Chapter 18
Noah
A moron’s farm is many miles away.
To bring it closer to the city, he knocks down seven milestones.
–Philogelos (The Laughter Lover)
She has to be okay. She has to be okay.
When the kitchen staff and I got to the top, Mo already had a car running and waiting in front of the elevators. Fuji had his gun out and aimed when the doors opened. When he spotted Mary Jane in my arms, he cursed, put the gun away, came for me, and took her as if I’d ordered it.
“I’m taking her to the hospital.” Fuji didn’t even wait for a response. What else could I say? His gaze held rage. I knew if anything happened to her, not only would I hurt myself, he’d be there to put his gun in my face. I would accept the death with no problem. Clearly, he loved Mary Jane as much as me, probably more as a brother and sister, at least I hoped for his sake.
But he did love her, so I let him take her away.
Outside, hundreds of men stood in the parking lot. Choppa, the Bordello Brothers, and Hugo lay on the ground face down. Five men pointed guns at the back of their heads.
“Someone get Crusher. He’s fucking holding a skull and shit.”
He didn’t get any sleep. He’s never good when he doesn’t get any sleep. I hoped he would have let go of the fucking head by now.
305 walked over to me, right as Fuji and Mo sped away with Mary Jane, and others went down the elevator to bring up Crusher.
Fuck. Please, be okay, Mary Jane.
“What the hell happened in there?” 305 asked. “I didn’t know who was responsible so I grabbed everyone coming out of there.”
“Where’s Butterfly?”
“I know how you feel about her, so I had JJ take her away to my guy to patch her up.”
“How I feel about her?” I almost screamed. “What the fuck does that mean?”
305 raised his hands and backed up. “You always soft with Butterfly and I heard some things. I figured. . .well, look, boss, she’s with J.J. now.”
“With J.J.?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Call him.” I stared at my bloodied hands.
Is that Mary Jane’s blood?
“What?” 305 pulled out the phone even though I didn’t answer.
“Check on JJ.” Taking off my jacket and unbuttoning my shirt, I headed over to the four guys. The ones dumb enough to think they could join with Butterfly and go after me. They shook on the ground as expected. Urine drenched the air. The twins had most likely pissed themselves.
My people flooded the parking lot. There must’ve been fifty of them. I gestured for all of them to come over. Many did with no problem, but I saw a few struggle, before moving as if they weren’t sure what to do. Those few were sprinkled throughout the crowd, but all had that same look. They were scared.
So Butterfly got to others. Loyal men had no need to fear me, but cowards did.
“Who has a long blade?” I held my hand out.
A tall, black dude rushed over to me with a fucking machete.
“Stand up, Hugo.”
He remained on the ground, but now he began mumbling some prayer and drooling all over himself as he cried.
Mary Jane better be okay.
“Somebody get this motherfucker up.” I slung my shirt and jacket on the ground. Two big guys picked Hugo up and dragged him to me. “Turn him around so he can see the crowd.”
What is this, God? Some sort of lesson. You give me her and then you take her away? She better be okay. She better fucking be okay or this entire city will pay. The innocent and the guilty.
“I think that Domingo’s and Rasheed’s deaths have triggered a problem in this organization, when at once, we’d all been happy and at peace.” I stretched my arms and gripped the machete hard. “I want you to all know, as your supervisor, that it is in my best interests to maintain a certain quality of life within this organization.”
I walked over to Hugo and the the two men holding him up. “Every employee will be treated with the utmost respect.”
I slammed the machete into his gut. Blood pooled under his shirt and spilled out of the gash. Meat appeared angry red and ripped apart, and Hugo screamed in agony. “Take off his shirt and stuff his mouth. I want to make sure everyone can hear me.”
They did what I told them and quieted the man.
When this angry, I had no fear or phobia like the other times. Too much rage boiled through me. In that moment, I was ready to see as much blood as possible. I didn’t give a fuck which one of them sprayed it out the most.
I told her that she was safe with me and on our first date, she gets stabbed.
Exhaling, I turned back to the crowd. “Although no one has said anything, I get a sense that people want to do things differently. Am I right?”
Everyone shook their head no. Even 305, who damn sure had proven his loyalty more times than many. There was something about a bloody machete that made people want to listen more.
“Oh, good. So morale isn’t that bad.” I nodded. “but just in case,” I returned to Hugo. “Open his jeans and pull them down.”
“Excuse me, boss?” One of the men holding him said. “Did you say pull his pants down?”
“Yes.”
They did, but neither seemed excited about it.
“Now,” I swung for Hugo’s crotch, but didn’t let the blade touch it. I needed to get a few good swings in, before taking it there. It was best that I enjoyed this moment. I didn’t want to do the other thing, which was die in agony while waiting to hear about Mary Jane.
“Please, Noah!” Hugo begged through the cloth. “Just kill me. Just kill me. Please don’t.”
The guys stuffed his mouth more.
“It’s too late for pleading, my friend.” I wiped the machete’s blade on his pants and swung it around in my hand. “So employees, my dedicated staff of motivated men. We meet tonight so that I can explain to you that there is an open-door policy in this organization.”
I got in front of Hugo and yanked down his boxers. It hadn’t been the highlight of the night, but then my week had already gone to shit. His sad little dick dangled and he struggled to get out of my men’s hands. With his bloody shirt in his mouth, he could barely keep out the screams, but at least, everyone could still hear me.
I placed the blade on the tip of his dick and tapped it over and over as I spoke. “I want you all to stay calm and be assured that there is a grievance procedure in this organization where you can voice your complaints and be heard.”
I raised the machete in the air and in a flash, I slashed the tip off. That bulbous, meaty thing dropped to the ground along with pink and green gunk and a stream of blood that seemed to never stop. Bile rose in my throat. I turned away from the mess.
She better be okay.
The Bordello Twins tried to escape. Other men rushed and held them down. Choppa damn near had an asthma attack, coughing and sneezing on the ground. But poor Hugo was done. At least he would be in a few hours when he bled to death.
“Tie his hands up and leave him by the shore.” I dropped the machete to the ground. If Crusher had been okay, he would’ve brought me over a wash cloth.
I have to clean this shit off of me and then get to the hospital to be with Mary Jane.
Holding my hands out in front of me so no more blood would get on me, I headed to my limo. “Don’t even let him drown. I want him to have time to think, before he dies.”
I turned back to the crowd and held my hands together, displaying a welcoming smile to all of my men. “Are there any questions and/or suggestions about how we do things?”
No one looked my way. They stared off into the space behind me, as if giving me eye contact would be a signature on their death certificate.
I got to 305. “Handcuff the rest of the guys and bring them to the club through the back entrance. I want to take my time with them.”
305’s mouth dropped a little, but he closed it quickly. “Are you okay, boss?”
“No.” I gazed up at the sky and cursed God too many times for my soul to count. “Did you hear back from J.J?”
“No, he never answered his phone.”
“Then J.J.’s dead.”
“What?”
“Butterfly declared war. She moved too soon and let her emotions get in the way of logic. You see her or her people and you fucking shoot first.”
“Shoot women?”
Fuck.
Groaning, I rubbed my face with both of my hands and considered the question.
You knew this shit would be difficult for me. Didn’t you, Butterfly? You knew I couldn’t go hard with you like I would with a man.
Mom raised me a certain way. I couldn’t tell anyone how or why, but she’s fucking made it impossible to kill another female. I didn’t know what it was. She used to do stupid things like make me hold the door open and cuddle next to her as we watched her Sunday morning prayers on the television. Whatever it was, I had no heart to hurt a woman.
“No, don’t shoot any women.” I cracked my neck and tried to think of an alternative.
“We could hurt them,” 305 offered.
“Naw, if we tell my people to hurt them, then they might go too far. When men mix violence with women, they start punching and taking their dicks out, and they take it too far.” I blew out a long breath. “No. We don’t touch her women. But we do fuck up any man guarding the place. Be sure to give them a chance to quit, but if not, take them down. I don’t want anyone guarding her brothels.”
I headed off to the limo and stopped. “Burn them down, too.”
“All of them?”
“Every fucking property. There won’t be any place for anyone to get their dick sucked in this city until this is over. In fact, if anybody that works with me goes after any of the women, kill them. I don’t have time for men to be ruled by their dicks. The worst way to get to Butterfly is not by a slap in the face or mean words, it’s her fucking pockets.”
305 said something else behind me, but I had no time to listen. I needed to get to whichever hospital Fuji had taken Mary Jane to. I had to get to her side and hold her hand making sure that she would be okay.
Crusher, you better be fine, too.
This street shit was nothing anymore. It used to be my life, but that all ended when her silly behind stumbled into my club. Everything else darkened around her light.
Weeks ago, I would’ve stayed in that parking lot and brutalized the rest of them. Months ago, I would’ve stormed the blocks, seeking Butterfly in every dark house and shadowed corner, enjoying the hunt. But not since Mary Jane. A year ago, I would’ve never considered worrying about some woman who I barely knew, but she came and turned it all upside down.
Baby, you better be okay.
Pissed, I threw the old list away and made a new one. But writing it gave me no satisfaction. There was only one task. This wicked duty booming in my heart.
Kill everyone that gets in Mary Jane’s and my way.