Never Again, No More 3
Page 13
Aaron laughed. “Boy, T, you came out the box on that one.” He pounded it up with me. “If it’s one thing we know is that Watson bleeds green.”
“That’s why I’m the brains of this operation. Look, Aaron, get some anonymous nigga to tell Watson to decline any plea bargain for Pooch, and tell him to name his price.”
“Name his price?” Aaron said as he and Thomas looked at each other. “You may wanna put a cap on that, cuz.”
Realizing they were right, I looked back and forth at them as I thought of a good round figure. “Start off at one hundred grand. Get that offer on the table ASAP.”
Thomas reached out and hugged me. “Thank you, man.”
“Don’t thank me yet, because you paying me back. I’m just doing this to keep Aaron’s nose clean and so it won’t be traced to you, but I do expect my little duffle bag to be full within two weeks after this little transaction goes through.”
Thomas shrugged. “That’s cool. I’m just thanking you for looking out for me.”
“Yeah, well, after this shit, your D-boy days best be over,” I warned him. “I mean that shit, Tot. I’m not doing this shit again.”
He nodded. “All right. Bet that,” he agreed.
Aaron patted my shoulder. “’Preciate that, cuz. I’ll make sure he flies straight.”
“All right. I’ma hold you to that too, Aaron. Call me next week with the particulars so we can get this shit on a roll. I need it over and done with quick.”
Aaron, Thomas, and I sat there for about ten minutes more, shooting the breeze as we watched the kids play. I decided to get up and check on Trinity to see what was taking her so long. At this point, everybody was hungry and ready to eat.
“Looking for me?” she asked, and we all turned toward the doorway.
My eyes nearly popped out of my head. She had on some kind of halter top sundress that stopped barely mid-thigh with some wedge sandals. The front of it revealed just a little more cleavage than she needed to be showing. To make it worse, she had her hair pinned up, so there was a clear visual from the neck down. Now, I’m not gonna lie. She was rockin’ the hell out of this getup, but I was uncomfortable with her rockin’ it in front of my cousins.
“Yeah, babe, we . . . uh . . . we all are ready to eat,” I stammered.
She fanned me off. “A lady always makes an entrance. Besides, you ain’t starving. Let me speak to our guests first.” She dismissed me, walking over to Thomas.
“Hey, Trin, what’s up?” Thomas hugged her.
When I saw the back of that dress, I could’ve tore some shit up. It was backless, not just at the shoulders as I would’ve suspected, but midway down her back. Not to mention, she had on a sexy-ass scent that lingered long after she’d walked away. What the fuck was she doing?
“Hey, Aaron,” she greeted him.
“Girl, you get more beautiful every day,” he said.
“Big Cal, I can always depend on you for a beautiful compliment.” She blushed and hugged him. “You hungry? I know you love my cooking.”
“Shit, yeah. I didn’t think nobody could fry chicken better than my grandma, but you do have her beat,” Aaron said.
“See what I mean? You’re a sweetheart, Big Cal.”
“I’ll help you bring out the food,” I said to Trinity as I grabbed her by the hand, walking behind her into the kitchen. “What the fuck do you have on?” I asked no sooner than we were safe inside the house.
She shrugged nonchalantly. “A sundress.”
“Half of one,” I seethed. “You know I’m pissed off, right?”
“Join the club,” she said smartly.
“Okay, I’m trying to protect us, and you’re trying to piss me off.” I paced angrily. “I don’t want you in that dress. Take it off.”
Her eye roll caught my attention as she fanned me off before crossing her arms. “I’m grown. Boy, please.”
“So, you just gon’ disrespect me like this?” I asked her, getting angrier.
Trinity turned to me with a sinister look on her face. “Big Cal likes it,” she said snidely and turned around.
Before I knew what came over me, I snatched her and turned her around while gripping her arms. “What the fuck did you just say to me? Be clear. You will not disrespect me in my own house.”
Trinity’s eyes filled with tears, then she snatched away and slapped me. “Don’t you ever put your hands on me. I put up with that shit from Pooch. I will not go through it again. Do you hear me?”
Her words stung me, and I shook my head as I snapped back into reality. “Trinity, baby, I’m so sorry—”
She backed up, and her scared reaction stopped me in midsentence. “Grab the trays, take the food outside, and leave me alone,” she ordered while taking a paper towel and drying her teary eyes.
“Li’l mama, I was just—”
She cut me off. “Not now, Terrence. Take the food out to our guests and leave me alone.”
As far as I was concerned, this food could wait, but I knew she didn’t want to see me right now, so I relented. “I’m so sorry, baby,” I apologized as she turned her back to me. Walking up behind her, I kissed her cheek, but she tensed up, so I grabbed the trays of food and left out so I could tell everyone to get prepared to eat.
I decided to go ahead and bless the food, and I made the kids’ plates, and then I told Aaron and Thomas to go ahead and eat. I was just about to go check on Trinity when she walked out with Tyson in her arms and Princess walking beside her. When Princess spotted Aaron, she smiled and tried to run for him. He got up and picked her up before she could fall down.
“Hi, Cal.” Princess grinned.
“What’s up, little Princess?” Aaron said. “Man, Trinity, she is getting so big. I miss seeing my little buddy,” he said, tickling her. “I’ll tell you what. You’re gonna have to beat the men off with a stick because she looks just like you, so I know she’s gonna be one beautiful woman,” Aaron complimented before hugging Princess and putting her down.
Trinity smiled demurely. “She’ll have you to watch her back, though.”
Now, I sat there holding my son and observed the scene and conversation. Trinity and Aaron. How close had these two really gotten during his stint as Pooch’s right-hand man? I felt like an outsider in my own house. And trust me; I didn’t forget that fucking comment Trinity said in the kitchen. Big Cal likes it. Big Cal liked a lot of things that I was noticing lately.
The funniest shit to me was that Aaron kept complimenting the food and even volunteered to feed Princess for Trinity so she could eat. Now, this nigga didn’t volunteer to feed Tyson for me so I could eat, and I was this nigga’s cousin. Uh-huh.
“Man, Trinity, my brother was right. You damn sure can burn girl. Wooo. I am stuffed. We may have to take a nap before we get on the road.” Thomas laughed.
“You just make sure you take a plate to go,” Trinity said.
“You already know it’s going down,” Aaron added.
“I’m glad everyone enjoyed the meal. I’m going to lay Tyson down for a nap then start washing up,” she said as she picked up Tyson. Princess followed her inside.
“Yo, Terrence, can I talk you in private for a moment?” Thomas asked.
“Yeah,” I agreed reluctantly as we walked off the patio toward the play area. I kept an eye on Aaron, who was on the patio, drinking a beer.
“Look, man, I really appreciate you having my back with this. I think it’s gonna work. On the humble, thank you,” he said, bringing my attention back to him.
Unable to fully focus on what he was saying, I returned my gaze to Aaron. He was still drinking his beer. “Don’t mention it. We’re family,” I said. “On the real, though, Tot, you need to let that street shit go. You can’t still be out there with this foolishness. All I want you to do is keep your nose clean,” I lectured as we gave each other a one-arm hug.
“You right. Bet that.”
“Dad, will you and Thomas play basketball with us?” Terry asked.
r /> “Yeah, man,” I said as Thomas and I ran onto the court. “Me and Brit against you and Thomas.”
“All right. We’re gonna win, Daddy.” Brit laughed.
“You know it,” I told her.
“Man, please. We got this,” Thomas said, high-fiving Terry.
“Whatever, my dude. Don’t take this ass whipping personally.” I laughed, snatching the ball from Thomas.
We started playing, and soon we were engrossed in the game. In fact, Brit and I were up eight to six when I glanced at the patio and noticed Aaron wasn’t there.
“This old man has to take a restroom break,” I said.
“Ahh, Dad,” Brit whined.
“Seriously, Thomas, will you stay here and watch them?”
“Of course. Go take a leak, old man,” he joked.
I hit him in the shoulder playfully and ran off. I eased my way into the house and stood in the entry of the kitchen, where Aaron was standing beside Trinity while she washed dishes. Good. Their backs were turned to me, so they had no clue I was there.
“Thanks for bringing the dishes in for me,” Trinity told him.
“Ain’t no thang. You know I don’t mind,” he replied. “You know this is why you have a dishwasher. You don’t need to be messing up your nails doing no damn dishes.”
“Spoken like a true bachelor. I always wash my dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. If not, you’ll have dried-up crud on them.”
“Umph. I didn’t know that. You can tell that I only eat out or visit someone else’s table. I ain’t like T. I don’t have a dime at the house that can cook, clean, and look good while doing it.”
She giggled. “You’re a mess. Don’t worry. You’ll have all of that one day, Detective Marsh.”
He licked his lips and grinned. “Oh, so it’s Detective Marsh now?”
“Well, I was trying to get you to change hats for a minute.”
He sighed, rubbing his beard. “Oh. Let me guess. Pooch.”
She nodded. “Why you didn’t tell me what was going on?”
He put his hands on the counter and leaned over to her. “I didn’t want to worry you. You know I’m not gon’ let nothing come up that would hurt you.”
Trinity rubbed her forehead. “Big Cal, I just want this shit to be over.”
Aaron turned toward her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “It will be. I’ma make sure of it. Don’t you worry about nothing, a’ight?” he said, gently massaging her shoulders.
That was my cue. I’d seen enough and walked in. “Yep, everything is gonna be all right because I’m taking care of it,” I announced as Aaron pulled back from Trinity. They both turned around to see me standing there.
“Jesus, Terrence, we didn’t even see you,” Trinity said in shock.
“I know.” I looked back and forth between the two of them.
“Yeah, man. I was just reassuring her that we got that Pooch shit under control,” Aaron said.
“So I see.” I eyed him. “What time are you all leaving?”
He looked at his watch. “I guess now. I made Thomas and me some to-go plates.”
Everybody said their goodbyes, and then I walked Thomas and Aaron to their truck.
“All right. Time to handle business,” I said.
“Consider it handled,” Aaron said.
“Yeah, I know you have mine and Trinity’s back.”
“Always, cuz,” Aaron said.
“All right, cuz. Again, I appreciate you,” Thomas said, one-arm hugging me.
“Ain’t nothing. Just do as I said in the future,” I told him. Then, I turned to face Aaron. “I trust you to do your thang. I can trust you, right?”
Aaron looked at me as if I were crazy. “Of course you can, man. Always.”
“I’m holding you to that.”
When I walked in the house, Trinity was sitting in the family room, watching television. “Are they gone?” she asked.
“Yep. We need to talk.”
“We can talk later. Right now, I just wanna rest.” She yawned.
“Whatever, but we will talk,” I said to her as I left out and sprinted up to the room to take a nap of my own. I don’t know what the fuck the deal was with Aaron and Trinity, but I knew I’d come too far with this to be disrespected by the two people in the world I trusted the most. Yeah, I was a jealous muthafucka, but this wasn’t about that. I didn’t like this fucking friendship between them, so something was gonna have to give. That I meant.
Chapter Eighteen
Trinity
Terrence and I still weren’t on good terms. To be honest, ever since our blowup over Big Cal, I’d been avoiding him. I left for my art gallery before he awakened, and most nights, I’d stay awake until he fell asleep. Hell, I was close to moving into one of the guest bedrooms altogether. He’d rescued me from the entrapment of Pooch only to turn around and get entangled in the same foolishness. What the fuck was the point in changing our names and moving if we were going to be tracked down because he refused to let sleeping thugs lie? He knew firsthand the power that Pooch had. He’d touched him. Just because he was a free man now didn’t mean that Pooch couldn’t touch him again. Moreover, this time, Pooch would touch me too. What would happen to our children if Pooch killed us?
Then, to add insult to injury, he’d put his hands on me. Out of all the people in the world, Terrence was the last person that I thought would do something like that to me. Pooch, yes. I really wasn’t even surprised when his jealous ass turned physical. Hell, I’d expected it to happen a lot sooner. But Terrence? Never in a million years. Regardless of what we went through, he’d never been the type. I didn’t know if it was the bid he had done or the chickenhead bitches he fucked around with before we got back together, but the mere fact that he’d reached that point with me bothered me. If he thought he could start trying to control me through physical abuse, then he had another thing coming. The first and last man to do that to me was Pooch. No other man would get that chance again. Not even Terrence. Until he could properly apologize for what he did and leave this Pooch vendetta alone, then he could prepare himself for many more lonely days.
As I rode to the art gallery, I connected my phone to my car’s internal speaker and dialed a number.
“Charice Westmore speaking,” Charice answered her private line.
“Hey, Charice.”
She gasped, and I heard her moving about before everything went quiet and she spoke again. “Trinity?” she whispered. “How are you calling me? I thought you all were disconnecting from everyone until the coast was clear.”
“We are,” I said around a sigh. “But I needed to talk to someone, and I knew you were the safest since Ryan has y’all’s shit secured like Fort Knox because of his celebrity status.”
“Yeah, that helps me, but how does that help you?”
I scoffed at my friend’s naiveté. “Girl, this is a burner that I just picked up for cash at the corner store. You think I’m that crazy? Hell, I wasn’t with a D-boy all them years and didn’t learn nothing.”
Charice giggled. “Valid point. So, girl, what’s going on? I haven’t spoken with you in so long, and I’ve missed you. But I also know if you’re calling me, especially from a new phone, then something is up.”
“Does Ryan know any hitmen who can off someone in prison?”
“Uhh, I’m gonna pretend like I didn’t just hear that and this conversation never happened.”
“I’m just joking, Charice, although a girl can wish.”
“Please don’t make me disconnect this line!”
I rolled my eyes at my scared friend. “Okay, but something is up. Apparently, you-know-who is trying all kinds of things to get out of his little situation, including snitching on his business partners.”
Charice made an awe sound in realization. “So, now the family could be exposed?”
“Right. And my husband wants to be involved to help resolve this foolishness. That is the last thing I want him to do.”
> “Have you told him that?”
“Would I be calling you if I hadn’t and he didn’t listen?” I asked smartly. “He’s hell bent on helping the family, claiming to ensure our protection.”
“That’s risky as hell.”
“You’re preaching to the choir on that one, honey,” I agreed, flailing my hand in the air.
Releasing a frustrated deep breath, Charice quipped, “T really needs to leave this alone. I understand that it’s family involved, but you and the kids are the most important thing. Besides, what is the real possibility of him getting out of the current predicament? He’s got life four times over.”
Excitedly, I hit my steering wheel. “Yes. That’s exactly what the fuck I’m saying, Charice. Like, there isn’t a real threat. I know he’s concerned, but he’s going to make a mountain where there is only a mole hill.”
“I feel you, girl,” Charice said sadly. “I wish there was something that I could do for you. I know that’s got to be hard. And then we’re not near you or can even really communicate for now.”
She was right about that. There was really nothing anyone could do, and I missed my girls so much. I loved my life with Terrence and the kids, but I hardly had any family in Evanston, and everyone who I was close to, outside of him and the kids, lived away from us. I couldn’t communicate with them, for now, to keep us safe. It was a lonely existence, especially when Terrence did have some family in the area that he could spend time with and confide in.
“Honey, just hearing your voice is enough right now,” I admitted as I pulled into my parking spot in front of my art gallery. “I just wanted to talk to someone about this craziness going on in my life. I needed some type of reassurance that I wasn’t being selfish or not understanding toward my husband.”
“Well, he should really let his cousin, the law enforcement, do his job when it comes to this situation. Isn’t that why he volunteered to be a part of this whole sting operation in the first place?”
“My next point,” I agreed. “Telling him that is a taboo subject. I’m itching to call Big Cal to ask him to intervene and keep T out of this, but if T found out I did that, he’d go berserk. He already feels a way about me communicating with him as is. Like as if I’d ever do something with his kinfolk.”