No Justice No Peace (9 page)

            By the time I got to his game, I was pretty messed up and only stayed around long enough for Desmon to see me.  He looked over at me several times as I stood by the gate, watching him play.  As I turned to walk away, somebody called my name.  I didn’t turn to see who it was because I knew it was Anna.  I kept on walking and her voice got further away.  When I reached my car, I looked to where she was, and she turned her head in the other direction. 

            Realistically, I had no time to entertain females.  Yes, I dug the hell out of Anna, but I didn’t see her fitting into my circle.  More than anything, I didn’t want to put her into this mess I was about to get myself in.  I’d been putting my feelings aside, and avoiding them because I was afraid to face the fact that a woman was creeping her way into my heart once again. The last time that happened, I was sent to jail, compliments of her.

A TIME TO KILL

Chapter Six

Going home last night was out of the question.  I didn’t want Desmon to see the agony I was in, and I wasn’t up for a bunch of questions from Ginger.  I got a room for the night and couldn’t stop thinking about Quincy for nothing in the world.  The last time we talked flashed before me throughout the night.  I saw his smile, I visualized us slamming our hands together, and I imagined his death.  I’d visualized what had taken place in my mind, and the more I thought about it, the angrier I got. 

            For me, there was no need for Pedro to call me back.  I wasn’t going to wait another minute to do what had to be done.  I knew Joes’s check out time was at six o’clock, so I prepared myself to pay him a visit.  I’d found out where he lived months ago. After all the trouble he’d caused me while in prison, I’d made plans for him anyway.  Better sooner than never, I thought, and today was not going to be his lucky day. 

            Not only for him, but it was time to get down to business with Dominique.  I called him back and made arrangements to come to his place at ten o’clock tonight. 

            Either way, I had a busy day ahead of me.  I stayed at the hotel until five o’clock and then headed out.  By the time I got near Joe’s place on Page Avenue, it was almost 5:30 p.m.  I parked my car around the corner and walked to where he lived.  He lived in some crappy high-rise apartments, so I took the black metal stairs up to his back door.  I knocked a few times to make sure he wasn’t there, and then I picked the lock and made my entry.  His tiny apartment was a mess.  It didn’t surprise me that the fat white muthafucka lived like a pig.  He had food and shit lying around and the whole damn place smelled like garbage and piss.  To make matters worse, he had a slew of magazines that showed naked women.  Had the nerve to be Black women and that really pissed me the fuck off. 

            I continued to look around for a while, and when I looked out and saw him getting out of his car, I hurried into a sliding closet in his living room.  I peeked through the door crack, watching as he came in with a brown grocery bag in his hand.  Another guard, Big Bo, who was pretty cool with me, came in after him.  Bo took a seat on the couch and Joe walked over to the TV and slid in a tape.  They both munched on some chips, as they sat and watched what seemed to be porn.  They went back and forth about the women pussies, and when I heard Quincy’s name, I was all ears.

            “That fucking cock sucker, Bo,” Joe said. “He had it coming. I swear to God that son of a bitch had it coming.”

            Bo nodded. “Ya damn right he did.  I can’t believe he thought he’d get off without having to pay a price.  Didn’t he know there was a price to pay for wanting to be a nigger?”

            “Yeah, if he didn’t know, he for damn sure knows it now.”  They both laughed. 

“I’d give anything to see the look on that fucker Abrams face when he finds out his girlee’s dead.” Bo nodded and Joe looked back at the TV. “Suck it, baby,” he said gazing at the TV. “Look at the lips on that Black bitch.” 

I was just about to let Joe see the look on my face, when he turned to look at Bo again. “I hated that fucker Abrams. Sometimes, I knew you had love for them niggers, but I wanted his ass so badly.”

I slid the door over, startling both of them. “Then take me fool.” I fired two shots directly into his chest.  Him and the chair he sat in flew into the wall behind him.  He held his chest as his hands trembled in front of it.  Soon, his eyes faded.  I aimed the gun at Bo.

“Kiley, you don’t want to do this,” he said slowly getting off the couch.

At the moment, I was trigger happy. “Oh, yes I do.”  With no hesitation, I pulled the trigger twice again.  I fired one in Bo’s head and the other into his chest.  After that, I hurried to the door, leaving behind two bodies that only the devil could find useful in hell.

Ready to finish my business for the day, I stopped at Taco Bell on Delmar to get a bite to eat. Normally, when I had to do shit like that, a part of me felt guilty.  This time, I had no regrets.

I got my grub on, then drove around in the city for awile. When it neared time to meet Dominique, I headed for his place.  

I couldn’t believe he gave me the correct address to where he lived.  That proved to me he was dumber than I thought.  I really didn’t like his ass, nor did I care if he went to jail.  I wanted Candi so badly that I didn’t even give a fuck what I thought of Dominique.  I wasn’t going to kill her, because that would have been too easy. With her being a detective, they’d for damn sure come after me.  So, I hoped this fool Dominique had a little balls about him.  If not, I’d have to make plans to do something different.

When I got to his house, which was on the north side of St. Louis, one of his boys answered the door.  I walked in and he told me to have a seat.  The crib was laid the fuck out and in the living room where I sat, he had a black leather s-shaped sofa with glass round tables beside it.  The carpet was white as snow and exquisite, black, white and red humongous artwork covered the white walls.  Dominique stood above the t-staircase, looking down into the living room at me.  He put his hands in his pockets and slowly walked down the stairs.  He stopped to mumble something to his partner who’d opened the door, and then walked over to the bar, pouring himself a drink.

“I would offer you something to drink,” he said, taking a seat. “But I don’t know you like that.”

I looked at his midnight black ass, not commenting on what he’d said.  “Listen, like I said before, I’m here to do you a favor.  If you wanna keep up with the smart ass talking, then I suggest you talk that shit to one of your boys.  I don’t play like that.”

He smirked. “Mr. Kiley, what’s on your mind?  You sought me out, playa, so speak.”

I pointed to myself, then to him. “We got something in common.  Her name is Candi and I don’t think you know what she’s after.”

“Man, you came over here with some beef about one of my bitches?  Besides, I don’t even know no gal named Candi.”

“I’m sure that wasn’t the name she gave you.  It was the chick you were at the club on the east side with.”

“I’ve been to that club with many ladies.  Which one…”

I got frustrated. “The dark chocolate one with the long black hair.  She had on a black strapless jumpsuit and got a body out of this world.”

He scratched his head. “Cassandra? That was Cassandra.”

“Candi, or Cassandra…whatever she calls herself these days.  Whatever it is, she’s a detective.  Several years back, she, along with one of her partners, plotted on my boys and me.  I did ten years in prison because of that bitch and I’m here to give you a heads-up to watch your back.”

Dominique shook his head. His face was twisted from the news that was obviously shocking to him. “Man, you gotta be bullshitting.  Not Cassandra.  And what does her partner look like.”

I described Veronica to Dominique and he yelled for his partna Chris.  Chris came into the room.

“Hey, man, this Kiley.  Kiley this Chris.”

“What up?” Chris said. 

I threw my head back. “Sup.”

Dominique looked at him. “You got a picture of Teco and his gal?”

“Maybe, I don’t know.  I can go check, though.”

“You do that.  If you find one, bring it to me.”

Chris left the room.  Dominique looked back at me.

“So tell me about how all this went down, Kiley.”

“It ain’t much to say.  I met her through one of my partnas, she pretended to be digging on me, got real close to me, and made me reveal some things to her I hadn’t revealed to anyone.”

“How long did you know her?”

“For a good lil while.  At first, I knew something was up, but then I gave in.  I was going through some shit, and she pretended to be there for me.”

“Did you fuck her?”

“All the time.  Pussy made me weak, man, and she caught me slipping.”

“Hmm…interesting.”

“Why? ‘Cause you feeling me?”

“Naw, man.  I’ve only known her for two months.  She hasn’t attempted to give me no booty.  I mean, I’ve tried, but she keeps coming up with excuses.  Saying, it’s too soon.  And let’s wait.  The more and more I think about the shit, the more I know something is up.”

Chris came back into the room.  He handed Dominique the picture and he gave it to me.  I looked at it. “That’s her.  That’s Veronica. She was on my boy Quincy.”

“Her name is Valencia to us.” Dominique stood up and walked over to the bar. “So, what you aiming for Kiley?  I’m gonna handle my business soon, but is there anything else you want from me.”

“Nope.  All I want is one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I want to see her before she dies.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“I can arrange that.  She’s always running to me when I’m under pressure, so what if I call her tonight.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

Dominique poured me a drink aside of his and brought it over to me.  He placed it in my hand. “Information like what you gave me is worth something, Kiley.  I appreciate it and I’m damn sure gon hook you up, alright?”

We slammed hands together and Dominique left the room to call Candi.  When he came back, he said that she was on her way. 

“If you don’t mind,” I said.  “I need to go make a run.  I’ll be back in a few hours.  Just make sure she’s still here.”

“Will do,” he said, and then walked me to the door. 

I really didn’t have nothing to do, but to go clear my head.  Shit was getting pretty deep and I needed to take a moment to regroup.  Since I hadn’t given Ginger my cell phone number, I pulled my phone out to call her.

“I swear to you I…I’m about to lose my mind,” she said. “Between you and Desmon not coming home, I’m going crazy.”

“I just called to let you know I’m okay.  I’ll be home tomorrow.”

“Am I supposed to thank you for calling?  I’ve been up all night thinking about how upset you were when you left.  You haven’t done anything stupid, have you?”

“No, Ginger.  Understand that I just need some time alone.  You know how I am when I’m going through something.”

“Yes, I know.  But, please hurry home.  I’m sorry about Quincy, but nothing can bring him back.  You still gotta live, especially for that hardheaded son of yours.  At least you called.  I never hear from him.”

“I’m sure he’s okay.  Just hit me on my phone, if and whenever he gets there.”

“Okay.  I love you.”

“I know you do,” I said before hanging up.

A part of me knew Ginger really did love me…in her own special way. I cared for her too, in my own way as well.  Love, though? Never.  My connection with her was my son, and if it wasn’t for him, our relationship would have never made it this far.

After I chilled in my car for a while, I headed back to Dominique’s place.  It was well over two hours later, and I walked up to the door and lightly tapped on it.  Chris came to the door and told me to have a seat in the living room.  He told me Dominique would be out shortly to get me. 

I waited and waited for Dominique to show, and he didn’t come down to see me until damn near an hour later.  He walked up to me and I stood up.

He pointed upstairs. “She up there sleeping.  Go handle your business.”

I slowly walked up the steps, eyeballing the double white doors that led to his bedroom.  My hand touched the knob and turned it.  When I stepped into the bedroom, Candi lay on her side, facing the wall.  The room was lit with candles, but I could see her very well.  She had on a red short silk robe that must have slid over as she slept.  Her dark chocolate ass showed and her hair was spread out on the black silky sheets.

I tipped toed over to her and eased next to her in bed.  I placed my hand on the side of her hip and rubbed it. When she smiled, I could see her dimples. She slowly opened her eyes, and when she saw me, her eyes opened wider. I quickly covered her mouth and squeezed her face tightly.

“Hello, Officer Campbell.  What a surprise?” I whispered.

She nodded and her eyes slowly filled with water. “Shh…no need to get upset.  I’m not gonna hurt you, okay?”

She nodded again.

I kept my hand over her mouth and reached my other hand down to untie her robe.  She placed her hands on top of mine.

“Move your hands,” I whispered in her ear.  “If you don’t move them, I’m gonna have to hurt you.”

She moved her hands and I pulled her robe back.  I moved it to the side and made her lay on her stomach. 

“You remember how we used to do this, don’t you?” I said, pressing my body weight on top of her.

She nodded and swallowed hard. 

“And, I know you haven’t forgotten about me, have you?”

She moved her head from side to side. “Then as long as you still love me—and you do still love, right?”  She nodded. “Then, let’s catch up on old times.” 

She tried to move her mouth away from my hands.

“Do you got something you wanna say to me?”

She nodded and I slowly removed my hand.