Under Abnormal Conditions (19 page)

Chapter 26

I gently kissed her awaiting lips. She
grabbed my arms and pulled me closer to her. It had been so long
since I had been with a woman I had almost forgotten what to do
with my hands. I finally rested them on the small of her back,
slowly and carefully moving south. After a short time, we released
our passionate embrace.

“You have great hands,” she whispered in my
ear.

Although I may have forgotten, they seemed to
have a mind of their own. Again, I brought her close to me. She had
the most beautiful eyes; they shone like emeralds, as I saw my
reflection in them.

“I usually don’t do this kind of thing. I
haven’t been with anyone in a long time,” I tried to explain.

“Shhh-,” she said, putting her soft hand over
my mouth. “Let’s go to the bedroom?” she said enticingly.

I took her hand from my mouth and led her to
my room. Once there, we fell into a burning embrace. I could feel
the heat building inside each second we kissed. She broke from me,
and looked into my eyes.

“I want to undress you,” she whispered.

I immediately knew anything I could say would
ruin the moment, so I silently nodded my head. Her soft lips kissed
mine, then my neck and she slowly made her way downward. She
started biting the buttons from my shirt,one by one until she was
through. She then dropped to her knees, where she took off my shoes
and socks. Ever so carefully she unzipped my zipper and removed my
pants. After one final kiss, she pushed me back onto the bed. When
she arose, she began to strip. She gently swatted away my hands, as
I tried to help.

“That’s not fair,” I said, desperately trying
to sound sexy.

“Just lie back and watch for now,” she
replied. “Do you have any music?”

“Yes. It’s over there in the corner.”

She sauntered over to the CD’s and browsed
through my collection.

“Oh, you’re a jazzman. I love the way
musicians use their hands. Can I be your instrument?”

After starting my favorite Grover Washington
Jr. track, she walked over to the edge of the bed, where her long
leather skirt dropped to the floor. Next went her top. She was
standing before me wearing only her bra and panties. In a matter of
seconds, she was only wearing that sly grin that had enticed me the
moment I saw her in the club.

Her full, hourglass figure was amazing. She
removed my boxer shorts and began kissing my entire body. Her nails
sank into my shoulders as she straddled me.

My kisses were long, slow and passionate. My
hands explored every inch of her buxom frame. I brought my hands to
her face, and looked deep into her eyes. As much as I wanted to
take over, she was in control, and I would have been a fool to
protest. The soulful sax and her sinful body gave me pleasure until
early the next morning.

Chapter 27

When I first heard the doorbell ring, I
thought the ringing was in my head. That was until someone started
to pound on the door. The closed curtains didn’t allow much light
into the room. I thought that was why I couldn’t gain my balance
when I got out of bed. I didn’t realize how bad I felt until I
turned on the light.

Over the past few days the thunderous
pounding in my head had turned into just an annoying ache. Had it
been my drinking or the knot on my head? I didn’t know, but I had
to stop and close my eyes and lean my head against the door to keep
from falling over. Every time I tried to open and focus my eyes,
the room just kept spinning.

Again I could hear the door being pounded on.
I did open my eyes long enough to realize that Carmen wasn’t in the
room. Maybe she was the one at the door. Who else would be coming
by that early in the morning?

I felt my way to the closet and found my
robe. I threw it around myself and felt my way down the hallway to
the front door.

As I walked to the front of the house, I
hoped maybe Carmen had gone out to her car and locked herself out,
but by the time I reached the door; I had convinced myself maybe
the whole thing had been a dream. After I opened the door, I wished
I had stayed in bed.

Lewis and Junior greeted me. With everything
else that was going on, I had almost forgotten about them. I tied
the robe around my waist and stumbled outside, careful to close the
door behind me. I leaned my back against the door for balance and
asked, “What can I do for you gentleman?”

“I believe you know why we’re here,” said the
rat-faced Lewis.

The morning sun in my eyes didn’t help my
headache. As menacing as they were, there might as well have been
four of them standing there like my blurry vision told me. I shaded
my eyes with my hand and answered, “Look, Ricky’s not here and his
mother is gone. She doesn’t want to have anything to do with his
trouble.”

Slowly my eyes were able to adjust to the
light and the four gangsters merged into only two. I began walking
towards the side driveway. I didn’t know what had happened to
Carmen, and I wanted to see if her car was gone. Lewis and Junior
were just a few steps behind me.

“Look here, Michael. The fact is I can help
you if you help me.”

“How do you plan on doing that?” I answered.
I was relieved, but curious to see that her car was gone. There
wasn’t any trace of Ricky’s either.

“If we can go inside, I’ll explain it to
you.”

I knew if they were to get me inside, there
was no way I could take both of them. I wasn’t ready to be the next
corpse.

“I don’t think-”

Before I could finish my sentence, Junior
grabbed my right shoulder from behind and attempted to escort me
back into the house. I grabbed his hand with my left and spun
around. I got off five or six fast, but hard, punches to his
concrete-like midsection.

My futile attempt of violence only angered
the big man. I was amazed he took those shots without even
flinching. His huge hands grabbed me around the neck and he dragged
me inside.

Following his boss’s orders the mindless
mountain of a man placed me in a chair. I must’ve spent five
minutes coughing and gagging, trying to breathe again. Even as I
sat down, the room still seemed off balance. I had never in my life
been beaten in a fair fight, but I did not want to tangle with
Junior again - at least not without a heavy metal pipe.

When I was finally able to look up from the
table, Lewis slammed a briefcase down in front of me. My wine
glasses from the night before were knocked to the floor with a loud
crash.

He pulled up a chair and sat across from me.
He was so close I could smell the stink of marijuana on his
clothes. His gold tooth had the outline of a cross embedded in
it.

“Your cousin stole $50,000 from Mr. Johnson.
He is going to pay me $100,000 to find him and bring him back.”

Obviously, I wasn’t in any position to seek
any answers, but he could tell by the look on my face I had
questions.

“It’s all about principles, Mr. Drake. You
don’t steal from my boss, under no circumstances.”

“What are you telling me this for?” I
wheezed. “Ricky is not-”

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear it. I am
losing my patience. It ain’t time for these lies. Keep your mouth
shut, and I’ll let you talk when I’m done. And you better have
something to say.”

“Unlike my employer and my employees,” he
said, as he sat back in his chair and smiled at Junior, “I don’t
like to use violence. I’m going to offer you $20,000 to tell me
where your cousin is.” Turning his nose up at his surroundings he
said, “I know you can use the money.”

He leaned forward, flashed his rat-like grin,
and opened the briefcase. “There is $100,000 in there. You would
have to work ten years to make that much, and that’s if you don’t
eat. What, $20,000 is about what you make in a year. I’m offering
you that much, free and clear. Just tell me where to find
Ricky.”

I had never seen that much money before in my
life. Even when I counted the deposits at work, they weren’t that
much. I massaged my throat as I tried to think of a way out. I
wasn’t stupid. No matter what I said I knew they would kill me.

“What? You need to think about it? I know you
saw us following you the other night. Oh, you didn’t think I was
going to say anything? You think you real smart. I ain’t gone to no
fancy damn school to learn what I know. Can’t no book tell you what
to do now. You got good sense, you better use it.”

Suddenly, someone was pounding on the door
again. I tried to ignore it, but my visitors heard it as well. Just
as Lewis was about to stand, I said, “Look that might be my mother
and father. They are due back from a vacation. I don’t want to get
them involved. Just give me a second and I’ll get rid of them.”

His eyes shifted from side to side in his
head as he tried to figure out what to do. I had always been a
stickler for people calling before they would drop by, whoever was
there was going to learn that lesson the hard way.

“Get rid of them. I don’t care who it is. If
you don’t, I will come out there and kill both of you,” he said in
a tone that was much harsher than his pseudo businessman approach.
“I am tired of playing games.”

If it was Ricky at the door, and Lewis or
Junior answered, we would both be dead. I walked as slowly as I
could to the door, but it was only about twenty feet from the
kitchen to the front door. My heart felt as if it would beat right
through my chest, and my hands were wet with perspiration.

A glance over my shoulder told me Lewis stood
on the top step leading to the door, pleading for me to make a
wrong move. I took a long deep breath before I grabbed the knob.
One slow turn and the door was open.

Chapter 28

It was Detectives Williams and Stone.
Relieved, I slowly started to formulate a plan. I didn’t know why
they were there and I didn’t want everything to blow up in my
face.

“What is it now?” I asked loudly.

Stunned for a moment, Williams answered, “We
would like for you to come downtown with us to answer a few
questions.” A silent Stone stood behind him.

“Am I under arrest?”

“No. We just thought this would be easier
than coming back with an arrest warrant.”

“A warrant for what?” I asked to be sure the
gangsters could hear me.

“Look, Mr. Drake, it would be easier for
everyone concerned if you just come in and talk to us. If you can
come down and clear everything up, you’ll be home in an hour. If we
have to come back with a warrant, you’ll be there all day and well
into the night,” answered Detective Stone.

I wanted to question him about his presence
at the school yesterday, but there were more important things at
hand. Besides, I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction in
knowing I hid from him. It was a stupid macho game all men played
whether they wanted to admit it or not.

“I’ve got a few guests, and I need to get
dressed. Can you give me a few minutes?” I asked.

“Absolutely,” said Stone.

I excused myself and headed back to the
kitchen, where Lewis and Junior were listening intently. In the
short walk, I thought of a plan to free me of at least half of my
problems.

“Is that the damn police? Have you lost your
damn mind? I ought to kill you right here!”

“Look, these narcotics guys are-”

“Narcotics? What are they doing here?”
snapped Lewis. “If you called the cops, I swear I’ll slice you
open.”

“No, no, it’s not like that.” I lifted my
hands as if to surrender. “I’ve been an informant over the past few
months, and they needed some information.” Then looking in the
direction of the detectives I said, “If they see that briefcase,
they are going to check it. If they check it, we are all going to
be busted.” I paused and pretended to think for a moment. “Go into
the back bedroom and hide it under the bed. After they take me away
you can sneak back into the house and get it.”

“Do you think I’m stupid? I ain’t leaving my
money in here. They ain’t got a warrant they can’t check me for
nothing!”

He looked skeptical until Williams called out
to me. “Is there a problem, Mr. Drake?”

I looked hopefully at the gangsters and said,
“If you sneak out the backdoor, maybe they won’t see you, but if
they do it’s not a problem because you don’t have a briefcase full
of money or anything else. Just drive around the corner or
something until they’re gone.”

He licked his lips then answered, “Yeah,
that’s right. No paper, no time. They won’t have nothing to pin on
us. Okay fine, but if you playin’ us, I’m gonna kill you.”

He snapped his fingers and Junior dutifully
hid the briefcase. Afterwards, I pointed them towards the
backdoor.

Before the door even closed I was telling the
detectives who my visitors were. I told them who they worked for,
their plan to murder my cousin, and the 20,000 dollars they offered
me to give them the information.

They went to dispatch a patrol car to the
scene. Williams said he would need the money as evidence, so I went
to the bedroom and retrieved $20,000 from the briefcase. I left the
other $80,000 in its hiding place.

Stone was waiting for me inside as I walked
back to the foyer. I handed him the money, and he assured me of my
safety.

“The patrol car will stop them a few miles
down the street. They won’t know you tipped us off.” He told me how
they would probably cave in and give up their boss, especially if
they thought Ricky would testify against them. Just when I started
to relax, Williams came in and reminded me of their original
intent.

“Mr. Drake, we are still going to need you to
come down to the station for questioning.”

“Can I finish getting dressed?” I asked.