Gunz and Roses (13 page)

Gunz suffocated the lips of Gray's pussy with succulent licks and kisses. It was unavoidable; in a matter of seconds, she was sure to cum. Gunz flicked his tongue across her clit even faster. Cumming, she let out a whimpering moan.

Nowhere near done with her, he carried her over to the bed and placed her down on her stomach. Gray eagerly lifted her butt in the air so he could enter from behind.

Seeing her face down with her ass up only heightened Gunz's hunger for her. The lips of her pussy were covered in hot, sticky cum. He quickly stepped out of his clothes. Once they were off, he placed himself in behind Gray and slid his rock hard penis inside her wet slit. With his hands on her waist, he grinded in and out of her at brisk pace. Gray was driving him crazy.

The folds of her pussy suffocated his dick. Tenderly, he kneaded her butt cheeks. Her pussy was first class. Gray was overwhelmed with desire. Her insatiable appetite for dick escalated with each stroke. She wanted to explode.

“Oooooh, Gunz, just like that.”

“You like that?”

“Yeah, baby, go deeper,” she moaned.

Each stroke felt like New Year's. The anticipation of an orgasm nearing was spellbinding. Gray's lips trembled. Nothing could prepare her for the size of his mammoth dick. She could feel it all the way in her rib cage. The side of Gray's face rubbed up against the sheets as she screamed out in agony.

She wanted to kiss him, ride him, and suck him all at once. This was bliss. Gunz's groans were intensifying her pleasure. At any second, he was due to burst. Gray shamelessly thrust her ass into his shaft. She wanted him to cum on her butt. The mere thought of his hot lava on her skin caused her stomach muscles to contract.

“Ooooooooooooooooooh, baby! Awwwwwwwww, yeah! This dick feel so good!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh,” Gunz roared as he pulled out and came on her butt just as she'd desired.

Gray came harder with each drop. Seconds later, they were on to round two.

G
ray lay in Gunz's arms, sound asleep. They'd made love until neither could physically go any further. Gunz lay on his back, staring absently at the wall. A million thoughts ran through his mind. He'd never been so put at ease by a woman. Gray was the type of chick who naturally went with the flow. Yeah, sometimes she nagged and complained, but to see her blue eyes twinkle made him want to lock her down and make her his wife. But Gunz wasn't ready for that yet.

What he and Gray shared was rare and complicated. He wasn't her man, but they were more than friends. They made love, but he didn't call her his lover. She was his heart, his ace, but a part of him still wanted to stay open to other situations. And although he tried to play it off like he didn't, Gunz thought about Gray all the time. Every time his phone rang, he hoped it was her. With any other, he would've been done, but Gunz just couldn't shake Gray off.

Tired of thinking, he grabbed the remote control off the nightstand. The clock read 3:33
AM
. It was officially Gray's birthday. Using the remote, he turned on the television. CNN popped onto the screen. A news bulletin about ten Miami Airport workers charged in a major drug ring ran across the screen.

“It can't be,” he said out loud as he sat up and turned up the volume.

“A drug ring comprised of airport and airline workers who were smuggling large quantities of narcotics into passengers' luggage bound for Miami International Airport has been broken up by federal authorities. Federal agents seized more than forty-two kilograms of heroin and fifteen kilograms of Ecstasy in the bust, and arrested seven South-west employees, one American Airlines employee, two airport workers, and eight others in connection to the ring,” headline news reporter Brooke Anderson reported.

“This is some bullshit,” Gunz said as his cell phone began to ring. “What?”

“Yo, you watching the news?” Watts asked, shocked too.

“Yeah. Call Shanice and tell her to book me a flight. I'm coming home.” He hung up in Watts' ear before he could reply.

Gunz ran his hands down his face and inhaled deeply. He hated to cut the trip short, but business came before everything—even Gray. Shit had to be taken care of and quick. He'd paid close to a half million dollars for drugs the feds had confiscated, and what made matters worse was that he was almost out of product, so unfortunately, for a while there would be a drought. Plus, it hadn't slipped his mind that there were twenty-eight kilos of cocaine unaccounted for, and Gunz needed to find out who had them.

First he had to tell Gray the trip was over. He felt horrible, but it had to be done. Gunz looked over his shoulder at her. An expression of tranquility covered her sleeping face. The way her lips formed the perfect pout brought a slight smile to Gunz's face and calmed him down a bit. He could watch her sleep forever and never get tired.

“Ma.” He slid back in bed and tenderly kissed her forehead.

“Huh?” She groggily opened her eyes.

“Happy birthday.” He kissed her lips.

“Thank you.” She kissed him back. “What time is it?”

“Almost four.”

“Why are you still up? Oops, I forgot you don't sleep.” She chuckled.

“Okay, smart ass. I see you just a regular ol' Bill Cosby.” Gunz joined in and laughed.

“Shut up.” She playfully hit his chest.

“But nah, for real. I got bad news.”

“What? Everything is okay, isn't it?” Gray shot up, worried.

“Everything's straight. We just gotta head back early. I gotta handle some things.”

Gray knew that there was more to the story, but she dared not ask. She was fully aware of what Gunz did for a living, so situations like this were expected. That still didn't stop the fact that she was disappointed; but Gray being Gray sucked it up and pretended to be okay with the circumstances.

“You had me scared for a second. I thought somebody had died or something. You want me to start getting my things together now?”

“So you not mad?” Gunz asked, surprised.

“No. Why would I be? I've had a great time. Besides, I told you, spending time with you is the best birthday present I've gotten so far.”

Once again Gunz was shocked by Gray's willingness to cooperate with his lifestyle and more importantly, the gentle, sweet words that poured from her heart for him. She was showing traits of a woman that when shit was fucked up, she would rub his back and tell him everything would be okay. If she kept this attitude up, maybe she would find a permanent place in his heart.

 

“Yo, I'm outside,” Gunz said as he parked his brand new silver Aston Martin V8 Vantage in front of PCS barbershop.

The shop was located in the heart of south St. Louis. Gunz loved his old neighborhood. Ten years ago, the area was filled with rundown houses, vacant school buildings, and crackheads. Back in the day, niggas would start clappin' at any given second of the day. Kids didn't know the meaning of going in the house when the street light came on. Old ladies stayed bitchin' about niggas sellin' product in front of their homes. Chicks fought over the neighborhood Nino Brown. Heavy bass bumped from the trunk of old school cars. The smell of fresh piss and dog shit continuously filled the air. Single mothers bore the look of shame each time they boarded the bus with their babies in pumpkin seats or strollers. The corner store and Chinese restaurants were the residents' only source of food and nutrition.

Now, condominiums, lofts, boutiques, and a renovated project livened up the once destitute section. White families occupied the once empty brick row houses, while black families were being forced into the county. The children of white families attended the best private schools money could buy. Expensive cars that most middle class people couldn't afford lined their driveways. A look of pride filled their faces every day they took their morning jog.

For the most part, Gunz was happy about some of the changes, but to no longer see people who looked like him when he walked down the street saddened him to the core.

Gunz leaned against his ride, dressed fresh to death in a black short-sleeve button- up white V-neck, distressed denim jeans, and all black Chuck Taylors. Two dog tags and a watch completed his cycle. Philadelphia Freeway's soulful hit “Baby Don't Do It” served as his soundtrack.

A second later, Watts and Bishop came through the shop's door and out into the street. The two men gave Gunz a much needed pound and a hug.

“What's the deal?”

“Man, shit is all bad,” Watts confirmed. “The feds got everything.”

“How in the fuck did everything go wrong? I had this shit planned to a T,” Gunz asked, heated.

“That's what the fuck we tryin' to figure out. All we know is everybody got knocked except for Fortune.”

“Don't nobody know where that nigga at,” Bishop added.

“What I wanna know is who got my other twenty-eight ki's of coke.” Gunz looked at them both. “Either the feds got it or Fortune do. Either way, I'm fucked.”

“Man, I knew we shouldn't have never let that nigga get involved.” Bishop shook his head.

“The shit done happened now. Now it's time to fix it.”

“And how do you propose we do that?”

“We gon' have to put our funds together and re-up. But what I want y'all to do right now is tell the li'l homies that it's hundred stacks for the man who can bring Fortune to me. Niggas need to understand that anybody who lies or steals from me got a death wish, flat out, and I'm gon' fulfill it.”

 

Later on that night, Gunz arrived at Gray's building with a dozen purple tulips in his hand. Guilt still plagued his soul. More than anything, he wanted to give her a birthday she would never forget. Unfortunately, circumstances beyond his control got in the way. Gunz was determined to make it up to her, though.

After buzzing her loft, Gray let him up. The sight of fresh flowers and the man she adored holding them brought a huge smile to her face.

“Thank you,” she gushed, running into his awaiting arms.

The feel of Gray's warm body wrapped up in his embrace pleased Gunz.

“Give me a kiss.”

Gray quickly obliged his request. Standing on her tiptoes, she closed her eyes and placed her lips on his. For Gunz, kissing Gray was like the Fourth of July, Christmas, and New Year's Eve wrapped all in one with a ribbon on it.

“So what you been doing all day?” he asked, coming inside.

“Nothing. Thinkin' about you.”

“Yeah, a'ight, tell me anything.”

“For real.”

“What is that you cookin'? It smells good than a muthafucka.”

“Since I knew you were coming over, I decided to make us an authentic Korean meal.”

“Word?” Gunz responded, excited.

“Yeah. Why you seem so surprised?” Gray asked as she placed the flowers in a vase.

“You don't understand; I ain't never met nobody like you. I mean, here it is your birthday and you cookin' dinner for me.”

“It's for the both of us.”

“You know what I'm sayin'. Right now we supposed to be in the Chi, chillin'.”

“I told you I'm good. We had fun, and most importantly, we're here now sharing another moment together.”

“I feel you.” Gunz nodded his head, taking a seat on the couch.

Gray was nothing short of the truth. In his heart, he knew that what they shared was the start of something real. There was no use in faking. Gray held his heart in the palm of her hands and she didn't even know it.

“You know my mama always said don't let 'em get to cookin' 'cause in a minute, they gon' want keys to your house.”

“I don't want no key.” Gray set down a dish. “And I don't want no house either.”

“Well, at least we got an understanding,” he replied, trying his hardest not to laugh.

“Don't play wit' me.”

“I'm just fuckin' wit' you, ma.”

“You better be.” She sat down on the floor across from him. “Now, let me explain to you what we're eating. This right here is
nabak kimchi
. Kimchi is something that we eat along with everything. Right here we have
galbi-gui
. Galbi-gui is basically grilled short ribs. In this we have
udong
. Udong is a noodle dish. Last but not least we have
mandu,
which is a typical street food. Mandu is dumplings that are filled with beef, pork, and mixed vegetables.”

“I don't know where to start first.” Gunz looked over everything, amazed.

“Here, try the mandu. It's my favorite.”

Once both their plates were full, Gray decided to spark up a conversation.

“So, Gunz, be honest with me. Why is it that you don't want to be in a relationship?”

“ 'Cause, man . . . it's just a lot of shit that go into being in a relationship, stuff that I don't know if I necessarily wanna deal wit' right now. Plus, I just got out of something a minute ago.”

“Really?” Gray said, surprised. “With who?”

“That's not important.”

“It must have been Devin.” She shook her head, feeling stupid.

“Okay, it was. And? Like I told you, that shit wit' her is in the past.”

“So why you just now tellin' me this?”

“You never asked, and plus, it wasn't important.”

“So why y'all break up?” Gray took a bite of mandu.

“Devin young-actin', man, and I got back wit' her for all the wrong reasons.”

“Back with her,” Gray repeated, confused. “So y'all messed with each other before?”

“Yeah, I used to fuck wit' her back in the day, but we broke up. Then last year we started back kickin' it again, but the shit just didn't work. But that's my fault 'cause like I said, I got back with her for all the wrong reasons.”

“What reason?”

“Why are we even discussing this? This conversation is for the birds.” Gunz proceeded to eat his meal in hopes that Gray would let it go.

“No, tell me,” she insisted.

“'Cause I liked fuckin' her and I wanted to fuck her again, that's why.”

Gray sat silent. For some reason, Gunz's blunt confession hurt her feelings.

“Please don't tell me you mad.” He placed down his chopsticks. “See, that's why I don't like talkin' about shit like that. Somebody feelings always get hurt. Look, Gray,”—Gunz scooted closer and caressed her face—“that shit in the past. Fuck what happened before you. I'm here wit' you. I ain't thinkin' about Devin. The only woman that got my attention is you.”

For a while, silence consumed them.

“You believe me, don't you?”

Gray wanted to trust and believe in his words, but Kema's words kept on ringing in her head.
Actions speak louder than words,
is what kept on replaying over and over again. The last thing she wanted was to end up looking like a fool, but Gunz had her open.

“Say you believe me.” He cupped the back of her head and massaged her scalp.

“I believe you.”

Gunz sat back and resumed eating his food. He didn't want Gray to start losing faith in him. She could've bowed out gracefully a long time ago, but she didn't. Gunz thanked God every day for her. He drove himself crazy trying to stay out of his own way, but the secrets he kept were so sacred. Sometimes the places he went in his mind were so deep, dark, and desperate that it scared him.

“You know, sometimes I think I'm being unfair,” he spoke sincerely.

“Why you say that?”

“I'm just sayin' I still can't talk about what I do. My job is dangerous. The life I lead wears people down. Sometimes it breaks them in the end, and I don't want that to happen to you. I still have commitments to other people, and I know that you say it doesn't bother you, but maybe it should.”