The Awakening (17 page)

It took me a few days, but my digging eventually turned up gold. It turned out safi was the daughter of a well-to-do businessman up in Dalton, north of the Atlanta area, and word began to get back to him concerning the activities of his little girl. That wasn't what set him off, since he was also a swinger up in that area. What got him going was that she had become a part of a “harem,” as he was told, and of course he couldn't have his daughter be a part of such a thing. Put two and two together, add the call to the mayor, and there's the instant newsworthy story.

The next bread crumb came in the form of safi's former roommate, emphasis on the “former.” She was more than happy to help out since safi's father had cut off the money flow, and safi ended up leaving her high and dry with a condo she could barely afford.

What was it they say about burning bridges?

This child was about to end up on an island with no one to turn to for help. The information the roommate gave me eventually
led me to an unexpected source: the Dom safi was messing around with.

Now, this guy turned out to be what I like to call an M.I.D., or “Master of Internet Domination.” The ones who have no references to speak of and no one to vet for them, but they are a Dominant in their own mind. These dudes usually are married to a vanilla woman who “would never understand” WIITWD, so they hide it from them and live this other life as an honorable Dominant.

What a joke, and the funny part was, he fit the profile to the letter.

Upon further inspection of this “Dom” through some of my connections to the Dominants that knew of him—some who were and some who were not too fond of him—I found out he held a grudge against Amenhotep because he did not prove himself true to the teachings of his Mentor, who happened to be very good friends with Amenhotep.

Like Amenhotep wasn't going to check him out first?

Going a little deeper, and “Master” Judah, as he called himself, runs one of safi's father's businesses, an auto body repair shop in Dalton. Now, I'd bet you a night's worth of table dances at Liquid as to who I think dropped a dime on Amenhotep?

I figured out the best way to handle things without getting too caught up was to catch ol' boy at his job. It's easier to be civilized when your job's on the line. Besides, if I played my cards right, I had a trump card that would get me the information I needed without getting hostile. So, I called in a favor from a friend within the swinger community who takes pictures at parties. The information he provided me and the pictures to prove it were jaw-dropping, to say the least!

I only hoped to play this information to my best ability. A lot of lives depended on it.

He saw me coming in the door of the shop and approached me like I was some lost tourist who had no business in his shop. He tried to sound congenial, but I felt the suspicion in his voice. “Hi, sir, how may we help you today?”

“Yes, I have business with Mr. Ronin, safi's father,” I replied, using her submissive name to get his attention. I didn't have time to mince words with this dude, especially when he regarded me as inferior the moment I stepped into his world.

Judah's face turned red for a moment, and then he replied, “You're not getting your friend off, bro. He fucked with the wrong girl.”

“Is that a fact?” I kept my cool as I said it. I was in enemy territory without backup, and I needed to be smart. “Well, maybe you might have the exact same problem yourself, huh? You know, someone fucking the wrong girl?”

I massaged my chin to let the message sink in.

When Judah heard that comment, he froze up. “Wha…what do you mean?”

“Well, let's see, I had a P.I. friend of mine do a check of the phone number safi used to have her new ‘Dom' call my friend to inform him of what His safi was doing,” I said, starting my smokescreen. “Unfortunately, he couldn't get a trace on the number.”

I saw Judah relax, figuring he hadn't been busted. But once I pulled out the manila envelope, his eyes got wide. “What's in the envelope, man?”

“Well, while he wasn't able to get an exact trace on the number, he was, however, able to triangulate the location of where the call came from, which led me to you. He also managed to get me something that I think you might be interested in seeing disappear. So,
consider this your version of
Let's Make a Deal:
you give me safi's location, and I don't send this to your wife and boss. By the way, when's the baby due?” I tapped the envelope to prove I was serious. “I'm sure Mr. Ronin wouldn't want to see the contents of this folder, now, would he?”

“You'd destroy me over some pussy, man?” Judah tried to call my bluff. “You ain't got the balls, man. Besides, he won't believe someone like you over me.”

“Well, I guess when you get home tonight, you'll find out, huh?” I wasn't too thrilled at the “someone like you” comment, but I had to remember I was in North Georgia as well. I turned around to walk out. “Take care.”

“No!”
Judah reactively grabbed my arm to stop me. I looked at him like he was two steps shy of catching a beat down if he didn't let my arm go. He finally relented. “Okay, dude, you win. She's at her girlfriend's house. I'll get You the address.”

He headed over to write the information down, still shaking as he wrote.

And he's a Dominant?
I kept saying to myself.

“Alright, a deal's a deal. Give me the envelope,” Judah angrily demanded.

“For someone in your position, you sure are hostile,” I joked, even though he didn't find it all that funny. It was wild to see him squirm though. It almost made me forget about that dumb-ass comment he made toward me earlier. “I thought the customer was always right?”

I took a lighter and set the envelope on fire. As it slowly began to burn, I told him, “Now, I'm going to assume you're a man of good faith, in that you gave me what I wanted. But if I find out it is bogus information…”

“I gave you what you wanted, dude. My wife will miscarry if she gets any stressful news.” Judah pleaded with me, his eyes fixated on the burning envelope.

“Okay. I guess I can believe you, since you put it that way.” I dropped the envelope in the trash can outside so that it would burn itself out. “As far as I am concerned, your wife knows nothing about your late nights working overtime, right?”

“Alright, damn.” Judah slumped in a chair, looking like he had been through a couple of rounds of boxing. “Just leave. I have customers to attend to. You being here is bad for business.”

“Perhaps I should stick around, just to see how bad I am for business.” I looked at a couple of women who were quite enamored with seeing a six-foot-seven black man looking like he stepped out of
GQ
magazine. “Ladies, do you think I'm bad for an establishment such as this?”

The ladies started to giggle, which really upset Judah. But I knew he couldn't say anything derogatory or else those same ladies might've told their husbands the manager was a prick.

So much for “bad business,” I guess.

Heading back to my car, I glanced at the Marietta address on the slip of paper, realizing I had been to that house before. I kinda felt bad for ol' boy though. I mean he never took the time to see the pictures of his wife…his
pregnant
wife…having sex with, of all people, Mr. Ronin himself. Oh well, so much for her being fragile, especially considering the flexible positions she was able to do in those photos.

No wonder his job was safe.

19
RAMESSES

“How did you find me???”

safi panicked when she came home to find me sitting on her front porch, chatting with her friend, chastity. Then, she smirked. “i should have You arrested for stalking me. i left Your precious Mentor, and He got what He deserved for treating me like a whore.”

Now, in my younger days, I probably would have strung that little girl up by her ankles and whipped her within an inch of her life for the lies that she's told. Her body language alone let me know that she didn't tell the whole truth to the police about what happened that night. My guess was that she had to lie to keep herself out of the fire. But that didn't matter. I needed to keep my calm in order for this plan to work. If I didn't, she could've easily charged me with assault, even with chastity there as a witness.

“Well, I actually didn't find you, love. you see, chastity is a collared submissive of My friend, Master Altar, or had you forgotten that?” I sort of lied, but she didn't need to know the truth about her new “Dom” dropping a dime on her to save his own skin. “I gave Him a call and told Him I was in the area, and He wanted Me to stop by and check on His property for Him. Running into you was an unexpected bonus.”

I tried to warn her the community was very small.

“Whatever he told You, he's lying,” safi lashed out. I had a feeling
Judah might have punked out and warned her I was in the area, but she would have never come home if he had tipped her off to my whereabouts.

“Sorry, girl, but you knew better than to file a false report,” chastity scolded her. “It's not my fault that your dad found out and threatened to disown you. your lies have caught up with you.”

“you did what?!?!?!”
I couldn't keep my composure any longer. My suspicions were confirmed, and I was ready to rip her to shreds.

“What was i supposed to do? you know how my daddy is!” safi turned on the water works quickly, but the tears didn't work on either one of us. She was more worried about losing daddy's money than putting an innocent man behind bars.

“So, what happens when the rape kit comes back and it shows you had sex with more than one man that night?” chastity asked, getting angrier by the minute. “See, it's bitches like you that fuck things up for the rest of us, you fake-ass wannabe. It's hard enough being a good submissive, especially for my Master, but word's gonna get out about your lie, and my reputation and my Master's reputation will be damaged just for you being here against His wishes!”

“My dad's going to kill me if he finds out the truth!” safi yelled. “i don't give a damn about this bullshit community! i'm sorry i even got myself into this mess!”

“safi, look, if I gave you something I believe will smooth things over and have your old man chill out about this whole mess, will you drop the charges against Amenhotep?” I had to put a stop to this hysteria, or things would spiral out of control. I didn't have time for little girls overreacting because their small insignificant world would be shattered if the truth came out. Besides, we have enough problems in the community without weekend players trying to be real about something they don't understand, and don't care to understand as long as they get their pleasure out of it.

safi nodded, and I went back to the car to get the other copy of the pictures I'd used to squeeze Judah.

Yeah, I know, I can be a cold-hearted bastard sometimes. But when it comes to the protection of my family, and my House, I will do whatever it takes…even if it meant destroying a man's image in the eyes of his daughter in the process.

safi's face turned beet red, but she understood this was the leverage she needed to keep her old man's mouth shut, and hell, maybe even get more money out of him from then on out. It was then she realized maybe “this bullshit community” could offer her more than the vanilla friends she thought were so much better than us.

safi lowered her eyes and bowed in respect. “my Lord, i am in Your debt. i will do as You request,” she stated quietly, looking at the envelope. “Please forgive me for the way i spoke earlier. But i think that i might have damaged myself for another Dominant to find me worthy. i mean, Judah wasn't even worth the trouble. What am i going to do now?”

“Things should work out fine, safi, and don't worry about the rumors. They eventually go away,” I reassured her as I got in my car to leave. “you may use Me to vet for you once you've completed your task for Me. you have My word.”