Kali's Altar 20

As I showered, I watched the pink fluid twirl around the drain. My fingertips ran over the sore and swollen, scabbed letters etched into my chest. Welts had been raised all over my body, my muscles were still cramped and sore from my time in the box. My heart felt like a burdensome stone sinking, crushing the vital organs below.

After I dried off and dressed in fresh black fatigues, I made my way to Lavinia’s office. The door was open when I got there, Lavinia sat masked behind her desk. As I crossed the threshold, her voice said, “You must put your recent ordeal in the past. Do it immediately. We have business to attend to. The Duchess will return shortly.”

I remained standing, I knew that it would hurt too bad for me to sit down. So did she. Her voice said, “Sit down.” A deep, long guttural grunt helped me vocalize the pain I felt as I took my seat. The wooden chair felt as if it was the hardest metal in the world. My muscles remained tensed, my body battered.

Lavinia’s voice said, “Raise your head and sit up straight. I can’t have you sitting there looking like some kind of demoralized abuse victim when The Duchess arrives.”

I thought, “Is her house similar to this one?”

“No. Their house has Gypsy roots. They’re more nomadic than us. They don’t let men sit at their table, but they sacrifice men frequently.”

“So, even though there is an alliance between our houses, I still won’t be considered an ally to them?”

“Why are you worried about it?”

“I’m not.”

“Yes. You are.”

“Well I should be worried about it. Now, on top of everything else, I have to worry about being sacrificed by The Duchess.”

“Do you think your fear will save you? Then what good is it? You will be in many more situations where the risk of death is high. You should be tired of fearing death by now. Don’t waste whatever time you have, shaking and trembling in fear.”

There was a knock at the door. Lilith entered followed by The Duchess and her entourage. The Duchess was accompanied by two women, identical twins, with caramel complexions and short black hair. The twins looked to be no older than 20. They were short and rail thin with cold, uncaring eyes. The man was huge. He stood about 6’5 and must have weighed at least 270 lbs. His eyes showed the evidence of intoxication. His care-free demeanor and cocky grin told me that he was completely unaware that he was a lamb being led to the slaughter. The man blurted out, “Hey, I like your mask. That’s awesome. My name is Roger.” The man began to approach Lavinia’s desk. Instinctively, I stood to block the path between her and him. I looked into his glazed eyes and saw amusement. He said, “Whoa Chief! I was trying to introduce myself to lady. I won’t steal her away from you, I promise. That is, unless she wants me to.” The man winked at Lavinia and laughed. I couldn’t wait to watch him die.

Lavinia motioned to the chair in front of her desk, her voice said, “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Lavinia. Please sit down.” The man sat down and looked around the room. He turned to The Duchess, “Hey Alice, I thought this was supposed to be a party.” He turned back to Lavinia, “Why don’t you have your boy here get me a drink?” He looked up at me, daring me to say something. I said, “Of course sir, what can I get for you?”

“Scotch would be awesome.” I walked out the room, down the hall to Lavinia’s quarters and retrieved the blood-stained baseball bat from the chest. I barged back into Lavinia’s office. When I was a few feet behind the man, he turned in his seat and smiled at me, “You got my drink boy?” I raised the bat in the air and slammed it into the side of his face. Teeth flew across the room. The man rose from his chair slowly, gripping the side of his face, a confused look was in his eyes. He charged me. I swung the bat again but he blocked the blow and snatched me up in a bear hug.

Lilith jumped on the man’s back and dug her fingers into his eyes. The man shrieked, let go of me and ran around in circle trying to get Lilith off his back. I raised the bat again planning to smash the man’s kneecap the next time he passed. Lavinia’s voice commanded, “No, don’t break his knees. He won’t be able to walk after I raise him. Lilith, let go!” Lilith let go of the man and fell to the floor. The man continued running around in circles screaming, clutching his bleeding eyes. The Duchess laughed and said, “Roger! Stop running around. Let me help you.”

The man screamed, “Fuck you bitch! I can’t fucking see. I’m gonna kill that fucking nigger!” The Duchess looked at me and shook her head, “Don’t worry about him. He’s awesome.” The twins stepped forward. The one on the right said, “I know this sorry muthafucka isn’t runnin’ around like a decapitated chicken calling people niggas.” The twin on the left said, “That word doesn’t bother me. But let this punk say ‘awesome’ one more time and that will be the end of him.” The man roared, then yelled out, “Fuck you! Fuck all you bitches! I’m gonna kill every single one of you.”

The Duchess said, “How are you going to do that Roger? You can’t fucking see.”

Lavinia’s voice said, “Roger, you have a good job, a wife, kids.” Roger stopped running in circles, he stood in the center of the room, his chest heaving. He said, “You leave my family out of this.” Lilith circled the man glaring at him. She had changed a lot since the first time I saw her. I remembered her sitting in front of her mirror. I remembered the look in her eyes as she was forced to watch her husband being tortured. It was her husband’s reckless pursuit of a fantasy that had placed us both in the position we found ourselves in. Lilith stopped behind the man and said, “Do you really think you can protect your family with just words alone? You’re here alone, blind and unarmed in a house full of killers and you’re barking out demands?”

The twin on the right said, “If this punk muthafucka cared about his family, he would be with them now, not out chasing pussy.”

The twin on the left, “That’s what got you killed. You know that right?”

The twin on the right, “Now your kids will grow up without a father.”

The Duchess laughed and said, “No they won’t. I’ve seen a picture of his wife. It won’t take her long to find someone else. Then his kids will call another man daddy.”

Lavinia’s voice said, “They’ll never know what happened to you. There won’t be any funeral for them to go to. They’re going to think that you abandoned them.” The Duchess added, “I’ll call your wife and let her know that was the case. I’ll tell her about all the shit you talked about her. I’ll tell her that you don’t want her anymore and that you’re mine now because she was unable to tend to your needs.”

The man began to sob, “Please. Please. I’ll give you whatever you want.”

The twin on the left said, “You’ll ‘give’ us? You ain’t got to give us a muthafuckin’ thing punk. We’re gonna take whatever the fuck we want from you and there ain’t shit you can do about it.”

The man cried, “Please, I’m sorry for offending you. I’m a little fucked up.”

The twin on the right, “Yeah, you real fucked up ain’t you? I’ll tell you what punk. If you suck my friends dick, we’ll let you go home to your family.” The man stopped sobbing and went silent. He said, “Okay, whatever you want.” The twins began laughing uproariously. The Duchess said, “See this,” pointing at Roger, “this is why we don’t let men sit at our table. He fucked up his whole family chasing pussy. Now, he’s got himself into some trouble and he’s willing to get on his knees and suck dick to get out of it.” The Duchess looked at me, “So what do you think comrade? Should we let ‘awesome-man’ here go if he sucks your dick?”

I said, “That’s not what I want. I want his hands cuffed behind his back and his pants around his ankles. I’m gonna take that ass.”

The man yelled, “Fuck that. I’m not…”

Lavinia’s voice interrupted, “You’re never going to see your family again if you don’t do exactly what we tell you to do.” She pulled a pair of handcuffs from the desk drawer and tossed them on the desk. The twin on the left said, “Oh this is going to be good. I ain’t seen a man get his ass took by another man before.” Lilith grabbed the handcuffs from the desk. The Duchess said, “Hold on. Do we have a deal Roger? You drop your pants, let this man fuck you up the ass and we’ll let go.” Roger didn’t answer. The Duchess continued, “It’s okay, I understand that you’re embarrassed. All you have to do is drop your pants, take a little a pain and we’ll let you go. Nobody will ever find out about this.”

The man said, “Why are you doing this to me?”

Lavinia’s voice boomed, “BECAUSE WE CAN! Now drop your fucking pants or we’ll go pick up your wife, bring her here and Clarence can fuck her instead.” The man shook his head whispering, “no…no…no…” He undid his belt buckle, unfastened and unzipped his pants, then let them fall to his ankles. Lavinia’s voice said, “Lilith, cuff him.” Lilith cuffed the mans hands behind his back. Lavinia placed a dagger on the table, “Clarence, I have an empty jar. Fill it.”

I snatched the dagger from her desk, gripped the man’s dick and balls with my left hand, then sliced off his genitals with the dagger. The man fell to floor screaming and kicking his legs. The Duchess took off her white mink and threw it on the floor as if it was a rag. She looked at me and asked, “Hey Clarence, what does a girl have to do to get a cup of coffee around here?”