Rhuarc Black's Scrolls Index Page 7 страница

“Yeah. Most def, ” Barbie answered strongly, nodding emphatically. Still she did not take her eyes off Canon.

Canon pursed her lips, looking straight into Barbie’s eyes until the younger woman looked away.

“Look at it! I said fucking look at it! ” Canon shouted abruptly, making Barbie jump in surprise.

“Ah, man... ” Barbie shrugged and looked at the floor. She never saw Canon’s eyes narrowing to slits.

Canon’s movements were slow, deliberate as she came to stand next to Barbie, her hands coming to rest on Barbie’s flanks.

“Canon, man. What you doing? ” Barbie said faintly, hope and apprehension warring in her mind.

“Ya looking good, Barbs... ” Canon replied huskily, her hands moving slowly, deliberately up and down Barbie’s sides.

At the sound of Canon’s voice, Barbie breathed deeply. She could hear the want in Canon’s voice and much as her heart sped in fear, she rejoiced in hope. Maybe she could convince Canon to let her go, unlock the cuffs. And after that...

Barbie leaned into Canon’s hands, her own coming to caress Canon’s back. Over Canon’s shoulder, her eyes came to rest on the small vial on the table on the other side of the room.

The rattling of the chain as Barbie started rubbing her chest against Canon made Canon freeze.

Barbie smiled but she kept her voice soft. “Take this shit off, Can. Ain’t no problem. Be better without ‘em. ”

“Ya think? ” Canon husked, as Barbie’s lips found the pulse point on her neck.

“Yeah... Feels good, ain’t it? Gonna feel better with no iron, ” Barbie whispered into Canon’s ear, her tongue darting in and out with every word.

“Yeah... ” Canon grunted, grabbing Barbie’s ass hard.

Barbie pressed back into Canon’s hands before leaning forward once again. “Come on, baby. Take ‘em off. It gonna be good, I promise ya, ” she said seductively.

Canon grunted, pulling Barbie’s ass forward until they mashed against each other. Her voice was harsh. “Ya give me it to me, girl. Real like. Then... ”

Barbie smiled as she licked the column of Canon’s neck. “Yeah... Deal, man. Deal. ”

Barbie paced full of agitation, pumping her fist open and closed with each step. She did not even register the pain from between her legs or the acrid taste in her mouth. Her eyes slid off the discarded syringe. All her senses were focused inward, waiting for the high to start. It was taking too long, longer than it had ever before.

Canon’s barked laugh made her turn towards the woman pulling on her trousers. Barbie looked at Canon, suspicion blooming in her mind. The green eyes that met hers were cold, as was the smirk that painted Canon’s lips.

“What’s this shit, man? What’s this? ” Barbie shrieked.

Canon laughed. “Baking soda. ”

Barbie surged forward but steely hands stopped her before her fists connected with Canon’s body.

“What? Why the fuck you do that? ” Barbie shouted angrily as she tried vainly to get away from Canon’s grip.

Canon’s hands tightened on her wrists until Barbie grunted in pain.

“Got a new movie for ya to watch? ” Canon said contemptuously, nodding towards the mounted camera on the wall.

Barbie turned her head toward the camera, only then seeing the little red light that indicating it was recording. “What? Shit, Canon! Why? ”

In the couple of seconds that Barbie was focused on the camera, she never felt Canon’s swift movement. She only felt the coldness of the steel handcuff as it locked down on her wrist.

Barbie turned back to Canon, her eyes flashing in anger.

Canon’s lips twitched as she stepped away from Barbie. Her voice was hard. “You ain’t got no shakes now, Barbs. This... this true bottom. ”

“No! No, man, ” Barbie cried out, trying to get to Canon but the chain stopped her short.

Canon shook her head. The slap against Barbie’s cheek echoed in the room. “No fucking excuses this time, Barbs. Last time, you got the shakes. Fiend do anything for a fix. ”

“I ain’t no fiend, ” Barbie protested immediately.

“Yeah? What you do now? Ain’t no excuse for that. Ya got the hooks, girl. And ya ain’t getting outta here less them hooks be gone. Feel me? ” Canon replied, gesturing from Barbie to herself.

Barbie shook her head but it did not help. She knew what she had done. The pain between her legs flared and she knew she would be shitting blood for at least a few days. She swallowed quickly, only for her to finally register the taste in her mouth.

Her stomach clenched. Barbie barely had time to reach the toilet bowl before she puked violently. The sight of yellow bile only reminded her of what had last gone down her throat.

A few minutes passed before Barbie finally stopped retching. Her voice was hoarse as she sat on the floor dejectedly. “Why? Why did you do this? Why? ”

Canon squatted slowly until her eyes were level with Barbie’s. Her voice was soft but serious. “You wanna in the game? Ya gotta be clean. Body ‘n mind. ”

Barbie shook her head, her voice rising in accusation. “Fuck... Fuck you! Ya want this! ”

Canon’s smile was sinister, her voice becoming barbed. “Sure I do. Ya lay it good, Barbs. But ya know what, girl? It up to you. Up to you, Barbs. This... this all a fiend gets. I can keep ya good. But this? This what ya gotta do. ”

“No! ” Barbie cried out immediately. She was not a whore, not for a fix, nor for her life.

“Ya don’t want this shit? Then ya gotta get clean. For real, ” Canon’s reply echoed softly in the small room.

Barbie shook her head, blinking the lone tear that had reached her eyes away. It was a good homegoing this one. So many people had come. Many of them, Barbie had not even known except as faces on the street.

Not that Canon would have cared. Barbie had no illusions about. She had heard it from Canon more than once over the years. Funerals were for those left behind. The dead did not feel.

Still it was a good homegoing. People would talk about it for a long time. It would be remembered, just as Canon would be remembered.

Barbie smiled sadly. Canon would be remembered. She had touched too many lives not to. Her eyes tracked slowly behind the dark sunglasses to where La'Wanda stood next to Rain. She had tears in her eyes.

Barbie did not blame La'Wanda. She had reason to cry. Canon had always been both respectful and friendly to the woman that had won Barbie’s heart.

Barbie did not cry. There would never be enough tears to make due what she had lost. Just like there would never be enough words to describe what she owed.

Even after all these years the rumours persisted. But that was all they were. Rumours. Only two people had ever known what had happened that year. Neither of them ever spoke about it, to others or to each other.

Sometimes, even after all this time, Barbie would remember and her stomach would churn in reflex. She had reached bottom in that basement. Barbie had learnt things about herself in that dark cold basement that she would like to forget.

But there was no avoiding the truth. There was no twelve-step program for drug dealers that liked their own product a little too much. Canon’s way had been brutal, immoral, cruel, but it had worked.

Barbie looked at the coffin in the centre of the congregation. She inclined her head slightly. Not enough for others to notice but enough, just enough.

Her whisper was for the ears of the angels. “Rest in peace, my friend. Thank you... ”

Barbie’s eyes tracked back to La'Wanda, falling as they always did on the small bundle she carried against her chest. Little Robby slept peacefully as she always did cradled in her mother’s arms.

**********************

“You rest now. ” ~Ace

       Detective Amanda Lewis sat stiffly, hearing the minister. She did not move, she did not shuffle her feet. All her attention was on the sombre coffin in front of her and the truth it held.





       Canon was in that coffin and Amanda could only breathe, allowing neither tear nor sob nor scream of anguish to escape her tight control.















       Amanda perked up immediately at the heavy sounds coming from the figure on the bed.





       “Hm... Hm... ”





       Amanda leaned forward, touching Canon’s hand lightly, careful not to disturb the drip. “Hey. Hey, Can, ” she said quietly.





       Amanda did not really hope for a response. The doctors had been clear. Canon was lucky to be alive. She was double-lucky to regain consciousness. Beyond consciousness, the doctors had merely shrugged.





       A young one had taken Amanda aside, advising her sagely not to expect much. Such extensive brain injuries rarely had a good end.





       “Hm... ” Canon moaned softly.





       “Hey. It’s me, babe, ” Amanda tried once more. The doctors had said after all that speaking to Canon could do some good.





       The grunt transformed into a barely understandable word. “Ace? ”





       Amanda blinked, her mind unable for a moment to process the change from round sound to intelligible word. After a moment, she spoke out, her voice filled with hope. “Yeah. No! Don’t move, man. You hurt bad. ”





       “Fuck, ” Canon husked as she opened her eyes slightly, green barely showing over heavy eyelids.





       Amanda blinked the tears that appeared without warning in her eyes. Her own voice became rough with emotion. “It gonna be alright, Can. It gonna be alright. ”





       “Ace! ” Canon breathed, turning her head a tiny bit towards Amanda.





       Amanda was quick to put a warm hand against Canon’s cheek, just below the heavy bandages that covered her head. “Yeah. I’m here, baby. I ain’t going nowhere, ” she said soothingly.





       “Tell Barbs... ” Canon breathed, the last word no more than a slight movement of her lips.





       “Yeah. I’m hearing ya, ” Amanda replied immediately, even if she could not really tell what Canon was saying.





       Canon took a quick breath, moving slightly under the off-white hospital issue sheet. “Tell Barbs take care of ya, ” she finally said in a barely audible whisper.





       Amanda winced as soon as the words registered. The doctors had told her of that possibility too. Extensive brain injuries often caused loss of memory. “Canon... ” she warned lowly.





       Canon tensed a bit. “Tell ‘er, ” she grunted as strongly as she could.





       Amanda sighed and shook her head. It broke her heart but she had to come clean. It was the one thing, she had vowed to herself when she was recovering from her injury. She would never lie to Canon again, ever again.





       Not that Amanda had had any hope of seeing Canon again. If it had not been for this mess, Amanda would never have dared approach Canon on her own. But when she heard that the inmate was in hospital near death after a prison riot, she could not stay away.





       “Canon... Don’t you remember? My name is Amanda Lewis. Detective Amanda Lewis, ” Amanda said, her voice catching.





       Green eyes opened a tiny bit more and sluggishly turned towards Amanda. Amanda could swear she could see a glint in them.





       “Canon? ” Amanda asked hesitantly.





       Canon’s voice was no more than a whisper. “Tell Barbie... ”





       “What? What do you want me to tell? ” Amanda asked taking a quick breath. She needed to hear this. Maybe it would become the closure she needed, the closure that would finally drive the nightmares away.





       “Tell Barbie... no retaliation. You safe, ” Canon whispered, her eyes closing slightly until they were no more than slits.





       Amanda’s breath caught in a sob. Her vision blurred with tears she could not stop. Almost a year she had spent undercover. More than ten months she had burrowed herself into the city’s drug underworld as Canon’s girl.





       She had lived in hope that sharing Canon’s life and her bed would get her enough information to net the Kats once and for all. Amanda smiled bitterly. All she had found was a woman that liked fried chicken and white folks’ rock music and never, ever, mixed business with pleasure.





       “Canon... oh man, I am so sorry. I am so sorry, ” Amanda sobbed. The pain and grief that kept her awake at night for two years but could never be expressed, not in the light of day and not in the dead of night, suddenly found an outlet.





       A few moments passed with only Amanda’s strangled breaths cutting through the steady whirring of the machines monitoring Canon’s vitals.





       Canon’s words were little more than a whisper but Amanda heard them clearly. “No shit. Fuck you, officer. ”





       Amanda kept her eyes closed and her head bowed unable to meet the accusation she was certain to find in Canon’s eyes.





       “You right. That shit. It was not correct, ” Amanda said brokenly. It was the truth and she could not deny it. As she had lain fighting for her life in a hospital ICU, the DA had slapped Canon with obstruction of justice.





       What was worse in Amanda’s thoughts was that when Canon’s case came to trial, she had not been there. Miles Edwards had brought the message from the police brass loud and clear.





       If obstruction of justice was all that a year’s worth of police spending had bought them, one Detective Amanda Lewis had no business cheating the city from its due. Roberta Carver, aka Canon, number two of the city’s only female gang was going to be put behind bars. And no mere detective would be allowed to derail that arrangement.





       “Ace! ” Canon said clearly, her voice stronger than before.





       The urgency in Canon’s voice made Amanda look up, her eyes immediately finding Canon’s half-closed ones.





       As soon as their gazes connected, Canon spoke, clearly trying to make her words heard. “Tell Barbie. Fuck that shit. That history. Feel me? ”





       The toll the effort to speak clearly had taken was clear in the grimace of pain that transformed Canon’s face. Amanda’s heart sped up. Canon needed to rest. The doctors had been clear. She had been lucky but she was not out of the woods yet.





       “I will tell her. I will. You rest now. Rest, ” Amanda said slowly, gently. Her hand gently caressing Canon’s tense cheek.





       Canon held Amanda’s gaze for a moment more before her eyes slid close.





       Amanda continued her light touch of Canon’s face for a moment longer as Canon once more slipped into oblivion.















       Detective Amanda Lewis blinked to keep the tears from her eyes. Behind her heavy sunglasses, her eyes closed tightly.





       The minister’s voice droned on. Amanda did not look at the people around her or those surrounding them. There was nothing here she wanted to see. The police officer inside her would have no chance to match names to faces or think about possibilities for a good case.





       Amanda allowed her eyes to see only the coffin. Her bitter smile was small, too small for others to notice. She did not want to think about the knowing glances she would receive from her colleagues and superiors tomorrow. In truth, she could not even find it in herself to care about them.





       Canon was dead and Amanda’s heart broke anew. It had been years since that undercover stint. Amanda still carried the scars though, the scars on her body and the scars on her soul.





       She had been schooled in that year undercover. Not about the game and the job but about people. Amanda had found out the most difficult truth of all. There was no evil. Evil was no more than moments in ordinary lives.





       Detective Amanda Lewis knew better than anyone that even ruthless killers could be gentle, amoral drug-dealers could be kind and soulless villains could be loving.





       After all Canon had been all those. Ruthless, amoral, soulless. A killer, a drug-dealer, a villain. Gentle lover, kind friend, loving partner.





       A lone tear coursed its way down Amanda’s cheek.



       ***************





       “We got tonight... ” ~Canon





       The words of the minister boomed in the silent cemetery. Snow’s eyes were riveted on the closed coffin. Snow could hear Barbie’s heavy breathing at her side. On her other side, Amanda was quiet as a mouse. But Snow acknowledged neither them nor the rest of the crowd.





       It was the ornate coffin that held her attention. This was a gang funeral, her own people felt out of place. In death, Canon had been reverted back to her roots. Black and red dominated the scenery around her. Even the bangers from the other gangs respected the funeral’s ethos, their colours hidden for now.





       Snow needed no colours. Her pantsuit was in heavy unrelieved black, following the customs of a country far away. The paleness of her face stood out like a blemish on perfect skin.





       Natalya Armanov, the woman that the people around her knew as Snow White, Snow for short, did not care.





       The words of the minister faded. They spoke of things that meant little to Snow. They had meant little to Canon.















       “Hey... ” Natalya greeted as she entered the dark living room.





       “Yo... ” Canon’s soft voice replied as Natalya navigated the room expertly in the dark.





       Natalya sat on the couch next to Canon. She kept her own voice soft, allowing the music to dominate. “Why you listen to that stuff? It sound like... like tears. ”





       A warm hand patted her knee. Canon’s voice was sad. “Listen. Same old song. Crumbles to the ground. Dust in the wind. That’s life. We live, we die. That’s it. There are no tomorrows. ”





       Natalya sighed quietly. She could not keep the worry from her voice. “You are getting sad again. Your head hurting? ”





       She could see Canon’s head shaking in the dark negatively. “Nah, babe. It ain’t the head. ”





       Worry made Natalya’s heavy accent come out strongly. “Then what? You are sad. Why? What happened? ”





       “Nothin... nothin... ” Canon said quietly as she patted Natalya’s knee again.





       Natalya sighed quietly. She gripped the hand on her knee gently. “Come on. Enough of that sad shit. ”





       Natalya felt more than saw Canon turning to her. A hesitant hand touched her cheek. “I love you, you know, ” Canon said in a hoarse whisper.





       Natalya leaned into the caress before turning her head, lightly touching her lips on calloused fingers. “I know. ”





       She stayed there for long moments before squeezing Canon’s hand. “Come on, Can. Let’s go to bed, ” Natalya said, kissing Canon’s fingers once more.





       “Yeah... yeah... ” Canon stood up slowly.





       Natalya stood up as well. As Canon turned towards the door, Natalya spoke in whisper. “Can? ”





       Canon turned immediately, her arms slowly coming around Natalya’s waist. “I’m here. ”





       The sadness in her voice felt like a knife in Natalya’s heart.





       “Hey! We’ll be old before we are dust. Да? ” Natalya said quickly.





       Canon’s voice was gentle, sadness still colouring her voice. “Yeah, babe. Old and grey, eh? ”





       “Да! Old and grey... pills, diapers, the lot, ” Natalya tried. Humour was always the best solution.





       Canon laughed out loud. “Ha! Diapers? Right! ”





       Natalya put her arms around Canon’s shoulders, drawing her in gently. “Come on, Can. We got tonight, don’t we? ”





       “Yeah, babe. Yeah... we got tonight... ”





       **********************





       “It’s a new city... ” ~Miles





       “So, rookie. What you thinking? ” Miles asked quietly, his eyes roaming the cemetery.





       Dona Powell glared at him. Her voice was hard but she kept the volume low. “What the fuck am I supposed to be thinking? And don’t call me rookie, Miles! ”





       Miles barked a short quiet laugh. “But you are. Here you are a rookie, Dona. You need to learn this city from scratch. ”





       “I know, I know, ” Dona sighed. It was true after all. A new city but an old job. Dona was certain it would not take too long to learn what she needed to do her job and do it well. “So what the fuck we doing at a funeral? ”





       Miles smiled widely, glancing at Dona before his gaze returned to the funeral taking place at the bottom of the small hill. “You, my dear detective, are being schooled. ”





       “Schooled? ” Dona asked irritated. He huffed mockingly.





       Miles’ tone became softer. “Yes, Dona, schooled. In a world that’s ending and a world that’s just being born. ”





       “Fuck it, Miles. Do you need to go all... all intellectual on me now? ” Dona asked, her tone betraying her irritation. Miles was a good man. They had cooperated on a few cases before. But still Dona hated it when people started to wax philosophical.





       Miles shook his head. “Look, Dona. Look! What you see? ” He said waggling his eyebrows at Donna.





       Donna shook her head. “What the fuck? ”





       Miles glared at her. Dona sighed. “Fine! A funeral. A gangbanger’s funeral. And don’t ask which fucking gang. You know I aint’t had time to look at the colours. ”





       Miles smiled slightly. “Dona, come on, indulge me. A gangbanger? ”





       “Fuck you, Miles! ” Dona shot at him, receiving no more than an enigmatic smile in return. A few moments passed until it was clear to Dona that Miles was serious with his questions. She sighed once. She so did not like playing this game. Still there was nothing she could do about it.





       She was the newbie in this place and Miles was her partner. “Alright... alright. Let’s play but make it quick. Fucking great. A lieutenant I’m guessing. You got all sorts of colours showing. ”





       “Yeah... ” Miles nodded waiting for Dona to continue.





       “Fuck you, Miles! ” Dona said but there was no vehemence in her voice this time, only resignation. “I don’t know, man. What the fuck you want me to tell you? I got no fucking idea why there’s white boys at a banger’s funeral. ”





       “Ha! ” Miles exclaimed. His tone became smug. “Not just white boys, Dona. What you see is a good part of the Russian mob that’s been slyly, oh so slyly, entering our part of the world. ”





       “The Russians? Fuck me! ” Dona whistled at the revelation. “I thought you didn’t have all that many these parts. ”