Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 74450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
It was easy to get that old rickety side door open. Like slicing into warm butter. He crept inside and in a matter of minutes, slit that motherfucker’s throat in his sleep with a sharp fish gutting knife. The man lay right next to his ol’ lady who was sound asleep, snoring up a storm. She slept through the whole damn thing.
Then, he tiptoed around the room, moving his flashlight about, and found the wedding band on the bastard’s messy dresser, as well as a bunch of cash. The TV must’ve been sold—he didn’t see it anywhere. He left the house with the cash and ring, both of which he slipped in Old Man Justin’s mailbox when the coast was clear.
After all this, he went home, crawled into his bed, and slept like a baby. As though nothin’ had happened at all. Somewhere in his mind, nothing indeed had happened. It was like someone else had done those things and he was just watching from afar.
“Caspian, if anyone has a handle on how to do this, how to handle this situation, it’s you.” Legend shook him out of his contemplations. “You know me and Axel got your back, man. Whatever you need to get this done, we’re there. This is who we are. You’ve not gone on hiatus. You’re active as a mothafucka—I can see it in your eyes. You are not by yourself. So take care of this. I believe in you. The way you dig up information, track mothafuckas with such speed and precision is downright scary and also impressive. The way you figured out where I was and what I’d been doing shows you got this shit natural, ’cause I covered all my damn tracks. That’s not luck. That’s not just great investigative skills. That shit is something that’s in you.”
His eyes narrowed on him. “That good boy next door act don’t work on me or Axel, and you know it. You couldn’t keep your nose clean if it was dipped in Dawn dish detergent. I know how your mind works… schemin’… plannin’… always thinkin’… Now you get the fuck out of here,” He pointed to the parking lot, “And you find that mothafucka who killed yo’ mama. You better make him pay, and pay dearly, as you sing a mothafuckin’ Madonna song. Church.”
Legend tossed his cigar on the ground, crushed it under his shoe, opened the backdoor and disappeared inside the restaurant, letting the door slam behind him…
Chapter Sixteen
Caspian’s stomach was full, and there was nothing to do but sit there and try to feel… normal. His eyes rested on his aunt’s old vase, which had since been refurbished. It was barely recognizable sitting next to a bunch of wicker baskets and stone vases.
She did a good job. Looks nice.
He sat on Azure’s sky-blue couch listening to music, the air tinted with the smell of paint, spicy perfume, and the peppery Jamaican food he’d just downed. The lady could cook. He’d seldom had Jamaican fare, but what he’d experienced while living in Georgia and traveling abroad he’d enjoyed, and tonight was no different. In fact, it was better, because he’d shared it with HER…
In the near distance he could hear the clanking of pots and pans and water bursting from the faucet while he nursed a glass of strawberry wine. R.E.M.’s ‘Shiny Happy People’ played for him. He tapped his foot to the music, trying to get out of his funk. He’d put on a good act, but the things Legend had said to him gave him pause. Now he was caught in a web of daydreams and nightmares he’d rather forget.
“You wanna have our drinks on the couch or at the dining room table, baby?” Azure called out.
“Right here is fine, sugar. We just cleared the dining room table. No need to mess it up again.”
His mind drifted back and forth to his earlier conversation with Legend, unable to shake it loose. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he closed his eyes and took a couple deep breaths. His head throbbed from wanting to turn the world upside down and set the earth ablaze.
She walked toward him, breaching his train of thought and pounding ponderings, clad in a form-fitting black dress with a plunging neckline. A long slit up the side showcased her long, beautiful rich cocoa legs. She winked at him, then dimmed the lights with a remote control so the room became shrouded in green, blue, and purple, softening his sour mood. He smiled up at the ceiling as the slow morphing lights blended in with the acoustic version of Sabrina Claudio’s, ‘Tell Me’—one of his favorite songs.
She sat down next to him and they clinked glasses in a toast before she pressed her sweet lips to his. Just as his dick was rising to the occasion, the Boosie Badazz ‘Throwin’ Salt’ ringtone boomed from his phone. Azure burst out laughing and shook her head, then reached for her cigar case on the coffee table.