Animal (42 page)

“What’s the good word?” Alonzo didn’t care much for gossip, but he was curious to see what people were saying.

“Well,” Porsha sat on the couch and crossed her oiled legs, “everybody is talking about what happened at Harlem Hospital last night.”

“Harlem Hospital? What the hell happened there?” He had been expecting her to bring up the robbery.

“Boy, you got that big-ass television and don’t watch the news?” She nodded to the flat-screen mounted on the wall, then picked up the remote and turned the television to NY1.

They were just in time to catch the recap of the murder that had everyone talking. Alonzo watched in shock as the news anchor recounted the events of the night before. The way they were spinning it, a girl from Harlem had been visiting her mentally unstable friend in the hospital when apparently they’d gotten into an argument over a man. The argument turned physical and ended with one of the girls falling from the window to her death. Whether it was an accident or foul play was unclear, but the missing patient was now a person of interest in the case.

Alonzo was too stunned to speak. The murder of the young girl was a sad thing, but the obvious con job that was being run on the American public was even sadder. Gucci was fresh out of a coma with a bullet to the stomach. There was no way she was pushing anybody out of the window. Even at full strength, the two girls had been like sisters and there was no way anybody who knew them was buying into it, but the general public believed what the news reported to them. Shai had obviously gotten to the media and flexed his muscle. The fact that he had that kind of reach taught Alonzo a newfound respect for his opponent.

“Ain’t that some sad shit?” Porsha shook her head.

“Yeah, fucking tragic,” Alonzo said trying to shake off the shock. “Other than that, what’ve you been up to, besides holding down your reputation as being the finest li’l muthafucka in Harlem?” he sat on the couch next to her.

“Just Harlem?” Porsha crossed her arms defensively.

“It would’ve amounted to the same thing had I said the world, because Harlem is the world to me. It’s the only one I know.”

Porsha smiled. “How come you always know the right things to say?”

“Because when I speak to you, I speak from the heart.” He took her hand and placed it over his chest. “It keeps it one hundred even when the brain doesn’t want to.”

Porsha let her hand linger on his chest, appreciating the firmness of it. His heart beat rapidly under her palm like a scared teenager about to go on his first date. The rapid thumping in his chest beat in time with the thumping of her own because she felt it too. There was a natural rhythm between them.

“You play too much.” Porsha moved her hand and scooted further down on the couch.

“How is it that I’m the one playing when you’re the one doing all the running?” Alonzo closed the distance. “Damn, Porsha, everybody else sees the chemistry between us, so why do you keep acting like it ain’t there?”

“It’s not that, Zo. I know how you feel about me and I like you too, but . . .”

“But what? You worried about me hurting you like the rest? If you don’t see by now that I’m better than that, then you need to get your eyes checked. Damn, what do I have to do, crawl over broken glass to prove how far I’m willing to go for you?” his voice was heavy with emotion.

“Zo, I dig what you’re saying, but you know a bitch got baggage,” she reminded him.

“Your luggage ain’t no heavier than mine,” he shot back. Alonzo slipped his hand to the nape of Porsha’s neck and looked her dead in the eyes. “Let’s break these two suitcases down to one and sort the clothes out when we get to our destination.”

“Zo—”

He silenced her with a gentle finger over the lips. “Stop talking so much and live in the moment.” He kissed her deeply.

Porsha was shocked, but she didn’t resist. Alonzo’s lips were softer in reality than they had been in her dreams. When his hands explored her frame they were firm and assertive, but not groping as she had become accustomed to. Alonzo handled her like a flower instead of a weed. She straddled his lap and traced her fingers along his cheeks. He was clean shaven as always but she could feel the light stubble tickling her fingertips. She wasn’t sure when it had happened, but at some point, Alonzo had slipped her Polo shirt over her head, and clamped his mouth on her nipples through her bra. Porsha pulled him away from her breasts and shoved her tongue down his throat. She was so wet that she could almost hear the sloshing of her saturated panties while she grinded on his lap.

Alonzo ran his tongue over every piece of exposed flesh on Porsha’s body that he could find. She tasted like the food of the gods, and he intended to gorge on her. He peeled their bodies apart and forced Porsha on her back. The ravenous look in his eyes told her what he meant to do, but she still wasn’t prepared for it when he flipped her skirt up and nipped at her panties with his teeth. When he was done teasing her, he dipped his tongue into her box like a hot spear.

Porsha’s eyes crossed when Alonzo invaded her. Alonzo munched on her box like a starved man, not wasting a drop of her essence. She locked her legs around his neck and forced his face and tongue deeper into her womb. Porsha clawed at the back of Alonzo’s head and rolled her hips, smearing her womanly foam across his chin.

Alonzo’s arms trembled as he braced on his knuckles and hovered above Porsha’s body. His dick was so hard that he had trouble getting it out of his pants, but Porsha helped him spring it. She tugged on it, smiling silently, letting him know that she was pleased with his package. Alonzo balanced on one arm while he used his free hand to try to guide himself inside of her. She was soaking wet, but her womb was tight and hard to enter. Tighter than he would’ve expected, in fact. Alonzo could feel the heat of her gripping his wood as he slid deeper and deeper into her. He had just reached the Promised Land when there was another knock on the door and he froze.

Porsha’s eyes snapped open, and she looked up at Alonzo. “Fuck that door, get this.” She gripped his ass cheeks and tried to force him deeper.

Her walls felt like the finest silk, and for as much as he wanted to explore her further he couldn’t ignore the knocking. “Give me a second.” He pulled out of her and got off the couch.

Porsha propped on one elbow. “Are you
kidding
me?” She watched Alonzo duck-walk to the door, holding his pants up with one hand. She was about to bark at him for leaving her hanging until she saw him grab the gun off the bookshelf on his way to the door.

Alonzo’s heart pounded in his chest a little harder the closer he got to the door. He hardly ever had visitors, and they were never unannounced. When he looked though the peephole and saw nothing but the tanned flesh of someone’s palm, his mind automatically went into war mode. He looked over the shoulder and gave Porsha the signal to get clear. Then he swung the door open, ready to lay his murder game down—and was confronted by a face that looked much like his own.

“If that’s how you greet your family, I’d hate to see how you greet your enemies.” Lakim pushed the gun aside and stepped in the apartment. On the couch, Porsha was putting herself together. He sized her up. “Nice.”

“Slow ya roll, pimp. That ain’t community property.” Alonzo took Lakim by the arm and steered him back toward the front door. “Fuck are you doing here?”

“Apparently fucking up your afternoon,” Lakim chuckled, trying to peer around Alonzo at Porsha. “But on some G-shit,” Lakim lowered his voice, “we gotta talk.”

“And you couldn’t call me on the phone?” Alonzo was tight.

“Not for this kinda talk. King need to holla about some shit, and he needs you there.”

Alonzo sucked his teeth. “A’ight, I’ll come through later.” He tried to shove Lakim out the door so he could get back to Porsha.

“Nah, he needs to see you
now
. This can’t wait. Baby bro, you know I wouldn’t even be over here fucking with you if it wasn’t
important,
” Lakim told him.

Alonzo glanced over at Porsha, who looked like she was wound up tighter than a clock, then back to Lakim, who was doing a poor job of hiding the worried expression on his face. As usual, duty trumped personal interest. “Give me a minute,” he told Lakim, holding the door open for him to wait in the hall. He turned to Porsha and found her giving him a look that said she wasn’t pleased. “Ma—” he began, but she didn’t want to hear it.

“Zo, don’t even say nothing because whatever you say is probably gonna make me feel cheaper than I already do,” she
said in a disappointed tone. “I know how it is. The streets call, and you answer, right?”

“It ain’t like that, Porsha. I just gotta handle this thing—”

“What about handling
this
thing?” she motioned to herself. “You know what? Nevermind, Zo.” she gathered her purse and headed for the door.

“Porsha, I’m sorry,” he said. He couldn’t believe that he had worked so hard for the prize and couldn’t enjoy it.

“Alonzo, I don’t want you to be sorry, I want you to be considerate. And that’s what I’ve been trying to say from the beginning. Thanks for the nut, Zo. I’ll see you around.” She left the apartment.

“Nice seeing you again, love,” Lakim said sarcastically to Porsha as she passed him in the hall. Porsha just rolled her eyes and kept it moving. “Yo, wasn’t that shorty from Brick City?” Lakim asked Alonzo after Porsha had gone.

“Please don’t piss on my parade any further,” Alonzo sighed. “What the fuck does King wanna talk about that’s so urgent anyway?”

“Murder. What else?”

FORTY-FOUR

F
RANKIE WOKE WITH HER MOUTH FEELING LIKE
she had gargled with sand and a splitting headache, no doubt from Cutty pulling her hair. She was shocked and hurt that he had carried her like that, but she didn’t know why she was. She saw Cutty treat Jada like shit, and she was the mother of his child, so it was foolish of her to think the snake wouldn’t turn and bite her one day.

“Fuck him,” Frankie said and rolled out of bed. She grabbed her cell phone from the dresser and saw that she had fourteen missed calls and several voice mails. Cutty had called her a few times and Porsha once, but the rest were from Dena. Frankie recalled the way she had spoken to Dena and felt bad.

Frankie had been meaning to have a talk with Dena for a while, but hadn’t gotten around to it. She was cool as hell but becoming way too possessive, and Frankie didn’t need anymore complications in her life. She intended on breaking it to her gently, but Dena caught her at the wrong time and all of the resentment came out in a wave instead of a trickle. She had
gone way too hard on Dena and would make it her business to apologize to her.

Before calling Dena back, Frankie decided to check in with Porsha. Of course, Porsha had given her an earful of the latest gossip, but what really shocked her was when Porsha revealed the details of her encounter with Alonzo.

“I knew your hot ass would give in sooner or later,” Frankie smiled.

“Shut up,” Porsha giggled on the other end of the phone. “I didn’t go over there to sleep with him, but one thing led to another and you know . . .”

“Well, I need to know
all
the nasty details. How was it?” Frankie asked excitedly.

“It was beautiful, right up into the point that he left me with a soaked pussy and feeling like a two-dollar whore,” Porsha said with a sigh. She went on to fill in the blanks about how Alonzo had left her hanging when Lakim came for him. “You wanna talk about burnt? I could’ve killed him and his cock-blocking-ass brother.”

“That’s messed up. Well, I know the next time y’all get up you’re gonna put it on him.”

“Ain’t gonna be no next time, Frankie. Never in my life have I had a man jump outta this sweet pussy and rush off because he had something better to do. I ain’t fucking with Alonzo.”

“Maybe it was important and he had to leave. You might be overreacting a bit, Porsha.”

“What do you mean overacting? Do you know what kind of blow that was to my self-esteem? This is the reason why I didn’t want to get emotionally attached to Zo in the first place. I’m not doing this to myself, Frankie. I can’t.”

Frankie could tell that her friend was hurting, and she hurt for her. Porsha acted like she wasn’t, but she was really into Alonzo and anyone with eyes could see that he was into her too. Frankie knew that if Zo rushed out suddenly with Lakim, then it had to be tied into his extracurricular activities. She’d said she would confront Alonzo before telling Porsha his secret, but the truth might’ve been the only thing that could save their promising relationship.

“Porsha, before you do something you might regret, I need to holla at you about Alonzo,” Frankie told her.

“What, he got another bitch? I
knew
that nigga was foul!” Porsha fumed.

“Nah, it’s nothing like that. It’s just . . . I don’t wanna have this conversation on the phone. What’re you doing in a couple of hours?”

“Sitting in my house wondering why I have such poor judgment when it comes to men.”

“A’ight. After I get dressed I’m gonna come uptown to check you. Don’t do anything until we talk,” Frankie told her.

“Okay, but whatever you have to say better be damn good because I’m two seconds from calling him and cursing him out.”

“Just hold your head until I get there.” Frankie ended the call.

Frankie quickly showered and began to get dressed. She threw on a Fila sweat suit with the matching sneakers. She didn’t have time to do her hair, so she just threw on a fitted cap and kept it moving. On her way out the door her cell phone went off. She looked at the screen and when she saw Dena’s name, she hit ignore. She would talk to her when she came back from delivering the news to Porsha.

Feeling like she was about to save the world, Frankie set out to start her journey uptown. When she came out of the building she found Bess and Vashaun sitting on the stoop with two guys she had seen before but didn’t know. The way they were spread out there was no way for Frankie to come down the stairs. She waited for them to notice her and move, but they acted like they didn’t notice her at all.