by T. Styles
It was then that I had my answer. If I wanted things to work out between me and Camp I couldn’t kill Ngozi. I had to give him the opportunity to face him. And if he wanted to give the word to have him murdered afterwards then so be it.
“I don’t want him killed,” I said.
“Then what do you want?” Bambi asked. “Because I’m tired of having this conversation about this dude. It’s time for action.”
“Maybe we can pay him to sit in the meeting with Camp quietly.”
“Fuck are you talking about?” Bambi yelled. “Why should you give him more money than you already have?”
“Because I don’t want him blowing up and things getting worse. I know he wants money so if we pay him maybe he’ll go away with no problem.”
“So you want him to act?” Race responded.
“Yes. And maybe for the right money he’ll do it.”
“You sound crazy,” Race said. “You sure he doesn’t have more on you than you telling us?”
“No. I’m just worried that’s all. And I know it sounds crazy but I’m basically paying him to leave me alone. I’m paying him to hear what Camp has to say and to back out of our lives for good.” I looked at both of them. “I think it will work. You know how greedy he is.”
Bambi looked at me directly in the eyes. I tried to look away from her but she continued to stare. “We’re going to pay him off but if he doesn’t take the money and do his part I’m going to have him killed. You need to know that.”
I agreed. The three of us were about to go cook when we heard screaming downstairs. I rushed out of my room and to the banister. I saw Denim covering her mouth while three police officers wrestled Bradley from the living room and out of the house.
What was going on now?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
DENIM
I stood in the police department with my entire family. Bambi, Race, Scarlett, Camp, Master, Ramirez and Kevin were all there. Jasmine was sitting next to me quietly in the chair. I didn’t know how much I would miss her babbling after she started the new treatment. I think in some ways it became my comfort because at least I knew she was alive.
I was pulling at my hair until Camp handed Master to Scarlett and walked over to me. “Don’t worry,” he said hugging me into his arms. “Bradley gonna be alright. We here for you and we got your back.”
“Yeah, he’s a soldier,” Ramirez said standing next to us. “I know we gonna get past this.”
When I looked over at Kevin he smiled. They were his brothers and if they said he could handle this shit then I had to believe them. Bradley did a lot of things before me and my sisters started handling the day-to-day operations of the business. They saw a lot of money and dealt a lot of coke. But I never, ever before this time thought he could be locked up. And to think that all of this shit was because of my hating ass sister.
Camp gripped me a little tighter then released me. “I love you, sis. Bradley needs you to be strong and you will be that for him. So toughen up.”
“You’re right,” I said softly.
I paced the floor for about fifteen more minutes before they brought my husband out from the back. He was frowning until he saw my face. When his eyes met mine it was like everything stopped. Nothing had movement. We were all alone.
The handcuffs were removed from his wrists and Bradley rushed up to me and kissed me passionately. He held onto me tightly and my body shivered. I knew I loved this man but it was hard explaining how much. He was my everything and I was willing to do all I could to keep him in my life.
When he was done kissing me he held Jasmine and kissed her on the head. Then he dapped his brothers and they gripped him into manly hugs. I could tell we were all relieved that he was getting out but knew it was a major possibility that he would go back inside if Grainger testified for the state.
When Bradley was done with his brothers he walked back over to me. “I’m so sorry that my sister did that shit to you,” I said crying. “I’m so sorry, baby. If I actually thought she would snitch and tell the cops I would’ve talked to her beforehand. Now you gotta go to court for assault and battery and its all my fault.”
He gripped my wet face into his hands and looked into my eyes. “You listen. Me getting locked up don’t have shit to do with you. That bitch violated when she talked ill about my daughter and I put her in her place. I’d do it again if I had to. But what I don’t want you doing is taking this shit on your heart. Grainger been jealous of what we have for the longest and now she got what she wanted. But it won’t be for long. I’m going to get a good lawyer and I’m going to beat this shit. Trust me.”
I buried my head into his chest. I felt the firm beat of his heart against my nose. I breathed him in until I had to exhale to prevent from suffocating. There was nothing left to do. I knew he was hopeful and thought he could really get out of this charge. But I also saw the bigger picture.
He did some serious damage to Grainger’s face. Her mouth had to be wired and what was left of her teeth had crumbled. Once they saw her hospital records he would be going down and I couldn’t let that happen. If I wanted this to go away I had to make it happen and that’s exactly what I intended to do.
****
I was sitting at the dining room table while my mother scooped spaghetti into my plate. I was at the house I bought for her and I hated being there. My mother was already losing weight from her stomach stapling surgery and she was finally looking like her former model self.
To my right was my sister—Grainger. She was wearing a smug look on her face and I wanted to knock it off. But I had to be careful. I wasn’t in charge of the situation anymore. I had the money but Grainger had my husband’s life in her hands. That made her queen for the day. So I had to eat my pride, all of it, and get her to drop the charges. It was the only way.
When the plates were dished up I looked at the food in front of me. I couldn’t eat one bit if I wanted to because my stomach was churning. If I even tried I knew I would throw up all over my plate. I hadn’t eaten a bite since Bradley was arrested and then released three days ago. I couldn’t enjoy the moments of having him home because in the back of my mind if Grainger showed up for court they would take him away from me…away from our family. I was so busy worrying about the future that there was no time to enjoy the present.
“Grainger, did you get the money I put in your bank account the other day?” I asked under my breath while pushing my food around with my fork. “I did it before I took the baby to get her hair done.”
“Yeah, but I thought it would be more,” She responded while sucking a strawberry shake through a straw due to her mouth being wired. I could barely understand her. “I know you got more cake than that, Denim. You have more than that in your purse right now.”
My eyebrows rose. “I transferred $2,500. How much more did you need?”
“I need everything you got.” She wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin. “Besides you owe me big time.” She paused. “But don’t worry, you don’t have to give it to me if you don’t want to. Maybe I should just relax and make sure I show up for court when it’s time to put Bradley away for the long ride.”
I put the fork down. “Grainger, please don’t do this to Bradley. I’m begging you. He’s a good husband and a good father to our child. If he gets locked up for this shit he’ll go down for a minute and I’d just die. Is that what you want?”
She laughed at me. “Well look at what we have here. The girl who stole my boyfriend is now begging me to give him back to her. But you know what, I’m not doing it.” She positioned her straw again through the wires in her mouth. “I mean look at what the nigga done to me. If I do show up for court it will be within my rights.”
“She’s right,” my mother said. “You’re being very insensitive, Denim. That man has fucked up her mouth.”
My mother sounded ridiculous. He may have broken her jaw but her teeth been fucked up since she started doing drugs. “How am I being insensitive, ma?�
�
“You’re asking her to forgive the man who broke her heart and then hit her so hard she passed out. The least you can do is understand where she’s coming from, Denim. Because whether you believe it or not, everything ain’t about you.”
“That’s not fair, ma. Grainger and Bradley were over before I came into the picture.”
“No,” she yelled, “what’s not fair is you coming into my house treating my daughter like she doesn’t even matter. Look at her mouth, Denim. She’s hurt right now and she doesn’t need to be grilled by you.”
I shook my head. She said her daughter. But wasn’t I her child too?
“Why are you always taking her side?” I yelled jabbing the table with my fist. “Since the day I was born you always took her side. Why, mama? You might as well come out with it since it’s obvious you don’t care about me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes you do. Whenever Grainger and I fight you take her side no matter what the situation is and I’m tired of it. Yes I took him from her but she wasn’t in love with him anymore. She even told me that to my face before I ran away with him. The only thing she wanted to do was kill him. They weren’t happily married or anything like that.”
“I did love him,” Grainger said with tears rolling down her face. “We may have fought but I always loved him. I just didn’t know how to show him.”
It wasn’t until that moment that I realized she actually cared about him. When Bradley and her were together they didn’t have sex. They didn’t talk and all they did was fight. He told me he met her at a club and liked the way she danced on the floor. The plan was to just fuck her and roll out until she brought him home and he saw me. He decided to hang around just to see what I was about and if I had somebody in my life. He must’ve liked what he saw because on the day they officially broke up he asked me to run away with him and I did. So he always loved me. From the first day he saw my face and we both felt it.
I placed my hand on Grainger’s arm. “I’m sorry you feel that way, big sister. But I fell in love with Bradley and he fell in love with me. I did all I could to do right by you. I bought you this house. I gave you money. Anything you want I give. All I asked is that you care for mama and not disrespect my baby when she was over here. But what you doing right now is wrong. You’re about to put away a man whose only crime is loving me.”
Spit rolled down the corner of her mouth. The wires made her drool. Grainger angrily wiped the tears from her face and threw the napkin in her lap. “Feed me.”
“What?”
“Feed me,” she said firmly.
“Grainger, what is this about?”
“If I ask you again…”
Afraid of what she would say next I lifted the cup and placed the straw in her mouth. I waited for fifteen minutes while she took mini sip after mini sip. My arm was sore but I didn’t put the cup down until it was empty.
When she was done she said, “My shoulders are tense. Rub them for me.”
“Grainger, I have to get home or…”
She gave me an evil look that reminded me that she wasn’t my drug-addicted sister. She was the boss. I was reminded that she was in control of my destiny and whether I knew it or not I needed to submit. So I stood behind her and rubbed her stiff shoulders until they softened under my fingertips. Her head rolled back and with her eyes closed she moaned. It sounded like a sexual moan and my stomach turned.
Suddenly she opened her eyes and looked up into mine. “I don’t know what I’m going to do about Bradley but I do know this. Before I am done with you you’re going to feel every ounce of the pain I’m in right now. When I’m finished with you, and only when I’m finished, will I let your beating heart go.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
BAMBI
I was sitting on the couch in the living room with my husband. A glass of Riesling was in my hand and a glass of whiskey in a rock glass was in his. Soft music played in the background and it felt good just to be with Kevin without all of the fussing and fighting. I was really hopeful that tonight would remain like this. Peaceful and calm.
“You look beautiful,” he said to me while running his hand over my thigh. “As usual.”
“You always talking shit,” I joked while sipping my wine. “You already got the pussy. You don’t have to compliment me no more.” I turned around so he couldn’t see the scars.
“I’m serious, Bambi. I still remember the first day I laid eyes on you. When you walked past me in that airport I knew you had to be my wife. Remember? You were dressed in a pair of army fatigue pants and you looked like you were on a mission.”
“I don’t know what you liked about me that day. I looked a mess.”
“It was everything. The way you moved. The way you held the gun to my head when you found out I was following you.”
I laughed. “Something must be wrong with you, Kevin. Who in their right mind would be turned on by something like that?”
“Me,” he smiled. “Because everything you did that day said you belonged to me. You were a Kennedy. I had my share of women before I settled down with you but I never looked at any of them and said, ‘That’s wifey material,’ before I met you.”
I looked down at my wine glass and ran my finger over the rim. “If that’s the case, and you really knew I was for you, why did you sleep with another woman and have a baby with her?”
He sat his glass on the table and rubbed his hands over his temples. “Bambi, not tonight. We were doing so good.”
“If not tonight then when?” I leaned in. “Huh?” I paused and placed my glass down. “I know you been going over there to see her. I’m hip, Kevin.”
“So you having me followed?”
“For more than one reason. For starters you disappeared and we thought you were dead so I need to make sure you safe. And secondly because I don’t trust you sometimes.”
“That’s foul. You know I don’t like that shit.”
“Well you slipping. It could’ve been the Russians who were tailing you. Be glad it was me. What I want to know is what were you doing over her house?”
“I went to see my son, Bambi. You know I can’t deny my kid and I never will. That ain’t in me. I’m sorry I went outside of our marriage when we were beefing. I made a mistake. But he’s still a Kennedy.”
That hurt. Badly. “How did you meet her?”
“It’s not that deep.”
“Are we going to finally be honest with each other or what?” I asked looking into his eyes. “Tell me the entire story. You owe me that much.”
He frowned and adjusted in his seat. “I want to talk to you but I’m not sure if you can take it.”
“I’m a soldier. I can take anything.”
He nodded. “When I first found out you had an alcohol problem I didn’t know how to help you. I knew you were going through whatever you went through in the military and I felt helpless. You wouldn’t let me in. The only person you talked to was Sarge. You kept telling me you didn’t want to talk about it and shit like that. There’s no worse feeling in the world than wanting to help your wife but not knowing how. So I…I…”
“Don’t stop, Kevin,” I said wiping the tears away that snuck up on me. I hated crying because it made me feel weak. “Be real with me.”
“So I went out to the club one night. This chick was inside already with her friends and she kept looking at me. I was with Cloud and I just needed a release. I invited her to my table, in VIP and she kept talking about how I was the greatest nigga in D.C., and how nobody’s money could fuck with the Kennedy Kings. I knew it was some bullshit but it felt good at the time to hear. She was so proud to be sitting in the section with me and it showed all over her face. So I made up in my mind that I would do it just once.”
“Do what, Kevin?”
“Fuck her,” he said coldly. “I figured if I had sex with her once that would be it. I didn’t even get a room. I pulled up behind the club and slapped a rubber on my dic
k. I fucked her right there and put her out. I never called her back and I always felt guilty.”
My head dropped and my feelings were demolished. “If you slapped a rubber on why did she get pregnant?” I was so angry I was shivering.
“Because I used the rubber she gave me. I was too drunk to check it plus I didn’t have any on me. I was married and wasn’t carrying them. She must’ve poked a hole in it to trap a nigga. I never planned on going out of our marriage until that night. I dropped the bitch off at her house and never called her again. A few months later she found me in the club with my brothers and told me she was pregnant.”
I sat in the seat like a statue. My heart was broken along with my ego. I was done for the night.
There was a knock at the door behind me and Kevin got up to answer it.
“Now is a bad time, Cloud,” Kevin said when he opened the door. “Me and Bambi are having a conversation.”
Cloud walked in front of me and my heart tapped against the walls of my chest. He had been pressing me to spend more time with him recently and I had been pulling back. I was sick of him. He probably showed up over here to intimidate me. To show me he had me right where he wanted me.
“This will be quick,” Cloud said to Kevin while he was looking at me. “I’m coming to see if you got any old pictures of Bunny.” There was a sly smirk on his face. “They opening the case again and need more pictures so that they can post them and find out if anybody has more information on how she was murdered.”
“I’m glad they not letting shit go,” Kevin said. “Give me a second. I have a few pictures in our room.”
“I got time,” Cloud said as he licked is lips at me.