Heat Read online

  The room was as small as a walk-in closet and smelled of cigarettes and pussy. The bathroom was outside in the hallway and was shared by the four other rooms on the floor.

  I peeked in and saw that the toilet was antiquated and filled with brown water.

  The sink, maybe white years ago, was yellow and flecked with black mold. I didn’t even want to move that shower curtain and look at the tub.

  The bed was twin-size, and I braced myself as I pulled the blanket back. The sheet looked clean. I touched it—it was wrinkled and rough-feeling.

  I looked around for critters and found none. After moving the only other piece of furniture up to the door—a chair—I debated for a few moments whether to turn off the lights or not, but I had to; I couldn’t sleep in a lit room.

  I hit the switch and the room went dark except for a tiny stream of light that was coming off the wall.

  “What the hell,” I said as I moved to inspect it. “Well, I’ll be,” I mumbled. A hole had been bored through the wall, directly into the next room. I pressed my eye against the hole and could clearly see a man stretched out on his back in the bed.

  He was huge, his belly round and soft. Naked except for the brown socks he wore, he was grinning, the heels of his feet knocking happily together.

  “Come on, baby, come to Daddy,” he squealed to someone I had yet to see.

  A few seconds later, a woman stepped into view. I could see her only from her rib cage down.

  “Have you been a bad boy?” the woman asked.

  “Yes, yes, I have—very bad!” the man screeched, and the heel knocking increased in speed.

  “Shall I punish you, then?” the woman asked, and she slapped something against the palm of her hand. The sound was sudden and I jumped.

  The fat man began to squirm, and that’s when I noticed his hands were tied to the headboard.

  “Okay, then, you know what happens to boys who misbehave, don’t you?”

  Thwack!

  I jumped again.

  “Yes, yes, I do!” the man shrieked, and began thrusting his pelvis into the air. “Please punish me, pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaseee!”

  Thwack!

  This time the woman didn’t slap her hand with the object but brought it down hard across his thigh.

  The man jumped and his head rolled on his neck in ecstasy.

  Thwack!

  Thwack!

  Thwack!

  The weapon struck every part of his body, leaving his skin welted and red—and still he called for more.

  When the woman had had enough of torturing him, she took a few steps forward and roughly parted his legs with her knees.

  I waited for another strike, but when she brought the object down again it just made a soft thudding sound on his stomach, and it was then that I saw it was a dildo. Long, pink, wide, and bulging with artificial veins.

  It looked like a sex toy made for an elephant!

  “Are you sorry yet?” she purred.

  The man shook his head no.

  “Are you sure?”

  Me, I looked at the size of that thing and wanted to scream, “He’s sorry, he’s sorry!”

  He nodded his head yes, and the woman began to slowly drag the rubber dick across his stomach and then down between his legs. His penis, which was small by my standards, stood as straight as a pole, jerking slightly whenever the dildo touched it.

  One of her hands disappeared from sight and was followed by a sucking sound, which seemed to increase the man’s excitement; his head began to buck on the pillow.

  When her hand returned to view, her middle finger and forefinger were glistening with saliva, and then she promptly slid them up his anus.

  In and out, in and out—until the man began to whimper with joy.

  After a while she removed her fingers, grabbed hold of the dildo, and lined it up with the entrance to his anus.

  My heart clenched up and I bit down on my lip.

  With one quick move, she shoved it into him. The man screamed, but he didn’t beg her to pull it out.

  She pushed and pushed until more than half of it had disappeared up inside of him.

  I thought I was going to be sick, but I couldn’t stop watching.

  She used both hands to work the dildo, pumping it as if she were handling a plunger instead of a fake penis.

  When he finally shot his load, the woman was glistening with perspiration.

  She walked out of view for a minute, leaving the dildo lodged in the man’s behind. When she returned, she had a washcloth in her hand, which she used to wrap around the toy before giving it a hard tug.

  A wet, squishy sound accompanied its dislodgement.

  The man made a soft noise in his throat and then released the loudest fart I’d ever heard!

  Afterward, as the man dressed, they exchanged small talk as if they’d just had coffee and not engaged in a sick sexual act.

  Before he left, he counted off ten $100 bills, patted her on the ass, and said, “See you next week, Tangie.”

  Noah

  after the theatrics at Blue Water Grill, it was good to get some fresh air.

  The night was balmy, such a complete opposite of London evenings.

  I’d had four gin and tonics, and it showed. I was weaving down the sidewalk and chuckling at my drunkenness.

  When I turned the corner and stumbled upon an empty Coke can, I kicked it with the toe of my shoe and watched as it sailed through the air and landed in the street. “Goal!” I screamed, thrusting my arms up into the air.

  I didn’t care who saw me. I was feeling real good.

  Three houses away, I saw blue light emanating from the parlor floor of my neighbors’ home. It looked like they had the television right up against the window. Stupid asses, I thought to myself.

  As I moved closer, I saw that the television wasn’t just close to the window—it was in the window!

  Not only that, they had dragged their sofa out into the front yard.

  I couldn’t believe my eyes.

  Propped up on the sofa were Cupcake and four of her children. Two of the older boys were tending the hibachi grill in the corner of the yard. I sniffed and the distinct smell of barbecued chicken filled my nose.

  What the fuck?

  They had a whole backyard to grill in and a nice-size living room to watch television in. Why in the world would they choose to do all this in their front yard?

  I moved closer to the parked cars, hoping to scurry by them unnoticed, but just as my hand touched my gate, Cupcake turned around and hollered, “Hey, neighbor!”

  I forced a smile and lifted my chin in greeting. In return, Cupcake saluted me with the forty she was holding.

  Jeez!

  I let myself into my home. Closing and securing the door behind me, I started up the stairs to my bedroom. Although I could clearly hear the reruns of Sex and the City outside my window, I was thankful that it wasn’t the thudding gangster rap that I’d had to endure earlier in the week. I could deal with Kim Cattrall any day.

  When I hit the top landing, an alarm went off inside me. The light was on. I didn’t remember leaving that on.

  The door to the extra room was open.

  Okay, that wasn’t unusual—like I said before, that door pops open all the time.

  I looked down the hall and saw that the door leading to the roof was slung back on its hinges.

  Now, I know I didn’t do that.

  And just like that, I knew I’d been robbed!

  Chevy

  needless to say, the twenty-five dollars I’d paid to sleep was spent watching the live freak show.

  So there I was again, riding the train, and as tired as I was, I couldn’t go to sleep. I just kept hearing LaTangie’s name ringing in my ears.

  There couldn’t be two people in this city with that same name. It had to have been her. I couldn’t wait for Tuesday, when I could expose her prostituting ass to Anja.

  It was Saturday morning, and I’d decided that enough wa
s enough and jumped off the train at Eighty-sixth Street and walked straight to Crystal’s building.

  I knew I looked a hot wreck, but I held my head high, walked right up to the doorman, and said, “Crystal Atkins, please.”

  The doorman recoiled and made a face that told me my breath was foul.

  “And you are?”

  He knew who the hell I was. How many times had I been to visit Crystal?

  “Chevy Cambridge.”

  He looked me over and then picked up the black telephone. “Ms. Atkins, a Chevy Cambridge is here to see you,” he said, and then listened for her response, his eyes never leaving me.

  “Yes, I’ll send her right up.”

  He’d hardly finished speaking before I was headed to the elevator.

  Crystal was standing in her doorway when I stepped into the hallway. She pulled her blue silk robe tighter around her when I approached.

  “Hey, girl,” she said, “everything okay?”

  I put my best face on. “Of course. I just haven’t seen you for a while and I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d drop in.”

  “At seven-thirty in the morning?”

  “Crystal, girl, I was at this party a few blocks away,” I started my lie as I stepped past her and into the apartment.

  Crystal closed the door and followed me into the kitchen. “I’m starving. What you got to eat?” I already had my face in the refrigerator.

  “Chevy, you smell…funny.”

  Ignoring her comment, I reached for a plastic container. “What’s this?” I asked, shaking it in her face.

  Crystal’s eyes moved from me to the container and back. “Um, eggplant lasagna, I think.”

  “Is it fresh?” I asked, peeling off the lid and peering inside.

  “Two days old…but Chevy, what’s going on? I—”

  “Okay, okay,” I moaned, pulling the door open to the microwave and pushing the dish inside. “I got a little wild and ended up in this alley with this guy, and you know…” I said, shrugging and grinning mischievously.

  “No, I don’t know,” Crystal said, pulling out a chair and sitting down.

  It did sound ridiculous, me screwing some man in a back alley. Geneva, yes, Noah, yes—Chevy, no fucking way!

  “Well, I don’t know what you want me to tell you.” I avoided her probing eyes as I pulled the container from the microwave.

  Crystal silently watched me wolf down my meal. When I was done, she lowered the boom.

  “Noah said he put you out.”

  My head snapped up. “He didn’t put me out. I left.”

  Crystal smirked at me.

  “I did!” My voice was climbing. “You always believe everything Noah says. You all treat him like he’s Christ.”

  Crystal raised her hands in surrender. “I didn’t say I didn’t believe you, Chevy.”

  “Yeah, well, anyway,” I mumbled, looking around the kitchen. When I turned my attention back to Crystal, she was sneaking a glance at the wall clock above the sink.

  “Am I keeping you from something?” My tone was snide.

  “Well, um, yeah—I have to go to the office today.”

  “On a Saturday?”

  “Yeah, I’m trying to catch up.”

  Damn, I was hoping I could take a shower and a nap, maybe even spend a night or two.

  “Oh,” I began in a sweet voice, “I really wanted to spend some time with you.”

  Crystal’s face bloomed with surprise. “Oh, really?”

  “How about this,” I said as I fitted the lid back onto the empty container. “I’ll just hang out here until you get back, and then maybe we can grab a movie or dinner.”

  “No!” Crystal yelped as she shot right out of her seat. “I—the apartment is going to be fumigated, and so you can’t stay…won’t be safe, with the fumes and all.”

  What the hell is going on with this fumigation shit? Was every building in New York City infested with vermin?

  “Yeah, I know,” I said as I slowly rose from my chair, “maybe next time.”

  “We can still hook up later on if you want.”

  “Yeah, I’ll call you.”

  I wanted so much to ask her for a couple of dollars, but I didn’t. I just picked up my shopping bag and started toward the door.

  “What’s in that bag?”

  “Oh, um, just an outfit I have to return.”

  Crystal

  i closed the door and watched from the peephole until Chevy stepped onto the elevator. After double-checking the locks, I went to my bedroom.

  “Is she gone?” Kendrick queried from the bed. He was propped up against two pillows, the white sheet draped loosely across his naked body.

  “Yes,” I said, and climbed in beside him.

  He wrapped his arm around me and planted a gentle kiss on my forehead. It felt good, being there next to him, but it didn’t feel totally right.

  How he ended up in my bed is simple:

  I was drunk, he was there.

  I was lonely, he was there.

  I was horny, he was hard.

  We never did have coffee. We had every intention to, but after we took our seats at Merchants restaurant on Columbus Avenue, it just didn’t seem right to be sipping coffee when all the other patrons were throwing back alcohol.

  “How about a bottle of Cristal?” Kendrick had suggested after I’d spent five minutes perusing the cocktail menu.

  “Are we celebrating?”

  “Every breath is worth a celebration, don’t you think?”

  I nodded my head in agreement and then said, “Not Cristal, though. You heard about what the maker said about African Americans drinking his champagne, right?”

  Kendrick nodded his head. “Then we’ll have Moët.”

  A small smile tugged at the corners of my lips. He was still suave.

  We spent more than two hours at the table talking about everything and anything, including his time behind bars for drug possession. He kept that part of the conversation light, but I saw the sadness in his eyes and my heart tugged in my chest.

  “I’m a new man, Crystal, I swear I am,” he said, reaching across the table and taking my hand in his. “Won’t you let me show you the new me?”

  We left Merchants hand in hand. It was just like old times.

  When we reached the front of my building, he pulled me to him and said, “Aren’t you going to invite me up?”

  He was being presumptuous, and that was a bit of a turnoff for me, but then he leaned in and kissed me. It was a long, deep, probing kiss that made my knees weak. The pounding that began down between my legs was loud enough for the entire block to hear, and then I heard myself say, “Yes, of course.”

  We were like two schoolkids. He had me pressed up against the wall of the elevator, his hands moving slowly over my breasts, down between my legs, clawing at my thighs.

  By the time I pushed the key into the lock of my door, my blouse was halfway off.

  Breathlessly, we stumbled onto the couch, where we frantically undressed each other.

  “You’re just as beautiful as I remember,” Kendrick said, standing back and admiring my naked body. His eyes went wet and I felt the tears spill down onto my breasts as he gently sucked my nipples.

  I had his member in my hand; it was as hard as steel. I cried out in anticipation.

  When he positioned himself to mount me I was damn near crazed, but a small, sane voice called out to me from the back of my mind, and I pressed my palm against his chest. “Condom, we have to use a condom,” I whispered.

  “What shall we do today, sweetheart?” Kendrick’s voice pulled me from my reverie.

  “I don’t know, baby,” I said, yawning. “We could spend the day in bed?”

  Kendrick turned to me, his penis already hard and knocking against my thigh. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

  Noah

  they’d gotten my laptop, my stereo, my iPod, and my entire collection of watches. After the police left I didn’t sleep a wink,
not that I could if I wanted to. I was too damn scared.

  The officers casually mentioned that there had been a rash of burglaries in the neighborhood over the past month.

  Wasn’t that just as long as Cupcake and her tribe had been living here?

  Of course, they were nowhere to be found when the police rolled up. Criminals have radar where the law is concerned. Two minutes before the cops arrived, their front yard emptied out and the house went dark and quiet.

  Figures.

  I couldn’t wait for the sun to come up, and then I couldn’t wait until nine o’clock.

  After calling ADT and agreeing to pay the $100 rush charge for them to come the same day, I contacted Harold’s Ironworks to come and install bars over all my windows—and then after all that, I called Crystal.

  “Crystal, girl, they robbed me! Them no-good, lowlife motherfuckers jacked me like Bush jacked Iraq!” I wailed.

  “Noah? Noah, what happened now? Who robbed you?”

  I hushed my voice and moved into the living room. “Them project Negroes from next door.”

  “Your new neighbors?”

  “Yes!”

  “Are you sure, Noah, because—”

  “Yes, I’m sure. Who else could have done it?” I snapped.

  “Okay, just calm down. Take some deep breaths. You sound like you’re about to hyperventilate.”

  I did feel a bit light-headed. I crumpled onto the couch. My heart was racing. “Can you come by?”

  “To Brooklyn?” Crystal asked unbelievingly.

  She was beginning to sound like Geneva. Geneva considered Brooklyn foreign territory; she claimed that in a minute one would need a passport just to get in here.

  “Forget it. Shit,” I mumbled.

  “No, no, Noah, I didn’t mean it like that. I—I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay?”

  “Okay,” I whispered before pressing the End button on the telephone.

  I made Crystal spend the night. Shit, she didn’t get here until damn near four o’clock in the afternoon. “Where you been?” I screamed when I swung the door open.

  I had a bat clutched in my hand and my butcher knife shoved into the waistband of the military fatigue pants I wore.