“I need to make a phone call,” Indigo said once she was processed into the juvenile facility. She felt the dark cloud of depression forming around her and she didn’t know how to stop it. That happened every time she thought of her mother and she thought about her often. The images of seeing her dead body before and during her funeral would forever be etched in her memory.
“Five minutes!” the guard yelled as he handed her the phone that was on the circular desk. Indigo dialed her father’s number and prayed that he picked up. She was sure that Boston had talked to him by now.
“Hey daddy,” Indigo said as soon as Irvin answered.
“Are you okay baby? Don’t worry about nothing; I’ll be there to get you as soon as I can,” Irvin promised her.
“I’m okay but I’m sure you can’t do anything until morning. Is Boston there?” she asked.
“Yeah, he’s here and I dare his ass to leave out again. He’s upset about you being in there but it’ll be okay,” Irvin said.
“Can you stay with him until he falls asleep daddy?” Indigo asked.
“Yeah baby, I will,” Irvin replied, understanding exactly what his baby girl was saying. “I just wish y’all would talk to somebody.”
He’d been begging Indigo and Boston to see a therapist but they both refused. Not many people could handle what they’d been through and they were just kids. Finding a stranger dead had to be traumatizing enough but it was even worse for them. They found the people who they loved and took care of them dead in the most gruesome way and they didn’t know how to handle it. In their minds, they were okay but Irvin knew better. They were angry and Boston still couldn’t sleep alone. He had abandonment issues that played a big part of it too. In his mind, everyone that he’d ever loved left him and that scared him more than anything.
“We’re not crazy daddy,” Indigo interjected.
“Talking to a therapist doesn’t make you crazy but not talking to someone can. That’s one of the problems in the black community. We think we can fix ourselves but, sometimes, we need help,” Irvin argued.
“Writing it out helps too,” Indigo replied.
For as long as she could remember, her mother kept a journal that she wrote in faithfully. They were actually diaries, but Precious always felt like that was a childish term and she preferred journal instead. When she died, Indigo found about twelve of them that she cherished. She was close with her mother and the journals made her feel even closer. She learned things about her mother that she was probably too ashamed to say out loud. Indigo still hadn’t read them all because she got too emotional whenever she did. Lately, Indigo had started to do the same thing. Whenever she felt down, she would grab her journal and write down her thoughts. To her, it was helping but her father didn’t think it was enough.
“Writing out your feelings is okay but talking about them is even better. I just want what’s best for you baby,” Irvin said, pulling Indigo away from her thoughts.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” Indigo replied, breaking her father’s heart.
“I just hate that you won’t be home tonight. That’s no place for you to be. I want so much more than that for you Indigo,” Irvin sighed.
“I’m sorry daddy. I know that I’ve been nothing but trouble since I came to live with you. I don’t even blame Cynthia for not wanting me there,” Indigo said.
“You listen to me, Indigo Lawson, and you listen good. You are my child and that will never change. I can get a million wives but I’ll still only have one of you. You’re not perfect and I don’t expect you to be. You went through a traumatic experience last year and I can’t even begin to imagine how you feel. We’re going to get through this just like we got through everything else,” Irvin assured her, right as the guard yelled and told her that her time was up.
“I gotta go daddy. I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you,” Indigo said.
“Okay baby, I love you too and I’ll be there first thing in the morning to get you,” Irvin promised before she hung up.
Going home the next morning was the best thing that could have happened to her. Unfortunately, that didn’t take place. They gave Indigo one of the toughest judges in the juvenile system and he decided to make an example out of her. He claimed that he was tired of the revolving door process with her and she obviously hadn’t learned her lesson. Since her seventeenth birthday was six months away, he decided to keep her locked up until then. Boston went crazy when he found out but there was nothing that he could do about it. His best friend, the only person who loved him unconditionally, was going away for six months and he didn’t know how to handle it. Knowing that it was his fault only made it worse. He knew that he would be lost without her but he was comforted by the fact that she wasn’t gone forever. Boss vowed to do things differently after that to make sure that he never put him or his best friend in that position ever again.
I ndigo inhaled before she exhaled and blew out the candles that sat on her perfectly set dinner table. Getting mad was a waste of her time because she was used to it. Her live-in boyfriend of three years, Justice, stood her up yet again and she was over it. He swore that he would be home in time to join her in celebrating their third year anniversary but she knew that it was too good to be true. Justice was a workaholic and nothing, not even Indigo, came before his job as supervisor at the Lexus car assembly line. He’d been working there for seven years and he busted his ass to become the only black male supervisor. Indigo was very understanding, but he was too insensitive at times. It would have taken him no more than a minute to call and say that he couldn’t make it but that was too much like right. Indigo picked up her phone and decided to call someone that she could vent to.
“What’s up Indie?” Boss asked when he answered the phone.
“Are you hungry?” Indigo questioned.
“Stop asking stupid questions. You know a nigga smoke like a train. I’m always hungry,” Boston replied.
“Where are you?” Indigo asked.
“On my way to you since you got food,” Boss replied.
“Did you go handle that business at the house?” Indigo questioned.
“Yeah man. They broke the fucking knob on the shower and the water wouldn’t turn off. I hope our damn water bill don’t be too high because of that shit,” Boss replied.
“I don’t even know why you agreed to renew their lease. They ain’t doing nothing but running a hoe house over there. They’re gonna tear the damn house up. These next few months can’t pass fast enough. That shit ain’t getting renewed again,” Indigo noted.
“I don’t give a fuck what they do, as long as the rent gets paid on time,” Boss said.
“Yeah right. You only agreed to let them stay because you’re fucking one of them,” Indigo pointed out.
“Two of them but that’s not the point,” Boss replied.
“Seriously Boston? I can’t believe that you’re still fucking with Ari after that whole baby thing,” Indigo argued.
“Who said anything about Ari? As much as I love money, I wouldn’t fuck with her again, even if she paid me. The only reason I didn’t put a bullet in her head is because of my past history with her brother.” Boss frowned.
“That’s fucked up. So, you’re fucking with one of her roommates?” Indigo asked.
“Both of them. Didn’t I just say that?” he corrected.
“I can’t with you. It’s bad enough that Ari is the best friend of your newest girlfriend’s sister. You just keep digging yourself in a deeper hole,” she argued.
“First off, I don’t have a girl. I’ve only been in one relationship in my life and it wasn’t with any of them. I don’t owe none of them hoes nothing but the dick that I’m slangin’ every night. They’re our tenants and that’s all. As long as rent gets paid, it’s all good,” he replied with an uncaring shrug.
Boss and Indigo now owned the six bedroom, four bath home that they lived in before Precious got killed. It was left to them in her will, along with her insurance pol
icy and all the money in her bank accounts. They both agreed that living there wasn’t happening at the time, so they decided to rent it out instead. Three friends had been staying there for the past year and they had about six or seven more months to go on their current lease. The house was way too big for the three of them but they loved the extra space. It was a revolving door for a plethora of men, but they had the rent paid on time every month and that was all that Boss cared about. Ari was the sister of one of Boston’s old friends, Westly, that he dealt with off and on for a while. She was crazy in love with him and even tried to put a baby on him once. Boston loved kids and he was willing to handle his business, even though he didn’t want her anymore. The only thing he wanted was a DNA test to prove that he was the father, but Ari refused.
Once she had the baby, she drove Boston crazy. It was Indigo who came up with a plan to get rid of Ari once and for all. She pretended that she and Boston wanted to take the baby shopping and Ari’s dumb ass quickly handed her daughter over to them. They went straight to the DNA testing center and had a test done. When the results came back that he was not the father, Boston had copies made and passed them out everywhere. Ari worked at Hooters and that was the first place that he went to. Indigo told him not to do it but he was petty as hell.
As a result, Ari hated him, but she hated Indigo even more. She swore that Indigo pulled his strings, but Boston was crazy all by himself. When one of the dancers at Dixie’s approached them about renting the house with two friends, they didn’t realize that Ari would be one of them until they were all moved in. That still didn’t stop Boston from creepin’ over there a few nights a week sleeping with the other two women. Keema was a police lady who was engaged to be married and Quita had been dancing since she was old enough to get into the clubs. They both thought that he was keeping their dealings under wraps because of Ari. He was actually keeping it quiet because he didn’t want them to tell each other.
With the help of Irvin, Boss and Indigo used the rest of their money and purchased another fourplex from a government auction. They hired a few Hispanic laborers and they had the place looking brand new in no time. Besides their rental properties, Boss and Indigo were hustlers. Neither of them graduated high school but they knew how to get money. Boss drove school buses during the day and that was how he made the bulk of his money. The school board didn’t pay much but the parents who he sold his dope to more than made up for that. He was also part owner of a concrete company with his boy, Draco. Boss didn’t know the first thing about the concrete business but Draco did. All he needed was the money to start it up and that’s where Boss came in at. Draco could have easily gotten the money from his mother, Dixie, but he didn’t want her to have a hand in his company. He knew how she was and she would have eventually tried to run it. Dixie owned and operated an upscale strip club and she was making more than enough money doing that.
Indigo worked as a bartender at Dixie’s Dynasty part time and she also put in a few hours at Boston’s father’s place, The Pit Stop. Precious worked as a bartender at Dixie’s until she decided to start dancing. Greg was Dixie’s brother and the club was where they met. Dixie and her older brother, Grant, made it their business to always look after Indigo and Boss because they knew that their brother would have done the same thing had he not been killed with Precious. Grant was their go-to person and he was who Boss called all those years ago when Indigo got locked up. He never asked any questions but was always there whenever they needed him.
After months of searching, Indigo finally found a vendor who sold quality hair. She was making a killing from that, as well as the pills that she sold at Dixie’s. Boss used to be in charge of the pills until he developed a nasty habit that he had to seek help for. They had money coming in from everywhere and Boston had no complaints. He swore that he would never go hungry again and he meant that from his heart. He and Indigo had a joint account that the money from their rental property went into and it was sitting at six figures and climbing.
“Come in!” Indigo yelled when someone knocked at her door.
“What’s good baby? Y’all lil date night is over already? That nigga Justice should be balls deep in some pussy by now,” Boss laughed when he walked into the house.
“Fuck Justice!” Indigo spat angrily as she drank from her glass of wine.
“What happened?” Boss asked as he dug into the grilled lobster, salmon and pasta. Indigo could cook her ass off, so he wasted no time stuffing his mouth.
“Same shit as always. Work comes before me and everything else. I don’t know why I even waste my time,” Indigo fussed as she watched him devour a meal that was meant for two. Boston didn’t believe in wasting food and he would feed the world if he could. He’d been that way since he was a little boy and had to go to bed hungry some nights.
“I feel you, baby, but I’m all for a man being a man. He’s trying to secure the bag to take care of you,” Boss defended.
“Seriously Boston? I’m out here grinding every fucking day to make sure that I don’t have to depend on nobody to do shit for me. I asked him if he could handle us being together before we got this condo and he swore that he could. I understand if his job comes first, but I’m not about to sit around and play number two,” Indigo said, right as her phone rang. She thought it was Justice finally calling her back but it was her cousin, Monroe, instead.
“Hey Indie,” Monroe said as soon as her cousin answered the phone.
“Hey baby. Are you okay?” Indigo asked in a soft voice.
“Yeah, I’m okay. I took my meds and I had a good day today,” Monroe said, sounding cheerful.
“That’s good boo. I’m happy to hear that. Did you eat anything? If not, I can bring you some of what I cooked,” Indigo offered, hoping that her cousin declined. Boston had damn near finished the entire meal and she didn’t have anything left to bring.
“No, Ellis took me and Treva out for dinner,” Monroe replied.
“Aww, that was sweet of him,” Indigo replied.
Monroe was the only cousin that she had on her mother’s side. Precious and Monroe’s mother, Mona, were first cousins and they were both their mother’s only kids. For as long as Indigo could remember, Mona had issues that she was too young to really understand. She just remembered Precious having to always go to her cousin’s house to calm her down or take Monroe to their house for a while when Mona had to go away. It wasn’t until Indigo became a teenager that she understood what was wrong. Mona had schizophrenia and she often suffered with psychosis. She would swear that she heard voices telling her to do certain things and she hated to take her medicine. She was always paranoid and suspicious of everything and everyone around her.
When Monroe started acting out, her grandmother recognized the symptoms right away. At only twelve years old, she was diagnosed with the same sickness that her mother had trouble living with and controlling. A year after Precious was killed, Mona took her own life, but not before trying to take her only child out with her. She shot Monroe in the chest twice but, by the grace of God, she survived. Besides her grandmother, Indigo was the only one who could control her when she was having an episode.
For a while, Monroe learned to cope with the help of her meds. She found a job that she liked and even had a boyfriend. That all ended when she turned eighteen and shot her boyfriend dead and critically injured his sister. She claimed that he was plotting to kill her first and his sister was going to help. That was never proven because the case was never heard in court. It didn’t take long for a judge to find her incompetent to stand trial and ordered her to a psychiatric hospital. Her medical records backed his decision and so did the list of medications that she was on. Monroe stayed in the facility for three years and was released to the custody of her grandmother once they felt that she was better.
While in the facility, Monroe met Ellis and Treva and they now all lived together. She said that she was in a relationship with both of them and she really was. She had a boyfriend and a girlfriend
and all three of them were crazy as hell. Indigo didn’t agree with them all being under the same roof, but there was only so much that she could do. Monroe’s grandmother, Bernice, was Indigo’s grandmother’s sister and they both lived together in a senior apartment complex. The sisters had a lot in common and they were the only living siblings. Besides losing their husbands, they’d both lost their only daughters and only had one granddaughter each.
“Yeah, it was. I’m trying to see if Dixie will let me off so I can come to Miami with y’all,” Monroe said, pulling Indigo away from her thoughts.
Although Dixie was against it at first, Indigo finally convinced her to hire Monroe as a bottle girl. Monroe got a check every month due to her diagnosis but Dixie paid under the table. Indigo had to promise to keep an eye on her and Dixie always tried to make sure that their schedules were the same if it was possible.
“I’ll talk to her for you,” Indigo replied.
“Okay. I love you cousin and I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“I love you too honey and call me if you need anything,” Indigo replied before she hung up.
“Monroe good?” Boston asked once she was done talking.
“Yeah, she’s straight. Have you talked to Kissy?” Indio questioned.
“You know I haven’t. Why? Is she good? Does she need anything?” he countered.
“If you called or visited more often, you would already know the answers to your questions. She misses you.”
“I know. I’m gonna go see her,” Boss swore.
“You always say that but you never go. I know that seeing her brings up some painful memories but that’s not fair,” Indigo said.
To Boston, With Love Page 2