The King Of The South (12 page)

Sloan gripped the steering wheel as she checked her side and rear view mirror.
What the hell just happened?
She was shaking. The gun
on
the passenger seat
in her purse
made her pulse quicken.
What the hell was she doing? Why would King beat that man like that? Shit!
Sloan was too scared to cry. She just wanted to get back to the safety of her own apartment and forget the night ever happened.

“Shit, I gotta get rid of this!” Sloan closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned down Kimble Avenue and drove into the old Winn Dixie parking lot. The parking lot did not have any lights, and there were no open stores in the strip mall.

Sloan looked around and turned off the headlights. She drove around to the back of the strip mall. On wobbly legs, she got out of the truck and walked toward a wall lined with dumpsters.
H
er cell phone
provided a little bit of light as she
tripped over broken beer bottles and other debris on her way to a large dumpster. It was full of trash,
which she found odd.

S
he
used the tail of her dress to pull the gun out of her purse. “Good riddance,” she muttered as she threw the gun into the dumpster.

S
loan r
an back to King’s SUV and jumped inside.
Her heart was beating one hundred times a minute as she
looked around for a moment, and then turned the key. She drove blindly from behind the store, and turned onto Pairston road. As she approached the stop sign, she turned on the headlights and continued toward the interstate.

__________

King sat on the steel bench
,
pissed the hell off. His wrist had gone from throbbing to numb. He knew that it was at least sprained, but these mutha fuckers were not trying to hear that he was injured.

“Come on, nigga.” Pool growled as he led King to have his mug shot taken.

“Damn man, why you so hostile? Was that your brother or something?” King said laughing.

Pool stopped walking for a moment. “You and them niggas always got jokes, huh?” Pool said. He elbowed King in the side.

King fell down as the air escaped his lungs. “Hey, hey, everything alright?” A detective asked as he walked over to King and Pool.

“Yeah, I think he just tripped
,
is all.” Pool said, pulling King up. “I got him. N
o
problem here.”

The detective studied Pool and then looked at King, who was trying to catch his breath.

“Aight,” the detective said, walking away and looking back at King.

King felt his head begin to spin due his blood pressure rising. Police or not, he would not forget what the fuck
had j
ust happened with Pool.

__________

Sloan pulled into the parking garage of King’s condo building. She had not stopped shaking since she left the parking lot of the club.
Finally, she
turned
off
the engine and rested her head against the steering wheel. She inhaled, trying to calm herself down. As she exhaled, tears flowed down her face. Her entire body shook as she sobbed. She could still hear the sickening crack as the butt of the gun hit the guy’s head. It seemed to be playing on a
continuous
loop in her head.

She grabbed her purse and got out of the car, heading toward the elevator. As she passed a row of parked cars, something grabbed her from behind. A hand covered her mouth, and she was lifted off the ground. She tried to scream, but as she inhaled, a strong chemical smell flooded her nostrils
and her mouth.
He
r head
felt
light
,
and then darkness followed.

__________

Sloan woke up in King’s bed. She jumped up and looked around, but the room began to spin, causing her to fall back onto the bed.

“Shit,” Sloan said, closing her eyes and massaging her temples. “Oh, my head is banging.”

“Hey baby, I got something for your head.”

Sloan felt her blood chill in her veins. Her heart seemed to slow down as she opened her eyes. When her vision focused on the man standing beside the bed, her heart began to pump faster. She screamed when she saw Deshawn standing beside the bed holding a glass of water and a bottle of Tylenol.

“Shh, shh, I’m not going to hurt you, baby. Calm down, calm down.” Deshawn said as he sat down on the bed.

Sloan’s head was pounding, but she quickly jumped out of the bed. “What the hell are you doing here, Deshawn?”

“Saving you, baby. I’m saving you from this mistake you’ve made.” Deshawn said as he stood and walked toward Sloan.

She stepped back against the wall and looked toward the door.
The remote was right next to her on the nightstand, so she
grabbed
it
and threw it at Deshawn
,
hoping his dodging it would give her enough time to make it to the entrance. As she ran by him, he grabbed her by the waist and slung her on the bed. He covered her mouth as she attempted to scream.

“Shut up, shut the fuck up!” Deshawn said, placing his weight on her.

Sloan’s lungs began to burn from
the
lack of oxygen. She stopped struggling, and he slowly moved his hand from her mouth and shifted his weight to allow her to breathe. “Damn baby, you are so beautiful. You blew them away tonight, you were better than Jill. They didn’t even ask for an encore from her, like they did you. I love hearing your voice, but you know that, don’t you.”

Sloan shook her head in agreement.

He caressed her face and traced her lips with his fingers. When he leaned in to kiss her, she turned her head.

Deshawn laughed and rolled off her. “Really? You would deny me a kiss, after fucking a damn low life like Ron
n
i
e
King? Someone who put you in danger, and then just abandoned you?”

Deshawn stood and walked over to the large black duffel bag that was on the small table.

As Deshawn unzipped the bag, Sloan began to cry.

“Calm down, damn! Can’t you see I would never hurt you? Stop crying!” Deshawn yelled.

He turned around with a large Ziploc bag. Sloan’s eyes locked on its contents as Deshawn smiled at her.

“You see? I told you I’m going to always protect you, always. All you gotta do is listen to what I tell you, and you will never be unhappy or unsafe.”

Sloan sat up slowly
. Sh
e stared at the gun in the bag, and then turned her gaze to Deshawn.

“What do you want, Deshawn?”

“You not going to even try to deny that you threw this away tonight? Good girl, I knew you were smart, you just made a bad decision.” Deshawn shook his head and placed the gun back in the duffle bag. “Sloan, look at you. Hiding guns, obstructing justice, when did you become that kind of girl? As these street niggas say, you ain’t bout that life.”

Sloan pulled her legs into her chest and buried her face in her hands. How did she get here? Last night was one of the best nights of her life, and now it had turned into a nightmare
.

Deshawn caressed her face and grabbed the bag. “I will be in touch with the time and place we need to meet.” He pulled her face closer to his. “Sloan, I understand why you left me, but you didn’t give me a chance to explain. I forgive you, and don’t worry about this.” Deshawn said, patting the duffel bag. “All of this will disappear, okay?”

Deshawn kissed her forehead and walked out the room.

Sloan sat on the bed and listened for the alarm to beep twice, signaling that he had opened and closed the door.

__________

Yogi parked her car beside King’s SUV
and
took off her sunglasses to allow her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the parking garage. It was two o’
c
lock
,
and her baby had been locked up for hours. He had not been allowed to make a phone call until this morning to Carlton. This bitch had not even called to check on him.

She slammed the car door
a
nd began walking towards the elevator. This was the shit she was afraid of with this girl. Shit, she couldn’t stand Yessenia, but at least the bitch knew how to handle herself, and would have gotten King a bond by now.

She pressed the up button
a
nd waited for the elevator. The doors opened and a tall slim man stepped out. He held the door for her and nodded.

Yogi smiled politely at the stranger and pressed the button for the fifteenth floor. King always chose the wrong type of women, but this time
,
he went and got himself a weak little uptown chick who thinks she is the next big thang on the stage.

Yogi
wrinkled her nose at the strong
chemical
smell that greeted her when the elevator doors opened.

For all the money he is paying to live here, the hallway should not stink,
Yogi thought as she
walked down the hall, and stopped at King’s condo door. She took out her key and
unlocked the door
.

As she entered the apartment, the alarm began to blare. She ran to the key pad and put in the code, but the alarm continued.

“Shit,” Yogi said as she searched her cell phone for the code. She heard something click behind her and froze. She swallowed and turned slowly, only to be met by a barrel of a Smith and Wesson.

“Oh shit, Ms. Yogi!” Sloan said as she lowered the gun and walked over to the keypad. “I almost shot you!”

Yogi looked at Sloan. Her hair was in a messy ponytail, and she had on one of King’s t-shirts. Her eyes were swollen and red, and she had been chewing her bottom lips so badly, they were split and chapped.

“Kareem called already and told me he was going to bail King out, Ms. Yogi. He told me he didn’t want me coming down there seeing him like that. Whatever that means.” Sloan said as she sat down on the couch, still holding the gun.

Yogi waited for her heart to return to her chest. The last thing she expected from this girl was for her ass to actually be strapped up. “Umm okay, why don’t we put the gun down? Have you eaten anything?”

Sloan stared off into space for a moment. She stood and placed the gun on the small glass table and walked out onto the patio.

Yogi looked around the apartment. She had never seen it so organized, clean, and comfy. Nothing was out of place. She walked out onto the patio and sat down in the blue chair.

“I
… I
should have called you, I know.” Sloan said, looking out. “It just all happened so fast, and I couldn’t think straight. I have never seen that side of King before. I don’t even really understand what happened. We had an awesome night. We danced, had some drinks, and were leaving the club. The next thing know, King banging on this dude’s head with his gun. Shit, I didn’t even know he carried a gun!” Sloan said, sitting down
on
the blue chair opposite Yogi.

Yogi took out her cigarettes and tapped them on the arm of the chair. She lit i
t, and sat back as s
he inhaled the smoke and released it through her nose, trying to calm her nerves. Right now, she wanted to throw this weak ass bitch over the damn balcony
and be done with her stupid ass.
She really fell for the whole music producer bit that King gave her?

“When King handed me the keys and the gun…”

“Whoa, what? He gave
you
the gun? Where the hell is it?” Yogi said, sitting up.

Sloan studied her for a moment. She narrowed her gaze, and sat back in the chair. She knew that Yogi was definitely not her biggest fan. She could feel the coolness from the woman at dinner a couple of weeks ago. She had to contain herself for the moment
,
because this woman had the nerve to look at her as if she wasn’t good enough for her son!

“I got rid of it, Ms Yogi. I am not stupid, nor am I as naïve as you think.” Sloan said, not dropping her eyes from Yogi’s.

“Really? So where is the gun?” Yogi said, now leaning forward.

“It is gone, and that is it. It has been…. taken care of.” Sloan said, standing again.

Truthfully, she was terrified that Deshawn had the gun in his possession. She had no idea what or how he
intended to use it. She knew it would only be a matter of time before he would come seeking his payment for keeping her secret. The alarm beeped and the women looked at each other.

“Babe, babe?” King yelled as he walked through the door.

Sloan ran inside. She threw her arms around him, and for a brief moment, the events of the night disappeared. His touch made her feel safe. She sobbed as he kissed her cheeks.

“Hey, hey what are the tears for, babe? I’m fine, everything is ok.” King said as he held her. “Hey Ma, what you doing here?”

“Boy, you’re gonna stand there and really ask me that? What the hell were you thinking? They say that boy laid up in the hospital! Mouth wired shut.”

“Good, he shouldn’t have shot it off to me, and called my babe a bitch. You know I ain’t letting no one disrespect her like that.” King said, kissing Sloan on the forehead and walking into the kitchen.

“Disrespect her? Is that what this is about? What do you think your father would say to you right now? Seeing you act stupid like this over some girl?

“Damn babe, we ain’t got nothing here to eat?” King said, ignoring his mother’s last statement. He walked over and began looking through the refrigerator.

“Umm, I can run to the store.” Sloan said
and walked
to the bedroom.

Yogi rolled her eyes and turned to King.
“This, this right here ain’t gonna work. She isn’t made from the right stock to be with you, bab
y
. Why in the world would you give this little girl the gun to get rid of? Why?”

The door opened and Sloan walked out
wearing th
e same t-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans. She slid her feet into a pair of brown flats, grabbed her keys, and walked out the door without looking at either of them.

“What did you say to her, Ma?”