At the back of the Arch Diner, Lincoln sat in a booth, watching every car that pulled into the lot. As if he were a spy, he watched closely and waited for people to exit their vehicles, hoping each person was Julian, and not Page coming after him. He was paranoid, and for good reason. When he finally saw Julian exit his Maybach, he was so relieved that he finally glanced away the parking lot and kicked back his rum and Coke.
Damn. Homey getting money like that? Lincoln watched in awe as Julian, decked out in Armani, stepped out of his car and activated the car’s alarm. His appearance screamed money, and Lincoln was listening.
Julian entered the restaurant and automatically spotted Lincoln. Heading to the back of the diner, he turned his cell off. When he reached the booth, he slid in opposite Lincoln.
“L, long time no see.” Julian gave Lincoln a pound and flashed back to high school, when Renee befriended the nerdy kid and had Julian scratching his head as to why.
“You don’t speak to many people, Renee. Why him? He’s like a real-life Urkel.” Julian looked at a teenage Lincoln sitting at their lunch table with Slice.
He wore Coke bottle glasses and clothes that were way too small for him, and the look on his face said that begged to fit in.
Renee bought a soda from the vending machine and looked Julian in his eyes before answering. “Urkel or not, everyone deserves a friend.”
Now, almost twelve years later, Julian sat across from the man he’d befriended only because of Renee. His glasses had been replaced with contacts, and his once small clothes were now oversize and the colors of the rainbow. Julian suppressed his laughter and reminded himself that this fashion-challenged man was saving the love his life.
Thank God Renee saw more than what meets the eye, he thought.
“Damn, man, you must be living it up. Rolling up in here in a Maybach.” Lincoln couldn’t take his eyes off the car.
“I’m doing all right. So what’s good?”
Even though Julian appeared to be at ease, he was scared to hear what Lincoln had to say. All he knew was it concerned Renee and her sister, and anything dealing with her family couldn’t be good. He watched as Lincoln looked every way except his, and saw how sweat threatened to fall from his forehead. This only made Julian panic more, but he hid it well, never allowing anyone to see him sweat.
Lincoln took a deep breath and looked around one more time before speaking. “Renee’s sister, Page, is a nut, Jay. She’s going to try to kill Renee.”
“What? They haven’t seen each other in years. What beef could they possibly have?” Julian was all ears.
Lincoln swallowed the knot in his throat. How could he answer Julian’s question without sounding crazy himself? he wondered.
“I think Page is in love with her father.”
He looked at Julian. When he saw his eyes blow up and a question mark appear on his face, this confirmed that Julian was taking the news just as Lincoln had expected.
“Page is what? What the hell are you talking about? And what does that have to do with Renee?” Fury filled Julian’s eyes. He wasn’t in the mood for games, and Lincoln was surely playing them.
“Listen, man, this chick is straight loony tunes.” He turned away from Julian, gathered his thoughts, then looked back at him. “I know this isn’t any of my business, but why is their pops locked up?”
Julian thought he was going to choke the life out of Lincoln. He was sticking his nose where it didn’t belong, and Julian was two seconds away from ripping it off his face.
Lincoln saw the look Julian was giving him and quickly continued speaking. “I heard Page talking to herself. She was saying something about Renee landing their father in jail, and how . . .”
Through clenched teeth, Julian growled, “Spit it out.”
“She said that Renee was lucky to have slept with their father. She wanted it to be her. She’s in love with him, and because of that, she’s jealous of Renee. That has to be why she wants Renee dead.”
Julian sat in silence. Renee’s past had come back to haunt her.
“She wants her dead, man. I heard it out of her mouth. She had some chick with red hair looking for Renee, and when the chick found out where Renee lives, she gave Page the address. Page said that when she sees her, Renee will be dead. Page is out for blood. This girl ain’t playing with a full deck of cards, Jay. I did some research, and there are females out there who are in love with their pops. It’s called the Electra complex. Something’s not right with her, man, and I had to tell you. I couldn’t look the other way when Renee’s life is in danger.”
“I assume it’s true, then, that you’re fucking Sheila. If you wasn’t, you wouldn’t know shit. When will this go down?” Julian knew about Lincoln’s relationship with Sheila. He always kept his ears to the street.
Lincoln shrugged his shoulders. “That’s the only thing I don’t know.”
Julian blew out air and tried to calm himself down. It wasn’t Lincoln’s fault that shit was hitting the fan. He was just the messenger.
“Good looking out. You didn’t have to let me know shit, but you did, and because of that, I’ll inform you about a few things. Renee had a fucked-up life. That dude you’re talking about is Page’s father, not Renee’s. He’s in prison because he raped Renee. As for this whole Electra complex shit, I don’t know anything about that. All I know is Renee went off to college after high school. She wanted to get away from her moms, who abused her every chance she got.”
Lincoln wasn’t prepared for anything he’d just heard. He was speechless. This entire time, he had been in the presence of a bunch of wolves in skirts.
As if he could read his mind, Julian said, “Yeah, homie, you sleeping with the enemy. Because you’re here in one piece, I know Page doesn’t know you’re hip to her. Keep it that way, and take my advice. Stop fucking with their moms. No good can come of it.”
Julian got up from the table and prepared to leave. He paused and bent down toward Lincoln so only he could hear him and asked, “Is there anything else I should know?”
Lincoln was now sweating bullets and wished this were all just a bad dream. “Page knows Renee’s Jordan.”
Julian’s heart dropped. Things kept getting worse by the minute. “You tell no one nothing, you hear me? Nothing. If you hear anything, you call me. And get out of that house ASAP.”
Julian dug in his pocket, looked around the diner, and threw ten stacks at Lincoln. He believed in rewarding people for valuable information.
Lincoln looked at the money like it had two heads, scrunched up his face, and said, “Nah. I ain’t doing this for no money. I owe this to Renee.” Lincoln pushed the money back over to Julian like it was on fire.
“I hear you.” Julian stuffed the money back in his pocket. “But take my advice, bro, and leave that witch alone,” he told Lincoln once more before leaving.
Chapter 21
The next morning, Julian sat at his huge oak desk, with Dane across from him. Julian had his face in his hands and felt like he was losing his mind. He wanted a drink, but he had drunk all night, and his migraine forbade him from taking another sip of alcohol, forcing him to face reality and suffer.
“We have to kill her,” Dane said in a dry tone.
Julian slid his hands from his face to look at Dane, exposing his bloodshot eyes. “Are you crazy? That will kill Renee. Her sister is the only family member she has love for.”
“What will kill Renee is her sister, if we don’t get to her first.”
“Fuck! Why can’t she have a normal family!” Julian shook his head and placed his face right back in his hands. Dane was right. However, that didn’t make matters any easier.
“It can be done as early as tomorrow—today if I didn’t already have a job to do. Trust me, Julian, she’ll never know that her sister wanted her head or the fact that we got to her first,” Dane remarked.
Julian dropped his hands. It was déjà vu all over again. He and Dane plotting the death of one of Renee’s fami
ly members in order to protect her, telling themselves that she’d never know they were the ones behind it. The only difference was they were in Julian’s office in the States, instead of Dane’s in Jamaica.
“Her sister’s death will crush her. She has a heart of gold when it comes to Page. And what if she finds out we’re the ones behind it? Are you prepared to lose her? Because that’s exactly what’s going to happen.” Julian’s eyes begged Dane to rethink her idea and come up with another solution. The situation had to be looked at from every angle.
Dane curled her lips and shrugged her shoulders. She wasn’t budging. “I’d rather lose her and know she’s still breathing than lose her to death, but all of that shouldn’t worry you, because she’ll never find out.”
Julian sat quietly, stuck between a rock and a hard place, and thirsty for a drink. He pictured the look on Renee’s face when she got wind of the fact that her sister was dead. That horrific pained look of hers would resurface and eat away at her beauty. Renee was already broken because of the cards life had dealt her. The death of her sister would only annihilate her, Julian feared.
Dane got up and headed toward the door. Before turning the knob, she looked back at Julian.
“Think about it, but don’t be long. The longer you wait, the more danger Renee’s in.”
Chapter 22
After meeting with Dane, Julian made his was way over to Renee’s. His stress level was a little high since he’d just learned that yet again a family issue had arisen. He walked into the house and found Renee in the home theater, where she was watching childhood videos of herself and her father playing. He took a seat next to Renee, his heart breaking. Renee was hurting and knew that before anything got better, it would only get worse. For five minutes, the two sat in silence while watching the home video. Renee’s and her father’s faces were plastered all over the screen. They were all smiles while he tickled Renee, and her laughter danced throughout the room.
“I’m gonna get you! I’m gonna get you! Tickle monster attack!”
Five-year-old Renee laughed so hard, you couldn’t see her sparkling hazel eyes. They were closed. “Daddyyy, stop it!” Renee chuckled.
“Daddy? Who’s Daddy? I’m the tickle monster!” Her father sat her down, and the two looked directly into the camera. Their smiles tugged at both Renee’s and Julian’s hearts.
“Renee, say, ‘I love you, Daddy.’”
“I love you, Daddy. Now you say, ‘I love you,’ Daddy,” Renee squealed.
“I love you, Daddy.”
“No, Daddy! Say you love me! Not ‘I love you, Daddy.’”
“You love me.”
“No, Daddy! Say, ‘I love you!’” Renee fell back into her father’s arms, laughing all over again. Her father smiled and looked at his daughter.
“I love you,” he told her.
Julian looked at Renee and saw her eyes watering. He watched, hoping and praying a tear would drop, but like always, it never did. He continued to look at her. He noticed her bright, shimmery eyes were now dull and hard. The video cut off, and the screen went black. Julian saw that there were bags under her eyes, that her hair was in disarray, and that her once glowing skin was now pale and ashy looking. She was going through hell and obviously hadn’t slept a wink. Lately, she had been constantly thinking about what took place with Slice. She was feeling betrayed and hurt all over again.
Julian went to grab her hand, but Renee pulled away. She was withdrawing again. Julian took a deep breath. He didn’t know what to do, so he just sat there.
“You wanna talk?” he finally asked.
Renee turned and looked at him like he had lost his mind.
Julian turned away from her, wondering why he would ever ask such a thing. He was crazy to think Renee would want to talk. She never wanted to talk.
“I’m out. There’s money people owe us that I have to get.” Julian got up and walked out of the theater. There was no money he needed to retrieve; he just needed to get away from Renee. There was no helping her when she got this way.
Julian walked past Lyfe. He was standing in the doorway, and Julian was sure he had watched the home video. His eyes were as soft as night, and his legs as weak as a newborn’s neck.
“Come sit with me, Lyfe.”
Lyfe jumped when he heard Renee speak to him. He had no idea she knew he was there. He took a deep breath and walked toward her, his eyes never leaving the empty screen. He sat beside her and tried not to look so uncomfortable.
Renee cut the video on and watched it all over again. There were moments when her father’s face filled the screen, and Lyfe felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. He’d died many years ago, but Lyfe still found it hard to look at pictures, videos, or anything pertaining to him, including Renee. Lyfe turned to look at Renee, and for the first time since he could remember, he felt scared.
“I don’t know how you do it,” she said. “After all these years, how are you so loyal to a game that loves no one?”
Relieved by her question, Lyfe stopped holding his breath. He knew it was sad to admit, but he’d been a gangster for most of his life, and he loved it. He loved every aspect of being a criminal and his boss’s muscle. Lyfe would live a life of crime until the wheels fell off. What could he say? He was built that way.
He sat back and refrained from answering Renee’s question. He knew she had more to say. No one knew this, not even Julian, but Renee had confided in Lyfe on many occasions. He was the perfect ear: He never voiced his opinions; therefore, she didn’t feel judge. And Renee felt a sense of comfort with him that she didn’t feel with anyone else. She didn’t know what it was, but she felt connected to him, so she took advantage of this connection from time to time and confided in him about her past and current feelings.
“I’m tired, Lyfe. I’m tired of living a life where every day I have be more ruthless than the last, just to secure my position on this throne. This shit has turned me so cold. I no longer have any regard for humankind, and I am nothing but a parasite. Yes, I was fucked up before I became Jordan, but now I’m just a monster.” Renee paused and looked at the screen. Her father was waving at her.
“I miss him to death,” she said, looking at her father. “I would give my last dime just to see him again. I have no family, no nothing, and that shit is eating me alive. I would love to have my baby sister in my life, but I don’t see that happening without my mother getting wind of it. So that’s just one more person I have to say goodbye to. All I have is Julian, and I’m putting him through more hell than you know.” For a moment, Renee stared into space and thought about the life she’d never had, the family, the friends, the happiness. “Tell me about your family, Lyfe. Tell me what I’m missing out on.”
Renee knew she was asking for a lot. Lyfe spoke to no one, yet she was sitting here, asking him to open up to her. Lyfe looked into her eyes and saw the desperation they held. She wanted a family so badly that she was willing to live through someone else’s.
Lyfe tensed up. Family was a touchy subject for him, and he didn’t know what to do, let alone say. He did the only thing he could: he told the truth. Lyfe cleared his throat, preparing his voice box for conversation.
“My parents are retired in Miami, Florida, where I grew up. We don’t talk much. I’m the black sheep of the family. I’ve been doing this shit for most of my life, and no one in my bloodline would have anything to do with me except for my brother. My brother was the good kid. Me and him were like night and day, so my parents didn’t feel like total failures.”
“You said your brother was the good kid. What’s up with the past tense?”
Lyfe looked up at the screen, tears threatening to fall.
“He’s dead.”
Renee saw the pain etched on his face and told him, “I know how you feel.” For a few seconds she was quiet. Then she continued with her questions. “No kids, no woman at home?”
Lyfe shook his head. “No kid deserves to have a father with my lifestyle. As for
a woman, many have come and gone, but none have captured my heart.”
“Is there anyone in your family you’re close to? Don’t tell me you’re an orphan like me.”
The two laughed, and Renee had to admit it felt good.
“I have two nieces I’m close to.”
His eyes met Renee’s, and instantly she became uncomfortable. Something inside her told her not to continue with this conversation, but she did, anyway. Hearing about a family outside of hers was a distraction from her life.
“Tell me about them,” she said.
Lyfe didn’t want to have this conversation, but he couldn’t avoid it any longer. It was now or never.
“There’s not much to say. I done right by the youngest. I gave her everything she ever needed and wanted, and even acted as a father figure to her. The other one, the oldest, I failed miserably. I fucked up. Before my brother died, he begged me to look after his girls and allow them to have a relationship. But like I said, I’m the black sheep of the family, so my relationship with everyone except my brother was nonexistent. The girls have different mothers, but his wife, the mother of the oldest, hated me and called me a thug every chance she got. Sometime after his death, she got up and moved without telling anyone where she was going. I searched for my niece for years but came up empty. Then, around five years ago, I found her. She’s all grown up now, and she’s the most powerful woman I’ve ever known.” A lone tear cascaded down Lyfe’s cheek.
Finally, he had released years of pain.
Renee saw the tear, and her chest got tight. Instantly, she became more uncomfortable and didn’t want to hear any more. This was not the type of story she wanted to hear. But for some reason, she still fixed her mouth to ask, “What happened next?”
Lyfe swallowed. He’d got this far, and there was no turning back.
Renee Page 14