I am,” I said softly.

“It wasn’t your fault.  I guess you did what you had to do.”

            “I guess I did.”

            There was silence as Anna continued to wash my body.  She lightly massaged my aching spots with her hands and had given me an icepack to place over my eye. Again, I felt helpless but it was damn good to have her with me to help a brotha out.

            We stayed in the tub for at least two hours.  She’d kept refreshing the hot water until it had basically turned cold.  I stood up and she took a towel, wrapping it around my waist.  She covered herself with one and we made our way to the bedroom.  After she dried me off, she pulled the covers back so I could lye down.  She moved in as close as she could, pressing her butt against me.  I wrapped my arms around her.

            “Are you relaxed now?” she asked.

            “Very.”

            “Then, let’s get some sleep.”

            “No doubt.”

            My body felt so good against Anna’s that I couldn’t help but find myself in a deep sleep.  She must have been tired too because she’d faded several minutes before I did.

My eyes popped open at the first sound I heard coming from the kitchen.  As I listened in, it was the fridge making ice and dropping it into the tray.  I turned my head and looked at the clock behind me.  It was almost two o’clock in the afternoon, so I knew Desmon would be making his way home soon.  Yesterday when he called, he said he’d get a ride home.  And, by the way I felt, I was glad that I didn’t have to move. 

            After taking a bath earlier, and downing several Extra-Strength Tylenols, my body felt a tad bit better. No doubt, it still needed some work, but I was pleased to already be making progress. 

            I looked over at Anna as she was still in a deep sleep.  She must have been exhausted.  I hated she’d seen what I did, and more than anything, I never wanted her to see the beast I could become when I got angry. 

            Thinking about what had happened, I kissed the back of Anna’s head two times.  I then lifted the covers and looked at her naked ass that was still pressed up against me.  In need of a quickee, I woke her up.

            Without saying a word, she looked into my eyes and straddled my lap. She slowly rode me backwards, and to assist, I held her waistline and pushed her up and down to the rhythm I wanted.  From the pain still in my mid area, I didn’t mind that the pace was slow.  Either way, I was somewhat frustrated by her performance so I instructed her.

            “Go all the way up to the tip, and slowly come down on it.  Take your time and don’t move faster until you want to. Only work below the hips because moving the upper part of your body does nothing for me.”

            Anna did just as I’d asked, and each time she came down on it she let out a deep breath and a soft-spoken, “Ah.”  On occasion, an “Ah, shit” when I reached far up inside of her.  She sped up, and I asked her to lean forward.  When I separated her cheeks, I had a clear vision of her insides. 

            “Damn!” I yelled.

            She stopped, rose up and turned her head to the side. “What…what’s wrong?”

            “Nothing, baby.  Just keep doing what you doing.”

            Anna turned back around and leaned forward again.  I reached for my cell phone next to me.

            “What are you doing?” she said, stopping again.

            “Nothing.  I’m getting ready to come so stop cutting me off like that.”

            She got back into position and continued to work her pussy on me. I separated her butt cheeks again, and before I came I asked her to come with me.

            “Wait a minute,” she said. “I’m not quite there yet.”

            Getting her there, I took deep strokes inside of her that damn near lifted her off me. I wanted to tickle her clitoris, but my hands were focused on holding her ass.  Instead of me touching her insides, I asked her to do the work for me.  She reached down and stroked her clitoris while keeping the rhythm going.

            “Okay,” she moaned. “I’m about tooooo—

            Her body jerked and I released myself inside of her.  I then took a picture of our intimate moment together, using my cell phone.  Anna quickly turned around and eased off of me.

            “I know you didn’t just take a picture of that, did you?”

            “I couldn’t help it.  I wanted you to see what I saw.”

            “That is so nasty,” she said, getting off the bed. “I didn’t know you could get that nasty.”

            I ignored Anna and looked at the picture, smiling my ass off. I held it out so she could see it. 

            “Come look at this,” I said. “You have got to see this!”

            “No thank you,” she said, pulling the shirt over her head.

            I sighed. “You ain’t no fun.  If you don’t mind, I just wanted you to see what it looks like when we share our love.”

            “That’s bullshit and you know it,” she said.  She plopped down on the bed next to me so she could take a look. “This better be good.”

            “Trust me, you gon like it a whole lot.”  I lifted my cell phone to show Anna the picture.  She squinted and moved in closer to look at it.

            “That is gross,” she said. “I can’t believe you would take a picture of something so gross.”

            “Gross? Are you crazy!  Baby, look at the—

            “I’m looking at it, damn it!”

            “Then, tell me that my dick don’t look good inside of your pussy.”

            “Kiley, it don’t look good.  It feels awfully good, but I can’t agree with you about it looking good.”

            I put my hand on my chest. “Aw, my heart is broken.  I can’t believe you don’t see what I see when I look at this picture.”

            “Okay, then, what is it that you see…other than—Shit, I can’t even say it.”

            “I see…I see cum and dripping wet pussy—

Anna covered my mouth. “Stop being so nasty.  And if you show anybody that picture, I will hurt you.  Do you understand?”

            “Baby, this is for my eyes only.” I placed the phone against my lips, kissing the picture.

            “What a great sense of humor?” she said, getting out of the bed. “I didn’t even know you had one.”

            I ignored Anna as she walked off into the other room.  I put the phone in my drawer and placed my hand behinds my head.  Anna came back in with a wet towel.  She wiped me thoroughly with it, and then, leaned forward to peck my lips.

            “You don’t have much food in the refrigerator.  Do you mind if I use your car to go to the store and to go check on my apartment?”

            “I don’t want you to go alone.”

            “Kiley, I can’t hide out forever.  I told Antonio not to go there, but I need to go there to get a few things.”

            “Then, wait until I put on some clothes so I can go with you.”

            “I want you to get some rest.  I’ll be okay, trust me.”

            “I don’t trust nobody.  That’s why if you leave, I want you to take one of my guns with you.”

            “It would be a waste of time because I don’t even know how to shoot a gun, let alone, hold one.  Again, I’ll be okay.  I’ll call you when I get there and I’ll call you on my way out.”

            “Please, be careful,” I said.

I didn’t want Anna to feel as if she had to live a sheltered life because of me, but I damn sure wanted her to be careful.

            After she put on her clothes, she held a piece of paper and pen in her hands. “What’s the phone number here and give me your cell phone number?”

            I looked at her and smiled.

            “I know,” she said. “It’s a darn shame you haven’t given neither of them to me.”

            “I’m not thinking about that.  I’m smiling because you’re wearing those pants that you said you hated so much.”

            “I didn’t have anything else to put on.  So, what’s the number?”  I called both my home and cell phone numbers out to Anna. Before she left, she promised me that she’d be on guard.

            I hadn’t seen Desmon since I dropped him off at Ginger’s place on Friday.  I was anxious to see him, but I was concerned about him seeing how messed up I was. 

            By the time he made it home, it was going on five o’clock.  Anna called and said she was on her way back, so that gave Desmon and me some time alone.  I was still in bed naked, but had the covers pulled up to my waist.  Desmon went to his room first, and then came into my room.

            “What’s been up?” he said, maneuvering over to the leather love sack in my room to take a seat.  He was getting around pretty good without any crutches.

            “Ain’t nothing up,” I responded while keeping my head straight so he couldn’t see my right eye. “I’m just tired.”

            “You said that you wanted to talk to me about something.”

            “That was the other day.  Since then, I forgot what it was that I wanted to talk to you about.”  I knew damn well it was about Myles, but I felt no need to dig into that issue right now.

            “Why you tired, by the looks of it, you’ve been in bed all day long?”

            “Because I had a fight yesterday.”

            He smiled. “You too?  What chick did you have to put down? I hope to God you wasn’t fighting with Anna.”

            I turned my face so he could see my eye. “If any chick is capable of doing this, you’d better stay the hell away from her.”

            “Damn!” he said rising up from the love sack.  He sat on the edge of my bed to get a closer look. “Who in the fuck did that?”

            “Some wanna-be pimp and his boys who think they got the Lou on lock down.”

            Desmon shook his head. “Whewww, man, they messed you up. Does it hurt?  It looks like it really hurts.”

            I rubbed around my eye. “It really don’t hurt, it just feel kind of numb.  The bloodshot eye makes it look much worse than it really is.”

            “Why y’all get into a fight?”

            “We was at the racetrack and…”

            “That was you!” Desmon yelled. “That shit was on the news last night.  They said two brothas were killed and the other was in the hospital in serious condition.  Here I am thinking you at home chilling and you out blowing muthafucka’s heads off!”

            “Desmon, do you know how foul your mouth is?  You need to cool out on using so many curse words when you talk to me.”

            “Hey, look, I apologize, but don’t try to change the subject.  Did you shoot them fools or what?”