Pink Lips (15 page)

“I'm sorry,” Kail whispered, stepping back slightly. She took a jerked breath and picked up the other gun off the slightly blood-spattered carpet.

“Sorry?” Willow snapped, her grip tightening on the handle of the gun, so tight her knuckles had turned red.

They both stood there with the gun deep in their palms. They didn't say anything; only the sounds of Willow's pain could be heard and the soft whistle from the ceiling fan above. Kail dropped her gun as a tear fell from her eye. She dashed out of the room, and before Willow could process a thought, the sound of the front door closing echoed throughout the condo.

E
velyn's heart raced as she closed her eyes while Talvin led her to the secret place he always told her about with promises of taking her one day. He took his hands away from her eyes and she gasped at the beauty. The moon was shining over the enchanting waterfall he took her to six hours away from the place they called home.

Evelyn and Talvin had been creeping for years; it was their little secret. Rock would have them both killed if it ever got out, so she kept it as discreet as possible. She was meek about all of their meetings, even if they were business related. She was his boss, his lover, and as long as he didn't mix the two, she didn't mind.

“This is beautiful.” Evelyn ran into his arms.

“It's all for you.” He cuffed her ass in his hands.

His dark hair shined in the moon's light and she couldn't help but take her hands and rub his head. That's when she saw it. Those azure eyes, just like the sky at midnight so beautiful and dark. She looked deep into them as he bent down and whispered to her three very important words:
“I love you.
” She didn't have time to react, for he quickly captured her lips. It was warm, and his lips were soft. Passion burned within the kiss, desire in it, too. Their eyes were closed, both of them savoring the moment. His arms wrapped around her waist and her fingers intertwined with his.

“I have another surprise,” Talvin said, pulling away from her.

“What is it?”

“Let's keep walking and see.”

Evelyn had never been that deep in the forest. She didn't know how to respond to the atmosphere. Rock had never taken her on trips like this; she was a virgin to the wild. Every bird call and bush rumble caused her to jump as her senses grew fond of the area.

They weaved through the trees along the forest with Talvin's memory being their guide. He had roamed these woodlands since a very young age. His family owned the land and he had spent a lot of his childhood there.

Cresting the hill, they broke free of a dense patch of needle leafs that rolled freely down the embankment, a natural landslide that served their purposes more effectively now that it was covered in snow, and sped their escape from the observant gaze of wild animals.

Evelyn followed the constellation with her eyes, allowing it to guide her past the lightly scattered beech and conifer trees that peppered the land along the forest line as she held Talvin's hand; casting a soft shadow along the gray carpet of snow—beckoning them forward.

The night had always exhilarated her; allowed her a freedom seldom experienced in her station. Behind the cloak of darkness, she could run like the tall-horned stag, waving his white tail in a gesture of peace instead of alarm. Her laughter, breathless and sporadic, was an even cadence that mingled fluently with the nightly chorus sung by the woodland beasts.

As the canopy overhead thickened, their steps grew muffled by the pine needles that blanketed the forest floor; the ground no longer cold beneath her soles. They paused. The trees were much thicker in the lowland territories, and as they looked up ahead, there was a beautiful log cabin.

As they walked into the clearing, they saw the small and slightly abandoned-looking cabin standing right in the middle of it. It looked directly out of a fairy tale as it was covered in snow and there were small icicles hanging from the crooked roof. There was a huge chimney on top of it and as a cold breeze brushed through the woods around them and over the clearing, the smell of pine and wood smoke pinched their noses. It smelled sharp in comparison to the clear winter air around them, but also kind and agreeable. It made them want to go straight into the cabin and warm their hands by the fire inside.

Talvin grinned as the door opened at his will. He grabbed Evelyn's arm and led her inside as the heat throughout the home hit their bodies. He was happy he had come earlier in the day to set up everything for this very moment. As the door closed behind them, he knew he had made the right decision.

“This is nice.” Evelyn removed her long mink and set it on the old wooden furniture.

“I want this night to be special.”

Talvin lit the candles in the cabin. She could feel his hand running down her back and to her ass. It felt good. As he did this, she moaned and squeezed his head tight in her tiny fists. Her heart was beating furiously; as this was the most passionate foreplay she'd ever had. He rubbed her and then went back up, as she unbuttoned his shirt and he took off his pants.

Talvin could hear Evelyn moaning as he rubbed her soft ass with his fingers. She shuddered as he reached her; it was obvious he was too cold. He could also hear her heart. He reached up to her breasts, cuffing them softly into his palms. He started squeezing them gently as her nipples hardened with enthusiasm.

He took hold of her hand and led her to the sofa. Talvin sat down, longing to feel Evelyn against his body once more. She sat
on his lap, holding his face in her hands and kissing him lightly across his cheeks and forehead.

He pulled her toward him, instantly feeling the warmth of their bodies against each other. Evelyn felt his hands grazing, oh so gently, along her thigh, his warm hand against her bare skin underneath her skirt. His hands explored her back and he eventually picked her up and gently laid her down on the old, wooden handmade sofa.

They continued kissing when Talvin stretched his fingers under Evelyn's soft cotton vest. He pulled it over her head, and then slowly removed his own T-shirt. She arched her back slightly as his lips delicately caressed her stomach. His chest was soft, and slightly rough from the sun. Talvin wasn't the type to have bulging biceps, but he was perfectly toned, with a strong hold of her. Things became more intense and hot. They clumsily made their way to an empty room. Their sweaty bodies pressed against each other, and they became one person.

“That was good,” Evelyn moaned as she lay on top of Talvin.

“That shit was real good.” Talvin kissed her lips.

Although Evelyn was twenty years older than him, Talvin still wanted her. In his eyes she was as beautiful and graceful than all the other women his age, but the way she ran the streets alongside her husband made Talvin that much more attracted to her. He had fallen in love with her and he couldn't stop even if it killed him.

“You think you can still handle that thing for me?” Evelyn asked, referring to Duke.

“Of course,” he said as he looked into her eyes.

“When?”

“When do you need me to do it?”

“Tonight,” she said as she bit his bottom lip.

“Then I will handle it tonight.”

Evelyn stretched her body on the comfortable bear skin rug that she and Talvin somehow ended their sex session on as he went to fetch something to wipe up with. She could still feel his fluids on the small patch of hair between her legs as she lay there on her stomach with a smile on her face. She knew that by the following day Duke would be dead and if she were lucky, so would Willow.

•  •  •

Everyone and everything Duke saw was in his way, a barrier between him and his destination, the emergency room. He was resolutely focused on getting to the hospital as quickly as possible. Every possible outcome was running through his mind: one moment he was convinced that Willow was at death's door; the next he hopefully speculated that she had just a few scratches; or better still, it was not his Willow at all; a case of mistaken identity; his Willow was at home.

The hospital smelled like a synthetic clean death as he entered. The florescent lights glared on the tile floors as he spotted Willow waiting as she applied pressure to her wound. He witnessed many extremely sick people as he rushed over to her. Some were upset as they were bored. Those waiting were sad yet impatient and mad, all emotions across the board. The wait was great as it always was. Willow thought to herself,
This is why they call us patients because we must be patient before anything ever gets done.

“Yo, the fuck are you doing out here?” he asked her as he stood over her.

“Waiting to be called.” She clenched her teeth, the pain becoming too much for her to bear.

Duke's temper rose immediately at the sight of Willow's pain. He couldn't take seeing her hurt. For some reason, he could feel
her pain, and as he watched small sweat beads roll down her forehead, he became furious. Duke turned around, his eyes looking for the nurses station. When he saw it, he headed over, and within seconds, he was in front of a nurse.

“Excuse me,” Duke said, the nurses at the station ignoring him. “Excuse me!” he yelled as he banged on the top of the counter for dramatics. The nurses, the waiters, and the people leaving all turned around and looked at him as the room stood still, nobody moving or saying a word as silence took over.

“My girl has been shot. I need y'all motherfuckers to get her to the back now. She's bleeding, and she looks like she's about to faint,” he said with a raised voice.

“Sir, we have an order to follow here and—”

“I don't give a fuck about an order.”

“Calm down, sir, we will have her in the back as quick as we can.” The nurse pointed to the waiting chairs. “Now have a seat and be patient.”

Duke wanted to reach over and pull the woman up by her collar, but he saw the police in the waiting area, so he decided to be mild. He pulled his cell phone out as he looked over at Willow. He had to make a move quick. Her eyes were closed from the pain and if he had to call in one of his favors from the streets, that's what he was going to do.

“I need some intel,” Duke said into the phone as he looked back at the nurse's badge, “she's a nurse at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Her name is Melissa, white chick, kind of short, thick, dark hair with dark eyes.”

“I found her,” the voice on the phone said. “What do you need to know?”

“Everything.” Duke walked over to Willow, listening to everything the voice told him. He tapped Willow as he hung up the
phone. Her eyes sprang open and he leaned down and helped her up. “Come on, we're going to the back.”

He let her weight fall on him as they made their way to the nurses station. The same nurse looked their way and smirked before turning her head to engage in the conversation she was having. Duke smiled at her arrogance, knowing that in a minute, she would be hitting the button to open up the doors in the back.

“I wonder what would happen if Justin was rushed here,” Duke said as the nurse looked his way quickly at the call of her son's name. When the look of worry took over her eyes, Duke knew he had her exactly where he wanted her. “Would Justin have to wait like this if he showed up with the same gunshot wound? Maybe I should go to Grover Washington Jr. Elementary School in the morning and find out.”

“We have a bleeder,” the nurse called out as a facade.

“That's what I thought,” Duke said as the nurse rolled a wheelchair around the nurses station to allow Duke to sit Willow in the seat.

Willow's vision swam for a second before she felt a hand grip her arm.

“Please, just sit down,” Duke said to her, a worried expression on his face.

She angrily pulled her arm away, a scowl on her face as she placed her hand on the nurse's thigh. “No!” she yelled, trying to shake away the dots in her vision. “I-I'm fine,” she said, stumbling over her words as it got harder to see.

A still moment passed before she felt the nurse tug on her arm again. “Please, miss,” she pleaded, and Willow didn't have the strength to pull away. Her knees collapsed, and the next thing she knew, the world went black.

Willow was in a heavy black cloud. There was nothing to see and nothing to hear; just this heaviness in her whole body. It was so heavy that she couldn't move. She couldn't remember how to open her eyes. Then she started to hear noises. The buzz of machines and the clicking of feet near her, quiet talking. She lay still. She strained to hear and make sense of it all. She felt some light shining on her closed eyes—a pink glow. She struggled to open them. She was in a bright white place. Someone was bending over her. He said her name twice. She tried to remember how to talk. No words came, but she blinked hard. Again, he called her. Again, she tried to answer. Suddenly, Willow cleared her throat. She thought she was about to shout. But all that came out in a tiny whisper was, “What happened?”

Willow awoke fully as she leaned up in the hospital bed. All she could remember was the gun going off at Kail's leisure. She snapped back into reality and realized she was in a hospital. She could make out Duke's face next to her.

The doctor smiled. “Good, you're awake; how are you feeling?”

With the little strength she had left, she replied, “I don't know, weak.”

The doctor looked at Duke and motioned him to go outside with him. As she watched Duke walk out of the room, she got out of the bed as she walked over to the small mirror above the sink. Her wound was packed, a small needle was inside her arm secured by tape as if medicine, and fluids had been given to her. Her lips were bare, no pink on them at all, which made her feel naked. Willow couldn't believe that Kail had shot her. Her mind was still in a state of shock and almost shut down every time she tried to process the thought. Her heart was telling her it wasn't true, but her brain played it over in her head like a prosecutor wanting
justice. Her heart was heavy as she leaned on the sink, tears rushing down her face at the fact that she couldn't trust her one and only living relative.