Honor Thy Thug (21 page)

“What is it?”

“A chef’s cut of Grade A turkey pastrami. And a half-pound of extra-spicy pepper jack cheese. I want that on a wheat roll with all the trimmings.” I got up, and he pulled me down onto his lap and whispered in my ear, “If you make my sandwich real good, as soon as the fight is over, I’ma eat this pussy like I ain’t never ate it before.”

“Are you?”

“You damned right. Then I’ma dick you down until you faint.”

I whispered in his ear, “Well, if you fuck me like that, then when I wake up, I just might deep-throat your dick so good you’ll start sucking your thumb.”

“You gonna fuck around and make me put these niggas up outta here,” he teased.

I giggled that
I’ma get dicked down tonight
giggle, got up off his lap, and headed upstairs for the kitchen with a smile on my face. I couldn’t wait for the main event to be over. I was singing to myself as I got the beer out and started making my baby his sandwiches. The phone rang and “Unknown” flashed across the caller ID. I picked it up.

“Helloooo.”

They hung up.

I went back to doing what I was doing, and a couple of minutes later, the phone rang again.

“Hello?”

“Is Mr. Macklin available?” I took a deep breath and counted to three.
This bitch!
“Well, is he? This is a business call.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

I hung up the phone. I was tired of talking. She called right back, but this time, I allowed it to ring. After about seven times—yes I counted—it stopped. A few minutes later, it rang again. After ring number seven, I picked it up, and so did Trae.

“Yeah.”

“Mr. Macklin, thank you for answering. We need to have a meeting this coming Tuesday per my father’s instructions.”

“Why are you calling my home? You know the rules. And what do I look like meeting with you?”

“Something urgent has come up.”

“I don’t get my instructions from you, Charli.” He hung up, and so did I.

And then the doorbell rang. Who else did Trae invite? Pissed, I made my way to the front of the house, opened the door and there stood a messenger.

“I have a delivery for Mr. Trae Macklin.”

I looked at the letter pack in his hand before opening the screen door.

“You need to sign for this.”

I cracked the screen door and took the package from him, refusing to sign and slammed the door in his face. I knew who it was from. I tore the envelope open as I headed back into the kitchen.

Mr. Macklin,

My father is out of the country, and I have instructions for you. We can meet Tuesday, one o’clock, at Joe’s. I know you prefer to meet on your turf, or shall I say the seedy part of town? You can confirm it with him, if you wish. After all, this is simply business. Nothing else.”

Charli Li

A couple of minutes later, Trae came into the kitchen carrying the phone. He eased up behind me and kissed me on the neck. “You aiight in here?”

“I’m good.” I lifted the top half of the roll and showed him his sandwich. “How does this look?” It took everything I had to hold onto my composure and act as if I was cool.

“It looks good.” He eyed his sandwich and licked his lips. He kissed my cheek. “Thanks, baby.”

“Here, take this downstairs, and I’ll be right behind you.” I shoved his plate into his hand along with the envelope and grabbed the beer. I took them downstairs, then came back up and rushed outside onto the front porch. I had to get some fresh air. I sat down, and it felt as if I was suffocating. I was so furious all I could do was cry. I felt helpless, and it took me damn near forever to pull myself together. The only thing that calmed me down was swinging back and forth on the porch swing. Finally, my mind, my spirit and my breathing became steady. I hadn’t even noticed the two pit bulls in the truck in my driveway. They were barking and scratching at the windows.

“Tasha, why are you out here?” Trina appeared in the doorway. “Your husband is looking for you and he said, don’t sweat the small bullshit.”

“I needed some fresh air and fuck him!” I told her as I kept staring straight ahead. I could feel her looking at me.

“I could shoot those albino-looking muthafuckas!” she snapped.

“Who do they belong to?” I asked her.

“Jameer. Those are his damn dogs.”

“You rode over here with him in the truck with those stinking beasts?” My sister was nastier than I thought.

“Hell, no! Don’t you see my car over there? I can’t stand those dogs. I told him he better put them muthafuckas to sleep if he think he’s gonna be gettin’ some of this.”

“What did he say?”

“What do you think he said? He’s putting them to sleep.”

“Yeah, right, bitch, you ain’t that good.” I had to smile at my own sarcasm.

“How much you wanna bet?” she challenged.

“Why does he need two of them?”

“Two? He has one more.”

“They look vicious as hell.”

“And believe me, they are. He be on some grimy shit with them beasts. Robbing people and shit. I watched them eat a cat. I told him he done got all he could out of them. He needed to stop before shit goes south. Girl, you making me miss the fight! Come on inside and see what your husband wants.” She turned around and left me sitting there. I needed a few more minutes. I looked at the two albino pit bulls and had to agree with her. Those muthafuckas should be put to sleep. At one point they started fighting each other and they wouldn’t stop growling and gnashing at the teeth. After about ten minutes, I got up to go join the party in the basement.

To me, the fight didn’t get good until the last round, when Chavez, Jr., who I was rooting for, finally knocked Martinez down. I jumped up screaming. But it was too late. Martinez had already won all of the other rounds. I watched as Trae and the other men talked shit and then money changed hands. Finally, around one thirty, the last of the guests left. Kyra and I started cleaning up the basement while Rick and Trae went out onto the front porch.

“You sure are happy right about now,” Kyra said to me.

“That’s because Trae said he was going to eat my pussy and fuck me until I fainted. So hell, yeah, I am very happy.”

“Ewwww, save me all of the gory details, please, ma’am.”

“Well, you asked. Now, hurry up and help me clean up, and then go and get your man. Because I am assuming that there is going to be some serious fucking in your room tonight. Or are you gonna use my front porch again?”

“Whatever, bitch!”

“Umm-hmm. What did you say to him? Why is he looking so discombobulated?”

“Damn, you don’t miss a thing, do you?”

“It’s my house, I’m not supposed to. Plus, you stormed out of the party. So what happened?”

“I dropped a bomb on that ass.”

“What bomb? What happened?”

“I told him I missed my period.”

The serving bowl I held, dropped right out of my hands. “No fucking way, Kyra!” The bitch had the nerve to leave me standing there and go over and plug in the vacuum. I went over to her and cut it off.

“What, Tasha? You told me to hurry up.” She turned the vacuum back on. I reached over and turned it back off.

“Bitch, you better stop playing with me. Were you just fucking with him, or were you serious? What did he say?”

“Yes, I was very serious. That’s what his ass gets. A fuckin’ dose of reality. But I think he was getting ready to say I can’t keep it. But I cut him off and left him standing there.”

“What? No, he didn’t! That creep.”

“I said the same thing.” She turned the vacuum on and went over the carpet.

When she finished, I asked, “So what’s going through your mind?”

“All kinds of shit. But mainly how I now have the focus on me and this will show me where his heart is at, because I damn sure ain’t gettin’ rid of it.”

Well, I’ll be damned.

“Faheem, we don’t have to move. Anybody could have taken Steele out. You are in a wheelchair, baby.”

We had been having this same argument for the last week, and I was tired of it. At the same time, it looked like it was an argument that I was losing. I was still in school, Kaeerah loved her school, I loved my house, and the bottom line was, I didn’t want to move. Moving hadn’t even crossed my mind.

“Jaz, I’ma say it one more time. And it will be my last and final time. We are moving. Start looking, and start packing.”

“So you mean to say I gotta quit school? I can still be traced, Faheem. If someone wants to find us, they can.”

“We will pay to get the records sealed or some shit like that. I don’t know. Find you another school. You should have thought about that before you went out playing vigilante. You the one made it hot for us around here. You made your bed, now you
gotta lay in it. And if you fuck with Oni, I swear I’m leaving you, Jaz.”

It felt as if someone stuck a pin inside me and sucked out all of my air. I was obsessed with taking this bitch out personally and now this? I knew Faheem and he was not one to issue false threats. I had to go to my plan B, which was Rock. I was now crushed.

I stormed out of the bedroom and went into the backyard and started pacing. Kaeerah came outside and started pacing with me.

“Mommy, are we moving?” I detected the excitement in her voice.

“Not now, Eerah. As a matter of fact, go back in the house while Mommy figures this out.”

“One last question.”

“What is it?”

“Are we moving because of what happened to my brother?”

“That has something to do with it, yes.”

“What about Miss Oni?”

“What about her?”

“Is she moving?”

“I don’t know, baby. You said one question. That was three. Now, go back into the house.”

It looked like I was in a no-win situation. To my disappointment, I wasn’t going to get the experience of killing Oni. But she was getting done, regardless.

I was looking forward to meeting and conducting business with Mr. Macklin. Actually, this would be my second time
in his presence since all of the unfortunate circumstances. I had strategically arranged for him to work directly with my father, and he was already witnessing the fruits of his labor. I was confident that Mr. Macklin would be feeling pretty generous.

I took extra time with my makeup and hair. My choice of dress was impeccable. I had on this cute black Vera Wang skirt and blouse that showed just the right amount of cleavage, and of course, I didn’t have on any panties. I was tingling at the thought of him entering me. And I was even more turned on at the thought of us meeting in a public place that wasn’t too seedy but not far from it. I was hoping that he would take me right then and there.

My first order of business was to have him speak to that wife of his. She should not hang up at the sound of my voice. When I requested to speak to him, she should have obediently called him to the phone. Simple as that. No need for the theatrics every time I phoned there. I could only imagine what sort of chaos she caused the moment he hung up with me.

My stomach fluttered and my pulse raced as I pulled into the parking lot of Joe’s. It was bar in La Jolla. I pulled my hand mirror and makeup case from my handbag and gave myself a once-over. After I was satisfied, I placed everything back in my bag and popped a breath mint. It was show time. I looked out my rearview and side-view mirrors before opening my car door. I tried not to be too flashy, so I drove my BMW 650LI. After looking around the parking lot and not sensing anything out of the ordinary, I stepped out of the car and locked the doors. It was a beautiful day. As I proceeded to walk around to the front entrance, I heard barking. I stepped up my pace and turned around; a gentleman
was walking two big albino pit bulls only a few feet away from me. Those were the most disgusting pit bulls I had ever seen. The gentleman smiled at me and made a noise with his tongue. Then the two beasts began to growl at me. I was getting nervous wondering what on earth was the matter with those dogs. And to my horror, the guy stopped and disengaged the leashes. He said, “Get her boys!” He made a clicking sound with his mouth, and the two dogs began to charge towards me. On instinct, I took off running in the opposite direction, and the animals gave chase. My heart was racing as I ran as fast as I could, kicking my heels off in the process.

A vehicle stopped right before me. I banged on the car. “Let me in!” I grabbed the door handle, but it was locked. “Help me! Let me in, please!” The woman just sat there. There was nowhere to run. The dogs were almost to the car. They were determined to get me. “Don’t you move this fucking car!” I jumped on top of it, and the two beasts circled it as they barked, growled, and scratched at the car. “Don’t you move this car!” I slid my hand to retrieve the blade held by my garter belt and grabbed it tight. One pit bull jumped onto the hood of the car, and the other was on the trunk, causing me to jump off of the hood. I twisted my ankle as I landed on the ground. I aimed the knife at the first pit bulls throat. I had perfect aim, but it didn’t stop the beast in its tracks. I raised my arm, and the monster’s teeth latched on to it. My screams were stifled when the second albino pit bull came to join the party. I quickly grabbed it by its throat. They growled and bit into my clothing and began to shake me like an old rag. I gave the animals a fight, but I was no match for the two beasts at the same time. I could feel my bones being broken into pieces.

I kept trying to get through to Mr. Li to find out why he had insisted on sending Charli to handle this business when we had an agreement. In my book, that was a breach of trust. I left several messages. And now Charli was late.

I had a seat at the bar so that I could see everyone who came in. By one thirty, I had waited long enough and decided that it was time for me to bounce. I had my doubts about meeting with her in the first place and was relieved that she hadn’t shown up.

“You out, big Bruh?” Scat, the bartender asked me.

“I’m out.”

I stepped outside into the bright sunlight and headed for the parking lot. There was a crowd of people and two ambulances. I couldn’t have cared less as I made my way around the excited crowd. Everyone was chattering.