“Yes, but do you think that little girl will ever forget losing her dad?” Kace shot back, now leaning forward and threatening to get in my face. “I took away a father…”
“It wasn’t your fault,” I said sharply. “He provoked you, he got in your face, and he started the fight; you warned him…”
“I should have backed away, Jett. I knew better; I should have backed away.”
Once again, we were at a standstill.
I hated seeing my best friend like this, distraught, hurting, and angry. I remember when he was on top of his game, when he was winning match after match, when he was one of the best boxers in the country. He was happy, he was satisfied with himself, and he had a spark of life inside of him.
Now, all I saw was a black soul, floating around, just living a day to day life…never looking toward the future.
“You can’t punish yourself for the rest of your life, Kace.”
“You don’t get to decide my punishment,” Kace said, as he looked down at his hands.
The fight he was having within himself was hard to watch. To see a man who was so vivacious, so full of energy, slowly deteriorate to an empty shell killed me. I knew Kace’s potential, I knew who he could be, but that man was gone now.
Getting up from his chair, Kace tapped the desk and said, “Is everything okay with Goldie?”
“Everything is fine; no need to worry.” I looked at my watch and realized what time it was. “I have some things I have to take care of, if you don’t mind,” I gestured to the door.
“Not a problem,” Kace replied, as he helped himself out.
“Hey,” I called after him. Kace stopped, but didn’t turn around to face me. “I want you to live again, Kace.”
“I don’t deserve this life,” Kace replied.
He left me alone in my office to attend to my business. I had a lot of things to take care of and a lot of plans to finalize. Unlike Kace, I was moving forward with my life. I was done living a life with no emotion. If I wanted Goldie, I had to break down the wall I put up around my heart and let her in, and I couldn’t be more ready to do so.
My phone started ringing, and I looked down to see it was my security detail.
“Jett Colby,” I answered.
“Mr. Colby, we’ve located Goldie and have informed her we are here now.”
“Thank you, did you see any suspicious behavior on your way over there? She was talking about a girl she ran into on the streets.”
“We weren’t able to locate any suspicious behavior, sir. We will watch our six, though.”
“Keep her safe; that’s my life you’re watching.”
“Yes, sir.”
Satisfied, I hung up the phone and tended to my business. I had a lot to get done.
33
“Demons”
Goldie
“Why isn’t he answering his phone?” I cried, as I got in the back of the security agent’s car. “Didn’t you just talk to him? He always has his phone on him. Get in the damn car,” I screamed at the security guy, who was shutting my door. “I can close my own damn door; start driving.”
Yes, I may be acting like a bitch, I might be over-exaggerating, since the sirens could be for anyone, but I just had a feeling, a really bad feeling.
“Drive!” I shouted, while pointing forward like I was leading a pack of angry ass Braveheart men, whatever they were called.
“Ma’am, you’re going to have to buckle up…”
I gripped the driver’s ear and twisted it while leaning over his seat. “If you don’t start driving this damn car, I’m going to Mike Tyson your ass and eat your ear as a snack. Fucking drive!”
That got his attention and he pressed his foot down on the pedal to get the car moving.
“Good boy,” I said, as I patted and stroked his ear.
I watched as the pastel colored houses flew by as my driver disobeyed every city speed limit set. We weren’t that far away from the Lafayette Club, but it almost felt like we were going at supersonic speed.
We turned the corner to Jackson Street, where the club was located, and that was when we were hit with a billow of smoke, fire trucks, and blazing flames. My heart sank in my chest as I saw the Lafayette Club burning down at an alarming rate.
“Oh, my God,” I cried, while I tried to get out of the car, but the doors were locked. “Open the door!”
“Hold on, ma’am.”
“Open the fucking door!” I screamed, while grabbing ahold of his ear and yanking on it. “You son of a bitch, open the door. Open the door! Open the Goddamn door!”
He swatted my hand away and pressed the unlock button. In a flash, I bolted out of the car and tried to make my way through the crowd that was forming. People from around the street milled about, taking in the sight of the infamous Lafayette Club going up in flames, flames that were so large I was actually nervous they would spread and burn up the historic Garden District.
The trees that surrounded the Lafayette Club danced with the flames, threatening to light up. There were three fire trucks, taking up angles all around the building to calm the roaring flames.
Pushing my way forward, I called out Jett’s name, to the point where I felt my voice start to go hoarse, but my voice went unheard from the sounds of the sirens, the shouts of the firemen directing each other, and the crowd that had gathered to watch everything unfold.
“Move,” I said, as I shoved a lady to the side, not caring who I took out. “Jett,” I screamed while looking around.
Nothing, I saw absolutely no one, not even Kace or one of the girls. Were they still in the building?
I pushed my way to the front of the crowd until I was able to make it to where firemen were blocking the crowd from getting closer. I tried to peek over the giant fireman in front of me, but I couldn’t see anything, so I took it upon myself to make my own ladder and hopped on top of the man standing in front of me. I knocked off his hat by accident and heard it clang to the ground as he spun around and started yelling at me.
“Lady, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asked, trying to grab me from behind, but I clung on like he was my lifeline and used him as my lookout post to find a familiar face.
“You’re moving too fast, slow circles,” I directed him, while I continued to climb up his back.
“Get the hell off of me; I have a job to do,” he yelled, still grabbing at me.
I used the top of his head to help me gain a little more height as I planted my hand on his hair and pushed up.
“Just give me a second,” I said, while I continued to look around. “Why can’t I see anyone?”
“Lady, get off of me!”
I was about to snap at him and tell him to be a better ladder when a strong pair of warm hands grabbed me by the waist and lowered me to the ground. Quickly, I turned around and came face to face with the brooding man himself, Kace Haywood.
“Kace,” I cried, as I threw myself in his arms. “Where is everyone?”
“We’re all around the corner, past the trucks,” he said. “We exited out the back of the club.”
“Oh, thank God,” I said relieved, letting my heartrate return to normal. “I was at the cemetery and I had this horrible feeling that something bad was going to happen after creepy Mercy talked to me.”
“Who’s creepy Mercy?” Kace asked, as he moved the crowd to the side and showed me where everyone was huddled.
“Rex’s plaything. You should have seen her; she looked like a psychopath. She was hugging a bloody shirt…”
I was interrupted by a loud creak and pop. We both turned to the house to see an explosion go off from the back of the house.
Holy shit.
Then it hit me, the club was burning down; there was no way to salvage it.
My sanctuary, the place where I made everlasting friendships, the place that had become my home, the place where I fell in love, where I expected to spend the rest of my days.
Tears welled up in my eyes as firemen exited the building in a hurry so they weren’t trapped when it collapsed.