by Jackie D.
Life After A Balla
Jackie D.
The sequel Life after a Balla begins with Skye doing whatever it takes to obtain the riches she whole heartedly thinks she deserves. Between lavish gifts and million-dollar promises she tries hard to forget her past turmoil with Sandingo, her abusive no-good husband. Skye becomes helpless with Sandingo's tricky business proposition, and soon life takes a turn for the worse as she has to sleep next to the enemy. Will this shattered woman be able to rebuild her life now that the tables are turned? They say payback is a bitch…or is it?
Jackie D.
Life After A Balla
The Sequel To: Married To A Balla
Copyright © 2012
This book is dedicated to Leslie Allen, the best editor/operations manager in the entire world. As I said before…words can not express how much I appreciate you. You only cursed me out once during this project when it should’ve been many more. LOL! You knew I had a lot on my plate this time, so thank you for being so understanding and for all of your help.
Also…to my one and only son, Emanuel “Poobie” Chapman, III…I love you boy!!
Acknowledgments
To all my friends and family, thanks for the love and support! To Azarel, thanks again for allowing me to publish another book with such a wonderful group of people. You’re the best! To all my fellow LCB Authors, Danette Majette (my BFF for life), Tiphani Montgomery, Tonya Ridley, CJ Hudson, J.Tremble, Ms. KP, Carla Pennington, VegasClarke, Kendall Banks, Capone, Mike Warren, Chris Renee, and any one else on the team that I missed. LCB FOR LIFE!!
To Joy Avery, thanks for everything. A special thanks to all the distributors and independent book stores that helped promote my books; The Literary Joint locations, The Urban Knowledge locations, DC Book Diva, The Books-A-Million locations that are still open, Black and Nobel in Philly, Novel Tee’s and the rest of the book stores that showed me love. Thank you.
To the test readers Ashundria and Tasha, thank you so much for your input. Last but not least…To all the people that purchased this book as well as my other two, I really appreciate all the positive messages on Facebook and Twitter expressing how much you loved reading my work. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!
Check me out at:
http:// www.facebook.com/loveheist
twitter.com/therealjackied
Peace and Blessings,
Jackie D.
CHAPTER 1
“Didn’t I tell you bitch…till death do us part!” Sandino roared in Skye’s ear. He grabbed the back of her head and rammed her face into the head board.
“I’m sorry, Sandino please stop!” Skye pleaded in pain as blood from her busted nose trickled down the right side of her face.
“It’s too late for apologies. I told you if you ever left me I would kill you,” he said, ripping her panties off and pinning her arms above her head. “And then you go fuck some other nigga!”
Skye screamed in horror when she felt excruciating pain between her legs. She wondered what type of object Sandino was raping her with as he became more and more aggressive. When she felt something running down her legs, she lifted her head and looked down. Her eyes widened when she saw a huge puddle of blood on the sheets and Sandino holding her son’s basketball trophy covered in blood. She became hysterical and tried to kick him off the bed, but he didn’t budge. She was no match for Sandino’s muscular frame.
He gave her an evil glare then started yelling once again.
“This will teach your ass for givin’ my pussy away!” he yelled, shoving the trophy inside her again. “Here I was searchin’ for you and my kids while your ass was out fuckin’ another dude.”
“Please stop…you’re hurting me,” Skye pleaded as tears immediately began to stream down her face. “I promise…I didn’t sleep with anyone else!”
“Stop lyin’ bitch, I can tell when somebody’s been in my pussy,” Sandino belted, then rammed the trophy again. “You were with that nigga, Justice!”
The pain was excruciating. “Sandino, I haven’t been with anyone but you!”
“Shut the fuck up!”
When Skye saw Sandino attempting to push the trophy inside her once again, she started screaming and pounding him in the chest. Laughing, Sandino dropped the trophy, but instead of stopping, he attacked her again, delivering a quick hard blow to her abdomen.
“That shit was for me having to look for your ass when you left me!”
Skye screamed out in pain and curled up in the fetal position, but he wasn’t finished. Moments later, Sandino grabbed Skye by her hair, dragged her off the bed and swung her body up against the wall like a rag doll.
“And that was for me getting shot!”
Completely hysterical and bleeding, Skye attempted to crawl on all fours trying to make it to the door when suddenly she felt a plastic bag over her head. Panic-stricken, she immediately started gasping for air, squirming and grabbing at his hands. She couldn’t breathe. It felt like she was suffocating. This was not the way she wanted to die. She started grabbing for the bag, but just couldn’t seem to get a grip. It felt like she was slipping into unconsciousness.
“Noooo!” Skye yelled out as all three of her kids faces flashed before her eyes.
Suddenly, someone started tugging on her right shoulder. “Skye, wake up,” she heard a male voice say.
When Skye slowly opened her eyes, she was still clawing at her neck. With her heart racing, it felt like she was seconds away from a heart attack.
“Baby, are you okay?” Cruze asked in his raspy voice trying to comfort her. She was relieved to see her handsome boyfriend as he leaned over and placed his arm around her. At that moment, Skye realized she’d fallen asleep on the plane. “I guess you had another nightmare, huh?”
Skye covered the lower half of her face then shook her head back and forth. She was still shaking and the palm of her hands were soaking wet.
“Damn, it seemed so real, like he was really trying to kill me. I thought these nightmares were a thing of the past.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Cruze agreed. “You haven’t had one in weeks.”
“This trip back to Miami must’ve triggered them again.” Skye went into her purse and pulled out her Ativan. For the past eight months, she’d been on the medication that was prescribed to control her panic attacks.
“I know you’ve been through a lot, but I’ll be glad when you get off that shit,” Cruze replied with a concerned tone. “I told you I looked it up on the internet. Ativan can be highly addictive.”
Instead of responding, Skye continued to turn the top on the prescription bottle. A few seconds later a male flight attendant walked over. He was tall, about 6’3, and obviously gay by the way he switched over wearing a ton of foundation, heavy eye liner and clear lip gloss. His long hair was pulled back into a ponytail and his uniform was way too tight.
“Excuse me. Is everything alright?” he asked after hearing the commotion.
“Yes, she’s fine. Can you bring her something to drink?” Cruze answered.
The flight attendant stared at Skye for a second with his hand on his hip. “That type of disturbance can alarm the other passengers. Are you sure everything is okay?”
Cruze turned and looked at him with an attitude. “Look, RuPaul, I told you she was good, now can you please go do your job.”
It looked as if the flight attendant wanted to come back with some type of catty response, but instead he rolled his eyes and sashayed away.
Cruze looked over at Skye. “How much longer can we keep this up? I’ll be so glad when you divorce Sandino’s ass and put the past behind you for good. It’s been almost a year and a half since you left him. You were just starting to be yourself again, smiling, happy and enjoying life.
Now, Sandino and his bullshit ass lawyer are trying to pull you back into the madness. I refuse to let anyone hurt you again,” he said, squeezing her tight. I still can’t believe that muthafucka didn’t die the night I shot him, Cruze thought.
It came to a complete surprise to everyone that Sandino had managed to survive a gunshot wound to the back of his head. With the amount of blood he’d lost, they assumed he was dead that night. That is until the paramedics rushed in and announced that he still had a pulse. They later found out that he had surgery and survived. Keeping up with his condition had become top priority to both Cruze and Skye. They wanted him dead, he needed to be stopped but Sandino had proved once again that he wasn’t going anywhere.
Cruze rubbed Skye’s arm delicately. “I love you so much.”
When Skye looked at Cruze her heart fluttered. She loved the way his big arms felt around her because he made her feel so safe. She grabbed one if his dreads and twirled it around her fingers. They were growing really fast. Although he’d picked up weight and didn’t have the once rock hard one hundred and eighty pound body, Skye still found him irresistible. But who was she to talk. She no longer had her toned one hundred thirty five pound body either. All the good eating and loving contributed to both of their weight gain. Luckily she’d gained it in all the right places so she still was able to turn heads whenever she entered a room.
“Are you sure you up to this meeting?” Cruze asked.
Skye could still remember the first time she received the phone call from Sandino’s lawyer’s relentless assistant. Every time the assistant called she insisted that Skye meet with Sandino’s lawyer to discuss a very important matter, one that couldn’t be discussed over the phone.
What the hell was so important that it couldn’t be discussed over the phone, Skye wondered.
The thought made her nervous. She should’ve followed her first instinct and not come at all, but she felt she had to. If for nothing else, to strangle the assistant for calling her every day for a month straight. Skye never once talked to Sandino’s lawyer, which seemed quite odd.
“I might as well get the shit over with. I wonder how they even got my damn number? I have to admit though. I do have some concerns.” Skye lowered her voice to make sure no one could hear what she was about to say. “What if this meeting is because they suspect that Sandino didn’t really come to my apartment that night threatening to commit suicide? What if they don’t believe that when Kareem and I tried to stop him the gun accidently went off? What if they try to charge me with attempted murder? This could be a set up,” Skye whispered.
“Lawyer’s are crooked as hell. They have ways of getting phone numbers. Baby just relax, the way we decided to cover everything up that night already convinced the police months ago,” Cruze whispered as well. “They have no idea that I shot Sandino, got rid of Justice’s body or was even in your apartment that night. If that was the case, the police would be calling you, not his lawyer. Everything will be alright, trust me,” he reassured her.
Thoughts of how Cruze and Kareem had thrown Justice’s body out the back of Skye’s first floor bedroom window, then managed to get the corpse into the car without being seen still shocked him. If Skye had lived in a more upscale neighborhood and the police would’ve arrived in a more timely manner, things may not have gone so smoothly. Even the neighbors didn’t come outside until the police arrived.
“Are you sure no one saw you that night? You know…putting Justice in the car?”
Cruze shrugged his shoulders. “I guess not. But even if they did, you know the code in the hood. No snitching.”
“I just wish Sandino had died and wasn’t still hanging on in some damn rehab center. Sometimes I feel like that man will always be a thorn in my side,” Skye said.
“Not as long as I’m here, he won’t be. I should’ve never stood back all those years without helping you. That’s why I shot him that night he came after you. I couldn’t let him hurt you and the kids anymore. But let’s forget about that night. We’re moving forward,” Cruze said, kissing her on the lips.
Skye forced a smile even though she was still concerned.
“I gotta go piss. I hope I see that punk ass flight attendant who still hasn’t bought you the drink I asked for.” Cruze unbuckled his seat beat and headed towards the back of the plane.
Skye didn’t even have time to be with her own thoughts before realizing the older lady sitting in the aisle across from her was staring a little too hard.
“That’s why I always take me a sip or two before I fly to calm my nerves. Just pray and ask God to get rid of those demons in your dreams. I’ve been watching you, and trust me when I tell you this, God has a plan for you,” the woman advised.
Skye smiled at the lady, who was dressed in an expensive suit and also had an old vintage Chanel bag clinched tightly in her lap. She missed buying all the new designer bags before they hit the stores. But she could only reminisce about shopping now. Her days of going to the rack and grabbing what she wanted without even looking at the price tag was now replaced with looking for the rack with the bright red sale or clearance sign on it.
But, I did what I needed to do to have a better life for my family, so I’m not going to get emotional over material things, she thought.
Skye was determined that nothing or no one was ever going to send her back to that dark place she’d come out of just eight months ago. She was deeply depressed from the betrayal of her ex-boyfriend, Justice Mitchell, the man she thought really loved her. Not only did she find out he was married, but the fact that he led Sandino to her apartment that dreadful night was even worse. Thinking back to the horrible incident once again, Skye still couldn’t believe that Justice had been killed. She trusted him, but felt as though he’d gotten what he deserved after leading Sandino to her just for the money.
She remembered how her, Cruze and Kareem frantically ran around the apartment getting rid of the evidence that night after Justice and Sandino got shot. They were shocked when Jordan, who was over at the neighbor’s house came running inside the apartment. He was frightened and yelling that he’d called 911 after looking out the window and seeing his father in the parking lot. At that moment they realized they didn’t have time to get rid of Sandino’s body. That’s when they decided to come up with the plan that Sandino came over in a rage threatening to kill himself. Cruze then fled the scene to get rid of Justice’s body just in the nick of time.
After she was continuously interrogated by the police and harassed by the press who posted up outside her home hours later, Skye and the kids eventually moved from Marietta to another small town outside of Atlanta called Lawrenceville. She could no longer stay in that apartment where everything had taken place. She also cut herself off from the world refusing to deal with anybody or take any phone calls. At the time, it was just too much for her to bear. She became distant from her own kids, stayed in her room for days and just cried. She even tried to get a job shortly after the shootings to get her mind off of things, but she couldn’t focus and eventually got fired. Thank God Cruze stayed around to help out and paid the rent so her kids could continue to have a roof over their heads.
After Skye got herself together and things calmed down, Cruze confessed his love for her. It took a while for him to win her over though because she didn’t trust men anymore. She was very hesitant about going into another relationship, but the whole ordeal with Sandino that night made Skye and Cruze form a bond. After all, he wasn’t a stranger. He’d been Sandino’s best friend for years, and always wanted her to be happy.
Skye had to admit, she’d always been attracted to Cruze, but knew Sandino would’ve killed her if he ever found out. After two months of Cruze confessing his love for her and the kids, Skye finally gave in, but told him that before they could even talk about being together he had to give up the streets. She didn’t want to deal with the drama or risk him getting locked up or even killed. He agreed, and although money was tight for once in her life she was tr
uly happy.
Skye stopped reminiscing when she saw Cruze coming back down the aisle with a Sprite in his hand. When he sat down, she immediately popped her two pills and tried to relax. She definitely felt uneasy about this trip back to Miami, and hoped that whatever the meeting was about didn’t get her even more upset.
Once they landed an hour later, Skye didn’t waste anytime grabbing her purse and heading towards the front of the plane. When they passed the gay flight attendant, he was standing in the doorway with his arms folded and his nose turned up. While Cruze laughed, Skye didn’t pay the homosexual man any attention. She was too nervous about the meeting to be worried about some gay dude with an attitude.
While walking though the busy Miami International Airport, as soon as Skye saw the sign for the La Caireta Restaurant in Terminal D, it immediately bought back memories of her and Asia. Stopping to get a bite to eat at that restaurant was their ritual before taking the trips she used to sneak with Asia while Sandino was away at training camp. Anger suddenly came over her when she thought of her once best friend.
To think I trusted her, and she disappeared with all my money. She better hope I never see her again. I definitely have something in mind for that bitch if I do. Now, I have to go deal with this damn lawyer. I hope he don’t piss me off because I will turn that muthafucking office out if I have to.
CHAPTER 2
Skye squinted her eyes from the bright Miami sun as they headed outside and flagged down a cab. After reaching in her purse and pulling out a new pair of knock off Gucci sunglasses, she watched as several expensive cars rode by. When Skye spotted a silver Aston Martin Roadster with twenty-two inch Forgiato rims pull up to the curb, she thought, Yeah, I’m definitely back in MIA. In the town she lived in now, two-hundred thousand dollar cars were non-existent. Looking at all the rich, tanned people, it made Skye somewhat envious. She had to admit, she missed the sun.