“I know. Does he by any chance have a brother?” I chimed in. She giggled with us and it felt like we were back in high school, freaking out over the star basketball player. I was glad that we were able to take her mind away from her problems, even if it was just for a few seconds.
Kayla sat on the couch. I moved to a matching chaise lounge while Danielle flopped down in the chair.
“How are you holding up?” I asked.
“I’m okay,” is what Kayla tried to say, but instead a sob blocked her windpipe. “Really I am. Jermaine has been so supportive.”
“We see,” Danielle and I said at the same time. The three of us laughed, then quickly sobered.
Kayla wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “Mom has the girls and the attorney Nadine hired has agreed to take the case.”
“Oh, good,” Danielle said with a sigh of relief. “Do you feel like telling us what happened?”
She swallowed, then shifted uncomfortably on the couch. “I was so stupid. I don’t know what I was thinking. Leroy called, threatening suicide. Like a nut I ran over there, trying to stop him. Only I don’t think he really planned on killing himself. I think it was just an excuse to get me over there. The moment I walked in the door, he attacked me.” My stomach churned as she tried to get herself together. “He lost his mind. He tried to rape me ... again. At first, I was going to just lay there and let him have his way, but I prayed about it and the Lord gave me the strength I needed. I kicked him in the crotch and got away long enough to grab that knife, then I stabbed him in the shoulder and ran out the door.” She shook her head. The tears were flowing. “He was still alive. When I left him, he was trying to pull the knife out. You both have to believe me.”
I gave a dismissive wave. “Girl, puhleeze. I know you don’t have it in you to kill someone. Now, if it was me, I would have stabbed his ass a long time ago, for real, for real.”
Danielle rolled her eyes. “Nae-Nae, shut the hell up. The last thing we need to hear is you talking about stabbing someone.”
I pursed my lips and bit my tongue. I would have cussed her ass out, but it wasn’t about me. I was here for Kayla. “Why did he go off?”
She hesitated before saying, “He blamed me for ruining his life.” She tried to control her voice but couldn’t. Danielle moved over to her and cradled her head against her chest as she wept.
“It’s not your fault,” Danielle cooed while stroking her back.
She and I looked at each other at the same time. Feelings of guilt assailed me again. Damn! Both of them had every right to be mad at me. All this was my fault. Of course, Kayla would never say that because she was such a loving and forgiving person. I wish I was that way, because if I was, I wouldn’t have plotted to pay Leroy back and none of this mess would have happened. Torn between cussing and bawling like a baby, I just closed my eyes and wished I could take it all back.
Kayla released a heavy breath. “His funeral is scheduled for Friday. I think the whole city is planning to attend.” I know Kayla well enough to know she was wishing she could attend as well. If she thought for a moment that either one of us would go on her behalf, she was crazier than I thought.
We stayed for over an hour before Jermaine came down to see if everything was okay and if we needed anything. Danielle and I decided it was time for us to leave. We shared a group hug, then stood close to Kayla, who stared at our faces through a waterfall of tears. After one final hug, we promised to come back tomorrow.
We climbed back into Danielle’s car and headed to her house. “Girl, this is bullshit You and I both know that Kayla didn’t kill anyone.”
She looked at me out of the corners of her eyes. “It doesn’t matter what we think. The police and the Boone County prosecuting attorney both think she did.”
I nibbled on my lower lip, trying to think. There was no way I could let my girl go down for some shit I started. I was going to have to find a way to help clear her name.
I swung around. “Have you seen Peaches?”
Danielle shook her head. “I haven’t seen her since she was on the news.”
“We need to find her. She has to know something, otherwise she wouldn’t have just disappeared.”
“Maybe I can talk to Tracy.”
I couldn’t stand Tracy. I was once messing around with this fine mothafucka that Tracy called herself liking as well. I was at his house, and he had run to pick up his mama from work. I stayed there, watching television. The phone rang and my nosy ass moved over and read the Caller ID. As soon as I saw her name pop off, before I realized what I was doing, I had picked up the phone and answered it.
“Hello,” I purred.
“Hello? Hello? Who’s this?”
“Who’s this?”
“This’s Tracy. I need to speak to my man,” she demanded with attitude.
“Well, your man’s licking my cootie-cat, and... Oooh, it feels so good.”
I had hung up, laughing and ever since then she couldn’t stand my ass. But she knew better than to step to me, ’cause I would have kicked her narrow ass.
“That’s a good idea. Y’all cool, right?”
Danielle shrugged and frowned at the same time. “Yeah, we speak, but that’s about it.”
“That’s all we need.” Damn, I needed a drink. “Okay, this is what we’re going to do. I’m going to try and find out where Peaches is, while you locate Tracy’s ass. Somebody knows something, and if the police aren’t going to do their job, then I guess we’ll have to do it for them.”
Chapter 34
Danielle
Danielle pulled into her driveway. With everything going on with Kayla, she was glad Portia was still staying with her mother. Danielle was ashamed to admit that she didn’t know how to handle the situation. Her daughter had been screwing her man. If Portia had been some ho on the street, she would have whooped her ass. But she couldn’t do that. Portia was her daughter.
She moved into the kitchen and without bothering to check her messages, she looked down at her Caller ID and noticed Calvin had called. She didn’t know what she was going to do with him. After he had taken her to Red Lobster, she had been honest with him when she told him she wasn’t looking for a relationship right now, but she wanted to at least be friends. He had agreed, for now. Calvin was a very nice guy but there was no point in leading him on when she was still sprung over Ron’s ass.
The phone rang, startling her. She groaned when she realized it was her mother. But if she didn’t answer it, she would keep calling until she did. She grabbed the phone and reached into the refrigerator for a bottle of water.
“When are you coming over here?” her mother asked.
“For what?”
“So, the three of us can sit down and work this out.”
“Mom, there is nothing to work out. My daughter is supposedly pregnant by my ex-boyfriend. What am I supposed to do, give her a medal?”
“No, but you can’t turn your back on your daughter, either. She needs you.”
“Then her fast tail should have thought about that before she slept with him.”
“I told you before that Portia don’t keep enough clothes on,” she huffed. “Always walking around with butt cheeks hanging out. He was too young for you, anyway. He was more her age. You shouldna had him in your house in the first place.”
“Mama, please.”
“Please nothing,” Victoria cut in. “Those son-a-bitches ain’t looking for nothing but a place to lay their heads.”
“Shoot,” Danielle pouted. “I got it from you, messing with those young negros.” Her father was nine years younger than her mother.
Victoria sucked her teeth. “You got to pay to be the boss. Besides, your dad and I never shacked up. We went straight to the judge and got married.”
“Whatever,” Danielle mumbled to herself. If she argued, her mother would never let her get off the phone.
“You can’t be mad at your daughter. You need to be mad at him because he knew better.”
“I’m not ready yet”
Then you need to get ready because whether you like it or not, you’re about to be a grandmother.”
Danielle hung up and walked down to her room. Hot ass. She’d raised her daughter better than that. True, she knew she liked them young herself, but that wasn’t the point She just couldn’t talk to her daughter. Not yet
Danielle went into the bathroom. A hot bath was in order. Something, anything to relax her mind, because right now she was mad at the world. Portia. Ron. Renee. Though she didn’t know why she was wasting her time being mad at Renee. Nae-Nae was always going to be impulsive and vindictive. That just was the way she was, which was why it was her job to keep her best friend in line.
She put the stopper in the drain and reached for the faucet to pour a hot bath. I’m. just as responsible for this mess as Renee is, she thought as she walked into her room and started taking off her clothes. She had been taught a long time ago that God don’t like ugly, yet she had gotten a big kick out of making Leroy feel like a fool.
Danielle unsnapped her jean shorts and they dropped to the floor along with her panties. Naked, she reached for her nightgown and went back into the adjoining bathroom. Even though the tub was only half full she climbed in. The house was so quiet, all she could hear was running water, the thoughts racing through her head, and her older sister Constance screaming at her. She lay back against the inflated pillow and squeezed her eyelids tightly together, hoping to block the scene from her mind. But there was no way she could run from her problems. The situation was not going away—instead it was going to linger in the corners of her mind until she decided to do something about it.
Danielle reached up and turned off the water, then pulled one of her knees to her chest while she thought over the situation. She had two problems: a daughter who had a bad habit of “crying wolf’ all the time; and a man whom she loved. Now, if Portia wasn’t always trying to find ways to get attention, she wouldn’t have given her confession a minute’s thought. All it would have taken was one phone call to her brother and the mothafucka would be on the next train out, with a couple of black eyes to take along for the ride. Only that wasn’t the case. Instead, Portia accused Ron of having sex with her, and she had allowed it because she thought he loved her. It was sick and twisted, a grown-ass man sleeping with an underage girl, but she knew that it happened all the time. Hell, she’d had men trying to hook up with her when she was the same age. She also remembered lying on several occasions just so she could see what it was like to date an older man.
Danielle scowled because this time, that was not the case. Ron knew how old Portia was. She allowed her mind to travel back, hoping to remember anything that might make her think her daughter just might be telling the truth. She remembered working late and coming home to find the two on the couch playing a competitive game on Ron’s PlayStation. Ron had even picked Portia up from school a couple of times when she had been unable to do it.
Danielle pressed a hand to her forehead. She was going to go crazy thinking about this. They had been together for over two years and not once could she remember an incident that made her think something was going on between her daughter and Ron.
She released a heavy breath because her mother was right Portia did have a tendency to walk around with her shorts up her ass. With her overweight body, it was nothing nice to look at. On numerous occasions she had to check her on it, and quickly reminded her a man was in the house.
But like Ron had told her, what in the world would he need with a little girl when he already had a grown-ass woman? That’s true, she thought while lathering her washcloth and smoothing it across her body. Day or night, she’d always been willing to satisfy her man’s needs, so he never needed to think about any other woman. Especially not Portia.
She settled back against the pillow and closed her eyes again. “Lord, please help me figure it out” Somehow, she had to find a way to fix everything that had gone wrong in her life.
Chapter 35
Renee
“How was the movie?”
Kayla grinned, then nodded. “Funny as all get-out. Thanks for bringing me.”
I looped my arm with hers. “That’s just the beginning. We’re going to go and see what bargains we can find at JCPenney’s, then go have dinner. I heard there is a new seafood place not too far from here.”
Kayla nodded in agreement and I could tell she was starting to relax, which made me feel good. It had been over a week and the media was still having a field day at my girl’s expense. Kayla had been forced to take a leave of absence from work and was hiding out at Jermaine’s. I was so tired of watching her feel sorry for herself that I had invited her to drive up to Jefferson City for a girls’ day out. It was a Wednesday. Everyone was at work, so the mall was relatively quiet. I treated us to pedicures and then we had our faces done at the cosmetic counter.
“Have you talked to Danielle?” Kayla asked as we were strolling through the mall.
“No. I know she had to work today, but I’ve been trying to reach her for the last two days and she hasn’t returned any of my calls. She’s probably trying to decide what to do about Portia and the baby.”
Kayla stopped dead in her tracks. “Baby? Portia’s pregnant?”
“Yep, but you didn’t hear that shit from me.” I signaled for her to come over and look at a gorgeous sapphire necklace I spotted in the jewelry store window. I wasn’t big on wearing much more than gold loops and a ring or two, but every now and then I saw something that I thought I should have.
“Oooh, Renee, that’s beautiful!”
“Yes, it is.” I reached inside my purse to see if I had bothered to bring my platinum Visa and was pleased to find it in my wallet. “Come on. I think I’m going to buy it.”
We went around to the door and practically ran into a woman with her hands full of bags. “Oops, my bad.” I reached down for the Victoria’s Secret bag that had fallen onto the floor and handed it to her.
“Thank you. I—” Her words startled both of us when we realized it was Darlene. Wife of the dearly departed Reverend Leroy Brown. As soon as she realized who we were, she gazed up toward the ceiling and shook her head. “Lord, please give me strength.”
Kayla stepped forward. “Darlene, please believe me,” she pleaded. “I had nothing to do with Leroy’s murder.”
“I can’t believe you have the nerve to stand here and tell me you’re not responsible for my husband’s brutal murder. How dare you!” She bored evil eyes into Kayla.
I could tell Kayla was frustrated. “Mrs. Brown, please ...” She allowed her voice to trail off as defeat slumped her shoulders.
While giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze, I suggested softly, “Kayla, why don’t you go over to that bench and have a seat.” She shook her head. Damn, why now, of all times, does she decide to be stubborn? “Do it, please.”
Reluctantly, she turned and walked over to a bench at the center of the mall and took a seat.
“Well, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get home and get down on my knees. If I wasn’t a Christian woman, I would have scratched her eyes out.” Darlene turned and started walking away, but I moved into step beside her.
“Mrs. Brown, can you please give me just a few moments of your time? I’m tryin’ to help clear my friend.”
She stopped dead in her tracks and started spitting her venom. “Clear her? She killed my Leroy. The two of them have been messing around for years and finally they both got what they deserved.” Her tone was cool and detached.
“I’m quite aware of that. I’m also told that you’ve known about it for years and didn’t seem to care.”
“How do you think it makes me feel to know my husband was messing around with someone who looks like that, when he had all this at home?” Her skinny ass struck a pose so I could see what all this meant. Truth be told, Darlene was one homely bitch. Dark-skinned with that ashy look that no amount of Vaseline could cure. She had a serious overbi
te, a thin, sunken face, and bulging frog eyes. I was tempted to tell her Kayla was more woman than she could ever be, but I know when I need to shut the hell up.
“It’s one thing to mess around, but it’s another to disrespect me. Now, I know a man is going to be a man. And it ain’t nothing but that devil that was tempting my Leroy with those women.”
And let’s not forget about his craving for men, but I wasn’t about to go there. “I can tell you Kayla stopped seeing Leroy weeks ago.”
“Weeks? Is that supposed to make me feel better? I was quite aware of my husband slipping out a couple of hours here and there. But all those weekends he pretended to be going out of town to be a guest speaker and insisted that I stay at home, now that’s another thing.” She paused and shook her head. “All those fishing trips he and Deacon Williams were supposedly taking, I knew something wasn’t right. It wasn’t until three weeks ago I went into the garage and discovered he’d forgotten his tackle box.”
“He wasn’t with Kayla. He must have been with another one of his women.”
“There weren’t any others,” she bellowed. “Only her.”
I laughed in her face. “Mrs. Brown, I know you don’t believe that. He was sleeping with that slut Tracy Branch, and I know you’ve seen the videotape...he was also screwing a man.”
“Miss, don’t disrespect my husband or me!” she cried, drawing the attention of several bystanders. “Hasn’t your friend already done enough? My family is in shambles and I’m a nervous wreck. I don’t know how I’m going to manage to live another day without him.”
I glanced down at her bags. “It looks to me like you’re doing a pretty good job of getting on with your life.”
Darlene tilted her chin defiantly. “Shopping makes me feel better. Besides, Leroy always said not to mourn death but to celebrate life and that’s what I’m trying to do.” Her sour face then twisted into a devilish smirk. “I guess I shouldn’t be too mad at Kayla. After all, she did make me an extremely rich woman. While she’s rotting in jail, I’ll be living in Florida and riding around town in my new Mercedes.” She winked. “Excuse me, but I’ve got some more shopping to do.”
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