The Seventh Family

“Do you steal from my stuff?” Joe asked, his protuberant, bleary eyes fixed on her. “No.” Jane replied with a tremble. “Why?” “Don’t mess with me.” He said coldly. “I own you and I know what you earn from me. How the hell do you get money you wire to Philadelphia?” “Are you stalking me?” “I said I own you. b***h! You wired three hundred bucks last week and two hundred this week! You did not earn two hundred for three weeks, where the hell did you get the money?” “It is my business, Joe and nothing of yours is missing.” Joe took a step and smacked her on the cheek. The force had been too much for her to hold so she surged before blundering unto the sofa after letting out a shrill cry that pierced into the frosty air. She felt as if her cheek was out of her face, and the harsh vibrations of pains she felt was annihilating “You don’t speak to me like that! You don’t have to steal from me directly but you steal from my clients. Your grace is that they know you are my b***h but your days are numbered. Now, tell me who the hell you are sending money to. What do I even know about you? You live with me and I don’t know s**t about you, creepy slot!” Jane was still crying with her hand on her cheek. She suddenly stopped crying as she the muzzle of a gun pointing at her. Her eyes became larger and a sudden fear flushed into her. She could feel the chattering of her teeth, the bitter taste in her mouth and the fear of dying in the hands of this cold drug dealer she had to live with. Within that ohnosecond, she saw a flash of her melancholic life she remembered since she was three. Just like that? The fear of leaving the world was not for her but for them. She could not leave them like that; vulnerable, helpless and dejected. “Please don’t kill me, Joe” “Tell me what you are up to.” He said and she knew Joe never gave empty threats. He could squeeze the trigger and bury her while drinking whisky. “Okay, I have been stealing but not from you. Yes, Joe, I steal like every day cause I sell drugs for you and pay me s**t!”   ********       2009, New York City     His hollow eyes drilled into her into her round hips lustfully as he grabbed the small bottle of pills from her. She drew back her face a little to save herself from the halitosis he produced with ease. His brown rugged hair was like an old wig found by an archeologist in century old debris. His eyes were protuberant, given them a shiny but macabre facade that was bogey. He smiled to expose his cigar stained teeth as he dropped the bottle on the stool beside his whisky which had drops of ashes from his cigarette he carelessly smoked. He eased his hulky balk, crossed his long legs in an attempt to cover the bulge between his legs. This was the chance he had longed for. He wondered how Joe got such a damsel. She stood before him in awe and the fear in her blue cosmic eyes was like a powerful aphrodisiac that ignited his libido; bringing his satyriasis syndrome into full motion. He could see her increased rate of breathing making her chest heave; and he could imagine how turgid the organs beneath the L.A. Lakers T-shirt she wore looked like as they bulged out on her chest: bosom in its prime with no scintilla of surgery. She was probably between twenty-one and twenty-two years of age and her beauty screamed vintage. Her mercury-red hair tumbled over her shoulders and a few strands made their way down her forehead and stopped before one of her blue eyes that reminded him of the clear summer sky with not patch of cloud. Her aquiline nose was straight, flawless and ended with soft curvy tip and sat perfectly above full, sensuous, jasmine soft firm lips with the lower lip slightly fuller. Her sharp featured face was heart shaped and a mathematical enigma. But he saw that these were just natural features because she lacked the care and treatment needed to enhance her beauty. That could be taken cared of if she was wise; and he hoped she was. He loved her straight long legs; with those athletic potentials with a promising gymnastic prowess which he felt was a vista to heaven if properly utilized in bed. She was a sheer object of s*x ecstasy and she was doing a lot to his reveries and fantasies. The first time he saw her, he had seen her from behind and he wondered how a girl could be this slim and have such a round, fat bum which promised all level of succulence.  But he realized that she was as slippery as ice and that made him felt she may fall into his hands. Joe said she was his woman. How could a street urchin like Joe have such a girl? Did it matter now that she fell into his trap? Damn Joe! Damn the world! He wanted this damsel and he was going to have her. It may be permanent if she was wise. He would not hesitate to replace Sherry with her. Sherry had done her time. Two years and he was getting tired of her. Joe did not deserve her. She was pretty but wore cheap pants and skinny top. “Do you know who I am?” He asked, pulled in smoke and puffed out a thick cloud of smoke. He seemed to enjoy the view of the smoke as they move in mass to spread and thin. She was glad he did that because that was much better than the pure halitosis he pumped into the air. Jane said nothing “I said do you know who I am?” He vituperated and the hardness in his voice brooked no mercy and patience. This startled her and he secretly enjoyed the fear on her face, and the turgid bosom that heaved. She nodded. “Who am I?” “Poloski.” “Hmmmm….You knew that and you stole from me?” He inhaled and exhaled smoke again, still pressing his legs together to hide the bulge between. “It was a mistake.” She said and knew she did not sound convincing. He giggled and exposed his stained teeth. “A mistake….That is worse than stealing from me. You get that? Telling me it was a mistake is like telling me that I am a fool and that hurts. I don’t let no one disrespected my level intelligence. It hurts and makes me angry and I hate being angry because I do things that are bad when I am angry. Now you are getting me angry and you know that Joe can’t do s**t to me if I stab you to death here. He rules his street and I rule the zone. He gave you two bottles to pass to me, you delivered and stole my wallet, taking away my three hundred dollars, and my lighter.” Jane said nothing. She knew there was no point of denying and she felt stupid to have done this after Joe warned her. Now she did not know who to fear most; this beast or Joe? “I am sorry.” He giggled again and sipped whisky. “You are sorry, huh? So what do you want me to do? Just let you go and say, ‘never do that again?’ Of course I am giving Joe a call and telling him to stick a part of his big flesh on a steak and get ready to roast for sending his slot to steal from me…and then send your body to him as a present because I usually get rid of rotten bodies. He may give you a burial and of course none of us is a friend of the NYPD so it’s just our stuff. He won’t spill it, plus you were a homeless girl before he took you in so you are just another flipping paper in the trash.” “Please don’t hurt me.” “Your fate lies in your hands. You decide whatever you want for yourself.” “I don’t get it, Sir” “You should get it. You want me to keep shut and not tell Joe. You also want me to forgive you and act as if you never stole from me and insulted my intelligence by telling me it was a mistake. I know you will not mind having another three hundred dollars from me before leaving here. All of these are very achievable. I wonder why a girl like you chose to distribute drugs for Joe. You deserve a better life but like I said in retrospect, your destiny is yours to paint in the color you want. There is no such thing as luck or divine blessings. It is all about the outcomes of our calculations, decisions, executions and no random result like luck. So if you want things that are good for yourself, and avert the great calamity about to fall on your shitty head, you know how to pacify me or have what it takes to pacify me.” His eyes travelled round her hips again and the bulge increased without him trying to hide it. “You mean just that and we are good?” He nodded, crushed the burning filter on the tray and took a sip. It seemed he was going to have a day here. “Yes, and more to that if you wish. I got more money and connections than Joe. What do you stand to gain from him? Okay, he is younger and sturdier so you probably enjoy having s*x with him and he gave you a roof over your small capacity thinking head…but you got more prospects with me. If you wish, you could move into this beautiful home of mine and never go back to that ghetto but the least you can get is to have a period with me and you are forgiven and leave with three hundred dollars. That is very kind of me, Jane. I am not always this kind.” “Are you serious?” “Come off it, baby…you are wasting your time and mine. I got things on my schedule list.” “Okay, deal but I don’t believe you will give the money.” What she just said made Poloski hornier. That meant a yes and he felt excited. He deepened his hand into his pocket and counted some dollar bills. “You sound like you want to go back to the ghetto. Okay, that is your foolishness and I won’t stop you from being foolish. But just know that anytime you need money, I got my money and that thing waiting for you.” He gave her the money and she counted it. “So you are for real.” She smiled and put the money in her pocket. “So, what’s next?” He smiled. “Upstairs.” He said and got up, drew her closer and hit her slightly on her buttocks “You are a promising kid.” She smiled and moved away from his hold. “Here we go.” He led her upstairs and into his spacious bedroom. He wasted no time as he began to pull of his clothes. He needed to urinate so he went into the restroom. He closed his eyes as he poured urine into the WC. He frowned. Was he going to use a condom? Did he have any left in the room? Okay, little thing like a condom was not going to stop him. He was high, horny and about to get one of his best lays. He finished urinating, whistling tunelessly and moved out of the bathroom. He stopped and his eyes went thinner as he felt blood rise to his head. Jane was missing and he did not need to check if she had run away or not: she took away the two hundred dollars on the stool. Okay, she just singed her death warrant. Damn! How could he be this foolish? He thought the fear he instilled in her would not make her try any hocus-pocus. How could she be this stupid? Did she think she would go scot-free? He dropped his fat body on the bed and picked his phone. “Joe…” He began as the line connected.