Chapter 26
Noah
On a visit to the city, a moron catches sight of the full moon, and asks his father if other cities have moons just like it.
–Philogelos (The Laughter Lover)
Fuji and 305 waited in the living room while I grabbed Crusher. No one had said anything about my walking in the towel, but I knew one of the motherfuckers were joking on me as I rushed off. No one knew where Crusher was, but I had some ideas. I headed to the guest room where we’d put the red-head. Sure enough, that stupid Beauty and the Beast song played in the room.
She’s already scared, man. Now you’re going to sit your ugly ass in there and play this shit.
I cracked the door a little to peek in on him, praying to God that he hadn’t been cutting off her fingers or doing worse. Mary Jane would fucking kill me if Crusher hurt her.
The red-head still crouched in the corner, but at least she’d stopped shaking.
Good. She’s alive.
“The song, Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorites.” Crusher pressed a button on his phone and lowered the volume a little as it came on. “The chick who’s singing it is from this old tv mystery show. Murder She Wrote. You ever heard of that?”
The girl sat there with wide eyes and a closed mouth.
“Well, anyway. I didn’t know the chick could sing too. I thought she only knew how to solve mysteries and what not.” He started the song over. “I like this song, because it’s all about how love is good no matter what you are and how throughout history people have been in love. Sometimes, when I’m killing people, I think about who that person might’ve loved and I hope that they enjoyed the person. Some of them probably loved a whole lot. Back in the day, I tried to keep their hearts, but Noah never let me. Well, one time he did, but it stank up the place and. . .”
The girl returned to shaking.
“Oh I’m sorry. Noah says, sometimes I should keep certain things to myself, when I’m talking to a chick.” Crusher changed the song to Hakuna Matata as if that would be enough for her to forget what he’d said. “This keeps me in a peaceful zone. You ever heard of this?”
Tears fell from her eyes.
Oh, God.
I stepped in. Crusher stood. The girl dove for the floor, but instead of going for the bed or somewhere far away, she got behind Crusher’s feet.
O-kay. I guess it’s cool to be with the monster that you know.
“What are you doing, man?” I tightened my towel on my waist.
Crusher frowned. “Why aren’t you wearing any clothes, boss?”
“Never mind all of that. Come in the living room.” I stepped out. “And stop bothering her.”
“She likes the music. When I play it, she doesn’t shake.”
I walked off. “Sure she doesn’t.”
After closing her bedroom door, Crusher followed behind me. “She let me give her a sandwich.”
“Well, she won’t eat anything else from you, after that heart story.”
“I probably shouldn’t talk about killing people to her.”
“No, chicks don’t dig that.”
“What do they dig?” he asked.
Come on, man. I don’t need any more problems this week. Correction. This year.
I stopped in the hallway and looked at him. “No.”
“What?”
“No, you cannot keep her. She’s staying here to heal and eventually she’s going to fucking talk so we can help her. Then she’s out of here to whatever family she has.”
“What if she doesn’t have any family?”
“Doesn’t mean you can kill her, Crusher.”
Rage blazed over his face. Usually it didn’t scare me, but this time I stepped back. In that moment, I wished I had my gun. Crusher wasn’t a hot head. Serial killer in some ways, sure. But not some murderer in need of anger management. He did things due to some fucked up shit in his childhood, but only if I allowed it. Most of the time he painted, listened to his Disney music, and remained chill.
Crusher was not chill at this moment.
I wish I had my gun right now.
His hoarse voice roared out of that big mouth. “I would never hurt her!”
Silence filled the space. His big fists shook on his sides.
What the hell is going on with him?
I kept my voice low. “Okay, Crusher. You won’t hurt her.”
His expression changed to neutral. “And I want to keep her.”
“Don’t fucking push it.” I walked off.
“I’m keeping her,” he muttered and I pretended not to hear him, not ready to deal with this new side of Crusher. If he was serious, I’d have a real problem on my hands. Neither one of us were punks. When we went in, we fought to kill.
I’ll deal with this Crusher stuff tomorrow.
It must’ve took an hour to explain my plan to Fuji, Crusher, and 305.
The whole time I talked to them, they kept the craziest expressions on their faces. Fuji’s eyes continued to widen as I paced back and forth in the towel. Whereas 305 just kept rubbing his forehead like he was confused. Crusher glared at me with his furious eyes, still probably pissed about our conversation in the hallway.
“And so if I retire, you see, then Butterfly might make a move, but it will be with someone that has time for that bullshit.” I adjusted the towel a little, feeling it loosen on my waist. “If I don’t have the power, she won’t have the motivation to go after me and Mary Jane will be safe.”
305 raised his hand. “Can I ask you a question, Boss?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Okay.” He squinted his eyes as if studying me. “So, what have you drank or ate in the last twenty-four hours? Are you feeling dizzy or—”
“Motherfucker, I haven’t been drugged.”
A boom came from outside the hallway. Without even checking to see who it was, I yelled out, “Come on in, Mo, you creepy little bastard. You might as well hear this too.”
The door opened. Embarrassed, Mo slowly walked in and stood next to Fuji.
Why does he always have to hide and sneak around? Maybe, he’s been hiding all of his life. But from what? Maybe, I should ask him more about his life.
“Did you hear everything, Mo?” I asked.
“I’m not sure.” The boy raised his head and gave me that haunting stare. Since being in my employment, those eyes had filled with more death. His skin had turned pale, giving him more of a ghastly look and less of a healthy boy.
The boy’s goddamned eyes would probably disturb my dreams tonight. When I’d met him, I was sure that he’d killed. Now he’d watched enough death to turn any soul into stone. Guilt twisted in my core. I knew I’d helped harden him and now that I was leaving this life, I wasn’t so sure that had been a good idea.
I can’t change anything now. Maybe, I’ll make sure the boy has something of his own, after I leave.
What could I give him?
“Why aren’t you sure, Mo?” I asked. “Did you hear the conversation or not?”
“I did.” He had a teenaged voice, but his fucking eyes told me that he was an old man. For some reason, I just couldn’t look away while he continued to talk. “Because, boss, it sounded like you said that you’re going to stop running Din City.”
“I did. And your thoughts?”
Fuji and 305 eyed the boy. Crusher continued to pout.
Mo shrugged. “Can I keep it real?”
I nodded. “Go ahead.”
“It sounds like some punk ass shit to me,” Mo said.
Silence moved between us. Mo didn’t stir, but the others did. I hadn’t been big on opinions in my reign, but shit was changing. Everything came out clearer, once I really looked at what I loved about my life. There’d been a time when the cold beat of the streets kept me hypnotized. In some ways, Din City and I had a rocky love affair. I fucked her and she fucked me. The only problem was, I wasn’t sure if I enjoyed the sex at all. Had those gun-smoked orgasms been worth it?
I’d seen my parents struggle as a kid and believed that I wouldn’t be them. Once I started giving them money, I thought their lives would change. No matter how much I gave them, they remained true to themselves. Mom and Dad could’ve been in a goddamned mansion, but they wouldn’t let me get more than a little two-bedroom cottage out in the country. I’d tried to buy Dad a boat, instead he wanted a new fishing rod and claimed that walking to the small lake by the cottage was more fun than manning some machine. He talked about the peace of it all, the music in the wind blowing through the leaves.
Mom could’ve donned fur coats and diamonds. Every time I bought them for her, she gave it away to charity and reminded me that her wedding ring was all the jewelry she needed. I’d tried to get her to hang with Din City’s high society ladies, but she always refused, preferring her butterfly garden and checking on the many bird houses she’d hung all over the yard.
How my parents behaved around each other made me want to vomit all of the time. They had no concept of how not to touch the other in public. Dad’s hands were always on Mom and if I complained, he’d simply tell me to shut up and get my own woman.
Well, Dad, I’ve got my own woman. I fucking get it. Now, I want a goddam cottage far away from everyone. Now, I want to fish with you in the morning, garden with Mom in the afternoon, and pound my cock into Mary Jane all night long.
Money can’t buy that.
I nodded at Mo. “You’re right. It is some punk ass shit.”
305 scowled. “Maybe that cannibal chick gave you something.”
Fuji turned to him. “Cannibals? When did you all see cannibals?”
“Long story.” I waved that away and returned to Mo. “What I think is that Butterfly doesn’t want Noah the man. She wants the power. What do you think?”
Mo shrugged. “Everybody wants to be you. You’re the Beast.”
“Cannibals?” Fuji said again.
“Shut up about the cannibals.” I backed up and leaned against my Buddha statue. “So Mo, what if tomorrow I’m in the unemployment line or better yet, what if I’m applying for food stamps. What would Butterfly do?”
305 chuckled, “Fucking laugh like I’m doing.”
I glared at him. 305 stopped. But at least his joke had made Crusher smile a little.
Going back to Mo, I said, “What do you think would be Butterfly’s next move?”
The little guy scrunched his face up. “She may still try to kill you, but most likely she’d think that you were already done. She’d probably be. . .what’s that word? Intrigued. She’d probably want to know how low you could go in life.”
I placed my hands in my pockets. “You’re a smart fucking kid.”
The boy started to say something else. “But then. . .”
“What?” I asked.
“She’s going to probably go after whoever is in charge.”
“Oh, yeah. It would matter who I put in place.”
305 raised his hand again.
Annoyed, I turned to him. “What?”
“Since you’re not going to be my boss anymore, can I ask you to put some clothes on and then finish this discussion?”
“Shut up,” I said.
305 frowned. Crusher chuckled.
Mo stepped up. “If you drop out of the game, who are you putting into power?”
“Someone I trust.” I crossed my arms over my bare chest. “As far as I’m concerned, you four are the only motherfuckers that I trust to run the city. Well, there’s a fifth person, but I would only use him, if there was no one else. So who wants control?”
“Hell no.” 305 shook his head. “I’m not stupid. I don’t want anything to do with running Din City. This ain’t even my fucking city. I’m MIA all day, baby. If I didn’t have that warrant there, I’d be salsa dancing with some beautiful Cubana right now.”
I turned to Fuji. “You?”
“I’d planned on going where Mary Jane and you go,” he said.
“Jesus.”
Fuji shrugged. “You would need a bodyguard, boss, even in the unemployment line.”
“I have enough money to never have to stand in an unemployment office, Fuji. It was just an example.”
“Mary Jane needs a manager,” he offered. “And she can never be too safe. Butterfly might still try to kill her.”
Letting out a long breath, I left it alone. It didn’t matter what I said. In the end, Fuji and Mary Jane would come up with some stupid plan that I had to go along with.
I’ll have to get a damn cottage built next to ours for his stupid ass. What is happening to my life?
Crusher spoke up before I asked him. “I’ll be busy, boss.”
“With what?” I asked.
He wore an odd expression. “I’m going to try to figure out who Harmony is.”
I held out my hands. “Who the fuck is Harmony?”
“That’s what I’m calling the song bird in the room. I want to know who beat her and I want to get that person and hang them by their feet in my apartment for seven days. I want to have fun. I want that person to be my guest.”
A headache hit me as I let out an exaggerated sigh. 305 and I exchanged glances. We’d have to talk about Crusher’s infatuation soon, before something crazy happened. Crusher on a rampage would not be a good thing for Din City or even the east coast. I wasn’t going to be in power, but I would still keep a short leash on him. He’d started as a good friend years ago. Messed up in the head, but devoted to me to the end.
Focus on the problem now. That’s all I have to do.
“So, that means that the creepy little bastard wins Din City.” I concentrated on Mo. To my surprise, he didn’t have a smile on his face. Instead, he appeared to be going over something in his head. “What’s up with you, Mo? You’re about to get exactly what you want? You can run Din City. I’ll announce it to my people. You should be happy.”
The boy shrugged. “I’m not sure if I want it.”
What the fuck is going on today? Last week everybody wanted the position. Now I’m having to beg people to take the city?
“What the hell does that mean, Mo? I’m giving you Din City and my men? You’re about to be the most powerful and dangerous kid on the East Coast.”
Mo shook his head. For the first time since knowing him, that hard expression left his face and the innocence of his age showed through. “I don’t know, boss. I never knew my dad.” Mo stared down at the ground. “All I’ve known is stories about you and all the things you’ve done.”
305 jumped in. “This motherfucker wants to marry Noah and run off in the sunset.”
I scowled at 305. “Let him talk. What do you want, Mo?”
Mo didn’t look at me. “All I’ve wanted to be is you. Noah likes to kill people, so I like to kill people.”
That shit sounded so strange coming from such an innocent face.
Mo twisted his fingers with his other hand. “So if you don’t want to control Din City, I don’t want it either. I want to go where you’re going. Do what you’re doing. As long as I can kill someone every now and then, I’m cool. I’m sure wherever we go, they’ll be people to kill. Motherfuckers always running their mouth. . .oh yeah. . .and I like being around MJ. She’s dope. I’m going to get me somebody like her.”
Jesus. Why does it seem like I can’t get rid of these motherfuckers? Is there glue on my hands?
Fuji shrugged. “Wherever we go, Mo can bunk with me, until we get a big place.”
I groaned.
305 raised his hand.
“What?” I yelled.
“Yo, this is mad weird. I feel like we’re going to end this meeting in a song while we hug each other.”
“That would be fun,” Crusher added. “The song. Not the hugs.”
305 shook his head. “I don’t like hugging men.”
For once, I agreed with 305. “No one’s hugging.”
“What about the red-head, Boss?” Fuji gestured to the guest room where she’d remained.
I would need to do something with Mary Jane’s pet or she’d fucking kill me on the first day of my retirement. Crusher wasn’t an option.
“Don’t worry about her.” Crusher cracked his neck as if he would be fighting one of us. “I got her.”
305 and I exchanged another glance.
“Do we even know who she is or where she came from?” 305 asked.
Crusher faced 305, towering over him. “You didn’t hear me the first time? I got her.”
“Yo, what’s up, man?” 305‘s hand went to his holster. “I’m just asking questions.”
Crusher refused to stand down. “I can smash your head before you can pull that gun you use for your dick.”
“Use my gun as a dick?” 305 quirked his eyebrows. “I don’t even know what that means.”
“Alright. Alright. This shit is getting us nowhere.” I pushed away from the Buddha statue. “So basically, what we’ve figured out in this productive conversation is that my retirement is some punk ass shit, Fuji will continue to be on Mary Jane’s doggy leash, Mo has forced me to adopt him in the creepiest way possible, and the red-head’s going to need a restraining order against Crusher soon. Meanwhile, we probably all want 305 to shut the fuck up.” I clapped my hands and stormed off. “Good talk.”
I headed back to my bedroom. “I don’t know why I even left my bathtub. I’m going back to Mary Jane. At least she actually has something to say.”
Somebody whispered, “Pussy whipped.”
I got to the door, touched the knob, but didn’t turn it. “I’m retiring from running the city, but I’m not retiring from killing people. Be very careful.”
“Okay, boss,” they said in unison.
Fuji cleared his throat.
I glanced over my shoulder. “What?”
“Who would be the fifth person?”
“What?” I turned around.
“You said that we were the only four men that you trusted to run the city and that there was a fifth, but you don’t want to use him, unless it’s an emergency.”
“I was talking about Aristotle.”
305 backed up. Fear overcame Crusher’s and Fuji’s face. Poor Mo was too young to understand the terror that came with that name.
“Don’t everybody look so happy.” I shrugged. “Who else would I trust with my life? Besides, he could help me with Butterfly, just in case she doesn’t bow down easily when I give control to him. In fact, the more I think on it, the more I can’t see why I didn’t go to him earlier.”
Aristotle could fix it all.
Fuji’s voice lowered. “But Aristotle? He’s fucking crazy.”
“And cursed,” 305 asked.
“You’ve just described every guy on the streets,” I said. “So new plan, tomorrow, we get back to work. Crusher, take 305 with you and get ten guys to go with us to Aristotle’s tomorrow night. And 305, don’t fucking bring up that curse shit around them. We need a large group.”
305 argued, “But Aristotle’s place is cursed.”
“Someone I trust has to run Din City. Let’s see what he says,” I said. “And we’re all going to his cursed place so put some courage in your chest and chill the fuck out.”
Yes. Aristotle will help. We just have to deal with that house and the curse or whatever. I would say it’s more bad luck.
I returned to my Mary Jane. My new drug. The one I’d hope to never get over.
I found her naked in my bed and wrapped in blankets. I didn’t want to wake her, especially since she’d woken up from that nightmare earlier, but I couldn’t help touching her. I had to take a hit of that hypnotic drug between her thighs.
I am pussy-whipped, but I will never admit that shit out loud.
I explored her body from head to toe—caressing her curves, stroking the points of her knees, kissing those round hips, nibbling at the bend of her elbows, and consuming each nipple one by one.
“Mmmm.” She turned over with her eyes remaining closed and wrapped her arms around my neck. “What did you decide?”
“I’m choosing you.”
Yes. Aristotle will save us.
Yawning, she opened her eyes. “Didn’t you already choose me?”
“No, I was just trying to make you fit into my life. I didn’t really have my eyes on the prize.” I kissed her and tried to swallow her fucking tongue down.
Damn. Why does she always have to taste so sweet?
She moved her head away and I almost screamed. “Baby, I was thinking of something, before I fell asleep.”
“What?” I asked.
“Is Butterfly’s mother still alive?”
“No. After her bastard of a husband left, she grabbed another one that liked to beat her. She had a thing for bad men. The guy accidentally killed her. I paid for the mother’s memorial. It’s this beautiful angel statue in the center of the cemetery.”
“Why an angel?”
I tensed. “That was her name.”
“Hmmm.”
I hovered over her. “Why did you ask?”
“You’re a dangerous man, but you have certain rules. So far you’ve always tried to keep your battles away from women and kids. Sure, you had to involve some of Butterfly’s women, but I get the feeling that she forced you to do that.”
“She did that when she grabbed you.”
“But you also don’t mess with anyone’s parents. I was thinking about the respect you gave to Domingo’s mother. She was hitting and screaming at you the whole time and you just took it.”
“She’s mom. Rasheed’s mother is mom too. I sent her money, after he died. I’ll probably send her more later.”
I thought of a plan, but didn’t really want to put it together yet. I had other things I needed to do as I lapped at another nipple. “How do you feel?”
“Noah, if you’re really asking me to have sex, then all I have to say is, please, please, and please.”
“But how does your body feel?”
“Hungry and in need.”
I sighed. “Mary Jane?”
“Fuck me, Noah. Please.” Her voice throbbed all the way down to my bones.
Fuck it.
My cock took over my thinking and in seconds, my towel was off and the conversation had ended.
The only thing that could be heard were our moans and the bed’s squeaking as I thrust into that sweet, wet flesh over and over, in and out. How lush that pussy was when it gripped my cock just so. How my lady knew what I liked, rubbing that puckered clit against me and rocking her hips just right. How those whispers of I-love-yous filled my ears and made me climax faster than her pussy could ever do. How I had to have her. Not just for the moment, like other chicks, but for a life time.