10. Priest
TUESDAY AFTERNOON
We pulled up to the shipyard over on Twenty-First and Ward and climbed off our bikes. We hopped up on the dock and walked to the green door numbered seventeen. I rapped on it three times and then waited.
“Priest.” Morgan greeted with a nod when he opened the door.
“You got my guns?”
“I’ve got your guns. They’re all in perfect condition.”
“Good,” I replied and stepped through the door with Sunny behind me.
Christopher Morgan’s bodyguard patted me down and prepared to take my gun, but I gripped his arm. “I won’t use it if you niggas don’t give me a reason to.”
He remained still and glared into my eyes until Morgan declared, “It’s okay, Creighton.”
I released his arm, and he stepped over to Sunny and did the same thing, but then he stepped back after Morgan’s approval.
“What about my concessions?” Morgan asked as he peered back at the closed door.
“Ain’t no muthafuckin concessions. Give me my shit, and you might live to see another day. That’s the only concession.”
“Priest, I told you to come alone, and you brought him and the entire MC with you out here.”
I smirked. “Not the entire crew, Morgan. Just a handful of niggas.”
“I asked you to bring September with you. I don’t see my daughter.”
“I want my shit, muthafucka. You don’t dictate a damn thing.”
He sighed, and I turned my back on him before I heard him say, “Priest.”
“What?” I turned around again.
“Please have someone to bring my daughter here now. I need to have her back.”
“I ain’t sure that she wanna come back,” I replied and walked closer to him. I could feel Sunny walking closely behind me.
“She doesn’t belong to you, Priest. She was already promised to someone else.”
“Dumb ass nigga. Your ass should’ve thought about that before you offered her up to save your worthless ass.”
“I didn’t offer her up. You said you were claiming her. What was I to do when I had thugs running through my house, and I had three guns pointed at my head?”
I shook my head. I hated weak, punk-ass niggas. “I don’t know. Maybe bargain? Stand up for her? Anything but punk the fuck out and sell your daughter like the next ho.”
“That wasn’t what I was thinking about. I hoped you would have some grace and spare her from your… usual hoodlum activities.”
“Well, you thought wrong.”
“She belongs to someone else, Priest. She wasn’t mine to offer.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, I don’t think that he’s gonna want her after I’ve been rutting up in her.”
Morgan’s light brown skin flushed a dangerous shade of red, and his large eyes ballooned in his head. He might have had a heart attack if I kept going, but I didn’t give a shit.
“Priest, please tell me you didn’t.”
“I did, and she loved every muthafuckin minute of it. Begging me for more and pleading with me not to take her back to daddy and little dick Danny.”
“I will kill you if you’ve laid a hand on my daughter!” he shouted.
The veins bulged in his neck, and his fists clenched at his sides. I took a step closer to him, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw his bodyguard move, too, but so did Sunny.
“Nigga, please. I not only put these hands on her, but I also put this tongue and dick all over her too. Now what the fuck you wanna do?”
Morgan pulled out a gun on me, and Sunny pulled his out and aimed it at Morgan.
“You might wanna put that shit away,” Sunny warned.
“You just screwed up a deal. She was precious property, and you’ve ruined her!” Morgan replied angrily.
“See, that’s where you’re wrong, nigga. She ain’t property. She’s a human. But I guess you wouldn’t know the difference in that anyway, seeing as all kids and women ain’t shit but property to you, huh?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, let’s keep it that way,” I replied coolly.
“Bring my daughter, Priest, and I’ll have your guns,” Morgan replied sourly.
I chuckled. “You know, I’ve been thinking about this exchange. I told you that I was keeping her for thirty days.”
“That’s if I didn’t have the guns. You gave me thirty days to bring the guns, Priest. Don’t renege on that shit now,” Morgan barked.
“This nigga suddenly got some heart,” Sunny stated from behind me.
“Yeah, I noticed that shit,” I replied. I turned back to Morgan. “I ain’t reneging on shit, but the price just changed for all that shit you’re talking.”
“You will regret the day that you crossed me up, Priest,” Morgan commented.
“Not in this lifetime, I won’t. I can promise you that.”
“What do I need to do to get my daughter back?”
“Bring my guns, a million dollars, and five keys, and maybe we can talk.”
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” His face turned that dangerous shade of red again.
“You heard my terms, nigga. Either you want your daughter back, or you don’t. I don’t give a fuck either way. I’ma get my guns. As for your daughter, that’s up to you. She can keep riding and sucking my dick for all I care.”
“Priest?”
Sunny and I turned our heads sideways to see a man enter the room from the door to our left. He was tall and wore a light, heather gray suit with a black tie. A heather gray felt hat with a black feather in the band rested at an angle on the side of his head.
Behind him was a man dressed in an all-black suit, Daniel’s bodyguard.
“Who this nigga think he is? Al Capone?” Sunny asked with a chuckle and laughed at Daniel.
I smirked at Sunny, but I kept my eyes on Daniel Usher as he joined us.
“Daniel Usher. To what do I owe the pleasure?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. Sunny still hadn’t lowered his gun off Morgan.
“I understand that you and I have mutual interests to discuss.”
“Daniel, you and I have nothing to discuss.”
“It’s been brought to my attention that you have some property that belongs to me.”
He wore a deceptive smile. My lip curled up in a sneer, and my eyebrows lowered and pinched together. The revulsion that rolled through me left a bitter taste in my mouth. It was a known fact that Daniel participated in questionable behaviors when it came to women, and most of it was illegal. The knowledge that Morgan had “sold” his daughter to the highest bidder angered me, and it made me more determined not to send September back to them.
She may not know the truth about the men in her life, but I did. I knew that while she thought that I was the worst thing that happened to her, it was really her father and her fiancé. I knew that neither of them meant her no good and that she was safer with my men and me.
None of us took a woman against her will. Were we guilty of being dogs with women? Hell yeah. Were we guilty of fucking multiple women at once and not allowing them to do the same? Fuck yeah. But never would we do anything to a woman that she hadn’t agreed to prior to coming into the club.
Every woman that walked in and out of our club, the sweet butts included, had the freedom to walk right out again. She had the freedom to not accept any treatment that she didn’t deem acceptable.
A little voice inside my head whispered, “Yeah, except for September Morgan.” But I wouldn’t force shit on her, either. That realization struck me like a blow to the skull.
“Daniel, I don’t have shit that belongs to you, especially not your ‘property,’” I replied in a derisive tone.
“Do you not have my fiancée, September Morgan, in your possession?”
“I don’t have anyone in my possession .”
Daniel Usher sighed loudly, and Christopher Morgan muttered, “You took my daughter, you bastard,” before Daniel silenced him.
“Listen, we can negotiate to—” Daniel began.
“Nigga, we ain’t got shit to negotiate. Tell this muthafucka to give my guns back. As far as his daughter is concerned… well, I’m not sure how much longer she’ll be breathing air if y’all niggas keep playing with me,” I warned and turned on my heel.
I wasn’t worried about a muthafucka doing shit to me. They knew like I knew that this bitch was surrounded outside by my men. We’d staked the place out earlier, and I had known all along Daniel Usher was here. He had one bodyguard with him, and so did Morgan, but they weren’t a match for us.
“Priest!” Morgan screamed just before I left the warehouse. Sunny walked backward until he cleared the doorway. We jumped off the dock and headed back to our bikes while our men kept their guns aimed at the warehouse doors and windows.
When Sunny and I hopped on our bikes, everyone pulled off and made the twenty-minute drive back to the clubhouse. Once we were settled back in my office and had finished reviewing what had occurred, I looked up at Sunny, who pulled his fingers through his beard and shook his head.
“That’s cold, nigga. How you gonna talk about that man’s daughter like that to him?”
“That man didn’t give a shit when he let me run up out that house with his daughter. He knows who the fuck I am. He knows how the Descendents roll. Why the fuck should I give a shit about his feelings?”
“Damn, nigga. You got it bad,” Sunny teased.
“Nah, man. I’m just not playing his muthafuckin game. He don’t call the shots around this bitch; I do. He’s underestimated me as an opponent. But Morgan will soon learn that I’m the one who teaches and guides. He’s crossed me up one too many times. I’m gonna be the mediator between him and his maker, aiding Morgan on his journey when the two meet.”
Sunny bowed his head and shook it. “Damn, Priest. That fuckin’ street name went straight to your head.”
I grabbed a Jolly Rancher from the pack in the pocket of my leather cut and popped it into my mouth. I earned that name when I was a kid on the streets at the age of thirteen. Despite my rough upbringing, I still had a spiritual background and believed in God. Whenever anyone did anything wrong, I would advise them to pray to God, and He would forgive them. They started teasing me by calling me Preacher Man, and one day a pimp named Sammy Mac called me Priest, and it stuck.
“Ain’t shit went to my head, nigga,” I declared and moved the candy to the other side of my mouth.
“What’re you gonna do about the girl?”
“I ain’t figured that part out yet.”
“I thought you just wanted your guns back, man. The MC gets the guns back, and we’re back in business.”
“You know how much money we’ve lost on this shit, Sunny? You know how much he’s cost us by having our shit held up this long?”
Shrugging, Sunny guessed. “’Bout a hundred or two hundred thousand? I don’t know. That’s Rage’s area.”
“Try over half a mill ticket, my nigga.”
“Yeah, you shoulda let me put a bullet in his brain that day. Half a million? Fuck yeah.”
“Nah, that nigga’s gonna suffer for his shit,” I replied.
Sunny pointed his finger at me and then narrowed his eyes. “See, that right there. That’s the shit I’m talking about. Now why in the hell do you want him to suffer over some guns? Ain’t that a waste of time and money?”
“Nah, because I won’t be satisfied until he suffers. He’s done so much wrong to so many people, Sunny.”
“I know, Priest. And I ain’t tryna judge you, nigga, but don’t fuck around and get us burned over some bullshit. Morgan ain’t a nigga you sneeze at. Now pair him with that Daniel Usher nigga, and you playing with fire. That cat shits money with every step he takes.”
“I ain’t saying the nigga ain’t got pull, but I honestly don’t think he’s as invested in this bullshit as it seems. Before we out the shit he’s into, Daniel Usher will cut his losses and leave Morgan’s ass out to dry.”
“You might be right, but I just wanna make sure we’re covering all our bases on this one.”
“Yeah, I feel you,” I replied and pulled my fingers through my beard as the candy slowly melted on my tongue.
My thoughts wandered to September, and I did wonder why I held onto her. I could punish Christopher Morgan for his wrongs, get my revenge, and still send her on to her life with Daniel Usher. Why the fuck was I holding her out as a bargaining chip? Why didn’t I want to let her go?
She was a pain in my ass sometimes with all the questions she asked about the MC, my family, and me. And I just had the perfect opportunity to get rid of her ass, yet I held out.
“You like her, don’t you?”
I jerked my head up from staring at my boots to mug Sunny.
“The fuck you say to me?”
“You like her. Don’t you? I mean, that’s the only thing that can explain why you kicked Delite’s fine ass out ya bed.”
“Nigga, you know why I kicked her ass out. The same reason you would do it if that was Champagne’s ass running up under one of the brothers.”
“Man, I’d bust a cap in that ho ass if she sucked another nigga’s dick besides mine.”
“You need to make her your old lady. She the only one you’ve been fuckin’ with for a while.”
“Can’t make a ho a housewife. Besides, the same thing could be said of you when it comes to Cheekz. You ain’t fucking with nobody else but her. Well, according to the talk that’s going around, you ain’t even fucking her. Them cheeks ain’t been clapping lately,” he replied. He laughed as he clapped his hands together.
“And nobody’s dick better not be running up between them cheeks until I give permission for them to.”
“Bingo,” Sunny called out slowly and pointed a finger at me.
“What?”
“I caught that shit, nigga. You said ‘until’ not ‘unless.’ Freudian slip, my nigga?”
“Gone with that bullshit.”
“I mean, it’s okay to like the princess if you’re into that type.”
I mugged Sunny, who was smirking at me.
“What type?”
“Bad and bougie. That’s one bad ass chick. Thick thighs, a fat ass that sits up like a donkey, milk jugs made to feed some babies, and hips that make you wanna hold ’em while she rides yo’ shit. ’Sides, she’s cuter than a muthafucka. Nobody can’t deny it, but she looks like the type that would be high maintenance like a muthafucka too.”
“She is.”
Lifting an eyebrow, Sunny asked, “And you would know that how?”
“You worried ’bout the wrong muthafuckin thing,” I replied with a smirk.
“Make her yo’ ho.”
“She ain’t a ho, Sunny. And she ain’t the type you’d transform into one either,” I replied and dragged my hand down my face.
“Okay, how about making her your old lady?”
“How about I put a bullet between your eyes?”
“Ornery ass nigga. You a cantankerous ass. Must be that old age creeping up on you now that you chasing after that young ass. Better leave that jailbait alone,” he stated with a laugh.
“Nigga, she ain’t jailbait.”
“She ain’t watching her biological clock either. How old is she? Eighteen, nineteen?”
“Nah, she legal pussy.”
“Fuccc! Nigga, what you tryna say? Eighteen and nineteen-year-old pussy is legal as a muthafucka. It’s juicy, rich, and young. At least, I bet hers is.”
“I don’t know how old she is, but I know she’s legal. I doubt she’s that fuckin’ young, though. Probably twenty-five or twenty-six.”
“Ask the question.”
“What you think this is? The dating game or some shit?”
“I don’t know, nigga,” Sunny replied with a shrug and laughter. “You keep her locked up at that house. Got niggas speculating what might be going on, and Cheekz running crazy ’round this bitch with her jealous ass.”
“She needs to chill on all that. Speaking of which,” I stated with a glance at my watch. “I need to get back to the house.”
“What about Morgan?”
“His ass can call me back and let me know if he got it. When he says it’s a go, then I’ll send someone to meet his lame ass. Until then, I’m ’bout to go get my dick wet.”
“Cheekz will be happy to hear that.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Ain’t nobody said shit ’bout no Cheekz. Quit fact-checking.”
“Simp ass nigga,” Sunny declared, pushed up off the couch, and headed for the door.
When I arrived back at the cabin, September was asleep. I left her alone for a while and made some phone calls to negotiate a few deals with some other businessmen interested in buying weapons. I heard some noise in her bedroom, and I finished up my business and headed out to check on her.
“Hey,” I greeted when I opened the door.
“Priest, I would like to go home.”
“What?”
“I would like to go home. You have held me here long enough. I’m certain that my father and my fiancé have come up with a way to reimburse you for what was taken from you. I know that my fiancé can easily compensate you, as could my father. I no longer want to be the pawn in selfish men’s games.”
She looked so sexy, standing in the middle of the room with those thick thighs on display from some pink cutoff sweat shorts that I knew said “Juicy” on the butt. Her arms were propped over her midsection, and she wore a midriff tank top that showed off her cute belly piercing. The position of her arms, combined with her posture, pushed her juicy titties up. Made me want to rip that cheap ass shirt off her and suck them bitches.
I walked to where she stood in the middle of the floor and tugged at her arms, but she tried to keep them crossed over herself. I tugged harder and pulled them apart. Her arms dropped at her sides, and just like I suspected, her nipples were hard as shit. I reached out and pinched one and smirked at the fire in her eyes.
“Is that what you think, pampered princess? You think you’re a pawn?”
“I know that I am. You have no use or want of me, so you should just let me go. Don’t keep me around just to play games with my father and Daniel.”
“Games,” I repeated and licked my lips while I dragged my finger over to pinch her other nipple.
September’s warm breath seeped out in a sigh as she shut her eyes. My thumb rubbed the tender, swollen bud.
“You like that shit. Don’t you, princess?”
“I don’t like anything about this setup, you, or what you’re doing to me,” she denied.
September leaned back and crossed her arms over her breasts again.
I stepped closer and dragged a hand down the curve of September’s cheek before I dragged my finger over the seam of her lips.
“Nah, I think you do, beautiful. I think that you like it every time that I touch you.”
“You wish.”
“Those beautiful lips tell such easy lies. You make it hard for a man to trust you, pampered princess.”
“I’m not asking for your trust. I’m simply asking to go home where I belong.”
I turned my back on her, laughed, shook my finger, and stated, “Funny thing. I talked to two people today who requested the same thing.”
“My father? Daniel?”
I nodded and kept walking toward the door. I heard her coming after me, but I underestimated her. September’s little fists began to beat at my back.
“You can’t keep holding me here. Let me go before I fuck you up!”
Damn, the little princess had some power in those fists and a mouth on her.
I turned around and grabbed her wrists. “You got a mouth on you. What I tell you ’bout that mouth of yours? Told you I got something for those lips, didn’t I?” I asked, backing her up into a corner.
She pushed at me, but I didn’t move. Her little fists hit me again, and then she kicked me.
“Let me go. Let me go!” She shrieked repeatedly.
“No. You love the shit I do to you. The way I make you feel.”
“I hate the way you make me feel.”
I grabbed her neck until she stopped fighting. Then I dipped my head and covered her mouth with mine. I licked her soft lips, surprised to find they were as soft and juicy as I imagined they might be. I licked the bottom one and then tugged on it with my lips until they parted for me.
My hand eased up on the pressure on September’s throat and rested at the base instead. I slid my tongue into her mouth, licked along the insides, and sucked on her tongue. My dick jumped inside of my jeans and pressed against her thigh.
“Mmm,” she moaned and bucked against me.
September’s hands clenched my T-shirt, and she pulled me closer to her. I pushed my mouth harder against hers, and I deepened the kiss. Slowly, September dragged her leg up, and I grabbed it and pinned it against the wall. She was spread wide enough for me to make room for myself between her thighs.
I broke the kiss and looked down at our junction. I pressed my dick into the crevice of her shorts, feeling how hot and moist she was. I pushed and pushed until the cotton of her shorts disappeared, and her pussy lips hung out on either side. I slid my finger down, and I tugged at one of her lower lips and then the other one.
“Ohh, Priest,” she moaned. “I hate what you do to me.”
I covered her lips with mine again and gently stroked her tongue with mine. Her fingers clutched the hem of my T-shirt and pulled at it. I could feel her cool fingertips on my hot skin as they trailed upward until she pinched my nipples.
“Give it to me,” she whispered when I pulled my mouth from hers and sucked on the side of her neck.
I shoved three fingers inside of her rapidly and with force. September’s hips jerked forward to meet my fingers and rolled as she tried to seek release. Just when she was on the verge, I pulled my fingers out, sucked them, and then kissed her.
She sucked my tongue hungrily and moaned deep into my throat. “More,” she mumbled as I nipped at her bottom lip.
I pulled back, stared into her eyes, and challenged, “Now lie to me again and tell me you fucking hate how I make you feel.”
I stepped back and left her slumped against the wall in disbelief. By the time the shock wore off, I had left the room and locked her inside again.
Yeah, I knew I needed to get her the fuck away from me. She was breaking my walls down inch by inch. I never kissed a bitch. And no matter how much I tried to tell myself that I was only proving a point, I knew that just like she’d been lying to me, I was lying to myself also.