Xavier: (Indestructible) (6 page)

However, it was Keith who answered before Cassandra could say
anything. “Everything is fine.” His voice was comically thin and hesitant. “
We
will have practice as usual.”

“There’s just too many damn
we’s
around here,” Cassandra
grumbled, annoyed that Keith had unknowing diminished the weight she had wanted
to put on the word.

Xavier gave him a long stare. “Fine, go practice.” He
approached Cassandra and kissed her hard on her lips. “I will be waiting over
there for you.”

Cassandra and Keith watched him as he strode nonchalantly to
his vehicle.

“Damn, I’m officially stupid!” Cassandra said breathlessly.

Keith glared at her.

She grinned.

Hours later when she was finished for the night, Cassandra
ran over to where Xavier stood waiting by his car. She spread a towel on the
passenger seat of the SUV and climbed in.

“Hi,” Xavier greeted her.

“Cameron didn’t show up today,” Cassandra said worriedly.

“Will you have dinner with me?” he asked, deliberately not
commenting on her missing brother.

“It’s about seven thirty. Let me take a shower at the house,
and I can come with you after.”

“You can shower at my place. I’ll have some food delivered.”

“As tempting as that sounds, I don’t have a change of clothes
with me, and I want to check on Cameron. Only God knows what those bastards
have him doing,” Cassandra muttered.

“Cameron is eighteen years old. You’re going to have to let him
make his decisions,” Xavier said calmly.

“I’m sure many people made that mistake with teenage boys. Some
of them take longer to see what’s best for them. I’m sure Cameron looks at what
I do and thinks it’s too much effort, and then he looks at what our brothers do
and sees how easy it is. He thinks that’s a far better life. I get it. But
drugs destroy, not just the people who consume them but society suffers as
well.”

“Look, you don’t have to convince me of the dangers of drugs.
But if you don’t stop intervening for him, he’ll never learn what you already
know. You have shown him by your action, honey. And have shown him what he has
to do. Trust that he will make the right decision.” Xavier parked outside her
house and jumped out of the vehicle. He came around to the passenger side and
opened her door. “You have twenty minutes.”

“Thanks for the talk.” Cassandra grinned. “I have hope. Your
speeches are getting longer and longer.”

He grunted.

She laughed as she ran inside the house.

Ten minutes later, Cassandra had taken a shower and washed
her hair. She had yet to see Cameron or any of her brothers. As she walked into
her bedroom from the en suite bathroom, she met her sister, Keisha, sitting on
her bed, obviously waiting for her.

“Hey, girl, we hardly get to see you anymore. How’s the
training going?” Her sister grinned at her affectionately.

“Hey, hon!” Cassandra walked over and kissed Keisha on her
cheek. “How are my nieces and nephews?”

“They would be a whole lot better if you would stay your ass
still and play with them sometimes,” Keisha scolded.

“What are you talking about? I took all of them over the age of
four to the basketball court on the weekend.”

Keisha laughed. “They want to spend time with you, their aunt,
not their basketball coach.”

“Yeah, well, athletic skill is a gift that keeps on giving.
They can spend as much time with Auntie Cassandra when they’re in the NBA. It
would kill me if they start to think this way of life is a good thing.”

“Girl, jump off that soap box sometimes. You’re the only one in
this family who’s a bleeding heart. No one holds a gun to those addicts’ heads
and makes them take our product. We are business people, and when there’s a
demand, we ensure the supply.” Keisha laughed. “We’re no different from the cigarette
and alcohol companies. Are you telling me that our product kills people any more
than cigarettes or alcohol?”

“We’re not going to have this debate now, hon. I have a date,” Cassandra
told her.

“What? With who?”

“No one you know.”

“What about Jordan?”

“Jordan, the numbers guy?”

“Yeah, girl, since the government legalized gambling houses dey
raking in the money. Jordan is a millionaire now and will soon be a billionaire
because he has invested wisely.”

Cassandra dropped her towel and quickly shimmied into her
G-sting panties and bra. Having to get dressed in numerous locker rooms over the
years, she unconsciously dressed in front of her sister with no inhabitations
about her nudity. “You know damn well if I’m so opposed to drug dealing, I
would be just as adamantly against gambling houses. Like drugs, they destroy
society.” She angrily pulled on her jeans and mid-riff T-shirt. “I’m surprised
that you and Monique haven’t gone after Jordan. He’s right up y’alls’ alley.”

“Girl, you know we already tried to hit that. Jordan has always
had a thing for you and won’t give us the time of day. Just so you know, Duane
thinks an alliance between our families would be a good thing,” Keisha warned.

“Thanks for the heads-up. But I couldn’t care less what Duane
or Jordan wants. They are both criminals and should be in jail.” Cassandra
grabbed her handbag and turned toward the door of her bedroom. “Do you know
where Cameron is?”

Keisha gazed at her with tired and defeated eyes. “Look, girl,
not all of us are meant for all that hard work. Doing what you do at such an
elite level ain’t easy. Cameron is still feeling his way. Let him choose, Cass.
It has to be something he wants to do.”

Cassandra sighed. “Someone very wise just told me the same
thing.”

“Yeah, well, there ya go. You need to listen.”

She crossed over to Keisha and kissed her again. “Thanks, sis. I
love you.”

“Yeah, yeah, you say that now, but I know you be cussing me
every time I take a package overseas.”

“That’s because I don’t want to see you end up in prison. You
will get caught, Keisha. Don’t think they’re not watching all over us. I have
no idea why they have let y’all continue as long as you have, but I know it’s
only a matter of time before they end this. For the sake of your children,
Keisha, please don’t go on anymore runs for Duane. You’re taking all the risk
while he gets to sit his punk ass home in safety.”

Keisha laughed sadly. “I’m not like you, sweetheart. I have
bills, and my children have to eat.”

“If I get a good contract out of school in the WNBA, will you
let me take you out of this?”

Keisha looked at her thoughtfully. “Cass, this is the life I
want; the house, the cars, and the unlimited supply of designer clothes, shoes,
handbags, and jewelry. I don’t care how many contracts you get. You will never
be able to afford to turns us legit. This is the life for us.” Keisha stood and
hugged her. “I’m so proud of you. Go out there and make a better life for you.
We’re just fine, baby girl.”

Cassandra hugged her sister back.

“Cass, can you be home tomorrow night for dinner? I want us to
have one night when we can be together as a family,” Keisha asked.

Cassandra smiled. “Just make sure those idiots don’t bring
their hoochie girlfriends around to get in my face.”

“Girl, you know those fools don’t go anywhere without them.” Keisha
laughed.

Cassandra gazed at her sister’s carefree attitude and wondered
again if this was the last time she would see her beautiful sister’s smile.
Keisha
has no idea what she’s up against. With men like X on her trail, none of them
stand a chance.

“Would it have killed you to put on some makeup for this date?
You’re such a jock!”

“This is me ninety-nine point nine percent of the time. If he
wants to be a part of my life he has to get used to it.” Cassandra laughed as
she breezed from her bedroom.

***

“Hi, sorry I’m late.” Cassandra climbed in the SUV, fastened
her seatbelt, and glanced over at a silent Xavier. His gaze was warm on her
exposed mid-riff.

Xavier turned the ignition and backed out of the driveway. “You
made it within thirty minutes. Was there a problem with your brothers?”

Cassandra breathed out loud sigh. “None of them were home,
including Cameron.”

“Are you okay?”

She took her time answering him, trying to mask the fact that
she was close to tears at the hopelessness of her family’s choices. She
swallowed the lump in her throat and said softly, “Yes, I’m fine.”

“You’re a poor liar,” Xavier muttered.

“What do you expect? I know that eventually you guys will take
them down and they will be in prison. As much as I hate some of my siblings,
there are many innocent children who will be affected by that. My sisters have
eight children between them, and the brothers have another ten or so with
various girlfriends.”

“This is not my case, honey.”

“Why don’t they just legalize this stuff so there can be some
regulations?” Cassandra ignored his calm statement and glanced out of the
window as the vehicle ate up the miles to Paradise Island. “They freakin’
legalized alcohol, cigarettes, and gambling, why not this?”

“Do you mind eating at my place?” Xavier asked.

“What happened to ‘you’re too young for me’?” Cassandra teased.
She again looked into the rearview mirror, trying to see if the men who had
been watching her for weeks had caught up with them yet. She didn’t want them
knowing how to locate X. She was still puzzled by their boss’ interest in her.
He wasn’t the type of guy to date girls like her. The possibility that his
interest was connected with her brothers’ business did occur to her, but he was
a much bigger fish than her brothers would ever be. She was just glad that
tonight, just as they arrived at the bridge, a car came out of nowhere and rear
ended the car that had been quietly following Xavier’s SUV. One tall black man jumped
out of the car that had rammed into their stalkers. He didn’t look in the least
intimated when the Chinese men came out of their vehicle yelling obscenities at
him.

Xavier paid the toll after crossing the bridge and took the
right turn from the traffic light. “I’ve invited you to my place to feed you,
nothing else.”

“So you’re not going to kiss me?”

“I didn’t say that.” He wore his usual unreadable expression as
he glanced into the rearview mirror as well.

Xavier watched Cassandra as she paced in agitation on his
balcony. They had finished their dinner of grilled red snapper and vegetables
when she’d insisted on calling to check on Cameron. She hadn’t any sort of privacy
for the call, as they had been sitting on the balcony enjoying an after-dinner
glass of wine. However, he stood and reentered the condo as soon as she started
a conversation with one of her brothers. He knew something must have happened
when she started gripping her hair and yelling into the phone.

She finally stabbed a finger on the disconnect button and
marched into the condo. “Can you take me back to the house please?” Her eyes
glistened with anger.

“What’s going on?”

“That bastard Duane answered Cameron’s phone and says that they
got into a fight with a gang in the inner city. Somehow Cameron got caught in
the middle of it, and the gang drove off with Cameron in their car. Those
assholes let them take him because they were outnumbered!”

“What are you planning?”

“Who says I’m planning anything? Didn’t you hear me? My
worthless, dumbass brothers left him!”

Xavier stared at her and waited for her to continue.

“I have to go.”

“I repeat, what are you planning?”

She glared at him. “I’m going to get my mom’s car and go look
for him.”

“Is that smart?”

“What else am I supposed to do? Wait for them to send him back
to us in pieces?”

Xavier sighed. “Have they called the police?”

She gave him a scornful stare. “Who the hell do you think heads
most of the gangs around here?” Cassandra grabbed her handbag and marched to
the front door.

Xavier calmly went into his bedroom. He strapped on his
shoulder holster, grabbed his guns, which were already checked and loaded, and holstered
two on either side of him, one in the waistband of his jeans at the back, and
another holstered at his ankle. He pulled on a black lightweight jacket, which
held his knives. He exited the bedroom and briefly held Cassandra’s angry gaze.
“Let’s go.”

They were on the bridge driving south to the mainland before he
started asking her questions. “Do you know which gang took him?”

“Yes,” she muttered.

Xavier glanced over at her pissed-off expression. “Look, honey,
I’m not the enemy here. Usually you’re a fount of information about this town.
Why are you holding back now?”

“Keep driving south. I’ll tell you when to turn next.”

Xavier was amused by her take-no-shit attitude. He knew he was
in for a volatile night whenever they met up with whoever took her brother. He
almost felt sorry for the bastards.

“Turn at the next corner on the right.” He took the turn. “Turn
on the next left.” He did a series of turns at her clipped instructions. Ten
minutes later, he brought the SUV to a stop in front of a wooden-structure
house. It appeared that all of the houses in the neighborhood were very close
together and painted in bright colors. Although it was after ten p.m., loud
music played from a speaker at a nearby house party, and there were numerous young
men and women with bottles of beers in their hands on the sidewalk. Older men
sat on the porch outside of the homes playing dominos and drinking alcohol. The
scent of liquor permeated the air. Before he could come around to open her
door, she had already exited the vehicle and was headed up the wooden steps to
the house.

“Cassandra,” he said in the stern voice.

She stopped in her tracks, but as soon as he stood beside her,
she took off again, angrily stalking toward the house, passing a few young men
who watched their approach with nonchalant arrogance.

Xavier couldn’t help but admire her fearless determination and
sexy-as-hell swagger. Those jeans looked as though they were painted on her
fine round ass. The mid-riff T-shirt, ending just under her pert breasts,
accentuated the chiseled contours of her stomach and silky smoothness of her
brown skin. He took stock of the six men watching them from the exterior of the
house. They were all armed with what looked like semi-automatic weapons.

“Hey, sweetness! Come over here. I got a big pole for you to
climb,” one of the men yelled out.

Cassandra ignored him and continued moving forward. Xavier
followed closely behind her.

Unfortunately, the idiot didn’t just talk; he came toward her.
“Hey, bitch, I’m talking to you!”

Xavier moved so fast he had slammed the bastard’s head into the
doorframe of the house, bloodied his nose, and knocked him to the floor before
any of the other five men could pull their guns. “No touching,” Xavier muttered
to the already unconscious man.

“Hey, mudderfucker, you have a death wish or something?”
Another man approached Xavier, pointing a gun at his chest.

Damn, I can’t take a bullet pointblank like that in front of
her. She will freak when she finds out what I am.

The young man’s dark skin gleamed with sweat, and he was
visibly shaking with nervousness while pointing the gun at Xavier.

Before Xavier could put a bullet in his forehead and end his
misery, Cassandra stepped in front of him and glared at the man. “Bey, I ain’t
gat time for this. Where’s Leonardo?” Cassandra hissed.

“What you wanting with Nado?” The man now pointed his gun at
her.

Cassandra grabbed the gun and pulled it out of his hand. “Bey,
don’t point a damn gun at me! You stupid, hey?” She slapped him on the side of
his head. “Don’t y’all have anything better to do than point guns at people?”
She turned and continued into the house, the gun still held in her hand.

Well damn.
Xavier almost grinned at her sass. Instead he
turned and delivered a massive fist to the man’s face, knocking him out cold. “That’s
for pointing a gun at my woman,” he muttered to yet another man who probably couldn’t
hear him. Xavier followed behind Cassandra, after ensuring he would have no
further opposition from the remaining four men. The men looked away, pretending
not to notice his cold stare.

“Where the hell is Cameron?”

Xavier heard Cassandra’s angry enquiry. “Shit!” He sprinted
into the house to catch up with her. He noted quickly the details of the
sparsely furnished room and where everyone was located in the room. It wasn’t a
large space, but it was crowded by the bodies present. There were about fifteen
men sitting lazily on anything that would hold them, and they were also
sprawled on the floor. Skimpily clad women were draped over most of the men,
who held beer bottles or joints of marijuana in their hands. A flat-screen
television featured a basketball game blasting in the background.

Cassandra stood in front of a heavy-set black man, who had two
women on his lap. He had on shades, even though it was in the middle of the
night, he was indoors, and the room was dimly lit.

“Hey, Cassandra, wassup? You still playin’ ball?” the smirking
Nado asked.

“Look, Nado, don’t mess with me. You may pull that shit with my
brothers, but don’t try that with me,” she snarled.

Nado slapped the asses of the women on his lap, telling them to
get up. He carefully rolled his large fat frame to his feet. He stood at just
over six feet and came to stand inches in front of Cassandra. Xavier grabbed
her hand and pulled her behind him so he towered over Nado.

Nado laughed. “So this is how you rollin’ dese days, Cassandra?
You won’t give me the time of day, but you slumming with this Andre the Giant
looking mudderfucker?”

Cassandra stepped around Xavier, placed one hand at her waist,
and poked Nado in his flabby chest with the other. “Nado, I’m not interested in
your flippin’ dumb ass. If I see one bruise on my brother, I’m going to kick
your fat ass.” Her voice was soft but laced with confident menace.

Nado spread his arms and laughed. “Look, boys, dis little bitch
here think she can take me on. You think that because you cute I gonna take
shit from you?”

“No, I just think that you’re a piece of shit who should have
been put six feet under years ago,” Cassandra snared.

Nado growled, drew back, and threw his meaty fist at Cassandra’s
face.

With the speed of a cobra, Xavier grabbed Nado’s fist into his
palm before the other man could hit Cassandra. He grabbed Nado’s massive arm
and twisted it behind his back until it snapped, bringing Nado to his knees,
and slammed the base of his gun to the side of Nado’s head.

Nado emitted a bloodcurdling scream!

Nado’s men scrambled to their feet, and the sharp click of guns
being drawn filled the room above the men shouting and women screaming.

Cassandra stood behind Xavier with the gun she had taken from
the thug outside and pointed it at the occupants of the room.

“Leonardo? That’s your name, correct?” Xavier asked coolly.

Nado looked terrified and started to visibly tremble with pain
as Xavier continued to twist the already broken arm.

“Don’t ever point a damn gun at her again.” Xavier tapped Nado
with his gun. “Do you understand?”

Nado glared at him with pure rage but reluctantly nodded.

“Good, now tell your men to lower their weapons and gather in
the corner over there,” Xavier instructed.

Nado blinked away the gathering moisture from his eyes and
tightened his lips. He refused to voice the instruction.

Xavier shot him in the right foot.

Nado howled with pain.

“Tell them,” Xavier said with deadly cool.

Nado waved his good hand at his men while he continued
whimpering.

Xavier watched as the men reluctantly lowered their guns to the
ground. “Move over there,” he instructed with the same cold, emotionless voice.

“X, I don’t want anybody to die tonight,” she said loudly. “But
I swear, if that idiot doesn’t bring my brother out, you can shoot his dick
off.”

“Where is he?” Xavier stared steadily down at Nado, who was
sniveling with tears raining down his round cheeks and dripping off his chin.

“Hey, Nado, you want us to cap—” one of the men started, but
Xavier shot him in his right knee. The man collapsed on the floor, screaming in
agony.

Xavier pulled on Nado’s injured arm again. Nado hollered as
though he was in mortal pain. The women in the room collectively gasped.

“We can do this all night,” Xavier advised coldly. “Where is
Cameron?”

Nado started crying in earnest. He lifted a beefy finger and
pointed to a closed door.

Xavier pointed his gun at Nado’s uninjured leg. “Tell your man
to bring him out,” Xavier said coldly.

“Linc, man, get Cameron out here,” Nado sobbed, looking at a
tall man standing next to the closed door leading to another room in the house.

Linc looked pissed and ready to explode, but he pulled open the
door. He disappeared into the room and came out a few seconds later with a
bounded-up Cameron in tow. It was obvious that they had beaten him; bruises and
cuts were visible on his face.

“Oh my God,” Cassandra exclaimed, and her palm covered her
mouth in shock.

“Take it easy, honey,” Xavier cautioned. “Loosen those ropes,”
he instructed Linc.

Once Cameron was free and the gag removed from his mouth,
Cameron slammed his fist into Linc’s stomach. “Don’t ever touch me again, sissy
mudderfucker,” he muttered fiercely.

Linc doubled over, gasping to regain his breath.

“You good?” Xavier asked Cameron.

“Yeah, man, let’s bounce.” Cameron glared at Nado.

“Cameron, gather the guns from the floor and follow Cassandra
to the car out front,” Xavier instructed as he put Nado in a headlock and
started dragging him toward the exit.

“You’re going to be sorry for this, Cameron. Tell your brothers
we coming for all a y’all,” Linc promised.

Xavier shot him in both knees. Linc dropped hard to the floor,
screaming in outrage. “Anyone else feel the need to issue threats?” No one said
a word. Xavier dragged Nado outside the little house. A crowd had gathered
outside.

“Man, Nado, you can’t let dis American come up in here and do
us like dat?” The young man speaking couldn’t be more than eighteen years old,
and he was also wildly waving his gun around.

“Put that gun down before you lose both legs,” Xavier advised
him calmly.

Cassandra and Cameron climbed into the SUV parked on the curb.

In the young man’s panic, he shot Xavier in the stomach.

Cassandra screamed and turned to climb out of the car.

Xavier barely flinched from the slight pinch of the bullet
piercing his outer skin.
I really hate being shot.

“Get back in that damn car,” Xavier muttered as Cassandra
started toward him. Xavier dragged Nado behind him and advanced on the stunned
young shooter.

“What the hell…” the young man started, his eyes opened wide in
fright. A bullet to the stomach should have brought Xavier to the ground. The
young man turned to run.

Xavier shot him in the hand that held the gun and then in both
legs. The young man crashed to the cobblestoned ground.

Three other gunmen raised their guns. Xavier pivoted swiftly
and disarmed them with rapid, precision shots to their gun arms.
Damn the
lengths I would go to not kill anyone in front of her. These bastards are lucky
Cass is here and I can’t afford to show her what a barbarian I am.

Xavier bent his head and spoke directly into Nado’s ear.
“Leonardo, if I even smell your fat ass near Cassandra or her family, I’m going
to come back here. And I wouldn’t stop with a few harmless wounds. Do you
understand what I’m telling you?”

Nado nodded vigorously.

Xavier dragged Nado toward the SUV again. Before climbing into
the driver’s seat, Xavier pushed Nado hard to the ground. He climbed in, turned
the ignition, and sped out of the neighborhood.

“I thought that guy shot at you?” Cassandra asked him.

“He did, but he missed,” Xavier lied smoothly.
It’s
fortunate that I’m wearing a black shirt. She can’t see the blood splattered
over the front of it and even now pouring from my wound.