Entangled (17 page)

Dream didn’t even bother going to work. She couldn’t after the fight. She knew she wouldn’t be in any mood to concentrate until she heard something from DeVon. At three o’clock that evening, she had called several hospitals before locating DeVon at the Carolina’s Medical Center in Room 338. Upon arrival the receptionist said only family was allowed, and Dream quickly lied, saying she was his sister. Inside DeVon’s room, Dream found him conscious, sitting up in the bed wearing a light blue hospital gown with thick white bandages wrapped around his head and several tubes inserted in his mouth. The nurse had told her that his jaw had been broken and his ribs fractured. He had also suffered a minor concussion.

Dream approached to the side of his bed and grabbed his hand. He jerked it back as he looked at her intently.
“DeVon, I know you’re mad and you have a right to be. I’m really sorry this happened to you.”
He turned his back toward her.
“So you’re going to turn your back on me?” she asked.
He then turned and faced her again. He pointed to a small pad and pencil on the table beside his bed. She handed him the items, and he jotted some words down and gave it back to her.

She looked down at him. Finally she shook her head and he asked for the paper and pencil.
He jotted more words on the paper again and handed it back to her.
You are the one who turned your back on me.
He looked sad, and his eyes were full of disappointment. She looked at him for long time. He was right. She had betrayed him. There was no denying it. She had been in a very compromising position, and she hated to betray anyone, she really did. Suddenly a tear trickled down her cheek.
DeVon pressed a button on the side of his bed and a nurse appeared and he indicated he wanted Dream to leave.

An hour before dark, Keisha and Dream, draped in thick sweat suits, walked through Dream’s neighborhood, absorbing brisk air and the dying sunlight. They walked swiftly facing traffic. Walking was Keisha’s favorite exercise, simply because she could talk and burn calories at the same time. Dream had contemplated telling Keisha about the fight. Finally, on the last mile, she decided to confide in her.

Keisha stopped in her tracks. “They were fighting?” Dream stopped. “Yes.”
Keisha smiled. “It must be nice to have three men fighting over

you.”
“DeVon is in the hospital,” Dream said.
“Are you serious?”
Dream didn’t answer, instead she started to walk again and

Keisha followed.
“Are you serious?” Keisha repeated.
“Yes. Dawg and Jamal jumped him and the nurse said a couple

Dream faced Keisha. The wind was blowing and Dream’s lips had become chapped. “A few weeks ago, DeVon was released and I decided to meet him downtown for a harmless little lunch. A couple of days afterward, he came by the school and told me he had a job as an electrician, but he needed money to buy tools. I went to the ATM and got the money out and loaned it to him. This morning he showed up at my apartment to pay me back. I accepted the money and offered him a ride to work. While riding he noticed a white BMW following us, so I drove to a gas station and found out it was Dawg, who then gets on the phone and calls Jamal. Dawg and DeVon got into a fight, and when Jamal arrived he jumped in. He and Dawg beat DeVon up so badly that the paramedics had to come and get him.”

Keisha became serious. “That’s real fucked up.”
“I know,” Dream said.
“So did the police come?”
“Yes.”
“You told them what happened, right?”
Dream looked away. “No, I didn’t.”
“Why not?”
“I know that would have been the right thing to do, but

somehow I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.”
“I know you and DeVon aren’t seeing each other anymore but
you owe him that much. You should at least tell the police who
was involved or what happened,” Keisha said, glaring at Dream
from the corner of her eye.
Dream didn’t say anything. She turned from her friend and
faced the oncoming traffic.
“Dream, you’re protecting Jamal. He has hurt someone. You
can’t go on protecting him.”
“I know,” Dream said, still avoiding Keisha’s eyes.
“You aren’t going to the police though, are you?”
Again Dream was quiet. She didn’t have to answer.

Dawg looked in the mirror examining his swollen eye. It was practically closed, and he had been wearing sunglasses for the past two days. His eye looked worse than it did on the day of the fight. He had tried heat pads and ice packs but, nothing seemed to bring the swelling down. He picked and nursed it for about five minutes before stepping out into the living room where Jamal sat.

“Nigga, you look like you got beat with a baseball bat,” Jamal teased.
“Fuck you. If your girl hadn’t been so trifling, I wouldn’t be suffering now.”
“You suffering ’cause that nigga was whooping your ass until I came.”
“Forget you.”
“Put your damn glasses on,” Jamal said, chuckling.
“So, have you heard from your girl?”
“Naw. I haven’t called her.”
“Do you think she told the cops what happened?”
Jamal shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s a good question.” He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Dream’s number.
“Hello.”
“This is Jamal.”
“Yeah. What do
you
want?”
“I just wanna know if you told the cops who me and Dawg were.”
“No, but I know I should have. You had no right jumping DeVon like that.”
Jamal felt a sudden numbness in his stomach. Had he heard her right? “Did you say DeVon?”
“Yes, I did, but it ain’t what you think. I was trying to explain to your stupid-ass friend before he decided to take matters into his own hands.”
“My question is, what were you doing with him?” Jamal asked.
“I was taking him to work, as if I have to explain anything to you.”
“You ain’t got to explain shit to me.”
“You know what, Jamal? I ain’t gotta listen to this,” she said sighing. “I didn’t tell the police on you. That’s all you really wanted to know anyhow,” Dream said before slamming the phone down.

It was Friday night and Club Champagne was crowded as usual. The crowd was a mixture of hustlers and professional athletes. Jamal took a seat in the corner, next to the pool tables and asked for Candy. One of the other girls in the club said she wasn’t working.

He drank straight Hennessy. After three shots he was drunk and horny. Later that night, a short, busty Dominican girl led him to VIP. After two dances Jamal pulled his penis out and tried to penetrate the young woman, but she jumped off his lap and ran downstairs and informed the bouncers. When they arrived they found Jamal zipping up his pants.

“I’m going to have to ask you to leave, buddy,” one of the bouncers said.
“Why?” Jamal asked.
“I’ve seen you in here before, which means you know that you can’t be pulling your dick out in here,” the man said.
“Come on, man. I was just playing with the girl.”
“I need you to leave,” the man replied.
“You can’t put me out, man. I’ll buy this fucking club,” Jamal said as he flashed a wad of money, offering it to the bouncer. “Go ahead, man, get you a couple hundred dollars, or take it all,” Jamal slurred.
The bouncer took the money, stuffed it back in Jamal’s pocket, and grabbed him by the arm.
Jamal turned toward the huge man and shoved him. Another bouncer then grabbed Jamal’s other arm. They led him to the front door of the club and tossed him out head first onto the gravelfilled parking lot. Jamal got up from the ground, brushed himself off, and staggered into his car. It was 1:00 A.M. and he was horny. He wanted to have sex with somebody. But who? Dream wasn’t speaking to him, and he couldn’t find Candy. He suddenly remembered Keisha and the day he had visited her when she was wearing those sexy little shorts. Fifteen minutes later he was at her apartment.
Keisha opened the door wearing a black form-fitting silk robe. “Jamal, what’s wrong?” she asked with a concerned look on her face.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Jamal said as he eased his way into the apartment. “I was in your neighborhood and I thought I would stop by and say hi.”
Keisha closed the door and glanced at her watch. “It’s 1:30 in the morning.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was so late.”
“Hey, listen, if you come back tomorrow, I promise I’ll talk to Dream for you and ask her to give your sorry ass-another chance.”
“I didnt come to talk about Dream.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
Jamal then placed his arm around Keisha’s shoulder and massaged lightly.
“Stop it, Jamal,” Keisha said as she pulled away from him.
Jamal put his hands around her waist then leaned into her and forced a kiss on her lips.
Keisha tried to get away from his grip, but he was too strong for her. He kissed her again and again. Finally she stopped resisting. As soon as he unzipped his pants she scurried off to her bedroom. She returned with a huge sword-like knife. “Get the hell out of here before I kill your sorry-ass.” Keisha said.
Jamal chuckled. “Put that damn thing up.”
“Jamal, I’m not playing with you. I want you to leave now!”
Jamal saw the seriousness in Keisha’s eyes. “I’m going to leave, but can you do me a favor? Please don’t tell Dream this happened. I swear to you, Keisha, this will never happen again. I had too much to drink.”
“Just leave, Jamal,” Keisha said, pointing at the door.

I
TWAS ELEVEN O
’
CLOCK
Monday morning when Mark marched into the United States Attorney’s office. The gold lettering on the door read: ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, DAVID RICARDO. Mark knocked lightly on the door and a voice called out for him to come right on in.

While on the phone, David spun around in a black, leather swivel chair nursing a cup of coffee. He managed to point to the chair across from his desk. “It’ll be a minute,” David managed to say.

“Take your time,” Mark said, looking around the office at David’s various academic degrees and a picture of him shaking Attorney General John Ashcroft’s hand with the U.S. flag in the background.

Finally David hung the phone up and smiled. After pleasantries were exchanged, “What can I do for you?” David asked.
“There’s something that I’ve been meaning to talk to you about which totally slipped my mind.”
“What is it?”
“You know that I’ve been undercover for a few months now working on the Stewart case, and have since gotten close to his right-hand man.”
“So you’re making progress, right?”
“I think so.”
“What’s the problem?”
“Dawg, also known as Steven Davis, said something very peculiar to me . . . ” Mark paused before resuming. “One night while we were out, he said he had connections with the agency. Someone inside is taking bribes, promising to disrupt our investigation.”
David’s eyebrows rose. “How did you let something like this slip your mind?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think I took him seriously.”
“Can it be confirmed?”
“I don’t think so. I’m in charge of the case and I know damn well I haven’t been accepting any money from him.”
“Jeremiah Tolliver has been helping you out, hasn’t he?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you think he’s been involved in anything like that?”
Mark hadn’t considered the possibility. Though he’d made it clear that he disliked Jeremiah, he never thought Jeremiah would be involved in the extortion of drug dealers. “No, sir, I don’t.”
“Mark, I don’t want you to discuss this with anybody else until we find out more information. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Mark said.

Peering through the peephole of her apartment door, Dream saw DeVon. It had been two weeks since she’d visited him in the hospital. He looked much better. An inflated purple lip was the only visible scar. She opened her door slowly.

“Can I come in?” he asked.
“Yeah, come on in.”
She led him through the kitchen, and they sat at the dining

“No,” he replied, mouth still wired shut, speaking through clenched teeth.
His stare made her nervous, and she didn’t know what to do. Finally she said, “I’m glad you’re doing okay.”
“Wiff my mouf wired shut, I can’t pronounce da T-H sound.”
“DeVon, I know what happened was kind of messed up, and I want you to know I’m really sorry for what happened.”
He leaned forward and placed his forearms on the solid oak table. “I don’t believe you.”
She stood and began pacing. “I don’t know what you want me to do to prove myself.”
“Dream, you don’t owe me anyting. You had your chance to tell da police who beat my ass, and you didn’t. I just wanted to let you know dat you really let me down; I just can’t believe you’re involved wiff drug dealers. I would have never imagined you would do dat.”
“How do you know he’s involved with drugs? Do you know him?”
“It don’t take a genius to figure out doze niggas are up to no good. One of dem was driving a Beamer and da udda was in a Benz. Bofe cars had rims, and it was just something about da skinny mu’fucka in da Beamer. His whole attitude was like it was all about him.”
She nodded but didn’t respond.
“Lowered your standards, huh?” DeVon asked.
Dream glanced in his direction avoiding, his face, particularly his swollen lip. “What are you talking about? You’ve sold drugs before,” she said defensively, remembering that when she first met him he peddled dime bags of marijuana.
“Yeah, I was small-time, probably smoking more weed dan I sold, but doze niggas are big-time.”
“Whatever.”
He stood and walked over to her. “Do your mom and dad know what’s going on wit you and dis man of yours?”
“Nothing is going on. I haven’t seen Jamal since the day of the fight.”
DeVon stared at her without saying a word. “Leave dem guys alone before it’s too late. I don’t want anyting to happen to you. I came over here out of concern for you. When you visited me in da hospital a couple of weeks ago, I really had made up my mind dat I didn’t want to see yo’ ass again, but someting in my heart just won’t let me walk away from you like dat. I know you really need help, and I want you to promise me dat you won’t see dis Jamal character again.”
“I already told you that I ain’t seeing him anymore.”
“I know what you told me, but I want you to promise me dat you ain’t gonna see him again.”
Dream was silent for a moment before raising her head to look DeVon in his eyes. She could tell he was concerned, and she knew that he wasn’t about to leave until she promised to stop seeing Jamal. Though she hadn’t considered her relationship with Jamal officially over, she knew it probably was. The last time she had spoken with him, he hadn’t bothered to apologize for his behavior.
“Baby, don’t you see dat I care about you?” DeVon said.
“You sure as hell didn’t seem to care a whole lot about me when you were in jail.”
He grabbed her hand and gazed into her eyes. “Promise me you won’t see him again.”
Impulsively she hugged him but he quickly pulled away.
“My ribs are sore as hell. Remember your mobster-ass boyfriend kicked my ass,” he said, laughing.
She frowned and replied, “Lift your shirt up and let me see.”
He pulled up his shirt, and Dream examined the white bandages that clung to his torso. “Dey fucked me up pretty bad.”
“Did the doctor give you any painkillers or anything?”
He pulled a small white tube of cream from his pants pocket. “Dis is all I have. Da doctor told me to apply dis twice a day, and it’s suppose to help da soreness, but I can’t stand to touch my ribs; dey hurt so fuckin’ much.”
“A woman’s touch is what you need.”
“Is dat right?” He forced a painful smile.
She took his hand and led him to the bedroom. “Lift up your shirt again and lie across the bed on your back.”
He quickly pulled the black nylon shirt over his head and tossed it on the floor.
Dream unwrapped the bandages and took the cream, squeezing it into the palm of her hand. She applied it, smoothing it out in a circular motion. “How does it feel?”
“Ah, dis feels so good,” he responded, staring at the ceiling.
“Turn over on your stomach.”
“It’ll hurt.”
Dream grabbed the fluffy white pillows from the head of the bed. “Here use these, silly boy.”
DeVon’s Hershey-colored backside glistened as she applied the cream.
After several minutes, “I can’t take much more of dis.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m horny.”
She smiled. “You’re hurt, remember?”
Without a word he leaned toward her and their lips met briefly.
“We shouldn’t do this.”
“Why? You just said a few minutes ago dat you ain’t seeing Jamal anymore.”
She had become aroused as well. The sight of the rippling muscles in DeVon’s back had caused droplets of moisture to roll down her leg. Though she hadn’t seen Jamal in two weeks, she felt kind of guilty.
DeVon placed his hand behind her neck and pulled her toward him for another quick kiss. Then he unbuttoned her blouse. Her small brown breasts sat upright, and he smiled seductively before running his finger across an erect nipple.
She looked at him and attempted to fasten the buttons on her blouse before he leaned into her and grazed her neck. Her body tingled, and her hand fell from her shirt. Part of her wanted to fight the temptation, but another part of her wanted DeVon badly. He kissed her breast, and this put her in the mood. Finally he stood and dropped his pants, revealing an erection.
She took off her clothes and got a condom from her dresser drawer, tossed it to him and smiled.
Jamal sat quietly in Dream’s parking lot in an inconspicuous car. He had observed Dream and DeVon coming and going for the past three days. He had followed them to restaurants, the cinema, and a park. He had become sick of the sight of them kissing and hugging and seemingly having a good time.
Today will be different,
he vowed. Today he would end all the laughter and the good times. His nine-millimeter rested at his waist with a loaded magazine clip.
It isn’t fair,
he told himself. How could he lose the love of his life so quickly? How could she betray him? He had money and DeVon had none. How could Dream leave him for a broke man? A damned nobody. This was not the way the relationship was supposed to end.
It can’t end like this,
he thought, as he pulled his gun out and stared down the barrel. He smiled, thinking of DeVon begging for his life.
Jamal had watched DeVon come over at 6:00 P.M. for the past three days. Each day Dream would open the door and greet him with a warm hug, obviously glad to see him, and this made Jamal angrier. He couldn’t remember her ever being that excited to see him. At 7:00, Dream and DeVon left her house and went to a little restaurant downtown. He followed them. Inside the restaurant, he took a seat on the other side, occasionally gazing in their direction. They didn’t see him because they were too busy laughing and smiling. He fumed inside.
Keisha arrived with a date midway through the meal. It was officially a double date, and the fun was much more apparent. The laughter grew louder, and the kissing and flirting was sickening. At one point they had gotten so loud that the manager came from the back to calm them down.
After dinner, the happy group went to a comedy show, which Jamal chose not to attend. He was in no mood for laughter. He figured, with his luck, one of those stupid-ass comedians would call him out and reveal him. He drove back to Dream’s parking lot and waited for her to arrive.
Dream and DeVon showed up around 11:00. Jamal had it all planned out. Whenever DeVon decided to leave, Jamal would follow, abduct him at gunpoint, take him to a remote location, and kill him. Take the body to a nearby river and dump it there. At 11:45 Jamal saw Dream giving DeVon a good-night kiss. DeVon left walking as usual. He apparently preferred walking, and Jamal thought he must live nearby.
In the pitch-black dark, DeVon walked quickly along the highway. Jamal pulled alongside DeVon and slowed the vehicle. The two men made eye contact.
“Yeah, what do you want?” DeVon asked.
Obviously, DeVon didn’t recognize Jamal. He stared intensely and Jamal could only see the whites of his eyes. DeVon was shaken and visibly afraid. Jamal placed his finger on the trigger of the handgun. Just one shot to his chest would rip through his lungs or stop his heart.
Go ahead, don’t think, just fire.
But Jamal couldn’t bring himself to fire. It would be senseless to kill DeVon. Jamal glanced over his shoulder once again. There was no traffic on the dark road. He could kill DeVon, and nobody would ever know. But why kill someone who had done absolutely nothing to him directly. Why take the risk of being charged with murder? He didn’t want to end up back in prison where there would be no money to be made and no women. He placed the gun between his legs, and pushed the gas pedal to the floor.
He drove back to Dream’s apartment and dialed her number.
“Hello,” she answered.
“Hello, this is Jamal.”
“And?”
“I want to see you.”
“Why?”
“Because I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Listen, Jamal, I have to go to work in the morning. I’m a grown woman, and I don’t have a whole lot of patience for your childish games.”
“So you’re back with DeVon, huh?”
“I’m not with anybody.”
“You gonna tell me that you haven’t been with DeVon tonight?”
“I ain’t telling you nothing. In fact, I don’t feel that I
have
to tell you anything. Good night.”