Jail's Bait: Time Served (Book 5)

It was Thursday, the next morning.  Marquis, fresh from his early masseuse session and morning shower, sat in his bedroom dressed in his bathrobe, thinking as he ruffled up Leo’s mane as the lion purred quietly.  He knew that he was in for a serious tongue-lashing from both his lover and his girlfriend, so for now he decided to keep his distance and wait until they calmed down before he apologized…

There was a knock on the double doors to his suite.  “Come in,” he said.

The doors opened and Jake came in, also wearing a bathrobe and slippers.  “Bonjour, monsieur!” he proclaimed, busily brushing his head with a handbrush.

“GGRRRRRrrrrrr…”

The sound startled Marquis, who fell off the bed in surprise, and Jake, who jumped 4 feet into the air, his handbrush flying across the room.  Marquis scrambled to his feet.

Leo was on Marquis's bed, on all fours, crouching as if to pounce, a low, guttural growling issuing forth from its throat, glaring intensely at Jake.  Marquis had never heard Leo sound so… so enraged.  His mane was sticking straight out, like when a cat’s back arches and its hairs go rigid just before it went on the attack.

Jake had fallen to the floor, a look at pure fright on his face as he stared at the suddenly angry lion.  “Assez s'il vous plaît, Marquis,” Jake stammered, “don’t let it eat me...!”

“LEO!” Marquis commanded, praying for the first time that his control over the beast was still absolute.

The lion hesitated for s second, and then obediently turned around and lowered his head towards Marquis, the tufted tail lashing in the morning light.  Marquis hesitated himself, unsure of what would happen next, and tremulously reached out and patted Leo on the head.

Leo purred contentedly once again, and dropped to the bed, rolling over to raise his paws in the air; this was his way of asking Marquis to rub his belly. Marquis obliged, and quietly looked over at the trembling Jake.  “Go back to your suite,” Marquis said then in a low tone; “I’ll calm him down and meet you over there.”

“Comme vous voulez,” Jake replied then, shakily getting to his feet and slipping out of the bedroom, closing the doors behind him with a sharp click.

*********

Outside the room, Jake took a second to gather his wits back from that fright, and then he sneered at the closed doors.  “Beasts always seem to sense what their masters can’t…” he mused to himself.  “Leo the lion is in my way, it appears.  I wonder how much oleander powder I’ve got left...?” And he strolled away towards his suite, lost in thought.

Just then a small figure in a pink jumper and pigtails waddled around the corner, sucking on a thumb, staring as Jake headed down the hallway.  She watched for a second, and then went to knock on the closed doors in front of her…

“JAMARA...!”

Sophie the maid closed in on her, scooping her up in her arms.  “Why do you always run away from me...?” she asked wearily.

“I don’t like him,” Jamara replied then in her small kindergarten voice, her eyes strange.

Sophie’s eyebrows arched in surprise.  “You don’t like Marquis anymore,” she asked, indicating towards the closed double doors.

“Noooo, not Keyyy,” she said, hiding her face in Sophie’s hair.

“Do you mean his friend that came with him, the French bloke,” Sophie asked then, extracting Jamara from her hair to stare meaningfully into her eyes.  “What’s wrong with him?  Did he say something to you?”

“Rah-Rah,” Jamara said then, folding her arms and frowning.

Sophie gave her a look of shock.  “You mean that Marquis's friend reminds you of Rah-Rah,” she said then, a chill creeping up her spine.  She recalled that the baby girl had a weird reaction to Rah-Rah when they came into contact with each other, three years ago.  She’d spent the time since trying to forget that the ‘black-sheep’ of the Hill family was her also ex-boyfriend….  “You seem to be able to spot trouble, young lady,” she declared then, hugging the little girl to her chest.  “I think I’ll keep an eye out on the bloke as well,” she said to herself then, and without another word she turned and left the hallway, carrying Jamara with her.

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

Marquis stroked the belly of the beast for some time, listening to the sounds of the lion’s purr so soften into snores.  “What’s gotten into you, fella,” he whispered as he slowly stoked Leo’s belly, making the lion close his eyes and purr with an increasingly relaxed tone.  “I’ve never seen you react like this to anyone…”

Leo did not reply; a continuous stream of contented growls issued forth from his half-open maw.

“First Kap, then Uncle Mar and Uncle Malik, and now you,” Marquis grumbled as he stared down at his pet lion.  “Why does everyone hate Jake...?  He’s a good kid; a stand-up guy,” Marquis said, shaking his head to himself as he stood up to go fetch Leo’s collar and leash.

*********

It was lunchtime at Berkeley.  Angelina and Carmen had already brought their packed overnight bags over to Kap and Marquis's dorm room, and they sat in there idly while they watched Kap worriedly search the room for his Hill family jewel.  “Are you sure you didn’t lose it during practice...?” Angelina asked Kap again.

“Baby, for the last time, I didn’t lose it at practice; because I NEVER take it to practice,” Kap’s muffled yet irritated voice replied from inside the closet, where clothes appeared from behind the door, flying through the air to land on the floor in various places.

“Ah Dios mio… y’all are going to have a hard time cleaning all this up,” Carmen observed as the pile of clothes on the floor steadily grew.

“I can’t understand it,” Kap groaned, finally emerging from the closet to stare helplessly at the girls.  “Where in the hell did it go...?”

“We need to use the jewel to get the money for a plane, right...?” Angelina asked then, stooping down to pick up the tossed clothes.

“Yeah, either that or wait until tomorrow when Marquis booked us those flights,” Kap said distractedly, opening Marquis's dressers one by one and peering inside.

“Well, let’s just go on our own then,” Carmen said.

“Marquis wants his family to pay for the expense,” Kap said, “and we’re college students.  You don’t have the money to buy round-trip tickets from here to Seatlle…”

“How do you know that?” Carmen asked with a mysterious look.  “You’ve forgotten that you aren’t the only one dating Marquis.”  She reached into her purse then and pulled out a series of platinum credit cards.  “He put my name on his bank account, and it’s got some serious zeros, by the way.  He wants his family to pay for this trip? No problem,” she declared confidently.

“What about the Hill family crest?”  Kap asked, casting one more futile look around the room.

“It’ll have to wait,” Angelina said simply.  “If you’re absolutely sure that you didn’t lose it outside this room, then that jewel must be in here somewhere; but now that you’ve tossed everything about, it’ll be that much harder to find- until you clean up.”

Kap simply stared at his girlfriend, wondering how he was going to find an excuse to run down to Melo’s apartment and look there.  If he got so drunk he actually cheated on Marquis (and to an extent Angelina as well), who was to say the jewel wasnt laying underneath the cushions or the couch… or Melo’s bedroom.  Yet the girls looked resolute; if nothing else, they were not going to let him out of their sights just now; he’d have to go down to Melo’s room and search for the Hill family crest after they got back to school…

“I just hope I don’t get too upset when I get to HT and see Jake all over Marquis,” Carmen said then with a dark look.

Kap stopped in his tracks, one hand on an empty can of beer.  “What did you just say…?” he asked quietly.

“Oh yeah, it blew my mind away too,” Carmen said; “when he left outta here he didn’t tell any of US, but he had the nerve to take Jake with him; they’re probably living it up at HT right now.”

A red haze washed over Kap’s vision.

“Baby, how did you just do that...?” his girlfriend’s voice seemed to be coming from a long ways away.

“Do… what,” Kap absently asked, turning his head slowly towards the sound. 

“How did you crush that can in half like that?”

He looked down.  Sure enough, the beer can was laying at his feet, broken in two; it’s crushed form the same as when one squeezes silly putty in their fist, and it comes out at both ends…

“I didn’t even realize I did that,” he said then, his head still in a fog… “So, lemme get this straight.  That French-FUCK is at HT with Marquis...?

“Pretty much,” Angelina replied then candidly.  The girls knew how much Kap hated Jake, he had made no secret about that.

Kap turned to the girls then, all hopes of finding the ruby now forgotten.  “Okay, I can’t find the crest right now; Carmen, let’s get a flight outta here, NOW.”  He turned towards the door.  I can’t wait to have a little chat with ol’ French-Flake Jake, he thought, murder flashing in his red eyes.

*********

“Are you sure, doctor,” Joe Hill asked once again, crestfallen.

“I’m very sorry, but your white blood cell count has dropped to almost undetectable levels,” Dr. Foster replied, studying his chart once again and looking up at Joe again with clinical sympathy.  “You must try your best to refrain from being around anyone that has any sort of contagion.  If you even catch a cold, it will be… the last one you’ll ever have.”

Joe looked out of the nearby exam room window, watching the clouds scud across the sky.  “I understand; I’ll be careful, Doctor.”

“Pick up your prescription at the nurse’s desk.”  The doctor paused to pat Joe Hill’s hand.  “You’ll be taken care of, Governor, as long as we can; that’s a promise.”  And with that he left the exam room.

Joe sat there in silence for another five minutes, letting the truth of it all sink in.  One more cold, and that was the end of it all… for him.

There was a knock at the door.  “Come in,” he said dejectedly.

The door opened to reveal Lionel Jenkins; though he was older now, he still had that same aura of sex appeal which so many men and women fell prey to in his time; tall, slim, wicked dimples and sexy bedroom eyes, which did not lose its allure from age.   Even Joe’s body still betrayed his attraction to his childhood love as his dick began to involuntarily stir.  Yet rage against the man who gave unknowingly him this disease silenced his lust and fueled his secret urge to throttle Lionel, to shove him out of the nearest window-

“Good news...?” Lionel asked hopefully.

Joe stared at the reason for his illness.  Look at him, smiling at me, loaded to the brim with death.  The careless son of a- out loud he said, “The doctor says I’ve got a clean bill of health.”  And he gave the man he now hated a forced grin.

“Well, that’s great,” Lionel exclaimed, coming over to throw his arms around Joe and kiss him on the forehead.  “Let’s get back to Olympia to celebrate.”

“You like living in Washintgon’s Governor’s mansion, eh...?” Joe said with a wry smile, trying his best to keep Lionel from seeing how he really felt about him.

“Well, I’d live in a grass shack with you,” Lionel said then, staring at Joe with admiration; “but of course, I do approve of the finer things in life…” and he was kissing Joe with fervor and passion.  Without thinking Joe pushed him off with some force.

Lionel stumbled back.  “WHOA, what was that...?” he asked, catching his balance.

Joe instantly recovered himself.  “I-I’m the damn Governor,” he reminded Lionel; and we’re in a public place.  “What if the paparazzi are outside?”

Lionel started; then he relaxed, a look of understanding crossing his features.  “Riiighht,” he agreed; “too easy to get caught by anyone walking by; a nurse, another doctor… sorry,” he added as he stepped over to help Joe stand to his feet; Joe reluctantly allowed this.

“No harm,” Joe lied with a relaxing grin; “no foul.”  And with that they left the office.

*********

Rah-Rah sat in his room, looking around wistfully.  His room at OakGrove Sanitarium was just as bare as always, with the sanitary-white walls, hospital bed, nightstand and visitor’s chair.  Looking back at his possessions, he realized that in all the time he existed here in the asylum, he had never accumulated anything more than what he’d been brought in with, thirteen years ago.  Sophie had only smuggled him his own clothes that night he escaped; besides that, most of the time he was in here he’d either been catatonic or played catatonic… it just hit him all at once that thirteen years later, he had nothing to show for his time.

He sighed, looking towards the door; he could just make out the corner of the next ward where Marcus was.  He was still completely thrown by what happened a couple of days ago.  Marcus had still refused to speak to him since, and stopped coming by to see Rah-Rah, which led to some extremely lonely nights.  Well, then, he said to himself; why don’t you go talk to him?

“Why should I,” he responded to that part of his conscience.  “He walked out on me, after we had the best sex in the world.”

Well, if it was that good, his conscience said, why don’t you go after him...?

“Because I’m Rah-Rah Hill,” he exclaimed then, getting to his feet; “I don’t run after niggas.  Niggas kneel to ME.”  And he began to pace the room.

Well, NObody is kneeling to you right now, his conscience said archly; but you can have Marcus ‘kneeling’ to you for the rest of his life; so if you really like this guy, go get him.

“Like I said-”

Look, I know the real reason why you don’t want to be too aggressive, his conscience replied confidently.

Rah-Rah got defensive.  “Don’t say it-”

Marcus is not LAMAR, his conscience said stubbornly.  You’re not gonna rape this guy.

Rah-Rah stopped dead in his tracks, the look on his face was as if someone had just sucker-punched him in the solar-plexus.  “DAMN you,” he spit out in rage, wondering why his eyes just teared up.

Face it, his conscience said then; after you do, then do yourself a favor.  Let this go…

“I can’t,” Rah-Rah replied then, staggering over to the bed and sitting back down.  “There’s something I have to do first, to get closure.”

Before you leave, his conscience said, SAY something to Marcus.

There was a moment of silence.  “You can be a real jerk,” Rah-Rah grumbled then.

Hey- consider my source, his conscience spat back.

Rah-Rah stood there, considering this.  “I think I’ve been in an asylum too long,” he shook his head as he headed for the door.  “I’m starting to act like these crazy fucks.”  He went into the hallway and knocked on the door next to his.

“Come in,” said Marcus.

Rah-Rah opened the door and went inside the room, which mirrored the bare specs of Rah-Rah’s space.  Marcus sat in his visitor’s chair, staring out at the freshly cut grass and the rolling hills beyond OakGrove’s borders.  “What do you want,” he asked without turning around.  “Here to say goodbye...?”

Rah-Rah stood there, looking at the stationary figure, and in a rush he realized he wanted to be more than sexual with the NBA All-Star, and even though they had a friendship for a while, adding sex to the mix only enhanced what he felt for this guy.

He stepped forward.  “Marcus,” Rah-Rah said, his voice low and thick.

Marcus turned around, about to throw Rah-Rah a look of skepticism- and then his face changed when he looked directly at the man.  “What is it...?”

“I want to tell you…” Rah-Rah stopped short then, suddenly nervous.

Marcus came over to him then, and looked deep into Rah-Rah’s eyes.  “Tell me what...?” he asked, clearly waiting to hear something.

Rah-Rah suddenly got defensive.  “Look, man; what do you want from me...?”

“What do I want from you...? I want you to TELL me,” Marcus said to him, “how you feel…”

“YO- I’m a nigga, I don’t talk about ‘feelings’,” Rah-Rah shot back.

“GOT-DAMNIT,” Marcus shouted in frustration, “why do you DO this?”

“Do what???” Rah-Rah cried out.

“This ‘push-pull’ thing that you do,” Marcus exclaimed.

“Calm down… you’re gonna bring in the nurses- the ones with the valium,” Rah-Rah threatened, looking around cautiously.

“Fuck the nurses.”  Marcus spun him back around so that they were face to face.  “Robbie, why is it this difficult for you to talk to me...?”

There was silence for a full set of seconds.  “I just- I…” And then Rah-Rah shook his head.  “Look, I need to go do something, and then I’ll be back.  Then, we can talk all you want.”

“But don’t you see…?  I want you to tell me what YOU want,” Marcus almost screamed, tears of anxiety fringing his eyes.  “Please, stop jerking me around-”

But Rah-Rah had pulled him into his arms then, and Marcus stopped talking.  For a few moments they stood there, Rah-Rah hearing the beating of Marcus's heart.  Then he quietly drew back, staring into Marcus's sexy eyes.  He leaned in and pressed his lips against Marcus's lips, the heat between them flaring up as their lips parted and their tongues met in passion’s fire.  But it was tender this time, more than just sexual allure, and when they broke the kiss, the look on Marcus's face reflected this as well.

“Can you please… trust me, without questions… for just today?” Rah-Rah asked.

Marcus’s eyes shone with frustrated tears, but he lowered them and nodded.

Cupping the man’s cheeks with his hands, Rah-Rah stared into Marcus's face, his heart in his eyes.  “I’ll be back, I swear… and when I do, I’ll explain everything.”  

Marcus nodded again, startled into agreement from the bared look in Rah-Rah’s eyes.  “Go.  Do what you need to do,” he said then; “and I’ll be here, waiting for you.”  He reached up to kiss Rah-Rah once again.

Rah-Rah held Marcus's gaze one more minute with a determined look, and then he turned and left the room.

Now back in his own cell, Rah-Rah looked around once more.  “When I come back,” he declaimed to the sterile room, “it’ll be to claim my things... and to claim Marcus.”

He reached into his pants and pulled out his cell-phone, and dialed.  “Yes, this is Robert Hill; can I get a cab at OakGrove Sanitarium…?  Right away?  Good… Oh, yes- I’m headed for HillTopp Terrace, on Mount Rainier…. Thank you, I’ll be waiting outside in five,” he said, closing the cell-phone.  And with that he left, closing the door behind him.