by K, S
“SHUT YOUR FILTHY MOUTH! DON’T YOU DARE….”
“NO YOU SHUT UP! I TOLD YOU, YOU DON’T CALL THE SHOTS ANYMORE…I DO!”
They were both silent for a few moments, before Rochelle took a deep calming breath.
“Now, Justine doesn’t know about the pictures…yet. She’s not even aware that I know you, but this is what you’re going to do Keisha. You’re going to break it off with your little boyfriend….”
“No…”
“I don’t care how you do it…”
“No…!”
“And you’re going to do it tonight…”
“NO!”
“Oh, yes. You will Keisha.” Rochelle’s voice was still quiet and confident. “Because if you don’t, I will hand over everything to Justine, then I’ll forward it all to Dominick’s job, his co-workers, his boss, his friends, his church…. When all of that happens, do you think he’s going to want to be with you anyway?? Do you??!! He’s going to hate you, especially for being the cause of him not having his daughter. Don’t fuck with me Keisha! You will break it off with him - tonight!”
Keisha dropped down on the couch because her legs were no longer able to hold her. Her hands were shaking so bad, she could barely hold the phone. ThinkThinkThink, she kept repeating to her shocked brain. Come on Keisha….
“Alright! Alright! But you have to give me some time…
“Tonight!”
Keisha’s voice softened. “Please. Let me do this my way. I thought you said you loved me.”
“Keisha, please, don’t even….”
“You know what ‘Chelle. This is why we couldn’t get along. You were always trying to manipulate me when you didn’t get your way. Everything had to be done when you wanted it done, on your timetable.”
“That’s not true.”
“Oh but it is. And you’re doing the same thing now. Giving me ultimatums, threatening me… Do you think that’s the way to get me back?”
“I need to make you see…”
“You need. See? That’s what I’m talking about. You only see things one way, and that's Rochelle’s way. I can’t be in a relationship with someone like that.” Keisha knew the only chance she had was to work on the feelings that Rochelle claimed she had for her. Her voice hardened. “I won’t be in that type of relationship. If you can’t be the person that I want you to be…that I need you to be, then…”
“I can change,” Rochelle quickly said. “All I ever wanted was a chance to show you how much I loved you….”
“Then prove it to me, because I don’t see it from your actions,” Keisha said sarcastically.
“Oh, and I supposed if I just back down, that’ll prove how much I love you. Do you think I’m stupid?”
“I didn’t ask you to back down, I just asked you for a couple of days. And if you can’t do that for me, then I don’t see anything happening for us in the future. Yeah, I’ll leave Dominick, but I’ll be damned if I jump into a relationship with you to be controlled. In fact, when I leave here tonight, I never want to see you again. Don’t call me. Don’t contact me. Nothing!”
“Alright! Fine!” Rochelle paused as if going over some things in her mind before coming to a decision. “You have two days, Keisha. Two days, and I’m being generous in doing that. But don’t play me for a fool. I’m warning you.”
Keisha breathed a quiet sigh of relief. That’s all she needed. “I’m not. I’ll call you in two days.” Keisha hung up the phone before Rochelle could say anything else.
“Oh my God…” Keisha didn’t know what to do first. She stood up and took a deep breath and looked at her watch. Dominick should be on his way home by now. She snatched up the phone and quickly called Jerra.
“Hello?”
“Jerra! It’s Keisha. Wait a second.” She hit the hold button, and then called Aleesha’s number.
“Hello...”
“Leesh, it’s Keisha. Hold on I have Jerra on the other line.” She conferenced all three of them in on the call. “Leesh? Jerra?” She asked to make sure they were there.
`“Hey girl,” Aleesha said. “So you made it back from Dominick’s birthday surprise, huh?”
“Yeah” Jerra laughed. “We’re surprised you can still walk after holding out on that man for almost a week.”
Silence greeted their teasing.
“Keish?” Leesha called her name. Keisha made a small sound as the cries she’d been holding inside threatened to erupt. She put her hand over her mouth, trying to get control of herself.
“Keisha! What’s wrong?!” Jerra’s demanded. “Keisha!”
“I’m in trouble…” Keisha's voice came out small and thin.
Before she could finish, Aleesha cut her off. “I’m on my way…”
“NO!! No! Dominick would be home by then. I’ll…I’ll come there. Jerra…”
“I’m on my way,” Jerra said.
“Sweetie hurry, but be careful,” Aleesha said to Keisha. She didn’t know why she was so upset, but she’d never heard her sound like this before. “Marcus is working overnight at the hospital, so we'll have some privacy."
“O-Okay. I’m on my way over there.”
Keisha quickly hung up. She was still scared, but she knew her girls would help her figure out what to do...and they had to hurry.
She pulled up to Aleesha’s house, and hadn’t even put the car in park before Aleesha came running out of the house to the car. Keisha opened the door and got out.
“What’s wrong?!” Aleesha grabbed Keisha’s hand as her eyes desperately went over her to make sure she was physically okay.
“Leesh…can…can we just wait on Jerra to get here? I don’t think I can tell the story more than once…”
“Sure, honey. Come on. Let’s go in the house, she should be here-” Before Aleesha could finish the sentence, Jerra came speeding up into the driveway and parked beside Keisha’s car. Jerra was almost ten minutes further from Aleesha than Keisha was, so Keisha knew she must’ve been pushing it to get here a few moments after her.
Jerra hurriedly slammed the door and ran over to her two friends, but her eyes were on Keisha. Without missing a beat, Jerra put her hand on Keisha’s shoulder and demanded. “Baby girl, what’s wrong.”
Now that they were all together, Keisha finally allowed herself to fall apart. She crumbled into Jerra’s arms, sobbing until her entire body shook.
Aleesha hugged her from the side, putting her arms around Keisha and Jerra both as tears ran down her face. She didn’t know what was wrong, but it was something big. She had known Keisha since they were ten years old, and had only seen her cry like this, as if her world had come to an end, once before and that had been when her parents were killed in a plane crash. She had been inconsolable then. She wasn’t much different now.
“Keisha, come on. Let’s go in the house….” Aleesha held her arm on one side, Jerra had the other. When they got inside, Jerra led Keisha to the couch while Aleesha ran to get her a bottle of water. She unscrewed the top and put it to Keisha’s lips. “Here, Keisha. Take a sip.”
Keisha managed to take a couple of sips of the cold water, then blew her nose with the tissue Jerra pushed in her hand. With Jerra on one side and Aleesha on the other, they silently waited for her to compose herself. “Take your time, Keisha,” Jerra told her.
Keisha snorted. “Time? I’m afraid time is the one thing I don’t have right now…”
“Sweetie what happened? Is it Dominick? Did something happen between the two of you, did he do something?” Aleesha gently asked.
At the mention of Dominick’s name, Keisha began to tear up again, and this time Aleesha pulled her head to her shoulder and let her cry. “That’s right, sweetie, just let it out. Shhhh….”
Jerra stood up and began to pace back and forth. Then she stopped in front of Keisha. Worry made her tone sharp and impatient. “Keisha. Tell us. What. Happened….” Aleesha scowled up at Jerra as she rubbed Keisha's back.
Keisha took a deep breath an
d sat up. “Rochelle. Rochelle happened.”
Aleesha's mouth dropped open. Rochelle Delgardo's name was the last thing they expected Keisha to say. Aleesha quickly glanced at Jerra before speaking to Keisha in a gentle voice one might use with a skittish colt.
“Okay. Keisha. Tell us what Rochelle has to do with all of this.” She paused. “Keisha. Please. Tell me that you didn’t sleep with her…again.”
Keisha jerked away from Aleesha as indignation washed over her. “NO!! No, Aleesha, I did NOT sleep with that bitch. If she were standing in front of me now, I would strangle her with my bare hands! If she were on fire, I wouldn’t waste my spit on her!”
Aleesha and Jerra breathed a sigh of relief. Good. This was the Keisha they could deal with. She was feeling anger which was a good thing. Jerra went into lawyer mode.
“What happened? Start from the beginning Keisha.”
Keisha told them about what a good time she and Dominick had last night and this morning. She told them how surprised Dominick had been when he saw where they were going. Aleesha and Jerra already knew what she'd planned for the night - they really didn’t have any secrets from each other. At several points during the planning stage, each of them had accompanied Keisha to the club and given her their opinion on different decisions.
When Keisha paused, Jerra gently urged her on. "Everything went good last night and this morning. So I assume something happened when you made it back home..."
Keisha’s face fell. Shredding the tissue she was holding into tiny, little pieces, she proceeded to tell them about the phone call from Rochelle, and then the email with the pictures and video of Keisha, Dominick, and Tia.
“What?!” Aleesha jumped up. “This bitch had you followed?”
“Aleesha, let her finish,” Jerra said quietly. She was making a mental note of everything Keisha was telling them and wanted every little detail. “Keisha, go on.”
Keisha told them Rochelle knew about Sam, and had befriended Sam’s mother, Justine, and threatened to give all of the information she’d gathered to Justine in order to help the woman gain custody of Samantha. She relayed to them that Rochelle also threatened to make the pictures and video public. She quietly told them the worst of it: that Rochelle hinted around that she would make it seem like Dominick was sexually abusing Sam and involving her in orgies.
“That bitch!” Jerra was beyond hot. She knew what it felt like to be a victim of sexual abuse because her scum of a stepfather had raped her when she was barely fifteen years old. For Rochelle to even hint around at accusing Dom of something so disgusting and vile made her furious.
“She wants me to leave Dominick or else she’ll carry out her threats, but I managed to buy myself a couple of more days. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“And just what in the hell does she expect to happen once you leave Dominick. She can’t honestly think you’ll want to be with her, can she?” Aleesha asked Keisha.
“Yes! Can you believe that shit? The bitch is crazy. You should’ve heard her, going on and on about how much she loved me, and she only wanted to make me happy, but it’s Dominick’s fault that she and I are not together…”
“But you broke up with her before you even met Dominick.”
“That’s what I told her crazy ass! Bitch is certifiable.” As Keisha told the story to her friends, the anger returned. And it felt good.
“Where’s Dominick? Have you told him yet?” Aleesha asked.
Keisha shook her head, not even want to think about telling Dominick yet. “I want to try and handle this first.”
“Keisha! You can’t keep this from him! You have to tell him….”
“Not yet, Leesh. When it’s all over, I’ll tell him. This is my mess and I’ll clean it up.”
“But it involves him and his daughter. You HAVE to tell him!” Aleesha’s tone let her know that this wasn’t up for discussion.
Keisha sat down and covered her face with her hands. Then she looked over at Jerra who'd been quietly staring out the front window.
“J?” Keisha went and stood behind her.
Jerra held up her hand to silence Keisha. Keisha knew this was the way Jerra operated when she was coming up with a plan of attack, so both she and Aleesha just stood there and waited.
Finally, Jerra turned around. “The club. They’re supposed to have strict security to insure the privacy of their guests, aren’t they?”
Keisha nodded. “Yes. They told me they frequently sweep for bugs and other electronic devices in the club as well as the rooms. And it’s required that the rooms are thoroughly checked before a guest uses them.”
“This had to be an inside job in order for that bitch to pull this off. When Tia came in….did she have a purse, or jacket or anything where she could hide a camera or recorder?”
Keisha thought back. “She came in with a small purse. She walked in then sat it down on the dresser, not far from the bed. I didn’t think anything of it…”
“There was no reason to. The surveillance equipment they have today is sophisticated and designed to be undetectable. But she didn’t do this alone. Somebody must have taken pictures of her on the floor of the club with you and Dom and also as she came to the room.”
Jerra continued to stand there with a thoughtful look on her face as her mind went through the legal aspects of the situation with the thoroughness of a computer chip. “The first thing I think we should do - after you talk to Dominick - is contact the club. They need to be made aware of the situation. I’m sure they won’t take kindly to someone, and one of their employees at that, filming and taking picture of their guests for blackmail purposes. Not only that, the contract you signed guaranteed privacy and discretion. The legal ramifications for them could be astronomical, not to mention the publicity. They’re going to have almost as much, or more, incentive than us to contain and get to the bottom of this ASAP."
Keisha felt her chest become a little lighter. A ray of hope began to break through the darkness for the first time since she’d talked to Rochelle. Before she could ask Jerra about their next step, her cell phone rang. She stiffened, and then let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was Dominick and not Rochelle.
“Hi, baby. I forgot to leave a note to ….”
“Where are you.” It wasn’t a question.
Keisha frowned at his tone. "I'm at Aleesha‘s...." The phone went dead before she could even finish the sentence.
“He knows,” Jerra said.
Keisha froze then shook her head. “He can’t know. There’s no way he could. That bitch wouldn’t tell him and risk her plan to get me going up in smoke.”
“Keisha. He knows.” Jerra repeated. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind.
Keisha hugged her body as chills ran up and down her spine. If he knew, then it was over.
Chapter 25
They wouldn’t have long to find out.
Ten minutes later, Dominick rushed into the house without knocking. Keisha tensed when she heard the door open. She stood with Jerra and Aleesha flanking her on either side. Dominick stormed in wildly looking around for Keisha until he spotted her, Jerra, and Aleesha standing in the middle of the room as a solid united front.
His gaze caught and held Keisha’s. She stared at him with large eyes then gasped when she noticed what he was holding in his hand. Her laptop. Her hand covered her mouth as her eyes leapt back to his.
“Keisha, what…” He stopped then looked at Aleesha and Jerra. “I need to speak to Keisha…alone.”
Jerra and Aleesha hesitated. They looked at each other, and then looked at Keisha. Aleesha took Keisha’s hand and squeezed it in encouragement. Dominick’s mouth tightened at the unspoken communication between the three women. Marcus and Darrell tried to tell him they were as thick as fucking thieves. Now he saw what they meant.
Aleesha stopped in front of Dominick on the way out. “Dom,” she said softly.
“Leesh. Not now. Please.” His eyes never left Keisha’s.
; “We’ll be at my house in order to give you two some privacy,” Jerra said before she and Aleesha left.
Dominick stared at Keisha for a moment before he walked over to the coffee table and sat the computer down with slow, controlled movements.
“What is this? Who sent these to you?” Keisha tried to speak, but no words would come out; she was so scared. “Keisha, answer me!”
When Keisha jumped, Dominick made an effort to lower his voice. “Baby…talk to me. What’s going on? Who took pictures and made a video of us last night?”
Keisha cleared her throat. “An ex-girlfriend of mine.” Her voice came out in a low whisper. Dominick’s eyes narrowed, but he remained silent to let her finish. “She’s threatening to show them to your ex-wife - Justine - if I don’t leave you.” Keisha blinked, determined to keep the tears at bay.
Dominick became as still as a statue and tilted his head to the side. That was the last thing that he expected to hear. “What? Why would she do that? For what reason?
“She’s crazy Dominick. That's the only thing I can think of. She…she’s the one who was at my house that night you called and a woman answered the phone. When you and I hung up, I threw her out of my house…it wasn’t very pretty. Apparently, she’s convinced herself that you’re the reason why she and I aren’t together anymore. She hired someone to spy on me. And then last night...” She glanced at the laptop.
Dominick turned his back to Keisha, his hand on his waist frowning as he took all of this in. Keisha was dreading the moment when he put everything together, and a second later - he did.
He swung around and looked at her. “You said she was threatening to give this to Justine. What reason would she have to do that…?” He ran a hand that slightly trembled over his mouth. “The only thing Justine and I have in common anymore is….my daughter.”
Dominick closed his eyes. Shit! He opened his eyes and gave Keisha an intense look.
“Are…are you trying to tell me she’s blackmailing you? If you don’t leave me, she gives this trash to Justine, who in turn could take my daughter away from me? Is that what’s going on here, Keisha??”