Method of Desire

Chapter 35

I laid in the bed, waiting for Marlon to finish whatever antics he was doing in the tub. The bell rang, and I walked out in the living room.

Looking through the peep hole, I was still naked. I saw James' chestnut hair, and knew it was safe to open the door as I was.

"James..." I opened the door shocked. He had been badly beaten, with a bruise over his eyebrow and another on his cheekbone. His lip had dried blood on it, and when I looked down his knuckles were scraped.

He still had gold rings on his fingers, and I knew it was a robbery. It must've been something deeper.

"Patricia..." James said weakly, and he stumbled in with fatigue. I shut the door behind him and helped him to the couch.

"Who did this to you?" I asked, sitting next to him.

"Your guy." James answered as he looked at me. He reached in his pocket, and took out a broken pair of glasses. "They found me... and they..."

I broke down crying, I couldn't believe that me getting to know George would cause all of this.

"What do you have to do with this!?" I shouted.

"I don't know, but they told me not to see you ever again." James informed me. "So here I am."

"I'm sorry this happened James." I said with tear filled eyes and he took my hand.

Marlon emerged from his room, standing tall and mighty as he usual did. He only wore his boxers, and his eyebrows furrowed when they hit James.

"James?" He asked as he walked over. He took a seat on the other side of James. His hands went to each of James' cheeks, observing all of the damage they imposed on him.

"Who did this?" Marlon growled. James looked at his lap and shrugged, and Marlon angrily stood up.

"I swear— if anyone who even knows that motherfucker ever comes near any one of you, they're getting thrown 6 feet underground!" Marlon shouted, picking up the phone. He dialed a number and pulled the phone cord so that he was able to walk into his bedroom.

It was a heated call, you could hear him screaming at whoever was on the other line. Although I was naked, I got a first aid kit out of the linen closet and began cleaning James' face.

"James, I wish I never met you." I honestly told him.

"Why would you feel that way?" James asked and I shook my head.

"I've brought so much grief in your life, and for no absolute reason. I'm just sorry, that's all." I sighed. James winced as I put a disinfected cloth on his face.

Marlon walked back into the room, a little more calm. He was still obviously angry, his nostrils flared and his chest rising and falling. His large hands were balled into fists, and his gold chain bracelet hung on his thick wrist.

"I'm handling this." Marlon reassured us. He walked to the circular window in his apartment and looked out. I stood up, and slowly made my way toward it. I peeked below, and men began crowding around the bottom of the building.

"Who are those men?" I asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Don't worry about it." Marlon answered simply. He looked at me, his pink lips without any expression. "Head inside of the bedroom with James. Don't leave until I tell you to."

Marlon began walking into the bedroom.

"I have to go to class..." I reminded him, standing there naked with my arms crossed.

"Well tonight, you skip that damn class!" Marlon said strictly. "Now get in here."

"No." I insisted. Marlon walked up to me and looked in my eyes, inches away from my face. He was so close, my chest brushed against his.

"Listen, I know I say a lot of bullshit. I know I like to control you. But tonight I'm serious when giving you these orders. Get your ass in that bedroom, and stay there." Marlon grumbled.

James stood up awkwardly, not exactly knowing what to do.

"Go rest in the bedroom, James." Marlon said in a much softer voice to him. Then, Marlon looked to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Trust me, when I'm through all this will seem like a bad dream."

I stared into his honey eyes, and wanted I believe him. I wanted to think everything would automatically be okay. I was tired of fighting with him, and walked off into the bedroom.

"Don't look out any windows, no matter what you hear." Marlon directed me as I stood in the doorway. I nodded and shut the door.

I didn't see him for the rest of that night.

James had taken off his shirt and shoes, and laid in the bed with his slacks on. I joined him, putting on my robe. I sat up on my side, hoisted up by my elbow. James rested his head on my chest.

His hand rubbed up and down my waist as we laid and waited, still not sure what exactly Marlon was doing.

"Marlon and Wally are involved with some dangerous guys." James told me.

"I figured as much at this point." I admitted. James slung his arm over my whole waist, keeping me close.

"We never want to see anything happen to you." James said quietly. I stroked my fingers through his hair as he rested his head on my chest. He left a soft kiss, and closed his eyes.

Suddenly, we heard a gun shot then shouting. We could hear people running. Out of panic, I ran to the window to check what happened. I couldn't get a good view, so I went out on the fire escape.

George was below, stuffing a pistol into his blazer jacket. He adjusted his fedora as he looked up at me standing on the fire escape.

"You could've avoided all of this if you had just stayed, Patricia!" George yelled up. "We already didn't like these dumbasses, and you just gave us more of a reason to pop a cap in them."

"Don't do this!" I shouted in the cold winter air. The crowd began running all around, but it was hard to differentiate everyone with their fedora hats. The only light was a nearby street lamp.

"Marlon!" I shouted, but I couldn't get an answer. Eventually everyone left the scene, and all that was left was a blood stain on the sidewalk. "Marlon!" I shouted again.

Police cars began pulling up to the scene about 20 minutes later, and I walked into the apartment. James laid in bed, sobbing, and I came back into the room shutting the window behind me.

I joined James, and we embraced. We supported each other, but we both feared the worse. We could've lost the man we loved.