“Baby, what’s wrong? And what was it that you said you had to tell me?”
Treasure exhaled. It felt so good; it was as if the release of air massaged her entire soul. “Nothing is wrong 5. Everything is good. In fact, I have never in my life been happier than I am today. It’s funny how everything happens for a reason. Baby, I love you, and that’s on everything. I’m going to ride or die with you. To Jacksonville or Seattle, to the end of the world and back. As long as I exist, I’m going to cherish you like you do me.”
5 was a cold hearted killer, but he loved just as hard as he killed. He stood there with his arms around Treasure and could sense that she meant every word that she spoke. When he saw the tears in her eyes, he couldn’t do anything to prevent the tears from gathering in his as well. His brothers and his sister had been his entire life. He never thought he would be able to find a woman who would accept him regardless of what he did for a living. He used to lie back in his bed and dream about how that woman would look, how she would act, how she would react.
He realized that the woman he had created in his imagination was still a million dimensions away from the woman who came to him. Treasure was a mystery to him, but he loved the fact that she didn’t make him guess the answers to her complexities. They shared an embrace so complete and intense that it
felt
like sex. A touch so deep and sweet, an connection so powerful and romantic, that she vowed from that day forward, not to let
anyone
come between them. She didn’t give a damn if she had to kill his own sister, Danielle, or his own brother, Grimmer. She had already done her best friend, so everyone else was definitely game when it came down to her love for 5.
“Treasure, I just want you to know that I love you with all of my heart. I want you to know that I have never felt this way for anyone and I don’t intend to ever feel this way again about anyone else.”
The moment was like a dream to Treasure. Tears ran away from her as she stood there thinking about all of the hardships in her life that she’d had to endure and persevere through. She thought about the strength that it had taken her to overcome the things she’d had to walk through, and it was as though her mind blacked out. She stood there frozen, with tears flowing. The pressure of life had crushed her coal dark exterior and had revealed the beautiful diamond that lied within.
5 pulled out diamond of his own.
He dropped to one knee and held Treasure’s hand like the true gentleman that he was. “As of right now, I want you to be my wife. I want you to continue representing me the way you do. I mean… I never have any issues out of you. You don’t even
ask
to go outside of the
house
. That’s amazing, because most women wanna hang out with friends and go clubbing whenever they get a chance. But you… you’re different. You’re all about me, and trust me baby. I’m all about you too. Please marry me. Please share my last name.”
Treasure was shocked. She couldn’t even think straight while 5 was proposing to her. She was admiring his beautiful cinnamon skin tone, his dreadlocks and the way they framed his face. She was admiring the way his shirt laid across his stiff upper body and day dreaming about how stiff his lower body was. Treasure had always wanted to get married, but she questioned if these were the correct circumstances.
She was a wanted fugitive killer prison escapee. He was an in-demand contract killer who law enforcement didn’t even have on their radar. If she married him that would instantly put him and his entire family in jeopardy. It would put extra pressure on her, because if they ever caught her, she would have to make sure that he didn’t have anything pointing to any murders in the household or car. It was a horrible situation for her to fathom.
But after seeing the tears in 5’s eyes, she knew that she would not be able to deny him. There was no possible way for her to tell him no. He was the man of her dreams, and he had told her that she was the woman of his. She took a deep breath and looked him head on. She had loads of questions that she wanted to ask him, and she was sure that he had many questions as well. One of them, she had no choice but to ask before she accepted his proposal.
“5… if I’m going to share your last name, shouldn’t I at least know what your last name is? I’ve never asked you your real name or your last name because I never felt it was my business. But since you’re asking me to marry you, it is now my business to know the new name that I’ll be carrying… so let me have it.”
5 chuckled slightly. “No problem Treasure. Your new last name will be
Powers.
”
Treasure’s mouth dropped to the floor. She was feeling so lame for having missed the resemblance. 5 looked like a lighter skinned version of Malcolm Powers, the man who ran the Bankroll Squad and helped her out of an extremely difficult situation back in the day.
But then from another angle, he looked nothing like Malcolm Powers whatsoever.
Maybe this is a different set of Powers,
she thought to herself as she tried to piece things together. She felt dizzy and confused as she stood there trying to process the information that had just been given to her.
When she first ran away from the crime scene, she didn’t have the first clue as to where she was would lay her head. Her options were non-existent. She was just a clueless child walking around with no money. After walking aimlessly for half the night, she ended up walking into a park that she thought would be vacant. But when she got there, it looked like a migrant community.
There were homeless people walking from tent to tent. Many of them didn’t have tents, so they were lying on steel benches. Lena figured that she too, would try to find a bench to sleep on. She was extremely exhausted, and couldn’t wait to be able to close her eyes and get some rest; no matter where it was at.
She walked and walked until finally, she found a vacant bench in the park. The bench was located about 60 feet away from the nearest tent, so she felt very comfortable there. A wave of happiness flowed over her body when she realized that she would finally be able to lie down. She rushed over to the bench and sat down. She didn’t mind at all that it was hard steel. She was excited about sleeping outdoors for the first time in her life. Smiling, she drifted off to sleep.
Her peaceful slumber was soon invaded. “Lil broad, you
gon
give me some!” She heard someone say. As soon as she opened her eyes, a man grabbed her arm and held her down against the bench. His body odor suggested that he had not taken a shower in a decade. It was a strong alcoholic smell, but it wasn’t alcohol. It was of a mixture of bodily secretions. She struggled to get away from him, and when she realized that she wouldn’t be able to, she tried to release a scream.
As soon as she made a noise, he took his fist and slammed it into her lip, dizzying her. She was so dizzy and confused that she didn’t even remember or know if she had managed to get her scream out or not. She lay there against the bench in sadness and fright, trying to gather her senses.
When her dizziness and confusion subsided, she realized what was going on. The man was attempting to rape her. He had pulled his pants and underwear down and had managed to get her clothes down to her ankles. She felt a finger touch her private area and almost passed out from anger and disgust. The old man continued trying to pull her leg out of her pants when they both heard someone coming behind him.
Lena lay there with tears in her eyes as she hoped and prayed that another man wouldn’t come and join the sick party that was being forced on her.
Please God… If you have to let me go through a rape, at least just let it be one. Please!
A girl a few years older than her, stood holding a baseball bat. “Dad! Leave that little girl alone! You
can
not
just go around trying to have sex with everybody without their permission! Get back in the tent. You are a sickness. You
have
a sickness. I’m going to turn you in to the authorities, I’m sick of your antics!”
The man reluctantly released the strong hold that he had on Lena and started pulling his clothes back up. He turned around and looked at his daughter. “
Tarra
! I’m your freaking father for crying out loud! You’re supposed to be on
my
side. What the hell are you helping a freaking
stranger
for!?”
Tarra
held the bat firm as she stared him down. “Because! You
can
not
continue raping people around here just because they are homeless. I get
sick
and
tired
of people coming up to me and complaining about the things you’ve done to them or their family members. You know there are people right now who are ready to
kill
you!?”
Her father got offended. “So what are you saying
Tarra
? Are you saying that I
embarrass
you?”
Tarra
pulled the bat back so that if he ran towards her, all she would have to do was swing one good time to keep him away.
“So you wanna fight your father now?
You
wanna kill me? I swear ever since your mother ran off, you been acting like a carbon copy of that bitch! Don’t you know that she’s the reason we’re out here sleeping in the got damn woods? She was the bitch with the high paying gig. I was the stay at home Dad.
That
bitch left us to die! And now you wanna emulate her?! You stupid slut, you. Ever since you turned 18, you’ve been acting like her!”
Tarra
was getting more and more heated by the second. She was angry that he was putting her business out there for everyone to hear, and also angry because he was making up lies to cover his own sick acts. A crowd was starting to form around the scene, and before she knew it, the girl her father had tried to rape had taken off running. Instantly, she felt bad for the poor girl. She had seen her earlier, when she was looking for a place to sleep, but at the time, she had been too exhausted to reach out to her. The only thing
Tarra
had wanted to do earlier was go to sleep herself. She had been hustling all day long and she was too tired to do anything extra because of it.
Her father had a venomous look in his eyes as he watched Lena run away at full speed. Then he stared at the crowd like a mad man. “What
ya’ll
lookin at? What the fuck you all looking at?! This ain’t no got damn show! Get the fuck on!
Scattttt
!” He screamed frantically. His little arms and long legs made him look like more of a freak show than he already seemed. He swung his arms at a shadow movement, proving to the crowd that not only was he sick, but he was also drunk.
The man stared at
Tarra
and spit on the ground. “You make me sick you little bitch! You are just another version of that old bitch I married. That hateful, spiteful, disgusting –”
“You liar!”
Tarra
screamed. “You lying bastard fuck! My mother was a good lady!
You
drove her away! You ran her away with all of your got damn
raping
and shit! I was 16, old enough to know better when you raped me last. My mother came in a couple of hours later and looked me dead in the eyes. She
asked
me! She said ‘
Tarra
, what is going on with you and your father? Be honest!’ And like a fuckin
fool
, I said
nothing is going on Mom.
You see…
I
drove her away because I told her a lie! She
knew
that something was amiss and that I had been covering it up the entire time. She came back in the room later on and told me that she would give me one more chance to confess, and I
still
wouldn’t tell her! That’s some real bullshit, because since that night,
neither
of us has ever seen her again! So fuck you! You ruined my life, and my mother’s! If I was her, I would have left too! How the fuck could she compete with her own child having sex with her man? That’s bullshit! And here I am staying with your sloppy drunk ass in the park like I’m your wife and shit. Fuck you! I’m out of here. You’ll never see me again!”
Tarra
threw the baseball bat out of reach and started running in the direction that she saw Lena run in. She wanted to help her as best she could. Wanted to get to know Lena and become familiar with her story while simultaneously sharing her own. She wasn’t able to get a job because she didn’t even have a GED. If she could create a friendship with Lena, then possibly they could
both
get their act together and make a positive impact. She was sure that the positive things would be far down the line, because life was too real to plan out a dream. Food would need to be in their hands by sun up, and in their hands again by sun down. She needed to know if the girl was really homeless or had just run away from home.