Monday, October 15, 2012

All Money Ain't Good Money-Episode 8

Damon


“Stay back, son.” I put a hand on his shoulder, letting Lamar know to stay by me and away from what's about to happen.
“But dad, Elyssa--”
“--is handlin' business. This is something damn personal, so let it go. There's a lot riding on this.”

Lamar pushes my hand off his shoulder, and I almost forget he's my son. Almost. “She's hurt! This ain't a fair fight!” His eyes blaze with fire. He wants to get in there and help his momma, to be a part of the action. He's had enough for one night.

“Enough! She's doing this the best way she knows how. Chill and watch.”

Lamar hangs his head in defeat. He turns to watch the rumble that's about to start. He stands next to me, fists balled up by his sides.

Elyssa throws a right punch, connecting with Jackie's left eye. Her head snaps back, but comes back smiling. Jackie answers with a left front kick to the gut, doubling Elyssa over. El doesn't make a sound.

Jackie tries to follow up with with a right roundhouse kick to the head, but it's a feint. Elyssa dodges to the left, the kick throwing Jackie off balance. El throws a right roundhouse of her own to Jackie's thigh, connecting hard and making her buckle to one knee. The kick also hurts El's leg, who got shot earlier in the evening. She shakes her leg, looking at Lamar. El  throws him a wink; he cracks a smile and his grip tightens on my hand.

Jackie bounces back up and attacks El with her full kickboxing skills. Combos of punches and kicks are thrown, some connecting, some missing, some setting things up for more punishment. But for every attack, El counters with her own bombs. All that goes out the door when Elyssa connects with a big haymaker to Jackie's eye, and she counters with a left hook to El's eye. Both women pause, holding their faces.

They growl like dogs at each other, and hell breaks loose.

Finesse is exchanged for raw brawling. They grab hold of each others hair and swing, each punch lands on the others face, sounding like they're clapping hands, each punch getting harder. They scream, kick at each other, throw knees, and take each other to the ground. El's on top smashing Jackie with hammerfists, while Jackie swings and just tries to hit.

Jackie flips Elyssa on her back when she pulls her in close by the hair and bites her cheek. That's when places are exchanged, and Jackie reigns hammerfists on Elyssa. But El's more the street brawler, trapping Jackie's punching arm and thumbing her in the eye. Jackie lets go of Elyssa hair, and applies an armbar on her. It's in deep, even when Jackie tries to roll up and counter the hold by trying to grab her own hand to loosen it, El takes her right back down.

Snap, Jackie's elbow twists in the other direction. Her scream is music to my ears.

Pop, there goes Jackie's shoulder as it dislocates in a direction that it's not meant to go.

Still hanging on to her arm, El rolls Jackie to her stomach and gets her in a rear naked choke, squeezing the fuck out of Jackie's neck, fighting for air, her eyes bulging out at us.

“Gimme a name, ya fucken piece of shit whore! Who drop a name on my family?!”

Jackie's still trying to fight off Elyssa's hold, not caving in to the torture of lack of air. Elyssa eases off the hold a bit and Jackie takes a ragged breath of air. Lamar and I strain our ears in their direction, thinking she said something.

“A name, bitch. Give it up.”

“Mutha...fuck you...”

Elyssa sinks the hold in again, but this time, she scissors her legs around Jackie's waist and squeeze the living hell out of her. She's trying her best to claw Elyssa's face but keeps falling short. She's tries to hit Elyssa's shins to make her let go, and even socks her on the right leg where she was shot; El doesn't let go. She knows what's riding on this, and I know she's doing this for us, the same way I protected her years ago. This is her “thank you” to me.

Suddenly, Jackie can't take anymore. She's tapping Elyssa's leg, and she loosens up.

“Ready to talk? I can do this all fucken night...”

Jackie talks between gasps for air. “...Wilda...came...to Duval...said Damon wanted to...take over his terr...territory...told us about the...separation...and gave...us...the address...”

My stomach hardens and I wanna throw up. That no good fat fuck helped set us up and put all of us in jeopardy. Most of all, I helped do it. I didn't have to go to my uncle to help me out, but I got desperate. I saw no other choice. Joke's on me.

Elyssa squeezes her legs, making Jackie groan in pain. “Where is she? I know that two-ton bitch is still in Grande somewhere. Talk!” Elyssa squeezes her legs again, this time harder, and this time—judging the way Jackie's eyes widened—she broke a rib or two. She coughs up blood and almost chokes on it.

“She's with Duval at his crib!” shouting matter-of-factly. Satisfied, Elyssa loosens her legs, but maintains the hold.

“Time to go, baby. My turn to dish out an ass-kicking or two.”

“Fuck all ya'll!” Jackie starts laughing, either from pain, or she's about to drop her final bomb. “He's killing all ya'll. He's saving the little punk for last. Gonna make sure he watches both of you die...maybe sell his ass to some dirty old bastards who like little boys.” Lamar's trembling, burying his face in my side.

It's a good thing he did. 

The lioness in Elyssa roars back to life and clamps down on Jackie like an anaconda squeezing it's prey. Jackie makes a gurgling sound, her hands and feet quiver.

Seconds later, Elyssa twists and there goes Jackie's neck. As well as her life.



Tuesday, October 2, 2012

All Money Ain't Good Money-Episode 7

The house is quiet. Too quiet. Lamar peeks an eye open to see Elyssa standing and pointing her gun at something.

There's a whisper in the air.

Then a blast.

All is quiet again. Elyssa doesn't make a sound as the shot grazes her leg and blood splatters the wall behind her. Lamar gasps loudly and slams his eyes shut, wishing he didn't see that. A strong grip on his arm pulling him up makes him swing in desperation, almost connecting with Elyssa. She rushes him into the wall and holds him tight.

“Lamar, it's okay! C'mon baby, momma's fine.”

Her heart drops as she realizes what came from her mouth. Elyssa's a statue, afraid of looking her son in the eyes at the moment. Lamar stops struggling, a statue himself. What's worse, he doesn't know if he wants to hug or slap her at the moment. Elyssa snaps out of her “oh shit” moment.

“Let's go. No time to waste. We have to meet Damon.”

“Okay.”

Lamar holds her hand and smiles. Elyssa grabs her jacket as they leave, quickly putting it on, grabbing Lamar's hand again as she guides them carefully to the back door, stepping over the dead body...and both hear the sound of approaching sirens. She runs with him up the small incline which is the backyard that leads to a cu-de-sac, where Elyssa parked her motorcycle: a Ninja 250r Blue. As she mounts up and Lamar takes the rear seat, her mind on Plan A, she enjoys the indescribable feeling of her son's arms around her waist, his head resting on her back. She's happy, but will be happier once they reach the safehouse.

Elyssa reaches into her pocket and pulls out a Bluetooth earpiece. Placing it in her ear, she starts the bike and drives down the street as several cop cars drive past them. She says a name in the earpiece:

“Damon.” The phone rings twice, a familiar voice answers.

“Tell me everything's okay,” Damon's deep voice states more than questions.

“Everything's okay. We're headed to the safehouse now.” Elyssa pauses, her heart racing, taking a deep inhale-exhale. “Lamar knows.”

The line is quiet. The motorcycle engine breaks the silence. 

“It was a matter of time. I don't blame you.”

“You should, since it was my fault he found out.”

“Still don't blame you. It was either you or me that was gonna slip eventually.”

“Not to change the subject, but we were attacked. I was grazed on the right thigh by a shotgun. I'll fix it up when we get to safety.”

Silence again for a moment. “We're fixing this. Tonight. My uncle's leaving us the fuck alone. Then we're outta here for good.”

“Dynamic Duo together again, huh?”

“Wouldn't have it any other way.” Another pause from Damon. “Sorry for all this, El. Wasn't exactly the way I wanted a family reunion.”

“Damon, I love you. We've given each other something we've been missing from our lives, and that's real love. Now's our chance to start fresh and make a better life for Lamar. Not saying you haven't done a good job, you really gave it a go, but the fat bitch? C'mon, were you that damn desperate?”

They laugh for a minute, with Lamar chiming in. “Really, what was he thinking? Would she have been able to protect me like this? Heck no! The Pillsbury Doughboy wouldn't touch that!”

Elyssa laughs, as does Damon, when she tells him what Lamar said. “Well, Dee, if you starved me from sex like that, that'd give this bitch motivation for revenge, big time. Hell, I'd get payback just to see you suffer!”

It's then that Elyssa realizes the attack on the house, how they knew how to hit it, when to hit it, that someone told Duval's crew how to attack the house.

“What's up, El. You got quiet.

“That bitch gave you up.”

“What bitch?”

“You're fat ass bitch of a wife. She gave you up. I bet it was her who told Duval all kinds of bullshit that's making all this go bad now.”

“Wouldn't doubt it. I'd be no fuckin' surprise for me. And speaking of surprises, I got one for you when we meet up in a few.”

Elyssa beams. “Better be a good one.”
“Damn right it is.”


Damon hangs up. Elyssa's leg is bothering her. The shot must've been more damaging that originally thought. Ten minutes after hanging up with Damon, the safehouse in Baderville come into view, and a wave of peace settles over her. Both her and Damon kept this place just in case of trouble like this. Damon had been out the game for a minute, Elyssa still in it. Both agreed to keep this house on the down low from everyone in case they needed to disappear for a while. Now was the time.

*

Lamar literally jumps off the bike and run to Damon before Elyssa stops it. Lamar jumps in his dad's arms, hugging tightly and crying on his shoulder. Elyssa lets them have their moment...until she sees Jackie step out of the car, nose and eye swollen. Glaring at Elyssa as she steps around the car and leans against the driver door, Elyssa gets off her bike and steps to Jackie.

“You fucked up. Damon doesn't hit females for no reason.”

“Trick, it's been handled. I don't need--”

“She set me up” Damon cuts in. He tells Elyssa the whole story: the drop off, the chase, the wrecks, the killings. “Still doesn't explain who else besides Duval set this up, but after our talk on the phone, I'm guessing who else is behind this, but I need conformation before we get her.”

Elyssa stands face to face with Jackie. “Well?”

“Ya'll just gotta kill me. I ain't giving up shit, I ain't no snitch.”

“No, but you're smart, and you're a survivor.” Elyssa gives Jackie an evil grin. “You hate me, I hate you. No secret there. I'm getting a name from you, no matter what. So here's the deal...”

Elyssa steps away from Jackie, taking off her jacket, unclips the holster from her belt, takes off her shoes and boot knife. She tosses the goods by her bike and stands a few feet from Jackie, loosening her shoulders like a fighter and pointing to her leg. “You're starting with a handicap. I've been shot in the leg by a 12-gauge and it's starting to hurt bad the same way it hurts looking at your face.”

“Fuck you, cunt!” Jackie raises off the car, but doesn't advance on Elyssa.

“Fuck with me, let's see how far you get!” Elyssa raises her arm, showing Jackie to come get some. “Once and for all. You win, you leave here no problems and we'll wait for Duval to come here to do his worse.”

Jackie slowly nods, now interested. “You win?”

“You give us the name of who else is behind this shit, and you'll still get to live. But you don't tell anyone where we're at. Deal?”

Jackie confidently looks Elyssa in the eyes as she takes off her jacket, boots, and earrings, tossing everything at her feet. She flips Elyssa off.

“Gonna enjoy hearing about the crew killing all your asses. Especially the brat.”

Elyssa says nothing to Jackie, but continues the evil smile. She has no intention of letting Jackie live.