Lovin' Harlem

Ch. 22

Nicki's POV

"Marisol? Whatchu doin'?" I asked and closed the shed door behind me. My hands were still wrapped around the doorknob as my eyes instantly fell on Marisol's back. Her hands were covered in blood and then I saw bloodstains leading to a bucket. My stomach quivered. Marisol turned to face me and then wiped the blood from her forehead with the back of her sleeve. Kat's body had been cut into and Marisol was smiling.

                                "Lupe told me..."

                                "Marisol I swear to God if you say what I think you're bout to say," I stepped closer to her and instantly wished I didn't. My head throbbed and the sight of so much blood made me gag. Kat's tongue was cut out and her fingers were all in the bucket. Marisol sighed and went back to cutting Kat's toes. I was sick to my stomach but not because of what she was doin'. I felt sick because this wasn't the first time Marisol did this to someone. It was the third. The first two was Lupe's ex-wife and the girl he dated before Marisol. I still don't know what really happened when she called me both times to clean up the bodies. We never talked about it and this time was no different. I could barely breathe when I heard her drop the remaining toes into the bucket. She turned to look at me with cold eyes.

                                "What's done is done. Are you gonna help me?" she asked even though she knew the answer. Marisol knew I would do anything she asked if it meant keepin' her out of prison. I nodded my head because my mouth refused to open. Marisol smiled and then leaned back down to pick up the baseball bat that killed Kat. Even if I didn't like her, I never planned on killin' Kat. I was just gon' beat her ass a few times 'til she learned her place but Marisol didn't know how to control her temper. Of the two of us, I've always been the calmer one and there's nothing calm about me.

                                "Tell me about your new man," Marisol opened a black crate and filled the room with gasoline. She walked past me and returned back to Kat's body with two saws. My mouth dropped the second she handed one to me with a straight face. I didn't want to take it. I couldn't cut into Kat but Marisol's eyes controlled my movements and when I reached for the saw, I stopped breathing.

                                "Focus tellin' me about Terrell." Marisol crouched in front of Kat's dead body and dug the metal straight thru her wrist. It didn't take much blood to make me take a step backwards. I dropped the saw and headed out the door before Marisol's cries made me stop in my tracks. She sniffled and wiped her eyes when I turned to face her. Her hair was in a curly sloppy ponytail and the blood on her chin made her pale skin stand out even more. Lupe liked her to stay home so the amount of sunlight she got wasn't enough for her to tan unless she went outside, by herself. She didn't see him isolating her from her old life though. To her, he was bein' protective and a little jealous.

                                "Why would Lupe do that with me in the house? I should have known he was up to somethin' when he kept comin' to the shed. When I saw that...I just...I snapped."

                                "That's the night he hit you, huh?" I asked and sat on the other side of Kat's body. Marisol nodded her head and then sighed. Tears slid down her cheeks but she ignored them and cut into Kat's second wrist slowly.

                                "Yeah. He promised me he would never hit me after the last time but...he lied,"

                                "Yeah Mari, he's gon' promise the same thing as many times as you let him get away with hittin' you. Please don't stay as long as I stayed with D-Low...leave before you get pregnant and you're stuck," I said and didn't realize Marisol had gotten up until she was putting the saw in my hand and guiding it across Kat's forearm. She tossed both wrists into the crate and then wiped her hands on her sweats.