Chapter 6
Neptune
“Wait, so let me get this straight. You went missing three weeks ago because Jeremiah’s daughter and her homegirls snatched you up, and now you’re fucking the broad?”
I pointed the butcher knife in my grasp in my cousin’s direction. “See. That’s why I keep my business to myself. I only told you because she’ll be around. I felt like I needed to tell somebody.”
“She’ll be around? You must like this bitch.”
“Aye! Cut the disrespectful shit.”
Pluto looked at me with a goofy, gold-toothed smile. “Yeah, you definitely like her.”
I remained quiet and paid attention to the body we were working on.
The night before, an out-of-towner got beside himself at the casino and lost his money and his life.
I wasn’t the one to put him down, but my uncle asked Pluto and me to make the dead man disappear.
Since my family invested in Morty’s Mortuary over forty years ago, the owner gave us access to the property whenever we needed a place to work.
“She’s on her way up here,” I blurted out.
The amusement on Pluto’s face switched to annoyance. “Why the hell would you have her come here?”
“Because I wanted to.”
“Yeah, okay. You actin’ all nonchalant. Have you told your dad you’re dating his enemy’s daughter?”
“Jeremiah isn’t his enemy. They used to be tight before messy niggas infiltrated their program.”
“How you know history won’t repeat itself?”
I licked the gold covering my teeth. “I don’t play about my family or the business I plan to inherit. If I felt like Kannon would be a threat to either, I would’ve killed her the night I got home. I sent for her.”
My cousin gave me a sideways look. “You and Chrissy just broke up, and you’ve already found her replacement?”
“Nobody hangs around forever. My mama left her son because he was born with Down Syndrome. She showed me a long time ago that muthafuckas come and go.”
I discharged a grunted breath. Anytime Valerie was the topic of conversation, my mood grew sour.
She disappeared seventeen years ago, but I could visualize the day as if it happened yesterday.
Four years ago, my father mentioned she was dead, yet I never cared enough to fact check the information.
She had been dead to me since she disappeared.
“My fault, Nep. I wasn’t judging you. I just wanted to see where your head is at.”
I grinned. “You can’t judge me. I’ve watched you switch out bitches like drawers. You ain’t no better than me.”
“Whatever.” He swatted at the air. “Have you heard anything about what the elders have planned?”
“I don’t pay attention to the whispers.”
“Nigga, cut the act! I know Uncle Ryan told you something.”
“If he did, it wouldn’t be your business. Nosy ass.”
I could feel Pluto staring at me, but I continued to focus on the mess I was cleaning up. Though I knew about the move with Kilo, I refused to share the information with anyone. My dad and I butted heads every other day, but I respected him too much to repeat anything he told me in confidence.
“Instead of interrogating me, help me get this nigga in the bin. These body parts won’t dissolve on their own.”
He snarled and snatched the bags of limbs from the mortuary table. “Actually, they will, smartass.”
I opened my mouth to remind the big guy of the IEP he had in school. However, the vision of Kannon coming into the lab vetoed the idea. Her mouth hung open, and her slanted gaze roamed from my face to the blood-soaked apron over my chest.
“Hm. I can come back if you need me to,” she insisted, already pushing the door open.
“If I needed you to, I wouldn’t have asked you to come. I wanted you to see this.”
She played in her big, curly wig. “Why? Is this a subtle threat?”
I walked over, hoping her scent would replace the stench of chemicals on my skin. “I didn’t ask you here to scare you. I did it to prepare you. This is what you want to do, right? Work on the collection side of your brother’s business.”
“Something like that.” She spoke with a slight tremble in her delivery. “You know about my family. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a dead body, Neptune.”
“There you go, speaking with your eyes. Discomfort is all over your face. Keep it together, Kitty.”
She raised her chin and poked out her chest. “I’m comfortable in any room I step into.”
“Yeah, we’ll see. I’m going to walk you upstairs, so you can wait in the reception area while I shower.”
“What the hell type of mortuary is this?”
“Don’t start asking me a million questions. Please.”
I ushered the curious woman to the lobby, then I went to freshen up in the owner’s bathroom. Had the circumstances been different, I wouldn’t have kept the lady waiting, but after handling blood and other DNA, I refused to skimp on cleaning myself up.
“Are you ready to go?” I quizzed when I approached Kannon.
“Go where? I thought we were staying here.”
“We aren’t going far. My cousin’s boxing gym is a few blocks away. That’s where we’re going for your first lesson.”
Kannon’s pink and white Nikes latched to the carpet while she looked at me doubtfully.
“Kitty, bring your ass on before I throw you over my shoulder,” I warned her, though I was already walking out of the door.
The sun greeted us when we hit the block.
Since it was Saturday, people littered the streets, visiting mom-and-pop shops and diners in the neighborhood.
The more we walked, the more I noticed Kannon was more quiet than usual.
I wanted to ask what she was thinking about, but I didn’t want to open a can of worms.
“Are you ready for your first lesson?”
“Lord. I spent so many years in school, I don’t want to think about a lesson.”
“What did you go to school for?”
“You sent flowers to my job. I’m sure you already know the answer.”
I shrugged off her sarcasm. “You could be a receptionist.”
“Nursing. I went to school for nursing.”
“Oh, that’s how you got the potion?”
She snickered and pushed her shoulders back with pride. “Nope. I made it. It’s one of my favorite recipes.”
“Recipes? Elaborate.”
Her darting tongue laid moisture along her full lips.
“When I was in middle school, my grandmother was sick, and her insurance was bogus. I started doing research and learned about natural medicine, which led to mixing herbs and oils to ease her joint pain. Eventually, I started working with toxic flowers that could put a bear to sleep.” She snickered.
“What do you do besides chop up bodies?”
“I do everything. Sometimes, I’m running shit at the casino. Other times, I’m helping at one of our liquor stores. It all depends on the day.”
We made it to our destination less than ten minutes after we left the mortuary. As expected, the gym was busy, so I took Kannon to a private room my cousin usually rented out to professional fighters.
“Put your bag on the bench, and take off the hoodie.”
As I emptied my hands, I watched Kannon, pleasantly surprised that she followed instructions and wore workout clothes. My only complaint was the wig.
“You could’ve left the extra hair at home.” I blurted out what came to mind.
“That’s the same place you could’ve left your attitude. I hate a man telling a woman how she should dress or wear her hair.”
“Your face is pretty, so I’m not saying it makes you look bad,” I clarified. “I really don’t give a shit about your style. I just think the hair will be a disadvantage in the ring.”
“Oh, trust me. My hair won’t stop me from kicking your ass.”
Her slick tongue carried the corners of my lips into a smile. “Kannon, please. If you believe that, you’re more delusional than I thought.”
“You might be right. I’ve convinced myself our night together never happened. If I really believed you fucked me, kicked me out of some stranger’s house, then sent me to pick up a Plan B, I wouldn’t be here.”
The fever of unspoken truths made it hard to breathe.
Even though I didn’t regret sending Kannon home after we had sex, the evidence of pain in her tone made me uneasy.
I wouldn’t admit it, but the intimacy I showed Kannon that night was outside of my boundaries.
I could count on one hand how many women I kissed on the lips, and I tongued her down like I had known her for years.
A few nights, I had flashbacks of the condom breaking as soon as I busted a nut.
Even with her taking birth control, I knew our recklessness may have gotten us into some shit, but if Kannon was pregnant, there was nothing we could do about it now.
An abortion was out of the question. If she was grown enough to fuck me, she was grown enough to have my baby.
After I wrapped Kannon’s hands, I climbed in the ring. She shoved my hand away when I offered to help her inside, making me chuckle at her stubborn attitude.
“Okay, so what are we doing?” she asked, bouncing around like Muhammed Ali.
“You have to be able to protect yourself without a gun.”
In the blink of an eye, Kannon slapped me so fast I wouldn’t have believed it happened if my cheek didn’t sting.
“I guess I’m good in that department.” She backpedaled when I stomped toward her. “Don’t be mad. You should’ve had your guard up. This is the second time I caught you slipping.”
“That’s what I let you believe.”
“Are you saying you let us kidnap you? Bullshit!”
“Let’s just say there were times I could’ve put you down, but my curiosity calmed the storm.”
“Yeah, okay. I believe you,” she responded, her tone oozing with sarcasm. “Show me what I’m doing here.”
“Do you know how to fight?”
Kannon’s brows knitted together as she looked me up and down.
When she charged my way, swimming in the air, I stood firm.
Most of her pillow soft punches landed in the center of my chest, while the others nipped my chin.
My petite opponent started feeling herself, but I lifted her off her feet and tossed her to the mat.
She spat out profanities and tried to jerk out of my grasp, but I pinned her down.