Those were memories I didn’t want to be reminded of. That was when I thought I was losing King for good. I think I did really lose him then. Maybe even now, even though he was in my bed again.
“Look, I can’t say much else,” King said. “All I know is that I wanted to see you when I finally got out. That’s why I’m here, sweetie.”
“You just want to get laid.”
“I wanted to get laid by you.”
We kissed. A nice loud wet kiss. Then another. And another.
I touched his face and pulled back. “So what happens now?”
“We sleep, sweetie. That’s what happens. We sleep.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know,” he said.
I swallowed hard. “I can’t get enough of you. How could years separate us yet it feels like it’s been days?”
“Because we’re in love,” he said.
I looked at him. “I swear to you, King, what you thought you saw…”
“I don’t care anymore,” he said. “You did what you thought was right, sweetie. You tried to find someone to make you happy. I was actually kind of hoping to find that. So I could stay away. But then he…”
“Thank you for saving me,” I said. “Nelson gets drunk and mad, but never like that. I was actually breaking things off with him. Trying to talk to him. He didn’t want that.”
“Well, if I ever see that prick again, he’s going to end up on his ass again. You don’t fucking touch a woman. Ever.”
“My knight to save me,” I whispered.
King rolled me to my side. He nibbled at my ear. He threw his left leg over my body, pinning his cock between us.
“Fuck that,” he said. “I’m your outlaw, sweetie, and I’m here to fuck you again.”
And that’s exactly what King did…
18
(King) *THEN*
TITO TOOK a deep drag on the joint and then offered it to me. I waved a hand. I didn’t touch that stuff. I didn’t need to be mellowed out and lose my edge. Tito sat on the bed with his arm around a pretty woman. He held the joint to her lips and she took a drag. The room was thick with the stinky smoke. Shit, I was going to end up stoned whether I liked it or not.
“I want to teach you something,” Tito said in a chilled voice. “About family. About loyalty.”
“Yeah?” I asked.
I was too young for the Reap at that moment. I was too young to understand a lot of the stuff I had seen in life. But I was old enough to know that my big bro - my fucking hero - was in a tough place. The left side of his face was all fucked up. He had gotten jumped two nights ago. Right outside the house. I saw it from my bedroom window, too. I tried to get outside to help, but by the time I did, the attackers were gone.
Tito told Mom he crashed his motorcycle.
She believed it.
I think for Mom it was easier to believe what she wanted rather than face whatever was happening around her. I hated her for that sometimes.
“Nothing is more important than loyalty and family,” Tito said. “I need you to remember that, little bro.”
“I got it,” I said.
“Good. I know you keep looking at my face.”
“Tito, that was scary.”
“That was life. Sometimes it sneaks up and beats you down. You take the beating. You move on.”
“Who did that to you?”
“Guys that weren’t loyal and guys that weren’t family.”
I shook my head. “So where’s your loyalty and family at? What happens now?”
Tito grinned. “Ah, little bro, it’s all smoothed out. It’s all like a pie in the motherfucking sky right now. Right, sweet baby?”
Tito shrugged his shoulder and the woman he was with let out a giggle.
I couldn’t help but notice the way her obvious cleavage danced when she giggled.
Damn, Tito knew how to get women. All the time.
I was jealous but I sort of didn’t know why. I had fooled around with a couple girls but nothing like the stuff Tito did. He was crazy. He was so cool though too.
“It’s all going to be fine,” Tito said. “You need to know that and believe that, little bro. I’m sorry for what you saw out the window. That was a business miscommunication. But I took good care of that shit though. Nothing like that will be happening again.”
“How?”
Tito put the joint into his mouth. He reached with his right hand and flipped up the blanket at the end of his bed. I saw a handgun and I took a step back.
“Whoa,” I whispered.
“Damn right,” Tito said. “I’m good now, little bro. See, when you take a beating in life, sometimes good shit happens.”
“So that gun is good?” I asked.
“It’ll keep me protected.”
“Wow.”
Tito killed the joint in some kind of homemade claw looking ashtray. He then looked over at his woman and gently kissed her.
“Now, little bro, I need you to go. My woman here is going to take good care of me. And you need to go take good care of yourself. Don’t fucking think about what you saw. Don’t bring that shit up to Mom. I’m protected. Loyalty and family, little bro, right?”
“Right,” I said.
“Good. Now get out.”
I left Tito’s room… not sure what had just happened… so I did the first thing that came to mind.
I wrote Linds another letter.
19
(King)