Page 25 of Twisted Revelations

Laura glared at him with murder in her gaze before she aimed it at me.

“The beers, Laura,” I added, causing her anger to shoot through Kadeem’s roof.

“Such unrestrained anger…. Where does it all come from?” Kadeem questioned as he eyed Laura with intrigue.

“When anger rises, think of the consequences,” he quoted with a finger aimed at her like a teacher coaching a student.

“Okay, Confucius, like you don’t have anger issues,” she shot back at him. The fact that she knew who he’d quoted revealed yet another layer of a woman with more depth than any I’d met in my circle.

“Are you going to get those beers or what?” Kadeem questioned before she stomped off toward his kitchen. He continued aiming his words at her back, “If Beverly hadn’t called me back to let me know you’d been found, I would’ve executed three men connected to that cartel, and shot up a damn warehouse looking for you.”

At those words, I knew I’d misread Kadeem as much as he’d misread me.

“You can have a seat. You saved my sister, so you’re pretty much family now,” he declared. His smile met his eyes for the first time. “Only white family we’ve ever had around here, but we got you if you ever need anything from us,” he continued. He wasn’t being deceptive. His care for Laura ran deep, that much I was certain of. Otherwise, I along with whoever tried to kill me would already be dead.

“I appreciate that,” I replied as I sat on the plush leather couch. After another once over, his place hinted that Kadeem was a lot more cultured than he let on. Laura had jokingly mentioned that he was one book short of being insane. I’d never met a highly-intelligent, drug-dealing criminal before, especially not one who liked to read. It didn’t make sense that he was a drug dealer when he seemed smart enough to do anything else.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Kadeem stated before taking the Corona Laura handed him. She handed me the other and sat a few slices of lime atop a white saucer on the table in front of us. For her, a bottle of water was pinched between her fingers. The big man she’d threatened to re-nickname stood at the door, quiet and observing.

“What am I thinking?” I asked Kadeem in response to his statement. Laura sat on the other end of the couch I sat on, observing us. Kadeem sat in a nice sturdy beige chair.

“Why waste my time being a drug dealer?” he declared, speaking the question I’d been thinking. I took a sip of beer, enjoying the cold refreshment although I wasn’t a beer drinker.

“I was supposed to finish college to get out of the hood and help my family get out. Although my father was one of the biggest dealers in the city, he never pushed this life on us. He gave us a choice. This life eventually killed him and my two brothers. My mother became a slave to the drugs until they killed her. After my brothers were killed, I got into this for revenge and got it,” he confirmed without a hint of guilt in his tone.

“I found that once you get sucked into this, it’s as addictive as the drugs you sell. See enough death, deal in enough death, be the cause of enough death, and pretty soon it becomes a part of who you are. After my father, the hood needed a leader or they would’ve faced a hostile takeover. I became that leader by default, and they allowed me the time I needed to let my balls drop, so to speak. And trust me, they are better off with me than they would have been with the alternatives.”

In a way, I understood. I didn’t doubt what he was saying was true. He’d been forced to become a monster to save himself and the people he cared about. In Kadeem’s case, he became a drug lord and based on what I’d witnessed so far, he was a well-respected one.

We discussed strategy for staying under the radar from DG6 and keeping Laura and Beverly safe. After thirty minutes of more questions from Kadeem and eye rolls from Laura, we were released with Kadeem’s blessing. I’d also gained a direct line to him and an ally against DG6.

The first ten minutes of our drive back to the hotel was in silence, but I sensed Laura’s slick eyes on me.

“What?” I asked without glancing in her direction.

“I know it’s not safe to go back to my apartment, so I’m going to swing by a shopping center so I can get some extra clothes,” she informed.

“Okay,” I answered as a smile crossed my lips, knowing she was itching to say more. “How did you get the outfit you have on,” I questioned. It wasn’t what she’d been wearing at the warehouse.

“Bev packed me a change of clothes when she snuck back into the apartment last night,” she confirmed.

They lived together, a factor I hadn’t considered. Come to think of it, I didn’t know much of anything about these women. As soon as she turned the car in the direction she needed to go, silence fell between us again.

“So, you and Kadeem,” I started, aware I was about to disturb a hornet’s nest by insinuating with I suspected. “You two ever dated before you declared yourselves sister and brother?”

Her neck swung in my direction so fast she jerked the steering wheel, making her slick tires screech.

“What the hell kind of crazy-ass question is that? Hell no, we never dated. What part of me being a lesbian don’t you understand?” she questioned, glaring at me for so long I feared she’d run us off the road.

“I asked because he wasn’t looking at you like you were his little sister or a lesbian. His eyes were filled with lust. Desire. Want. Almost a burning need,” I pointed out.

A deep retching sound from her throat filled the inside of her noisy car. “I think I just threw up in my mouth,” she expressed before rolling down her squeaky window and faking a spitting gesture.

“I’m telling you what I observed. The military trained me to notice things, and I’m pretty sure Kadeem wishes to be more than your brother.” I laughed at how disturbed her facial expression was in reaction to my statements. She assumed her lesbian status was the key to making her off-limits to men, but she couldn’t have been more wrong.

“Enough, please. I don’t need to hear this. You’re going to mess up the way I see him,” she cried, sounding genuinely distressed about my revelations, so I left it alone. Instead, I was about to make another suggestion I knew she wasn’t going to like.

“I think we should share a bedroom and D and Beverly should. That way…”

---