Killing Them Softly (13 page)

I don’t remember too much after that. But I remember the bouncer coming at me, and me, taking a swing at him. I remember fighting with the police when they got there, but nothing after that, until I woke up on the floor in a cell.

I was alone.

For the first time since I left Tyrone, I was alone when I didn’t want to be alone. Since then, anytime I wanted to play, there was somebody available to come play with me. First Devin, and then Qianna. She had been occupying all my time lately; and I’ve loved every second of it. But not tonight.

I haven’t seen or heard from her in almost two days. I’ve called her several times, but she hasn’t answered, so I stopped calling. I hoped that she was just busy and would call me when she could, and that she wasn’t trying to give me a hint that she had moved on, and I should too. You know, the way I did Devin.

I know I could have handled it better, but I just couldn’t help myself. The last few times that Devin and I were together, I thought about being with Qianna the whole time. It wasn’t like I was in love with the woman or anything close that, but I’ll be damned if she didn’t have me so far gone on her sex, that it isn’t funny. There is something about the way she grabs me by the back of my neck, and slides her tongue in my mouth, that makes me so wet. Wetter than I had ever been with either Tyrone or Devin.

I thought back to my college days with Amy. I had been dating guys before she and I got together, and became undercover lovers. But once it began, dating guys was just a front. All I wanted was Amy. I was devastated when she didn’t come back to Syracuse that fall quarter. The only thing that saved me from losing my mind was the attention I was getting from Tyrone.

I knew that I had matured to the point where if Qianna was done with me that I wouldn’t fall part, but right now, I was horny as hell and needed somebody to play with me.

I picked up the phone and was about to press the redial button and call Qianna again, but I dialed Devin’s number instead. It had been so long since I’d called him, I had to think about what his cell number was. While the phone rang, I wondered what I would say to him after all this time. "Hey, Devin, it’s Avonte. I know it’s been a while since I took your call, but my clit is throbbing and I can’t find Qianna. So, since you were my second choice, I decided to call and see if we could meet somewhere." When his voice mail came on, I knew he was done with me, too. I decided to leave a message anyway.

"Hey, Devin, it’s Avonte. I know it’s been a while since we talked, but you were on my mind. Give me a call when you get this message. Maybe we can get together some time soon. Bye."

I pressed end and rolled over in my bed. At this point, I had only two choices: get up, put some clothes on, and go find somebody and hope for the best; or I could handle the job myself. I reached in my nightstand drawer and felt around for my bullet. It had been a while since I had to use it on myself. It had become one of Qianna’s favorite tools to use on me.

I put a few drop of Intrigue on the bullet and spread my legs. I closed my eyes and let my mind wander. As the sensation spread over my body, I thought about the last time I made love with Qianna and Devin.

I thought about how Qianna began running her hand across Devin’s erection, and how I took his face into my hands and kissed him. Qianna stroked Devin and he unhooked her bra. As soon as her twins were free, Devin took one of Qianna’s nipples into his mouth. Qianna leaned back on the couch and held Devin’s head in place with one hand, and squeezed her breast with the other. I took Devin into my mouth.

In my mind’s eye, I could see Qianna stand up and wiggle out of her pants. I squeezed my nipple between my thumb and forefinger, and ran the bullet across my lips.

I love the sight of Qianna’s naked body. Her rich brown skin, down on her knees running her hands over my body. I love it when she takes her time and starts from my ankle, along my leg, stopping between my legs. The way she licks my lips and bites lightly on my clit always makes my river flow.

I put the bullet down, and reached between my thighs and fingered my clit with one hand, while squeezing my breast with the other. The thought and visual of Qianna and I sharing Devin came into view. I could see Qianna stroking Devin until he stood up, and she took him into her mouth. He looked down at me and Qianna running our tongues along the sides of his shaft.

I let her have the dick to herself and crawled between her thighs. Then I very deliberately spread Qianna’s lips with my thumb and forefinger, while making small circles around her clit with the tip of my right forefinger. I could feel my tongue sliding inside Qianna and sucking her moist lips gently. Feeling Qianna’s body quiver as I licked her clit with the tip of my tongue. I rubbed her clit and it grew harder. Her thighs pressed together as her body convulsed. I love making her come hard like that, ’cause I know that she’ll return the favor, and do me the same way.

I slid two fingers inside myself as I thought of Devin holding onto my hips, and entering me slowly, while I sucked Qianna’s clit. He got into a long, rhythmic stroke, and watched Qianna squeeze her nipples in the throws of ecstasy. I came when I thought about Qianna grabbing me by the back of my neck, and forcing her tongue in my mouth. And it wasn’t long before my eyes and mouth were wide open, and I was screaming my ass off. I put the bullet back in its case and drifted quietly off to sleep.

When my cell started ringing I looked over at Cutie, and she got out of bed. I looked at the display and figured that it was Devin calling.

"I’m out," he said.

"She’s done," I said, and pressed end.

I’ll be honest; I didn’t think I’d hear from Devin that night. Even though he gave me half the money, I really didn’t think that he was serious about me killin’ his wife. But I guess you never know what kind of hell he was dealin’ wit’, and what he would do to end it. Peace of mind is a hell of a thing.

I rolled out of bed and followed Cutie into the shower. She was hard to resist, lookin’ so sexy wit’ the water rollin’ off her skin, but we had shit to do.

Doin’ the shit was one thing, doin’ it and not gettin’ caught and goin’ to jail for it, was another. I had been down before, and I had no intention of goin’ back. To me, that meant that I couldn’t leave anything that would lead the cops to me. You know, DNA type shit. After Devin dropped off the money, I went out and did a little shoppin’. Our first spot was The Sports Authority on Sixth Avenue. We picked up a couple of vinyl sauna suits, some batting gloves, and ski masks, just in case Devin had it wrong, and the bitch was still awake when I got there.

My next stop was a medical supply store to get some disposable plastic shoe covers, and some plastic gloves. When we got out of the shower both of us put on our plastic gloves. From that point on, there would be no fingerprints on anything we touched. Nothing.

It was after midnight when we drove past the address Devin had given us. "Go around the block again, and park down the street where we can see the house," I told Cutie. I wanted to get a good look at things before I went inside. We had been parked about ten minutes when I saw somebody coming, and they looked like they had come from Devin’s house.

As he got closer, I could see that he was a white boy with blonde hair. Either he was one of Devin’s friends lookin’ for him, or maybe wifey was playin’ while Devin was out the house. Either way, he didn’t need to see us sittin’ there. "Looks like he’s comin’ this way," Cutie said.

"Get down," I said, and we both crouched down in our seats.

The white boy got in a sweet dark blue Benz that was parked in front of us, and drove off. We waited another half-hour after that to be sure he wasn’t coming back, before we got out and moved toward the house. We put on our ski masks and put the batting gloves on over plastic gloves. I put on hers, and then Cutie put on mine.

We went around to the back door and I picked the lock. I looked at Cutie and held my breath, when I turned the doorknob. Since the alarm didn’t go off, we went inside. "You have a look around, I’m goin’ to look in on the Mrs.," I told Cutie, and wondered why I didn’t ask Devin to draw me a little map or something.

Once I found my way to the steps, I went upstairs and found their bedroom. I opened the door slowly and peeked inside. There she was, out like a light, just like Devin said she would be. I went in and stood over her for a while. She was a very pretty woman, but I expected no less for her to be Devin’s wife.

I took my time pullin’ back the covers. "Damn, this bitch is fine as hell," I said softly, and she squirmed a little. It scared me for a second, until I remembered that she was just sleeping, not out cold.

I looked at her body, all dressed up in that sexy white gown. I could tell from lookin’ at her, that Devin liked a certain body style in a woman, ’cause his wife was built like me and Avonte’s sexy fuckin’ ass.

I ran my hand along her sexy caramel skin. "Wouldn’t mind havin’ you myself, Sexy." Part of my plan for not getting caught was to make it look she was raped before she was murdered.

I found where Devin kept his clothes and got six of his ties. On the way back to the bed and Sexy, I saw the makeup table where Devin said she kept her jewelry. She had a lot of nice shit. Some that I wouldn’t mind keepin’ for myself, but that was the kind of dumb shit that would get a bitch caught and on lock down. Best if Cutie took all that shit straight to the fence.

I put the shit down for the time being, and went back to the bed. I took out my knife and a vibrator. I would push it inside her a few times, and hope that it would be enough to fool the cops. I tied her wrists and ankles to the bedposts with Devin’s ties. I gagged her, then took the last one and blindfolded her.

I took a step back and looked at Sexy laying there spread eagle. I thought it seemed a little funny that her gown was gathered around her waist. I got a little closer and noticed that her panties were a little off to the side, as I cut them off her. Maybe she was masturbating before she passed out?

I cut her gown from the cleavage to the bottom, and opened it up to reveal the prettiest set of titties I’d seen in a while. When I first pushed the vibrator inside her, she squirmed and struggled a little, but after a while she seemed to relax and take it. Once I thought it had gone on long enough to leave the impression I wanted, I took it out.

"Only one thing left to do now," I said out loud, and looked at Sexy. As much shit as I talked about, I had never done nothin’ like this just for money. All the others that I cut or killed deserved it.

But not her.

All she did was piss off her husband.

Then I had a rush of conscience.

Was that enough of a reason for me to kill her?

The answer was that it didn’t matter. All that shit was between her and Devin. I picked up my knife and grabbed her by the chin. One quick slice and it was done. I got up from the bed and walked away as the blood eased from her wound.

On the way out of the room, I stopped at the makeup table and got her jewelry, and left her there to die.

When I got downstairs I looked around for Cutie. I found her sitting in the kitchen. "Took you long enough."

"You ready?"

"No," she said. "I need you to help me with something." While I was upstairs, she had gone through the house and had a pile of stuff sittin’ by the door. In addition to lamps and paintings, there was a microwave, a nice espresso machine, a Bose acoustic wave music system, a MAC computer, and a couple of nineteen-inch TVs. "I need your help with the big screen," Cutie said, and stood up.

"How we gonna get all this shit outta here without being seen?"

"The garage is behind that door. We could back the Jeep in the garage and load up."

"Won’t the light attract attention?"

"Ain’t no lights on in any of the houses I can see from here. And just to be sure, I already unscrewed the bulb for the garage door, so it don’t go on and stay on."

"Smart girl," I said, and kissed her.

We went and got the big screen, and then she went for the Jeep. After we had it loaded, Cutie got in and drove out of there. I closed the garage door and left the house the way I came in.

As much shit as I talk, I was glad it was done.

When it came time for me to make my phone call, I called the house. If Qianna didn’t do it, Taye would be up by now. The phone rang, and eventually went to voice mail. The next person I called was Winston. "Hello."

"Winston, it’s Devin. Sorry to bother you so early in the morning, but I need a big favor." After I explained where I was and how I got there, Winston said he would call around and get me a bail bondsman. "Don’t worry, Devin. I’ll have you out of there in no time," Winston promised. By lunchtime, we were walking out of the jail toward his car.

"Thanks for putting that together for me. I really appreciate it."

"You don’t have to thank me, Devin. Just be there for me next time I get drunk."

"What did you tell them at the office?"

"The truth."

"What?"

"I told them the truth. I told them that you and Taye have been having problems, and you went out and got drunk. You had a fight at a bar, and when the police came, you fought with them too, so they locked you up."

"Couldn’t you come up with anything better than that?"

"I could have," he said as we got in his car. "But they were gonna find out the truth sooner or later, anyway. Better they hear the truth from me now, than for you to have to explain the lie later."

"I guess you’re right. Who you tell?"

"McNamara."

"Good choice."

"Thank you."

"What Mac say?"

"He laughed and said he’d see both of us tomorrow. So I thank you for the day off."

"Not a problem. Glad I could help you out."

"So where’s your car?"

"Just take me home," I said, knowing that I wanted him to come in with me, and at least be in the house when I found the body. "I’ll get my car later. Right now I just wanna go home and take a shower."

"I hear you, dude. Home it is."

When we pulled up in front of the house, I asked Winston to come in with me to have a drink.

He laughed. "No thank you. First of all, you don’t need anything else to drink for a good while and two, you just want me in there to lessen the drama you’re gonna get from staying out all night."

"I didn’t stay out all night. I was locked up in jail all night. There’s a difference."

"I used to be married. Out is out. But since I did bail you out, all I can do is to verify that I arranged bail, and then I’m out."

"Good enough," I said quickly. "Come on."

We went in the house and the first thing I noticed was that my 42-inch wide screen was gone. For some reason, I knew Qianna wouldn’t be satisfied with just the jewelry.

"Something’s not right," I said, and walked in the living room.

"What?"

"TV is gone," I said. "Taye, Taye. Are you here?"

I went to the garage and looked in. "Her car is still here." I began wandering around the house. "Taye, Taye!"

I stuck my head in the office and saw that she had taken my MAC and my Bose entertainment system. "I think we’ve been robbed."

Winston began looking around, and joined me in calling her name. "Taye, Taye!" he yelled, as I walked quickly up the steps with Winston on my heels.

I burst into the bedroom and looked at the bed. I dropped to my knees when I saw her tied to the bed in a pool of blood.

It was one thing to talk about it, plan it, but seeing her there like that, was still hard for me to take.

Winston pulled me up by my shoulders and dragged me out of the room. We walked downstairs to the kitchen, and he literally put me in a chair. My mind was racing while he picked up the phone and dialed 9-1-1.

"I’d like to report a murder and a robbery," I heard Winston say, but it still didn’t seem real to me. Qianna had really done it.

She killed Taye.

I got up and went outside, trying to push the image of her lying on the bed with her throat cut, out of my mind.

I made it as far as the driveway before I threw up what seemed like, every ounce of liquor that I had drank the night before.

I was still sitting outside when the police got there. Since I couldn’t go back inside the house, Winston took the police inside and showed them where the body was. I sat there dumbfounded, wondering why I felt so bad about it now. Wasn’t this what I wanted?

It was.

But I still couldn’t move.

Maybe I was just worried about getting caught, and that’s what had me feeling this way. I couldn’t hide from the fact that no matter what I had done, there was still a part of me that recognized that I once loved Taye very much. And now I had killed her. So maybe what I was feeling was guilt and disgust with myself.

After a while, I don’t know how long it had been, one of the detectives started coming toward me. Along the way he stopped to talk to another cop.

"You think he did it?" the cop asked.

"Not unless he could be in two places at the same time. I verified that he was in jail at the TOD," I heard the detective say. Then he approached me.

"Mr. James. My name is Detective Clinton. I am truly sorry for your loss. I know this isn’t the best time, but I need to ask you some questions. Is that okay?"

I looked up at him and nodded my head.

"Your friend said that before you found the body, that you noticed that some things were missing?"

I nodded my head again.

"Can you tell me what is missing?"

"TV, computer, stereo, I don’t know what else. I really didn’t—I just went upstairs and I found her like that," I said, and buried my head in my hands.

"Okay, Mr. James. We can do this another time." He handed me his card. "Why don’t you give me a call in a day or two."

I nodded my head and he walked away. When I looked up again, Winston was standing in front of me. "Come on, buddy, no need for you to hang around here."

"Right."

Winston held out his hand to help me up. "Can I take you somewhere? You’re welcome to stay with me if you want."

"No, Winston. Thanks. Just take me to a hotel. I’ll be all right." As we were walking toward his car, I stopped and looked back at the house, and thought one more time about what I had done. I got in the car and a sense of relief washed over me.

All I had to do now was get away with it.

I waited a couple of days before I called Detective Clinton back. He asked me to meet him at the house, so I could tell him what was taken. I agreed, and two hours later, we standing outside of the house, and he was going over the list of things Qianna had stolen. When we were done, he asked if I would come to the station and answer some questions for him.

When we got there, he sat me down in an office instead of the interrogation room, which to me meant that I still wasn’t a suspect. But I didn’t relax. I understood fully that how I answered his questions would impact my status. One suspicious answer and that all could change quickly.

Detective Clinton came back in the room with another man who he introduced as Detective Minter. After he apologized again for my loss, he got to his work.

"I know that you were arrested for disorderly conduct that night," Minter began. "So let’s start there. Why don’t you tell me what happened that night?"

"I left the house about ten, ten-thirty maybe, and I went to The Sport Spot and had a few too many drinks."

"Do you usually go out drinking like that at night, or did something happen at home?" Clinton asked.

"What he’s askin’ is; how were things with you and your wife?" Minter asked bluntly.

"Not that good. My wife had had two miscarriages, and after the last one, she went into a manic depression," I began slowly. "Recently, she had stopped going to treatment and refused to take her medication, so her depression was getting worse."

"Why’d she stop?" Minter asked.

"She didn’t like the way they made her feel."

"How was that?" Clinton needed to know.

"She said they made her feel weak and slow. She said it was hard for her to concentrate, like she couldn’t focus on anything without getting confused."

"Go on, Mr. James, what happened that night?" Minter asked.

"I tried to talk to her about getting back into treatment with a new doctor, that maybe they could find something that could help her, and not make her feel that way."

"What did she say?"

"Nothing. Unless she needed to speak to me, she didn’t."

"That must’ve been hard on you?" Clinton followed.

I didn’t answer him. I just dropped my head and shook it.

"When was the last time you had sex with your wife, Mr. James?" Minter asked.

I didn’t answer him either, but I looked him in the eyes.

"I know it’s a very personal question, and I wouldn’t ask unless it was important."

"I don’t understand why, but—" I paused. "I can’t tell you exactly, but I can tell you it’s been a long time."

"A week? A month?" Clinton asked.

"It’s been over a year now, detective."

"I see," he said.

"What happened after you tried to talk to her about treatment, Mr. James?" Minter asked.

"I went to The Sport Spot, I woke up in jail, I came home and Winston and I found her body." I dropped my head again. "You have any idea who did this?" I asked him.

"As near as we can tell, this was a robbery that went way wrong. There are signs of forced entry at the back door. The robbers came in through there, found your wife home alone."

"She takes sleeping pills at night, so she wouldn’t have heard them come in."

"Yes, we found the pills by the bed," Detective Clinton said, and then he paused. "Mr. James, your wife was raped before she was murdered."

"I figured that when I saw her tied up that way," I said, and looked away.

"The good news is that we were able to get a sperm sample," Clinton said.

"What?" I interrupted quickly. "I’m sorry, what did you say?"

"Sorry, I didn’t mean to say it that way, Mr. James. I mean the part about good news, I mean. There is nothing good about any of this. What I said was that we were able to get a sperm sample, and we’re running that DNA against our database. Hopefully, we’ll find a match."

The detectives only had a few more questions for me before they let me go. They did ask me if I would mind giving them a sample of my DNA to help with the investigation. I took that to mean to eliminate me as a suspect. "That’s no problem. Anything I can do it help you catch the guy." I was glad to be getting out of there.

I drove away mad as hell with Qianna, and wondered if I hadn’t made a mistake by getting her to kill Taye. I paid her to kill her. I didn’t say anything about bringing some guy along to rape her before they killed her. I thought about not paying her, but that would be the worse thing I could do. Just give Qianna what we agreed on, and be done with her.

How could she be that damn stupid? If they found a DNA match to the sperm sample they had, and they caught the guy, he could turn on her. And I was sure if it came down to it that Qianna would give me up, and testify that I’d paid her to kill Taye.

So the real question was: How could I be so stupid?