by Kia
“How did you know my mother died?” I asked.
“When Lourdy filed for the papers and started the process, you are aware that we had your social and everything?”
“Yes,” I said. Gee asked me for my personal information before he did it.
“So I took it upon myself to do my research. When I saw that your mother died, per the death certificate, and how you came to NYC with Rena, I assumed that you were raising her alone. Is that correct?” she asked.
Damn. This bitch was doing her job to the damn highest power.
“Correct.”
“And I truly sympathize with you. I know that this is for money. As I said before, I will not report you. I’m just going to postpone our meeting for two weeks. At least get to know the man so I won’t have to lie on my documentation and put my job in jeopardy. This case is big. Everyone in my office is talking about it. The government has an eye on this man, meaning they have a close eye on me too.”
“So, what am I supposed to do?” I asked.
“Take him to Texas and show him your roots. And also have him take you to Haiti. Get to know him and come back.”
“Why are you helping us?” I asked.
“Like I said, I do my research. This man is trying to bring healthy food into this country at a cheap cost, and we need that right now. This food is literally killing us, and the government is trying to get him out of here and back to where he came from. And they’re aggressive about it.”
“What do you mean?”
She stood up and opened the door for Gee to come back in. Then she explained to him what she had just explained to me.
“Damn. How aggressive are they when it comes to denying me this?” he asked.
“Let’s just say that I was promised a promotion if I rejected your claim for marriage.”
“Damn, like that?” I asked.
“Like I said before, what he’s planning to do will take money out of their pockets. I’m talking trillions. The only reason people eat this poison is because it’s the only thing they can afford. I’m an activist for human rights and eating clean.”
“But I have a woman and she’s here visiting. I can’t spend much time with Diamond right now.”
“What’s more important? I can’t help you if you don’t at least meet me halfway,” she said.
“Shit.”
“Like I did my research, they do too. And I’m afraid that they might find out that I’m an activist for healthy eating and veganism. At any moment, they could assign you to a new person. This is why it is really important that you two actually make this look real. I know it may be a bit much, but if you two were to have a kid, it would help my case that much more. It would help you also, Lourdy. It’s a life change, but our country is in trouble. Food is becoming worse than the crack epidemic, and I mean it. I want this for you. It is imperative that you do what you need to do to get them off your back.”
“Say no more,” Gee said.
“I will see you two in two weeks, right?” she asked as we all stood up.
“Yes, ma’am,” Gee said as he walked out before me. He didn’t even hold the door open. I could tell he was mad.
“Wait,” Ms. Lacey said as I was about to walk out.
“Yes?”
“Make it count.”
“Huh? I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.”
“You will.” She shut the door in my face.
“Diamond, let’s go,” Gee said as he held the elevator door open.
When we got into the car, the first thing he did was call Kasha from his car Bluetooth. “Hello?” she answered.
“I need you to go back to Paris. Come back and visit in a few months. But you can’t be here now.”
“What? Why?” she asked.
I smiled.
“I have business to tend to, and I have to go to Texas.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Yazz
“We don’t have our session today. Why you here?” Red asked as she opened the door. She had Rena on her hip.
“I have to ask to see my fiancée?” I asked. I liked this feisty bitch.
“I just saw you yesterday,” she said as I went to the fridge to see if they had food.
Since Kasha was still at the Gee’s place, I tried to avoid going over there with him not there. She was annoying, so I came here to annoy Red.
“It’s cute how you act like you don’t want me,” I said as I pulled out a leftover pizza box.
“Acting?”
“Oh, so you don’t like my dick?” I asked.
“You know I do. But that don’t mean I like you.”
“So you’re using me?” I asked as I put three slices of pepperoni pizza in the microwave.
“We’re using each other. I’m chasing that money bag, and you’re chasing citizenship. Thought we talked about this,” she said.
“Whatever, Red.”
She walked away and sat on the couch with Rena.
I grabbed my pizza and went and sat by them. She had put on SpongeBob for Rena. “So you know Gee and Diamond are doing artificial insemination, right?” she asked me.
“Yeah, I heard. I knew it would be that way. That nigga Gee is deep in love, and he takes that shit serious. I told you that.”
“But that’s a bit much,” she said.
“That’s just him. We ain’t doing no artificial shit though,” I said as I took a bite of my pizza.
Rena climbed over in my lap so I assumed she wanted some. I broke half of it and gave her the other half. Then she went back to Red.
“Indeed. So I have a question. When this marriage is over, are you still going to help with this baby?” she asked.
“You don’t read the shit you be signing? In the contract, I agreed to continue payments for the child, even after we aren’t together anymore. I don’t feel right saying that either. How about I’m just going to take care of my child until the day I die.”
“Isn’t it crazy that we’re going to have a kid and it’s all for business?” she asked.
“That is crazy, but I don’t know. You play your cards right, and we gonna be together forever,” I lied.
By the smirk on her face, she knew I was lying. “Nah, you play your cards right and I will give you a chance at being my man.”
“Am I not your type?” I asked.
“Nah, not really.”
“So who is your type? Gee?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact.”
“Oh, so I’m the bad brother?”
“Yep.”
“But that nigga ain’t no fun. He boring. Shit, Diamond ain’t getting no dick, and I can promise you that.
“He’ll give in,” she said.
“Shiiiiiiiiid. How much you want to bet?”
“Damn, he that into Kasha?” she asked.
“That nigga is into whoever he with at the time.”
“Damn. Well she gonna have to find her a nigga on the side.” She was now in laughter.
“She seem kinda boring too,” I said as I put my empty plate on the coffee table.
“Diamond ain’t boring. Trust me. She’s just really reserved around strangers.”
“What about you?”
“Oh me? Clearly, I just do me. Not really giving a fuck. I just want the money, baby.”
“So you don’t want love at all?” I asked.
“Nope. Not at all.”
“You my type of bitch.”
“Don’t fall in love now,” she said while winking at me.
I had something for her. She was indeed about to love me. Shit, I had a point to prove. Had to show her who wore the pants in this marriage.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Patricia
“Yo, come clean this nasty ass kitchen. Fuck wrong with you,” Davinchi said as he woke me up.
I rolled over on my back and let my arms flop to the end of the bed. He had been here a week, and I was already getting sick of his ass. For some reason, he was mad at the fucking world. N
othing I was doing could make him happy.
“Davinchi, come on, babe. I’m tired,” I said as he walked to the bathroom and slammed the door.
“Hell, roaches and shit everywhere. And get rid of them fucking cats,” he said from behind the closed door.
“You know why I have them,” I said.
“If you kept this bitch clean, you wouldn’t have to worry about rats. Get up and do something with this apartment, B.”
“You act like you paying bills around this bitch,” I hissed as I stood to stretch.
“I already did. That’s why you need to shut the fuck up and do what I say.”
“Okay, Davinchi,” is all I said. It’s clear that he wanted the last word. I know I said I wanted to be his main bitch, but damn!
“I’m ’bout to hit the block. Be back later,” he said as he exited the bathroom and grabbed his strap off the dresser. “Cook or something.”
I didn’t even answer him. I just grabbed my towel and got ready for the shower. Skata and I had a long day planned ahead of us. She had a little hustle that she wanted me to embark on with her. She had found a plug on designer clothes and bags and would be selling them. She said if I helped, she would break me off some bread too. I told her if I could bring back at least $300 today, I would help her full time. Hell, Davinchi was out here getting money, so I wanted to get it too. We had a lil’ talk and he basically told me that I needed to get some hustle about myself because he wasn’t about to carry the weight of the world all by himself. I understood that. What man could? Every man needed a woman who could be there to pick up the slack.
After showering, Skata was already at my door knocking. “Damn, you’re early,” I said.
“Shit, the early birds get the good worms. You know this the city that never sleeps. I was thinking we could go to Times Square and see how that do.”
“Don’t we need a booth?” I asked.
“My husband said we could use his old booth for today and see if it jumps.”
“Cool. Damn, it got air in that joint?” I asked.
“Nah. You know that. That’s why we need to sell this shit fast.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
I got my clothes on and was out the door in less than ten minutes. I wanted to prove to Davinchi that I could be his backbone.
“Ever find out where that Diamond girl moved to?” Skata asked.
The other night when Davinchi didn’t come home, I went to see if he was there, but someone told me that she didn’t live there anymore. I was thinking that Davinchi made her move because I knew where she stayed. But I wasn’t tripping. I would find out where she stayed sooner or later, even if I had to follow Davinchi to her.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Davinchi
“Nigga, you sure you ain’t obsessed?” My homie, Emo, asked me as we stood on the block across the street from Marcy projects.
Emo was the only homie I had that I could really trust. We grew up together and even fucked our first hoe together. Shit, we even went half on our first brick together, so now we were on the come up… together.
“That’s my bitch, B. It’s been a week. Where the fuck she at?”
“Did she go back with her mom in Texas?” Emo asked as he served someone who was walking by.
“I don’t think so. She always told me that she was never going back to Texas. Never said why, but I know she ain’t going back.”
“So, what you think is up?” he asked as he smiled at a hoodrat walking by.
These bitches in Brooklyn loved me and Emo, but they loved that nigga Emo even more. It was said that he looked like a taller version of the singer Trey Songz.
“I been tryna figure out who this nigga is that brought her Starbucks. I might have to kill that hoe if she had the audacity to leave me for another nigga.”
He laughed. “Nigga, stop.”
“What?”
“You doing too much. If she was as in love as you said, she will come back. Don’t trip, B.”
Just as I was about to respond, my phone started to vibrate. It was Seeka. I didn’t feel like talking to that hoe until the baby was born and I got a blood test. She was nothing but drama on feet.
“Fuck that. Some nigga out here dicking my bitch down and bringing her Starbucks afterward. I know she loving that shit.”
“Nigga, you stuck on this Starbucks shit.”
“That’s a big deal, B.”
“Nigga, how ’bout I find you a badder bitch?”
“I don’t want no more bad bitches. I got one and she rocking my nerves.”
“Who? Pat?”
“Yeah.”
“That hoe bad, but I got somebody for ya that will make ya toes curl just by looking at her,” he boasted.
“I’m good,” I said with my mind still on Diamond. What if she was somewhere falling in love? What if I never saw her again? What if she was somewhere sucking dick? Fuck that.
“I’ma holla at you later, B,” I said as I dapped up my mans.
“Where you headed?”
“I’m ’bout to go to every fucking Starbucks in NYC.”
“Yo, this nigga wildin’, B,” Emo said to my other homies who had just walked up. They all erupted in laughter as he mocked what I had just said.
They could laugh all they wanted. I said what I said and meant it.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Diamond
The next morning…
“It’s hot as hell out here,” Gee said as we waited outside Dallas/Ft Worth airport for our rental to pull around the curb.
“That’s Texas for you,” I said as I tied Rena’s shoe.
I was so nervous to have Gee around, but I had to if I wanted this money. Deep down inside, I was hoping that this time we spent would make him gain some type of feelings for me. I had decided that I wanted him in real life. I liked everything that he stood for, but Gee was seriously in love with that conniving ass bitch.
“There he is. We got the Ford Fusion, didn’t we?” Gee asked as the gray 2016 Ford Fusion pulled in front of us. The driver hopped out and gave me the keys.
“I’ll drive since this is my city,” I said as I put Rena in the back seat. We had ordered the car seat to come with it since I didn’t bring one. Gee just had to pay a little extra.
“You sure?” he asked.
“I got it.”
“Okay, cool.” He walked me around to the driver’s side and opened my door. Then he got in on the passenger side.
“You know… you don’t have to keep opening every door for me. This isn’t a real marriage, remember?”
“It’s habitual. I do apologize, but I’m not going to stop. It makes me cringe when I see a woman with a man opening any doors. Real marriage or not, just let me do me. Cool?”
“Cool,” I said.
“So where are we going?” he asked as I pulled out onto the airport freeway.
“To see my mother.”
“Where is she?”
“Laurel Land,” I responded, hoping he would stop there. I wasn’t prepared to have this conversation with him.
“What part of town is that?” he asked.
“It’s a cemetery.”
I looked over at his face to see his reaction. He had a genuine look of sorrow, but he kept his eyes straight ahead and didn’t say anything for the rest of the trip to see her.
I looked in the rearview at Rena. I could tell she was familiar with where we were because her smile was brighter than it had been in a while. It’s almost like she knew we were on the way to see our mother.
Life had a funny way of knocking us good people down. Look at Gee… this man was trying to do something positive for the U.S., and they were doing everything to rip this man apart. Sometimes I asked God why it had to be me? All my life, the only goal I had was to make others happy. When my mother was alive, I did everything to make sure she wasn’t struggling. I even skipped out on college to make sure she wasn’t raising Rena alone. She herself didn’t have a colleg
e degree, let alone a high school diploma. She had me young, so she made sacrifices, and I appreciated them all.
“We’re here,” I said as I snapped out of my thoughts and pulled into the gates of Laurel Land.
“Ma… ma… ma!” Rena began to clap her hands together and rock back and forth.
Gee turned around, smiled and pulled her out the car seat and to the front with us. I parked the car and waited for Gee to come and open my door.
“Thanks,” I said as I fixed my Marilyn Monroe shirt and walked on the grass until I got to her tombstone.
“Dorothy Mason?” Gee asked.
“Yep, that’s her,” I said as I bent down and saw that her tombstone was just the way I left it with the same flowers.
“Damn, so this wasn’t long ago at all,” Gee said as he let Rena out of his arms. She walked over to the tombstone and laid on it. I started to pick her up because it was dirty, but I decided against it. I could just clean her off later.
“Nope.”
“How did she die?” he asked.
“My grandfather. He killed her and then killed himself.”
“What? Is this some kind of joke?” he asked.
Shit, I wish it was.
“My mother had just confessed to my grandmother that my grandfather had raped her when she was sixteen. My grandmother ended up leaving him, so he waited until my grandmother’s birthday, when all of my uncles and aunties was around, and killed my mom. Then he killed himself. My grandmother died a few weeks later.”
“Wow. At least you still have your aunties, uncles and cousins,” Gee said.
A tear rolled down my face. I hated talking about this. “My family disowned Rena and I after my grandmother died. They felt like it was my mother’s fault that everything went down the way it did.”
“But that didn’t have anything to do with you.”