Disclaimer: Mine, mine, mine. Okay they look familiar but there are many women who look like that right? Yeah don’t we wish.
Language: Plenty of it and it’s not all good.
Sex: Woowho, is there ever. If you are under eighteen please move on, if you’re not skip over it if you like or dwell awhile. Whatever suits ya.
Violence: It’s New York City for Ares sake!
Song Lyrics used belong to Melissa Etheridge and DMX
For comments or questions mail me at: Bohemia125@aol.com
Absolution
By: Morrig AKA Piti-pup
Summer had arrived with a slow creep and a gentle wind, tinkle bell music pierced through the sounds of old engines and loud conversation. Facing it all, with ghost eyes shaped in the form of windows, was building 630. It cornered 157th street, a fortress kept safe by barbed wired gates and broken locks. One soul standing on the citadel’s roof-top gazed at the scene below with blurred vision. Pain pulsed through his skull, a small, burgandy trickle staining his tanned cheek. A small gold cross threw specks of light on his bare heaving chest.
Behind him heavy boots stomped their way up the stairs, closer by the second. Eyes closed he heard the iron roof door open with a clang of flying rust. Holding the door open with one outstretched arm, grasping at the frame for balance, the walking dead gasped for breath. Matted black hair, collarbone protruding, blue branched veins across his abdomen. "Where is it Efrain?!!! Motha-"
Young shaking fingers wrapped themselves around his neck cutting off his words. His back against the roof's barrier Efrain watched the attack with a mixture of relief and trepidation. "Magali no", but the words remained unspoken.
Jorge had suddenly appeared through the fire escape window searching for money, he was in need of a fix. The ensued fight between the two brothers had resulted in a noisy stair case chase up to the roof. Efrain swore the day would end with his corpse crushed and sprawled over the sidewalk, at once neglecting to remember the presence of his foul tempered sister.
Magali, with her tall, muscled form shaped by hours of playful wrestling and imitating Kung Fu movies, had gone to run errands before Jorge's intrusion. Her black, wavy mane draped wildly around her shoulders, framed a sharp featured face with piercing, deep blue eyes. She had returned in time to hear the race up the stairs, and the roof door bang open.
Sweat glistening on her forehead, emotion gone from her veneer, she embraced Jorge's head with powerful arms. Efrain witnessed the loss of humanity in her blue eyes, when Jorge's head turned awkwardly and his body fell limp. Two sharp cracks and a jagged rip rippled down her arms and into her being. Both brother and sister landed in a heap on the tar covered floor, one set of cerulean eyes gazing lifeless at the sky.
Magali pushed the body off of her, heart pounding in her chest. Sirens screamed through the streets, bouncing off building walls, and stopped with a screech in front of 630. With a cold step of defiance she paused inches away from Efrains face, he was visibly shaking and tears welled in his brown eyes. "I'm sorry Efrain." Then a rush of uniforms tackled her to the ground, cuffs pinched at her wrists as Jorge's glazed stare looked on.
Drenched and breathless Magali sat up in bed, quickly taking in her surroundings before collapsing onto her back. Next to her a small naked figure protested the sudden movement, and curled up facing away from her. It's my bed bitch. She reached for the half empty, bottle of flat beer on the nightstand and swallowed the remains. Jesus I hate that damn dream. Her watch read ten A.M, two hours left 'till check out, then home. A warm hand curled around cold metal, and with it came a welcolm sense of safety. Padding across the room she stretched, the vertebrae in her spine popping in sequential order, cold handle firmly resting against her palm.
A click of a switch and light flooded the small pink tiled bathroom, cool under her feet. Avoiding the mirror over the sink she wrapped the .45 automatic in a towel, and placing it carefully on the toilet tank jumped into the shower. Cautious to leave the door nearest the toilet cracked open, she let a stream of cold water hit her before turning the handle towards 'hot'.
Her breath caught when the cracked door slid slowly open, got to learn not to stay under the water so fuckin' long. One arm reached for the towel, the other towards the dark figure behind the glass. A startled look from the blonde cancelled her initial response, and roughly she pulled the woman into the stream of warm water. So she's not a real blonde, I knew that. Her lips barely touching the womans mouth she whispered in her husky morning voice, "you shouldn't sneak up on people, you never know what could happen." Or how close you just came to dying kid. Magali pressed into the blonde, covering her body and pinning her to the tiled wall. A studded tongue traced the smaller woman's lips, coaxing them to open with short nips. With the small surge of adrenaline still coursing through her veins, Magali thrust herself into the act blindly, tasting every inch of available skin.
The smaller woman responded willingly and rapidly. Accepting Magali's probbing tongue fully and widening her stance to accomodate one long hard thigh. Setting a brutal rhythmic grinding, the dark woman's teeth dug into the blonde's shoulder, causing a small groan to escape and her back to arch away from the wall. Bronze arms circled her waist and lifted her upwards, so that she had to wrap wet legs around the woman to retain some semblance of control. One strong hand snaked it's way down her back, and two fingers slipped through the slickness while a third massaged a hardened bud. Magali felt nails scrape at her back, and became emersed in the sensation of the writhing woman whimpering at her neck. Her lips never abandoned their tasting.
In time the trembling began, slowly at first, until the vibrations grew, snapping her head back. The light figure released one last breath, only to have Magali fasten a hungry mouth to her throat.
She let the woman gently slide away, capturing a thigh between her legs once feet had touched the tub floor. Immediately Magali began to rub against her, increasing in force and speed with each new jolt of heat. The world shrunk away to oblivion for one brief instant, and Magali leaned, spent against the younger woman. God...You can go home now. Dark eyes forced Magali's attention on a smiling satisfied face. "I should let you finish your shower…I just wanted to let you know I was going back to my room. Uhm..." Magali licked her lips, turned into the stream pushing back her hair. "Save it. It was nice knowing you, make sure you lock the door on your way out." Silence. She was rinsing off the white suds on her arms when she heard the room door slam shut.
Ever since she could remember golden haired beauties snared her attention, rivaled only by red haired firebrands, both who lost their allure once she was done with them. She'd look in their eyes and there was nothing, the heat of lust gone left her empty. Some lasted days, others weeks; most were left by morning. File away for the future...lesbian bar near Ramada off I95 Maryland. Not a bad stop over, not bad at all.
Magali threw her belongings, all of a duffle bag and a briefcase, into the backseat of the rented blue Camry. Lighting a cigarette, from a hidden pack in the glove compartment, she put the car in reverse and drove out of the hotel lot. I hate Maryland, too many fuckin' troopers. She checked her appearance in the rearview mirror one last time before turning onto the highway. Besides her blue colored Ray-Bans hiding her eyes, she looked like the average college student heading home for the holidays. Her raven hair was tied back in a loose braid, she wore a white, thick, long-sleeved T-shirt, faded jeans and a black leather pea coat. Nothing to look at here boys, just keep eating those donuts. Nothing at all.
Night had fallen on the city when she crossed the George Washington Bridge. Rolling down the window she inhaled the smell of the city with gratification. Mmmm, home. A turn of a knob and the familiar voice of a D.J welcomed her back. Off the bridge and up Fort Washington Avenue towards the Hudson Heights section of Manhattan, without a touch of hesitation, until a shrill ring alerted her to an incoming call. Bet I know who this is. "Yeah...just got off the bridge...no...I wanna drop my shit off...huh?...no,no, don't send him to my fuckin' place!...sorry...I'll be there in fifteen minutes...20, make it 20." Throwing the cellular on the passenger seat she mumbled under her breath, and turned onto the West Side Highway. Might as well get this over with.
Riverdale, it just didn't belong somehow, with it's tree lined streets, and huge houses with equally large lawns, not exactly the conceptual image of the Bronx. The house stuck out like a sore thumb, all vine covered gates in Spanish colonial style, and a stark white exterior. A black tank of a Jeep Wrangler armored with chrome, was parked in the driveway. It's dark windows giving it the appearance of invincibility. Magali opened the driver's side door and tossed in her duffle bag, brief case in hand she rang the doorbell.
A tall dark skinned man, his baldness gleaming in the light, motioned her inside. "Nice to see you Zee." She scowled at the name. "Don't call me that in this house Khamal." "My fault Maga. He's waiting in the livingroom for you, says your late." "I'm never late Khamal, I just show up when I want to."
He was a lean man, white peppering his black hair, tension lines across his forehead. A long cigar protruded from his mouth, his dark eyes intent on the T.V screen, legs crossed at the ankles, dressed in his perpetual dark suit. "I don't like it when you curse Magali...you have my money?" Laying the brief case face up she opened the lid, and shrugged of her coat, exposing the brown leather shoulder holster underneath. Guillermo ran his hands over the tight bundles in the case. "That a new holster?" She slumped into the armchair opposite him, yanked at the .45 and offered it to the older man. "New piece...had to ditch the other one...You gonna count that?" He fixed his gaze once again on the screen. "Did you?" "Of course I did. It's all there." She put the gun back into it's holder. "Good enough...go home you look like shit." Coat over her shoulder she walked out of the room with her trademark, defiant swagger. "Nice to see you too Papi."
He crashed against the foyer wall leaping out of her way. "I didn't know you were home from school Antonio. Don't they teach you coordination at that fancy law school of yours?", she drawled. "Funny, up until now I didn't think you had a sense of humor." For all your bravado I can still read the fear in your eyes brother, it's never left your face...everytime you look at me. "See ya Tonio. Do yourself a favor and stay somewhere else." She was halfway into the Jeep when his voice reached her, the small golden "Z" hanging off the rearview mirror from a dark yellow chain softly glimmering. "Don't try to act like you don't enjoy what you do...Zee. It breaks my heart." Clenching her jaw shut she started the engine and slammed the door, the CD player churning on.
I don't want to talk about it
enough I think
don't want to spend more money
don't want another drink
I would scratch out all these images...
"Hey Casey? Pass my soda over will ya?" Jesse blurted between bites of her sandwich. "Sure, here you go. How long do we wait?"
The park had emptied except for a few teenagers, who were wildly swinging off the small monkey bars. It was her first shift with the Corps Ambulance service, since going part time at Cornell Medical School. They had parked the ambulance at the end of Fort Washington Avenue, which formed a Cul De Sac at the parks entrance, enjoying an early dinner. "In this neighborhood on a night shift? Ten minutes tops if we're lucky. Enjoy the view now, you'll be sick of this post in two weeks." Casey had just met her new partner, and had been relieved when she noted the upside down triangle the woman wore as an earring. A common link to start off with was comforting, filling the ride to the post with favorite bar commentary.
Screeching to a halt next to her window, causing her to nearly choke, a black Jeep hummed with a familiar voice. Black glass slid away revealing the driver, who looked past her over blue shades towards Jesse with colorless orbs. "Where's Devi Jesse?" Jesse’s brown eyes widened, and she choked down a mouthful of sandwich with a swig of soda, trying hard to look surprised. "I got her up my butt that's where. You didn't think I'd bring her to work did you? And where'd you learn to drive Zee, the Indy 500?" One dark eyebrow shot upwards. "Why not?" Jesse shook her head indignantly. "Zee meet Casey my new partner, Casey meet my crazy cousin."
Magali had noticed the hair first, soft golden red in the light, falling gently past her shoulders. She nearly missed the greeting when her gaze fell on the forest colored eyes. They cut inexplicably down to her core for a brief second. Guilt, shame? Do I know her from somewhere? "Nice to meet you Zee. That's Melissa playing right?"
"Yeah,yeah that's her." A high pitched ring made the sunglasses wearing woman scowl. "Excuse me...Yeah...What time is it?" She glanced at her thick gold watch. "Uhmm, one hour...I have to pick up Devi and I'll be right there." The phone dissappeared and the Jeep moved up a foot. "See you later Jesse, good to meet you...ah...Casey?" Her sight lingered over the tawny paramedic while she shifted a gear, and the Jeep sped off.
Jesse smiled recognizing the gaze floating on Casey's profile, and cleared her throat. "Don't even think about it." She warned. Casey smirked, busted. "Taken?" A dark chuckle colored Jesse's tone. "You can say that. Dangerous is more like it." "Dangerous?" She sure is. "Not worth it Casey, believe me." Her words were drowned out by the deafening pounding of a heart.
"Your family drop by often Jesse?" Oh she's slick, oh well, I should have expected this when I saw the jeep roll up. She pushed back her short dark hair, rolled her eyes, and gave her new partner her best serious look. "Zee stops by once in awhile, only because she lives down this avenue in one of those high rise condos. We used to be really close then...well she changed. Now I take care of Devi for her when she's away. Just...she's not the type for you that's all." Jesse's demeanor was melancholic suddenly, and it was obvious through her dark darting eyes that she had grown uncomfortable. Do I really want to know? What the hell. "Uhmm, whos Devi? And why do you call her Z? That can't be her real name can it?"
Magali bumped heads with Devi, who was twisting and leaping frantically, desperate to get a lick in on her mistress. The fawn colored Pit Bull had met her at the door, a shredded cowboy boot gripped purposefully in it's jaws. "Awww Devi, not my fuckin' cowboy boots! Didn't Jesse feed you girl?" Devi butted her chest with a large head, inviting Magali into a game of tug-o-war. "Not now Devi. I need to shower and change, then we are outta here." Happily the dog scamppered away, to settle at the door and wait for her mistress. Business as usual.
Decoration of her space had been easy, everything leather and dark, nothing techno or flashy, mostly immortal classic. "This place reminds me of a library", her father had said on his one visit, fingering the book and shelves that lined the livingroom walls. There was an entertainment system, a computer, and a nordic flex gym tucked in a corner. Save for dog food, a bowl, a water dish and a few glasses the kitchen was bare, one lonely bottle of Glenlivet presiding.
She felt most comfortable in her own shower, and regretfully rushed through the motions of grooming. No makeup, tight black jeans, waist holster tucked in, a satin crimson button shirt, her last pair of Davidson boots, and she was leashing Devi. <I>No time for a braid, well a little change ain't bad, right?
Outside the chill air made her turn the collar of her coat up, Devi paused for relief while her mistress dialed a number. "Eddie...it's Zero, I'm back and there's shit to do. I'll pick you up in ten minutes." His voice was groggy and horse. "Where are we going?" "Chinatown...and Eddie...come on point...strapped you idiot. Ten minutes Eddie." She cancelled the call and shook her head. "Ave Maria! Devi, how is that man still alive?" Devi leaped at the Jeep door, excited to have her human back, and aniticipating some quality time.
She arrived before the ten minute deadline, Devi leaned out the window snarling at passersby, recognizing the emerging figure from the building she bounded into the back seat of the jeep. Magali lowered the volume of the radio, muting the harsh barks and thrumming beats of the CD she was playing. Eddie was greeted by a sound whack to the back of the head, producing an expression of exasperation and an uncanny likeness to a young, bald Charles Manson. "I told you ten minutes you sonofabitch!"
"Jesus Zero! Its been ten minutes since you called." She straightened her shirt and settled her shoulders, the pea coat heavy around her. "Live and learn Ed, or don't. Ten minutes means five for me, or don't you know that yet?" He rubbed the neatly trimmed goatee outlining his lips lightly. "So Efrain's back in town huh? When he'd get in?"
Eddie had grown up around Magali, Efrain and Jorge. The three children had moved into the neighborhood with a bitter mother, who drank heavily after her husband was led off to a federal prison for tax evasion. Left without any income the brunt of survival had fallen on Magali's shoulders, who with her evil temper and disregard for safety accumulated a following of loyal neighborhood kids. Refrigerators had been empty, some lived by candlelight, while others could afford electricity but owned exactly one pair of jeans. A few families had resigned themselves to the public assistance system, and others scratched out a living at minimum wage, their offspring running wild in the streets.
When opportunity knocked in the form of a found nickle bag of weed, rather than smoke it, Magali had sold it. So began the lightning incline of a budding empire; as the neighborhood income increased so did the hostility and Magali's reputation, refrigerators were full along with gun clips. The empire had survived Magali's absence, as she ruled it from behind bars through sheer fear.
"Anthony, he wants to be called Anthony, he likes his confirmation name better he says. Fuckin' sell out." Disgust was plain to hear in her voice, her older brother had "no brass" according to their father. Consequently, he and Magali heavily invested in the boys future, hoping he would be an asset to the family some day. "You get what you pay for Zee." Whack! The volume came on full blast, and Devi chased her tail around in the back.
Look in my eyes
See what I see
Do what I do
Be what I be
Walk in my shoes
it'll hurt your feet.....
New York City, city of portals. One could walk across a street and be in another world. Chinatown was one of those places, where suddenly the U.S shrank away, just another ghetto with a different flavor. Doyer street wound it's way from Canal street to Bowery street, through two city squares in a narrow cobbled path. Except for the street signs not one word of English could be seen, the absence of street lights and the blowing sewer steam added to its otherworldliness.
Whack! "Zee please, you're gonna give me a headache." She twisted the waistband of her jeans, the holster moved to a more accessible area under her coat. Whack! "If I have a headache, you're having one...Devi watch the Jeep." She patted the poker faced dog, and adjusted the ring on her right hand. A square block of gold, crowned with an onyx and surrounded by diamonds, served as a reminder of her black haired mother. The gold medallion swinging from her neck, sporting the patron Saint of Cuba, had been a gift from her father meant to compete with the ring.
An oak, brass adorned door, framed with carved cherry wood marked the entrance of the restaurant. "Remember Eddie..." He let out a breath, "I know, I know, don't look him in the eyes." Whack!
The call had come in just as Jesse turned the engine off, after one cardiac call both paramedics were exhausted. Jesse struggled for the right thing to say to console Casey, the patient had ceased on the ride to the hospital. Hell of a way to start this job. "So, here we go again Casey, are you ready?" Casey stared out the window complacently and nodded, the image of the emaciated old man fresh in her mind. Better get used to it, you can't save everyone, you can't save everyone, you can't.........
He was a young man, smooth features gone limp, laying amidst a toy strewn floor. Smaller children clung to their disheveled mother, who cried silently on guard from the couch watching them work. Casey was busy strapping an oxygen mask, when she caught the word "diabetico", and Jesse cursed "shit, he's diabetic." Seconds slowed to hours in a frenzy of tubes, needles, and belts. The furious movements causing shrieks from the children, and a moan of discomfort from the patient. Caseys tension ebbed at the sound, he was ready to move, and stable for the time being. "Let's go Casey, we have to move." They strained momentarily under the weight of the gurney, manuevered down the stairs of the tenement, and raced off.
"Please hang in there kid...please." Casey rode in the back with the gurney, too shaken to have thought of driving. "Damn. He's starting to sweat Jesse!" The sirens seemed to bellow louder the faster they went. "Hold on we're almost there!"
"Wu shyan sheng dzai shem me difang?" Damn here she goes again, I'll be lucky if I understand half of what's going on. That was where is Wu, I think? "Dzai fang dzli." Eddie followed in her shadow, through the gold and crimson decor of the empty restaurant, towards an occupied table in the back. Their escort faded away. At the table, cigarette in hand, a fragile looking old man sat patiently waiting. His black suit, void of a tie, blended with the imposing figures at his back. "Dzu-fu, nai ho? Yo sum Mo hau yi bong nai?" Something about hello grandfather, and...what can I do?
Magali's hair nearly covered her face, she kept her eyes to the ground, head slighty bowed. "Zero...nai ho, please sit." She sat across from him, deliberately placing both hands palms down on the table. "Shay-shay, grandfather. I am sorry you have to wait for someone as unworthy as me." At this Wu smiled, impressed as always with her manners, and pleased with her use of Chinese. "Zero...I have a Xu..eh...small problem. I believe you can help. Hai?" He waved his hand towards the shadows, and a pale red headed man was pushed forwardby someone unseen.
She sat motionless, eye steady on the man, her hand itched for the feel of steel. "Has something displeased you grandfather?" Eddie felt the hairs on his nape rise, Magali had slipped back to Chinese, obviously keeping the pale man in the dark. "This man says he works for you. My son gives him money, but then he say someone rob him when my son find him." With a steady hand she reached for a pack of cigarettes laying on the table, took one out, and leaned back in her chair.
"Grandfather, I don't know this man, but it is quite possible that I have a snake in my garden. I'm in the wrong for allowing this to happen, please accept my humblest apologies." Wu bowed his head briefly, extending a hand to light her cigarette.
Eddie leaned over when he felt her pat his leg, heard a whispered command, and trotted off into the kitchen. She eyed the pale man in silence, measuring him for strength and found none. This shouldn't take long. Eddie returned carrying a dull metal object, he grabbed the man, pinning his arms to his sides, and tossing the object at Magali. Glancing at Wu, she pushed the mans hand down on the table. The meat mallet balanced carefully between her index and thumb, she held it up at eye level as if to inspect it. Red let out a soft gasp. "No explanations, just a name understand?" Stubborn, the man was stubborn, or too afraid to speak.
One sickening crunch shook the table, sprinkling blood across one side of her face and the cigarette dangling from her lips. "Just the name." Eddie closed his eyes to the sport, his knuckles white under the pressure of his grip. Crunch! "The name!" Crunch, "You fuckin'," Crunch, "bastard."
Blood trickled down the pale mans lips where he had bitten it straight through. His head fell to his chest, his breathing short and heavy. She raised the mallet and hesitated, a small voice forestalling the next blow. "Ry..an, it's Ryan."
"Let 'em go Eddie." She rested the red stained mallet on the table, wiped her hands on his shirt, and reached down to her right boot. Her hand came in contact with an antler handle, and she drew out a curved blade, striking true. For the on lookers it had seemed as though she had merely stretched, then the man fell as if he were simply going to sit. Blood ran ear to ear, and sprayed the table, she put the cigarette out.
"My apologies for the mess grandfather, I should not have assumed you would condone this."
"It will be my honor to take care of this for you Zero, you perform dwe-li...correctly."
She tipped her head towards the exit, signaling Eddie to leave. "You will have your product by tomorrow evening grandfather. How much is it you need?" He held up ten fingers, then smiled knowing the statement for the truth. He watched her leave, her steps natural and strong, and noticed his men were doing the same. "I have never known such a woman, like this Zero. Tell me again why she is called so." The guard kept his eyes to the ground and spoke softly. "Below zero grandfather. Colder than ice, she killed her brother years ago for digracing her family." Again Wu smiled, the wrinkles on his face pronounced. "I knew I liked her for good reason. Her father has no need for sons."
Jesse ran out into the waiting room, where her partner sat, head resting on her hands. "Hey...he's going to be just fine. Good work partner." Casey produced a wide brilliant grin, her green eyes dancing, she pumped a fist for victory. "Yes!" Jesse couldn't help but laugh. "Listen Casey, we're off tomorrow night...so, I thought maybe we could go get a drink to celebrate your initiation to this rotten job. What do you say?" Casey was too giddy to turn anyone down, and in reaction nodded wildly. "Great, tomorrow night then, I'll call you."
Devi paced impatiently watching for her human, her tail thumped against the back seat when she spotted Magali. She licked at Eddies face, and pounced ecstatically on Magali. "Settle down Devi, this is going to be a long night." She noticed Eddie's silence, and flicked away the newly lit cigarette. "When this is done. You and I are going for a stiff drink." Eddie nodded, smiling faintly out the window. "How about we pick up a roll or something...you know from that truck outside the hospital?" Magali snorted down a chuckle. "Always thinking about food man."
She had been rubbing her dark hair back, fighting a hair that stuck out awkwardly, when she felt an elbow tapping at her ribs. "Hey Jesse isn't that your cousin over there by the truck?"
"Where?...huh, yeah that's her all right." Casey took in the long figure, the shape of her legs, the broadness of her shoulders emphasized by the coat she wore. God she looks good in red. "what's she doing out at this time Jesse?" Jesse shrugged, her brown eyes taking on a pensive glow. "Let's go say hello Jesse." She had started to walk off, but was held back and given a shake of a head. "Leave her Casey, she'll be gone in a second." No sooner had she spoken, but that the two dark figures slid into the black Jeep, a fawn, panting head nipping at the wind.
"You know, you never did tell me why you call her Zee, or who Devi is. If I didn’t know better…", Casey said resting her shoulder on the ambulance and smirking. Jesse leaned an arm around her partner’s shoulders, smiling at her curiosity. "I see why you got into medicine Casey, so many questions. Devi is her dog. Didn’t you see her head out of the Jeep’s window?" I was busy thinking about something else. "No, not exactly, must have missed that. So, why Zee? Is it short for something?" She regretted asking on the spot when a weary look crossed Jesse’s face, something like a deep pain flashing. Maybe if I tell her she’ll stay away from her. Fuck it, it’s not my reputation. "Ten years ago she got into a mess, she was a minor…so the media had to keep her name out of the stories, instead they dubbed her bajo zero. It means below zero." Fight it as she wanted to, her voice betrayed her lament, but she continued. "They said she was a cold blooded murderer, and that…she deserved more than just three years in prison…which was what she got. Her younger brother was a junkie Casey, he attacked the family, nearly threw her older brother off a roof that day. She killed him, and she paid for it. She was always a troublemaker you know? But when she got out seven years ago, she just wasn’t the same person. I knew she was selling drugs in the neighborhood, but she…she became bajo Zero in that place." A lone tear trailed her cheek, and Casey fought back the urge to hug the grief stricken woman. "I’m sorry Jesse, I wouldn’t have asked if I had any idea…awww me and my stupid questions." Jesse waved a hand in the air, dismissing Casey’s regret. I hope that worked. "That’s why I warned you off see? I love her dearly, but she’s the worst news walking." Casey grinned appreciatively at the gesture of concern from her newly made friend, and tugged her towards the corner subway entrance. "Hey, how about we take that drink now. I don’t have any classes until late in the afternoon." Jesse’s face upturned into a smirk, and she pulled back playfully. "Sure there’s a bar not far from here, but we’ve got to change first. Besides we’re on call for another fifteen minutes."
"Eeewwww, God I think Devi just farted!!!" Eddie opened the door of the Jeep choking and coughing, fanning in the cold fall air. "Close the door you idiot", she hissed. "Your apartment smells worse." Whack! "Fuck Zee, I swear…hey look." Her blue eyes narrowed towards where Eddie was pointing. They had scoured the city for Ryan, looking in all his old stomps, and finally settling on one where they could not enter. Magali grinned at her bouncy cousin, smiling and laughing with the red or is it blonde headed woman by her side, opening the door to the bar and entering. "Who’s that with her Zee?" But she only grinned, knowing he would understand.
She had been looking at her watch every ten minutes, getting frustrated with every tick of the second hand, and Eddies incessant drumming on the dashboard. Devi snored loudly in the back, and she was having trouble thinking of anything else but the golden-red haired woman. Casey. What the hell is wrong with me? If I don’t find this fuckin’ jack ass, I’m …better not think about that stupid. "Alright that’s it! That bar’s about to close ED, I’m steppin’ up in there." Eddie stopped his tapping and stared at her bewildered. "What time is it?" She rolled her eyes, and shoved her watch towards him. "Five o’clock Ed, buy a watch, I pay you enough." Suddenly he became very sleepy, and jumped at the holster thrown on his lap. "Jesus Zee, you could have blown my…hey wait, you can’t go in there. That place is crawlin’ with five-oh. Zee! Shiiit." It was a wasted effort, once she started something it was near impossible to stop her. "Stay here." I’m stupid, stupid, stupid. Sure Zee, walk into a bar full of cops drinking. They all know you, and what they wouldn’t give to put your neck in a noose. Fuck me.
Every single pair of eyes in the place turned on her, including a pair of emerald green ones. Except for Black Velvet playing on the jukebox, and the loud crash of a falling beer mug, the bar fell instantaneously silent. Mississippi in the middle of a dry spell… Magali strolled up to the bar, leaned her back against the counter, and scanned the room, raising one dark eyebrow at the man sitting next to her. "You’ve got balls bajo zero." She shrugged him off. "I’ve been accused of worse Detective McGruff." She found her cousin sitting at a booth, a grinning Casey across from her sipping on a glass of white wine. Shit, she saw the word form on Jesse’s lips from across the room, and she smiled at it. Talk about a hornet’s nest. Her long legs carried her towards them, visual knives darting her in the back as she walked.
"Hey Jesse, imagine seeing you here. Casey? Right?" She put out her hand for the blonde woman, who was staring right into her eyes. "Imagine me? Shit Zee are you out of your mind? Forget it…stupid question." She smiled again, leaving her sight to wander down the V-necked collar of the shirt Casey wore, then back up to her face. Ooh, she’s blushing. A new religion that’ll bring you down to your knees, black velvet if you please…. "Nice to see you again Zee. Are you getting off of work too?" Okay that was stupid Casey. You know perfectly well what’s going on here…but she doesn’t have to know, does she? "Oh, I’m getting off alright. Just a little thirsty you know?" She crooked a finger at a waitress, the ring sparking at the low light. "A Glenlivet, straight." White clad in her bar shirt, the waitress nearly ran for the drink proposed, a few of the other customers warning her to stay away from the dark woman.
She licked her lips, exposing the silver ball snuggled on her tongue, and ran it across her upper lip. The scarlet coloring on Casey’s cheeks deepened at the suggestive motion, and she buried her face into the wine goblet. The waitress returned with a small shot glass filled with a golden liquid, and placed in on the table with a trembling hand. Magali reached into her coat, and let an amused laugh escape at the reaction from the waitress, who took a tentative step backwards. A curled bundle of hundred dollar bills appeared in her hand, and she wagged it at the startled woman. She peeled back one of the bills, and pinched it between two fingers, offering it to the waitress. At the last possible moment she pulled the bill back, and slammed it on the table, forcing the waitress to step closer. When the woman reached for it, a strong hand clamped itself around her wrist. "This should cover the table, keep the fuckin’ change," she growled between clenched teeth. Now those are beautiful teeth. Jesse was hiding her face in her hands, trying desperately to keep her composure.
A light breeze from the entrance warned Magali of a new patron, a male figure outlined in the orange predawn glow of the street. He never entered, and she was up and leaving before she had thought about it. Forcing herself to slow down, she turned back towards the table, brought the shot glass to her lips and emptied it. "I have to go Casey, some other time maybe….see ya’ Jesse." Jesse nodded at her cousin, and nearly screamed when Casey caught the tail of Magali’s coat. The reaction was quick-tempered, and Casey found herself dragged up by her wrist to come unbearably close to a set of icy eyes. "I just thought you would like to join us tomorrow night at the Cubby Hole." God, she didn’t even flinch, she’s not scared at all. Magali released her hesitantly, not wanting to let go. "I’m sorry, I’m a little hair triggered. Uhm, maybe…I’ll try." Then she was gone, along with the brilliance of her last smile. He’s getting away stupid.