Marcus

I looked out the window again and the lights across the street were still not on. Angela told me that she would be over later when she got off of work. We had talked a lot of things out and even though I still wasn’t sure why Angela left me, I knew that she had thought that she had to. It wasn’t the answers that I wanted, but there was a comfort there that I hadn’t been the only one with feelings.

Now I was starting to get a little worried about her. It was well past the time that she told me she got off. I started to pace and found myself out on the porch to drink a beer. I was moving slower, but a little fresh air was what I needed. Well, what I really needed was to get better and take care of Angela, but for now I enjoyed the soft breeze. It was warmer than usual for this time of year, so I wasn’t going to complain. It was perfect to me.

“Marcus? Hey man. I haven’t seen you in a week, where the hell you been?”

Kevin was on his porch and before I could say anything else, he was on his way over, saying something about how wrong it was for me to drink without him.

“You didn’t come to the party.”

“I know, sorry about that. Something came up.”

Kevin was on the porch now and moved to the chair beside me. “I wouldn’t have minded if you brought Melissa. Anise gets along with everyone, or she will try.”

“Why would I have Melissa with me?”

“I thought you two were back together.”

I forgot all about bringing Melissa home with me the other night. It had been stupid, beyond stupid, but I wasn’t thinking clearly when I did it. Angie had me so flustered that I didn’t feel like I had a choice but to do it.

“No, not at all. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“What about that cute little brunette that was over here last night?”

I shook my head. “Are you living precariously through me Kevin?”

“Come on, I have to. Me and Anise have been together for a long time. I have to get the low down from someone.”

I would have told him my secret if I would have been braver. Truth was that he had what every man wanted, even if they didn’t say it out loud. He had a woman that loved him and was sane. She was there when he came home every night and stayed loyal. I was getting too old to play the field anymore, especially when all I wanted was Angie. The games and the girls were not as important as they had been before. Before I would put them on my arm as a symbol, marking how much of a man I was. Now I see how childish it was and how much time was wasted.

“Trust me when I say this Kevin, you aren’t missing anything.”

He sat back in the chair and smiled at me. “I don’t know about that. The brunette was someone that I think I would miss.”

“Angie is different.”

“Angie?”

“Yeah, she just moved in across the street.”

“And you already have her coming to your house in the middle of the night with a dish of food?” He shook his head like his own words were unbelievable. “Man, you got some skills.”

“It’s not like that.”

He looked disappointed and I almost wanted to agree with him. “I have known Angie for a long time.”

Kevin stopped and sat up. “Are you telling me that she is that Angie?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what the hell I mean. I mean is she the one that you have a tattoo of on your back?”

Sighing to myself, I really didn’t have to answer. He already knew somehow and I swallowed hard. “Yeah, she is that Angie.”

Kevin grinned bigger and I didn’t like the way he was acting.

“It’s about damn time.”

I didn’t ask what he meant. It didn’t matter.

“So she is ‘the one’? “

“I don’t know. She is something.”

“Well don’t let her go again. I have a good feeling about her.”

“I didn’t let her go the first time.” She left. I had a good feeling about her to.

“Oh, well don’t fuck it up.”

“You just don’t want Melissa back around.”

“Yes and I will agree to that with no shame. That girl is crazy and the whole neighborhood has been so much more peaceful with her not in it.”

“Damn Kevin, tell me how you really feel.”

He chuckled and took a drink of his beer, polishing off what was next. “You know I always do.”

My phone buzzed and I hoped it was Angela. When I saw it was Melissa, I started to think that she read minds or something or that sort. Were her ears burning because we were talking about her? I set the phone back down without picking it up. I had messed up bringing her back here, but I wasn’t going to make that mistake again. I didn’t want Angie to know that I was with her again, because I wasn’t. The last thing that I wanted was to give Angie a reason to cool off from me.

“Who was that?”

“The devil.”

“Don’t mess it up.”

“I’m not.”

When the phone buzzed again, I almost didn’t look at who it was, figuring that it was Melissa again. I did look though, hoping that it was someone else. I wanted it to be Angie so bad that I willed it that way. Her phone number came up on the caller ID and I grinned to myself, not even worried about the man next to me.

“Hello?”

“Hey Marcus. How are you feeling? I heard you had a rough week?”

It was not Angie on the phone. The male voice was gravelly and I had never heard it before.

“Who is this and why are you on Angela’s phone?”

“Oh, she is here with me and I thought I would give you a call before we get started.”

Why were the hairs on the back of my neck standing up?

“Get started on what? Who the hell is this?”

“You should know who I am. I am the one that is going to kill this hot little piece if you don’t get down here. I am the one that is going to get rid of your pretty little girlfriend for fucking with my men. You should have died Marcus. It would have been easier on everyone, especially Angela.”

My mind was racing and I was trying to think of who it could be. The most natural answer was that it was someone related to the shooting. I had other enemies, but not like this. This was different. No one in New Orleans that knew who I was would do such a thing. They would know better.

“She is not my girlfriend.” I said that because I wanted Angie distanced from me. I didn’t want her to have to pay for something that I did or because of who I am.

“She’s not?”

“No, you have the wrong piece of ass. If you knew me any better, you would already know that. This must be one of the guys that tried to shoot me last week. We thought we got all of you fuckers.”

“Almost. There is only a few of us left.”

“Leave while you can. When my boss hears about this, there is going to be nothing for you to do but die yourselves.”

My heart was pounding in my chest and I forgot that the neighbor was sitting next to me. He knew about the gang and he knew that I was in it, but there was a lot that he didn’t know about, namely me getting shot. Just the thought of it made my side hurt and I grabbed it without thinking about it. I couldn’t let them think that Angie meant anything to me. If they did, they would hurt her. I wanted him to think that they had the wrong girl.

There was a chuckle on the other side of the phone. The sound grated on my nerves and I worried that I had done wrong. What if they just got rid of her anyways? She may have seen too much, been somewhere that she wasn’t supposed to be. Would they get rid of her because it was easier than letting her go?

“I think we have the right one Marcus and you are going to do what we say or she isn’t going to be around very long.”

He sounded menacing, but I still wasn’t sure that giving him what he wanted was the right course of action. I needed to speak to Lucas to see who was left. I needed him to really think that I had nothing to do with Angie.

“Angela was a chick I banged a long time ago. She means nothing to me and if you knew anything, you would know that I would never give into anything, especially not for a woman. You do what it is that you think you have to do. It isn’t going to change anything. If you know me, then you know where I live. You can find me here. Don’t hide behind some damn woman.”

I hung up. I knew that it was a chance. It was a big chance, one that I hoped that I wasn’t wrong about. I knew what kind of people the Arc Angels were. They were the only ones that would do something like this. They were the only ones that were stupid enough to mess with me. Everyone else knew better and I had a feeling that whoever it was that had just called was going to learn the same thing soon enough. I was going to make sure they did.

“What is going on Marcus?”

Looking to Kevin, his eyes were wide and I knew that I didn’t want him to hear that conversation. He would think that I was cold and uncaring. I know that is what it sounded like, but that was the point. If I showed any emotions at all, it would be used against me. I needed to show them that I didn’t care an iota about Angie. Then they would have no reason to hold onto her.

“Just give me a minute Kevin.” I was already dialing Lucas’ number. He was the one that would know what to do. There was a hit on his people and he needed to know. Apparently it hadn’t been taken care of fully and I was going to pay the price now. No, Angie would. I couldn’t think like that. Every time I did, it physically hurt.

“Okay, sounds like you got some deep stuff going on.”

He was right and though he didn’t leave my porch, I was thankful that he didn’t say anything else. I am sure he had a lot of questions, we both did, but I was positive that none of those answers were going to be forthcoming right now. Right now I needed Lucas to call so that we could figure something out. I know that it sounded like I didn’t care, but from the feeling in my stomach, it was clear that I did. I couldn’t stop caring.

“Lucas, thank God you answered.”

“What’s up Marcus? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah I am good. Listen, we didn’t get them all the other day and now we are going to have to finish them off.”