Page 11

CHAPTER 11

MCCOY

“I’m not going to argue with you, Jamel,” I said as he yelled into the phone. I looked up from my computer to see my secretary walk into my office. She handed me two files and just as quickly as she came, she was gone.

“It ain’t a fuckin’ argument, bitch!” he barked into the phone, and I sighed. I wasn’t in the mood for him to be screaming and yelling. I had a headache, and I was tired. Plus, he was out of town. How he was hours away and still getting on my nerves was beyond me. “Sigh the fuck again and see if I don’t black your fuckin’ eye! Who the fuck do you think you are, McCoy? Have I not shown you I’m not the nigga to play with?”

“Jamel.” My voice was calm because I couldn’t handle this today. I knew anything I said would set him off. “I don’t even know what the problem is.”

“The problem is my cousin has been looking for you and your bitch ass hasn’t been around! Two of my boys are in jail right now!”

“Who’s in jail?” I asked, even though I already knew. I’d gotten the call. His cousin Leon had been calling my phone nonstop for the last twenty-four hours and I’d been ignoring him. His family would no longer have access to me.

“Leon’s little brothers!” Jamel yelled. “He called me saying they got locked up with a couple of pounds on them. Make that shit disappear.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Not good enough!” Jamel yelled. “They better not sit another night in jail, or I’ll come see you personally.”

“I can’t make something like that disappear overnight. A few pounds is different from the few grams they’ve been caught with before. I’ll have to look into the cops who arrested them and see what I can find. And if they’re dirty or in need of some money, then we can make something happen.”

“That sounds like some bullshit,” he growled. “You know what? You’re fuckin’ useless. I’ll handle this shit myself.”

“Okay,” I sighed.

“Okay?” He laughed even though I could tell he didn’t find anything funny. “Yeah, okay then. Get the fuck off my phone, McCoy.”

I hung up, not needing any more reason to talk. I had a million other things to worry about and his family was nowhere on my list.

For the rest of the day, I worked, getting ready to go to court in a few weeks. When it was almost closing time, I called a small staff meeting to make sure none of the junior partners or associates needed help with anything. At the last minute, I decided to have one of my junior partners look into Leon’s little brother’s case.

I ended up leaving my office at almost midnight. I was tired and didn’t want to do anything but take a hot shower and crawl into the bed. Tonight, Earth would have to entertain himself. I wasn’t even in the mood to talk to him.

I pressed the unlock button on my key fob, waited for the lights to flash, then opened the back door. I tossed my computer bag, jacket, and heels into the backseat and closed the door. I rounded the car, and just when I was about to open the driver’s door, I felt a hand grab me by the back of my neck and I was slammed into the car.

“You thought I was fuckin’ playin’ with you?” Jamel growled into my ear. He pulled me back and slammed me into the door again. I felt the air leave my lungs and I got lightheaded. “You got me out here lookin’ fuckin’ stupid! My family in jail and you think this shit a joke!”

“Jamel.” I moaned in pain. He grabbed my ponytail and rammed my head into the window. The sound of the glass cracking rang in my ears at the same time as I felt blood run from my forehead.

“Nah, don’t say my fuckin’ name now!” he yelled, then let me go. I had to grab onto the car to keep from falling. “You were smart as fuck on the phone, with that okay bullshit.” His fist smashed into the back of my head, and I fell into the car door. “You keep tryin’ me, McCoy, like I won’t kill your ass!” He wrapped his forearm around my neck and squeezed. “Bitch, you mean nothing to me! I won’t even drop a fuckin’ tear at your funeral.” He bit into my neck hard, then pulled away and spit. I knew he broke skin and probably took a chunk of skin too. “Get my fuckin’ family off and stop playing.”

“I’m working on it,” I tried to say, but he was still choking me. I scratched at his arm, hoping he’d let me go. “Jamel, please.”

“That’s right, bitch, cry,” he taunted. “Remember who the fuck I am before you ever try to get smart again.” He let me go but I didn’t have a chance to regain my composure before he started punching me as if I were a nigga in the streets. The only thing I could do was drop to my knees and cover my head. It felt like an eternity before he stopped punching me. He grabbed my head, pulled it back so I could look at him, and punched me again. He only stopped because he was winded. My eyes were swollen, and I felt my nose bleeding. I lifted my hand to wipe my nose, but he smacked my hand away with his free hand. “Leave that shit.” I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath to try to not think about the pain I felt. The sound of his zipper being pulled down made me open my eyes in horror. There was no way he thought for a second I was going to have sex with him after what he’d done.

“Jamel.” I moaned and tried to shake my head.

“Shut the fuck up,” he said, then pulled out his dick. To my disgust, he was hard. He started jacking his dick off in my face. When he threw his head back and groaned in pleasure, I had to cover my mouth with my hand to keep from crying out. “Fuck!” He looked at me and smiled. “Move your hand and open your mouth.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head.

“Bitch!” He smashed my head into the car door, damn near knocking me out, but I wouldn’t move my hand. “Fuck it, I’ll nut on your face then. It’s the only place I ever liked leaving it anyway.” He stroked himself a few more times, then nutted on my face, hair, and clothes. Once he got himself together, he stuffed his dick back into his pants, zipped them, then bent down so we were eye to eye. “The next time you try that shit with me again, I’ll kill you. I’m done playin’ games with your ass, McCoy.” He roughly patted my leg, then got up and walked away.

I waited until he pulled off and I knew he wasn’t coming back to get me. My entire body hurt all the way from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. I knew he was expecting me to go back to the condo, but I knew I wouldn’t make it there. My eyes were swelling so much, I could barely see. My house was half the distance from the condo to my office and I knew I could make it there. If I didn’t and I crashed, then so be it, but I wasn’t going anywhere Jamel had access to.

The drive to the house took longer than expected because I had to keep pulling over because I was getting lightheaded. I pulled into the garage, parked, shut off the car, and got out. I didn’t even care about my work laptop or anything else. I needed to shower and get Jamel’s nut off me.

“Ay, you said you’d be home earlier than now,” Earth said, coming out of his room. My back was to him so he couldn’t see my face, but I knew even from behind, I looked a damn mess.

“Not right now, Earth,” I replied and kept walking.

“What the fuck happened to you?” he asked. My steps were slow because my body was hurting, so he caught up to me within a few strides. He grabbed my arm, and I hissed in pain, which made him let go of me and shake his head. “That bitch ass nigga did this to you?”

“I’m fine,” I said, then tried to sidestep him. I didn’t make it two steps before stumbling. Earth grabbed me around my waist and picked me up. I wanted to protest but I was in too much pain to do anything. “Earth, I’m fine.”