Chapter SAMARA PRESS PLAY
SAMARA
PRESS PLAY
I smiled in the mirror as I slid on a nice red lipstick.
Dio had called and said he was taking me out, so I wanted to make sure I looked good enough to eat.
Since his crossing, we started to get back on track, but he hadn’t moved back in.
I knew it was kind of like us starting over, and I was okay with it.
Having him in any capacity felt good, at least up until my departure.
I hyped myself up as I danced in front of the mirror in my white mini dress.
My body moved around the house as I smoked on a blunt while putting on my heels.
I bobbed my head as I glanced at one of my biggest projects for class, which was a painting.
I decided to use it also for Black Excellence Day, which was soon approaching.
When my windows rattled, I knew Dio was in the parking lot that sat outside my window. I put out the rest of the blunt as I grabbed my bag, keys, and headed out. He sat behind the dark-tinted windows of his G-wagon. He didn’t bother to get out but rolled the windows down.
“Get in,” he said calmly.
I opened the door and got in. Although he was dressed in all black with an orange shiesty rolled up on the crown of his head, he looked good. Dio had gotten a fresh cut, his wild beard was trimmed, and he smelled of the most expensive cologne.
I reached over and turned the music down. “Where are we going?” I asked as I settled into the seat.
“To hell if we don’t pray,” he said as he sped off.
Dio focused on the dark road, looking more serious than I’d ever seen him. I didn’t know whether to leave well enough alone or say something. He briefly placed his eyes on me as he rubbed my leg.
“You’re looking good, baby.”
My lips curled into a wide smile. “Thank you.”
He shifted his body as he one-handed the steering wheel while leaning to the side. “Loyalty is everything between us. You say you’re down for the gang, but are you?” he asked.
“Dio, you know I got your back.”
He nodded. “Baby, I’m not Dio tonight. I’m Hades. Remember that.”
I laughed. “Oh, so they gave you a name, and now you're him, huh?”
He casually turned to look at me and winked. “Been him.”
He made a sharp turn and pulled into a dark parking lot that held a single run-down building.
Dio parked, got out, came around, and opened my door to help me out.
Before we walked off, he opened the back seat and grabbed a black duffle bag.
He held my hand and led me toward the building.
As he was about to open the door, he stopped.
“You ready?” he asked.
I slowly nodded. Dio opened the large, rusted door and led me into the dark.
As soon as he flicked the lights on, my body stilled.
He tossed the bag on the ground, unzipped it, and pulled out a speaker, a blade, and another orange shiesty.
He turned on his jazz music and let it blare out as he started moving backward.
“Tonight, I came to teach!” he roared. “I am the master, the professor, the fucking dean, the Devil, the prince, the demon, and the muhfuckin god!”
Dio stopped as he snatched the cloth off Jesaiah’s head. “Samara, you say you love me. You say you want a forever with me, but you’ve never experienced the full me. Tonight, you will.”
He came over to me and grabbed my hand before leading me over to a chair sitting directly across from where Jesaiah was. “Are you afraid?” he asked.
Hell yeah, I was afraid, but I trusted Dio. “No,” I lied.
“Good,” he whispered before kissing my lips. He picked up the other shiesty and gently placed it over my face. “I don’t need anything getting on that pretty-ass face.”
I didn’t know whether to be turned on or to run. I observed Jesaiah’s body, which was tied up to the chair and gagged before Dio removed it from his mouth.
“Antagonist!” Dio shouted from where he stood between us. “Samara, what does it mean?” He pointed at me.
I ran my hand nervously over my arm. “Someone who is hostile to someone or something.”
Clap! Clap! Clap!
“Good job, baby,” he said as he pointed to Jesaiah. “Nigga, that sounds like you.”
Jesaiah shook his head. “Fuck you and fuck your bitch. Weird-ass nigga.”
Dio bellowed in laughter. “Never weird. Insane? Fuck yeah! It’s always the ones who don’t get pussy that say fuck a bitch they’re chasing like rats to funky-ass cheese.”
Whap!
He hit him in the face, sending blood flying from his mouth. Jesaiah laughed. “You ain’t no Chi nigga.”
“Actually, I am. Your auntie told me you like jazz. Shit kind of slaps. Excuses are the tools of incompetence, and I’m not the one to make an excuse for what I’m about to do.
Dean Big Brother Thick Neck!” he yelled like a maniac.
“So, I’m going to school your ass, and then I’m going to kill you right in front of that pretty face you were chasing after,” he said as he pointed at me.
Whap!
This time, Jesaiah’s head rolled back and then came forward with a bloody nose. “I always hated your ass. You’re weak!” he shouted, blood flying from his mouth.
Whap!
“You named me, remember? You knew exactly who I was, and weak was never it, so let me remind you. Hades the God! The Alpha of the Underworld. The dark unknown. Hades, the master of eternal life. It doesn’t matter how you try to break me.
I. Cannot. Be. Broken!” His voice lowered into something sinister.
My eyes bounced between the two as I watched their interaction.
I knew Jesaiah had gone too far that night, and it would only be a matter of time before Dio unleashed on him, but I didn’t think it would be like this.
The jazz music stopped as a trap song began to play.
Dio began bobbing his body to the music.
“Clarence Mercier, father to Clark Mercier, born 1950. Pledged Chi Kappa Chi when he was nineteen in 1969,” Dio started, head still bobbing to the music.
He walked over to his bag, grabbed black gloves, and slid them on. He suddenly paused as he moved his head, hitting the beat like it was his favorite part before he danced his way over to Jesaiah.
“Grace Mercier, born 1970, only a year after that fuck nigga pledged. Clark continued and graduated summa cum laude in 1973. Clark, your dean, your God, a man who fuck on teenage girls, a man who created one of the niggas who made me!” he shouted.
He turned to me and tapped my chin. “Samara, the nigga you love is a fucking monster and demon. Everything Chev said I was, baby, I am.”
Dio slid the orange shiesty down over his face.
“The show is about to start, Mars. In 1988, a king was born. Clark Jonathan Mercier!” he roared as he turned me.
“That's June Calloway to you, Mars. So, you see, Jesaiah, how easy it would have been to do your homework? Isn’t that what you told us on the line? You, my nigga, are not a representation of Chi Kappa Chi. You’re a fuck nigga, one who thought he was going to fuck my girl then dog me out!
You are a mediocre-ass nigga with no talent, no vision, no love, no heart, and still no bitches! ”
Jesaiah’s eyes slowly rose to Dio. “Fuck you and that Calloway nigga. I don’t owe you shit.
I had to earn my way into the Chi, and so did you.
That man you speak of, Clark, he guided me.
He helped me when nigga’s like you ran over me.
I don’t give a fuck!” he screamed. “My soul is gone nigga so do what you got to—"
Suddenly, Dio’s arm swung, slashing Jesaiah’s face, sending his blood gushing onto my dress. My eyes widened. “Dio, what the hell!” I shouted.
He shook his head at me as he walked behind Jesaiah. “Keith was a pass. This nigga gets none.”
Jesaiah started screaming for help, but I knew the way Dio had this planned, nobody was coming to save him.
“Bitch nigga, you tortured me on purpose. You remember that night in the club, when you snatched her away from me? Huh? I saw you looking at me. Fuck nigga, you knew exactly what you were doing, and so did I. Mars, this is what will happen when you keep playing with muhfuckin fire!”
Jab! Jab! Jab!
Dio plunged the knife into his chest, then his neck. His eyes were manic as he glanced at me. “Can you love a nigga like me!?”
Jab!
“Huh, Samara!”
Jab!
“This is who I am. The Prince. The killer. Your Dionysus!”
Jab! Jab!
Tears welled in my eyes. “Can you handle this shit, because baby when a nigga is on go, I act first, ask questions never. This is the Zoo. This is what you will have forever. Now tell me, can you handle this shit?!” he barked at me over Jesaiah’s lifeless body.
I slowly wiped my eyes of the tears that were soaking up the mask. “Yes!” I cried. “I knew who you were when I saw you after what happened to Esteban. I accepted you then and accept you now.”
Dio moved closer and squatted in front of me. His eyes returned to their Dionysus state: gentle, loving, and passionate. He reached out and wiped my tears through the opening of the shiesty.
“Yeah, you ready now. Aye, Foe, I’m done!”
Confused, my eyes scanned the room. “Wh-what?”
Foe came from the dark as he lit his blunt. “Damn, Dio! You sliced this nigga up, didn’t you?”
Dio stood and grabbed my hand. “Fuck his bitch ass. He won’t be missed! Come on, Mars. Let’s go home.”
I was speechless because the man I was in love with not only killed someone in front of me but was the definition of a fucking demon.