When You Hold Me

I looked in disgust at this pathetic excuse for a man as he sobbed, taking another punch to the face. I couldn’t tell if there were tears coming from his face because if face was swollen and covered in blood and sweat but from the sounds he was making I would take his word for it. I scrunched my face and walked towards him. I begin to walk around the wooden chair he was tied to. “You know Robert, I could make this all go away,” I stopped beside him. “I could make them stop and you could walk out of here alive.”

“Crawl is more like it.” I hear my younger brother, Roman, mumble with a chuckle.

“Don’t believe him Robert!” A female by the name of Laura, yelled from the other side of the room. Just like her husband, she was tied up and bloody. She was also his wife. But her loyalty to her husband was weak. Her infidelity was why they were in this situation in the first place. Laura had almost no filter and practically ratted out her husband. She was sleeping with a good friend of mine and let it slip that Robert was hiding some money he owed me and planned to “run away” with it. As if he could run away from the RWA. He unfortunately had to be taught the hard way, so did she. “Don’t believe a word he says!” Laura probably thought that if she told what was gonna happen she could live happily ever after with the man she was sleeping with but RWA doesn’t take kindly to rats, no matter the situation. They receive no respect from us. So she was most likely going to die.

“All you have to do,” I continued looking down at Robert. “is tell me where my money is. If you don’t we could be here all day.” Although I didn’t have all day, I had other business to attend to. But he didn’t need to know that. “Or until you die.” I was met with silence, but I didn’t really expect him to talk. Not yet anyways.

Out the corner of my eye, Roman pulled out his AMT Hardballer, and pointed it to Roberts head. “I’m tired of this bullshit, it’s probably just somewhere in his house.” He said through clinched teeth. He was just as irritated as I was, because if I don’t get my money, that means he’s missing out on money as well. So we both lose. “I’ll just kill him now.”

“Wait!” Robert spoke for the first time words, that weren’t ‘fuck you’ or ‘eat shit’. “I’ll tell you.” He sobbed out.

“See Robert, now was that so hard?” I looked at my brother who only smirked and put his gun away. That little shit. His methods always seem to work though.

I glanced at my watch and realized it was already getting late. I wanted to make it to the auction in time to get something good. “I take it you can finish this without me.” I said without asking. “I gotta get going. Oh and kill the whore.” I then walked out without a second look. While getting in my car I heard the gunshot from the distance.



Dressed head to toe in a brand new suit because the one I had before smelled of fish water, dirt, and blood, so I had to change it. Being the CEO of my company, ‘Gold Pierce Enterprises’, I sometimes had to make appearances to events such as the one I’m going to now, which is an art charity event where there will be auctioned off art. It was very high prestige. I’m not too into art, I wasn’t passionate about it but it was just another place to make more connections, get more money, and I also don’t mind throwing money around. I mean I have enough of it and it’s for a good cause.

I was already late. Walking out of the elevator there were already so many people here. As soon as I walked into the room with more people I was greeted with multiple handshakes and smiling faces. A few real ones and a few fake ones. Most of the people that looked my way didn’t like me, hated me actually. I didn’t need to make connections, people needed to make connections with me. They wanted my money. And sometimes I was generous enough to share.

As Jim Barker talked to me, someone I’ve done business with as before talked to me about his now prospering business, when I came in sight of a portrait tucked away in the far corner of the room. It was a picture of an black girl, no woman and she was nude on a bed. It was in black and white, so the color of her skin stood out more against the plain white sheets. I was fascinated because it was the only nude picture in the auction and it wasn’t put on display like the other items. It was obviously good enough. I wasn’t the only one whose eyes it caught. Actually a few men, and a couple women, had already made their way over.

“She’s something else, isn’t she?” I heard Jim say next to me. I just stared at the picture. “I bet her body is as tight as it looks.” I cringed at his words. Of course I was thinking somewhat of the same thing but I wouldn’t have put it in those terms. “Oh, there she goes right there.” I turned my head in the direction of where Jim was pointing.

To say I was speechless is an understatement. She didn’t look exactly like the picture in front of us but another version of it maybe. With clothes. But she was just as stunning. She was short, even with heels almost everyone around her stood about a good foot above her. She wore a two piece skirt and top that showed off some of her midsection and fit her quite well. Her hair also hung in loose curls around her shoulders. Just like the photograph, I wasn’t the only one that was staring. She stopped and looked up at the picture with an uncomfortable face, as if she didn’t like seeing herself up there.

“Is that you?” A woman came up beside her.

She looked at the woman with a smile and replied. “Oh uh-” She was then cut off by someone else coming up to her other side and wrapping an arm around her.

“She gorgeous, isn’t she?” He smiled down at her and then up at the picture. “I shot it myself, she was the perfect muse!” It wasn’t too loud in the venue so I could hear their conversation.

The other woman nodded in agreement. “Yes, it is a spectacular piece.”

“I have more but she wouldn’t let me show them.” The woman he had his arm around then smacked him on his chest.

“How much for it.” The older woman said as she began to reach inside her purse probably for her checkbook.

“I’m sorry but it’s not in the auction.” The younger woman said, her eyes going wide. But the old hag was persistent.

“I’ll give you $3,000.” She had her checkbook out ready with a pen.

“I’ll give you $5,000!” Someone else yelled around us. And then it went on like that for a couple minutes. People throwing at prices at them higher than the last one. Now I wasn’t going to stand here and let them outbid themselves, especially not me. I didn’t want the photograph just so no one else could have it but I also wanted it so no one else could have it and be able to look at it.

“250,000.” I spoke up. Everyone around us went silent and looked in my direction. I knew there wasn’t anyone else in this building who would shell out a quarter of a million dollars for just a picture. And that’s exactly why I did it. It would also be a good tax write off for me.

The man and the little woman looked at me with shock written all over their faces. “Like I said before it’s not-”

“I’m not taking no for an answer.”