4. Draco
A FEW DAYS EARLIER…
“What you going to do, Son?” my father asked me while we sat in his boat fishing.
My father was the type of man that would go fishing whenever the spirit hit. He always called me to see if I was free to come. No matter what day it was, if he went fishing, it was within the same four hours of that day. I made sure I didn’t schedule appointments during that timeframe in anticipation of those calls. Fishing and hunting with my father was one of the highlights of my life. It was our time to talk, father to son, without my mother around worrying about the topics that were brought up.
I’d been fishing with my father since I was around six. He took me hunting for the first time when I was twelve. He taught me everything I knew about using firearms like his father did him. Anything I didn’t know, I learned when I took a tactical gun training class at the age of nineteen.
“Dad, I don’t know. It’s like when she walked into the room, my entire heart stopped for a second. You know how much I loved my late wife, Dad. I feel like shit to admit that the feelings I had when I saw Samantha Nicole for the first time didn’t even compare to the feelings that I had the first time I saw Taelyn. Those shits didn’t even reside on the same planet. What the fuck do I do with that?”
My dad sat there in silence as we watched the small waves of the water. Five years ago, I bought my dad a new fishing boat. He called it a yacht because of its size, but I begged to differ. His favorite place to fish was the Cooper River, so with the boat, I bought him a matching home along the river. I wanted my mother to be close when he fished, and she liked to be. The boat also had a bedroom and full kitchen, so there were times that they slept on the boat. When he complained about the house and the boat, I told him that retirement had its perks. The hope was to catch some bass or catfish for my mother to cook later.
My father turned his head toward me. “Son, I don’t think you should feel bad. Anyone who knew you and Samantha Nicole knew that you loved her with everything in you. Look how you honored her after her murder. I think now you are in a new space in time, and God has revealed who he has for you for it. That in no way takes away from any of the feelings that you had for your late wife.
“Now, as far as Miss Taelyn, it doesn’t sound like you can continue to counsel her within your ethical values. You’ve only had one session with her, and the first thing you said to me was that you met your future wife. I knew it had to be something too because you never, and I do mean never, talk about patients with me and your mother.”
He had a point. I made it a habit to never talk about who was a patient of mine to anyone. If the patient wanted anyone to know, then they would be the one to tell it. I went back and forth about whether I wanted to say anything to my dad. I knew that I had to when my dick got hard at just the thought of Taelyn.
“There’s a pretty significant age gap. She’s only twenty-eight years old. There’s one more thing… She’s the sister of Lamont Smith.”
My father’s neck snapped in my direction.
“As in Trell Smith’s daughter? Oh, you pick them with obstacles I see.”
His boisterous laugh probably scared the fish away if there were any. My parents met Trell and Tae Smith a few times over the years at corporate functions such as galas, family cookouts, and other get togethers.
“You think he’s going to trip?”
“Not at all. He’s going to completely fall off in your ass. All I can tell you at this point is if you plan to go down this road, be prepared for some speed bumps. I know how fast you like to move. This is a different situation and a different person. You have to customize the foundation and growth of this potential relationship to you and baby girl. What I do know is that had it been my daughter, I would give you holy fuckin’ hell. That’s why God didn’t give me daughters because I’m too crazy for that.”
Yeah, my father was with all the shits with me as his son. I could only imagine what it would have been like if I had a sister. As far as how fast I moved, he was also correct. I met Samantha Nicole on a Monday. A week and a half later, we were in a committed relationship. Fast forward to six months later, we were engaged. She had my last name a month later via a courthouse wedding and a backyard reception. We were happily married until those fuckers took her from me.
“I’ll tread lightly with my baby as her brother told me. In our next session, I’ll let her know that I’m unable to be her therapist.”
When my father asked me what reason I would give her as to why I couldn’t be her therapist any longer, there was only one.
“The truth. I can’t be the therapist of my future wife.”
CLUB LIT WITH THE FELLAS…
“Yeah, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I would have told her right there that she was going to be my wife. That’s what I did with Ruth. You see we’re three babies and some years in this marriage thing. Yeah, we had some trying times, but God.”
Me, Mega, Croy, and Ned were in a Boss Suite at Club Lit. I’d been in one of these suites a few times over the years, and it was never any less impressive. This club was the only one that I knew that you could spend the night and have a gourmet meal. I told them that I had a crush on a female that I liked and wanted to make mine. I was sure to not let them know who it was since they all knew of her. Ned was the only one that was still active with the organization. Both Mega and Croy retired from the disposal department of the organization. However, if they were needed, they would definitely be summoned.
Ned turned in his seat to face his best friend. “What you’re telling this man is to just be like ‘You’re my wife… What’s up?’”
Mega’s eyes ballooned. “Um, yeah! That’s what the hell I did. Man, there’s not enough time in this world to know that someone is meant for you, and you tap dance around that shit. People out here are reckless, and I need my wife to know she’s my wife as soon as I know.”
“You weren’t worried that she would think you were crazy? I mean, you are crazy, but you know what I mean.”
Mega’s head bucked back. “First, I’m not crazy. When you add sanely challenged with no fear, you get grandiose. Dare to be. And, no, I wasn’t worried about her thinking I was crazy. I’m positive she thought I was crazy at first. Like I said, when they’re meant for you, that thinking you’re crazy shit will subside.
“Furthermore, nigga, I heard the story about what happened that made the organization recruit you. My boy, your ass became a psychologist so that you could self-diagnose that you’re a lowkey psychopath. Shit, it was some trill shit that I would have done, but damn.”
I lowered and shook my head at the thought of that time in my life. Shit was crazy. I had no remorse for anything that I did during that time. If my actions during that time were all that was accounted in the decision to send me to heaven or hell, I would burn with fucking pride.
THE WORST TIME OF MY LIFE…
It had been a little over a year since my wife was senselessly murdered. She was in a gas station getting her favorite chips that only that particular gas station carried. I had a bulk order coming to the house, but she just had to have them. I remembered being furious with her after she died because I’d told her time and time again to not go to that gas station. It was in the middle of the fucking hood. It was the Norfolk Blazers’ territory. They were this little punk ass gang that thought they were bigger than they were.
The night that my wife was in the gas station, some of the members decided to rob the store and kill everyone in it. It was one thing to rob the store, but to kill everyone inside was extra and unnecessary. Everyone, including the cops, knew who was responsible, but no one was snitching. People were too scared, but unfortunately, the Norfolk Blazers fucked with the wrong man’s wife.
The leader of the pussy ass gang was a dude by the man of Craig Wilson or C-Dogg. How fucking unoriginal was a nickname like C-Dogg? I swear these bitches lacked creativity in the worst way. He was two years younger than me and led twelve little bitches down a fuck ass path in life. The youngest in the gang was sixteen, and C-Dogg was the oldest. Six out of the twelve members were involved in the robbery, but twelve of the members were going to die for the indiscretion of the six.
C-Dogg made the order to kill the people in the shop. Therefore, not only would he pay, but so would everyone he loved. For over eight months, I’d been planning for this night. I refused to move on with my life until I avenged my wife’s death.
C-Dogg was out with his girlfriend at a rinky dink club. One thing that I would give him was that he loved his girl. For the months that I’d been surveilling him and his crew, I hadn’t observed him cheat once. That was commendable. The parking lot of the club was a gravel lot with little to no lighting. The lighting that it did have was extremely dim.
I’d tailed C-Dogg all day. For him to be this gangsta, he had no awareness of his surroundings. Him and his girl were in the club for about two hours before they came out to their car that was parked in the far back of the lot. From the slight shaking of the car, I could only ascertain that they were fucking. I’d let them get their last nut because they had about five more minutes until they accompanied each other to the judgment platform.
My car was parked at a vantage point where I could clearly see their car, but they couldn’t see mine. When I saw both of the front windows lower and an arm hang out of the window with a blunt in it, I knew it was time to move.
I slid out of my car to circle around it to get to the back passenger side of his car. My all-black attire, gun with attached silencer, and the absence of lighting would be my accomplices tonight. There was no reason for me to delay this, because afterward, I would need to move quickly to take out the rest of his cronies. With one swift movement, I moved under the passenger door then stood. I put a bullet in his girl’s head and one in his neck. I didn’t want him to die just yet.
He gargled for air with shock on his face. I leaned into the passenger window and waited for his eyes to connect with mine.
“You know why your bitch had to die? You had your flunkies kill mine during that little robbery a while ago, so your bitch had to die for mine. You and the rest of your bitches are dying for mine.”
A final bullet to his head put him out of his misery. I made sure that I rolled the windows of the car back up. No one would notice this car until the morning if they even did then. This area was so crime infested that I didn’t have to use a silencer. If anyone heard the shots, they wouldn’t be fazed.
Next, it was time to handle the rest of his little bitches that were at his trap house that should’ve been condemned. I would never understand how people could live and sit around in a place that was filthy. Yeah, they served crack and all kinds of other drugs from there, but damn! The junkies didn’t deserve a five-star experience? The trap house was only five blocks from the club.
It took me no time to get there. I parked down the street from the trap. Tonight, I planned to lean into my acting abilities. My role was the most convincing crackhead that you ever saw. From my surveillance of the house, they served their customers from the back door that was off the kitchen. Right now, four of the gang members were standing on the walkway to the house, playing a game of dice. Another three were on the porch with females. The rest were more than likely in the house.
The niggas in the house were my first targets. I planned to keep one alive long enough to call the rest of them inside. I smoothly walked to the back door and knocked. I made sure that I stepped back from the door to force the person who opened it to come fully out of the house. I saw how they served their junkies, and it was a stupid process. They would step outside and close the door behind them to serve the junkie. That would be my advantage.
The house had two bedrooms and one bathroom. Seconds after I knocked, one of the little bitches came outside, closing the door behind him.
“What the fuck you want?”
“Well, that’s not good customer service.” I lifted my gun then delivered a single shot between his eyes. He quickly dropped.
Just as smoothly as he walked out of the house, I walked in. The five niggas in the house didn’t even realize I was in the kitchen. They were too busy with the game they played on their game system. I quickly masked up, raised my gun as soon as I stepped into the living room, and sent four shots into four heads. The fifth dude dropped then curled into a fetal position. I know you fucking lying to me! These boys acted hard, but here he was cowering like a little punk.
“Please don’t kill me! I ain’t do nothing.”
I went over and pulled him onto his feet. “Get ya shit together, lil ass boy. Go open the door and call your bitch buddies in here now. You try to run and a bullet to the back of the head will be your prize.”
“Okay, okay! Just don’t kill me.”
Tears drenched his face. This shit was so sad. He slowly walked over to the door, cracked it, then told the rest of his play, play gang to come see something. When he stepped away from the door, I put a bullet in his head.
Seconds later, they filed into the house. As they did, each received a bullet to the head. The last two tried to run, but my bullets in the back of their heads stopped them. The girls that were on the porch started screaming before they ran off. They could go. They weren’t my concern. No one so much as looked out of their windows at the sound of the girls’ screams. The bullets weren’t heard thanks to the silencer.
I felt relief knowing that all of the people responsible for my wife’s death were dead. On my walk back to my car, I made a quick stop. There was a vehicle that had been following me for about a week now. I noticed them, but I didn’t care. If the police or whoever it was wanted to stop me, then they would have to kill me. I noticed them in the distance, so I made my way to them. Once I was close enough for them to hear me, I stopped. I knew they saw me approaching and could have killed me, but again, I didn’t care.
“Y’all can stop following me now. Either kill me or arrest me. If it’s not one of those two, then leave me the fuck alone. I took out the trash.”
I waited a few seconds for a response, but there wasn’t one. I turned, walked to my car, got in, then left to go home. The relief was there, but the pain was too. Yes, I avenged Samantha Nicole’s death, but the pain would never leave me.
I waited for days to hear news about the killings, but there was nothing, nothing about the murders at the trap house or C-Dogg and his bitch’s murder. That shit had me thrown. It was as if it never happened. A month after the murders happened, I was approached by Justin and Justice Christianson about joining their organization. They were the men in the car the night that I avenged my wife’s death.
Come to find out, a family member of one of the others that died in the store hired Christianson Enterprises to kill the gang. With the built-up anger that I still had in me, it was an easy decision to join. I was already in school for psychology. Eventually, I got the help I needed to deal with my hurt. One cool thing was that when I was officially onboarded, I was paid the fees for the mission of killing the Norfolk Blazers. At that time, I’d never seen $250,000 at one time.
I got up from my seat to walk to the window that overlooked the club below. My wife was heavily on my mind since these feelings of attraction for Taelyn arose. I missed her so much all these years later. The words my father spoke earlier this week lived rent free in my head. I think now you are in a new space in time, and God has revealed who he has for you for it. I was ready to give and accept love. The pull that I felt simply in the presence of Taelyn was almost overwhelming.
The sound of the DJ shouting out someone caught my attention. Baby Tae. My eyes followed his eyes to an upper VIP section. There she was. It was like we were being pushed together. She looked good as fuck too. When her and the girl she was with bent over and began shaking their ass, I’d seen enough.
I pressed the call button for the waitress. Not even two minutes later, she came sashaying in the suite. I called her over.
“Aye, go down there, and tell Baby Tae she’s wanted up here.”
When she asked me if I wanted her to tell Baby Tae who requested her, I told her no. With a wide smile, she was on her way. I went back to my seat to wait for Taelyn’s sexy ass to grace the suite with her presence. This was a bold move to invite her into the suite with employees and former employees of Christianson Enterprises. At the time of the kidnapping incident, Taelyn had only formally been in the organization for maybe nine months. She was in training and observation for a long time based on what I heard. I didn’t do her pre-employment psych evaluation. Therefore, she was not on my radar.
“What you gonna do about ya crush? You going to holla at her or miss out on your future wife?” Mega was the type of person that would not stop nagging until he got an answer to a question that he asked. The thing was that he would use different tactics to get those answers.
I chuckled before I picked up my drink from the small table. “She’s on her way up here right now. I’m gonna holla at her.”
Mega clapped his hands excitedly. “Ah, shit now! We about to meet the future Mrs. McMas?—”
The door to the suite opened, and Taelyn walked in. When her eyes landed on me, I had my bottom lip tucked between my teeth. I made my way over to her.
“What’s up, Miss Taelyn?”
Her beautiful brown cheeks blushed over. She had the perfect smile with perfect, mother-of-pearl white, straight teeth. Damn, she’s going to give me pretty babies.
“Nothing much, Dr. McMasters.”
I shook my head lightly before I took a step to be closer into her personal space.
“When we’re outside of the office, I need you to refer to me as Draco. Do you understand?”
Her breathing hitched, but she recovered quickly. “Yes, I understand. When we are outside of the office, I call you Draco.”
“Good girl.” I took a step back so she could let out the breath that she held. “What were you doing down there shaking your ass? Wait. My apologies, ma’am.” I extended my hand to the female that accompanied Taelyn. “I’m Draco.”
Her friend’s complexion was much lighter than Taelyn, so she couldn’t hide the redness of her cheeks. With her hand in mine, she told me that her name was Blair. After our short greeting, I turned my attention back to Taelyn and restated my question.
She giggled. “I was having fun like you are up here. I just came up really to see who it was that requested my presence. I want to let you have your time with your fellas tonight. I’m sure I’ll see and talk to you again, Draco.”
The way my name rolled off her tongue was worth hearing her say my name a thousand times.
“Yeah, you will see and talk to me very soon. I want you to be safe out there. Don’t have me out here turning the streets red because someone fucked with you.”
Her cheeks rose again, and I had to tell my dick to stay calm. “You got that, Draco. See you later.”
As quick as she came in, she left. I stood there for a moment to make sure I had my dick together. When I sat back in my seat, all eyes were on me. My eyes tightened.
“What’s up with y’all?”
“That’s who you think your future wife is?” Ned asked.
I shook my head. “Nah, I don’t think that she’ll be my future wife. I know that she is my future wife.”
Mega laughed then pulled out his phone. Everyone kept their attention on him because you never knew what Megatron Manfield was going to do. Was he texting someone? His fingers rapidly moved on his phone screen. A moment later, my phone beeped then he looked up at me. I pulled it out of the pocket of my jeans to see what he sent me.
“Nigga, did you really send me a wellness check calendar invite?”
“Like my wife’s best friend says, and did. I need us to check in once a week for the next year or so with each other. I need to make sure Trell, Mont, or one of Taelyn’s thousands of cousins don’t kill you. I’m not trying to need a new therapist because you out here risking it all.”
The only sound in the room was the soft music before me, Croy, and Ned burst into laughter. Mega sat there with a bewildered expression. We thought his antics were funny, but he was serious. I knew that he truly expected me to check in with him at the scheduled time. If I didn’t answer, he would come looking for me.
“Trust me, I’ll be fine. Yeah, I might run into a few speed bumps on my way down the aisle. Speed bumps don’t concern me as long as me and Taelyn are in the car together.”
I wasn’t na?ve. I knew that her family would give me hell as they should. The age difference alone would bring me pause. Something in my soul told me that walking through hell was worth it for Miss Taelyn Astoria Smith.
NEXT SESSION APPOINTMENT…
“Ruth, it’s good to hear that you are truly working on your active listening. Restatement of what was said is a great way of knowing that what you heard the person say is actually what they said. Also, as the communicator it’s perfectly fine to ask the receiver if they understand. That is a method that I often use.”
I was at the closing of Ruth’s individual session. Only 15 percent of the topics that we covered during her sessions had to do with her husband. After she had the twins, she went through a horrible bout of postpartum depression that required her to be medicated. She still dealt with the betrayal and death of the man she thought was her father as well as the revelation of who her birth father actually was. Yes, we worked on issues and other things that surrounded her marriage. However, there were many more things that impacted her deeply that could have an effect on her marriage.
“Yes, Mega is really trying as well. It makes me so happy that we are praying in the morning and at night together again. He doesn’t want to admit it just yet, but there is a weight that lifts off him when he prays. He has better days when we pray.”
The genuine happiness in her words made me feel like their sessions both apart and together were worth it.
“Well, I’m glad to hear that. Our time is up, but I look forward to seeing you again soon. I believe our next session together is with your husband.”
We both stood as I prepared to walk her out. I called my assistant on the intercom to come in and disinfect my couch before my wife arrived. We had small talk about the babies on our way to the lobby. Before I stepped into the lobby, my spirit shifted. Taelyn is already here. My sight verified my spirit when I stepped into the lobby. She sat comfortably on the couch in the lobby with her head down, looking at a tablet.
“Hey, Baby Tae!”
Taelyn’s head lifted to Ruth’s greeting. She displayed her beautiful smile.
“Hey, Ruth! You look beautiful today.”
They embraced each other after Taelyn got out of her seat. My gaze on her was unbreakable. This was who I knew was for me. I still went back and forth about whether I would pass her to a colleague of mine to continue her treatment. Now, I knew what I had to do. After I saw my assistant come back to her desk from my office, I let Taelyn know that she could head into my office. She did as I requested.
I watched her backside until it disappeared. Ruth’s giggle brought me out of my lustful thoughts. When my attention was on her, she tilted her head.
“You better go after your future wife. I’ll see you next time.”
I had to shake my head at her knowing my business. I wasn’t surprised, however. If she and Mega weren’t anything else, they were best friends. I admired their relationship for that factor and craved it in mine. Samantha Nicole was my best friend in the time and space that we were in. Taelyn would be my best friend in this space and forever more.
“Good afternoon, Miss Taelyn. How are you doing today?” I greeted her as soon as I closed the door to my office.
She was extremely comfortable with her shoes off and feet on the couch. I liked that because it meant that she would eventually have the same level of comfort with me when were romantically together.
“My day is great. How’s your day going?” There was a seduction in her voice that made me pray to God that my dick didn’t respond.
Let me get to it. “Today has been amazing. Before we start, I want to have a conversation with you. I’ve decided to pass your case to another therapist. I don’t want you to worry because this therapist, just like myself, works for Christianson Enterprises. Her office and ears are also a safe space. Do you understand?”
“No, I don’t understand.” Confusion sat on her face as I expected it to. “Am I that messed up that you don’t want to deal with me?”
Her feet were now on the floor. When I told her that was not the case about her being too messed up to deal with, she asked me to help her understand.
I sat forward in my seat. “Taelyn, I want to be very clear with you. You are not messed up. You experienced something that would traumatize anyone. That does not make you messed up. Do you understand?”
“I mean, I understand the whole I’m not messed up, I’m traumatized thing. I don’t understand why you don’t want to be my therapist anymore. Did I do something or say something wrong? It’s just the second session.”
There was panic in her tone. There weren’t enough sessions between us for me to have picked up an insecurity about rejection. Not wanting her to have any sense of rejection, I moved on to my extremely blatant explanation.
“Taelyn, to put it frankly, I can’t be my future wife’s therapist. It’s unethical for me to fuck on my patients. My ethics mean everything to me just like you eventually will. Do you understand?”
She sat there frozen. Her eyes were slightly widened and her lips agape. I could see how my words would bring someone pause. Like someone pushed her, she snapped out of her daze.
“Um, okay. Well, is my new therapist also in this practice or another?”
A smirk surfaced. I loved her answer because it meant she was officially getting into my car. Once she was in it, the doors would be locked. There was no getting out of this car.