When we got to my place I pulled the car around back in the alley. My small apartment was located over Larry’s Afrocentric Book Store and Juice Bar.
“Wheeew! Look at this ride!” He said in his heavy Jamaican accent coming out wiping his hands on a towel. The sounds of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song followed him out the door. Larry was a middle aged, ganja smoking Rastafarian, who wore his long dreads wrapped in a head wrap, because he didn’t believe in letting them go free in the heart of Babylon, which is what the Rastas called America.
“Hey Mon, you can look later, I need you to help me get this mon upstairs to me place.” I said mimicking his Jamaican Patwah.
He shook his head. “No mon, me don’t want to be an accessory to this crime.”
Folding my arms, I looked at him as if he had gone crazy.
“Are you kidding me? Don’t forget this was your idea. Also, don’t forget that you made the little elixir that I poured in his drink.”
He stood there for a minute looking at me through his blood shot eyes.
“Oh!” Was all he said before he came and helped get the man out the car.
It took Larry, Bria and I damn near an hour to get the big body upstairs. The whole time Larry complained that his heart was going to give out due to lifting such heavy weight with a chest full of ganja smoke.
“What now?” Bria asked as we all breathing heavily stared down at the body sprawled on my kitchen floor. The man was big, even passed out he carried an air of authority, making my little apartment feel even smaller.
I chewed on my nail as I thought about it. Rain was at Bria’s mother’s house, who wouldn’t be bringing her back till morning, which meant I had all night to try and convince Michael here to give his big brother a call and tell him to release his hold on my child if he ever wanted to see him again.
“Help me get him up in the chair.” Together the three of us got him in the chair. Larry went back down stairs and came back with rope. After we had him tied securely I let out a sigh of relief.
“I can’t believe I went through with this.” I told my two friends as we stood staring down at the man who still slept.
“Me cant’ either.” Larry muttered. “Well now ladies, I will leave you. The interrogation is all yours.” I reached for his hand.
“Thank you, Larry.”
“Don’t thank me yet. There is a good chance you will end up in prison for this.” Bria’s mouth fell opened as she shook her head.
“Why would you say something like that? If this man get free I doubt if he calls the cops. He seems like the type that handle things like this on his own. It’s a good chance she gon’ end up floating at the bottom of the Bay for this.”
Larry looked back at the sleeping man. “You know what Bria Bria, me think you’re right.”
“Thanks guys for all your votes of confidence. Get out, Larry.” I went to push him out the door.
“Will you be showing up for work tomorrow?” He asked on his way out.
“If I’m not dead or in jail.” I shut the door in his face. “Okay, let’s wake him.” I told Bria clapping my hands together. I was ready to get this over with and this man out of my small space.
“Wait!” Bria screeched. “What’s the plan? I mean, we got to get our tough faces going right? We got to be intimidating.” I nodded.
“Yeah we do, let me see what you got.” She frowned her face up really good.
“Wake up, fool, you being kidnapped!” As she spoke she grabbed the front of her pants.
“Umm, Bria…What you grabbing?”
“My gat, fool!” I shook my head as I went to my kitchen drawer to take out the matches. We were in trouble.
Melech
The acrid smell of smoke brought me to. I jerked up in the chair blinking as the two beautiful women came into focus. When the hell did I go to sleep? The last thing I remember was suddenly feeling very tired, so much so that I had to tell Michael and his business partner Jeff that I will have to meet with them another day to go over the proposition for the hotels they wanted to open in the East Bay area.
I remembered Mike telling me I needed a vacation as I stood. I chuckled telling him he was right, I was just thinking that very thought this morning. It had been nearly ten years since my last vacation. After that I don’t remember much else. I think I must have been drugged.
“The waitress.” I muttered.
I had been so caught up in how breathtakingly beautiful she was that I let the fact that she was awfully nervous slip my notice. I narrowed my eyes on the light-skinned woman with the cornrows. She had been the waitress. She must have been wearing a wig. But it was something else about her. Even earlier when I saw her she felt familiar. I knew that beautiful face from somewhere.
They were both doing something strange with their faces. It looked like they were trying to give me threatening looks. That’s when I realized I was tied. My first response was to burn the rope, but something made me pause.
I just remembered where I knew the pretty light-skinned girl from. Her name was Earth and she was
