In a sarcastic voice, Vincent replies, “Yup, home sweet home!”
As he makes his way into the kitchen, he is greeted by his 100-pound German Shepard named Ruger. Ruger has a very intimidating look. He has an all-black face, and black fur stretches over his back and down his tail. His lower body is light brown.
Vincent opens the refrigerator and grabs a bottle of beer. “Hey buddy, how was your day? Were you visited by an angel that tells you shit, and you have no idea what the hell she meant?”
Ruger tilts his head to the side as he sits at Vincent’s feet.
“Yeah, I didn’t think so.”
Vincent walks into the living room, takes off his shirt, and drops it on the floor. He opens the blinds to have some lighting inside the loft. The bright city lights enter Vincent’s loft, illuminating his body covered with several tattoos.
On his right shoulder, he has a cross of St. Benedict; on the outside of his arm, he has a non-traditional portrait of the Virgin Mary. On his inner arm is a picture of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and the devil standing behind him. The tattoo flows down to his forearm with Roman soldiers carrying spears and shields, pointing up to Jesus. On Vincent’s left shoulder is a dove that represents the Holy Spirit. The dove is carrying a rosary that flows down to Vincent’s elbow. Behind the rosary is the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Vincent turns around and the city lights illuminate his back. The tattoo on his back is his most elaborate one. He has a full back tattoo of St. Michael slaying the devil that is illustrated in great detail.
For the first time all day, Vincent finally takes off his gloves and throws them down on the coffee table. Vincent sits down on his black- leather couch and turns on the TV. He then twists off the cap on his beer and take three large gulps.
Ruger jumps up on the couch and lies beside him. Vincent flips through several channels before he stops on CNN because of what he reads at the bottom of the screen. “Lester III—savior of the world?”
William Lester III is at a podium speaking in front of thousands of people. Lester III is 6’2” with a slender build and appears to be in his mid 40s. Lester III has dark black hair with slight graying on the sides. His hair is neatly combed back at an angle. He has a very masculine jawline and dimples when he smiles. Lester III is wearing a very expensive slim-fitting black suit and tie with a red silk handkerchief in his left breast pocket.
Lester III continues with his speech by saying, “It has been nearly three-and-a half years since I have brought peace to the world. I have brought nations together. I have brought enemies together. I have ended World War III—”
The crowd interrupts with loud clapping and cheering.
He puts his hand up to quiet the crowd and continues to speak. “And now my next mission in life is to provide the world with my love and my wealth, and I will guide all of you into a life of paradise!”
The crowd erupts in cheers and begins to chant his name. With a huge smile on his face, Lester III puts both arms straight up in the air. He sticks out only his index finger and pinky on both hands then is quickly escorted off stage by a very large security team.
Vincent picks up the remote control and turns off the TV, stands up, and quickly gulps down the remainder of his beer. He follows that up with a loud belch. He looks at Ruger and asks, “Did you see what he just did at the end of his speech? Huh, boy? Did you notice what he did?”
Ruger looks up at him with his tongue hanging outside his mouth.
“Of course not. You’re just a dog.”
***
Lester III exits the stadium escorted by his massive security team that leads him to a black-armored Mercedes Maybach stretch limousine that waits for him. A member of his security team opens the rear door. He enters the limousine followed by his closest aide, Lilith.
Three members of his advisory council are already waiting for him in the limousine. His aide, Lilith, has long jet-black hair that is tightly pulled back into a ponytail. She is wearing square, thick-framed black glasses and sitting close to Lester III on the left side with her legs crossed. She is dressed in a form-fitting black suit with very light gray pinstripes.
Lilith whispers into Lester III's ear.
He then looks at one of his council members and asks, "Mr. Jones, what is the status of my new capitol building?"
Mr. Jones opens up his briefcase and removes his tablet. He opens up a file and responds, "We only have minor work left, and we are right on schedule for the 23rd, sir."
Lester III tells Mr. Jones to have the limousine driver re-route and drive to the construction site of the new capitol building. A large security convoy escorts Lester III's limousine as they navigate their way through the downtown streets of Detroit, passing through all security checkpoints and not stopping for traffic lights. As they head south on Woodward Avenue, Lester III can see the building. He looks at Lilith and smiles. It is clear from his body language that he is visibly excited and eager to get to the building.
The security convoy pulls up to the front of the building. Before Lester III is let out of the limousine, the security team exits their vehicles and secures the area by setting up a defensive perimeter around the limousine. A member of the security team opens the rear door, and Lester III is the first to step out.
He stands beside the door looking up at the building. It is enormous. It stands 182 stories high with blue stained-glass windows. There is a left wing of the building that is six stories high, and the roof is a huge platform.
Lester III makes his way to the base of the building as Lilith and the other three council members follow. He turns to them and points behind him at the building. With a big smile on his face, he says, "Behold the new world capitol building and my temple."
He tells everyone to follow him over to the west wing of the building. As they approach, Lester III’s attention is drawn to a huge pool of water at the base of the building.
Mr. Jones stands next to Lester III. “A lake of fire as you have requested, Sir."
"Excellent," he replies. "Now let's make our way to the top of the wing. I want to see where I will be conducting all of my speeches to my followers."
Lester III and his council members enter an elevator that takes them up six stories to the top of the west wing. The elevator doors open, and Lester III and his council members all step out onto the roof.
It is roughly the size of two football fields combined. It contains stadium seating that holds approximately 50,000 people. There is a podium at the edge of the wing that overlooks the lake of fire and a gigantic open space that is designed to accommodate two million people standing.
Lilith stands next to Lester III and whispers into his ear.
He smiles and says, "Yes indeed, this is perfect. This is where my people will listen to my word."
Meet me up
Vincent’s iPhone rings. Vincent is laying face down on his bed with his face buried in his down-filled pillow. He rolls over to the other side of the bed and picks up his phone, slides his thumb along the bottom of the screen, and answers in a low raspy voice. “Hello.”
A female voice responds with attitude. “Really? You’re still sleeping? You do know its 5:30 in the afternoon…right???”
“Yeah…so what…I was up late. What do you want?”
“I need to speak to you, it’s very important.”
“You know, if you wanted a booty call, you should’ve called last night when I was horny.”
“Fuck off, Vincent. Meet me at the Wellington Pub in two hours. And if you get there before me, don’t drink because you are a major asshole when you drink.”
“Well yes, ma’am.”
“Good…bye.”
“Bye.” Vincent hangs up the phone and rolls back on his side, closes his eyes, and with a smile on his face, and says, “No drinking? Nooooo problem.”
***
Vincent
walks into the Wellington Pub. It is dark, smoky, and crowded. The carpet is a red-plaid pattern, but some areas are so dirty that it appears black in color.
Vincent walks toward the bar as a scantily clad woman watches him as he walks toward her, sitting at the bar. The woman bites her lip and stands up then falls into his arms. Vincent catches her and helps balance her.
The woman has very long, curly brown hair with heavy volume. She is wearing heavy red lipstick and smoky-turquoise eye shadow that matches her shirt. The woman is highly intoxicated. She puts her left arm around Vincent’s neck, presses her breasts to his chest, and slowly slides her right hand down his body and grabs his penis. The woman puts her lips close to Vincent’s left ear and whispers in slurred speech, “Hey baby…wanna fuck?”
Vincent laughs. While gently putting the woman back on her chair, he says, “Well if my date doesn’t show up, then maybe I’ll take you up on your offer.”
Vincent takes a seat at the far end of the bar and says to the bartender, “Stag.” The bartender gives him a shot of Jim Beam Red Stag. Vincent quickly drinks the shot and tells the bartender, “Just leave the bottle.” The bartender pours another shot and leaves the bottle. He again quickly drinks the shot and pours himself another one. Vincent puts the shot up to his lips and just as he is about to drink it he hears a female voice.
“Go figure…you can’t go one day without drinking, can you?”
After a brief pause, Vincent continues and drinks the shot.
Vincent turns and looks at the woman. “Hello to Lena.”
Lena stands with her right hand on her hip. She is 5’7” and weighs around 110 lbs. She has long, straight black hair that is layered and flows to the middle of her back. She has black eye liner on with glossy lips and has olive skin. Lena is wearing a tight black tank top underneath a black leather motorcycle-style jacket. She wears black form-fitting pants with knee-high black leather boots.
Vincent pulls out the barstool to his right and slaps the seat three times with his right hand, gesturing to Lena to sit down. "So what's up? What did you drag me to this dump for?"
Lena pulls out a 5 x 10 manila envelope from the left inside breast pocket of her jacket. She pulls the paperwork out of the envelope that is folded in thirds, sets it down on the bar, and slides over to Vincent. "While I was at work yesterday, I found this in the computer system." Vincent pours himself another shot and unfolds the paperwork. The first page is a large mug shot photo of his face. "What’s this?" he asks.
Lena looks around with a concerned look on her face and says in a low voice, "Vincent, you're on the list."
Vincent picks up the shot he just poured with his left hand and gulps it down. With his right hand he slides the paperwork back over to Lena. "Well…everyone's on the list."
"Well, everyone's monitored through the chip, Vincent, but not everyone's on the list. Being on the list is not a good thing. Being on the list is grounds for arrest even if you have the chip."
Vincent becomes angry. "Well, if those bastards want to come and arrest me then they can come arrest me! I’ve done nothing wrong. I've committed no crime. I go with the flow just like everyone else, Lena."
Lena raises her voice and asks, "Why are you so hard-headed? Why don’t you just listen to what I have to say? Or just read the damn paper instead of pushing it back to me! You know your I-don't-give-a-fuck attitude is part of the reason I couldn't stand being in a relationship with you, and it only lasted a year." Lena quickly pops up off the barstool, causing it to fly backwards. With tears in her eyes, Lena yells in a cracking voice, "You know what, fuck it, I tried! I’m taking a huge risk by even talking to you right now. Just read the paper and take care of yourself!" Lena turns and storms out of the bar.
Vincent notices many of the bar patrons staring at him. Vincent looks back at the patrons, shrugs his shoulders, and says, “What can I say? The girl can’t handle her liquor."
Vincent rubs his face with his gloved hands. He takes a deep breath in through his nose and exhales out of his mouth. He flips over the first page. On page two, he reads “SUSPECTED OF: 1) Preaching the Bible 2) Threat to the World Order.”
Vincent slams his fist down on the bar in anger, causing the bartender to look his way. Vincent folds up the papers and puts them in his right rear pocket as he asks the bartender for his tab.
“Seventy-five dollars,” the bartender says.
Vincent sticks out his right hand. The bartender passes a scanner over his hand as an electronic female voice says, “Charge approved; thank you for your business.”
Vincent takes his cell phone out of his right jacket pocket, scrolls through his contacts, stops on the name Adam, and presses “Call.” The phone rings several times before a male voice answers.
“Hello?”
“Yo, Adam. It’s Vincent.” Vincent hears loud music and several female voices in the background.
“Who?”
Vincent raises his voice “It’s Vincent.”
“Hold…Hold on a minute.” Vincent hears Adam yelling. “Will you bitches shut the fuck up? I’m on the fucking phone.” Adam responds to Vincent in a very loud and excited voice. “Vincent!!! What’s up, my boy!! Where the fuck you been?”
Vincent laughs. “I’ve just been laying low, brotha. Hey…you still own that bar or did our lovely government steal that from you like some of your other businesses?”
“No, my boy. I’m still owner and president.” Adam says, breaking out in laughter.
“Ok, man…I’m kinda in a funk right now. You mind if I come by and blow off some steam?”
“Oh, hell yeah! Your tab is on me!”
“Bet, I’ll see you in a minute.”
“Sweet, see ya soon.”
Evil’s games
Vincent walks out of the bar and leans up against the wall. He looks around. He is surrounded by high-rise buildings. The streets are wet, riddled with trash, and very few people are walking around.
He pulls out a cigar from the inside breast pocket of his jacket. It’s his favorite cigar, a Rocky Patel Edge Maduro. He slides the cigar under his nose as he inhales then exhales out of his mouth, “Aaahhhhh.”
He punches out the end of the cigar with a puncher then puts the punched end to his mouth He reaches into his front jacket pocket for his lighter, but it’s not there. Vincent pats himself down starting with his breast pocket then his front pants pockets and rear pants pockets. He realizes that he has no lighter on him and blurts out, “Ah, fuck me. Well, I’m sure Adam will have one.” Vincent puts the cigar back inside his jacket pocket and crosses from the west side of Woodward Ave to the east side as a black-armored Army Humvee passes by and beeps the horn at him. Vincent gives them the middle finger then turns around and begins walking north.
***
Vincent walks up to an alley and observes a small white cat drinking water from a puddle. Vincent walks up to the cat, bends down, and begins to pet it. He continues to pet the cat and scratches it’s head. Vincent hears a noise behind him. He is very familiar with this sound because of his experience with firearms. It’s the cocking back of a hammer on a revolver. He then feels the nose of the barrel pressed against the back of his head.
Very slowly, Vincent puts both hands up in the air. An out-of-breath male voice says, “Back off, motherfucker. This is my dinner! I’ve been chasing him for six blocks!“
Vincent responds in a cool, calm voice. “Ok, ok, take it easy, pal. The pussy is all yours. I was just saying hi to it. I’ll tell you what…I’m just gonna go back on Woodward without turning around to look at you. I’ll go about my business and I’ll let your bitch ass live.”
The cat meows and takes off running deep into the shadows of the alley. The man yells, “Hey, get the fuck back here!” and chases after the cat.
Vincent looks down the alley to get a good look at the man, but all he can see is his shadow in the dark
alley. Vincent stands back up and stumbles while doing so. The shots of whiskey that he drank earlier are starting to catch up to him.
Vincent makes his way back onto Woodward Ave and sees a blinking red neon-light sign for A-Bombs. “Ahhhh…there it is.” Vincent is about 100 feet away from the front door when he observes a black male leaning up against the wall.
The man is looking at Vincent and tracking him as he gets closer. When Vincent gets near the man, he notices he is tall, around 6’4”, with an athletic build and wearing a black fedora that is slightly canted to the left. He is wearing a white button-up shirt and a solid black tie underneath a gray knit sweater. His pants are black and neatly pressed and he is wearing black leather shoes.
Vincent squares up to the man, looks him in the eye, and asks with attitude in his voice, “Can I help you?”
The man puts his head down, giggles, and smiles at Vincent. The man has perfectly aligned teeth that are gleaming white and appear to glow. In a light African accent, the man asks, “Would you like a light?”
“Excuse me?”
“You know, your cigar.”
“Um, yeah…sure.” Vincent says as he pulls out his cigar from his breast pocket.“ You look very familiar, do I know you from somewhere?” Vincent then puts the cigar in his mouth.
The man laughs and replies, “Yes…something like that.” The man touches the tip of the cigar and it lights up instantly.
Vincent laughs in an over-exaggerated manner. “You guys are unbelievable. I was just thinking to myself—how the hell does this guy know I needed a light? So…what kind of fucked-up message do you have for me?”
The man smiles at him and says, “Beware Vincent, for evil will soon make contact with you. You must know the difference between the messengers of the Holy Spirit and the messengers of evil. They will come to you as flesh and blood.”
“And how will I be able to know the difference?”
“Look hard into their dark souls and you shall see.”