"Well, you are my other big brother," I said, and gave Mike my innocent little-girl giggle. "Who else I’ma call but you? Besides, when my brother left the city, you said you’d look out for me."
"How is your brother, anyway?"
"I talked to Leon the other day. He said that things ain’t all that good in da ’ville, and he might have to make a move back this way."
"Oh, yeah," Mike said, like he was glad to hear it. When Leon left New York it was over something Mike was involved in. Since then, Mike has looked out for me like a big brother. "You tell that nigga to holla at me."
"I will, next time I talk to him. But Mike, I’m for real, I really need your help."
"What’s going on, Angel?"
"I don’t want to go into detail on the phone," I said, and told him where we were. "I need you to come right away, Mike. Please don’t keep me waitin’ all night. You know how you do me."
"I don’t know what you talkin’ about, Angel," Mike said, and laughed.
"Yes, you do. I know you will hang up this phone and say ‘she’ll be all right’. So if you ain’t coming now, please tell me so I don’t have to sit here all night lookin’ like a fool."
"I’m coming right now, for real, Angel," Mike said, and I let him get off the phone.
I signaled for a waitress and ordered drinks. I figured that he would get there in an hour or two. So I was very surprised when I finished my drink, and looked up to see him coming through the door.
"Avonte, this is my big brother, Mike Black. Well—he ain’t my real brother, but anyway. Mike, this is my friend Avonte."
"It’s nice to meet you, Avonte."
I stood up. "Avonte, would you excuse us," I said, and took Mike by the hand and led him outside. I told him what Avonte told me.
"So what you call me for, Angel?"
"’Cause I like her, Mike. I don’t want her to have to go through all that madness with the police."
"What you want me to do, Angel?"
"I don’t know. I didn’t wanna do all that stuff Wanda was talkin’ about."
"You already talked to Wanda?"
"Yes."
"And what did Wanda want you to do?"
"Go back to the apartment and get her credit card, go buy something, then go back and call the cops. That was too complicated. Can’t you just take care of this for me?" I pouted and folded my arms across my chest.
Then I gave him the look.
"Go get your friend, Angel."
"Thank you, Mike," I said, and kissed him on the cheek. I went inside and got Avonte, and the three of us went back to the apartment together. When we got there, Avonte showed him the bodies.
* * *
Chapter Thirty-six
Avonte
We walked as quickly as we could back to my apartment building. Once we got to the building, we went in through the service entrance, and returned to my apartment.
Mike—who was sexy as hell—told me to get whatever I was going to need from there. When we had my stuff together, Mike told us to leave and not come back, until he called Angel. I grabbed my purse and was about to leave, but I couldn’t resist looking in the bedroom to make sure they were still there. I began shaking like it actually was the first time I had seen the bodies. Once I had satisfied myself that neither of them had come back from the dead, I left the apartment. I never knew what he did with the bodies, or how he got all the blood from the carpet or the mattress, but I couldn’t tell that they had killed each other in there.