Durty South Grind (39 page)

He leaned back and squeezed the weariness out of his eyes before he took a deep breath and picked up the baby blue silk pants that obviously went with the shirt she had had on and tossed it on top of the shirt that was on the other bed. Then he lifted up a gold shirt and pants and nodded. While he was getting into the outfit, she tossed him a bottle of cologne. “See if you like the smell of that there; I think it's sexy as hell.”

After getting dressed, he sat in the chair beside the dresser and started rubbing the material, then smiled at her. “Feels good, smells good…I guess you done hooked yourself a nigga now, huh?”

She gave him a cute little curtsy and smiled. “Oh yeah, and it's been a helluva long time in coming too.” She began folding the rest of the clothes and put them back in the bag.

“Huh,” he said, leaned back and crossed his legs.

She put her hands on her hips standing on the back of her legs, fluttered her long lashes and glaring at him under eyed. “Whatcha looking all surprised for?”

He pinched his nose. “Because of what you just said.” He picked up the pack of Kool cigarettes she'd laid on the dresser.

She picked up the lighter and flicked him a light. “Baby boy, I done had some booty calls every now and then, but I ain't had a man I could feel in years. There, you satisfied?”

He blew a few halos of smoke into the air. “So how you know I ain't just a booty call?” There was an impish smile on his face.

She tooted her nose at him. “Call it woman's intuition; hell, call it whatever the hell you want to, I just know it that's all.”

He stood up, smiling, and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Yeah, old lady, I'm satisfied and you do know. Come on, you ready to ride?”

She didn't bother answering and scooped up the bag and followed him out the door yakking, “Yeah, let's go and keep this in your mind, I got your back.” She stopped suddenly, wiped her hands across her face and said through her fingers, “Aw, damn, I forgot your muthafucking shoes.”

“My shoes, what you talking about, woman?” he said over his shoulder, puzzled.

She pushed through the door mumbling, “Nigga, I was so godayum anxious to get me some of that dick that I forgot to get you some shoes to go with these clothes.” She quickly added a smile, grabbed his ass and gave it nice little squeeze as she passed him at the door. “Don't worry about it, though. I already got you
several pairs at the house, which you would have known if your ass had come back.”

He shook his head smiling as he eyed the new bounce to her step as she headed for the car. “You were just real sure of yourself, weren't you, girl?”

She looked over her shoulder, squinted her nose, stuck her tongue out and said real sassy-like, “Yep.”

Mona heard a muffled whirling sound coming from Al's game room while she was placing the cases of beer on the kitchen table. She thought the garage door was malfunctioning, but it was to close that. With piqued curiosity, she fast stepped to the game room.

She eased the door open and jerked back when she saw the pool table sliding along the floor, followed by the sound of footsteps coming from under the floor. A sneaky girl by nature, she closed the door to a crack and watched wide-eyed as Al's head appeared coming up some stairs. Her hand instinctively flew to her mouth as she silently backed away anxiously wondering what she should do. She definitely couldn't let him know she was there or what she had seen.

She retraced her steps back to the kitchen, her instincts telling her to get the hell out of there. Her head swirled around anxiously before she headed for the door, but no sooner had she touched the knob, she thought about the beer. “Damn,” she mouthed to herself and ran back to the table and picked up the cases. She had made two steps toward the door before she realized that she couldn't open it with her hands full.

She huffed, spun around and laid the cases on the floor. Fighting
desperately to control her shaking hands, she managed to get the door open. Wide-eyed with nervousness, she scooped up the cases and broke into a silent sprint for the car. Tossing the cases into the backseat, she quickly started the car up and backed out of the driveway and drove back in the direction from where she had come. The adrenaline rush she was experiencing kept her from seeing Al's face watching her through the garage door's curtains.

Look at that silly-ass ho. She forgot to close the damn door.
Al smiled as he wondered what kind of game she'd bring back with her. “Bitches,” he mouthed as he headed for the kitchen, but changed his mind. He wanted to see her expression when she tried to figure out whether she had left it open or not. Already trusting only himself, he decided to act dumb to see how long she would go or if she would reveal what she had seen. He had been dealing with lying, conniving bitches all his street life. So the length of time it took for her to reveal it would go a long way into determining how far and how much he would let her into his game or kill her ass.

There was one major strike against her; it was what he'd witnessed on the video. The only time that a bitch leaned at a nigga the way she had leaned at Stacy was when she really wanted to lean all the way into him. There was no telling what a ho would tell a nigga that she went in the deep for. A few more strikes and he'd have to get rid of her the only way he knew how to get rid of a pest.

He shook his head and muttered, “Damn,” cursing himself for the wicked thoughts he was having. Was he becoming some kind of a psychopath or what? Was he actually beginning to enjoy getting rid of people, or problems? Hell, people, problems; they were quickly becoming one in the same to him. Or was it a way of him securing his survival in this human jungle of money first
and foremost? Or was the spilling of other people's blood over the years finally getting to be an ambition for him? He smiled insanely as he saw Mona pulling back up into the driveway.
Let the games begin,
he thought as the telephone started to ring.

It was one of his business associates who was wondering whether he was gonna keep his end of their bargain. He assured him that everything was falling into place. After hanging up he placed a call to Henry County. The response he got caused him to rush to his room to get some money out of his wall safe behind a picture of Hank Aaron hitting homer number 754. Then he headed to the closet to get his coat and Glock pistol. On his way out the door he brushed by Mona. She opened her mouth to speak only to have him put up one finger to indicate that he'd catch her in a few as he dashed to his car and drove away. He'd decided to let her stir in her thoughts for a while longer. Besides, he didn't feel like she was going anywhere. So he'd deal with her after he took care of his business.

As Don turned from the counter after paying for his Big Mac and fries, his attention was drawn to a burgundy Mercedes at the red light. He stretched his neck to get a better view of the driver but was unable to tell who it was. The light turned green as he exited the fast-food restaurant and started walking in that direction as the car pulled off. He hunched his shoulders and headed for his own ride. As he pulled into the street, his first thoughts were to follow the car but then he said under his breath, “Naw, that couldn't have been Al because he was too anxious to get his share of the dope to leave his house.” He turned down the street in the direction of his crib.

As he pulled into the driveway several minutes later, he couldn't help admiring the layout of his boy's spot.
Partner really has his shit together,
he thought as he pulled up behind a brown Mercedes in the driveway.
Damn, bro sho do have a thing for the Benz.
He got out of his candy apple-red Thunderbird.

As he walked to the front door, he could've sworn that he saw a shadow move across one of the windows in the garage. Maybe it was his imagination.
Oh well, what the fuck does it really matter?
he thought as he rubbed his stubble waiting for someone to open the door.

After knocking three times, he got impatient and walked around peering in the windows. He stopped when he got to the corner of the garage, figuring that he was pushing it with the coke under his passenger seat. There was no telling what some nosey neighbor, who might be peeking out of their curtains at that very moment, might be thinking. Or do for that matter. He'd give the doorbell one more try and then head on back to the club and let Al catch up with him later on.

As he started for his car he was sure he'd seen a movement at the curtains in one of the windows. When he took a step back to get a better look, he heard, or rather he felt, the door crack open. His eyes immediately reverted back to the door, which was ajar just enough for him to see an eye and the tip of a feminine nose peeking out.

He saw Mona's beautiful face, her still damp hair plastered to the side of her face. She gave him a weak smile and motioned for him to come on in. His naturally suspicious nature had him cutting his eyes to each side and behind before he advanced to the door.

She had a towel wrapped into a turban around most of her hair as she used her hip to push the door open barely enough for him
to squeeze through. He stepped over the doorsill and took one last look behind him and closed the door. When he turned toward the room, the sight of Mona's voluptuous body made him arch back admiring the seductive sway of her hips as she walked ahead of him, tightening the sash of her red silk kimono robe. She was still damp with the way the material was clinging to every curve as she headed toward the bar. Several drops of water slid down her coffee cream-colored calves.

The thought of her curvaceous nakedness under the robe made him take a deep breath as he tried to control the sudden ache in his groin. That didn't do much good, especially when he saw the smile on her face when she turned and lowered her jet-black eyes to the swelling bulge in his pants.

She let out a short snort and asked, “What's up, Mr. Black Don? Beyond the obvious,” in a husky voice that sent shivers down his spine.

He braced his shoulders and arched a brow. “You must have left those angel wings upstairs on your way down here, angel.” He paused to wipe a hand down his face before adding, “Naw, naw, on the real, sweetie, where's Al? He was supposed to be here waiting for me.”

She smiled demurely, appreciating the comment and batted her long lashes to show she had. She started feeling the power of her feminine glow over him and figured that she could possibly persuade him to reveal some of the answers to the questions that were running through her mind. She mixed them both a large glass of crème de cacao and Bacardi rum. Then she sashayed to the couch and slowly crossed her legs, briefly exposing part of her soft, slightly muscular thighs.

Daintily she handed him one of the glasses and purred, “He was pulling out as I drove up. He did seem to be in quite a hurry, at least that's what it looked like to me.”

“In a hurry, where to?” he asked as he sat down in the love seat directly in front of her, took a sip of the drink she had made and placed the glass on the coffee table.

She arched her brow, thinking,
What the fuck, did he not hear me or what?
She turned her mouth down before she answered, “Well, he did indicate that he'd be back shortly, but no, I don't know where he went.” She paused and turned her head sideways to look at the miniature grandfather clock over the fireplace. “Which was about a half hour ago.”

Staring down into the drink, Don was wondering why he hadn't called to let him know that he had taken off so suddenly, especially since he was rushing him to get over there. Then he reasoned that he'd probably be back in a little while. In the meantime what was he to do about this fine-ass woman sitting in front of him that obviously didn't have any inhibitions about displaying her feminine attributes.

Mona watched him over the rim of her glass for several minutes knowing that he was trying to figure out how to deal with the sexual vibes she was shooting at him. She licked her lips and said, “Is there something in particular you want me to tell him when he gets back?” She crossed and then immediately recrossed her lovely legs.