Page 13

K inga

Days later…

My eyes devoured the lilac, two-door, nineteen seventy Chevelle sitting in the middle of my garage. The owner was an older man who came to me every spring to get his check and make sure it was ready for the summertime cruises. He was like clockwork, getting his fabrication done during the winter and having the vehicle ready to speed through the streets before Easter. It wasn’t a Chicago summer if the old schools didn’t bring folks together with loud ass music and random meetups. When I was out in these streets crazy, I lived for a good meetup, but then motherfuckers brought the guns and it wasn’t the same. The last thing I needed was to catch a bullet in my oldie. Then I’d have to get it cleaned, fix the hole, and get my damn self-stitched up. It wasn’t worth it, not in my eyes. That was why I never kept the same car and made sure to keep what I was gonna drive on the low. I didn’t trust niggas, that crab in the barrel mentality was real in the streets. Nobody ever wanted the next to do better than them.

“What are you gonna do with it, boss?” Ayden asked from the side of me.

“Tune it up, make sure everything is working. Also make sure the air system I installed last summer is still working.”

“You think it ain’t.”

“Nah, not that all. You know how these old motherfuckers are though. They ain’t made for the AC anyway. We forced it in there. I make it a habit of keeping that up to date.”

Ayden nodded. “You’re a genius with this shit.”

I was about to respond to him but a knock at the door made me turn around. Upon doing so I saw a ghost, or maybe my brain was thinking too far in advance. He’d be a ghost at some point because in my life I was giving him an out.

“The fuck you doing here?” Deadly eyes sat on the aged fifty-year old. If I didn’t think this was a way to bait me, he’d be in the trunk of something. I threw my head to the side, telling Ayden to give me a minute.

He walked past my father, leaving the garage space and closing the door behind him.

“Good to see you too, son.” Memphis greeted me like we were just family members who hadn’t spoken in a while. He approached the car I was checking out and circled it. “You were always good at legitimate work. Good ol’ grease monkey work, like your uncle.” That was my indication he was indeed here to bait me.

“I don’t give a shit about your words. State your reason for being here before I have one of the niggas I pay throw you up outta here in that K&G ass suit.”

He tapped his tongue against the roof of his mouth like my words were a tipping point for him. “For years I have allowed you to exist out here in these streets, my streets, because of my affection for your mother. But now it needs to stop. I need my streets clean so I ca?—”

My laughter spilled from my lips, halting the rest of his statement. He stood there awkwardly, glaring at me like he was insulted. The laughter dried up and I stood up straight in front of his bitch ass. “So you can run for mayor? And think you somebody? Yeen shit but a country ass fool in a linen suit thinking you any better than me. Do you want these streets? Take them from me, bitch.”

It was his turn to laugh. The laughter was different though. While mine was from pure amusement, his was rooted in anger he tried to mask. He then stepped closer to me, making sure I was the only person who’d hear what he was about to say.

“I will squash you. Every dime you’ve made in this city has been because I allowed you to, but watch. What father gives, father takes back,” he gritted.

“Then do that. You are doing too much talking for somebody with power, bro. Flex that shit and remember every action has a consequence. Now if you’ll excuse me, I got shit to do.” I moved past him, making sure to connect my shoulder with his.

Without another word, he left and I was fuming. To walk in here and try to threaten me was bold. He knew I wanted him dead, so he walked in here by himself. Dangling meat in front of the beast.

Just as fast as Memphis left the shop was as fast as he was off my mind. I wasn’t one to ponder over things. I knew what had to be done, shit I had a mental to-do list, and as time went on, I’d surely be checking some things off. In due time.

Ayden re-entered the area.

“Check in with June about that package I’m waiting on.”

He nodded, then turned to leave.

I spent the next few hours under the car, attempting to ease the irritation I carried. For the most part, being under the well-kept oldie did just that, but my mind kept going back to all of this mess that had seemingly come out of nowhere. Demi played both sides. When Maj said Demi’s last name the other day, I realized it. Everybody wanted so badly to pull me back into the ways that almost landed me behind bars last time. What they didn’t realize was that I was and would always be that nigga, but I was more strategic with mine than I used to be. I handled this shit cooler than the mob and hit motherfuckers where it really hurt. I didn’t front my moves, instead I allowed all my actions to speak for themselves.

I was on my way to Harlem when I glanced down at the console of my car and saw she was calling me. I thought she was asleep considering I hadn’t heard from her since earlier when she was complaining to me that she was exhausted. She had taken the puppies to get their shots.

“Yeah, baby?” I answered, ready to find my way between them thighs. Lately, for my anger to subside, I needed to bake then get between those pretty browns.

“Two people just broke into my house. I see it through Alexa, ” she whispered into the phone and I heard her clearly. At the same time I mashed on the gas to get to her. I was right up the street.

“Where are you at?”

“The puppy room. I hear them moving around.”

“I’m almost there. Stay on the phone. You got something with you?” I asked, hitting a left at the red light in traffic. None of that traffic shit applied to me right now. Hearing the fear in her voice gave me tunnel vision.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Good, I’m coming in.” I pulled into her driveway and barely parked the car before I was hopping out with my piece in hand. I entered her crib like a skilled SWAT member. I caught the first goofy with his back to me, going through her purse she always set on the counter when she came in. Clocking him upside his head, I dropped him quickly. Step by step I moved down the hall, checking the first bathroom, then her closet. It was at that moment I laid eyes on the second one. I didn’t think, I just pulled the trigger and dropped him. To be careful, I checked the rest of the house before knocking on the door of the puppy room.

“You can come out, baby girl.” As soon as I said that the door was open and she jumped into my arms. She was shaking, shit, so scared that it pissed me off.

“Go pack your shit. You coming with me tonight.”

“What about Tilly and the pupp?—”

“Pack all that shit. We leave in thirty-five minutes.” She allowed me to put her down and I turned around, thinking fast. My first move was to right the front door that had been kicked in. Then I called B. After running down the pickup, I went through her garage and opened it so I could back my car in.

A minute later I was backed in with the trunk open and the garage door lowered. I reentered through the kitchen and went to ol’ boy out cold on her floor. I dragged him to the trunk and tossed him in. Before I closed the trunk, I checked his pockets. The only thing in them was his wallet, Harlem’s wallet, and his phone. I pocketed all of that, then zip-tied his ass ’cause I didn’t need any surprises.

I sent Harlem and her dogs to my house while I had B clean ol’ boy up from her floor while I took the liberty of fixing the door. The entire time I did, I was itching to get to ol’ boy in the trunk. I was about to take him back to the shop but I couldn’t risk it. Memphis had already been there already, meaning somebody was watching it. That meant I had to visit old stomping grounds.

I was twenty-one when I bought a church. Maybe not the institution that opened every Sunday for worship but a white brick building with the bell and cross above. To me it was just a building, but to this city it was one of the oldest religious buildings to exist. Of course I didn’t own it in my name but under a few shell companies. It was supposed to be a youth center, to save kids similar to me, but I hadn’t gotten around to it. The building became utilized for other things and the basement I called the tombs was where things and people disappeared. It was connected to a few different untraceable tunnels throughout the city.

“What are you gonna do to me?” Ol’ dude I now knew as Mal asked. I’d gone through his wallet in the car while I waited on Big Jay to pull up. He was currently zip-tied in the corner of the old basement.

Laughter escaped before words could. “The fuck you think? You came at mine. You think you were ’bout to walk outta that with yo’ life?” Anger pinballed through my being at the thought of what could have happened had I not gotten there when I did.

“I didn’t know that though,” he growled, from the pain he was in. After I capped him, I just tossed him in the trunk. I wasn’t getting him any medical attention because I had every intention of taking his life and making it painful.

“The fuck you mean you didn’t know that? Who sent you to her crib?”

“Mannn. This fool named Hari. He said she was an easy mark. We weren't gonna do anything to her.”

“But rob her right? Get the fuck outta here.” The name Hari sounded familiar. I was willing to bet that was her nothing ass brother. When I had my phone in my hand, I found Harlem’s contact and clicked it. By now she should have been settled in.

“Hello. Are you on your way now?”

“Not yet, baby, but soon. What did you say your brother on your pop’s side name was again?” I already knew about OA. Shit, me and him ran in the same circles at a point. Long story short, we both copped from the same connection at a point before I decided the substance game wasn’t my cup of tea.

“Hari. Why? Did he do th?—”

“Nope. I don’t want you thinking about this. Let me put it on my brain.”

“Okay.”

We spoke for a while longer before hanging up.

“I swear I didn’t know she was affiliated with you, man. I swear.” He bitched up when he saw me turn around.

“That’s cool too.” I pulled my piece from my back and ended life for him right there. I no longer wanted to inflict prolonged amounts of pain on him anymore. Hari had used him as a pawn in an attempt to hurt his sister. My fury would be directed at him.

“You want me to call Ayden?” Jay asked, attempting to see what I was on.

“Nope. I’ll have B pick him up.” I left the tombs with Big Jay in tow. I pulled ol’ boy’s phone out of my pocket when we got back to ground level. I easily found Hari’s number in Mal’s phone. He didn’t have a password on the cheap ass Android, which was stupid of him, because I could’ve easily touched his family from all the pictures of them he had in it.

When I made it to my car, I read through the messages, seeing Hari had given up everything he knew about Harlem to Mal and whoever the other one was. He’d even told them where her shop was if she wasn’t home. Suddenly it hit me that robbing her was the last thing on either of their minds and that sent fire through my veins…even more than I already had.

I messaged Hari, asking where he was from Mal’s phone.

Hari was quick to drop a pin. Dumbass.

“You need me to ride, boss?” Jay alerted me to his presence as I rounded my car to get in.

“Nah, you good. Call B. I’m on something.” I was moving too fast, adrenaline-laced blood on a mission. It took me all of five minutes to ease onto the overcrowded block that just so happened to belong to me.

I messaged him, telling him to meet me on the curb because I was tryna unload the stuff I’d gotten from her crib and leave. After he responded okay, I looked up from the phone and looked for him. As soon as I saw his stupid ass step out, I stood on the gas. He didn’t get the chance to step back on the curb. Because when he realized he was the target, he was already under the fucking car. Then, to make matters worse, I threw it in reverse and went back over him.

The car was in park when I hopped out, moving toward him groaning in agony. “Ouch, man, damn.” Right now it was his turn to feel that adrenaline because I had crushed everything inside of him.

“Nah, bitch, what you do that for?” I asked, standing in front of him.

“Kinga, man what did I do?”

“You sent your homeboys after your sister, right?”

He could barely focus on me as he held onto his chest, adrenaline thinning. “Yeah. Bitch thinks she’s better than me.”

I chortled. “That’s because she is, bitch.”

His eyes tripled in size. “You know her?”

“Sure the fuck do. You sent your boys after mine, now I’ma make sure you feel that shit for the rest of your life. You better hope you die tonight, ’cause if you don’t I’ma kill you err’ time I see you. Harlem doesn't exist to you or your father, if I find out either one of y’all reached out to her, I’ll paint this block with your plasma. That’s a promise too.”

Out of breath and probably dying by now, he attempted to nod but that failed him. He passed out a few seconds later. He probably had internal bleeding going on.

I noticed one of the dime boys that worked for me a few feet away.

“Ay, Keem. Call an ambulance for him.”

“Bet.” His phone was to his ear and I was climbing back into my car seconds later. The only thing on my mind now was getting home to Harlem. While I was doing everything, she was on my mind constantly, somehow reminding me to not go too overboard like I wanted to. I wasn’t used to things like this, considering somebody else in my actions. I started with Aja and now it was Harlem.

I half expected her to be asleep when I walked in the door. She wasn’t. Instead she was sitting on the sofa staring at the TV. She wasn’t watching it. Shit, it seemed like it was more so watching her.

Me entering made her jump slightly before she forced a smile in my direction. “You’re back.”

“Yeah, I live here, beautiful.”

She nodded, blinking a few times. “I set the dogs up in their crates in your basement. I hope you don’t mind.”

I shook my head. “I’on mind anything but the bullshit you allow to sit on your mind. Fuck everything you worried about ’cause I told you I’d handle it. Now come step in this shower with me.” I didn’t wait for her rebuttal. Instead I left the living room, headed toward my bedroom.

When I entered, my eyes landed on her duffle in the chair across from my bed and the hot hair bonnet she tried and failed miserably at trying to wear to sleep. My eyes landed on about eight things that weren’t mine in my bedroom and for some reason I found comfort in it. Seeing her things nearly integrated with mine let me know she wasn’t going anywhere, that I truly possessed this woman.

I made a pitstop in my closet to put my gun up and empty my pockets. In the distance I heard the shower water come on. Another smile indented itself into my features. Just like I knew I had her, she had me.

I opened the door and stood there for a moment, admiring everything within view.

“You gonna stand there and stare, letting all that cold air in here, or are you going to join me?”

Stepping into the shower, I closed the door behind me and pulled her back against me.

“What are you worried about?”

“You. What did you go out there and do?”

“Keeping it a buck with you, I went out there and did a lot, but it’s nothing for you to be worrying about. It’s me and you, fuck seeing where this is going. It’s already there. Now we are on this journey together.”

“Mhmm.”

I sat back on the bench and closed my eyes. I wasn’t lying when I said I went out there and did a lot. Thing was, I wouldn’t take shit I did back. As a matter of fact, I’d do it all again in a heartbeat because that was just what you did for those you cared about.

The feel of her hands on my knees forcing them apart made me lift my head and open my eyes. The sight before me had my dick bricked. She was on her knees, water dripping from her hair and body, putting those same delicate hands to my shaft. I'd be lying if I said I didn’t see it coming because I did when we locked eyes and she began to stroke me up and down with one hand while the other massaged my balls. Shit.

I watched her and she watched me while she took the head of my dick into her mouth, teasing me as she swallowed inch by inch. The way her eyes were locked on me was amatory, simply mind shattering. With methodic movements she pulled back then sent my shit right back down her throat, repeating this motion and swallowing around me until I was sending my kids down her throat. Shit, that was just the first one.

She was on her feet, smirking, when I finally caught my breath, probably thinking I was done until she watched me stroke my shit back to life with the sight of her body before me. “Get up here,” I demanded in a throaty tone.

She did as she was told, straddling my lap, while my hands now rested on her hips. She thought she was in control, but she wasn’t. She began easing down onto me, trying to pace herself, but I pulled her down and buried my face in her neck, holding her in place. She fit me so fucking perfectly, so snug that I knew this was mine… Shit, she was mine!

* * *

“W hat I’m saying is, if you keep doing reckless shit, at some point it’s gonna catch up with you, bro.” Sora had arrived at the house early to give me a lecture. I wasn’t even two hours out of the pussy when he called, talking about open the door.

“It wasn’t reckless. It was retaliation. I handled mine for mine.” I occupied a seat at the island, eating the omelet Harlem had made for me before she left this morning.

“Bro, you know that’s not the point, but you hit that man with a car, then reversed and stood there. That’s some sadistic shit.”

“Almost as sadistic as sending people to his own sister’s place to do God knows what to her.”

“Who did that?” For once his know-it-all ass was thrown for a loop.

I glanced around my kitchen, eyes landing on the chilled bottle of water in front of me. I explained the situation to him only for him to be mugged up afterwards.

“I just know your invoice from B is a couple grand this month. You’ve had him all over the city.”

I chuckled because he was right. “’Bout three more and I’ll go back to the unproblematic life.”

Sora laughed. “Yeah right.”

“I’m serious. I don’t make money when I’m beefing with random motherfuckers about bullshit.”

“I hear you, but bro, it seems like you enjoy this shit.”

“I do but I also know when to stop myself. I’m getting older, so I have less time to be out here reckless in the streets.”

“I hear you. I’m glad you are saying that. I’d love to stay here and talk to your grumpy ass but I can’t. Blaze is on her shit, talking about ordering food. I hate that shit with a passion and she knows it. When her and Aja get to talking about pizza and shit, it’s a done deal for me. I gotta head out. Be easy.” He was gone seconds later.

I laughed because he sounded like a man being bullied in his own home. I couldn’t laugh alone because that was exactly what I was going through on the days when Aja wasn’t helping bully him in his own home. At this point I realized shorty was a lil opportunist. I was getting back into removing the excess fluid from a fucked up job my customer called himself doing. He was liable to have fucked up his whole motor had he not brought this shit to me when he did. The fucked up thing was even though he’d brought it to me, I still had to not only drain it but also bleed his brakes. It was almost like this fool was trying to down his fucking car.

I was about thirty minutes into that when my cousin came to mind. Nine was the only person I could not only talk shop with but who, most of the time, understood when my brain went into its darkest corners. Well maybe not only him these days, because Harlem had become a safe space for me, even when I didn’t explicitly tell her about things. Though she assured me she would never look at me in a different way, I still kept shit PG for her, only speaking on business and obvious shit. I wasn’t giving her a reason to leave me alone other than the obvious. I had a lot with me, and truthfully I was a hood dude. With who she was, she could have done a lot better than me, but I was also selfish and not letting her go. Instead, I found myself looking for ways to make sure she never felt the desire to go. I’d never admit it aloud, but that would fuck me up, and any nigga she tried to entertain wouldn’t make it past the greeting. All forehead vents.

I pulled out my phone and called Blaze, since she was lowkey the closest thing I had to a sister. Out of nowhere I wanted to do something special for Harlem. She was the type of woman who deserved random moments like that.

“Good afternoon, Kinga. To what do I owe the pleasure?” she answered, her usual chipper self.

“Shit. I’m thinking about planning something special for Harlem. Need your input.”

In true female fashion, she gushed on the phone. Gushed as in made a squealing sound followed by a whole bunch of dramatics. Gushed as in a word I’d learned from Harlem and saw the definition of when she physically showed me in an excited moment.

“Of course! Yes!” She was excited, so damn excited I should have known she’d have me running all over the damn world for two hours then bossing me around for the next three like I worked for her.

“This is so sweet. When did you have the time to plan this?” Harlem gushed when she got home. She was looking around the yard at my handiwork with the help of Blaze. Before she was stationary and pregnant, she did her thing in the realm of party planning. Though it wasn’t a party, it was something. She had me prop my phone up on the patio while I put all of the shit out. I had never done anything like this in my life for anybody but when it came to Harlem a lot of things were first nature. They required no thought, just deliberate action on my part. That type of shit she could get out of me because she always deserved it. I wanted her to know I saw her and regardless of anything I was here and would do the necessary to ensure her world remained perfect. After everything transpired at her crib, she was a lil fucked up, but I wasn’t about to let her stay that way. I meant what I said, none of that belonged on her mind.

“It’s just pillows and lights, Harlem.”

“No, it’s more than that. It’s the act and the fact that you thought about me.” She turned around and hugged me. “This means more to me than you know.”

“Good, ’cause the way Blaze was talking crazy to me while I set this shit up had me second guessing.” I led her over to the white picnic blanket. On it sat a wooden coffee table that held our dinner for the night. Baby girl might’ve hated eating out most nights but she loved a good deep dish, so I grabbed that and hot wings.

She giggled. “This is really beautiful.”

I sat down on the blanket and pulled her down with me. I moved the pillows so they were positioned behind me.

“You do this relationship thing well for someone who doesn’t do relationships.”

“This ain’t relationship stuff. This is just me seeing you and appreciating what I see.”

She nodded. “Well thank you for that but speaking of seeing each other. I saw you earlier. You wanna tell me why you baked early this morning?”

“Nothing for you to be worried about.” I shrugged it off.

“Nope. I’m not worried. I want you to talk to me. What’s on your mind?”

I looked at her for a moment. I had never given a fuck about how anybody looked at me but the way she looked at me mattered. I never wanted her to see me the way the streets did. “I start telling you this type of shit, you gonna look at me differently.”

“Not possible.”

“It is. I’m a dark nigga and I already told you what you are to me.”

“You’re not that dark. You care about people and you go the extra mile for those you love. You carry more than most.” Those big ass eyes of hers were on me, urging me to spill my mind.

“But shouldn’t I? I’ve done a lot in this world. Some shit I’ll never utter. I put too much bad shit out there to not d?—”

“Life is about choices. Nobody is perfect or without flaws. Maybe you have done some bad but I refuse to believe you did so out of malice or some evil heart. You don’t have that. You are a good man, Kinga. You may have a few YN tendencies, even though your age is spilling into big bro territory. I choose to believe your heart is in the right place with your actions.”

My eyes loved on her for a moment while silence filled the space around us. With her words and the way she looked at me, one thing was evident. “I’on believe in magic and all that other stuff, but you were sent to me. Had to have been because I’on think I ever had anybody look at me like you do.”

“How do I look at you?”

“Like I ain’t as fucked up as I know I am.”

“’Cause you aren’t. You are perfect to me.”

“Nah, I’m not but for you I’m shooting to be damn near. Now eat this nasty ass pizza so we can gaze at these stars and I can get you in the house and gaze at that ass.” I winked in her direction.

She cackled. “You are so nasty. And I told you that you have the perfect view back here.”

“Yeah, I hear you.”

As the night spilled over, she found her way into my lap, gazing up at the stars. Baby was corny like that, but because she was mine and I fucked with her the way I did, I was the same.