The Mike Black Saga Book One (7 page)

“You mean like you call people on the phone and try to get them to pay their bills,” she asked.

“No,” I laughed. “Not quite.”

“So what do you collect? Stamps, coins, something like that?” Cézanne asked.

“No, people owe the people I work for money and I collect it for them.”

“You mean like a gangster?” Cézanne asked.

“You could say that.”

“Do you, like, kill people?” she asked.

“If I did, and I told you.”

“I know, you would have to kill her,” Cézanne said. I swear it looked like her nipples swelled when she said that. Now the conversation was all about me, until Cézanne excused herself to the ladies room.

“I thought she would never leave.” I heard her mumble as Cézanne walked away, but looking back at me the whole time.

“What do you say?” I asked even though I knew.

“I said my name is Regina.”

“I’m Mike Black.”

That was how it started for me and Regina. At the time, I had never met anybody like her. Regina had style and she was interesting to talk to. Regina was the most articulate woman I had ever been with. Regina said she spoke that way because her grandmother always insisted in her speaking perfect English no manner how the other kids were talkin’. All I can say was that Regina was a lady, a lady in every sense of the word.

Regina introduced me to a whole new world. It was her that introduced me to fine
dinning
, and goin’ to plays, and art museums, and recitals. And we used to dance, every night, out on the dance floor having the best time. I loved Regina, but I cheated on her relentlessly. At the time I met Regina, I was fuckin’ Vanessa, Victoria, and Lisa and a couple of others that I can remember their faces, but not their names.

I was goin’ to collect from a guy named Herman Epps. He was a nice guy, I mean it. Herman Epps was really a nice guy. But one thing about Herman, he was all about business. He was a consistent buyer, never late with the paper. He wasn’t gettin’ rich with it, but he was doin’ well. Herman’s down fall, like most men, was women. He loved them and he loved to love them. I’d see Herman hangin’ out at all the hot clubs. Always with a different woman, but then he met Anastasia. After that Herman was never the same. After that his game got sloppy, but Herman
couldn’t never
see what kind of poison Anastasia really was.

Anastasia was an attractive woman, but she wasn’t a star or anything close to it for that matter. But to hear Herman tell it, Anastasia had a gift. He told me once, even though I didn’t really wanna hear it, that he didn’t know what cummin’ was until he met her. Long story short, he was
pussywhipped
.

Herman said the only thing wrong with her was that Anastasia was insanely jealous. If a woman ever got near Herman, she’d make a fool of herself and Herman too. After a while, Herman laid back, cut loose
all of his
woman and married Anastasia.

So like I said, Herman had got a little slow with the money, but he always came though. At the end, Herman was tryin’ to step it up, making bigger and bigger buys. Until this one time, he had re-
ed
up on the product, even though he owed fifty grand. It was Herman, always straight with the paper. So when he assured
Andréthat
he would have his money in a few days, nobody thought twice.

But all of a sudden, Herman goes missin’, nobody and I mean nobody had seen or heard from him in weeks. I had gone by his apartment, Herman wasn’t there. Wasn’t in any of his usual spots, he was ghost. One night about two in the morning, I was in the area hangin’ out with Cézanne and I see a light on in his apartment. I told her to that I would be right back, put my gloves on and went inside.

When I got to the door, I heard music playin’ softly. I knocked on the door, Herman didn’t answer. “Herman! It’s Black! Open the door, I just wanna talk.” No still no answer. “Come on, Herman, I know you’re in there. I can hear the music.” He still didn’t answer, so I used this size fourteen key I got.

When I kicked in the door and went inside the place was a mess, and it smelled bad. It was hard to
breath,
it was so funky in there. My first thought was, I would think Anastasia would at least keep the place clean, but maybe cleanin’ ain’t her thing. Herman said she could fuck, not clean. I went into the living room and found Herman sittin’ in a chair, listening to Teddy Pendergrass, staring at the snow on the TV screen, but he had a nine-millimeter in his lap. At first, he didn’t seem to realize that I was there. “Herman! Herman!” I yelled and got a step closer. “Herman!”

Slowly he turned toward me. “Black,” Herman said softly. “How’d you get in here?”

“I kicked in the door.”

“Oh.” I looked at Herman, he was dressed in black, but it was wrinkled, like he’d slept in those clothes for a while. He needed a shave and his hair was matted to his head. And I found out what I smelled was Herman. I had never seen him look so bad.

“What the fuck is wrong with you man?” I asked Herman.

“I know you come here for money, Black, but I ain’t got it,” Herman said slowly.

“What is wrong with you?” I asked again.

“I ain’t got it, Black. I wish to god I had it, I wish—,” Herman said and started
cryin
’. I’m not talkin’ about a tear or two, he was
cryin
’. “I wish Anastasia was here.”

I hate to see a woman cry, I admit it,
it’s
one of my weaknesses. But a man
cryin
’ is the worst. “Dude, dude, what you talkin’ about? Where’s Anastasia?” I asked as Herman continued to cry.

“She took everything from me, and left me here with nothing, Black. And I loved her, Black and I trusted her. I fuckin’ trusted her!” Herman yelled and swung the gun around.

“Who, Anastasia? She left you? Damn Herman, I’m sorry.”

Here I am come to collect money or administer pain and I’m feelin’ sorry for the guy. “
It’s
gonna be alright, man. Just watch how you swung that gun.”

“She left me, Black. Ran off with some nigga she used to get high with,” Herman cried. “I thought she loved me. I gave her everything.”

“Sometimes that’s a mistake. Some
woman take
you for weak when you give them too much” I reasoned. “But chill out, it’ll get better. There’s plenty of other fine ass
woman
out there,” I said thinkin’ about the one I left in the car.

“You don’t understand!” Herman swung the gun again. “I don’t want anybody! I love her!” Again with the tears.

“Look, man. I’m sorry Anastasia left you. I didn’t think she was like that, but I guess you never know. You gotta get your shit together. Clean yourself up, clean this place up,” I said and pointed around the room with my gun. “Get your package back and find you some new pussy. I guarantee it will make you feel better. I ain’t gonna fuck you up,
cause
you shootin’ bad like this and shit. Just tell me when you think you’ll have some money and I’m out.”

“But you don’t understand. Anastasia’s gone, Black. She took everything.”

“Hold up.
You tellin’
me that Anastasia bounced with the money?”

“And the product. She took the money and the product. That’s what I been tryin’ to tell you. Anastasia took the money and the product and ran off with that nigga,” Herman began to cry again.

Damn.

Ain’t that a bitch?

Or should I say, ain’t she a bitch.

“How could she do me like that, Black? I ain’t
no
bad guy. I treated her good. Didn’t kick her ass, even though she needed it
some times
. Never called her out her name.”

“She took the money, Herman? The fuckin’ money!” I yelled.

“All you care about is the money, but I lost everything. I don’t have anything
any more
.”

“Yeah, Herman, that’s all I care about,” I lied. I really did feel for him.

“There’s nothin’ left for me now. Anastasia was all I had. I just wanna die, Black. I wanna killed myself, but I just don’t have nerve. I been sittin’ in this chair for I don’t know how long, with this gun, but I just can’t do it”

“Fuck that, Herman don’t kill
yourself
, she ain’t worth it.”

What was I sayin’? I was supposed to be killin’ him about this money.

“Kill me, Black.”

“What?”

“Kill me, Black. I just don’t wanna live without her. She took everything from me. She took away my future. Please, Black, just put your gun to my head and pull the trigger.”

“No!”

“You can use my gun, Black just kill me please,” Herman said and tried to hand me his gun.

“No! Nigga is you crazy? I may kill you about not havin’ this money, but I ain’t gonna kill you cause that bitch left you. What I need to do is find her ass.”

“No, Black, please,
don’t
hurt her. Please, I’m
beggin
’ you Black don’t kill her, kill me. I’m the one that don’t deserve to live.”

“Look Herman, I’m gonna get outta here man. You’re depressing the fuck outta me. I’ll be back to check on you, see if you know where she. I’m not gonna hurt her, Herman, I promise. Just don’t do nothin’ stupid, a’ight?”

Just as I turned to leave I heard Herman call me. When I turned around, he was pointing his gun at me.

“I can’t let you hurt her, Black! This stops here!”

I shot him.

Two shots in the head.

“Damn, Herman!”

I looked at Herman’s dead body slumped over in that chair.

I picked up my shells, got outta there and went back to Cézanne. “Took you long enough,” Cézanne pouted and folded her arms.

We drove away in silence, or at least I drove in silence. Cézanne on the other hand was goin’ on and on about how rude it was for me to leave her in the car and take so long. That went on until I screamed. “Enough!”

After that, I made it my personal mission to find Anastasia. It took me five month to find her. Her and her new man relocated to Dallas and got into the game. With a quality product that they didn’t pay for, they were able to be very competitive on price. Anastasia and new man were livin’ the life.

The life she sucked out of Herman.

One night
me
and Freeze paid them a visit. It was hot a hell down there. We didn’t kill them; I kept my promise to Herman.
 
I just wanted the money. Freeze tied up Anastasia and held a gun to her head. “Now, if you don’t give me my hundred grand, he’s gonna kill her. But we’re gonna fuck her first cause I hear she got good pussy.” We stayed down there for two days; eating their food and suckin’ up there air, but we didn’t fuck Anastasia. It took him that long to get up the money.

I’ve always regretted killin’ Herman. No matter what he said or how he felt, he didn’t deserve to die. I really don’t think Herman was gonna shot me.
It stops here
. He wanted me to kill him. I wonder if it was because I was goin’ after Anastasia, and he thought I would hurt her or because he just wanted to die. Either way, I didn’t have to kill him.

After that my attitude
about a lotta things
changed. I began to see how drugs
effected
people’s lives and made them do shit that under normal circumstances they’d never even consider. Then something happened that changed my life forever. A very good friend mine, Vickie Payne, died smoking cocaine in my apartment.