Pink Lips (25 page)

“Where's yo' nigga, bitch?” he asked her as she entered the elevator and stood behind her. He raised his shirt and took out his gun.

“I don't know,” Choice said as the elevator closed behind her with Talvin's gun pressed against her head.

“We gon' wait for him together.” Talvin grabbed her face. “Now, what fucking floor is it?”

Choice pushed the button to the floor that she and Craig now shared and called home. She regretted moving in with Craig earlier that day. Had she known that a gun would be against her face when she woke up and packed her clothes, she would have stayed asleep.

“Where is he?” Talvin asked as the elevator doors opened.

“I'm pregnant.” Choice's eyes started to water. “So, whatever beef you have with Craig is between you and him.”

“It's between me, him, and Willow,” Talvin said while Choice pulled out her keys and walked to a door, the gun still pressed against her body.

“Willow?” she asked, opening the door.

“Yes, Willow.” They walked into the apartment. “You didn't know Craig and Willow was creeping behind yo' back?”

“Do you fucking think I knew something like that and I just moved in here with this nigga?” Choice said, plopping down on the couch.

Choice wiped the pink lipstick off of her lips as she sat wondering if there were any truth to what Talvin was saying. She wasn't naïve, she knew Craig and Willow were cool, but she never thought that they would hurt her like that. She felt like an idiot for putting her trust in them. If she made it out alive, she promised herself that she would have nothing to do with either one of them again.

“Call him,” Talvin said as he pushed his gun into her. “Tell him to come home now.”

“He doesn't listen to me.” Choice put her hand on her stomach.

“You better make him,” Talvin said with conviction.

Choice pulled out her cell phone as her hands started to tremble.
She dialed Craig's number in hopes that he would pick up the phone. She could see in Talvin's eyes that he would kill her if he had to. She just hoped that Craig would care enough to come save her.

•  •  •

“This isn't right,” Willow moaned, looking down at the top of Craig's head as he slurped up her wetness from her pudding cup.

“Just lay back.” Craig flicked his tongue in a snake-like motion, making Willow lose control of her senses.

Willow knew what she was doing was wrong. She would have killed someone for doing the exact same thing to her. She felt trifling for sneaking with Craig at the presidential suite that had become their hiding spot. But, as the orgasms continued to take over her body, she let go of those thoughts.

Craig continued to lick as Willow dug her nails into his scalp from the pure pleasure. Her legs shook like she was having a seizure after someone flashed electronic lights in her face. She fed Craig every drop of her ecstasy as she came repeatedly.

“I love you,” Craig said, looking up at her; the juices from her clitoris dripping from his goatee.

“I love you, too,” Willow said with honesty.

Craig's lips met hers as he entered inside of her. They slowly kissed as he went in and out, touching the bottom of her opening with each stroke. He continued to stroke as he kissed her neck, then her chest while he kissed and bit at her light-brown areolas.

Willow was at heaven's door from the way she was feeling. Her body moved back and forth as the tension between her thighs built up, sending a tingling sensation all over her. She moved her hips in a circular motion as Craig picked up his speed. They moved off of each other as their hearts beat together and made music.

“I'm about to cum,” Willow moaned as she came on Craig's pole as he continued to stroke.

“Cum again,” he whispered, biting her ear as he felt the warm cum that had just escaped her run down his legs. “Cum again for me.”

They could feel their body heat from how close they were to each other as Craig went deep in her. He gazed into her eyes, as he kissed her nose and then her lips. His hands wandered down until they met hers, and he held her hand while he continued to make love to her.

They sunk down into the cool sheets of the king-size bed, and Willow waited for the sensuous storm to envelop her, and teased out every little corner of passion from her secret places. When she saw Craig's face glow and his body tighten, she knew he had found the map and her passion had been found.

“I haven't been fucked like that ever,” Willow said as she basked in the silk sheets.

“That's because I didn't fuck you.” Craig rolled over next to her and kissed her cheek. “I made love to you.”

Willow couldn't deny it; she was in love with Craig. No matter how many different ways she tried to slice it, there was no other way to explain it. There was no excuse for her actions. She was in love with her best friend's man.

“Your phone is ringing,” Willow said as she saw it vibrating on the television mount.

He got up and walked over. “It's Choice,” he said and put the phone back down, “she doesn't want anything.”

“Answer it,” Willow said as she put on her best friend hat. “It could be about the baby.”

Craig didn't feel the same way he felt about Choice as he did Willow. If it weren't for Choice being pregnant, he would have
ended things the minute he touched down from Hawaii after meeting Willow. Willow was everything he wanted in a woman. She was beautiful, independent, and could take care of herself. She was everything he had ever searched for.

He got back up and looked at it. “It's too late. She hung up.”

Thirty seconds later, Willow's phone started to vibrate. She got up and as she looked down and saw that Choice was calling, she felt something wasn't right. She looked at Craig as she answered the phone with questions running through her head like a last leg at a relay race.

“Hello,” she said as she leaned on the mount naked.

“Can you give the phone to Craig, please?” Choice asked as Willow's fingers grew numb.

“What?” she asked as if she didn't hear her.

“Willow, please, stop playing dumb. I know you and Craig together because he's not answering his phone and I can put two and two together.”

“Why would you think that?” Willow grilled.

“I don't know,” Choice said with an attitude, “it may have something to do with your boyfriend Talvin standing here with a gun to my head because he saw you and Craig kissing the other night.”

Willow didn't respond as Craig stood asking her with his mouth and hands what was going on. Their secret was out and as strong as Choice's tone was, Willow knew it was no convincing her otherwise. She passed the phone to Craig as she went and collected her clothes.

“I'm on my way,” Craig said through the phone and slammed it down.

“Fuck.” Willow tore the sheets off of the bed. “Where is my bra?”

“Here,” he said as he threw it her way after finding it under his pants.

They both got dressed in silence without saying a word. Guilt ate at both of their consciences and by the time they made it to the car, the feeling was so thick and opaque, it could have been cut with a knife.

“This is our fault,” Willow said.

“It will be okay.” Craig tightened his hand around the steering wheel.

“I would never forgive myself if Talvin did something to her.”

“He won't,” he said, looking forward.

Willow looked up at the inky blackness of the night sky as they got out of the car at Craig's apartment. She saw it was deep and pristine, ice cold, and the sense of eternity that looked over her mind was spiritual, like a rare rapture that few people experienced as she prayed that Choice was okay.

The beeping of the elevator brought Willow's mind out of the blank state that it was in. The closer they got to the apartment, a bad feeling took over her. She looked at Craig as his hand clenched around the gun he was carrying. His facial expression was serious with a hint of worry.

Craig didn't try his key as he approached the door; he kicked it in, the frustration he had built up releasing in the heel of his Timberland boot. They entered the apartment as Talvin sat next to Choice on the couch; the gun still pressed against her in the same position.

“They look good together, huh?” he asked Choice in a sarcastic tone.

Choice looked at Willow with distant eyes. Willow knew from the glare she was receiving that they were no longer friends. The Pink Lip Bandits had lost another member. She would no longer be the child's godmother that Choice was carrying. Willow was
aware there was no mending the friendship, so she didn't care to explain.

“This is a bitch-ass move even for you,” Craig said as he pointed the gun at Talvin. “If you had a problem with me, you should have come to me. Don't get my bitch involved.”

“You got my bitch involved.” Talvin stood up.

“She chose, my nigga,” Craig said with a smirk. “It ain't my fault she chose me.”

The room filled with tension as the gun moved, its weight becoming a part of Talvin's. In his sight, quickly, he aligned his fingers into position. The world filled his sight as he glared into the expanse of the void he was hoping to create. That space and moment filled and flooded his arms.

Recoiling with a sense of dread and stopping from the refrain, he pulled the trigger and his ears filled with the explosive crack, sending mixed messages everywhere. His eyes widened to take in the echo of the hollow tunnel he was trying to create with his bullet.

Craig shot back instantly. Willow ran to Choice and they ducked behind the couch as the room filled with an angry swooshing sound. The shooters were hitting everything but each other, trying to dodge the women they loved. The bullets stopped as the sound of guns dropping to the ground boomed in the air. Willow looked over the couch to see Talvin and Craig going blow for blow, their fists meeting each other's flesh.

“Where's your gun?” Willow asked Choice as she shoved her.

“I thought we were girls, Willow.” Choice started crying.

“Choice, you need to stop crying and think.” Willow looked at her. “Where's the gun that I gave you?”

“Not here,” she responded as tears fell from her eyes. “How long have you been fucking him?”

“I met him in Hawaii before I even came back to Philly. It started there and I didn't even know he was your nigga until the day at the hospital. I promise.”

“Bitch-ass nigga,” Craig yelled as he and Talvin continued fighting.

Willow ran over as she tried to break it up, but her efforts were in vain. She was like a Chihuahua trying to break up two pit-bulls. They separated on their own and Talvin ran toward the door with Willow close behind him.

“Talvin,” she yelled as he stopped.

“Bitch, I swear I'm gonna kill you,” he said with a smile. “I trusted you and this how you do me?”

“I never trusted you. You killed Duke and I was in the car.” She pointed to the small scar on her neck. “This was from you, so fuck you. You better hope you kill me before I kill you.”

She watched him go down the emergency stairs as she made her way back inside the apartment. Choice was hitting Craig at the top of the head when she entered. The sounds of the open palms connecting with the core of his head echoed throughout the apartment.

Choice stopped hitting him as she grabbed her stomach. Blood started flowing down her legs as she kneeled down. She started screaming to herself as she cringed up, never releasing her grip on her stomach. Craig ran to her side as he grabbed her, but she started pushing him away.

“She's having a miscarriage,” Willow said as she remembered Kail on the ground with the same look on her face when they were teenagers.

“I'm losing our baby.” She looked at Craig. “I'm losing the baby,” she cried in between grunts.

“We have to get her to the hospital.” Craig picked her up gently.

Willow's heart spiraled into a deep abyss as she turned around
to leave. Shattering the warmth and confidence from within, quickly the feeling of security diminished, letting shame and confusion fill in their absence. She didn't know where she was supposed to be, but in the middle of a love triangle was not where she belonged, so she walked away without looking back.

•  •  •

“I'm on it,” Kail said as she entered the house across the street from Rock's estate with her cell phone in her hand. “I'm on the job now,” she told Vinny before hanging up.

She had been staking out the neighborhood for the past week so she knew everyone's schedules. Kail needed the house directly across the street from Rock's, and when the opening came, she grabbed it.

Kail went up to the highest level of the house with the sniper, half the length of her body in her hand. It dragged on the stairs as she went up bumping it against each step. The tribal-print tank top she had on snugged her body as she looked out the window across the street at Rock's house.

Vinny was on her case about the job not being done. She had been laying low waiting for the perfect opportunity to do the job. All of her efforts had been in vain; Rock wasn't an easy man to touch, and she was learning that more each day.

She put the tactical weapon up to her eye as she increased the view. Going from one window to the next, she searched every room in the house so she could put a red mark on Rock, but he was nowhere to be found.

“Fuck.” She kept searching for him through the tall windows.

Her heart settled when she spotted him in his office. She could see his coffee cup and the morning paper in front of him. A glass rose was next to the newspaper, ready to fill his next appetite for
a high. A cigar was burning in his mouth as her finger slid up and down the trigger with excitement.

The sound of a gun being cocked took the excitement out of Kail's mind and made her focus. She glanced behind her as the sound of shallow footsteps got closer to where she stood. She could smell the gun powder from the gun behind her as she put the sniper down at her feet. She turned around as Junior put the gun against her forehead.