by K, S
She touched his shoulder and called his name again. In the darkness, she frowned and pulled her hand away, rubbing her fingers together at the warm sticky substance on the sheet. Leaning over him, she turned on the small table lamp sitting on his nightstand. When she looked down, her scream was bloodcurdling and full of terror.
The judge's throat had been slashed from ear to ear and his tongue pulled out through the gaping, open wound, lying against his flesh like a bloody steak ready to be cooked. Blood saturated the front of his pajamas and the bed covers, and flowed from his body like a sea of murky, red water. Whoever had murdered him had done the job swiftly with an expertise which suggested a professional hit.
Several days later, Dominick was scheduled to be taken away to begin his sentence. The guard brought him to a room first and told to sit down. When Angel walked in five minutes later, Dominick stared at him with eyes full of distrust.
“Nick...you have to believe me. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Dominick shook his head. “Save it! I don't believe a word you say!” Dominick didn’t want to cry, but the tears would not be stifled.
“You know I would never lie to you! Nick please. I'm gonna take care of it!”
“I want to go home! Can you do that?! Mom and Pop were right! You only care about yourself, Angelo! From now on I don’t have a brother! Do you hear me?! You’re dead to me! I never want to see you again!”
Angelo’s heart felt as if it had been twisted and ripped out of his chest.
“Get out! I hate you, Angelo!”
That was the last time Dominick saw his brother. True to his word, months later Angel was somehow able to get a judge to declare a mistrial, and Dominick was retried. Five of the ten year sentence was suspended, which would allow him to be released when he turned twenty-one.
At age eighteen, once he was transferred to a minimum security prison, Dom still had to prove himself and earn respect. He'd already become hard and jaded from the horrors he'd witnessed in prison, although none of it touched him because of Angle's protection. While locked up, he got his GED and then his college degree in two years’ time.
Moments before he walked out the gates to freedom, an envelope was delivered to him. Enclosed was a check with enough zero’s to enable him to finish his education as he had planned to do and live comfortably for the rest of his life. Dominick burnt the check and ground it into the dirt once he was outside. He didn’t want his brother’s guilt money. The only thing he wanted from him was to be left alone.
Dominick never attempted to make contact with Angel…until last night.
“Dom?” Keisha rose to one elbow and blinked up at him through tired, bleary eyes.
“Hi, baby.”
Keisha looked over at the window and saw that the sun was beginning to rise. “You haven’t been to sleep? Baby, you need some rest.”
“I’m fine, Keisha. By the time I close my eyes, it would be time for me to get up anyway.”
“How did it go last night? Who did you go to see?”
Dominick was silent for a long time before he spoke. “My brother.”
“Your….I didn’t know you had a brother. You told me your family was dead. He lives here…in Vegas?”
“Yep.”
“Why haven’t you ever mentioned him?”
“My family - the only family that meant something to me - is gone. But I had no other choice. I knew if anyone could help us, he could.” Plus, as Dominick had told Angel - he owed him.
He went over to lie beside Keisha on the bed and slowly told her the entire story. Some of the things he admitted to her, he’d never breathed to another living soul. His ex-wife knew very little about his early life. The hurt he’d kept buried deep inside came flooding out as did the regret he felt for his wasted youth, sorrow for the parents he still missed so much…and the sense of loss he felt for the brother he mourned as if he, too, were dead. She let him talk until he fell into an exhausted sleep.
Closing her eyes, she held him to her breast and soothingly rubbed his back. One way or the other, Rochelle would pay for bringing this pain into their lives. When she saw that psycho bitch, she was going to give a whole new definition to the word crazy.
Chapter 28
Dominick's eyes opened as the sun came through the windows. He looked around, disoriented at first and not knowing where he was. Then he remembered. He was at Darrell’s. Dom looked at his watch and saw that he had been asleep for two hours. When he saw Keisha was not there, he jumped up out of the bed.
“Dammit!”
Grabbing his shirt off the chair, he quickly walked out of the room. He found Darrell and Marcus along with Aleesha and Keisha in the kitchen sitting at the table.
Dominick glared at Keisha as he buttoned up his shirt. “Why didn’t you wake me?”
Keisha got up and went over to Dominick. “You needed to rest. You were up all night.”
Dominick looked around. “Where’s Jerra? She left already?”
“Yeah. She’s been gone about an hour.”
“Shit! Keisha, you knew I wanted to go with her to meet with Sapphire’s lawyers.”
“Dom, she wanted to go by herself. She’s handlin’ it, man," Darrell said.
“Baby, do you want something to eat, a cup…”
“I’m not hungry.” he snapped.
Keisha tried to keep the hurt out of her eyes at his abrupt tone but was unsuccessful. Dominick sighed and pulled her to him. “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to bite your head off.”
“It’s okay. I understand.”
“Dominick, I know it’s hard, but right, now all we can do is wait. Jerrra should be back in a couple of hours, and your brother should be calling you soon. This’ll all be over with today,” Marcus tried to reassure him.
Dominick exhaled a deep breath. “You’re right. The waiting is driving me crazy, though. I think we’re gonna head home so I can take a shower. If Jerra comes back before I get in touch….”
“We’ll call you the minute she gets home.”
An hour later, Dominick was pulling on a pair of jeans and t-shirt. He looked at the clock. Although tempted to call Angelo, he resisted. He knew his brother would call him the minute he had some news.
Dominick walked to the living room and picked up the picture of Samantha which was sitting by the sofa. His fingers traced over the glass, outlining her delicate features. She was the best part of him, and he could do no wrong in her eyes. He‘d do anything to keep her happy and safe.
Putting the frame down, he began to pace with restless energy, unable to remain still. Just when he thought he couldn’t stand it any longer, his phone rang. His breath caught in his throat when he heard Angel speak the words he’d been waiting to hear:
“We have her.”
Dominick followed the instructions the automated voice from the GPS gave to direct him to the location where Angel was waiting.
“How much farther?” Keisha asked.
Dominick had tried in vain to keep her from coming, but she’d refused to stay at home and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Keisha was one of the most stubborn women he'd ever met. Short of tying her up and putting her in a closet, he'd had no choice but to agree.
“We’re almost there. Actually, it should be right over this hill.”
“Why did he bring her all the way out here?”
Dominick glanced at her before pulling his attention back to the road and ignored the question. He knew why, and the explanation was exactly why he hadn’t wanted her to come with him. His brother didn’t tolerate fools, stupidity, or threats lightly…and Rochelle was a stupid fool who had threatened his family. Three strikes.
A few minutes later, they pulled beside several cars parked in front of a huge warehouse. The area was very isolated. They hadn’t passed another structure for miles. Dominick didn’t even want to think about what his brother used this warehouse for. Behind the building there was a hangar which housed one of Angel’s smaller private planes.
That answered the question of how they’d gotten her here quickly and with so little trouble. As they got out of the car, Dominick grabbed Keisha’s hand in his and searched her face for any hint of distress.
“I’m okay,” she answered his unspoken question. “Let’s just get this over with.”
Two men were standing outside of the entrance of the building. They nodded to Dominick and immediately pushed the heavy door open for them to go inside.
“Dominick. This way.” Oscar came to meet them from the back of the warehouse.
Keisha glanced around at the stacks and stacks of large boxes and crates, wondering what was inside of them. She looked at the older man who was walking towards them.
Dominick had told her about Oscar; she knew he considered him a surrogate uncle. He had been the only person Dominick had allowed to visit him in prison.
Oscar had encouraged Dom when he was at his lowest. He’d also urged Dominick to use his time behind bars wisely and get an education. Oscar constantly reminded him, just because his body was imprisoned didn’t mean his mind had to be.
Oscar hugged Dominick then studied Keisha for a long few moments before he was satisfied. He looked at Dominick and nodded his approval. “Hello, Keisha. It’s good to finally meet you. I know you have your hands full with this one. You’re very lovely, but if Nick liked you, I knew you would be. All I ask is that you treat him right.”
“I will.” Keisha smiled as he reached down and kissed her on the cheek.
With a grim expression, he told Dominick, “She’s back here, and you’re right. She’s insane.”
They followed Oscar until they came to a room off to the side. The first person Keisha saw was a man who had to be Dominick’s brother sitting behind a large desk smoking a cigar. By the way he so closely watched her, Keisha felt as if his light eyes saw down into the very depths of her soul, but she didn’t look away.
Angel switched his gaze to Dominick. He knew his brother could have easily kicked this woman out of his life for bringing this situation upon him and his daughter. True, it wasn’t Keisha’s fault, but Rochelle was only a problem because of Keisha. The fact that he was still with her and was as protective of her as he was his own blood said a lot. And that was good enough for Angel.
He gestured towards the far corner where Rochelle was tied to a chair. When she saw Keisha, she immediately became agitated. Her angry eyes conveyed everything her taped up mouth was unable to say.
Keisha let go of Dominick’s hand and walked over to Rochelle, barely resisting the urge to put her hands around the other woman’s neck and slowly squeeze the life out of her. Keisha ripped the tape away from her mouth and damn near slapped the taste out of Rochelle's mouth.
“You crazy bitch!” she yelled. How could she not have seen how disturbed she was?
Rochelle’s sudden burst of laughter chilled Keisha to the bone. “Hey, baby. Did you miss me?” She smiled then looked at Keisha through narrowed eyes. “You know this isn’t the end, don’t you? You’ll realize one day that you and I are meant to be together. I can wait. He’s just a fascination to you right now.”
Rochelle directed her maniacal stare towards Dominick and curled her lip up in a nasty sneer. Her face reflected the hatred she felt. “If I had a knife, I’d cut your heart out now, you bastard.”
Dominick sat on the edge of the desk and just looked at her with a blank expression, which caused her to become even more frantic.
“He has nothing to do with this. Dominick is not the reason why I’m not with you. Rochelle, you need help…”
“I need you, Keisha!” Her eyes softened as she leaned forward, straining against the ropes that kept her restrained. “We can go away somewhere together, just the two of us. We could have a good life. We…we could even bring Samantha with us if you like. We could be her Mommies. She likes me, you know. She told me so.”
Keisha gave her a horrified look. “Where did you see Samantha??”
Dominick slowly stood up, his face reflecting his murderous rage.
“I saw her in the park and at her school. I told her to call me Aunt ‘Chelle. We laughed and played together several times. And her favorite song is ‘Around the Mulberry Bush.’” Rochelle giggled in glee as she visibly zoned out and stared over Keisha’s shoulder, smiling as if reliving the time she had spent with Sam. “She loves the part where we have to quickly sit down at the end” Rochelle began to sing: “Ashes. Ashes. We all fall DOWN!” Rochelle happily laughed and rocked back and forth in the chair while humming to herself under her breath.
Keisha covered her mouth with her hand and looked at Dominick as he approached her. “Dom…”
“Go to the car, Keisha.”
“But….”
Dominick turned Keisha around to face him. “Sweetie, it’s over. We have her computer, the pictures, the video, everything. I need to have a word with Angel then I’ll be right out…okay?”
“Okay…but what about her.”
“Don’t worry about her. She’ll be fine. We’ll make sure she gets some help. Here go with Oscar.”
He kissed her before gently herding her towards Oscar. He met Oscar’s eyes over Keisha’s head. Oscar knew that look well. He had seen it many times in Angel’s eyes. He took Keisha’s arm to lead her out. Dominick went to the door and stood there until they were at the far end of the warehouse and through the heavy doors. He slowly turned and walked towards Rochelle, who was still in her little dream world.
“Did you know this mental case had an entire shrine dedicated to your girlfriend?” Angel said to Dominick.
Dom continued to coldly stare at Rochelle. If Rochelle had been in a rational frame of mind, she would have realized things were not good for her at this moment.
“Is it being taken care of?” Dom asked Angel. "All traces of Keisha have been removed from her house?"
“Of course.”
“And her belongings?”
“Everything’s being packed up as we speak. It’ll be as if she just up and left. A letter written in her handwriting will be mailed to her father telling him she needed time away, and she’s not sure when…or if…she’ll return.”
Dom nodded. “What about the person who took the photographs?”
“He’s been dealt with already. Luckily, you moved quickly. The only thing he had a chance to do was forward the images to her via his computer. Everything’s been destroyed. He’s no longer a problem. Neither is the woman. Tia.”
Again, Dom nodded. He knew he didn’t need to question his brother about anything because Angel was very thorough, but he needed to hear it. Angel came and stood beside Dominick as he too stared at Rochelle while still puffing on his cigar.
“You know…I found out this isn’t the first time she’s done something like this, or even the second. She’s been in and out of mental institutions since she was a teenager. She’d be fine for a while, but would eventually stop taking her medication and do the same thing all over again. But with Keisha, it seems as if it’s the worse she’s ever been. She has some sort of twisted obsession with her.”
Rochelle finally turned around and looked at them, then glared at Dominick. In the blink of an eye, she went from harmless to diabolical. “She’s mine, you know. She’ll always be mine. It’s just a matter of time before she realizes it.”
Dominick studied her for a long time before quietly saying, “You’re never going to leave us alone, are you?”
Rochelle laughed. “What do you think? Now where is Keisha?”
Dom glanced down at the floor for a moment, and then sighed as if making peace with a decision. He looked at his brother and nodded. Angel nodded once in return.
“Take care of yourself, Nick.”
“You do the same, Angel. And thank you.”
Angel gave his brother a probing look. “I heard that even without my protection, you ran shit in there. Nothing happened without your permission….drugs, women, contraband...Maybe you’re more like me than you think.”
Dominick’s expression grew pensive as he thought about his years in prison. “Yeah. That’s what scares me.” His eyes cleared as he held out a hand to Angel. “Take care of yourself.”
Angel nodded and gripped Dominick’s offered hand then pulled him close in a tight hug.
After they separated, Dominick gave Rochelle one last look. “Have a nice life in hell.”
He turned and walked away ignoring her deranged screams and rants. She wouldn’t be a problem to his family anymore. As he stepped out of the building, he looked at his baby who was talking to Oscar. When Keisha spotted him, she quickly rushed over to meet him.
“Dom?”
“Everything’s taken care of, baby.”
“And Rochelle.”
Dominick didn’t miss a beat. “Her father will be contacted. I‘m sure she‘ll be put somewhere that’s best for her.” Like ten feet under.
Keisha closed her eyes in relief and threw her arms around Dominick. Oscar and Dominick’s eyes met. Oscar nodded then patted him on the back before walking back to the warehouse.
Dom led Keisha over to the car. “Come on baby. Let’s go home.”
Five months later…..
Keisha, Aleesha, and Jerra sat in the backyard of Keisha and Dominick’s house. The three women watched as their men argued over the best way to grill the steaks. Dominick reminded them of the man rules: his house, his way. Darrell and Marcus stopped and looked at each other… then turned back to Dom to continue the argument.
“Will they ever grow up?” Aleesha asked shaking her head. She smiled as her eyes ran over her fiance’ Their wedding was in three weeks, and she could hardly wait to be able to call that man her husband.
“Nope. I think it’s something in their genetic composition that prevents such a thing from ever happening,” Jerra commented as she watched Baby D playing with Sam. He had just started walking a couple of weeks ago and was a little handful already. Good thing she had practice keeping his father in line. She’d have to stay on her toes with him, but then…like father, like son.