Frostbite (8 page)
Authors: Eric Pete
10
It took a little over an hour to get from Emeryville to Stockton in the “borrowed” Honda with bad headlights. I exited the West Side Freeway, coming to a cheap apartment complex on West Benjamin Holt Drive where Sophia still maintained a place there under one of her aliases. My eyes in the area confirmed she was here as recently as last month. And she wasn’t alone. But as someone who changed shoes like one would a stick of gum, I never took her for sentimental. Especially for a place far below her current financial means.
I stared out into the predawn night. Looked at the units, barren of any signs of activity this early, while trying to talk myself out of this stupid course of action. Nothing needed to be said since Miami. But maybe she was responsible for the mysterious CIA agent having a hard-on for me. Questions. That’s it. A good justification for wanting to see her face-to-face. And since I was in NoCal, no time like the present. I took a handkerchief and wiped down the steering wheel, gearshift, and radio knob before getting out and walking across the crowded parking lot.
Last time I’d come here, I broke in.
Intent on killing her as an act of revenge.
Instead, I’d left enlightened about the woman I loved.
A woman who wasn’t Sophia, but who she’d worked with to betray me.
This time, I knocked like a gentleman. Didn’t expect anyone to answer on the first—nor any—knock this time of morning. But I did it again, intensely fearing a bullet coming through the door. Instead, the door lock turned after an eye peered through the peephole.
“Truth!” Sophia blurted out and she rushed to hug me.
“Good morning,” I said awkwardly, gradually embracing her. “Sorry I didn’t bring donuts.”
“Donuts make you fat. But bring some next time anyway ... the ones with the sprinkles. You smell like champagne and sex,” she replied, playfully pushing me in my chest as she shook her head in mock disgust. “Didn’t know if you were still alive. You coulda sent up a smoke signal or somthin’. Wanna come inside?”
“Sure. If your company doesn’t mind.”
“Oh,” she muttered, her voice dropping down an octave. She backed away slightly, suddenly concerned about her morning attire—a short little white cotton robe. Old habits with me dissipating while older habits with him reestablishing. Then her normal brashness reasserted itself. “Fuck him. He’s still
looking for work
and seeing his P.O. on the regular. I pay the rent around here. Come on in.”
looking for work
and seeing his P.O. on the regular. I pay the rent around here. Come on in.”
Everything was as I remembered.
Sophia’s floor no longer bore evidence of my gunshots years before, yet the apartment had an even greater eyesore. The man I’d heard all about, but was finally meeting.
“Who the fuck are you?” the man, a good three inches taller than me, asked as he walked from out of the bedroom wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. Nice of him to at least put them on.
“Babe, this is Truth,” Sophia calmly answered for me as I clenched my fists, preparing for whatever. I knew coming here might ignite a shit storm, but didn’t let that stop me.
“Oh,” he said, suddenly deflating his chest and chiseled abs. Ivan was a pretty boy, just as his file said, but the nasty scar on the edge of his scalp just above his left eye told a tale of the harsh realities of prison life. “That’s your real name, man? Like ‘truth or dare’?”
Sophia and I shared a look. A private joke Ivan had plodded right into. “Yeah. Just like that,” I replied, politely smiling.
“Appreciate your lookin’ out for my girl while I was away,” he said as he sat on the arm of the couch directly behind Sophia, his hand coming to rest on her thigh. With his other hand, he extended a fist pound.
“Someone had to. Crazy world out there,” I replied, wondering how much Sophia had shared about me and what I do.
“Heard she learned all kinds of tricks under you,” he said with a gleam in his eye. That answered it. Maybe I should’ve allowed him to stay in prison. Would’ve been simple enough to cook up something to extend his stay. But I’d seen no reason for them to be apart any longer. For he was Sophia’s burden to bear.
“You might say that. She was a good student. Models are generally good at following instructions,” I spat, suddenly irritated with the both of them. Two of the
pretty people
for which the world drops everything to accommodate in most scenarios.
pretty people
for which the world drops everything to accommodate in most scenarios.
Ivan chuckled. “I ... I was a model,” he mumbled, breathing heavily. Just then I think he became self-conscious of the imperfection gracing his forehead.
“I know,” I said smartly. “And didn’t you do time for beating a woman?”
Sophia’s mouth fell open, any hint of a sleepy daze burning away.
“You got jokes. It was a man and a woman. Bitch was fucking up game I was runnin’ on a friend o’ hers.
And that nigga?
He just got in the way,” Ivan said, happy with his justification as he shifted on the sofa’s arm. “Ask Sophia. She knows,” he further offered.
And that nigga?
He just got in the way,” Ivan said, happy with his justification as he shifted on the sofa’s arm. “Ask Sophia. She knows,” he further offered.
I turned to look at his less-than-proud coconspirator. But she averted her eyes. Didn’t matter. Had accessed and read both their criminal files, frontward and backward courtesy of a friend of mine with California probation and parole. What Ivan wasn’t going to share was that the woman wound up turning the tables on him and beating his ass. I allowed him to keep his manhood.
“Besides, I wasn’t myself then,” the idiot stated, mouth still going. “Was on some shit in a bad way. Clean now.”
“Uh huh,” I replied succinctly.
“Don’t try actin’ all high and mighty, nigga. If you been around my girl, then you ain’t no saint either. Is there some other reason you’re showing up unannounced and comin’ at me like this?” he asked as he stood up, moving Sophia aside.
“Nope. Just shit and giggles. I’m really a stand-up comedian. And weak-ass dudes who hit women are a good source of material.”
Ivan got in my face, puffing up.
“Stop! This ain’t no dick measuring contest, y’all two,” Sophia finally interjected as she wedged her body between us. “Ivan, yeah, I fucked him a time or two while you were away. But that shit’s over. I’m here with you now, ain’t I? You happy?” she said as she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his chest. Breathing heavily, he backpedaled but continued to glare at me. “And, Truth. Stop fucking with people. Ivan ain’t did shit to you,” she added for me.
I nodded apologetically to her. Since it was her place.
“So what you want?” Ivan asked.
“Just a spot to clean up and lay my head for a few hours. Then I’ll be on my way. Nothing else,” I said, holding my open hands outstretched. He didn’t really know me, so Sophia’s eye roll went unnoticed.
“Well ... make yourself at home then. Me and my girl goin’ back to sleep. Be up in a little bit. C’mon, babe,” he said, taking his girlfriend along back to the bedroom. Sat briefly on the couch. Long enough to see Sophia’s robe fall off, a sliver of white dropping to the floor. Exposing her bare, sensual backside just as the door slammed shut. Before it could fully register, the bedroom door abruptly opened again. To my surprise, it was Ivan, except he didn’t want anything. Had dropped his drawers, giving me an unwanted image as he turned and skulked away to join Sophia in the bed. Motherfucker just wanted me to see and hear it all.
Rather than just storming off like the bitch he wanted me to be, I played the contrarian. Sat there and took my medicine while a man I instantly despised fucked a woman for which I somewhat cared like it was his dying act. Saw her legs split wide to welcome him in an impressive display of flexibility. Heard his grunts as he pounded away between those very legs like a mad bull. Heard the mattress yielding as she gasped, orgasms convincing me of the pleasure she was experiencing as her hands crept up and down his back.
First job for which I’d hired Sophia was blackmail.
Vegas.
Had watched her fucking then.
But through a hidden camera. No audio.
And with a woman.
Then I was aroused. Turned on like a motherfucker. Here, it bordered between displeasure and envy.
For what felt like an eternity later, when she rolled atop Ivan, talking dirty as she cursed him in the myriad ways that drive a man crazy, I’d reached my limits. As I got off the couch, she looked over her shoulder from out the dark.
I imagined her smiling and smiled back. A grin that said, “The two of you win.”
The shower eliminated all traces of my drunken romp with Cathy back in Emeryville. Helped sober me up too. I turned the shower nozzle to the off position, noticing all noise had diminished in the apartment. No thumping, creaking, or moaning. Just the sound of water swirling slowly down the bathtub drain. As I pushed aside the shower curtain and stepped out, I was startled by Sophia.
“Privacy’s not a priority around here, I see,” I said dryly. Her hair was a mess, but the rest of her commanded my attention. I wondered what was on her always devious mind.
“Did you have to bring up his past?” she asked, not bothering to hand me a towel.
“I needed to know if all that’s in his past. Kinda like a big brother would do. Yeah,” I responded, smiling. “And aren’t you worried he’s going to catch you in here?”
“Nah. Not after all this
good-good
I put on him. He’ll be asleep until noon,” she answered with a bit of casual pride to her tone. “What do you really want, Truth?”
good-good
I put on him. He’ll be asleep until noon,” she answered with a bit of casual pride to her tone. “What do you really want, Truth?”
“Was in area. For real,” I said as I reached past her, she now the one smelling of spent passion, grabbing the towel off the rack. “Wanted to check on you. And to see your boy face-to-face. You could do so much better.”
“Like who? You?” she asked, grabbing my dick and squeezing. I grimaced in pain before she let go. “You rejected me, remember?”
“And you got me shot, remember?” I countered, motioning at the physical reminder. Knew it hurt her to look at it. “Wasn’t in an affectionate mood at that moment. Does he know about your financial state?”
“No. Ivan might be my boo, but I don’t trust him like that. He keeps hounding me about taking a job ... like the kinds me and you used to do.”
“So, you’ve really been here in this dump the entire time? Playing broke? Looks like you traded one prison for another.”
She said nothing. Allowed me to finish drying myself off while standing idly by in the intimate confines we were sharing. Wasn’t like her to let that jab go without a counter. Then something struck me.
“Or is what you took from the prince still too hot to touch?” I queried as I squinted at her.
“Being extra cautious. S’all.”
“You sure?”
“Yes,” she asserted. “Why?”
“Got pulled off my flight on the way here,” I spouted, finally getting to the nagging question to which I needed to see her reaction face-to-face. “Government. Heavy shit. Knew about me. Know anything about?”
“No. Why would I?”
“That same shit down in Florida with your prince. They mentioned it. Have photos of us too from when I sprung you. Now I’m on somebody’s radar. And I don’t like it. Not how I operate. Last time I was flying this blind, you were the one helping to set me up,” I said gruffly as I pulled up my pants.
“Was waiting for that,” Sophia said with a chuckle. “It always comes back to Collette. The woman wanted you dead and you still carry the torch for her. If you could’ve heard the way she talked about you when she first hired me ...”
“I deserved her hatred. I killed her husband.”
“Not directly. Unintended consequences. You said so yourself. Remember? Then in the end, you let her think she’d killed you just to give her some fuckin’ closure. And if she knew you were alive now, she’d still want you dead. So why can’t you forgive me? It was a job, Truth. That’s all.”
“I forgave you long ago. It’s the current shit that has me pissed off.”
“So ... what do these people want?” Sophia asked, appearing spooked.
“A job. They want me to do a job.”
“And?”
“I dunno. Not yet at least,” I replied, glaring at her. “But I will.”
“And?” she asked again. This time a little more smartly as she folded her arms. I waited ’til I pulled my shirt down over my head.
“Expecting a call on a certain day at a certain time. That’s all I have to go on for the moment. And if I find out you’re holding out again on something I need to know, I’m not going to let our history temper what I do.”
“Fuck you, Truth. Fuck you and your threats,” she spat as she flung the bathroom door open and stepped aside. The steam from the shower was met by the cooler air of the hallway. “Go. Leave. Just get out, you paranoid asshole.”
“Looks like it’s your turn for that shower,” I said as I walked up to her and sniffed along her neck. “Your tub drains slowly by the way,” I said just as I kissed her on the lips and took my leave.
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