by Cachet
By the time security was able to pull him off of Monique, she was nothing but a bloody pulp lying on the floor. While the nurses tended to her, Jessie was arrested and carted off to jail. While Monique was only ordered to attend Alcoholic Anonymous classed, Jessie ended up being sentenced to ten years in prison. Once Monique found out that Jessie wasn’t coming home, she served him with divorce papers. She was glad to be done with him and immediately went on to live her life, while he began to count down the days until he was a free man again.
“So, do you think she’s going to let you go to the party?” NiChia asked, once Dominque was off the phone.
She hoped that Monique would allow Dominique to go because she was looking forward to spending time with her sister. She hadn’t really had a chance to kick it with her because Monique tried her best to keep them apart. Once she found out that NiChia was actually Jessie’s daughter, she treated her like the plague, and she was no longer welcome in her house. It happed right after Jessie was sentenced. Monique was getting rid of all of his stuff, when she stumbled upon the letter that Nicole had written years prior. Her saw nothing but red as she read line after line on the sheet of paper. Even though it was written that they hadn’t had sex since they’d been together, Monique believed otherwise and thought that Jessie had a lot of nerve. He had been creeping with that bitch for years, yet he wanted to beat her ass for wanting to party, and taking a few drinks. In Monique’s mind, Jessie was just as bad as she was. Immediately after finding the letter, she kicked NiChia out of her house and told her to never come back again.
“I hope so because I ain’t trying to be stuck in the house babysitting all weekend,” Dominique replied, rolling her eyes.
“I know that’s right,” NiChia agreed. “Yo’ momma be acting like you laid down and had those kids. Ain’t no way in hell you should have to take care of them while she runs the damn streets. I can’t stand that woman,” she told her, thinking about how terrible Monique used to treat her.
They were sitting on the couch at their grandmother’s. Since Monique banned everything Jessie at their house, the only way that Dominique could speak to her father was when she was visiting Franny, which wasn’t often at all. Now a widow, Franny always made sure that her phone bill was paid, so that her only child could communicate with the outside world. Her son was all she had left, after her husband, James, died of a stroke the year before Jessie went to prison. That was until Monique sent NiChia off to live with her. Even though Franny was much older now, she didn’t bat an eye when she opened the door and saw NiChia standing there in the rain soaking wet with tears running down her face. Monique didn’t even care that she had put a twelve year in a cab by herself in the middle of the night with nothing but a small book bag filled with her belongings and Franny’s address. From that day forward, NiChia became Franny’s responsibility, and she welcomed her with open arms. To Franny, it was just like old times when Nicole used to come over and stay day in and day out. Truth be told, she always wished that Jessie would have married Nicole instead of Monique; who in her opinion was a ghettofied hood rat.
“Nikki, are you ready?” Franny asked with her car keys in her hand.
“Yeah, I’m ready grandma,” Dominique sighed.
She realized that she had to go home, but she didn’t feel like it at all. From the conversation she had with her mother earlier that day, she already knew that Monique was in a bad mood and more than likely wasn’t going to allow her go to the party. Dominique hoped that by bringing Franny along with her, her mother would take it easy and let her go. Since she hadn’t seen or heard from Kaleb since the day before, she missed him dearly. While she wasn’t looking forward to the conversation they needed to have, she just wanted to get it over with.
“Peanut, are you going or are you staying here?” Franny asked, calling NiChia by her nickname.
“I’ll stay here, grandma!” she yelled back. “Call me and let me know what she says Nikki.”
“Will do,” Dominique promised, before they walked out of the door to make the thirty minute drive back to Atlanta.
Chapter Five
“Didn’t I mutha’fucking say no?” Monique hollered from her bedroom door. “I’m going out tonight, and you gotta watch the kids.”
“But Ma, I’m always watching the kids,” Dominique pouted. She felt brave knowing that her grandmother was there, and figured that Monique wouldn’t touch her.
“Girl, you better get the fuck out my face before I beatcho’ ass!” Monique warned. “You think because your grandmother is here, I won’t knock yo’ ass out? You better act like you know.”
“Calm down Monique,” Franny intervened. “How about I take the kids with me to my house while you go out? That way, Nikki can go to the party and have some fun for once.”
Monique walked completely out of her room and into the kitchen. She looked at the older woman with a smirk on her face. She found it amusing how Franny was so quick to come to Dominique’s rescue. Her lips quickly turned up into a scowl. Monique continued to stare at the pair as she thought about all of the times that she had asked Franny to watch the kids and had been turned down. Now that Little Miss Dominique wanted to go somewhere, Franny was offering to keep them all. Seeing the hopeful look on her daughter’s face made Monique feel warm and tingly inside because she knew that she was about to wipe that stupid grin right off. There was no way in hell that she was going to allow Dominique to go anywhere, and it wasn’t because she had some place to be. Truthfully, Monique had nowhere to go, but she would leave the house and drive around for hours before she allowed Dominique to have even a little bit of fun.
“I don’t know why you looking happy and shit because I said no!” Monique yelled. “Now, get the fuck out of my face.”
“Why do you always have to be such a bitch?” Franny asked, shocking Dominique, who had never heard her grandmother curse.
“Excuse me?” Monique asked, taken back. She chuckled when she realized that Franny was trying to jump bad. Taking a few steps in her ex-mother-in-law’s direction, she asked, “What the fuck did you just say to me?”
“I said, why do you always have to be such a bitch?” Franny repeated, with no fear whatsoever. “You walk around here treating your kids like shit, just because you can. Do you ever stop and think about what you are doing to them…especially Dominique. You act like she’s your personal assistant in this damn house! She’s sixteen years old, and you got her taking care of your kids, cooking, cleaning, and everything else that you don’t wanna do around this mutha’fucka! The damn girl never even gets a chance to do shit and that’s all because of you.” Franny twisted her neck and placed her hand on her hips.
“You need to get yo’ old ass the fuck up out of my house right now, before I really tell you about yourself. You don’t know what the fuck goes on in my household,” Monique spoke. She glanced over at Dominique, who quickly dropped her eyes.
“I know enough. I know that you don’t do shit but sit on your ass, cash these kids’ social security checks, and give out orders like you the fucking queen of England or something.” Franny was so upset; her usual caramel complexion was turning red. “There are some women who shouldn’t have kids and you, my dear, are one of them. I knew I should have backed my son up when he told you to get the fuck off of our porch all those years ago. You were a piece of ghetto trash then, and you are a piece of ghetto trash now. We should’ve left you where Jessie found you, and that was in the gutter.
Monique moved at the speed of light and was in Franny’s face before she knew it.
“Listen bitch,” she said through clenched teeth, “you better watch how you speak to me in my house because I’m not above kicking yo’ ass,” Monique warned. “I suggest you take yo’ wrinkly ass on home before you take me there. Yo’ old ass limped up in here, but if you keep fucking with me, you gone end up crawling out. Don’t believe me if you want to.”
“You don’t scare me bitc—” Before Franny had to chance to finish
her sentence, Monique popped her in the mouth with a closed fist.
The two women began to tussle in the kitchen. Although Franny was more than twenty years older than Monique, she gave her a run for her money; that was until she tripped over one of the legs of the kitchen chair. At first, Dominique stood there stuck. She couldn’t believe that her mother and grandmother were actually fighting. The sound of Tiffany screaming jolted Dominique out of her surprised state. She rushed over to where they were fighting and grabbed her mother by the back of her shirt, trying to get her off of Franny, who was now lying on the floor. When Monique felt her daughter tugging at her, she turned around slightly and swung on Dominique, hitting her square in the eye.
That was all it took. Dominique let go of her mother’s shirt and grabbed chunks of her hair with both hands. She dragged her off of her grandmother backwards, and slung her into the adjacent wall. Monique recovered quickly and started to swing on Dominique rapidly, throwing punch after punch. Normally, this would be the time that Dominique would curl up in an attempt to protect her face, but today wasn’t one of those days. Instead, Dominique hauled off and punched her mother so hard Monique immediately fell to the floor. Seeing her mother in such a vulnerable state triggered something inside her. Maybe it was all of the other times that she had been in that same position, while her mother beat on her time and again. Whatever the reason was, Dominique took advantage of the situation.
She leaned down and grabbed a chunk of her mother’s hair again, this time with her left hand, and started to viciously punch her with the right. Monique screamed and tried to fight back, but it was no use, so she tried to curl up and protect her face. Ironically, it was the same thing that had gone down just days before. This time, Dominique was the one who was getting in the licks, and Monique was on the receiving end. While Dominique continued to hit her mother, she thought about all of the things that Monique had done to her. She was tired of her mother putting her hands on people and she was going to teach her a lesson. With each punch she delivered, she looked at it as pay back.
“Bitch, I’m gone show you!” Dominique yelled.
It was one thing for Monique to hit her, but to put her hands on her grandmother was a whole different thing. Monique was going to see how it felt to be hit and abused, and at that point, Dominique didn’t care what the consequence was. She continued to punch her mother over and over again.
“That’s enough, Dominique!” Hearing her grandmother’s voice didn’t even stop Dominique because at that moment, she was too far gone. “Stop it baby, please stop!” Franny yelled, placing her hand on Dominique’s shoulder. “Help me Tiffany!”
With Tiffany joining in, they were able to successfully pry Dominique off of her mother, who was now wearing a bloody nose and busted lip. Monique jumped up ready to fight again. She rushed over towards where Franny and Tiffany were holding Dominique back with her fist balled up.
“Bitch, I should kill you!” she screamed, while taking a swing over Franny’s head.
“No!” Franny yelled with her arm out, putting space between her and Dominique. “Leave her the fuck alone before I call the police. I don’t think they’d want to hear anything you have to say after I tell them that you’ve assaulted me.”
Those words halted Monique right in her tracks. She was still ready to fuck Dominique up, but knew that if Franny called the police, no matter what she said about her daughter, she was going to go to jail. That was something that she didn’t want, so she took a few steps back. She continued to look at Dominique with fire in her eyes, silently letting her know that the shit between the two of them was far from over.
“I’m taking her with me,” Franny spoke.
She grabbed Dominique’s arm and began to back up out of the kitchen. Before they made it through the door, her face contorted into a painful expression as she clutched her chest. Seconds later, she fell to the floor.
“Ahhh, my chest,” Franny moaned.
Dominique hurried and bent down by her grandmother’s side, while Tiffany stood in the corner crying hysterically. Monique, on the other hand, stared down at her ex-mother-in-law with fear in her eyes. She knew that more than likely their fight was the reason why Franny was on the floor struggling to breath. Monique was terrified. It wasn’t Franny that she worried about because she could have died right there for all she cared. No, Monique was scared that she would be to blame for it. Franny’s chest heaved up and down as she fought to catch her breath. She looked up at her granddaughter helplessly because she was truly scared that this was the end.
“Call 911!” Dominique screamed as tears spilled from her eyes. “Grandma, it’s going to be okay.” She cried, while saying a silent prayer.
Four days later, Dominique sat in a chair in her grandmother’s hospital room. Franny had suffered a heart attack right there in her house and it was all because of her mother, and the fact that she could never learn to keep her hands to herself. Once the ambulance got there, they asked questions about what had happened leading up to her heart attack. Franny wouldn’t disclose the fact that it was Monique who had put everything in motion. She simply said that she was there to pick up her granddaughter and fell as they made their way to the door. This pleased Monique, who had been worried sick from the time that 911 had been called, all the way up until the time they had arrived. She didn’t want to go to jail, so Franny’s lie was music to her ears.
Once at the hospital, Dominique asked her grandmother why she didn’t tell on her mother, and Franny told her that she didn’t because she didn’t want the kids to be without their mother. She also reminded Dominique that she too could have gotten in trouble behind everything also because she had assaulted her mother as well. Dominique didn’t care if she got in trouble; all she wanted was for Monique to pay for what she did. Dominique knew that what her mother had done was much worse, and at the end of the day, she could have easily say that she was protecting her grandmother, which wasn’t a lie
The doctors had decided to keep Franny for one last day to finishing running test and make sure that she was officially in the clear to go home. He also told her that once she was released, she would have to start eating better and stop stressing so much over things. Eating better wasn’t an issue for Franny because she had already started a path to healthy living a few weeks prior, but no stress was another issue. As a mother of a son in prison, she worried about Jessie day in and day out. Although she knew that he could take care of himself, the fear of the unknown scared her. He was incarcerated in a place filled with killers, so it was only right that she worried about him. He was her baby, after all.
“How is Franny doing now?” Shanice, Nikki’s best friend, asked over the phone.
“She’s doing a lot better. They just took her downstairs to run a few more tests, before they let her go home tomorrow,” Dominique explained.
“Girl, I still can’t believe yo’ crazy ass momma fought yo’ granny,” Shanice exclaimed. “What’s even more shocking is the fact that you jumped in and fought yo’ momma! Now that’s crazy.”
“I know right? It felt good to jab her ass a few times.” Dominique giggled.
“I swear I thought you were lying that day when you called me from the hospital and told me what had happened. I would have never believed no shit like that.”
“Me either, but you should have seen how she was kicking and screaming on the floor while I was tagging her ass.”
“Girl, I wish I was a fly on the wall.”
“Her ass thought she could really handle me after all those times I let her hit me. I guess I showed her. You know I don’t play about my grandma.”
“I know you don’t,” Shanice agreed.
“Anyways, enough about that heffa. Tell me about the party. Did I miss anything?”
“It was okay, and yeah, you missed a lot.”
“Damn, now I really wish I would have been able to go,” Dominique said sadly. “Did you get a chance to tell Kaleb what
I said?”
“Yeah, I did, but listen because I have something I have to tell you.”
“Ummm, okay. What is it?” Dominique asked, worried by how her best friend’s tone changed. She hoped that nothing was wrong with one of her brothers or sisters because she would feel terrible knowing that she hadn’t checked on them since Franny had been in the hospital. When Dominique didn’t hear anything, she thought the phone had somehow hung up. “Hello?”
“Yeah, I’m here. I’m just trying to figure out how to say this,” Shanice hesitated.
“Girl, spill the beans and stop holding out, damn,” Dominique ordered, getting irritated of her stalling.
“Okay, well some shit went down with Kaleb.
“Oh my God, did something happen to him?” Dominique asked in a panic.
“No, nothing happened to him…well, at least not what you’re thinking.”
“Girl, if you don’t stop fucking beating around the damn bush! What the hell happened?” Now upset, Dominique was tired of her friend playing games.
“Alright damn! He supposedly hooked up with some chick.” Shanice blurted out.
“Swear to God,” Dominique gasped. She hoped that she had heard her wrong.
“I swear.”
“What chick?”
Shanice thought for a moment before she responded. “I’m not sure what her name is, but supposedly she just transferred to our school. Her cousin was the one who brought her to the party. Apparently, she and Kaleb started talking and before the night was out, they ended up in the bathroom upstairs. People took pictures and everything,” Shanice continued to talk, but Dominique didn’t hear anything after she said that Kaleb ended up in the bathroom with the girl. She was truly lost for words and couldn’t believe that he would do something like that to her.