Pink Lips (21 page)

She parked across the street, got out of the car, and crossed the street. Before her feet could even touch the lawn, the men guarding the entrance of the house started to walk her way when they noticed her.

“You got some business here, young lady?” one of the two men asked her as they stood in front of her, blocking her from going any farther.

They were wearing all black and pistols sat on their waistbands.
They had to be over six feet tall and they were buff. Willow looked at them sideways immediately. For some reason, she didn't feel a bit of intimidation from them. She had been in scarier situations.

“I'm here to see Rock.” Willow tried to pass them.

“Rock doesn't see just anybody. Do you have an appointment?” the guard asked.

“I'm his daughter, nigga. I shouldn't need an appointment.”

“It's cool,” Junior said while making his way toward them as he waved them off.

Junior's pulse sped up and he was breathing very shallow once he made it in front of Willow. His muscles grew tense. He felt his temperature rise. He could almost feel his blood boiling in his veins. He smiled on the inside; Willow's action reminded him of Melee's attempts to get away from his watch.

“I'm sorry.” Willow looked at him. “I just wanted to do this on my own.”

“Let's go inside.”

Willow followed Junior as she listened to him talk. She gave him fake grins as they approached the front door before he opened it. Darkness hit their eyes as she followed him inside the house. He hit a switch and the whole house lit up and she was able to see.

The inside was beautiful. There were murals painted on the walls, marble floors, and there was a beautiful chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Willow took her eyes off the beauty of the room to get a glimpse of her surroundings. She noticed more buff men standing at different positions; she knew they all had a certain job.

“Come on,” Junior said, walking down a hallway.

They entered a room and it looked as if they were in the living room. The room was just as beautiful as the previous one. The furniture looked as though it was imported. The rugs were so fancy that Willow had to second-guess if she should stand on them.

Junior told her to take a seat before leaving her alone in the room. She nearly dozed off from how comfortable the couch felt to her body. It would have succeeded in its purpose had she not been so filled with mixed emotions.

The whole experience was bittersweet and Willow could taste it in her mouth. She heard talking and laughter. She was aware that people were approaching the room she occupied.

Willow blinked and before she knew it, two men were standing in front of her. One was Junior, her brother, and the other was none other than Rock, her estranged father. She stared at him as if she had never seen him in her life; it was how she felt.

Rock told Junior to leave and he obliged, closing the door behind him. He stared at Willow as if she were going to run into his arms. The only thing on Willow's mind was how to break the ice. Although she shared his DNA, he was a complete stranger to her.

“What's up, Rock?” she asked nervously, her palms sweating like a fat kid after gym class.

He kept staring at her with that look that she had seen on Junior's face countless times. He didn't say anything; he kept staring and it was starting to irritate her to the core.

“So you can't use words? Do I need to do sign language or something?” she asked while cutting her eyes at him.

He smiled at her in a sly manner as he adjusted his posture. He unbuttoned the silky shirt he had on, exposing the shirt underneath. He made his way over to the couch where she was sitting and words ejected themselves from his mouth.

“You call your pops by his first name? I see Anoki didn't teach you any manners. I see she taught you how to have that fly-ass mouth, though.” He pulled a joint out of his pocket and lit it. “I knew you would come by one day like your sister did, but I just didn't know when. I'm not good at expressing emotions or no shit
like that, but a nigga is happy to see his baby girl in the flesh.” He puffed on whatever brand of weed that was rolled inside of the Bugler paper.

“Kail came to see you?” Willow asked in total shock.

“Yeah, she stopped by. She told me a lot about you. I haven't talked to her since then, though, but I'm more interested about why you stopped by.” He continued to indulge in his substance through his lips.

“What all she tell you?” she asked out of curiosity.

“You think you the first to wear pink lipstick? I knew what it meant when I met your mother; she just didn't know that I knew.” His facial expression changed.

“Yeah, I wear it.” She crossed her legs. “That sort of thing tends to happen when you grow up without a father figure.”

“Follow me and tell me the real reason why you came.” He turned around and started walking. Willow didn't say a word as her feet slowly but surely followed him. Rock started going up the spiral staircase and she did the same. The second floor of the house had a lot more security; there were men in black everywhere.

Willow continued to follow him as they made their way to the end of the hallway. He turned the knob to a set of double doors and they walked inside. He cut on a light revealing the massive size of the room. There were security videos on every wall so Rock could see all movements in the house at all times. He made his way to a desk in the room and ordered Willow to take a seat.

“So, what's the real reason you came all this way to see me?” He lit another blunt.

“I can't just come see my father?” Willow asked as she took a seat.

He looked her up and down as he puffed. “I don't know; you tell me. How you liking the east side of town?”

“How you know where I stay, Rock?”

“I know every move you make, Willow. Who do you think ordered security for you? You think I would have little girls that came from my nut sac running around and not keep an eye on them? I know about you and Craig. I even know about you and Duke.”

“So, you know about me getting shot and yet you've done nothing about it?”

“No,” he responded calmly.

“If you ran the city like everybody say, then you should have known.” She stood up.

“Sit yo ass down,” he demanded while pointing to the chair underneath where she stood.

Willow continued to stand with her arms crossed.

“You definitely got my blood in you, kid.” He finished the last piece of blunt he was smoking. “So, what do you want me to do about you getting shot at?”

“I don't know. What can you do?” She sat back down in the chair.

“Tell me what
you
want me to do. This is your request, right?” he asked while leaning back in his chair.

“What do you want me to say?” She looked straight into his eyes.

He put his hands down and got up from his seat. He walked over behind her and hunched over so his mouth was directly next to her ear. “Go home, baby girl,” he whispered as the heat from his mouth gave her hives, “this road ain't one you wanna go down; trust me.”

She turned around. “I'm already halfway down that road.”

He stood back up and glared at her, giving her a look that was all so familiar. He walked over to the door that blocked them off from everyone else in the house. “Junior,” he yelled as he opened up the double doors.

Willow heard a lot of noise and she could see him talking to
someone. It must have been Junior. He closed the door and made his way back over to the seat opposite where she was sitting. He put his hands together as he started to speak again.

“I guess since you don't have an answer for me, there's nothing I can do.” He pulled out another blunt.

“You smoke too much.” She tried to change the subject.

“I got some business to attend to, Willow. I got Junior making a run down to the warehouse to bring you some things.”

“Things like what?” she asked in a low voice.

“Well, I know times must be hard, so I'm giving you some dough. He gon' bring you something so you can protect yourself; is that cool?” he asked while puffing on his third blunt.

“I didn't come here for your money.” She stood. “If you had been watching me, you would know I have a lot of guns, and money has never been an issue.”

“It ain't about that,” he said as a fist hit the door with a knock. He got up and started walking toward the door. “One day, you gon' have to accept the fact that I am your pops, and I got you on whatever you need. I got a lot of years to make up for and I know that.” He opened the door and Junior walked in with a duffel bag.

Junior put the bag on the desk in front of Willow and started emptying it to show her the contents. He pulled out three guns and two stacks of money.

“Here.” Junior pointed at them. Willow looked at him and then Rock.

“I have money and guns.”

“Just pick one and take it just in case. This is three hundred thousand; if you need more, let me know. There is no limit to what I can get. If you ever want to retire that color on your lips, let me know.” Rock handed her the smallest gun.

The gun felt good to the touch as she picked it up. She didn't want to put it down. She wanted to shoot it just for the hell of it. The cold titanium metal chilled her hand and sat so perfectly in it. She didn't want to let it go.

“Do you like that one?” Junior asked while leaning back on the desk.

Willow nodded her head yes and she started to rub it. She saw Rock snap and Junior ran over to the closet. He got Rock a coat and held it out so he could put it on. He brought shoes and jewelry out as Rock started picking through what he wanted.

“Willow, I have to bounce, baby girl. Take that gun, them stacks, and come by tomorrow. I guess I can teach you how to work it properly.” He adjusted the coat on his body.

“I gave myself lessons a long time ago.” Willow pointed the gun at him. “I'm very skilled.”

“I'm sure you are,” he said, walking toward the door. “Junior will see you out, and it was good seeing you.”

“He's not as bad as you might think,” Junior said as Willow walked around the desk; her father's scent present in every spot in the room. “Pops is cool. He just gotta lot of business to take care of since they found his business partner, Tony, killed in his apartment.”

“That's fucked up,” Willow said, not realizing that she was the reason for Tony's death.

Willow sat in the seat behind her father's desk. She got up swiftly, knocking a picture off the desk with her hand. She picked it up and her eyes popped out of her head. In the photo was Evelyn from the nightclub and the girl from Hawaii who had walked in on them killing Gino, Mahina, and the other Pink Lip Bandits that Kail had shot and killed in cold blood.

“Who are these two to Rock?” she asked as she faced the picture around so Junior could see.

“That's Evelyn, my moms, and that's Melee, my sister,” he said as he pointed.

“Your sister as in my sister, too?” Willow asked as she set the picture down.

“Yes,” he said, his response sounding slow. “She's been missing for a while now.”

“I have to get out of here.” Willow dashed for the door.

“Wait, you going to my homeboy Talvin's party tonight?” Junior asked, stopping her in her tracks. “He throws a bash every year and it's gon' be a lot of people there.”

“Yes, I'm in that thing.” Willow went out the door.

Willow's stomach turned flips like a gymnast as pictures of Melee constantly stared at her on every wall that she passed. She couldn't believe that they were responsible for her sister's death. She left the mansion as the brisk air hit her, cooling off her body's rising temperature.

She left to go find something to wear to Talvin's bash. She couldn't do anything about Melee; it was already done. And no matter how much she wished she could go back to that day and change what had happened, she couldn't. It was something she was going to have to learn to live with. The only thing on her mind now was getting revenge on Talvin.

•  •  •

Willow sat across the room; the picture of beauty. Beautiful mahogany hair ran down her back like rivers. Her skin was fairer than the goddess Athena. Her eyes twinkled like pure emerald ice when she was happy, but when she was angry, they became poisonous
daggers; befitting an evil ice princess. Her lips were as full as a pink rose as she bent down and slipped her feet into her heels.

“Why are we going to this party again?” Kail asked, turning sideways to check out her figure in the dress that was hugging her body.

“Because, everybody gon' be there.” Choice stood next to her fixing her lipstick.

“I don't give a fuck about everybody.” Kail put her diamond earrings in her ear.

“Look, we all going and that's it.” Willow entered the bedroom from the hallway. “So get the fuck dressed and hurry up.”

Willow joined Choice in the mirror to check out her ensemble. She had to be the baddest bitch at the party if she wanted to get Talvin's full attention, and the small black number she chose to rock with her canary yellow heels was a sure way to have him drooling.

•  •  •

All eyes were on them once they made it into the party. The rest of the women there could have left. Everyone wanted to know the mystery behind the beautiful women with the pink lips. They all had different agendas. Willow was looking for Talvin, Kail was checking for potential clients, and Choice was there to keep an eye on Craig.

Willow walked around; her eyes cutting sharp as she looked for her target. She passed the open bar twice before she spotted Talvin in his one-of-a-kind tailored suit. Their eyes locked just like at the park, but this time, he smiled as he made his way toward her.

“Damn,” a voice said from behind, “you wearing the shit outta that dress.”