“Yeah you’re right.” Trae cosigned. “ She’s stingy with her split. Most women don’t date someone for four years before she gives it up”
“Unless the man she’s with has weak game” Jason teased while slipping his feet in his kicks.
“Exactly!” Trae chuckled as he nearly drowned himself in the cologne that he was splashing on.
The party was swarmed when what they liked to call themselves back then “THE CREW” entered into the Lounge. The tightly packed room was filled with horny teenagers’ bumping and grinding to 2pac’s (California Love). This was the spot for teens on Friday’s and it wasn’t a surprise that the club was crammed beyond belief without enough space to maneuver around comfortably. It was graduation night and things were just starting to crank up. After Jason spotted Vanessa he immediately broke away from the fellas and snuck up behind her.
“Hey baby” He told her pulling at the belt loops on her Jeans.
She turned around and they hugged and kissed…and kissed and hugged some more. “I’ve missed you baby” She blushed.
“I missed you too baby! What time are you and your girls going to head to the Marriott?” He was basically yelling, trying to talk over the music.
“I don’t know that depends on what time Stacy is going to be ready to head over there” Vanessa responded, cutting her eyes at her two girlfriends, Stacy and Brandi.
“That depends on your boy. Where is he? I haven’t seen him all night” Stacy said to Jason.
“I don’t know he’s with Trae and Kenny somewhere around here.” Jason was looking around at the crowd of peers pretending that he was trying to spot his friends. Truth was, he knew that the fellas didn’t want to be seen by their girlfriends just yet.
“What’s up with your boy? Why can’t he be like you? I know he’s seen me but he wants to walk around this damn club instead of spending time with me. And he thinks that he’s going to get some tonight. I don’t think so!” Stacy snapped.
“Girl I know that’s right” Brandi chimed in. “Trae is not going to get in these panties tonight either!”
Jason and Vanessa were grinding their bodies, rocking to the new hit by Ginuwine (Pony). “I don’t know what’s up with them crazy boys” Jason agreed and changed the subject of the conversation. “Somebody is missing from your clique. Where is your girl Lena?”
“She’s in the ladies room” Vanessa yelled.
“OH NO HE IS NOT!” Brandi shouted glowering at Trae who’d just been spotted hugging another young lady. She walked towards him furiously and if her legs were a set of tires she would have left tire tracks, as quickly as she hastened over to the two of them. Stacy and Vanessa trailed dead on her heels dragging Jason along.
“Have you lost your mind disrespecting me like this!” Brandi shouted at Trae as she pushed him away from the other woman.
The young lady grabbed Trae by his wrist and yanked him back. For a split second the women played tug of war with Trae’s lengthy stature.
“Man, chill out” He roared.
Brandi continued pulled him and Trae eventually pulled away from the other woman. “So you can hug this ugly helfa and you haven’t even spoken to me? What kind of mess is this?” Brandi hollered.
“She’s just a friend”
“Oh I’m just a friend?” The young lady interjected.
“Slut you know that it’s nothing between us” Trae said.
“Fine the dick wasn’t all of that anyway”
“Did you sleep with her?” Brandi barked pushing Trash into a corner. “Did you?” She shouted angrily pointing her finger in his face.
Trae stood there with the guiltiest pose as he tried to rationalize with Brandi. Tears had begun to puddle in her eyes. “I ain’ never had sex with that woman I swear” he pleaded.
You know that we were together last night” The young lady blasted, once she was close enough so that Brandi could hear her.
Brandi slapped Trae. “You lying bastard. Is that where you were last night? I hate you”
Trae grabbed her by the shoulders “She’s lying”
“I don’t believe your lying ass” She whimpered, then broke away shrugging both of Trae’s hands off her shoulders. Embarrassingly she rushed out of the party. Vanessa and Stacy marched behind her. “Skank” They blabbed to the woman.
“You stupid trick” Trae shouted. “Why did you do that?” He growled violently to the young lady and then jolted behind the trio.
Jason was eager to tell the other fellas what’d just happened with Trae. He’d been standing there with a smirk on his face during the entire ordeal. He’d only warned Trae a thousand times that one day Brandi was going to find out about his player ways.
“Have you seen Stacy?” Malik asked as he approached Jason not even five minutes after the drama.
“You just missed it. Trae got caught up and went chasing after Brandi. I guess Stacy and Vanessa went out there to convince Brandi that she can do better than Trae. You know how they are” Jason explained.
“What happened?” Malik looked confused.
“You remember the girl whose house that we dropped Trae over to last night?”
“Yeah”
“She just told Brandi everything” He chuckled.
“You’re lying” Malik giggled. “I told ‘em not to mess with that slut. Everyone on the roster has had a piece of that trick. Where is Kenny? I’m about ready to roll out.”
“Man I don’t know I haven’t seen that fool since we got here. Knowing him he’s probably around here with Lena somewhere. I haven’t seen either one of them all night.”
“There they are right there” Malik said noticing Lena and Kenny walking in his direction.
“I figured you two were together” Jason told the couple.
“Where is everyone? We are about ready to bounce” Lena said to Malik and Jason.
“They’re all out back” Malik said pointing to the exit door. “Trae and Brandi had it out again”
Lena moved Kenny’s arm from around her neck.
“Let me go and make sure my girl is okay”
She rushed away.
The guys joked for nearly twenty minutes until Lena, Vanessa and Stacy came barging back in the club.
“Is everything cool baby?” Malik asked Stacy.
“Don’t baby me” She snapped.
“What’s yo’ problem?” Malik said irritably.
“You are my problem. I’m sick of you putting everything and everyone before me”
“Here we go again”
“You’re right here we go again. This is the first time that I’ve spoken to you all night at the rate you going you ain’ gon’ never get none of this.”
“Daannnngggg!!!” Kenny laughed.
“Oh hush Kenny, before you find yourself in the same boat. I don’t think that there is anything funny about any of this” Lena threatened.
“I’m sorry baby!”
“Whatever you’re not sorry you just want to get some tonight. That’s all you think about. As a matter of fact I bet that’s all you and your boys think about” She hissed.
“Me and my girls are about to head out” Stacy told Malik.
“I thought we were going to get a room?”
“It’s a shame that, that’s the only thing that you’re thinking about right now. Did you not just see what happened?”
“I’m just saying. Their problems ain’ got nothing to do with us” Malik pleaded.
“Look, Brandi is my girl okay! And right now she needs me” Stacy told him.
“So you’re not going to get a room with me either, baby?” Jason asked Vanessa.
She nodded her head. “No”
“You’re not either?” Kenny asked Lena.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not in the mood anymore”
“I’m going to kill Trae” Kenny yelled agitatedly. “Where is he anyway? Because he’s about to get left”
“He’s outside with Brandi, lying, claiming that he didn�
�t sleep with that girl” Lena presumed. “And knowing her she’s going to fall for his lies again”
“Look we’re out” Stacy said.
The young ladies walked away talking amongst each other and rolling their necks.
“Well leave it up to Trae!” Malik announced to the others.
“It never fails” Kenny concurred. “And I bet he’s the one that’s going to end up getting some tonight”
“I knew it was too good to be true. I knew it” Malik said aloud.
“Man chill out, you’ve waited four years to bang her anyway, a little longer won’t hurt? Jason giggled.
“Fuck you Jason”
“Well we all know who won’t be doing that tonight” He continued to joke.
Kenny laughed “Man ya’ll chill out.” He smirked. “Malik she’s going to give it up one day.”
“Fuck you too Kenny” Malik grinned. “But guess what?”
“What?”
“I guess that means I’ll just have to call yo’ mama tonight”
“Aight you got me with that one homie” Kenny smirked. “Forget them girls, let’s go get something to eat”
Trae came running up behind them. “Let’s head to the Marriott”
“For what? Our girls ain’ coming” Malik snapped.
“Yes they are, Brandi’s cool now”
“How’d you manage to pull that off?” Jason asked.
“I told you I have Brandi wrapped around my finger” Trae smiled.
“You better stop treating her like that because after while she’s going to get tired of it”
If Trae could, he’d reverse his life back to that very moment, listen to his friends advice, and treat Brandi the way she deserved to be treated. But he couldn’t.
Trae set the letter that he’d written right beside him.
He asked the Lord to forgive him for what he was about to do, shoved the gun into his temple and with closed eyelids he squeezed the trigger
BANG
****
Brandi heard a gunshot as soon as she slipped out of her high-heels. The gunshot sounded rather close. She raced back to the door with one shoe on and one shoe off, paranoid and hoping that the gunshot wasn’t as close as it sounded. A frightening scream escaped from her throat as soon as she opened the door. Trae was slouched over on his side, his head lying in a puddle of his own blood, and his brain scattered.
Somebody help me” She screamed. “Ple-a-sss-eee, somebody help. What have you done Trae? What have you done? H-e-l-pppp! Why did you this?”
With his blood on her hands she grabbed the letter.
Brandi I know that this letter is a little too late and I hope you don’t crumble it up before you read it. You didn’t deserve the hell that I put you through. You are a loving and caring woman with a beautiful heart and I can’t say sorry enough. You always said that When you think that you’re bigger than God, God will put something on you to let you know that he’s in control. It turns out you were right. All of the bad things that I did to you, that I did to our children are catching up with me. I wasn’t the man that I should have been to you. I wasn’t the father that I should have been to them. I didn’t set a good example for them. I didn’t show them how a real man, not a coward like me should carry himself. Now they hate my guts. I can’t say that I blame them. I deserve it. My punishment for hurting you all is just getting started. I have a miserable life ahead of me. Going back and forth to dialysis is not fun. My life is chaotic. I’m not telling you these things so that you can feel sorry for me. I just want you to know that I’ve learned what goes around comes back around ten times worse. I’m living proof of it. I don’t want to waste anymore of your time; I just want you to know that even though you may not believe me. I love you Brandi Hardnett! Sorry that it’s taken me this long to realize it. Love Trae.
Shortly after the paramedics arrived Trae was carried away in a body bag, cause of death suicide. The first person that Brandi dialed was Jason.
chapter 40
Jason...NYC, New York
Just as Jason pulled into his driveway and stepped out of his Cadillac Escalade with a few grocery bags in tow the rain began pouring through the grayish clouds. “Shit, just my damn luck, how inconvenient is this?” He mumbled sarcastically because the garage door had come off the track that morning and he knew he was going to get soaked by walking around to the front of the house.
Grasping the bags tightly, he jogged up the few steps that led to the front door and when his mobile rung he answered it like he’d been running in a marathon.
Breathing heavily while opening the front door he said, “This is Jason”
“I don’t know how to tell you this” He heard Brandi say choking back tears. “Trae is dead! He’s gone” She wept.
Immediately the weather seemed to match perfectly with the way that he viewed the world. Gloomy, dark, and unclear. His entire body stiffened. Effortlessly the grocery bags fell to the floor. The mobile slid through his sweaty fingers, hitting the hard tiled floor. His knees gave out and he wobbled down to the floor, right there in the foyer. Growing up Jason and Trae were like brothers and the thought of not seeing him ever again despite the recent havoc burned him. Greif flooded his heart. It felt like the world was shrinking. From that moment forward life as he knew it was never going to be the same again. Lying there on his back he allowed his thoughts to drift back to his childhood and eventually warm tears slid through his darkened eyes.
Hours later Jason was still in the same spot and the only thing that he could remember about that day was crying for countless hours and trying to figure out what to do next. Trying to stop crying...trying not to think about Trae, which was hard because his friend’s death was the only thing swindling around in his head. Jason was feeling grief-stricken, befuddled, indignant and confused. He was questioning, why did it seem as though he was God’s target?
“I just don’t get some of your decisions. I’m losing faith in you. Why should I keep having faith in you when I know that you’re just going to let me down? " He whimpered.
“The only thing that you’ve done is failed me. First my marriage, and now this? What have I done to deserve this? Why do you insist on making my life a living hell?” He yelled.
He paused as if he was waiting for an answer back. There was a dangerous glare in his eyes as he gazed at the ceiling.
“Why?” He shouted again.
“If you fucking exist tell me, wh-y-yyyy?” He sobbed.
“Answer me!” He dictated. He could feel his rage increasing. “All my life I’ve honored you…obeyed you…did everything unto you. And this is the thanks I get? Do you fucking exist?” He hollered. “Seems like you are not going to be satisfied until you’ve driven me insane”
“Since I was a child, the one thing that my mother has always preached about is loyalty and faith...being faithful and loyal to family, to friends, and to you”
“Put God first. He is your source. With God as your number one source you’ll never fail, because I promise that he won’t let you down.”
His dark chocolate face was now damped with tears. He staggered up from the floor, walked down the narrow hall and into the kitchen, then stood directly in front of the refrigerator. He was wearing a polo cobalt blue collared shirt, khaki cargo shorts, and a pair of Nike’s. His vast hands were inside his pockets as he glared at the words in front of him. It was a bible scripture that’d been written on a piece of paper. His mother had given it to him before she died. He’d attached it to the refrigerator with a magnet when he and Vanessa moved in. Angrily, he snatched it from underneath the magnet and read it aloud.
“Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually.” His teary eyes narrowed. “Where is your damn presence now?” He screamed and ripped the paper into confetti.
The torn pieces of paper sprinkled to the floor like leaves during autumn. He felt his knees giving out again. Back to the tile he stumbled.
Once he’d consumed enough s
trength to stand again, he pulled himself up and leaned against the refrigerator. He couldn’t pull himself together. But he needed to. Because he needed to talk to Brandi.
The last words that he remembered yelling at Trae chimed in his head like a pair of jingle bells. (You selfish son of a bitch if you dropped dead tomorrow it wouldn’t bother me at all. I hope you rot in hell) Jason lowered his head, and slid down the refrigerator until he felt his buttocks hit the floor, never stealing his eyes away from the tile. “Trae I’m so sorry” He whispered over and over and over again. At that moment he would’ve given anything in exchange for the chance to take back those words. He was heartsick.
He hadn’t even heard the Brinks Alarm system sounding off until two police officers rang his doorbell. He informed the officers that everything was fine and when they left he walked back into the kitchen and finally he called Brandi back. When he heard the sadness in Brandi’s voice for some reason his words wouldn’t come out. “Helloooo...”She was singing into the phone.
He pulled himself together. “Are you okay?”
“It happened so fast” She cried…..“Trae came over to talk. He was trying to talk about getting back together. And I told him to go home. I was trying to brush him off.” She said sadly. “Sixty seconds was all it took for him to do it. It happened just that fast” She sniffed. “I heard a loud bang and I ran back to the door. Because I knew that he’d brought a gun with him but I didn’t think… I didn’t think that he’d…I didn’t think that he’d....” She sobbed. “Jason he pulled the trigger and shot himself in the head.”
Jason sobbed.
“I should have just talked to him. I should have just listened to him.” Brandi whimpered.
“Brandi don’t beat yourself up. It’s not your fault.”
“I haven’t told the boys yet. I don’t know how. I don’t even know if it will affect them at all. Trae definitely hasn’t earned the father of the year award”
“I understand. I’m not trying to make excuses for the way that Trae treated you guys but Trae had to deal with a lot of demons. At the age of five years old he’d seen a lifestyle that most adults haven’t seen. His father shot and killed his mother and grandparents right in front of him and then burned the house down and let him watch it. When Trae and I was younger he’d tell me all the time about how his father you’st to treat his mother. How he used to beat her. About how his dad use to call him names and run scorching hot water in the tub and make him get in it just for the hell of it. He had a hell of a childhood. A lot of times when you didn’t receive love as a child you’re not going to give it or show it when you’re an adult. It’s not because you don’t want to but because you simply don’t know how.”
Unfaithful Ties Page 41