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  “Ain’t this a bitch…?” mumbled Charlene, pondering what she heard. “No wonder you don’t want me to call the cops!”

  “Now Charlene, don’t be getting any ideas!” Nia pleaded. “I mean, I bought you and Bobby that HDTV and everything…”

  “Damn, Nia, can I be down?!”

  “Wait, what?”

  “I mean, I took shop class in school! I know how to hook up all that electronic stuff! You’re bringing home like ten G’s a week, aren’t you? You got more money in this drawer than I make in a year at that damn nursing home. If I’d known about that, I wouldn’t have needed to bum money off my parents to fix up this dump! We could be living in a nice new crib in the suburbs or something…”

  Nia groaned. “Uh-uh. The last thing I want to be doing is big ballin’ and shot callin’. Trust me; you don’t want me drawing attention just because I got a little money. That’s a good way to get yourself caught, shot at, robbed…heck, at least audited by the IRS.”

  Then Nia shook her head.

  “…Wait a minute, what you mean, ‘can you be down?’ The stuff I do is dangerous, and, trust me; you are not equipped for my line of work!”

  “So, what you saying?” Charlene asked rhetorically.

  “I’m saying no. I don’t want to have your death on my conscience. It’s not a game out there, Charlene. Bullets fly. People die. And there are people out there looking for me. I keep it a secret so that none of those bullets and none of those people come in your direction, you know what I’m saying? So no, you cannot be ‘down’.”

  “Oh, so it’s like that?” Charlene changed attitude quickly. “Because, you know, I could call the cops. I think there’s a reward out there for you. What is it, like fifty G’s or something like that? That’s like half my mortgage note…”

  Nia’s face tightened. “Charlene. Do you want to play this game with me? I don’t think you know who you’re f—”

  Suddenly, both women heard a key grooving through the front door lock.

  Bobby entered Nia’s room, holding his saxophone case and a bouquet of red and pink roses.

  “Um, here you go, baby,” he said as he handed the flowers to Charlene. Then he noticed Nia’s open drawer and turned back to Charlene, nearly dropping his sax, his heart rate doubling when Charlene’s furious eyes met his.

  “Aw, damn!”

  “That’s right, boo,” Charlene snapped, the expensive roses dropping to the floor. “Where do you get off not telling me what your ‘cousin’ does? You got the biggest crook in the city staying in my house…”

  Oh, now that I told her no, I’m a crook. But when she thought she could be down, we were best friends for a minute. She is so full of it, Nia thought.

  “Look, what does it matter what Nia does for a living? She always has the rent. Isn’t that the main thing?” Bobby spoke calmly, trying to get Charlene to calm down. “Nobody knows who Nia is around here. She never brought any trouble to our front door. We ain’t had a utility shut off in a good long while because of her. The club is bumping because I can focus now without having to worry about the house so much, because of Nia’s money. She’s helping us out and we’re doing all right. So what are you so worried about?”

  “I’m just a little curious about what else you’re not telling me, Bobby,” Charlene responded.

  “Oh, here you go,” Bobby sighed with a heavy, frustrated breath. “This again. Look, if you don’t trust me, why are you still with me? If I’m so bad, why don’t you just put me out? Huh?!”

  “Because I love you, Bobby!” Charlene cried. “But you don’t care! We barely spend any time together. You’re always looking for a reason to be at that club! Even when it’s closed! I thought you and I would spend more time together when your friend Marc took the club over, but if anything, it’s less! Why? What did I do that was so wrong to you?! Why don’t you like being around me?!”

  Nia suddenly sat up. She didn’t want to hear this. “I think y’all need to take that upstairs. Can I get some sleep?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?!’” Bobby yelled, louder than ever. “I stay buying you things! Your clothes, your jewelry, everything, that’s all me, trying to appreciate my girl! But the way you act—it’s hard to be faithful when you get like this…jealous of every girl that even glances at me…but I’m there! I’m always there! You the one working all those hours at the old folks’ home, doing all that overtime… or are you? Maybe you’re the one doing the cheating! Is that it? Are you trying to get rid of me? Is that why you keep accusing me? Who is it? Is it Silk, from the club? He’s always talking about you anyway.”

  “Bobby, you know it ain’t like that!” Charlene wept.

  Nia had to look away and bury her face in her pillow. It was all she could do to keep from laughing out loud. Bobby had flipped the situation on Charlene as only a true player could.

  “Yo, can you two please discuss that somewhere else?” Nia stammered; her voice muffled.

  “Nia, you want me to call your boyfriend?” Charlene suddenly said to her.

  “Oh! No, he, he um, went away for the week with his aunt and uncle. He’s hiding from his brother again. I’m on my own right now. I’ll be all right. You two need to talk, and I need to sleep, so…”

  “All right,” Charlene said, wiping away her tears. She left Nia’s room and ran upstairs, the house quivering with the sounds and vibrations of stomps of anger as her boots slammed upon the wooden steps.

  “Charlene, hold up,” Bobby muttered.

  Nia turned to him, whispering. “Why do you even continue to put up with her, Bobby? You don’t need her. Let’s just—!”

  Bobby interrupted her. “Let me handle my business. I’ll talk to you in a minute. Lay your behind down and get some sleep. I’ll be back so you can tell me what happened, all right?”

  Bobby slowly closed Nia’s door. She heard him leap up the stairs, and Nia was alone in her room at last. Damn…that’s twice I was almost caught. I’m slipping. Man, I’m glad Bobby came in when he did. Charlene might have wanted to know just what did happen to me—her knowing I’m not a dancer means that story I told her about last night was straight bullshit, and if she ever figures that out…oh well…

  Soon, Nia’s thoughts became incomprehensible even to herself as she passed out on her bed.

  Bobby slowly stepped into the bedroom. He saw Charlene sitting silent upon their bed, facing out of their room’s lone window with her arms folded. Bobby sat next to her and put his arm around her.

  “Baby, I’m sorry,” Bobby mumbled in his deepest voice. “I just…lose control sometimes.”

  Charlene relaxed her arms and leaned into Bobby’s chest. “Why do she have to live here anyway? If she makes so much money she should just get a place of her own…”

  “Nia needs a safe place,” Bobby said. “If the wrong people found out about her, she’d be in trouble. So, I’m helping her out, and she helps us out. You should know there ain’t nothing that could ever come between you and me.”

  “I—I believe you,” Charlene said. “And I would never step out on you, Bobby. You know that, don’t you?”

  “Yeah,” Bobby said. “Two star-crossed lovers, just like your mom said when she saw us together for the first time.”

  Charlene reached out and pulled down the window shade. She turned back to Bobby.

  “Do me a favor?” Charlene said.

  “Anything.”

  “I know I’ve been working a lot of double shifts and we haven’t had a chance to be together in a while,” Charlene continued. “I…I was scared that you might look somewhere else to…get what you need. But I’m home now, and you’re home now…”

  Bobby, flashing a small smile, stood from his spot and opened the nearby dresser, pulling out a compact disc of music he composed himself. Sliding it within a three-disc CD-changer that sat atop the dresser, soft tunes from his saxophone filled the air. Bobby stepped back toward his girlfriend and tugged the bottom of her shirt from her
waistline, lifting it off. Charlene leaned back upon her palms as Bobby struggled with the hooks on her front-locking bra.

  “Poor baby,” Charlene snickered. “Has it been that long? You forgot how to open a bra?”

  Bobby had grown so accustomed to slipping Nia’s sport bras and halter tops off that he nearly forgot how to manipulate the hooks of Charlene’s undergarments.

  Charlene sighed. “Damn, boy. I’ll do it.”

  With a simple move, Charlene unhooked and opened her brassiere. Immediately, Bobby took hold of her smallish breasts, sliding his lips upon her left one. Charlene whimpered and slowly laid back as Bobby slid his hand down across her abdomen, guiding his fingers into her thong. As Bobby began to rub within and around her warmth, Charlene began to breathe softly and rapidly, enthralled with his passionate touch.

  Bobby kneeled in front of Charlene, who was still lying on her back, breathing heavily. He dragged her pants and her underwear off before stroking between her legs with his tongue. She trembled and yelped in pleasure, her eyes tightly closed while Bobby pleased her in his trademark fashion.

  Some time passed before Charlene gathered up the concentration to speak, her strength fading from Bobby’s exceptional technique.

  “Bobby,” Charlene mumbled, fainting. “Come on.”

  Bobby, remaining silent, stood and cracked a smile as he dragged his own pants off. He rested his palms upon her rear, lifting her middle to meet his as he slid inside of her, with Charlene’s legs resting on his shoulders and her back on the bed. He climbed on the bed and rested on his knees, moving his groin back and forth as Charlene began to gasp rhythmically. Charlene, her teary eyes tightly closed and her fingernails tearing the sheets, gasped loudly with rapid exhales of pleasure as her entire body vibrated. Nothing felt better to her than having Bobby’s love inside of her, and she was not ashamed to show it.

  The entire room began to rock. Bobby was feeling so invigorated he pressed harder and faster, Charlene’s soft whimpers growing into loud, high-pitched screams in an instant. The shaking in the room quivered the walls and eventually caused the CD player to tumble from the dresser top to the floor, cutting the music as it shattered into pieces.

  Charlene wriggled free of Bobby’s embrace and glanced at the wreckage on the floor.

  “Damn, Bobby, ain’t that the second time you did that?” Charlene laughed.

  Bobby looked upon Charlene, and even with her sleepy eyes and mangled hair, he couldn’t help but get lost in her lovely smile and hearty laugh as he remembered why he hooked up with Charlene to begin with.

  Charlene…Nia…damn, what am I doing?

  Ten

  Four men and a woman sat at desks inside a small, square room with fluorescent lights on the ceiling. It was a classroom, or rather a training room for Corp Hudson’s security personnel.

  The first was a muscular beast of a man who barely fit in his midnight blue business suit. He squeezed into the small space between his chair and desk with a sigh.

  The woman was dark skinned and muscular as well, though still the smallest person in the room. She had long braids that fell past her shoulders.

  The third was a Caucasian man with long fiery-red hair in a mullet style. He sat tapping his foot and his No.2 pencil on the desk as if impatient.

  The fourth was another Caucasian man with short brown hair and a five o’clock shadow. He twirled his pencil in his fingertips, looking simply bored.

  The fifth was a Latino man with curly hair, wearing spectacles. He sat as still as a statue, as if time had stopped for him while he awaited further instructions.

  Finally, a sixth man, the second African-American, entered the room, wearing the same midnight blue business suit as the others and dark sunglasses. He stroked his low haircut, removed his glasses and stood in front of the room.

  “Thank you for coming, everyone,” said Vincent Marks. “I know all of us have things to do so I’ll keep this brief. After all, Corp Hudson’s security department has better things to do than sit in this training room babbling all night. But we have to be clear as to what our next course of action is regarding Target Omega.”

  “You mean the little girl that you seem to be incapable of keeping a grip on?” said the brown-haired man. “Funny. I’ve seen the surveillance photos. I can’t imagine how anyone could slip their grip on a girl with an ass like that.”

  “That’s quite enough, Casey,” Vincent suddenly said. “See, that’s exactly why I don’t send you after her. As good as you are, you’ve got a problem where you think more with your dick than with your head.”

  “You’re one to talk,” Casey snapped back. “I’m not the one who used to fuck her. Isn’t the whole reason she got away because you couldn’t bear to put a bullet in her back? I guess I can’t blame you. That rear end of hers is kind of mesmerizing.”

  “Damn, Billy!” said the woman. “Don’t you even care that there’s a woman present?”

  “Not really, Cherie,” Billy sighed. “…unless you plan on getting undressed and dancing on the table or something.”

  “You’re a sick, twisted—”

  “Come on. You’re the one who decided to accept the promotion and become one of Corp Hudson’s security heads, knowing good and well you’d be the only woman in the group. I’m damn sure not going to sugarcoat my words for your sake. I don’t give a damn about your sensitive femininity. You want to be in the boy’s club? Be prepared to listen to men talk like men.”

  Cherie rolled her eyes as the muscular man next to her spoke up.

  “Vince, don’t we know where Target Omega hangs out? Why don’t we just go there again and strong-arm some of her buddies into telling us where she lives?”

  “We’ve tried that before, Don,” Vincent said. “Nia Black doesn’t trust people easily. The one person she did seem to trust didn’t even know that much about her. He died the other night thanks to that…project that the big man ordered me to bring along.”

  “Yeah, Carl,” said the red-haired man. “Shame what happened to that guy, but hey, it did open the way for Jesús to get promoted, didn’t it? But after what Carl went through in the lab, for him to go out the way he did is just sad. Let the lab boost me up some kind of way; I guarantee I won’t go down that easily.”

  “You’re crazy, Jason!” Billy Casey shouted. “You mean you’d actually let R&D run their weaponizing experiments on you?”

  “Why not?” Jason retorted. “I mean, hey, if it means I become a better asset to the Corp, why not get some ‘upgrades’ added to my body? This is my career, after all—might as well devote my life to it.”

  “I hear that,” said Don, the big man.

  “Seriously, Jason?” Cherie spoke up. “I mean, give up your humanity and become a weapon?”

  “People!” Vincent shouted. “We’re getting off the subject. Alvarez, you’re pretty quiet over there. Give your report on how the operation went last night.”

  “We don’t need to hear the new guy’s report,” Billy Casey grumbled. “Since Nia Black isn’t in our custody, we can safely assume he blew it. Am I right, Jesús?”

  Jesús Alvarez took a breath, slid his glasses from his face, cleaned them with a cloth, replaced them, and sighed again.

  “Not entirely.”

  The five others in the room gasped.

  “It is true that Miss Black momentarily escaped my grasp. I’m not one to make excuses, but relying on the security guards for a task like that was my biggest mistake. However, this is far from a loss.”

  “What are you getting at, Jesús?” Vincent said. “You’ve got something on Nia—on Target Omega?”

  Alvarez smiled. “I understand that I’ve yet to prove myself worthy of this exclusive club. Allow me the pleasure of continuing to pursue Nia Black my own way. It is probably for the best that Mr. Hudson does not know of what has happened before, lest his…suggestions…hinder our operations again. Mr. Hudson is a powerful, shrewd businessman, but he needs to leave the matters of security t
o those whom he appointed to the task.”

  Billy Casey laughed. “So in other words, you screwed up, you blame your men for it instead of taking responsibility like a real leader should, and then you expect Vincent to go over the big man’s head and trust you to get the job done, after you already messed up once, without telling anybody what you plan to do? You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “Fine, Jesús,” Vincent suddenly said. “You got it.”

  “What?!” Billy growled. “Come on, Vincent. You know it’s time to send me! It’s only logical! I’m the best there is! If not me, then you take the mission back. Anybody but the rookie!”

  “You heard what I said,” Vincent snapped back. “It’s clear that I’m too emotionally involved with the situation. Alvarez, on the other hand, has better control of his emotions than anyone else in this room. That’s an important trait when dealing with Nia. Not to mention; he came damn close to capturing her…closer than the cops ever have, closer than I ever did. I’m more comfortable with giving him another go at it than with trusting a loose cannon like you, Billy.”

  “Damn,” Jason jeered. “Owned.”

  “Shut the hell up, Jason!” Billy growled.

  “Everyone else: standard operation,” ordered Vincent. “Jason, Don and Cherie, you three continue to serve as executive bodyguards. Billy, you’ll be on standby in case Jesús needs any help.”

  “I appreciate that, Mr. Marks, but Billy Casey’s assistance will hardly be necessary,” Alvarez said with a smile. “Now, there isn’t a moment to lose. My advantage is time-sensitive, so I must get to work. By your leave…”

  Jesús Alvarez lifted himself from his seat and walked out of the room. Billy Casey watched him as he left, his face tightening with indignation.

  Who in the hell do you think you are?