Agonizing pain pierced his body from head to toe, but he played possum, barely breathing.
They’re going to kill me once they realize I’m not dead, Suave thought. I have to get away or at least die trying.
“Go get the bag, and let’s go,” the leader instructed one of the men. “We need to get out of here now.”
That’s all Suave needed to hear to make a move. He dug deep down inside and found the strength to leap to his feet. Biting his lips against the excruciating pain, he threw himself over the short fence into the tall, wild grasses and bushes.
“What the...?”
“He wasn’t dead?”
For a few seconds, the three men stared with open mouths at the place where Suave disappeared.
“He’s getting away!” The boss opened fire in the yard as he moved closer to the broken-down fence. His two accomplices joined in, spraying the area with bullets.
Suave lay on his belly, eyes closed, with bullets flying all around him. His heart hammering in his chest, he waited for a bullet to penetrate his body.
“Cease fire,” the leader shouted, and the other two men complied. “Do you see anything?” He leaned forward, squinting as he peered into the dark.
“It’s too dark in there,” one man replied. “Let’s go and look. I’m sure we hit him.” He hopped over the fence.
“Follow him,” the boss commanded the other man. “Hurry. With all those shots we fired, I’m sure someone must have called the cops by now.”
Suave, who wasn’t too far away, overhead the conversation. He began crawling away as fast as he could through the grass, ignoring the pain. Luckily for him, it was dark, and he was wearing all black. This would work to his advantage.
“He couldn’t have gone far.” The man used his leg to move the grass as they searched for Suave. “He should be hurt.”
“I see him!” the other man exclaimed, pointing. “See? That’s the backpack.”
“Now we got you, little bugger.”
The men hastened their steps, their prey within sight.
Suave heard them and forced himself to his feet. He wanted to run, but his aching body wouldn’t cooperate, and his right leg felt as if it had died. So, he staggered along, knowing he would be caught soon. “This is it for me, huh?” Suave whispered under his breath, looking up into the sky. “Why am I not surprised, God? You’re never there for me.”
Eeeeee, weeeooee, wooo! The police sirens reverberated in the night air, getting louder and louder with each passing second.
“Police! Let’s go!” The leader took off toward the car, leaving his two men to follow.
The men didn’t need to be told twice. They turned around, plowing through the tall grass and bushes, and raced back to the road. The car’s engine was running when they jumped into the backseat, their boss flooring the gas pedal as they made a quick getaway.
Suave went the opposite direction, dragging himself through the back of people’s houses until he saw the busy main road up ahead. Only then did he lower himself onto a rock under a big mango tree. He took off his backpack and unzipped it. Reaching inside, he pulled out a handful of high-grade Jamaican marijuana. He brought it to his bloody nose and sucked in the aroma, his eyes closed as if in ecstasy. “Safe and sound,” he muttered, a big grin on his bruised face.
Part One
Chapter One
Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies, 2003
“Psssst. Hey, baby girl. Hold up.” Raymond “Suave” Brown hopped out of his brand-spanking-new, cherry-red Cadillac Escalade that was parked alongside the curb on Hope Road. With his long dreads hanging down his back, he swaggered over to the blushing young woman, a big smile on his face.
Like a laser beam, Suave’s eyes scoped out the tight, super minidress that hugged the voluptuous body like a second layer of skin. Big, firm breasts strained against the restricted material as the woman stuck her chest out, with her huge behind pointing in the opposite direction.
Suave noticed how she nervously shifted from one foot to the other, her index finger twirling around a long strand of her blond weave as she watched him approach her.
“Hello, beautiful. How is it going?” Suave gave her a wink and licked his lips in a LL Cool J kind of way.
“I’m... I’m fine,” she said in a small voice, looking down at the ground.
The dimples deepened in Suave’s cheeks. He was used to this type of reaction from the ladies. After all, he was “Smooth Suave”—six foot one with silky, chocolate skin wearing a tan Armani suit and a Rolex on his wrist. When money talked, everyone walked were the words he lived by.
“What’s your name, honey bunch?” Suave was laying it on real thick.
“Hmmm, Bubbles.”
“That’s a very pretty name for a very pretty lady.” He reached out and ran his index finger down her cheek.
Bubbles glanced up at him and smiled before looking away. “Thank you.”
“So, Bubbles, where am I dropping you off?” Suave grinned at her when she raised puzzled eyes to look at him. “I’m offering you a ride home, baby.” He spread his arms wide open as if to say, I’m all yours.
Bubbles’s eyes widened in excitement as the impact of Suave’s words hit her. She was just on her way to the bus stop. Glancing over at the Escalade, Bubbles felt her heartbeat speed up.
“I’m going home.” Bubbles gasped in delight. “I live in Pembroke Hall.”
“Pembroke Hall, it is.” Suave strolled over to the passenger-side door and opened it. His grin widened as he watched her rush over and hop into the truck without any hesitation. As she nestled back into the rich leather seat, glancing around wide-eyed, he closed her door.
Suave strutted around the car to take his seat behind the steering wheel. He glanced down at his watch and nodded his head. He had an hour before he had to pick up his main girl, Monica, from the hairdressing salon.
Monica Lambert was the mother of two of Suave’s eight children and was now five months pregnant with the third. She was the “wifey” and lived with their children in his big house in the affluent neighborhood of Jacks Hill, St. Andrew.
“Everything good, baby?” Suave’s eyes locked on Bubbles’s soft, brown, exposed thighs. The minidress had ridden farther up, exposing her thong. “You are one sexy woman.”
Bubbles giggled and glanced out the car window.
Suave started the car and drove off. “How old are you?”
“I’ll be nineteen in six days.” She beamed at him. Just the thought of spending her birthday with him was surreal.
“Cool.
