“One thing that hasn’t changed about you, Blue.”
“And what’s that, Hot-Pink?”
“After all these years, your breath still smells like shit.” I laughed.
“That’s my Bree. Always the comedian, always the funny bitch.”
“Invest in some breath mints, nigga.”
Before I could take another breath, Blue slapped me hard across the face. The pain was like a thousand and one bumble bees stinging me in the face. I tasted blood pooling in my mouth.
“Fuck you,” I said, spitting blood in his face. I felt around with my tongue to see if all my teeth were still attached. They were. Blue licked his lips as blood and spit dripped from the tip of his nose. He wiped me from his face, licking the tips of his fingers like my blood was syrup. “It was you, wasn’t it, who killed Katiesha?”
“That lyin’ bitch. You know, when Katiesha first came to me, she made a shitload of money. It was nowhere near as good as you, though, baby girl. I told her I was done with her as soon as she started messin’ with crack.” Blue took the gun Deanthony had in his waistband and started waving it around.
“I knew she was caught up when she started coming to work late, and you know betta than anybody that I can’t stand tardy bitches. Kateisha was high all the time, losin’ weight and shit, coming to work with sores on her legs, bags and shit under her eyes. The last time I let her go on stage, she fell on her ass. That was the night before you came to see me at the club.” Blue straddled me, holding the gun against my face. “I told her to take her ass home, that she didn’t have a job until she got herself together. Night before you came was the last time I saw her.”
“You’re a liar. She was making all that money for you, but when she got messed up, all that stopped, right? So what did you do, come over here, y’all started fighting, you brained her in the head?”
“I got an idea,” Blue said.
“There’s a first.”
“Why don’t you leave that bookend nigga and come back to me? All will be forgiven. We can run Risqué together.”
“Nigga, you crazy. I would rather eat glass than go back to that shit hole.”
“You ain’t think it was so bad when yo’ ass was on the street, when you didn’t have a pot to piss in. Strolled up in my club, lookin’ like you weighed about fifteen cents. Now you all high and mighty, walkin’ around my club with that nose of yours up in the air.”
“Nigga, didn’t you get the memo? I am better than you. I regret the day I ever met your trifling ass. You ain’t shit, and you—”
Blue wrapped his hand around my jaw and squeezed, as if he was trying to stop the insults from tumbling out of my mouth. Deanthony was starting to come to. “You know what, I’m done with you, bitch. I’m sick of your mouth. Maybe this nigga right here will be more cooperative.” Blue got up off me.
“Listen to you,” I said, “using big words now.”
He turned his attention toward Deanthony. “Wake up, pretty boy.” Blue slapped Deanthony awake. The bleeding behind Deanthony’s head had stopped. I was glad he was alive. It sounded like he was trying to say something. “Rise and shine, hero.” Blue snatched the duct tape off Deanthony’s mouth. “What’s that? Speak up.”
“Let her go.”
“Why do they always say that shit? You ever notice in movies when the guy is tied up, he always tells the bad guy to let the girl go, like the bad guy actually would?”
“You’re fucking crazy.”
“This shit here ain’t no movie.” Blue hauled back and hit Deanthony across the face with the butt of the gun.
“That’s enough!” a female voice yelled from the right side of me. “I told you to cut out all that rough shit. I don’t want that bastard dead yet.” It was Tangela. “Bree, I’m so sorry, girl, about all of this.”
“Tangela, what did you do?”
“It all just got out of hand. I didn’t plan for it to go down like this.”
“What are you talking about?”
“She did it,” Deanthony said.
“What?”
“She killed Katiesha.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Blue warned. He backhanded Deanthony.
“Tangela, what the fuck is he talking about?” I asked.
“It was an accident.”
“She was the one who hired Katiesha to fuck Kashawn that night. She wanted to make it look like Kashawn was messing around on you. She figured you would leave if you caught him fucking somebody else,” Deanthony said..
“Shut him up,” Tangela said. Blue took the roll of tape and went once around Deanthony’s head, muffling his mouth.
“What the fuck is he saying?”
“Bitch, do you have any idea how hard it’s been to see you walking around here with a man that good on your shoulder? A good man you cheated on, a man you clearly don’t deserve.”
I couldn’t believe this shit.
“He was mine. I saw him first at Roxy’s that night.”
“Is that what this is about, you holding a five-year grudge because I got Kashawn that night instead of you?”
“He told me he wished he had married me instead of you.”
“You’re lying.”
“Remember what you said to me the day before you took your whorish-ass to Atlantic City? You told me to take care of Kashawn, so I did. He told me that he was embarrassed to be married to a stripper, said he wished he could have married a lady, someone he could respect, a proper doctor’s wife and not some trash from the byways of the ghetto.”
“All this time, and it was you stabbing me in the back. So you told Katiesha to dope Kashawn up.”
“Just enough to put him out, but that bitch ended up putting him in a damn coma.”
“Bitch, Kashawn almost died because of you.”
“I thank the Lord he didn’t. It’s been in God’s plan all the while for Kashawn and me to be together. You have everything, Bree. You live in a palace, you have cars, a designer wardrobe, and what do you do? You trade in a life any bitch would kill to have for his low-budget thug of a twin brother? What kind of bitch does that?”
“You would be surprised what she’s done,” Blue said, laughing like a mischievous demon from hell.
“Oh, I doubt that. I’ve known Bree for a minute. I’ve learned after all these years not to put anything past this man-stealing bitch.”
Hearing all of this, I couldn’t help but start laughing.
“What the hell is so funny?” Tangela asked.
“You. I can’t believe that you went through all that to get a man who isn’t even yours. It’s the most pitiful thing I’ve ever heard,” I said.
“That’s what someone like me is willing to do for her man, unlike a selfish bitch like you.”
“Here’s the thing, though. Kashawn isn’t your man and he never will be. You know why? Because he loves me.”
“Well, once you’re out of the picture, baby girl, I will be there to console him during his time of loss and grief. In time, he’ll forget that he was ever married to you. We’ll get married, I’ll move into that mansion of his, and erase any trace of your ass. I’ll give him some children. Children you can’t give him because you’re too busy opening your legs to this piece of shit.”
“So why did you kill Katiesha?”
“That crackhead bitch got greedy. I paid her five stacks to help me break you and Kashawn up, to keep her mouth shut about me and what went down. I didn’t care what she did with the money. She could have smoked it up on crack, for all I cared, as long as she left town so nothing would come back on me. But no, she got it in her head to blackmail me for more money, saying that she was going to run and tell you everything if I didn’t pay her dirty ass another fifteen stacks. I couldn’t believe she had the lady-balls to try and shake me down for more cake. When I found out Kashawn was in the hospital from a drug overdose, I knew she had something to do with it.”
“How could you do this to me, to Kashawn? You were my best friend. There was
nothing I wouldn’t have done for you.”
“I guess I got tired.”
“Tired of what?”
“Tired of seeing you prance around in that nice house, driving a car for every day of the damn week, while I can barely pay my rent.”
“You could have said something. I would have helped you.”
“Damn, bitch, you still don’t get it, do you? I’m not the kind of woman who settles for a piece. I want the whole damn pie with whipped cream on top. I couldn’t have done it without your fuck-toy here, who had a hand in helping me carry out our plan.”
“What?” I said, turning my attention to Deanthony.
“Believe it, Bree. You see what the power of pussy will do to a man. When I convinced him that ending your marriage to Kashawn meant getting you back, he was in this shit to win it. Ain’t that right, D?” Tangela ripped the duct tape off his mouth.
“I’ma kill you, you fucking bitch.”
“That will be hard for you to do with a broken shoulder.”
“What?” Deanthony asked, gasping for breath. When Tangela nodded at Blue, he grabbed a baseball bat that was leaning against the wall of the garage door.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Damn, I can’t look,” Tangela said.
Blue held onto the base of the bat with both hands.
“No, stop! Don’t!” I pleaded.
Blue positioned himself, lifted the bat over his head, and took a swing, slamming it into Deanthony’s right shoulder.
“AAAAGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!”
I had never heard anyone holler in such agonizing pain as Deanthony did. His screams sent my eardrums rattling. I could literally hear the bone in his shoulder shatter. Tangela pushed the tape back over his mouth to drown out his screams.
“That should shut your ass up.”
“You bitch! You fucking bitch!” I felt the adhesive of the duct tape starting to wear down from the pulling against the binds.
“I knew he was going to back out of the plan, so I took this to keep him in check.” Tangela pulled her iPhone out of the front pocket of her sweatpants. “Now before I show you this, viewer discretion is advised,” she joked. Tangela held the phone to my face, showing me a video of Deanthony ass-fucking some man in a motel room. “This is going to give Mama Liz a heart attack when she sees this. I hope so anyway. I sent a copy of the video to her phone an hour ago. It will be a nice surprise to go with her morning coffee.”
My wrists were free from the ties of the tape. “So you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel, in cahoots with this motherfucker.”
“Shut your mouth, bitch,” Blue said, behind gritted teeth. One thing Blue was known for was his temper. Back in the day, he damn near beat a pimp to death when the man tried to coax Nakia from under Blue’s smelly ass.
“Don’t pay any attention to her. She’s just trying to get you off your game.”
“Tangela will say it was your idea if you get pinched by the cops. I know her. Look what she’s done to me and Deanthony.” I could tell I was breaking Blue down by pouring the seed of suspicion in his ear like a poisonous elixir.
“Don’t listen to her, Blue.”
“She’ll roll on you if it means she won’t get the needle.”
Just as Blue came for me, Deanthony tackled him to the floor, knocking the gun out of his hand and sending it skittering across the floor of Katiesha’s garage. Before Tangela could react, I lunged at her, punching her in the face until it smudged with blood.
“This is for almost killing Kashawn, and this is for pretending to be my best friend, and, for what it’s worth, this is for killing Katiesha, you cold-blooded, murdering bitch.” The last punch knocked Tangela unconscious. Just as Blue was about to hit Deanthony, I cold-cocked Blue as hard as I could in the head with the butt of the gun. “Deanthony, are you all right?”
Minutes later, the door of the shack flew open. “Freeze!” a cop yelled. “Ma’am, put down the weapon.”
“Don’t shoot, that’s my wife.” Kashawn broke past the cop. I dropped the gun to the floor when he took me into his arms.
“How did you know we were here?” Deanthony asked.
“I heard Bree talking to you on the phone about coming here. I saw her get in your SUV, so I followed y’all and called the police.”
“Thank God,” I said.
“They have everything Tangela said on tape.”
“All this is my fault,” said Deanthony. “If I hadn’t have gone through with what that crazy bitch was planning, none of this would have happened. It’s not worth losing my family over.”
Before I could react, Tangela grabbed the gun at my feet and shot Deanthony in the stomach. He collapsed into Kashawn’s arms. He held his hand to the growing pool of blood that soaked his shirt. A cop shot Tangela in the leg, sending her crashing to the garage floor.
“Die, motherfucker, die!” She laughed.
“Stay with me,” Kashawn pleaded. Deanthony’s eyes clamped shut, his body still.
45
KASHAWN
Two Weeks Later
“Hey, you ready to get out of here?”
Deanthony was stuffing shirts and jeans into a small, flower-printed suitcase Ma let me borrow to put his clothes in. “I’ve been ready to go. You know I can’t stand hospitals. Where’s Ma?”
“At the house, cooking enough food to feed a village.”
“Fried chicken?”
“Ham, greens, black-eyed peas, biscuits, and two Dutch apple cheesecakes.”
“Damn, here I was getting used to all the weight I was losing, and Ma’s going to put it right back on me.”
“I’m sure you won’t miss the hospital food.”
“True. It will be nice to get a decent meal.”
“How are we feeling today?” Eboni, the RN, asked, rolling the wheelchair into Deanthony’s room.
“Like I just walked off a battlefield, but if I get to take you home with me, I’m sure I will start feeling much better.”
“Don’t pay any attention to him, Ms. Brooks.”
“I haven’t yet.” Eboni smiled.
“Oh, my brother didn’t tell you? I’m allergic to wheelchairs.”
“It’s hospital procedure. Now sit down.”
“I love it when they’re feisty.” Deanthony sat down in the wheelchair like he was told.
“Remember what Dr. Wilkinson told you about getting plenty of rest. Don’t overdo it and don’t pull your stitches.”
“Yes, Mama,” Deanthony teased.
Deanthony didn’t speak much as we drove back to the house. “So how are you and Bree doing?” he finally asked.
“We’re taking it one day at a time. Things aren’t great, but they’re good.”
“I’m glad, with everything that’s happened, y’all have been able to patch things up.”
“She wanted to move out, but I recommended we seek counseling instead to help us cope with everything that has gone on to try to get things back on track. Neither one of us is perfect. We all have made mistakes.”
“What happened to Tangela?”
“She’s laid up with a head wound. The bullet to her leg missed an artery. The police has round-the clock surveillance on her. Next stop: prison.”
“I hope they put her ass under the jail,” Deanthony said.
“Listen, I was going to wait until after dinner to tell everyone, but Bree and I are going to try and start a family.”
Deanthony smiled at the good news. “That’s great, man. I say it’s about damn time y’all gave me a niece or nephew to spoil.”
“Have you decided if you’re going to stay here, or make another go at the acting thing in L.A.?”
“I really haven’t put much thought into going back to Cali. Right now, I think I’m going to chill in Tallahassee for a while until I decide what to do. I’m done running away. It’s time I face my problems head-on.”
I could smell the soul food before we even got to the house. Mama didn’t even giv
e me a chance to get to the door before she ran out in the driveway, an apron wrapped around her robust waist, her arms outstretched for a hug.
“Hey, Ma.”
She wrapped her arms around Deanthony in an embrace that seemed long-awaited. “Thank the good Lord.” Ma started crying.
“Come on now. Stop all that crying. This is a time to celebrate.”
We all sat down around a table of good-smelling food. I said grace, giving a special blessing to Uncle Ray-Ray and Edrick, the only daddy we knew as far as Deanthony and I were concerned. As the days, weeks, and months came and went, things between Deanthony and I got better. For the first time since Uncle Ray-Ray’s passing, we were starting to become a family again.
46
TANGELA
I didn’t know what was worse: these damn handcuffs biting into my wrists, or the stench of this cop’s bargain-bin cologne. Before a hearing, before being sentenced to death by a jury of my peers, I was going to die by this pig’s putrid poodle juice.
“Hey, man, I’m not feeling so good. Can you let a window down?” He kept driving like he either couldn’t hear me, or didn’t want to. The smell was making my gut turn. “Hey, did you hear me? I need some air back here.”
“Shut the fuck up!” he yelled with venom in his tone. He looked at me from the rearview mirror with a grimace of annoyance.
“If I die on your watch, I don’t need to tell you whose ass will be in a sling. Come on, sir, please, I need some air.”
The cuffs cut into my wrists as he jerked the wheel of the patrol car to the right, pulling off on the side of the road. “I’m about to give your ass something to whine about.” He got out, opened the backseat door, grabbed me by the arm and pulled me out like I was a sack of dirty laundry.
“Ow, fuck, that hurts.”
“I would be whining too knowing that I was going to spend the rest of my life in prison. If it was up to me, I would round all you niggers up and execute your black asses.”
Damn, of all the pigs to end up with, I get some redneck racist motherfucker with a badge and an itchy trigger finger for black people.
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