Chapter 9
“I’m having a really good time!” Indigo shouted over the loud music inside the club.
Some hours had passed since his lunch with his father and it was nice to have a chill, relaxed night to clear his head. He had met Indigo for dinner and then took her to Club Low to end the night with some dancing. She stood before him wearing a sleek sleeveless dress. She wore her hair in four Ghana braids and the makeup on her face was flawless. Even though he felt that she didn’t need the extra help he would be lying if he said that she hadn’t gotten a rise out of him. Especially with the way her ass sat up because of her heels. Drake’s song “Back to Back” was playing loud and clear, and the two of them were at the bar getting more shots.
“Me too,” David Jr. said. “And you looking good as hell, too.”
“Thank you for the hundredth time.” Indigo giggled and batted her long eyelashes at him.
David Jr. was happy that she had given him a second chance because it gave him a chance to redeem himself. He didn’t want her to think he was a womanizer and he also wanted to get to know her mind better. At dinner the two found out they had more in common than they thought. Both had fathers who lived the fast life and both had grown up feeling distant from them. He found out that one day she hoped to open a hospital whose purpose was to help patients with mental illnesses. He felt himself falling deeper into her charm, especially when he got to know her heart.
“Ay, man! Your dad’s club is always popping!”
Roland appeared at the bar with his date and gave his boy a handshake. When David Jr. told him that he was going out to the club that night he invited himself to tag along. He was always up for life in the fast lane.
“That nigga don’t know how to do shit if it’s small.” David Jr. grinned and motioned for the bartender to pour two more shots.
“To . . . us!” Indigo put her shot glass in the air and turned to David Jr., who grinned down at her.
“To us!”
“Y’all corny. Let’s just take this mothafuckin’ shooooot!” Roland yelled and threw his back.
The rest of them followed suit and that added to David Jr.’s buzz greatly. Indigo pressed her body to his, and put his hands on her ass. Placing her lips by his ear she whispered, “I want to feel what Sheila felt.” She leaned back so she could look lustfully up into his eyes. It was apparent that she was tipsy and that the alcohol was talking for her.
“You’re drunk,” David Jr. said but the alcohol was controlling his body. He squeezed her soft bottom and looked at her full lips. He wanted nothing more than to see what they were capable of.
“And horny,” she said, licking her lips. “What, are you worried that I won’t call you tomorrow?”
David Jr. laughed and looked at the ground before looking back into her face. “You sure you ready for all of that?”
“Take me somewhere so I can show you.”
He grabbed her hand but before walking away he nodded his head at Roland, who gave him a knowing look in return.
“I see you, boy!” Roland grinned and then turned back to his own date so that he could talk her into giving him some play.
David Jr. led Indigo through and off of the crowded dance floor. “This way,” he said, taking her toward the elevator. “Come on.”
Once inside he hit the button to close the door and then another one to stop it so that it wouldn’t go up. Indigo couldn’t wait any longer because she pushed him against the wall and placed her lips on his. Her tongue swam freely in his mouth and intertwined with his while their hands explored each other’s bodies. He placed his hand up her skirt and pulled her thong to the side, yearning to feel her wetness.
“Mmm, David Jr.,” Indigo moaned loudly when she felt his thick finger slide inside of her.
Taking charge, he flipped her around so that it was her back that was on the wall, and he dropped to his knees. He wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the fact that she made him feel things that no other woman had up until that point; whatever it was he wanted to use his tongue. He rarely ever licked pussy but for her he was making an exception. He put her right leg on his shoulder and lifted her skirt up. Before she could interject his tongue was giving her clit a lashing so good that she almost asked him what she did wrong.
“Right there! Yes!” She had never had anyone give her head so good and she gripped the back of his head so that she could fuck his face. “Uh! Uh! Davidddddd! Awwwhhhh!”
He made her reach her orgasm in under five minutes and she felt her walls clenching and unclenching. When he looked up at her and read her body language, he knew what she wanted.
“You want this dick?”
She nodded her head and bit her bottom lip. When he stood up she helped him unbutton his jeans and her eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw what he was working with. She stroked his shaft and used her thumb to massage the head.
“I’ll go easy,” David Jr. said, seeing her wide eyes. He put one arm around her and hoisted her up while using the other hand to position his dick to her opening. He thrust one time and had to bury his head in her neck. Her pussy was tight and felt like heaven. “You so wet, Indigo. Damn.”
Placing both hands on her round ass he pushed her into him as he pushed into her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let her screams fill the elevator. Their lips met again and the connection between them grew with each thrust until they both had reached their point of climax.
“I’m about to come! Ahhh! I’m about to come, David. Yessss, please don’t stop!”
David Jr. felt her begin to shake violently in his arms, and felt the warm gushiness that escaped her and flowed onto his shaft. He couldn’t hold his in any longer. He pulled out of her so that he could squirt on the wall behind her but what she did surprised him. She pulled away from him and dropped to her knees. Wrapping her lips around the head of his penis just when he started shooting, she pushed it to the back of her throat. He felt her throat working as she swallowed each drop of nut that escaped it.
“Fuck!” He threw his head back and placed a hand on his forehead as her head bobbed back and forth. “Damn, girl.”
She stood up, wiping the corners of her mouth and grinning. “You drank me. I wanted to return the favor.”
The mixture of alcohol and good sex took its toll on her because she stumbled back into the control key of the elevator. When they started to move David Jr. looked and saw that she had accidently hit the button that led to floor three. He buttoned his pants back up and helped Indigo fix her dress.
“Where are we going?” she asked nervously. “I didn’t mean to hit anything.”
“It’s cool,” David reassured her. “My dad’s office is up here. I don’t think he’s there, though. I’ll show it to you.”
He pulled her to him and gave her another kiss. He heard the doors behind him open and when he turned around the smile and the bliss that he was feeling wiped away instantly. The entire hallway leading up to his father’s office was splattered with blood.
“What the fuck?” David Jr. said and stepped cautiously off of the elevator. Indigo stepped off with him and the doors shut once again behind them.
“Da . . . David, what’s going on?” She looked wide-eyed around the hallway and put her hand to her mouth. “Is this a joke?”
“Stay right here,” David Jr. instructed and then walked slowly toward his father’s office.
It was slightly open and he knew that was sign number two that something was wrong. His father never left the door to his office open, even if he was in it. When he got to the door he pushed it open with his hand and the smell hit him first. He used a finger to flick the light switch on. What he saw when the lights illuminated the room was enough to make all of the food he’d eaten that day come up instantly. He doubled over as he vomited and dropped to his knees. When he was able to catch his breath he began yelling.
“No! No! Fuck! Fuuuuccckkkk!”
Indigo decided then that it wasn’t in her best interest to listen to what he had said about her staying where she was. She walked to where he was and put her hand to her nose when a stench so strong hit her. What she saw was something that would forever haunt her dreams. She looked inside of the office and gasped. Sitting in a chair staring directly at them was a body that had been beaten so badly that the head had been deformed. The pool of blood on the carpet under the chair was still wet and the body had been tied to the chair, forcing it to sit up. Whoever it was didn’t have a shirt on anymore and there were two visible bullet wounds in the shoulders. On the brown chest there were letters carved there, three Ds, and the first one was crossed out.
“Who is that, David Jr.?”
David Jr. didn’t answer her. With a shaky hand he reached inside of his pocket so that he could grab his phone and make a phone call. When he heard the familiar voice on the other end he took a breath before speaking.
“Day, it’s Dad,” David Jr. said into the phone. “He’s dead. King Davis is dead.”
Chapter 10
“All my shit better be in here, too,” Day snarled at the young’un her dad had working his main trap. “Don’t play with me.”
“Count that shit then,” the guy she’d come to know as Cane said to her.
“Ay, watch your mouth, little homie,” said one of the goons Day had brought with her to collect.
They were all standing in the back of the house in what should have been the kitchen of the house. The wall separating it from the living room had been knocked down, turning it into one big room. Behind Cane were women in thongs, bras, and face masks, cutting and bagging product. Standing around them were three of Cane’s big, bulky niggas making sure that they were really doing their job and not getting high off of the product. Cane stood there tall and slightly muscular. He had light yellow skin and tattoos that covered his arms. He was of Native American descent so his straight-back cornrows were long and went down his back.
“Nigga, shut the fuck up,” Cane said, letting the goon know that he put no fear in his heart. “You ain’t nobody.”
Day rolled her eyes at Cane because every week it was the same thing. If David Jr. thought she couldn’t stand him he hadn’t seen how she reacted whenever Cane was around. Every other house that she collected from showed her respect just off GP, but Cane was a different story. He never flat-out hated on her, but he let it be known that just because she was the boss’s daughter wasn’t a reason for him to go out of his way for her.
“I don’t ever have to count it any other time, do I?”
“Then what you asking for?” Cane asked her and looked at her like she was stupid. “You the one who is late, anyways. We were just about to close shop so you lucky you even caught me.”
Day returned the look of disgust but to that she didn’t have an answer. She was indeed late doing collections that day and he wasn’t going to let her live it down. It was known that the main trap switched locations every day just to keep a low profile. Too much traffic went in and out of it for it to stay in one place. Cane stayed on top of his business and he was ruthless. These were reasons why King David had pulled him in from being a street runner and given him a real position to make money.
“I was up late bodying niggas so that we can all continue business,” she snapped back. “So you’re welcome.”
“You said sorry wrong.”
“Nigga, just shut the fuck up sometimes!” Day couldn’t help the smile that came to her face and she turned away before he could see it. She made her way to the door with the duffle bag in tow. “Fuck you, Cane. I’ll see you next week.”
“Whatever.” Cane waved his hand at her but his eyes automatically traveled down to the way her ass moved as she walked away. He couldn’t front; li’l mama was probably the baddest chick he had ever laid eyes on. On an off day she was a ten, but her attitude dropped her down to a solid six.
“When you gon’ try to get those?” he heard one of his homies, Tre, say from behind him.
Cane went back to the big, plush chair that faced the front door and he leaned back into it. From the side of it he picked up the AK-47 resting there and put it in his lap. “Never,” he responded.
Outside, Day made her way to the all-black Lexus that she was riding in. Her driver held her door open and when they were both settled inside they pulled off with two more vehicles in tow behind them. She was just about to go home and get some more sleep. She had been putting in so much work for her father’s empire that she barely had time for herself anymore. She was tired and she couldn’t think of any better way to spend her alone time than in the bed, cuddled up in her blankets, eating Cookies ’n Cream ice cream.
She checked the time on her phone and saw that it read a little after two in the morning. Just as she was about to put her phone back into the pocket of her Levi jeans, her brother’s face popped up on the screen. She had half a mind to ignore the call, but after what had happened in the basement of Big Mike’s house she figured he might want to talk about it.
“Hello?”
“Day, it’s Dad,” she heard her brother’s voice say. He sounded like he was in distress. “He’s dead. King David is dead.”
Her heart went cold and it was almost as if time around her had stopped. Day wanted him to take back those words and tell her that he was playing a joke on her. “Wh . . . what? What do you mean ‘dead,’ David Jr.?”
“He’s dead, Day. I’m in his office. S . . . somebody killed him in here.”
“You’re at the club?”
“Yeah.”
“Stay there. I’m on my way.” She disconnected the call without saying good-bye. “Hey! You! Go to Club Low, now!”
They weren’t too far from the club, but still it seemed as if it took a lifetime to get there. By the time they pulled up the club had let out and everyone was in the parking lot being loud and having fun. Day didn’t wait for the car to stop all the way before she jumped out, and ran on the red carpet to the entrance doors and past the security guards. She pushed her tan Ugg boots and didn’t stop until she got to the elevator. She knew her security couldn’t be too far behind her but she couldn’t wait for them; she had to get to her brother. She pressed the UP button until the doors finally opened and she did the same thing to the number three. As the doors shut she saw the black suits running, trying to reach her, not understanding what was wrong with her or what she was doing.
Ding!
She finally reached the third floor and burst out of the elevator. The smell hit of death hit her before her eyes traveled the walls of the hallway. She spun around as she walked and put her hand to her mouth while she took in the sight of all the blood. By the time she had done a complete 360 she was at the entrance to the office. The door was open, and it was never open. When she saw him she dropped to her knees at his feet and let out a bloodcurdling scream. He was strapped to a chair and it was apparent that he had been beaten to death. He had bullet wounds to his shoulders and gut and his once handsome face was so badly deformed that she couldn’t even recognize him. The only way that she could tell it was King David was his socks. His favorite socks.
“Nooooo!! Ahhhhh! Ahhh! Daddy!” She banged her fists on the floor repeatedly as the sobs escaped her body. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and rocked forward and backward. “Noooo!”
She felt someone come and wrap his arms around her. “Get up, Day,” she heard David Jr. say. “You’re in his blood.”
He helped his sister to her feet and put her head on his shoulder so that she wouldn’t have to see the gruesome sight at hand. He had to close his own eyes because that was not how he wanted to remember his father. He looked in the corner and saw Indigo sitting in a chair, staring at her hands. Before he could say anything to her the office was swarmed with security. They all let out sounds of despair and disbelief when they saw what had happened to their boss.
“Prince David, Princess Day, follow me.”
They were all ushered out of the room. David Jr. reached his hand back and grabbed on to Indigo’s. That was the first time Day had taken notice of her. She eyed her but her heart was too shattered to speak. She didn’t have any words to say.
“Get them home. Tell his wife what has happened. ’Round-the-clock security on the house. No one is to go in or come out for the next twenty-four hours!”
The head security guard, Mac, barked out orders; and for Day and David Jr. the two hours were a blur. David Jr. didn’t even remember saying good-bye to Indigo when she was whisked off. The next thing he knew they were at his parents’ house, sitting in the living room with his father’s most trusted men. Their mother sat on the couch beside them, clenching her robe and looking much like a ghost. Her eyes accidently made contact with the bloodstains on the tips of Day’s shoes and the knees of her jeans. She had to clench her eyes shut and look the other way.
“What has happened tonight has been tragic,” Mac softly said from the couch on the opposite end of them. “It was unfortunate and nobody could have predicted something so awful to happen. We have men who will be working around the clock to find out who did this. When we find them we will make sure they get what they deserve.”
Day, whose eyes were puffy and bloodshot, nodded her head, wanting whoever did her father like that to die the most painful death. Beside her, between her and David Jr., her mother shook her head violently.
“This was his own fault!” she said, allowing the tears to flow freely down her face. “Killing who did this won’t help! Whoever did it is after my whole family and it is his fault! All that shit he did is finally starting to catch back up to him and he has killed all of us for it!”
“Ma—”
“No, David Jr., don’t you see? We are all dead! I knew I should have packed you kids up and left a long time ago. Whoever did this wants all of us dead.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Day screamed and jumped to her feet. She pointed her finger in her mother’s face. “Don’t nobody want your gold-digging ass! My daddy hasn’t even been dead a whole twenty-four hours and you are already talking bad on him! I see why he never came home!”
David Jr. tried to calm her down but she pulled away from him and she snapped on him too. “Do you know what has just happened? Do you get it?”
“He was my dad too, Davita!”
“Since when? You never showed him love, no matter how much he busted his ass for you. But his death is the least of our worries now.” She plopped back down on the couch and put her face in her hands.
“What do you mean?”
“A war,” Mac said. “Somebody has just ignited a war.”
David Jr., who was still consoling his mother, looked to where Mac was sitting. He then looked at the solemn faces of the men around him, and then to his sister. It seemed that they all understood something that he didn’t. “What do you mean a war?”
“I don’t think this is the right time to discuss this,” Mac said and nodded toward Angela.
“Take her ass upstairs,” Day said, sitting back up. “We need to discuss this. Now. I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight anyway.”
One of the men stepped forward and grabbed Angela’s arm gently and helped her stand to her feet. She gave no protest. She was exasperated and the only thing she wanted to do was lie down and forget everything that she had been told.
When she was gone Mac turned his attention back to the twins. “Did your father ever tell you how he came to be king of St. Louis?”
“Yeah.”
“No.”
David Jr. and Day both answered the question at the same time, and Day turned to her brother and turned her nose up at his lack of knowledge. “I guess I forgot that you spent all that time on your mama’s titty.”
“Not now, Day,” Mac said. “Since you don’t know, David Jr., I will tell you. Both King David and I started as simple dope boys. Making runs for the trappers in our neighborhood. At the time the king of St. Louis was this nigga named Cabo. He was real ruthless. Some might have even called him evil. Well, when he was murdered there was a war in the streets. Everyone was fighting each other.”
“Why?”
“For his crown. He didn’t have any children to pass the title to, so it was up for grabs.”
“I thought that the crown went to whoever got his connect.”
“Exactly. In this day and age the only way the best connect will fuck with you is if your name carries weight in the streets. And the connect wasn’t fucking with nobody after Cabo died. Not until he met King David.”
“How did my dad get his attention?”
Mac smiled at the memory. It was the day that King Davis had actually risked his life for him. “We were at the trap house that we ran for Cabo. We had the last of his product, about two hundred thousand dollars worth. Some niggas came up in there trying to get the dope, and started spraying and shit. But your dad? Nah, your dad wasn’t no bitch. He picked up the AK and started spraying right back at them niggas. In the open, too. My nigga dropped at least six of ’em. But they just kept coming. So I stood up and started shooting too. I thought we were both about to die that night. But we just kept knocking ’em back and reloading until we were the last two in the house. Then I got hit.” Mac lifted his shirt up and showed them a bullet wound on his torso. “He told me to hide behind the couch and that he wasn’t gon’ let them kill me. Long story short, your dad held his own against twenty niggas. In a small-ass trap house. He was the last man left standing.”
David was intrigued at the story about his father that he never knew. It made him want to call him up and ask him to go to breakfast in the morning. The lump in the back of his throat stopped his thought process when realization hit him. He swallowed and focused back on Mac.
“Who were them niggas who ran up inside the spot then?”
“That’s the kicker.” Mac chuckled. “They were the shooters for the connect, coming to collect the rest of Cabo’s unpaid debts to him. After that it was a wrap. I guess he liked how your father moved, because the next week the streets were calling him King David. Your father is a street legend, which makes the manner of his death so sickening. Whoever did this wanted him to feel it. The entire time.”
Day’s elbows were on her knees and she rubbed her hands together. Without looking up she asked, “So that’s what you think is about to happen? The streets are about to go crazy?”
“It’s what I know,” Mac said solemnly. “King David was the only thing holding the community together. He finally had rival gangs being semi-peaceful toward each other; the whole city was eating. With him gone, there will be no glue.”
Day nodded her head. “And what about us?”
“Ain’t nobody gon’ get y’all on my watch.”
“How long can you keep this news under wraps?”
“The street is the biggest grapevine. But twenty-four hours. Tops.”
“Who is the connect?” David Jr. asked the question that had been lingering in the air since Mac had finished telling the story.