Piece Keeper (18 page)

Ignoring the body in the tub she went straight for
the leather bag. “No, no, no!” She murmured to herself repeatedly
as she paced the small bathroom. She was unable to recall a huge
portion of the night and she had no idea how she had ended up there
nor what she could do to fix her current predicament. A knock at
the door took her out of her trance. Nicole rushed to the door
shaking with anxiety. “Yeah?”

“Housekeeping.”

“Not now. I’m staying an extra day.”

The woman didn’t say another word. Nicole put her
ear to the door and listened as she heard the cart move away from
the door and the housekeeper knock on another door. She returned to
the bathroom being careful not to touch anything. She let her eyes
scour the area looking for her missing merchandise from the leather
bag. Making her way back to the room she sat at the desk and
thought about her next move. Only one name came to mind. Courtney
Awsum. He had once told her that should she ever need anything she
could count on him. She couldn’t go to her girls. She’d lost three
bricks of cocaine and had a dead man in the tub. On top of that she
had no idea how either happened. She’d had one job: cop the coke
and put it up. Whip was supposed cook it when they got back from
Chicago. Maybe the girls were right when they’d previously warned
her that she had a drinking problem. But it was too late to dwell
on that now. All out of options, she picked up the phone and called
Courtney.

Thirty minutes later Nicole found herself forcing
down cof-fee as she waited impatiently. She really needed a drink.
After calling Courtney she had called down to the desk to book the
room for another night which proved to be yet another mistake on
her part once she found out that the room was in Ickie’s name.
She’d quickly hung up and called Courtney back to inform that there
was one more problem for him to fix. Nicole was no fool she knew
that no one did anything from the kindness of their heart but,
whatever the price he asked, if he brought her out of this winning
she would gladly pay whatever.

Her nerves were on edge as she stood in the bathroom
en-trance and stared at Ickie’s lifeless frame. What the hell did
he do to make me do this? She thought to herself. She whipped her
head in the direction of the door as the sound of knocking took her
out of her trance. Please let that be Courtney, she silently prayed
to herself as she rushed to the door.

“Who is it?” She stood in front of the white painted
steel door and yelled at the presence on the other side. Anxiety
was killing her.

“It’s me!” A deep baritone voice answered back.

She snatched the door open and walked away not
looking back to see if he was alone which he wasn’t. He was
followed by a man and a woman both wheeling in suitcases behind
them.

“Nick, these are my associates,” Courtney explained
bring-ing her attention to the tag-alongs. “Do as they say and
every-thing should flow smoothly.”

Nicole nodded yes as she began biting her nails.

“Good.” The woman with a British accent was relieved
that there would be no resistance. She picked up her suitcase, sat
it on the bed, and removed new clothes and shoes. The tags were
still on the garments. She handed the clothes to Nicole. “Go
change. Do a quick wash in the sink of all visible areas. Hands up
to your elbows, face, neck, behind your ears. Any place that may
have blood splatter.”

Nicole was astonished. “Blood splatter? I didn’t
kill this guy!”

Courtney raised his eyebrow at her defensive
outburst. “Are you going to do what they say or are you going to
debate your innocence?” He was obviously annoyed.

Nicole made her way to the bathroom and closed the
door behind her. Ten minutes later she was changed holding her old
clothes in her hand. The man who had yet to speak opened a black
hefty garbage bag and Nicole promptly dropped the clothes into
it.

Courtney took her by the arm and led her to the
door. “Go out into the hall, bypass the elevator straight to the
end of the hallway and get onto the service elevator. Take it down
to the basement. Get off of the elevator and take a left. Walk
until you see a black caravan. The door will be unlocked. Get into
the van. The keys are in the ignition. Drive yourself home.” His
instructions were precise. Courtney was thorough if nothing else
and could not omit the last bit of information Nicole needed. “I
couldn’t get the product you are missing in such short notice but
underneath the passenger seat of the van is a bag of cash. It’s the
money you spent on the product.”

Nicole let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you so much,
Court-ney. I owe you one. I’ll pay you back every penny.”

Courtney nodded. “I know you will. The money part I
know you’re good for it and as far as the mess in the bath-room… I
know if I ever need anything you got me.”

“Anything! Just ask.” She gave him a hug and sighed
once more as he kissed her forehead. It was all so perfect.
“Court-ney?”

“Yes?”

“Can we keep this between us? Whip and the other
girls don’t need to know.”

He smiled. “Not a problem.”

Whip dropped her travel bag on the floor near the
door. She’d just made it back in to Indy from the business trip to
Chicago. Exhausted she shed her clothes dropping them on the floor
as she made her way to the bathroom to take a shower. She turned on
the bathroom light then turned the water on in the shower. Letting
the water run Whip stood nude in the center of the bathroom looking
at her reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall. Her mocha
complexion was complimented nicely by her soft curly hair. She
climbed into the shower just as the bathroom began to fill with
steam. After a few minutes of basking in the warmth of the steady
flowing stream she heard banging on her front door. Hopping out of
the tub she wrapped herself in a towel she rushed to the door.

“Who is it?” She hollered as she tore down the
hallway. She was annoyed that someone would have the audacity to
interrupt her moment of tranquility.

“Courtney.”

Whip paused in mid-step upon hearing the response.
She bit into her bottom lip and considered the reason for his
abrupt visit. Getting over her apprehension she took the final four
steps to the door and opened it. “Sorry. I was in the shower.” She
turned away and headed back to her bedroom.

Courtney entered the apartment then closed and
locked the door. “It’s alright. Didn’t mean to be an imposition but
I stopped by ‘cause I needed to talk to you about something
important.”

“I’m listening,” she yelled from her bedroom with
the door wide open.

Courtney stood at the head of the hallway and
hollered back towards Whip’s open door. “It’s about Nick.” No
longer concerned with decorum Courtney made his way down the hall
towards her bedroom. He stood in the doorway and took in the scene.
She had one foot on the bed and one on the floor as she applied
lotion to her leg.

Whip made a few exaggerated movements as she glided
her hand up and down her calf being sure to part her legs to give
him a full view of her freshly shaven vagina. She paused and looked
up at him with bare flesh glistening from the lotion. “Uh, excuse
me. Can I help you?” She had a hint of attitude in her tone.

Courtney took his time examining her body. Starting
at her feet his eyes scoured every inch of her mocha frame. “Yeah,
you can help me.” He walked into the room like a black panther
about to mate with his female counterpart. He picked her up by her
waist and threw her onto the bed.

She stared back venomously. Her nostrils flared and
she felt goose bumps race across her flesh in response to his
touch. Like a wild animal she pounced from the bed landing on his
chest. She wrapped her legs around his midsection and one arm
around his neck to hold herself up. She dug her nails into his neck
with her free hand until blood ran freely. Courtney pulled her by
her hair yanking her neck back then suckled its taunt skin so
fiercely she thought he might suck a vein out. They both grunted in
ecstasy as he fell forward on top of her onto the bed.

After the third romp of their impromptu sexual
escapade they both lay nude with the blanket halfway on the bed and
halfway on the floor. Staring at the ceiling they took turns
puffing a joint lost in their own thoughts. The sex was just as
good as Whip thought it would be a problem in and of itself was
because it meant she would want more. If he was feeling her as much
as she was feeling him then there was an even bigger problem
because that meant there would be more escapades. In her line of
business she couldn’t afford to get caught up in emotions and
desires. Not wanting to think about it further nor ruin the serene
mood she broke the silence. “What did you need to tell me about
Nicole?”

Courtney scooped her into his arms and held her to
his chest. “Never mind.”

Whip pushed against his chest prying herself from
his grasp. She sat up. “Whatever. You wanted something. You didn’t
just pop up over her to seduce me.”

He rolled over turning his back to her. “Don’t act
like you didn’t want this to happen.”

She pushed the back of his head muffing his face
into the pillow. “Just ‘cause I wanted it, ain’t mean it had to go
down.”

Courtney sat up and rose from the bed. “So it
shouldn’t have gone down?”

She stared up at him and watched his pole begin to
extend. She gasped as it began to pulsate. She was silently in
awe.

“Are we going talk about this or are you going to
stare at my dick?” He was taunting her.

Upset she climbed from the bed and stood directly in
front of him. Staring up into his eyes she angrily poked his bare
chest. “Talk about this? Who you fooling? You didn’t come over here
to talk to me.” Without another word she slyly knelt down taking
his jones directly into her mouth and suckled as if he were
lactating.

***

Present Day

Kill the brain, the body must die!

~Cheyenne

“Thank you again, Governor Love. This is a great
book!” The female patron gushed as Ally Love signed a copy of her
latest title “Dust off the Ashes.”

“My pleasure. And please call me Ally. I’m not your
Governor anymore.” She handed the book to the woman and smiled.

“No disrespect, Ally, but you have done more for the
people in this city in the years you were in office than anyone has
done in the past twenty years. And your new book…” The woman held
the book close to her chest. “Dust off the Ashes will be a best
seller and the fact that you’re donating all the proceeds to the
battered women’s shelter proves that you are a God send. For that
and everything else you’ve done you will always be my
Governor.”

Ally hugged the woman. “Thank you. I sincerely hope
you enjoy the book.”

The woman turned and exited the Oakley Auditorium in
Ivy Tech’s Community College clutching the novel as if it were a
sacred heirloom. The college had hosted for a lecture and book
signing. Both had gone well but now things were wrap-ping up. She
looked around the auditorium for her husband. Late again, she
thought to herself. Checking her IPHONE for any missed messages she
saw that there were none. Dropping the phone into her purse she
began packing her laptop into her bag to leave.

“What’s good, Whip?” A voice called from the
seats.

Ally’s back was to the seating area and she could
feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She hadn’t gone by
the street moniker in over twenty years. Who would dare address her
as such in this arena? She turned around smiling half-heartedly as
she placed her hand in front of her face in an attempt to block the
spotlight that was shining in her eyes. She remained silent as she
watched the shadowy figure carrying a knapsack approach the stage.
When the person was near enough for Ally to get a clear view she
tore away from the stage abandoning her belongings. The first thing
she noticed was that she was wearing black from head to toe. Black
hoody, jeans, boots and leather gloves. She also wore the four
karat canary yellow diamond earrings she had given her one year for
her birthday. Ally was shocked. “Oh my God! When did you get home?”
She threw her arms around the woman in a strong embrace.

“A couple hours ago.”

“Thank God, he brought you back home to us.”

“I’m home alright. It had nothing to do with God
though.”

Ally took a step back and looked at her old friend.
She smiled. “In any case it’s good to see you, I see you still have
the earrings.”

Cheyenne ran both hands across the diamonds in her
ear-lobes. “How are the rest of the girls?”

“Oh God… we haven’t gotten together since… well you
know… since you went away.”

“I went away huh?” Cheyenne’s eyebrow rose. “Like a
breeze in the wind.”

Ally tried to keep her tone even. “I wrote you and
put money on your books. Why did you take my name off of the
visiting list?”

“I was doing my time. I didn’t need anyone to do
that time with me. I jumped in front of that bullet, Whip.”

“Don’t be so bleak, Cheyenne.” Ally looked around at
the few stragglers that were still in the auditorium. “And I don’t
go by Whip anymore. Just call me Ally. Those days are behind
me.”

Cheyenne took a step back and looked at Ally
analyzing her eyes and face. “Ally. Right. It’s a real shame
though, Whip.” She held her hands up as if she were mixing
ingredients in a pot over a stove. “When you was in that kitchen,
you had the best whip game out there. Hit the product with a little
water, baking soda, and bam! Man, you turned a thousand grams into
a brick and a half every rip and it still tasted like butter.”

Ally felt her skin crawl listening to Cheyenne
reminisce about the old days.