by Deja King
"All I want you to do is hand Nichelle over and then you can go about your business."
"She is my business."
"Not anymore. This is bigger than some ex-boyfriend/ girlfriend shit y'all have going on. This is business, Renny. You understand that."
"Yo, this fuckin' obsession you have with her brother has destroyed you. Let the shit go!"
"I can't do that. Genesis will be dealt with so I need you to hand me over his sister," Arnez continued not letting up on the solid grip he had on his gun. "You my favorite cousin. . .1 love you, man, but I need you to get out the way so I can handle my business."
"You would kill your own blood for that bullshit you got going on wit' that nigga!"
"It's not personal," Arnez smiled and shrugged his shoulders as if to lighten the mood.
"Fuck you then." Without warning, Renny reached in the back of his pants for his gat and lit Arnez's ass up. Without giving it a second thought, he lifted Nichelle off the ground and laid her down gently in the back seat. Renny drove off leaving his cousin for dead like he was a piece of disposable trash.
Nichelle woke up and the first person she laid eyes on was Renny. He was at Nichelle's bedside holding her hand. "Where am I?"
"At my place. How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay but my head hurts."
"Yeah, you have a little bump. The doctor said you have a minor concussion and would be in some pain."
"I saw a doctor, did I go to the hospital?"
"No, I had the doctor come see you here. He gave you a full check-up and left you some medication. You're gonna be fine."
"Thank you for taking care of me."
"You don't have to thank me. If anything I should be asking for your forgiveness."
"I do forgive you. You know what happened to Tierra don't you?"
"Yes," Renny answered somberly.
"I hope before she died she knew that I forgave her too."
"Tierra knew how much you loved her."
"Before she died she asked me to take care of Elijah for her."
"How do you feel about that?"
"The question is how would you feel? He is your son."
"Nichelle, you've been through so much and a great deal of that is my fault. I don't want you to do anything you're not comfortable with."
"Elijah deserves to have a mother that loves him. Besides Tierra, I don't think another woman could love him as much as I would."
"You're amazing. I know I don't deserve to have you in my life but I can't let you go-I won't."
"You don't have to. If it wasn't for you Arnez would've taken me and I'd be dead. Whatever happened in the past, that's where it's gonna stay. But I do need you to do something for me."
"Tell me. Whatever it is, I'll make it happen."
"Get in touch with my brother."
"Nichelle, I wasn't lying when I told you I didn't know where Genesis was."
"I found him. I know exactly where he is. Call this number, he'll get you in contact with my brother."
"T-Roc, I don't know how much more of this I can take. We keep hitting one dead end after another. Veronica is dead, so even if she knew something she can't tell us. Delondo is going to pull through but I doubt he knows where Arnez has Nichelle. This shit is driving me crazy!"
"I know but times like this, it's important to remain calm."
"Do you think Nichelle is still alive?"
"Honestly, I hope so but when you're dealing with a deranged individual like Arnez it can go either way."
"You right and that's what's eating me up inside. If I lose another person at the hands of Arnez, I don't know what will become of me."
"Don't talk like that," T-Roc said putting his hand on Genesis' shoulder. "We'll get through this." Both men looked up when they heard a huffing Akil scurrying through the door.
"Man, you a'ight." Genesis was used to seeing Akil polished and unruffled. The haggard vibe he was giving off had him concerned.
"I just a received a call. Nichelle's been found."
"Is she alive?" Genesis stood up and swallowed hard. He was scared at what the answer might be.
"Yes, she is," Akil beamed, "and, Genesis, she's asked to see you."
When Genesis, T-Roc and Akil drove up the townhouse on the water front property there was an unspoken allegiance between the men. They had all shared in the search for Nichelle and now they celebrated in her survival.
"Are you going to knock on the door or what," T-Roc said playfully, sensing Genesis' nervousness. But he didn't have to because the door opened.
"I saw y'all pull up. Come on in, I'm Renny."
"I'm Genesis. This is T-Roc and Akil, who you spoke with on the phone. Thank you for calling."
"Don't thank me. Nichelle was adamant that I got in contact with you. All she's been saying is that she wants to see her brother."
The biggest smile crossed Genesis' face and it spread like it was contagious because the other men couldn't help but smile too.
"She's upstairs, the second bedroom on the left." Genesis followed Renny's directions and when he got to the bedroom he paused for a second before going in.
Nichelle scooted her still aching body up straight in the bed when she saw Genesis standing in the doorway. A smile and tears hit her face at the same time. "My brother, I've finally found my brother."
"Oh, Genevieve," Genesis sighed. I didn't know if I would ever see you again. Is it okay that I call you Genevieve?"
"You can call me whatever you like as long as you put sister somewhere in there."
"How are you, did Arnez hurt you? I put it on everything that he will pay for what he did to you."
"I'm fine and calm down. You don't have to worry. Arnez will never hurt anybody again."
"Why, what happened?"
"He's dead."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"How did he die?"
"You promise you won't say anything?"
"Of course. One thing you don't ever have to worry about, what's between us and what we share will always remain between us."
"Renny saved my life and in the process he killed his cousin.
"Renny and Arnez are cousins?"
"Yes."
"Renny must love you a lot to kill his cousin for you. That should've been me saving your life."
"You have. When I lost our mother..."
"Our mother is dead?" Genesis asked cutting Nichelle off.
"Yes. Arnez was responsible for that too. Right before she died is when she told me about you."
"What? So all these years you never knew you had a brother?"
"No. When I was little our mother accidentally killed the man I thought was my father. We had to leave North Carolina so she wouldn't go to jail. We changed our names and got new identities. We cut off everybody from our past. But before she died, she wanted me to know about you and find you. She said you would protect me."
"This is all so much. But it makes sense and explains why I could never locate you all."
"But with everything that was going on with me I never gave up hope that I would find you. Then that night at the party when you told me your name was Genesis Taylor. I knew God answered prayers."
"I felt this connection to you and I couldn't figure out why and then it hit me. Once it did, there was nothing that could shake me believing you were my sister. We have so much time to make up for. I want you to move in with me."
"Genesis, stop it," Nichelle laughed.
"I'm serious. I want to spend every day and night with you. Getting to know you, your favorite food, movie, music ... everything."
"You're so sweet. You're going to be like the best brother ever."
"Nichelle, don't cry."
"I'm trying not to," she sniffled. "But I've lost so much but finding you makes up for all of it." Genesis reached over and held his sister so tightly. He loved her. He didn't know it was possible to love someone so much that he barely even knew
"So I'm finally goin
g to meet your sister. I can't wait!" CoCo said as she set the table for dinner.
"Yep! I think y'all are going to get along great. She's wonderful," Genesis gushed. "I mean when you look at her she appears to be so delicate but inside of her she's a fighter, she's strong. She reminds me of Talisa that way. There was an awkward silence and then Genesis realized what he said. "That might've been a little insensitive of me. I apologize."
"Don't. There is nothing wrong with you comparing your sister to Talisa. I know how special Talisa was to you and you don't have to apologize for that."
"How am I so lucky to be surrounded by such amazing women," he said giving CoCo a long seductive kiss that instantly got her panties wet.
"I think you need to back up. Your sister will be here any minute and you don't want to start something you can't finish."
"True. But it's on tonight."
"I'm counting on it."
"Tomorrow I'm taking Nichelle with me to pick up Amir from Talisa's parents house. Do you want to ride with us?"
"What? You never let me go over there with you!"
"We're engaged now. I think it's time for them to be introduced to the woman who will be my wife and a mother to their grandson."
"Call me that again?"
"Call you what?"
"Wife. I like the way that sounds. I'll be Mrs. Genesis Taylor."
"Yes you will be. And being able to have my sister there is the best wedding gift ever. These last few weeks I've spent with her have been some of the happiest of my life. She's going to be a great Auntie to Amir.
Knock... knock... knock
"That must be Nichelle now," Genesis said going to the door.
"Hi," Nichelle smiled giving her brother a hug.
"Hey, I thought Renny was coming with you."
"Some business came up at the last minute. But if he doesn't finish up too late he'll stop by when he's done."
"That's okay. That means I don't have to share the two most important women in my life tonight."
"So CoCo's here? I can't wait to meet her."
"Yeah, she's finishing up the table now" Nichelle followed Genesis to the dining room. "There's my beautiful fiance."
"Hi, CoCo. It's such a pleasure to meet you. Genesis has said nothing but wonderful things about you."
"Well, he hasn't stopped raving about you. You've made such a huge impact on his life."
"He's done the same for me too."
"Nichelle, can I get you something to drink?" CoCo offered.
"I can get it myself but thank you. I apologize for starring at you but you seem so familiar to me."
"Really, maybe it's from that night at the party."
"No, I don't remember seeing you there."
"I bet you met her twin sister Chanel before."
"Yes, I did meet Chanel with Renny at Arnez's crib and that night they shot Tierra. That's your sister."
"My sister is now deceased but I apologize for everything she did to you and your friend."
"Let's not talk about them. Tonight is about us and having a good time," Genesis said in effort to kill any negative vibes.
"You're right big brother. I'ma go in the kitchen and get something to drink. Can I bring y'all back anything?"
"No, we're good," CoCo said, pulling Genesis close to her. "Take your time. While you're in the kitchen, I'm going to try and get my fiance to nail down a wedding date."
"You do that," Nichelle laughed, entering the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of Sparkling Cider. She listened as CoCo and Genesis went back and forth discussing their wedding plans. From the time she got a glass out the cabinet to then pouring the cider everything changed and would never be the same again.
"Nichelle, I told CoCo that you would be the perfect bridesmaid in our wedding. What do you think about that?" he asked when she came out the kitchen.
"It was you, CoCo." Genesis and CoCo looked at each other in confusion then back at Nichelle.
"It was me, what?"
"It was you that I heard arguing with Arnez when he had me captive in that townhouse."
"You're mistaken, Nichelle. I haven't seen Arnez since my sister died."
"When I saw you and I said you seemed familiar, it wasn't because of the way you looked. It was your voice. I'll never forget your voice and what you said! When I went in that kitchen and I couldn't see your face but just listened it all came back to me."
"Nichelle, calm down. I know that ordeal with Arnez was brutal for you but CoCo wasn't there it was somebody else."
"No, Genesis. It was CoCo. She was working with Arnez. They were arguing because she knew he was responsible for kidnapping me. They had a deal but he reneged." Genesis turned towards CoCo trying to get a read on the situation.
"Genesis, your sister was clearly traumatized by what Arnez did to her. You know how much I hate Arnez. I would never work with him."
"You're a liar! You said that you gave him all the information he needed to have Talisa killed. Then you said that Genesis killed your sister and if you could get over losing her then he would get over the death of a sister he doesn't even know Your only beef with Arnez was that you wanted to make sure he didn't kill Genesis because you had earned the right to have him all to yourself. Isn't that how you put it?"
"Your sister is trippin'...this is crazy!"
"No, you're crazy!" Nichelle screamed, pointing her finger at CoCo. "Arnez said he planned to cut my body parts up and send them to Genesis. He said he wanted to torture him mentally but wouldn't kill him. You agreed! You went so far as to say that with first losing his wife and then losing his sister, Genesis would be so traumatized he would be totally dependent on you for emotional support."
"Genesis, if this is true why is she just now telling you?"
"The way they kept me drugged up and then the car accident, I had a minor concussion, so some of my memories were suppressed. But the doctor told me with time more and more things would slowly start coming back to me. And when I heard you in here with Genesis the dreadfulness I felt when you were talking to Arnez that day hit me all over again."
"CoCo, why? Why would do this?" Genesis voice seemed numb.
"Genesis, you believe her?"
"Why would Nichelle make it up and how does she know all of this if it didn't go down exactly the way she said?"
"It's no secret what happened to Talisa."
"True, but I never told her I killed Chanel. That was between me and you."
Dismay crept over CoCo's face. She was busted. "Genesis, I was the only woman that was right for you but you could never see that until after Talisa died."
"You took away my wife. My son will never know his mother because you thought you were the only woman who was right for me. I don't know what to say to you."
"I do! If you and Arnez had your way, I would be dead. And my brother would've ended up being married to a piece of shit like you. You're sick!"
"Nichelle, I want you to go home. I'll call you later."
"I'm not leaving. I'm staying here with you."
Genesis slightly pulled Nichelle to the corner and spoke in a low tone. "I want you to go home. I'll handle things here with CoCo."
"Genesis, I don't want to leave you. Whatever you're going to do with CoCo, you can do it in front of me."
"You're my sister and I have to protect you. Certain things I don't want you to see."
"I think it's too late," Nichelle said shifting her eyes away from Genesis. Genesis turned to see what Nichelle was alluding to and saw CoCo holding her purse in one hand and her gun in another.
"Genesis, you know I never move without my Bitch. I hate it has to come to this but when you asked your sister to leave I knew what was up."
"I had no intentions of harming you, CoCo. I wanted us to have privacy so we can figure things out."
"Figure things out...you mean there's still a chance for us?"
"Hell no! My brother doesn't wanna fuck wit' you no more.
"
Nichelle...please. This is a private matter between me and my fiance." Nichelle frowned at her brother but she knew what was up.
"I advise you to listen to your brother. You're new to this. What Genesis and I share goes way back and is much deeper than you know"
"CoCo's right."
"Fine, I'll go. But call me and let me know you're okay."
"I will."
"Nichelle, I truly love your brother. He'll be fine." Nichelle didn't even acknowledge what CoCo said. She grabbed her purse and left. There was complete silence until they heard the door shut. "Genesis, you know everything I've ever done is because I love you."
"I know you believe that."
"It's true. I know how much you loved Talisa but I'll be a better wife to you than she could've ever been. And Amir loves me and I love him too. And I'm sorry about Nichelle but honestly I didn't really think she was your sister. I was just trying to get Arnez out of our lives once and for all. You know how insane he was."
"I believe we can salvage this and make it right."
"I knew that you loved me," CoCo said putting down her purse and gun to hug Genesis. "Baby, I really am the only woman for you."
"If you say so," Genesis said leaning close to CoCo's ear and whispering, "but I believe Talisa would've disagreed." He then grabbed CoCo by the jaw and broke her neck, letting her lifeless body fall to the floor.
The next day when Genesis and Nichelle arrived at the Washington's sprawling estate, they were both excited about seeing Amir. During their ride, Genesis told Nichelle all sorts of funny stories about his son and what she had to look forward to since she would be helping Renny raise Elijah. Not once did Genesis mention CoCo and Nichelle didn't ask. If her brother ever wanted to share it with her, she would be there to listen although she believed she already knew what happened after she left.
"Are you ready?" Genesis asked when they got out the car and was walking towards the front door.
"Yes! I'm excited and nervous. I got a brother and a nephew all at the same time, how lucky am I!"
"Genesis, and you must be, Nichelle. It's wonderful to meet you," Mrs. Washington said, giving them both a hug.