Pink Lips (4 page)

“Anoki,” a familiar voice called out as the door swung open.

Relief filled Anoki's soul as Tony walked through the door. She knew deep down that Rock wasn't trying to kill her and that he would send someone to save their lives. Her emotions ran wild as she released the guns from her hands.

Anoki ran to Tony as her heartbeat slowed down to its normal pace. She wrapped her arms around him as tears fell from her eyes onto his tie. He stroked her hair in a way to let her know she was safe.

Tony pulled Anoki's face out of his chest. He glanced down at her and even with her crying face, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. He softly stroked her face, which was something that he could never do under any other circumstance. He took in her presence as the job he was there to do escaped him.

“Are you okay?” Tony questioned as reality set in and he focused on his mission.

“No.” Anoki rushed toward the closet. “I have to get Willow and we have to leave.”

Pow! Pow!

The gunshots were not as loud as Anoki had anticipated. The metal fragments, spiraling through the air, pierced her chest and arm without consideration, without real meaning of relevance, and with more speed than the fastest of living things. The small wounds in her flesh leaked blood much like the way crying eyes leaked tears.

It wasn't so much the pain, but the shock, the betrayal, the surprise, of almost anticipating, feeling the hot wet pain in her chest, the hole the bullets made. It wasn't what Anoki expected. She had thought it would be more pain. She stumbled, taken aback; still looking dully into the air, not knowing what may come next, and realizing that it was the end.

Anoki was stunned to know she was dying. She was shocked that she wasn't overwhelmed by the emotion she had assumed would accompany such a violent end. She knew her life would end like this with Rock, but knowing it and experiencing it were two different things.

Anoki was amazed by all that surrounded her. She looked down at her hand and flexed it. She was astonished at how the muscles flexed back and forth perfectly and would soon move no more. Her ability to move was drawing near.

“I'm sorry.” Tony leaned down to check her pulse. “It's just business.”

“Why?” Anoki asked as blood ran out of her mouth onto her pink-colored lips. “I thought we were family.”

“It's business,” Tony repeated nonchalantly as he stepped over
her. “I'll make it quick with the kid. I'll end it with one shot. She won't feel anything,” he assured her as he headed to the closet.

“Wait!” Anoki screamed, using every ounce of her energy. “Don't hurt her! She's a baby; she's your goddaughter, T!”

“It's business,” Tony reiterated as he opened the door and pointed the gun at Willow. “I have to finish the job, Anoki. You know how things work,” he assured as he stood at the door of the closet.

“Please,” she coughed uncontrollably, “leave her. Don't hurt her. Let her starve, T. I beg you. Please!”

Tony looked into Anoki's eyes as he lowered his gun. He had never killed a baby, but he would have. He let what Anoki said contemplate in his mind. He knew if he left them that they would both die; Anoki from her wounds and Willow from starvation and dehydration. He put his gun in his waistband before heading for the door.

“Thank you,” Anoki panted.

Suddenly, everything went completely silent. All movement around Anoki slowed down to an excruciating pace. She could feel her pulse pounding through her body and escaping torrents through the open wounds. At that moment she didn't feel any pain, only sorrow.

There was something altogether serene as she bled out, losing consciousness with a smile on her face. The images swirled before her right until the end, leaving memories of Junior, Willow, and even Rock imprinted upon her mind without the oxygen to sustain it.

“Rock didn't want this,” Tony said as he stopped halfway through the door. “Don't leave this world thinking that nigga didn't love you because he does. This was out of his control,” he said as he walked out the door.

Tony exhaled as he walked down the stairs of the mansion. He
didn't think he could have pulled it off since he was so close to Anoki and Willow, but for what he was being paid, he would have killed his own mother if he had to. The half a million was all his now.

Tony thought about Willow as he walked over to the phone in the kitchen. He had bonded with her and given her gifts almost daily. He had love in his heart for his goddaughter, but it was his life or hers and he chose to live.

“Hello,” a voice answered on the other end of the receiver.

“It's done,” Tony said into the phone as he looked behind him. The gloves covering his hands seemed to get tighter with each minute that passed.

“Are you sure? Are they dead?” the voice grilled.

“That's what ‘it's done' means,” Tony snapped while his ears stayed alert for the sound of sirens.

“Good job. I'll let Poppa know of your good work,” Evelyn said as she hung up the phone.

Evelyn smiled as she set the phone down, missing the receiver. She leaned over and kissed Junior on the cheek; he was still sleeping peacefully. “I'm your mommy now,” she whispered as she squeezed his little hand with her own.

Evelyn stood up tying her hair into a ponytail. She walked over to the mini bar and poured herself a glass of champagne that was chilling on ice for this very occasion. She took a sip as a celebration for the deaths of Anoki and Willow. With them out of the way, she and Rock could finally be a family. She could finally have his last name and be his one and only woman.

Eight Years Later

T
he sky was ablaze with color as hints of fiery orange and searing reds beamed down on God's creation. The sounds of birds and waves were alive while the smell of the fresh water lingered all around. The caress of the midday breeze felt just right as the fish played flopping in and out of the water; some even landing in the small boat filled with people that trailed the outskirts of the ocean.

“We're almost at the big island of Punalu'u,” the captain of the boat screamed.

“I thought we were going to Hata, Mommy,” Willow said as people rambled to get their stuff together, waiting to get off of the boat once it hit shore.

“We are,” Anoki said as she inhaled the air of her home, which left a familiar tingle on her nose. “Your aunt is meeting us here and then we are going to Hata.”

“My aunt?” Willow asked as she twirled her fingers in her dazzling hair.“Like Aunt Nicole back in Philly?”

“No.” Anoki smiled at Willow. “This is my sister. She is your aunt by blood.”

“By blood?”

“Yes, baby,” Anoki responded as she saw the enormous island approaching from afar.

“She's your sister like Kail is my sister?” Willow asked as she tugged on the strap of her pink overalls.

Anoki smiled as she looked at the little girl sitting next to Willow. She stuck her tongue out at her youngest daughter as the horns on top of the small steamboat started going off, alerting them that they had reached their destination.

“Yes, baby, just like you and Kail.” Anoki removed the straw hat from her head and let it hang by a string around her neck.

Anoki opened her eyes. The sunlight bathed her skin as the boat approached the dock. She tried closing her eyes. What had happened in Philly was something she didn't want to deal with today. Thoughts bit at her brain, forbidding her to gather her thoughts.

She was worried for Willow and Kail; they were innocent. They shouldn't have had to go through any of this. She rubbed the scar the bullet left on her arm, her stomach growling. She reached in her backpack, and then counted the wad of money she had brought with them. She dug in once more and found her pocket-sized mirror. She looked so different with short hair. She had to cut it if she didn't want anyone to recognize her back in Philly or there in Hawaii, for that matter.

Anoki touched her chest. She winced. She could still feel the pain from it all. Flashbacks danced in her head like a two-step. She saw Nicole, the housekeeper, running to her side as her vision went in and out. Memories of hospital staff surrounding her with panicked faces played in her mind. She remembered waking up after an extensive surgery. As if living through what she had experienced wasn't enough, she was told that she was pregnant and that her baby would live.

That year she spent in the hospital seemed like a decade. All of
it seemed worth it once her baby girl Kail was born. When she looked into her little girl's face, she knew that fighting for her life was her only option. She had to be a trooper for her kids. Although she considered Kail a blessing, she couldn't believe that her and Rock's last time making love had produced a child.

Anoki stood there grateful for everything Nicole had done for them. Making sure her and Willow's existence was unknown, and going with the façade that they were dead was no easy task. Hiding them out for years and treating them like family was something Anoki never could forget. She couldn't repay her if she wanted to; she would forever be appreciative.

Anoki quickly gathered their belongings, then placed the straw hat back in place on her head. She had to wear it in case somebody noticed her, even with her hair cut short. She reached on the collar of her shirt to grab her shades to put on her face. She could never be too careful.

“Aloha,” beautiful Hawaiian women greeted them as Anoki guided her girls off of the boat.

“Aloha,” she replied as she held the back of her girls' necks. “Stay close,” she whispered as she released her grip to focus on the luggage dangling on the inner part of her arms.

Anoki looked down at the warm crushed, black glass sand that got darker at the water's edges that slid off and on her feet while she walked. She looked back at the volcanic rocks spiking from the water. She could see sea turtles basking on the hot sand and more grazing on the algae growing on the rocks.

Anoki was home as she watched fishermen cast their nets hoping to bring home a delicious catch for dinner. The smell of coffee being roasted in the coffee plantations hit her; assuring her she had really made it back. The palm trees casting their soothing shade
on sunbathers, who watched the red sun drop into the ocean, hoping for the famous green flash, finally convinced her that it wasn't a dream and after twelve long years, she was really home.

“What does ‘aloha' mean?” Willow asked as she sunk in and out of the black sand.

“It's how Hawaiians greet each other. It's the way we say ‘hello.' ”

“Why can't we just say hello then?” Kail asked as they made it off the sand, and onto the street.

“You can greet people any way that you like,” Anoki said as she saw her sister pulling up.

Anoki smiled as she saw Mahina slow down in front of them. She screamed as she ran to the driver's door and opened it. She hugged her big sister as tight as she could, and for as long as she could stand. Mahina embraced Anoki and their reunion grew emotional.

“I missed you,” Mahina repeated, kissing all over Anoki's face, leaving traces of the powder-pink lipstick that covered her lips.

“I missed you, too,” Anoki wiped the lipstick from her skin.

Anoki stepped back to take a look at her big sister, who was only eleven months older. Most people who saw them said they could pass for twins, but Anoki never thought so. She always thought Mahina had more natural beauty.

Anoki looked past her sister at the expensive Lexus that she had pulled up in. From the designer clothing Mahina was wearing, Anoki knew she was still living the fast life. Mahina was still a part of what she had left Hata for in the first place, The Pink Lip Bandits.

“They look just like we did when we were kids,” Mahina said as she approached Willow and Kail, “I'm your auntie.”

“You're pretty,” Willow said as she grinned, “almost as pretty as Mommy.”

“Is that so?” Mahina half laughed.

“You two have on the same lipstick.” Kail's eyes went from Anoki's lips to Mahina's.

“I know,” Mahina hugged them, “if you're lucky, one day you two will wear the same color.”

“Mahina,” Anoki warned, signaling her to shut her mouth with only her eyes.

“I'm just saying.” Mahina hissed as she walked back to the car and got in. “You coming or what?”

Anoki bit her tongue and reminded herself to give Mahina a piece of her mind when they were alone. She signaled for her girls to walk to the car as she picked up the luggage to follow. She loaded the car, got in, and before she could close the door well, Mahina sped off.

“Gino is going to be so happy to see you,” Mahina rolled down the window to let in the cool, island breeze.

“We can talk about this later.” Anoki ended the conversation before it started. She looked in the backseat at her nosey little girls.

“Okay,” Mahina rolled her eyes.

Mahina was shocked at how censored Anoki had become. She couldn't believe how much she had changed. If it wasn't for her looks being the exact same, she would have sworn a stranger was sitting next to her. She knew her sister was a different person, but it baffled her how much she had become someone new.

Mahina looked through the rearview mirror at her nieces. She wondered if they were the reason for Anoki's cautiousness. She wondered if it was all worth it. She rubbed her stomach in deep thought as if she should have kept the baby by Gino that she recently had carried.

Mahina always wanted a family. She always wanted to be the
mother she wished her mother was to her and Anoki. She would have kept the baby if it was by anyone else. She knew the minute she told Gino, he would have made her take care of it. She looked at Anoki with envious eyes, and realized she finally had something to be jealous of her sister for.