Stripping Asjiah II (17 page)

He painted a very sordid picture, explained how their upcoming acts would affect each person involved, some of which made him second guess what he was doing. But he was in too deep now, they were steps away from their destination and there was no turning back.

They stood in silence at first, watching him as he did sit ups with his back facing them. Ignorant to what was about to happen.

Angel casually walked into the cell and sat on the bottom bunk.
He had practically been handed to them gift wrapped with a pretty little bow on top.
Before LT realized what was going on the order had already been given.
“Grab him and shut the door.”

The intoxicated brunette turned her back and seductively draped her blouse over her shoulder. The alcohol cursing through her system gave her the extra confidence she needed as she continued to strip to the music.

He watched her body coil and wind in snake like movements as her clothes disappeared layer by layer. In a way she reminded him of her. A milky white complexion, long hair, full breasts, a petite frame; but something was off. He tilted his beer bottle to her as approval that he liked what she was doing and as she stood before him naked it came to him.

Smiling, the girl took a sip of her drink and continued to dance.
“You just told me to take my clothes off, now you want me to put them back on?”
“Not all of them, just these.” Cash dangled a pair of black cheeky boy shorts and waited for her to take them.
“I just want to see how they look on you before I take themback off.”
“Hey, are these someone else‟s panties? Where is the tag?”
“Don‟t worry about all that; just put them on.” “I‟m not a medium, I‟m an extra small.” She stumbled over to the bathroom positioning herself in front of the mirror so she could see her backside.
“They are kinda cute huh?”
Cash kissed the back of her neck, and palmed her ass lifting her onto the vanity. She giggled girlishly as he pushed the crotch of the fragile cotton to the side and inserted his fingers inside of her.
“Be a good girl and spread your legs for me Asjiah.”
“Mmmm, my name‟s not Asjiah its Jessica.”
He let his jeans fall around his ankles, exposing himself.
With eyes heavy from the liquor she had been drinking Jessica glanced down at his semi hard penis and laughed.
“You need some help baby?” Slithering down from the counter she got on her knees and began her attempt to further arouse him.
“I knew you wanted this dick Asjiah.”
“That‟s not my name.”
Grabbing her by the wrists Cash forcefully turned the girl around bending her over the sink.
“Stop it, you‟re hurting me!” Jessica immediately began to sober up as her attacker tried to force himself inside of her.
“C‟mon, don‟t fight me baby girl, give that pink pussy to Uncle Cash.”
Shoving him with all her might, she pushed past him and gathered her clothes off the floor as fast as she could.
“You‟re fucking sick. I‟m getting out of here.” Cash sat down at the table as she stormed out of the room. Snorting the remaining lines of coke he waited for the narcotic to take over his senses. This was getting out of control. He needed to find her, to be with her, he was running out of patience, getting tired of pretending these random girls were her hoping it would momentarily satisfy his cravings.
He walked over to the dimly lit closet, undressed and entered his sanctuary.
Photos of Asjiah when she was a little girl, pictures that he had taken from his mother‟s house, vulnerable images he had captured while he watched her all hung on the wall. The laundry he had taken from her room, this was the one place he could go when he wanted to feel her, to smell her.
He smiled as he toyed with the rope and the duck tape that lay on the shelf. He laughed haphazardly as he picked up the gag and the handcuffs; he traced her lips on one of the photographs before kissing it.
Revenge was going to be so sweet.

L T was baffled; after everything that happened last summer he knew for sure Angel would kill him. But here he sat across from him in his cell being given the opportunity to walk out scot free.

Angel told him that Gabrielle knew someone in the DA‟s office that could take a second look at his case, file an appeal and within a few months, he could be going home.

He told him that Caleb would link up with him to put him onto what was going on in the streets and all he had to do was send him a couple of dollars to put on his books.

Was it really that easy?
He didn‟t know the length of Angel‟s bid but maybe he had come to terms with the amount of time him and Gabe would be spending in here and as a result he knew he needed to mend fences and hand everything over to him.
With Angel out of the way that would eliminate the competition and more importantly, that would leave him with Stacey. He would say yes and agree to his requests but little did Angel know; he had a plan of his own. He would walk out of here once released, and never look back. By the time Angel came home, he would find that there was no stash of money waiting for him, nor would Stacey be there to greet him with her legs wide open, they would both be long gone, somewhere far away with both his paper, and his drugs.
“So what‟s it gonna be? Can you do that for me?” Gabe stood by the door keeping a watch out the tiny window making sure things were still on the up and up.
LT attempted to slow his breathing and keep his voice from shaking. He didn‟t want to seem too geeked.
“Yeah, I can handle that for you.”
“Good, good, that‟s just what I wanted to hear.”
In an instant Gabe was behind LT pushing him up against the side of the bed. He used the sheets they had knotted together to bind around his waist and tie him to the bed post.
“What the fuck is going on?”
Angel retrieved the shank that was in his back pocket and dangled it out in front of him.
“You‟re not scared now are you?”
Before he could answer Gabrielle shoved a pair of socks in his mouth preventing him from making any noise.
“I told you I was going to let you out of here, what I didn‟t say was that it was going to be in one piece.”
Gabe held out one of LT‟s hands struggling with him momentarily in order to get him to straighten his fingers.
Angel smiled as he approached his cousin, “Now I‟ll be honest, this may hurt a little bit.”

H alloween, the day of the dead; a night dedicated to all things evil, devils, ghouls, goblins, witches, vampires, and werewolves alike. I chose not to dress up. I figured being myself was scary enough.

I told Marie that I would take the kids trick or treating so here I was, in the living room in front of the mirror putting the finishing touches on their costumes.

I had painted all of them up to resemble zombies each with different special effects. I wanted to recreate what my mother used to do for us, well Angel at least because I always had to be the cute stuff; Carebears, smurfs, snorks. I remember being so fascinated with the way she would transform him just from using a $5.00 paint kit she had gotten from the store.

I wasn‟t as good as she was but I had managed to make Hope look like shewas crying blood, Dorian‟s neck was tore open, James heart had been ripped out and Tiffany was missing half of her scalp.

“I don‟t want to wear it, this is for you guys.” “Pwease?”
I had to laugh at her mispronunciation of the word

please and once the other kids began to chime in asking me to do it I gave in.
“Okay, okay, but not a lot.”
I darkened the rims of my eyes using a charcoal eyeliner pencil, and a mixture of some of the black paint from the kit. I put drops of red at the corners of my mouth and drew two bite marks on the side of my throat.
“You look like a vampire Asjiah!” Dorian stood behind me in the mirror smiling at my quick make up job. I had straightened my hair the night before so along with the length, the black eyeliner and the color of my eyes, he was right, I did look like the undead. Along with the black sweater I had on, distressed jeans and black knee high boots, I looked pretty gothic.
“Look at all my little monsters,” Marie stood in the doorway glancing over all of us. “Asjiah y‟all be safe out there.”
“Alright, come on everybody.”
A perfect full moon and a sky full of stars greeted us as we stepped out into the warm autumn night. Kids were running up and down the street scurrying from house to house trying to beat each other to doorsteps that promised tricks or treats.
“Everybody hold hands, if y‟all start acting crazy or try to leave each other we will turn around and go back home, understand?”
“Yes.” They linked hands and made sure their shoes were tied before descending the stairs.
“Boo!”
Startled, the kids screamed and ran back up the steps hiding behind me for protection.
I laughed as CJ pulled off the ridiculous mask he was wearing.
“It‟s just me, I‟m sorry.”
Realizing it wasn‟t the boogeyman they settled down and picked up their pumpkin baskets.
“What‟s up A‟?”
I let him kiss me on the cheek while we hugged. I had to brush off his advance to put his hand on my stomach because I didn‟t know if Marie was watching.
After our interaction at the doctor‟s office and over dinner CJ had made it a regular habit to call and check on me and the baby everyday, he would ask me if I needed anything or if there was anything he could do for me. He was really trying. He even started shopping for baby Jai. I had several outfits that he had bought, along with a stroller, a pack n‟ play and other things he couldn‟t wait to buy.
I invited him to go trick or treating with us because I knew he wanted to spend time with me and also because he insisted. He didn‟t want me out by myself given the fact that Cash was still on the loose. I tried to assure him that I would be okay especially since I was only taking them around the neighborhood and I was sure Caleb was somewhere watching me but that wasn‟t reassuring enough.
He did look kinda cute; a grey Abercrombie hoodie, stonewashed jeans and wheat Timberlands, he always could make the simplest outfits look so sexy. Perhaps that‟s what made it so easy for me to let him hold my hand as we walked behind the kids.
“So how are you?”
“Aside from having to pee every ten minutes, I‟m good. Most of my sickness is over with so I can pretty much eat whatever I want to now.”
“That‟s a good thing right?”
“Yeah, throwing up is not fun.”
“I see you‟re getting kind of thick.” CJ squeezed my butt and laughed, running ahead a little bit so I couldn‟t hit him for doing so.”
“Ha, ha, you like that don‟t you?”
“Hell yeah I like it.”
Placing his hands around my waist he turned me towards him.
“Why don‟t you stay the night with me and I can show you how much I like it.”
“CJ…”
I tried to ignore him by keeping my eyes on the kids but he was so close to my ear, right next to one of my spots, he was teasing me, seducing me without trying and he knew it.
I was about to give in to temptation but then I felt something yank on my hair.
“Ouch!”
I grabbed the back of my head and looked in the direction that I had been pulled.
“A‟, what‟s wrong? Is it the baby? Are you okay?” He walked around me looking for signs that weren‟t there, signals that something was wrong.
“Yeah, I‟m fine. It felt like someone pulled my hair.”
“You could‟ve snagged it on my sweatshirt.”
“I guess so.”
He must‟ve seen the worry in my face, the way my eyebrows wrinkled, he pulled me closer to him and hugged me tightly looking in both directions trying to see if there was some invisible assailant that had suddenly vanished.
Tiffany was yawning and Hope‟s makeup was smeared from her rubbing her eyes. The boys looked wornout as well and all of their pumpkins were filled to the rim from the treats they had accumulated throughout the night.
CJ picked the girls up while Dorian and James walked a few steps ahead.
I held his hand tightly trying to purge unwanted thoughts out of my brain.
I knew someone had touched me. The tug was too aggressive for it to have been an accident. I felt his hand against my skin. And as we crossed the street and headed back towards Marie‟s house I swore I saw him, under the shadows of the lamppost watching me.

“ If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord, my soul to take, Amen.”
I kissed each of the boys on the cheeks and turned the TV on so they could watch Goosebumps.
Walking down the hall I could hear Tiffany and Hope giggling, I stopped in the doorway where they couldn‟t see me so I could eavesdrop.
“Nope, no monsters under here,” CJ dusted his knees off after looking underneath both of their beds.
“What about in there?” Hope made it sound as if she was saying “near” instead of there as she pointed to the closet.
“Yeah, look in the closet.”
I tried not to laugh as CJ walked over to the closet, opened it and pretended as if something had pulled him inside. Both girls snatched their blankets up over their heads peeking from underneath to make sure nothing was going to get them.
“Nope, not in there either.”
Watching him interact with them made me think of how he would be with baby Jai. He was really good with the kids and although we had disagreements every now and then, I knew he would be a good father.
“Okay, that‟s enough, time to go to bed.”
“A-ja can we stay up just a little while longer?” CJ batted his eyelashes and helped the girl‟s plea for more late night antics, “Yeah A-ja, please?”
Tiffany thought he was the funniest thing in the world. Bursting into hysterics she laughed as he did his best little girl voice.
“Alright, okay. You can watch a movie but that‟s it.”
“Yay!”
CJ helped the girls with their prayers while I put in The Rescuers down Under. I set the timer to automatically turn the TV off then tucked them into bed.
“Goodnight A -ja.”
“Goodnight.”
“That was really sweet of y‟all to take them out tonight. I know they sure do appreciate that.” Marie was sitting in her usual spot in the kitchen eating ice cream.
“No problem, we had fun too.”
“Is there any mail here for me?” I skimmed through the stack of envelopes above the sink and picked out all the ones with my name on it.
“You two can stay if you want.”
“Nah, that‟s okay. I have to go to work in the morning,” I nudged CJ in the arm before he could accept her offer, “And I‟m sure Christian has things to do too right?”
“Huh? Oh yeah, right, maybe some other time.”
We said our goodbyes and as we stepped out onto the porch I found myself looking for signs of Cash.
“A‟,”
“Asjiah?”
“What?
“You didn‟t hear me?”
I shook my head and tried to refocus my thoughts. “I‟m sorry, what did you say?”
“I said thank you.”
“For what,” I leaned against one of the brick pillars and gazed up at the stars.
“For tonight, it was nice. I never thought I‟d enjoy trick or treating so much, but being with you, and the kids, it was cool.”
This was my CJ, the sweet, caring Christian that I knew. We were able to have a night without any arguing, without any sarcastic comments or attitudes and it took me back to how we used to be. Back to when things were easy, before things got complicated.
“Thank you for coming. I‟m sure they enjoyed your company just as much as I did. You know, I watched you with Hope and Tiffany, you‟re really good with them.”
CJ closed the space between us, stood in between my legs and placed his hands on my stomach.
“I hope I‟m the same way if not better with our baby.”
It was something about the moment, something in his eyes. I didn‟t wait for him to initiate contact; I grabbed his sweater, pulled him into me and kissed him.
“Asji-“
I smiled, hopped down the stairs and turned around once I got to my car.
“Call me tomorrow?”