“Well now, it looks as if we’re going to have to continue this at a later date.” He looked at the pool of blood that gushed from his head, holding his hand up so that it filled his palm.
“I really hate human flesh.”
I put my hand over my mouth to stop the scream that came to my throat at the sight of his head beginning to move sporadically on his shoulder. It was moving so fast his face was no longer visible. It looked as if someone was rewinding a tape.
“Vote Davenport for President!”
“Vote Davenport for President!” He repeated over and over again in a voice that sounded like nails scraping down a chalk board. I put my hands over my ears, wanting to yell from the pain of it. His words shut off as if with a switch. Moments later he dropped dead, face down in the pool of blood.
I sat straight up in the bed, reaching for my ears.
A nightmare!
It had only been a nightmare. Goodness, it had been a while since I had one, ever since Gabe and I started sharing a bed. Frowning, I looked over to his side of the bed.
Empty.
He did not come to bed, which would explain why I had the nightmare. After the disastrous dinner, he had left the house with Mac and Kenny. No doubt needing some air after I surprised him with our dinner guest. I laid back against the pillow, examining my feelings from waking up to finding myself alone in our bed. Surprisingly, I think I was hurt about it.
When had that happened?
A week ago I would have rejoiced over going to bed alone and now... now I felt sad because he was not here to hold me in his arms. I felt abandoned. Where could he be?
I grabbed my phone off the nightstand next to the bed. He hadn't called, or left a text message. I put the phone back on the nightstand.
Could he be with another woman?
Ms. Mercedes came to mind. Hadn't she touched him like he was her lover? She'd even reached up and fixed his tie. There was no doubt in my mind that they at one point and time had a relationship. Maybe he was with her.
Then again, maybe he wasn't with her. Maybe she was laying in her bed feening for him too. Gabriel could have any woman he wants. Models, movie stars, he could have his pick. Not only was he rich and extremely handsome. He was a master at making love to a woman. And yeah I know I don't have anything to compare him to, but I didn't need experience to recognize his artistry.
When he touches me, he makes me feel like I’m on fire all over. And the way he watches me as he first sparks the flame, then strokes it until it was blazing out of control. Only to make me feel like I was dying as he extinguishes it, was enough to make me crave his touch even now. Like Vegas I had the fever, only this time it wasn't for a craps table. It was for my husband’s touch.
I held up my hand looking at my wedding ring, the soft glow of the street lights catching it just enough for the purple diamond to wink at me. What did I expect, for him to come home every night?
Chuckling without any humor, I got out the bed and got my mother’s bible from my bag— my original nightmare repellent.
The Word. The only thing in life that was faithful and true.
I had almost forgotten I was now married to the son of a mob boss. And although I didn't really know what that life was about, I had seen enough rap videos to know what it meant if my husband didn't come home.
Eventually with my bible underneath my pillow, I settled back to sleep, feeling sorry for myself. But when next I awoke accompanied by the irritating presents of Aunt Flo, I no longer felt sorry for myself.
I was angry!
I was angry at my grandfather for letting Mayor Davenport kill him! I was angry at the Mayor for what he attempted and then for dying on my grandmother’s floor, forcing me to run away from my home! I was angry at Shanice for coming into the Laundromat that I had been squatting in and telling me about the job at the strippers club! I was angry with Shugga for forcing me to dance! I was angry at Gabriel for forcing me to marry him!
I was angry at everybody for forcing their damn will on me. And I was angry with myself for just going along with everything! Needless to say, I was looking for a fight. Gabriel had come home sometime after I had drifted back to sleep. And he had gotten up, got dressed and left the room before I awoke, the lingering scent of his cologne testified to that. He didn’t even have the decency to let me know he had made it home safe.
When I got down to the kitchen for breakfast, the only sign he had been here at all was the empty pie pan on the island, and that angered me. The man had sat here and ate what was left of the last pie for breakfast. Who ate pie for breakfast? That was so unhealthy, just as much as it was for him to eat ‘Apple Jacks’ every morning. You would think a man so smart would know better.
After I had my coffee I walked out of the kitchen to see Gabrielle back hard at work. She was on her knees polishing the marble floor with both hands.
Absolutely not!
I went back into the kitchen and got a rag, then got down on my knees next
