Chapter 22
By the time the town car dropped Tyesha off, she had gone from shaking violently to a persistent low-grade tremor.
The driver turned to her over the back of the front seat. “I have orders from Zeus to stay outside your house,” he said. “Call this number if you need a ride or there’s any trouble, okay?”
Tyesha couldn’t speak. She just nodded, took the card, and gathered her purse.
She stepped out of the car to see Thug Woofer waiting at her front door.
“I’m sorry to just drop by,” he said. “I have Deza’s contract for her to look over. I tried calling but your phone was off all day.”
As Tyesha stepped into the apartment’s exterior light, he could finally see her face.
“Tyesha, are you okay?”
She shook her head as she lifted the keys to the lock. Her hand was shaking so hard, she could barely open the door.
“Let me get that for you,” he said, and unlocked the door.
“Somebody tried to—” she began, but then she started to cry. “He tried to grab me. But then this woman shot him and I got away.”
“What?” Woof asked.
They stepped into the living room, and she collapsed onto the couch.
“It’s this—I’ve made some enemies at work,” she said. “The Ukrainian mob. One of their guys. They tried to kidnap me.”
“And somebody shot the guy?” Woof asked, sitting beside her on the couch.
“It was—I guess”—she couldn’t quite find the words—“I think I told you there’s a big drug dealer from Chicago in my family. I guess one of his people shot the guy to protect me. I don’t know. My whole fucking life is turned upside down.”
“Tyesha,” he said, “I know we’re not together anymore, but I really care about you. What can I do? Are you safe here? Do you want to come over to my place?”
“Just stay with me til the girls get home,” she said.
“I can do that,” he said.
She lay on his lap and cried until her body stopped shaking and she fell asleep.
When she woke up, it was pitch black outside. She was under a blanket with her head in Woof’s lap, and he was reading a paperback novel.
“What time is it?” she asked, sitting up.
“A little after midnight,” he said.
“Where are the girls?” Tyesha asked, suddenly panicked.
“In your bed,” Woof said. “We didn’t want to wake you.”
“You didn’t have to stay,” she said.
“You looked like you needed the sleep,” he said.
“You been right here this whole time?” she asked.
“Yes, and I really need to pay the water bill,” he said, dashing for the bathroom.
“I can’t thank you enough,” she said when he came back, but he waved it away.
“By the way, you were right,” she said. “About Drew—the reporter.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I mean, guys like him—bourgie types—they don’t know what it is to struggle. To have to use everything you got. They get things handed to them. You scrap for everything you have. I admire you for being ambitious and doing what you had to do. I know it seemed like I judged you for your past, but I was just threatened. You’re an independent woman, and a guy like me is used to always having the upper hand. Always getting his way. And I had feelings for you, so I tried to take you down a notch by taking a jab at what I thought was your weak spot. But it’s actually where you’re strong. I mean, I been following you in the news, ‘sex worker advocate Tyesha Couvillier.’ You been fighting for justice for your folks.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I didn’t know you were keeping up with me like that.”
“I been following you on Twitter,” he said. “With my secret identity account.”
She laughed. “What’s your secret identity?”
“If I told you it wouldn’t be a secret,” he said. “So, on a different subject, now that I’m about to be mentoring Deza, we’re gonna cross paths. I know I’m lucky to get as many chances with you as I already got. But if there’s any way you can forgive me—”
“Woof—”
“Let me just finish,” he said. “You walked away from me the morning after I met you because I was an ass. Then you walked away again because I was a dick. And with the Car Willis thing, you walked away because I was just—totally insensitive. And guess what. I’m not gonna promise you that I’m perfect now. Because I’m not, and I’m gonna fuck up sometimes. But with you I keep getting better. And I keep striving to be better. And I just want to get serious with you, Tyesha.”
“Serious like what?” she asked.
“Like exclusive girlfriend and monogamy and all that,” he said.
Tyesha took a deep breath. “In your first album, you vowed never to get married. Is that still how you feel?”
“You want me to propose?” he asked. “Cuz I dunno if I’m ready for—”
“No,” she said. “I’m not ready, either. I just want to know that something as serious as marriage is on the table. I eventually want a husband and a family. I don’t just want to be your self-improvement plan, where I help you become a better person, then we both move on. We gotta be building something. Do you wanna build something with me?”
“Oh, hell yeah, Tyesha,” he said. “Just draw me the blueprints.”
This time when they made love, it was different. There was no sign of Woof the showman. He just kept his eyes on hers, as they each took off their clothes.
Before he touched any particular part of her body, he just pulled her close, pressing their skin together from neck to ankle.
The kisses started with a tenderness that reminded her a bit of their first kiss. Nothing to prove. Nothing to accomplish. No rush. No pressure.
They lay there and kissed for nearly half an hour. His hands in her hair, fingers tracing soft lines down her back.
And then, at some point, things heated up. His hands were on her ass, her breasts, sliding down between her legs.
He rolled on the condom, but didn’t enter her yet. He kissed her pubic mound, then slid down further, using his tongue.
She moaned and then caught herself.
Woof put a finger to his lips. “Shhhh!” he said. “We don’t want to wake the children.”
Tyesha blinked. Like a flash forward. This might actually be them someday, making love in a stolen moment, with kids to keep from waking.
She pulled him into her, almost regretting the condom. She wanted so much with this man. But there would be time for that later. Now, there was only pleasure and feeling him inside her and against her and kissing her and whimpering into his mouth, trying to muffle the noise of her orgasm from the girls in the next room.
“Do you think they heard anything?” she asked.
“No, I thought we were pretty quiet,” Woof said.
In the morning, she asked how the girls had slept.
“Great,” they said.
But later, after Amaru and Woof had both left, Tyesha smiled to herself as she caught Deza stripping the sheets off the couch to wash them.
* * *
That night, after work, Zeus’s driver dropped Tyesha off at the house.
“No need for you to stay,” she told him. She expected Thug Woofer to come over for dinner with her and the girls. He would either stay the night or take her to his place.
She was setting up the kitchen for the four of them. She pulled the small table out from the wall and was taking a frozen pizza out of the oven when she heard a knock at the door. She was expecting Woof, but through the peephole she saw Reagan, Zeus’s bodyguard.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“I got a message from Zeus,” he said. He had on the gray trench coat and wore a dark cap.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “He wouldn’t let me read it.” He held a thick envelope up to the peephole. “Can I come in?”
“Slip it under the door,” she said.
He leaned down, and she heard the scrape of paper against wood. “It won’t fit,” he said.
She wished she had gotten that chain. “Okay, fine,” she said and opened the door a crack.
He reached the envelope in. It was plain white paper with her name on it. As she reached for it, he grabbed her wrist and swung the door open.
For a second, time slowed down. There he was, with that hateful look on his face.
With a jolt of adrenaline, she kicked him and tore her arm free, running toward the back of the apartment, hoping to lock herself in the bathroom or bedroom. But he was too fast: he cut her off, cornering her in the kitchen behind the small kitchen table.
“You uppity little bitch,” he said. “Think you too good for a nigga like me. I’ma fuck you then wring yo princess neck.”
“Zeus will kill you if you lay a single finger on me,” she said, unsure if it was true but trying to bluff.
“Are you kidding me?” he said. “Zeus will think it’s the Ukrainian mob and start a war with those white boys. He’ll probably get his ass killed and then I can take over the business. Being ‘like a son to him’ and everything.”
“Reagan,” she said. “You’re right, we’re like family. So don’t do this. My boyfriend is coming over any minute. Just back off and we’ll act like this never happened.”
“Boyfriend, huh?” he said. “Then you probably wore some lingerie for him. I guess I’ll have to work fast.”
Their eyes locked. He had her trapped behind the table, but if he didn’t move quickly enough, she could get away. She stood, coiling internally to spring left or right, depending on which way he lunged. As she stood there, she noticed a warm feeling next to her left hip. It took a second to realize that Deza had left the flatiron on. Again.
She glanced down for a split second to see which end was hot. The handles were facing her. She kept her eyes locked on him and her ears open for any sound of Woof.
Outside, she heard horns, a siren, a truck rolling by, but no sound of footsteps approaching her door.
Slowly, she reached for the flatiron. Finally, she had it in her hand.
“Reagan,” she said, all the pleading out of her voice, “seriously. Don’t do this.”
“Quit stalling, bitch,” he said, and tossed the entire table to the side.
She kept her hand gripped tightly on the handle of the iron, and when he came at her, she pressed it to his face. He screamed and jumped back, covering his burned cheek with his hands.
“You gotdamn bitch,” he screamed and ran toward her, half-blind.
With the flatiron in one hand, she looked around wildly for another weapon. Off the stove, she grabbed the cast-iron skillet and swung it at him, connecting with the side of his head.
He went down in a heap, and she backed into the living room. The skillet and the flatiron lay on the kitchen floor near him, as well as the overturned table, and the orchid, which lay upside down and crushed, the blood from his temple oozing toward the spilled dirt.
* * *
Tyesha turned from the sight in the kitchen when she heard a noise. When the half-open front door swung wide, she expected Thug Woofer, but it was Zeus standing there. He nearly filled up the doorway.
“Baby girl?” he said. “Is everything all right? Did another one of those mobsters try to fuck with you?”
“It was Reagan,” Tyesha said.
“That’s crazy,” Zeus said. “Reagan left for Chicago this morning. I was on my way to the airport, but I just came to say good-bye.”
“He’s knocked out on the floor of my kitchen,” Tyesha said.
In three long-legged strides, Zeus had crossed the living room and saw his right-hand man, his face burned, and the side of his head bloodied.
“What the fuck?” Zeus stepped back out of the kitchen.
“He said he was gonna fuck me and wring my princess neck,” Tyesha said, her voice flat with shock. She slumped down onto the couch.
Zeus pulled out his cell phone and made a call.
“I’m over there now,” he said. “Get me on a later plane and come by here. Bring supplies. I have a mess to clean up. Okay, I’ll see you in fifteen.”
As they waited, Tyesha and Zeus sat across from each other in silence.
Tyesha felt rattled beyond words.
“He was like a son to me,” Zeus said.
“No Zeus,” Tyesha said, her body shaking with both residual terror and swelling rage. “No, he wasn’t. He wanted to kill me so you would go to war with the Ukrainians, then get yourself killed and he could take over.”
“But I been knowing him since he was a boy,” Zeus said.
“You don’t need any more sons,” Tyesha said. “You have two kids. Two daughters.” The word caught in her throat as she added in a whisper, “Three.”
She began to cry. Not sobbing, not making a sound. The tears just flowed from both eyes, down her face. They pooled under her chin and dripped down her neck into the collar of her T-shirt.
“I don’t understand daughters,” Zeus said quietly, all his gangster affect dissolved. And in that moment, she looked more like him than she had ever looked like anyone. It was his unguarded face that looked almost identical to hers. A face he rarely showed. “I told Jenisse I didn’t understand daughters,” he said. “I was in a group home, then the military. That’s what I understand.” He banged his hand on the couch. “I understand lieutenants and soldiers and generals and loyalty. I understand sons.”
Tyesha was still shaking, but the rage made her bold. “It’s not like it’s gone so well with your two actual sons.”
“Of course it has,” Zeus said. “They’ll be out in a few years. Meantime, they’re safe. I take care of them. I put money on their concessions. No one fucks with them. I even got them married with conjugal visits.”
“That’s your plan?” Tyesha said. “Either they’re on the streets selling with you or they’re in jail?”
“That’s the business I run,” Zeus said. “That’s what I got to offer. Other boys was begging to get in with me.”
“Like Reagan?” Tyesha said.
Zeus shook his head. “I don’t know what to do with daughters,” he said. “Only with sons. I know how to reward loyalty and punish traitors.”
“What about Jenisse?” Tyesha asked. “How you gonna reward her loyalty?”
“I don’t know,” Zeus said. “I give her everything she wants. She don’t wanna get married.”
“Like hell she don’t,” Tyesha said.
“She told me she didn’t,” Zeus said.
“What?” Tyesha said. “Fifteen years ago? Try asking again.”
“You think she’d say yes?”
There was a knock at the door. Zeus put a hand up and stood to answer it.
“Who’s there?” he asked.
“It’s Woof,” a man’s voice said. “Who the fuck are you?”
“It’s okay,” Tyesha said, and went to open the door.
Woof walked in with an expression that was equal parts quizzical and pissed.
“What’s going on, Tyesha?”
“Woof,” she said. “Meet Zeus, my father.”
“Oh,” Woof said, putting out a hand. “Melvyn Johnson. Pleased to meet you, sir.”
They shook hands.
“He’s also Deza and Amaru’s father,” Tyesha explained. “They don’t know. I didn’t know til last week.”
“Right,” Woof said. “I won’t mention it.”
There was another knock at the door.
“Who is it?” Tyesha called.
“Zeus here?” a woman’s voice asked.
Zeus rose to open the door.
Tyesha saw the same woman who had shot the Ukrainian thug in the leg. She walked in quickly, followed by the driver who’d picked her up. He had an oversize suitcase.
“What’s going on?” Woof asked, as Zeus and his two employees walked into the kitchen.
“You don’t want to know,” Tyesha said. “Come on outside. I need some air.”
Five minutes later, the two employees came out and carried the suitcase out to the street.
As they loaded it into a dark sedan, Zeus came out of the apartment.
“I’m sorry,” Zeus said. “I wish I could stay longer.”
She leaned toward him awkwardly, and they hugged. Really, he reached around and patted her back, as she hung onto his neck.
As they pulled apart from the mismatched embrace, they heard a shout.
“Daddy!” Deza yelled from down the street. She and Amaru ran toward them.
In the moment before they arrived, Woof turned to Zeus. “Sir, I want you to know that my intentions toward your daughter are very serious.”
“Thank you for letting me know, son,” Zeus said, and then he had the two young women hugging him.
“You came to say good-bye to us?” Amaru asked.
“And to give you the good news,” Zeus said. “Your mama convinced me to send you to that athletic school.”
“Are you serious?” Amaru asked. “Are you serious right now?”
“Yes,” he said. “And to congratulate your sister on her record contract.”
The double-parked sedan honked. “I got business to take care of,” Zeus said. “I’ll see my girls soon.”
He hugged the two young women, and then he was gone.
The girls bounded into the house, elated. “Do I smell pizza?” Amaru asked. “Is it almost ready?”
“Any minute now,” Tyesha said. “But let’s eat in the living room, okay?”
* * *
Later that night, Tyesha and Woof went over to his house. The moment they were inside, he asked, “Is everything okay? What the hell was that?”
“That was—” Tyesha searched for the words. “That was my family.”
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?” he asked.
Tyesha looked him in the face. “No,” she said. “I just want you to hold me. Just let me have a moment where I can relax and there’s nothing I need to do.”
“I can do that,” he said.
He unzipped her jacket. He took off her shirt, her bra, and her jeans. He left on her underwear and undressed himself. Then he laid her on the bed and slid behind her, curling his body around her like a shield.