The Head That Wears The Crown Read online

  “Yeah, I guess you could say that I am lucky, huh,” I said to Allen.

  “Yeah, you know that every year there are thousands of college graduates who are unable to find jobs,” Allen said. “I mean, I have many friends who have already graduated but haven’t been able to find employment.”

  “And that’s unfortunate,” I said, agreeing with Allen. “But the people that I know back in the neighborhood that I come from, a lot of them can’t even afford to go to college. So I guess that you and your college friends could consider yourselves lucky as well.”

  “Look, it doesn’t matter where you come from, we’re all afforded the same opportunities,” Allen stated as if he was in a political campaign. “Or at least some of us are. Not many people have a multi-million dollar company pretty much handed to them before they even spend a day on a college campus. Right, Darius?” I didn’t know why Allen was looking at me like he had beef with me, but little did he know I was the last person that he wanted to beef with.

  “Allen, stop trying to give Darius a hard time,” Leah said just as her mother was re-entering the room. “It’s not like he hasn’t worked hard to get where he is now.” I was a little surprised to hear Leah speaking up for me and going against what Allen had to say. Since they’d been dating I’d noticed how she was always very quiet around him and normally didn’t say anything contrary to what Allen said.

  Allen stared hard at Leah for a few seconds after she made her comment. It was like he went into another zone and had forgotten that we were all in the room. Then suddenly he remembered that we were all there. He laughed awkwardly as he looked from Leah to the rest of us.

  “Oh, come on, Leah. You know that I’m just messing with him.”

  Even though Allen was smiling as he said this, I could tell that he was fronting. And I could also tell that there was tension between him and Leah during the brief moment that he was staring at her. I was going to try to talk to Leah about it later and hopefully she wouldn’t feel that I was prying.

  After dinner, Jeremiah and I went into the back yard to hang out for a while. Allen came out to say good night.

  “Alright guys, I’m gone for the night,” he said as he shook both of our hands. “Darius, if you got a minute, I wanted to talk to you before I left.”

  “Uh, okay,” I said, thinking it strange that he actually wanted to talk to me. I stood and Allen and I walked around the side of the house on the way to his car.

  “Listen, Darius, I’ve never really had a problem with you or anything,” Allen said once we came down the driveway and arrived at his Audi. “But I just think that I should let you know something.”

  “And what’s that?” I asked, really hoping and praying that he didn’t say something that was going to make me have to beat him down.

  “Whatever you and Leah had going on before I came into the picture is over with. She’s my woman now.”

  “Man, what are you talking about?” I said, wrinkling my brow as I looked him up and down. Allen was a tall, light-skinned brotha with broad shoulders and a square head. He carried himself like he was better than everybody, but he was wrong if he thought that I was intimidated by him. “Me and Leah have never been in any type of relationship. And I’m well aware of the fact that she’s your girlfriend. I don’t even understand why you felt the need to tell me that.”

  “It’s just that I don’t like it when my girl takes sides with another man.” He was obviously referring to the conversation at dinner.

  “Well that’s something that you need to take up with her, not me,” I told him.

  “Well she must feel some kind of connection to you for her to be so quick to run to your defense.”

  “Or maybe she feels a lack of connection with you,” I said and Allen noticeably became tense. “The point is that what she said was true. You were trying to give me a hard time and she called you out on it. And even if she hadn’t, I would have. You already know that I don’t have a problem with putting you in your place when you get out of line.”

  “What, do I look like a child or something?” Allen said with disgust.

  “Well you certainly enjoy acting like one whenever I see you. But I have more important things to be concerned with other than stooping to your level,” I said as I began to walk back toward the house.

  “Darius, I don’t like you,” he said nastily, stopping me in my tracks. “As a matter of fact I wish that you wouldn’t come around at all.”

  “Is that so,” I said as I turned around and walked back over to him. Getting right up in his face I said, “I don’t give a damn if you like me or not. I don’t come around because I’m trying to be friends with yo’ punk ass.”

  “Punk ass?” he parroted as he chuckled. Jeremiah had come from the back yard and walked over to us.

  “Yeah, that’s right,” I said remaining cool and calm. “Every time I see you all you do is act like a little bitch. I don’t even know what Leah sees in you.” Suddenly his expression became serious and I knew that I was getting inside his head. “Maybe I do need to try things out with Leah; show her what a real man is like.”

  “Oh yeah?” Allen said as he scowled at me and took a step closer to me.

  “Yeah,” I said as a smirk began to form on my lips. “The things I could do to her… I’m sure that it wouldn’t take me long to make her forget your name.”

  Allen shoved me as I began to laugh and Jeremiah jumped between us. Allen tried to come at me again but Jeremiah held him back.

  “Chill, Allen. He was just joking with you,” Jeremiah said, trying not to laugh at how I had gotten a rise out of him.

  Allen scowled at me a little longer before turning to get into his car.

  “You play too damn much. That shit ain’t cool,” he said before slamming his door shut. He turned on his car and drove away. Jeremiah and I shared a laugh as we watched him drive away.

  “Damn, D. You really got him worked up,” Jeremiah said as we walked to the front door.

  “Allen is a punk. And that nigga tried me anyway. You know I don’t play that shit. He better be glad that I look at Leah like a little sister or I would’ve fucked with him even more by taking her from him just for the hell of it.”

  “Yeah, I feel you,” Jeremiah said as he opened the door for us. We walked into their foyer where Leah met us.

  “Mom and dad still up?” Jeremiah asked her.

  “No, they went into their suit for the night,” she told him.

  “Cool, I’m going to bed. Catch you later, Darius,” he said as we slapped hands.

  “Alright, J,” I said before Jeremiah headed upstairs, leaving Leah and I alone.

  “So, what did Allen say to you?” she asked once Jeremiah was gone. “I was looking through the window when you all were talking in the drive-way.”

  “He felt the need to remind me that you’re his girlfriend and not mine,” I told her.

  “Really?” she said as she began to rub her temple. “He can be so clueless sometimes.”

  “Yeah, well he was about to make me give him more than a clue at that dinner table tonight. I mean, what was up with that?”

  “Well between me and you, I believe that he’s quite jealous of you,” she said.

  “Yeah, that’s pretty obvious,” I said. “And he didn’t like the fact that you came to my defense either.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Leah said. “He already thinks that you have feelings for me because I told him how our mothers were trying to hook us up a couple of years ago. But he can’t seem to get it through his thick skull that me and you are just friends.”

  “Well can I tell you something? Friend to friend?” I asked.

  “Sure.”

  “I think that you can do way better than him,” I told Leah. “I mean, I’m sure that he may have some great qualities that I haven’t had the chance to see yet, but he’s definitely not the type of guy that I would pick for you. I know that he and I are two completely different flavors of ice cream, and I don’
t have anything against rich kids, but sometimes they can be a little detached from the real world and they don’t know how to treat people. Not to mention how arrogant he is. I mean he really doesn’t show you the care that you deserve. To me he seems too self-consumed to be a good boyfriend.”

  “He’s not that bad, Darius. He can be a little self-consumed at times, but I’m working on him,” Leah said. It was a shame that such a sweet girl was with a guy like Allen. But Leah was a smart girl and I was sure that she would see the real him in due time.

  “Okay. But don’t work too hard because fixing him is not your job,” I said before giving her a goodnight kiss on the forehead. A kiss on the forehead or cheek was normal behavior for me when it came to Leah and her mom. “I’ll talk to you later.” I left their house and drove home.

  Chapter VI

  It had been about a week since me and my boys got together to handle that problem that we had. Mike came up with a plan that was sure to get the job done. All we had to do was go in and execute, and my boys had done just that. All I could say was that our KaRon problem wasn’t a problem anymore.

  I was at the office, hard at work, when my phone rang. It was Juanita calling from the front desk. I hit the intercom button.

  “Yes, Juanita.”

  “There’s a young woman here to see you,” she said, sounding a little annoyed.

  “Well, who is she?”

  “I don’t know. She won’t give me her name,” she said and I could hear all of that attitude in her tone. “I don’t know who she thinks she is but she better…”

  “Juanita, just bring her in please,” I said, stopping her before she took it too far and became unprofessional.

  I stood and headed toward my office door just as Juanita walked in. Whoever the visitor was she had obviously rubbed Juanita the wrong way. A few seconds later Natalie walked in and my heart stopped for a second. She was the last person that I expected to see. Word on the street was that she left town since no one had seen or heard from her in a while. But yet, here she was, standing in front of me looking as beautiful as ever. Even though I could tell that she was upset, not even the meanest expression could conceal her beauty.

  We stared at each other long and hard. I was hoping that she would say something, anything, because I sure as hell didn’t know what to say to her. Juanita looked back and forth between us and decided that she didn’t like what she was seeing. Watching her out of my peripheral, I could see her expression changing from anger to one of hurt and defeat.

  “Juanita, give us the office, please,” I said, almost inaudibly. Juanita reluctantly left the room. As soon as Natalie heard the door shut behind her, she broke the silence.

  “What the hell did you do?” she asked.

  “Natalie, what are you doing here?” I asked as I began to approach her.

  “Stop,” she said as she took a step back from me. “Don’t come any closer to me until you tell me what you and your boys did.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, now sitting on the edge of the back of the sofa.

  “You are a damn liar,” she said angrily as she closed the space between us and stood directly in front of me. I rose to my feet again but that didn’t stop her from getting right in my face. “I know that you and your boys are the ones who took out KaRon. Everybody in the streets are talking about it, only they don’t know that you were the one behind it. They think that Terry was just getting revenge, but I’m not stupid. I know about the bounty and that you found out about it before he could get to you.”

  “And I know about what he did to you because of what happened in the parking lot that night,” I told her. “Natalie, why the hell are you confronting me about a man who used to beat the shit out of you?”

  “Oh, what? Should I be grateful?” she said snidely. “I guess I should be kissing your feet and worshipping the ground that you walk on. But like I told you, I didn’t need you to do shit for me. I can take care of myself and I can handle KaRon.”

  “Then why did you leave town, huh?” I asked her.

  “I went to visit my grandmother because she was sick,” she said. “I wasn’t running from KaRon. Now you done went and killed him.”

  “Keep your damn voice down,” I said glancing at the door. Even though my office was sound proof I didn’t want to take any chances. “I didn’t kill anybody.”

  “Maybe not, but I know that you had something to do with it or that you at least know who did.”

  “Natalie, I can’t talk about this here,” I told her. “But if you let me take you out to dinner tonight then I will tell you everything.”

  “Just stop it because you and I both know that you’re not going to tell me anything,” she said. “And I don’t want to ever see you or hear from you again.” She turned to walk away but I grabbed her arm.

  “Natalie, I said that I will tell you everything, but I just can’t right now. This is a place of business.”

  “Whatever,” she said snatching her arm away. “I don’t even want to know anymore.” She stormed out of the office and I knew that she was serious about everything that she said. I felt like she should have been grateful for what my boys and I did. She wouldn’t have to ever worry about KaRon again. Maybe it was wrong for me to feel that way but I did.

  Juanita came back into my office and closed the door behind her.

  “Who was that, Darius?” she asked me. I looked at her and contemplated whether I wanted to give her an answer or not. As expected, my silence wasn’t going to make her go away. She approached me slowly and got right up on me.

  “Who was she?” she asked again.

  “Nobody that you need to be concerned about.” I left her standing there and went over to my desk.

  “Are you fucking her?” she said as she followed me.

  “What?” I said, pretending as if I didn’t hear the question.

  “You heard me,” she said as we were now standing behind my desk. “Are you fucking her?”

  I wanted so badly to say something slick; something that I knew would definitely get a rise out of her but I fought the urge.

  “I gave you your one night,” I told her. “Remember how you said that you just wanted to see what it would be like to be with me for one night. Well I gave you that and I know that I made it worth your wild, too.”

  “So what the hell are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that it’s back to business as usual now,” I told her, raising my voice slightly. “That means that you don’t have the liberty to question me about who I’m fucking. You just need to know that I’m not fucking you.”

  “You bastard,” she said through clenched teeth. She looked like she wanted to cry but was fighting the urge.

  “What part of what I said isn’t right?” I knew that I was forcing her to face a harsh reality, but she was crazy if she thought that I was about to let her tie me down in any way. “I let you set the rules and I didn’t mind playing by those rules. But now you want to change things up and that’s not right.”

  “Darius, I just thought that we were… you know… connecting,” she said. She moved closer to me and began to slowly rub her hands down my arms. “I thought that what we shared that night was so much more than just rules. The things that you did to me were… amazing. I’ve never had a man to make me that wet… to make me come that many times. And I know that I made you feel good too, didn’t I?”

  I had to hand it to her; this girl knew how to knock me off of my game. The way that she was touching me, the look in her eyes, the seduction in her voice; all of it was making me want her all over again. She moved even closer to me and spoke directly into my ear.

  “Don’t you wanna taste it again?” she said. “Don’t you want to feel it just one more time?”

  Unable to contain myself any longer, I picked Juanita up and put her on top of my desk. Moving between her legs, I kissed her ferociously. All of my caution and professionalism had been thrown out the window. All I could t
hink about at that moment was how bad I wanted this woman.

  I began pushing her skirt up, ready to get those panties off and to really put in some work. I got half way up her thigh when my hand touched something that didn’t belong. I broke the kiss and looked down. To my surprise Juanita had a small hand gun that was holstered and strapped to her thigh. I looked back and forth between her face and the gun while she just sat there in stunned silence.

  “What the hell is this?” I asked her.

  “Uh… it’s…”

  “Why the hell do you have a gun, Juanita?” She still couldn’t find her words and it was pissing me off. “Answer me!” I shouted, causing her to jump.

  “I just have it for protection,” she answered quickly.

  “Protection from what? Are you in some kind of trouble?”

  “No, Darius. Will you stop overreacting?” I stepped back, allowing her to get down off of the desk and to pull her skirt back down.

  “I just keep it in case I need it,” she explained. “It’s no big deal.” Maybe I was overreacting, but she had caught me completely off guard.

  “But why do you have it strapped to your thigh like that?” I asked her. “Like you’re an assassin or something.”

  “If someone attacks me it would be more accessible this way, right?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” I said after I thought about it for a moment. “I guess I just don’t like the thought of someone bringing a gun into the office.”

  “Fine, it won’t happen again,” she told me. We looked at each other for a few more moments. The mood had changed so abruptly and neither of us seemed to know what to do next.

  “Well, I guess I better get back to work,” she said. She made a few more small adjustments to her clothes and then walked out of my office.

  I didn’t know what to think about what had just happened. Juanita carrying a gun just didn’t click with me. Was Atlanta really that dangerous that she felt like she needed to protect herself to that degree? And why would she bring it into the office? It was almost like she wanted me to find it. I didn’t know if I should be worried or not, but I just hoped that Juanita knew what she was doing.