After All (26 page)

“
Good,” Anthony
whispered.

“
Now look what you've done,”
Michelle pointed to the suds sliding down the front of her
top.

Anthony reached behind her for a large
fluffy towel. With a grin, he unbuttoned the top and began wiping
her skin with slow, deliberate motions. “How's that?”

“
Thanks,” she said in a tiny
voice. Michelle's breathing accelerated as he propelled her from
the tub and towards the bedroom. “Are you sure you feel up to
this?”

“
Uh-humm.” Anthony buried
his face in her hair.

“
Guess so.” Before sinking
to the bed, Michelle let the top fall around her feet.

They lay facing each other. Michelle
continued her delicate massage of his arms, back, and chest.
Anthony nuzzled her neck letting his tongue trace a fiery path down
to her breast.

“
I can't stand the thought
of him pawing you.” Anthony hugged her to him.

“
Nothing happened. I'm all
right.” Michelle whispered.

“
If he comes near you
again--” Anthony spoke with his lips pressed to her
skin.

“
Shh. Let's concentrate on
us. You seem to have bounced back. Dancing all night and then
getting into a fight. You're something else. Anthony?
Honey?”

Soft, steady breathing was the only
reply. Michelle looked down to find Anthony sound asleep. Nestling
his head between her breasts, he moaned softly. She felt a fierce
stab of love gazing at the dark lashes against his brown skin.
Michelle tenderly stroked his hair until she too dozed
off.

***

“
Say man, what the hell
happened to you?” Lonnie laughed. He gulped the last drop from a
bottle of malt liquor.

Loud, profane rap music blared away. A
horde filled Lonnie's house. Writhing, bumping bodies jumped in
time to the heavy bass beat. A couple groped each other in a
darkened corner. A steady procession of couples left the dance
floor to find greater privacy.

“
Nuthin'. What ya got good?”
Marcus glanced at the throng not interested in anyone or anything
he saw.

“
In there.” Lonnie nodded
towards the kitchen.

Marcus staggered into the room. He took
a turn snorting a line cocaine. Wiping his nose and sniffing,
Marcus shook his head. Lonnie sat in a tattered chair inhaling
deeply from a cigarette. The party continued without
them.

“
I want to bring Anthony
down hard,” Marcus snarled. He slapped the table so hard it
moved.

“
Man, we in business.
Business comes first. We got our first shipment comin' in day after
tomorrow. We ain't got no time for this right now.”Lonnie took
another deep drag on his cigarette.

“
I don't care, man. He's
gonna pay. His bitch, too.”

“
I don't care what you do on
your own time, but you better not mess up this deal. You hear me?
You hear me?”Lonnie's voice was low but deadly. He and Marcus
stared each other in the eye.

“
I hear ya.” Marcus looked
away.

“
Good. Maybe we can take
care of them and boost business later on. That reporter been
stickin' her nose in the projects too much lately.”

“
What you mean?” Marcus
perked up.

“
Them stories on the
projects. She gettin' on my damn nerves. Yeah, we can talk about it
later.”

“
I wanna get Anthony, too,”
Marcus said eagerly.

“
Man, he's family. You
oughta be nice to him. Cut him in on some business.”Lonnie grinned
at the look of shock on his face.

“
What’re you talkin' about,
Lonnie?”

“
Fact is, he's already in
the business. He don't know it though. One of my boys works for
him.”

“
So what? They work for you
and work for him part-time.”Marcus opened his second bottle of malt
liquor.

“
Hey, one of his trucks
makin' some of my deliveries. His warehouse is storin' some of my
inventory.”

“
You mean?” Marcus blinked
at him.

Lonnie nodded. Suddenly, his grin
melted and his lips curled with hatred. “But he been stealin' from
me. I been plannin' to deal with Troy. Maybe we can solve my
problem and yours, too.”

“
Oh yeah?” Marcus wore a
smile that held no humor.

Lonnie watched Marcus steadily. “Take
care of several problems at the same time. Got possibilities to
turn this to our advantage.”

“
Lots of possibilities.”
Marcus laughed harshly along with Lonnie. “I got some ideas on that
for sure.”

Chapter 11

“
Millions of tax dollars are
spent each year on public housing programs in this country. But are
we getting our money's worth? And are the residents who live in
government subsidized housing really being given a safe, clean
place to live as well as an affordable one? In the first of a
series of exclusive reports, Michelle Toussaint reveals some
disturbing answers to those questions.” Chad Brunson intoned in his
best lead anchor voice.

Michelle came on the screen. “This is
Kent Plaza, a two hundred unit public housing development in north
Baton Rouge. This is home for the families, mostly single mothers,
whose income qualifies them for these low rent apartments. They are
a lucky few of the thousands who are still in need of public
housing. Yet many don't feel so lucky. Just take a look at
why.”

“
Damn it, I knew that first
story wasn't going to be the end of it.” Charlotte Kinchen struck
the arm of her chair.

“
I don't see what you
gettin' so worked up about.” Ike barely paid attention as they
watched the television in her office.

“
First the DA starts asking
questions, now this. Ike, this is serious.”James Bridges twisted
the end of his silk tie through his fingers.

“
That's Anthony's girl, you
know. Cute little thing, ain't she?” Ike, the picture of a man
without worry, leaned back in the captain's chair with his feet on
Charlotte's desk.

“
I'd like to get my hands on
her cute little neck,” Charlotte spat.

LaWanda spoke directly into the camera
as she led Michelle on a tour of the project. She pointed to broken
toilets, holes in walls, and chunks of broken concrete. “This ain't
unusual either. If it gets fixed, it ain't done right.”

“
Who is that, Charlotte?”
Ike lit up a cigar.

“
Ring leader of a tenants
group. All they do is complain. Just typical welfare mothers
wanting something for nothing. She's going to get more than she
bargained for I promise you.” Charlotte's top lip twisted with
malice.

“
You shoulda taken care of
her long time ago if she's been causin' trouble. Evict her butt.”
Lonnie leaned against the wall near the window.

“
Don't worry. Miss Sibley
and her snotty nose kids will be sitting on the sidewalk. She can
find somewhere else to live since she dislikes the projects so
much.” Charlotte glowered as she watched LaWanda describe the
formation of the tenants association.

“
We want our kids to have a
safe and decent place to live just like other people.” LaWanda
stood tall as she spoke. A small group of tenants murmured
assent.

“
We've spoken to officials
with the Housing Authority who say in effect the tenants cause more
damage as fast as they fix things.” Michelle aimed the microphone
at LaWanda though a chorus of protest came from the group behind
her.

“
Most folks here take care
of their apartments. But nothin' lasts forever.” LaWanda's voice
rose with indignation. “The Tenants Action League wanted to work
with the Authority, to clean up, fix up, and clear out the folks
causin' problems. They won't even talk to us.”

“
Thank you, Miss Sibley.
Chad, in my next report we'll examine closely charges of favoritism
in apartment assignments and awarding repair contracts. This is
Michelle Toussaint for Channel Twelve.”

“
Don't you have friends at
that station, Ike? We ought to do something about her.” Charlotte
turned down the volume as a noisy car dealer shouted about great
deals.

“
Michelle's all right.
Besides, what she's reportin' ain't nothin' new.” He rocked back in
the chair.

“
How can you be so calm
about this? Didn't you hear her say there are going to be more
reports? Charges of wrongdoing she said.”Bridges got up and began
pacing. “I've got a business to protect. With the DA sniffing
around, this is the last thing we need.”

“
Man, you need to chill.”
Lonnie spoke with contempt. His eyes narrowed as he watched
Charlotte hand Bridges a drink and pat his arm.

“
James is right. First thing
we should do is deal with those tenants.” Charlotte let her hand
rest on James' arm. Glancing aside, she smiled at Lonnie's
reaction.

“
Don't worry, I'll handle
the tenants.” Lonnie wore a menacing grin.

“
What does that
mean?”Bridges stopped pacing and sat down.

“
Means I'll handle it.
That's all you need to know,” Lonnie snarled at him.

“
Okay.” Ike dismissed the
subject, his attention already on the papers in front of him. “Now
when we gone hear 'bout the new housing developments,
Charlotte?”

“
Any time now. It's gone
through all the approval stages.”

“
Good. I wanna be able to
finish renovatin' by early May at least. They gonna be a gold
mine.” Ike sat back wearing a satisfied expression.

“
Sure will, Ike. You won't
have a problem getting a good price whether you rent or sell
them.”Charlotte lowered her voice and leaned close to
him.

Lonnie stood abruptly. “I'm goin'.
Charlotte, come on,” he barked.

“
James will bring me back to
the office.” Charlotte didn’t look at him.

Lonnie slapped a fist against his thigh
as he stared at her for several seconds before stalking out. The
door banged shut behind him. Ike glanced at Charlotte.

“
Lonnie acts like he's your
boss instead of the other way 'round.” Ike wore a veiled
expression.

“
I can take care of him,”
Charlotte cleared her throat.

“
He's an accident waiting to
happen, Charlotte. Fire him.” James gripped her hand.

“
We need him. Besides,
Lonnie isn't the type to go away quietly. It's under control, hon.
Let's go.” Charlotte pulled him to his feet with her.

“
Goin' straight back to the
office I'm sure.” Ike grinned at them.

“
Of course.”Charlotte looked
at him with an expression of mild amusement.

“
Such a dedicated public
servant. Don't work too hard. You might hurt yourself.”Ike let his
gaze wander down the length of her body. His eyes held a
warning.

She wore an imperious smile.”I never
take on more than I can handle.”

“
I hope not, baby,” Ike
murmured as he watched them leave. “I sure hope not.”

***

“
Did you see your sister on
TV last night?” T'aneka leaned against Dominic as they cuddled on
his sofa.

“
Yeah.”

“
What did you think about
it?”

“
I dunno.”Dominic pulled
back to look at her. “What do you think?”

“
It was right on. Don't tell
me you never noticed how nothin' seems to ever get fixed even
though we've got all them work orders.”

“
With all those apartments
and houses, there is bound to be some places that get missed.
Besides, I know certain repairs are being done,” Dominic
said.

“
You're doin' what you
supposed to, but you're probably the only one.”

“
Buster hasn't asked me to
do anything wrong. He's been straight up with me.” Dominic's voice
had a defensive edge to it.

“
Just keep your head up is
all I'm sayin'.”

“
Hey, the man flirts with
you and you got him doing all kinds of crimes.” Dominic pinched her
chin.

“
It ain't just that,
Dominic. Mr. Buster got some heavy friends. Lonnie for one. Don't
let him lead you into nothin' shady.”

“
Buster is no angel, but
he's a good man in his own way.” Dominic moved further from
her.

T'aneka reached out to touch his hand
tentatively. “Just be careful.”

“
You know something you're
not telling me, T'aneka?” Dominic gazed at her steadily.

“
No, uh-huh. It's just with
this stuff on the news and rumors 'bout Buster and Mr. Batiste. I
was only worried you might get in trouble.” T'aneka spoke in a
rush. She didn’t meet his gaze.

“
Then stop worrying. Ike
Batiste has nothing to do with my job. And you know what they say,
believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.” Dominic
smiled as he put his arms back around her.

***