RedBone (55 page)

Normally she would have to add spit, or Vaseline, while having sex so she said, “Am I? I never got wet before.”

“What I tell you? This your first time, so consider yourself a virgin tonight.” Slade kissed her passionately, and increased the speed one notch. As if Farah were a pro, she started fucking him back slower at first, before going a little faster. It wasn’t just about a man this time, the sex was about her too. Their bodies danced as they explored one another for the first time.

“Oh, my God!” Farah cried. “Baby ... I’m ... I’m about to ...” She stopped moving.

“What’s wrong?” He felt himself about to bust inside of her. He wanted them to reach at the same time.

“What is this feeling?” She got her rocks off with Coconut a few times, but never while having sex. She was starting to believe it wasn’t even possible. The feeling was so grand that she wanted to taste him. She imagined a stream of blood lying on his skin, and her tongue slowly licking it off. This caused her to get even more into the motion, as she bucked him with all her might.

“You’re about to cum. Me too! Keep it right there! Just like that, baby,” he ordered, as he released himself into her body. “Aww ... that was so fucking good!”

Her cum was being pulled as if it had a force of its own. Her toes spread, and she bit into his shoulder, hard at first, before she went lighter. Slade didn’t seem to be fazed one bit by the pain. Resting her head on his shoulder, Farah’s body let go as she clawed at his arms.

“I love you so much, Slade Baker.” Tears rolled out of her eyes, and ran down his arm.

“Then why you crying?”

“Because I hope when you find out about me, that you’ll love me the same.”

“Babes, there ain’t shit nobody can tell me about you that I won’t crack them in their fucking mouth for. Now get some sleep, we got a lot going on tomorrow.”

The next morning when Slade woke up, his phone was ringing. When he went to answer it, he realized the top of his finger was cut. He was so drunk the night before that he didn’t remember how it happened. Reaching for the phone, he was rattled by the sound of his brother’s voice. “What’s wrong, Major?”

“Audio ain’t come home last night, man!” he yelled. “Some niggas called and said they got him! And we got to come up with some bread or else he’s dead!”

Chapter 70

“No! This can’t be happening!”

—Farah

When Farah got to Markee’s house with Slade, she was surprised to see her sister and brother in attendance. “What’s going on?” She alternated her eyes between Mia and Shadow. She was immediately frightened. “What y’all doing here?” The door closed behind them, and Slade locked it.

“Somebody snatched Audio last night,” Major interjected.

“And your sister was with him,” Markee added.

“What?” she screamed, covering her mouth. “No! This can’t be happening!”

“Where the fuck were you, Farah?” Mia yelled. “I called you twenty times last night! So much shit happened, and you were nowhere to be found! It wasn’t until I went into your room and found your phone”—she raised Knox’s BlackBerry in the air—“That I realized you left it.”

Seeing Knox’s spiritual attempt to get her caught from the dead, Farah rushed over to Mia and snatched the phone out of her hand. The case made the phone unique, so she hoped the Baker Boys didn’t notice that it belonged to their brother. When she looked at them, they appeared unwise. “Why you do that shit?” Mia asked. She had no idea what she’d just done.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t believe somebody got Chloe. My baby sister is gone!”

Slade stood in the middle of the floor in a shock of his own. He couldn’t imagine all the drama circling his family at this time in his life. Maybe God was saying they had to grow up, and with two brothers missing, he heard Him loud and clear. When his mother found out, she was going to lose it, he was sure of it. Slade rubbed his bald head, trying to think of what to tell Della. “Markee, what do we know about this shit?”

“What happened to your finger?” Markee asked, because of the Band-Aid he was wearing.

“What difference do it make, bitch-ass nigga? I asked you a mothafuckin’question.”

When there was a knock at the door, Slade ignored him and opened it. Willie Gregory walked inside, and looked at the solemn look on the Baker boys faces.“I’m so sorry about this shit, young bloods. I knew my son could be a cruddy mothafucka, but I didn’t think he would stoop this low,” he said as Slade closed and locked the door.

“You think Randy know we ran up in his house?” Major asked. “I mean, why else would they want my brother?”

Willie looked at Markee and then Slade. “You sure we can speak around him?”

Slade looked at his cousin and said, “He good.”

He sighed. “Okay ... I don’t know how Randy would know that shit.” He rubbed his head. “Half of his men couldn’t wait for me to get out his jail, that’s why we didn’t have a problem recruiting Juice, God rest his soul. And I know everybody else involved would not have said shit. Randy just added things up and got me. The boy smart enough to know I was coming back for what’s rightfully mine. I’m not sure how he figured you fellas were involved, though. But I swear on my life, I’m gonna get your brother back.”

“What about my sister?” Mia asked from the couch.

When his eyes moved in the direction of the voice, he saw Farah sitting by her side. “Wait, what is she doing here? he asked, pointing at her. “I met her when she was no more than thirteen years old. Randy was obsessed with this girl!” He pointed. “This is probably how he knew right here!”

“You use to fuck with Randy?” Killa asked, gripping the .45 in his waist. “I knew he liked you, but I didn’t think it was that deep.”

On cue, the rest of the Baker Boys moved in like vultures, and Mia and Shadow stood on guard to protect Farah. “I know y’all betta back the fuck up away from my sister. Shadow pointed. “That nigga been chasing her for years, and she didn’t want nothing to do with him.”

Slade walked over to the altercation in motion, and said, “Back up, fellas.” When they didn’t do it he roared, “Now!” They dispersed like fog and Slade addressed Willie. “I don’t know about all that, but she with me now.”

“I don’t trust her. She use to fuck my son, I’m trying to tell you.”

“Maybe I should make myself clearer. This is my wife, and she’s also the one who kept Randy busy while we ran up in his spot. She deserves a little more credit than that.”

Willie gave Farah and her siblings another look, and she wondered if Eleanor told him anything about the accident with Knox. “Whatever, son. I’m not gonna argue with you about what you want. It’s clear your mind is made up. Just know that I’m going to be combing the city looking for Audio.” He heard Shadow grunt. “I mean both of them.” He cleared his throat. “And that’s on my last name. I don’t know where Knox is either, but I’m sure Randy had something to do with this too.” Farah looked at Mia, and Killa caught the glance. “I knew the young man a short time, but he meant a lot to me.”

“And what if we can’t find them?” Major said.

“We’ll give them the half a mil they asking for,” Willie continued. “When I said we would do business, I meant good business. I could tell by being around your brother that he came from a solid breed. I need that type of man on my team, and it’s a shame it couldn’t be my son. But I’m gonna make him pay for everything if he harms one hair on their heads. Blood relative or not.”

Chapter 71

“I got this for my godson. I think he’s gonna love it.”

—Farah

Farah walked into the hospital to visit her friend and her new baby. She was beside herself when she heard about the horrible news. Walking into the room, holding a glass vase full of yellow roses and a bag, she set them on the table. Rhonda was lying on the bed, looking out of a window. She was in a hazy world all her own.

“Rhonda ... are you up?” Farah asked softly.

She turned around to look at her. There was a blank expression on her face, and she appeared neither happy nor sad. “Yeah ... I’m up.”

“I’m sorry about everything. I didn’t mean to hit you. That bitch sprayed some shit in my face, and I was trying to defend myself. I hope you know I would never do something like that on purpose. I’m sorry you went into labor early. Rhonda rolled her eyes. “I didn’t know about any of this until this morning.”

“How could you know? You left the baby shower, remember?”

“The only reason I left was because I couldn’t see. You saw me, Rhonda. I was fucked up! And I’m gonna pay Shannon back for it too. Technically all this shit is her fault,” she threatened. “Look, I don’t want to argue with my friend, and I didn’t come here for all of that.” She reached in the bag and pulled out a fluffy yellow teddy bear. “I got this for my godson.” She smiled, waving the toy. “I think he’s gonna love it. I bought it from Build-A-Bear.”

Rhonda took the stuffed animal out of her hand, and held it to her chest. She squeezed it so tightly the neck bent backward. “I’m sure he would ...” Tears ran down her face. “I’m sure he would have loved it, if he was alive.” She looked back out of the window at the clear blue sky. “Please leave, Farah. I’ll see you later. Believe that.”

Chapter 72

“I don’t think the devil himself would want to fuck with me now.”

—Della

Della rode silently in the cab on her way to Markee’s apartment in Platinum Lofts. She was heavy with grief, and hadn’t felt this emotionally broken since she lost her mother, the great Renita Scott. Since her children had been in the nation’s capital, two of her sons were missing and nobody had answers. Growing up in the country a few years shy of the slavery days, she knew if you wanted anything done, you had better do it yourself.

“Here’s the place,” the black male cab driver said, parking the car. He turned around to look at the old woman, who had so many frown lines on her face it resembled a road map. Her expression was hard, but she was heavy with love,
if
you were on her good side. “This building hasn’t been up long at all. I heard the apartments inside are real nice and spacious though.” He chuckled to himself. “I’m more of a three hots and a cot man myself, if you know what I mean.” Della kept her silence. “Don’t need all this fancy stuff at all, no siree!” he lied, knowing if his coins were in order, he’d move with the quickness.

“Thank you for the ride,” she said in a heavy country accent, thicker than her sons . “You have a card? I got money to spend on a driver who can be there for me whenever I need him.” She handed him a one hundred dollar bill for a forty-five dollar fare. “You think’you can handle that?”

The driver greedily tucked the money in his shirt pocket and said, “Ma’am, for this kind of cash”—he tapped his shirt twice—“I’ll sleep on your doorstep,” he joked.

With a stern expression, she said, “That won’t be necessary. I do have one request though. I don’t mind a little talking here and there, but when I ride, I prefer my silence. Can you work with that?”

He turned around and faced the road, figuring she was referring to the way his mouth yapped nonstop all the way over from the airport. “Look no further. I’m your man. Della had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to help himself, but at least he was on notice. Because if she snapped, he’d know why.

She opened the door, and eased out of the back of the cab, holding nothing but a big black purse and a wooden cane. She didn’t bring luggage because as long as she had a few dollars in her pocket and a beating heart, she had everything she needed. Clothes and the like she could get once she got situated.

Before pulling off the driver leaned over to the window and said, “Be careful in there. I don’t believe what I’m hearing but—”

“If you don’t believe it, why would you tell me?” she asked, interrupting him.

Slightly embarrassed he said, “I’m just giving you this so I can sleep better at night.” Della shook her head in annoyance. In her opinion, there was nothing worse than a gossiping-ass man. “I just wanted you to know that they saying some crazy bitch lives there, who likes to drink blood and stuff. I know of at least three people who moved out already because of that.”

Della smirked. “Sir, as angry as I am, I don’t think the devil himself would want to fuck with me now, and certainly not a vampire.”

Chapter 73

“I can’t deal with her right now. I got to use all of my energy on Chloe.”

—Farah

After leaving the hospital from visiting Rhonda, Farah trudged into the house with a heavy heart. Everybody she loved was turning against her, and she wondered if she really needed to change. When she went into her room, Mia and Shadow were sitting on her bed in silence. The window was open, and the daylight absent of the sun lit up everything. “Why are y’all in here?” She sat next to them, and kicked her shoes off one by one. Then she flung her purse to the floor. “Any news on Chloe yet?”

“No ... I can’t believe this shit!” Mia said. “Our world is coming down hard!”

“Why is all of this happening? I can’t deal with this bullshit right now!” Shadow yelled. “Fuck!” Then he looked at Mia, and it was obvious they knew something. “We should tell her.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Stop playing games and tell me what’s up! Please ... I don’t think I can take any more bad news.”

“Mamma’s dead,” Mia cried, while Farah was relieved that this was the reason for their dismay. “We went to tell her that Chloe was missing. She changed the locks so we couldn’t get inside, so we called the police. I smelled something foul, but I didn’t know what it was. When the police came, before they even got to her apartment, from the outside they knew what was up. She was dead. Sitting in front of a TV. Somebody slit her throat, and shot her in the chest.”