“For what?” He turned around and looked at her.
“I just get all of my stuff and we never talk again?”
“I can’t talk to you, Aphtan. I can’t be your friend if you’re with my brother.”
“I don’t want us to be enemies.” She took a few steps toward him
“Too late.” He gave her a half smile and went inside the house.
Looking up at the sky, Aphtan gazed upon the moon as it struggled to shine through the thick clouds that covered its glow. Her thoughts stopped completely as a shooting star raced across the sky, its tail following in its wake. It reminded her of a ball of magnificent fire. She closed her eyes, freed the thoughts that filled her mind, focused on what she wanted, and made a wish. A feeling that everything was going to be okay took over her. And, because of that comfort, she went inside the house and packed as many of her things as she could.
CHAPTER 34
It was an interesting phenomenon, the sky. It was like a canvas. The clouds were brushstrokes of white paint along its surface. They told of emotions and stories in the beautiful scene. The day was a particular interesting scene, for it was split in two. To the west was the setting sun, which had a heated pink hue. Not a cloud in sight, yet still, the wind blew from every direction.
Storm clouds blanketed the horizon, intimidating all who lay beneath. The occasional bolt lit up the sky, revealing the bumpy skin of the clouds. Rain fell, the first of the year, leaving a thin, translucent layer of water upon the earth. The conflicting shape of the weather painted a battle; a war in the sky. To the west was calm, clear, and peaceful. The east was violent, dark, and dangerous. The two sides would forever be in conflict.
Mila sat on the front porch with her son in her arms. Tears rushed down her face as she looked up at the horizon. It had been a half day since she found Levi’s body, and her heart had run away from her chest.
She hugged her child as tightly as she could. His seeds were the only piece of him she had left. The thought of what to do with his body came unwanted as her eyes released waves of pain. Calling the police would bring about questions that she couldn’t answer. The last thing she needed was the police watching her.
Small drops of rain splashed on her exposed legs as they ricocheted from the concrete onto her skin. Some splashed on her face, yet her tears already had dibs on that area. The pain that she felt was new, so frightening and unimaginable that she couldn’t think a full thought. Her mind was all over the place as she tried to come up with a solution to her problem.
Her eyes blurry, she rocked back and forth, letting the sound of the light rainfall take her to another place. The understanding that Levi was dead wasn’t grasped in her mind. She had looked at his body over and over again. She had even performed CPR on his corpse in a delusional attempt to awaken him from his eternal slumber. All of her attempts were in vain.
A car pulled up slowly and parked in front of her house. She grabbed the gun beside her, unaware of who it could be. Her heart began to race. She didn’t know if someone had come to finish the job or not. If Levi owed or did something to someone, it was news to her. She didn’t have a clue what he was doing in the streets. She vowed to protect her son, her unborn, and herself with everything in her.
“Mila?” Aphtan’s voice made her put the gun down. “Why haven’t you been answering the phone?” she yelled out after rolling the window down.
Mila didn’t say a word as her crying became uncontrollable. Her body shook wildly as she could feel Aphtan’s eyes on her. She watched Aphtan rush from the car, leaving the door open as she walked up the sidewalk that led to the porch. Mila welcomed her hug as she wrapped her arms around her. She hadn’t the chance to tell Aphtan what was wrong, but it was clear that she was in pain.
“What is going on?” Aphtan grabbed her godson with one hand, using her free hand to grab her face. “Did that nigga hit you?”
Mila shook her head no.
“What’s going on?” Half of Aphtan’s body was off the porch, the light rain running down her back.
“They . . . got . . . Levi,” she said between panted cries.
“Who got Levi, Mila?” Aphtan rocked the baby in her arms.
“I don’t know.” She put her head into her hands. “They took him from me.”
“What happened to Levi?”
“Go see.” She nodded her head toward her front door. “Hand me my son, please.”
Aphtan handed her the baby before she walked to the front door. She turned the knob, letting herself into the dark house. The small light from the porch gleamed inside of the doorway, exposing the dried blood on the floor. Levi’s body sat as stiff as a board next to the residue.
Aphtan put her hand on her chest. Every ounce of blood that flowed through her veins slowed down. She stepped deeper into the house to get closer to the body. She dodged the blood, stepping over and around each pint that stained the tile. Walking up to Levi’s body, she grabbed the small piece of hair on her forehead. She folded her arms and walked back through the front door.
Aphtan sat down next to Mila and laid her head on her shoulder. They had both lost the men that they loved, but in different ways. Mila continued to cry to get her pain out through her tears. Mila realized that nothing Aphtan said would make it better, at least not so soon. Those tears were mandatory; they needed to fall.
“I’m pregnant,” Mila continued to cry.
“I know.” Aphtan rubbed her belly. “I was just waiting for you to tell me.”
“How did you know?” Mila wiped her eyes.
“I had a weird craving for peanut butter and pineapples.”
“Eww,” Mila said before they both laughed as tears escaped from her eyes. “What am I supposed to do, Aphtan? I’m pregnant with a second child by a man who is dead. My kids will never know their father.”
“The only thing you can do, Mila, is live.”
“I don’t think I know how to do that.”
“It will come to you.” She played with the little boy’s feet while he slept. “It may take some time, but it will come to you.”
“I hope so.” Mila rubbed the baby’s back.
“You can always come with us.” Aphtan held up her bare wedding finger.
“Where is your wedding ring, and who is ‘us’?”
“I gave it back to Scooter, and we decided to just end it. It will never work again; it’s too broken.”
“I’m fucked up in my heart and soul right now, Aphtan. But I’m happy for you.”
“I know you are.” She wrapped her arm around Mila. “And ‘us’ is me and Cole. That’s why I came by to see you. I tried to call you before we got on the road, but you weren’t answering your calls.”
“You’re leaving me?”
“I’m leaving this city, Jamila. I can’t do it here anymore. Everything good in my life ended right here in this zip code.” She pointed to Mila and her sleeping son. “Y’all are the only good things that remain here for me.”
“I understand what you mean.”
“You should come with me.” Aphtan held her hands out. “You, my baby, and my new baby.” She rubbed her belly.
“I can’t just up and leave, Aphtan. My mama is here. My kid’s family is here. I love the offer, boo, but I can’t.”
“I understand.” She gave her a long hug and stood up. “We’re heading out tonight. Once I get my money together, and all of my other stuff, I’ll come by and say goodbye.”
“Okay.” Mila frowned.
“It will be okay, Mila.” Aphtan walked down the sidewalk.
“Aphtan,”—Mila turned around to look at her best friend—“can you get someone over here to take care of Levi’s body?”
“I’ll tell Cole about it.” Aphtan continued walking to her car. “I’m sure he knows somebody who can come clean up this mess.”
“Thank you. I love you, best friend.” Mila waved at her.
“I love you, too.” Aphtan got inside the car and drove off.
&
nbsp; Mila had an uneasy feeling as Aphtan left her street. The rain had subsided, but a newfound rain began to flow from her eyes. Aphtan felt like the only family she had left. Her leaving was going to be one of the hardest things she’d ever have to deal with. With everything that was going on, she figured it was the best thing for her friend.
CHAPTER 35
Tsunami drew crimson curtains away from the windows and neatly tied them. A few tables curved along the circular walls. Candles rested on the tables, burning with a soft, golden glow, casting flickering shadows across the room. Tsunami crawled back into the bed, her body breaking the petals of the blood-colored roses that were scattered on the sheets. She looked to her right at a man’s face that was about to solve all of her money issues.
Getting out of town wasn’t as easy as she thought it was going to be. She drove two cities over and realized that she didn’t have nearly enough money with her. Turning around, she understood that she couldn’t ask Scooter for any money. He never gave her cash. In order to get what she needed, she had to rob him, and she could do that in her sleep.
Tsunami eased off the bed as she tied the robe around her. She looked over at Ralph, the man who handled Scooter’s money, as she picked up a rose petal and smelled it. She closed her eyes and let the sweet smell compel her, before she did what she had to do. Fucking Ralph was a small price to pay for the half million dollars that she was about to get from him. She remembered his schedule like her Social Security number. This day, each month, he delivered half a million dollars to Scooter.
She walked over to the nightstand and grabbed her purse. She opened it and pulled out her small gun, the metal ice-cold to the touch. She picked up the champagne bottle on the table and took a big gulp from it. She walked over to the bed as her fingers ran through her hair. She kicked the bed as hard as she could, continuously, until Ralph awakened and jumped up.
“Calm down.” Tsunami sat on the edge of the bed and pointed the gun at him. “It’s okay.”
“Seeing as you have a gun pointed at me,”—Ralph threw the covers off himself—“I doubt that very seriously. What do you want?”
“The half a million dollars you’re going to deliver to Scooter tonight.”
“What are you talking about?”
Tsunami shot at the pillow next to him. “Don’t fuck with me right now. I’m very fucking irritable.”
“All right.” Ralph held up his hands. “I haven’t even picked it up yet.”
“I thought you picked it up in the morning time?” She stood up, walked over to the nightstand, and grabbed his cell phone, never taking the gun off him.
“Scooter likes to change up the routine every so often.” Ralph looked to his right at his pants, which were on the floor.
“Try to make it to your gun.” Tsunami waved the gun around in her hand. “I dare you, motherfucker. Because, you see, I have been wanting to blow someone’s fucking head off. Try me. Please.”
“I’m at your whim.” He put his hands behind his head and leaned against the wooden headboard.
Tsunami threw the phone on top of him. “Call whoever you’re getting the money from and let them know Aphtan is picking it up.”
“Aphtan?” He grabbed the phone. “Scooter’s wife?”
“Just do it.” She pointed the gun at him. “Put it on speaker phone.”
Ralph unlocked the screen on the phone before he dialed a number. Tsunami knew that he wouldn’t call her bluff as she watched him look at her up and down. On the outside, she could tell that he thought she was soft. Yet, from the way she looked at him with persistent depth, she warned him not to test her. She was capable of murder. There was no doubt about it.
“This is Ralph,” he said into the phone.
“Put it on speaker.” Tsunami shot beside him again. “Don’t make me tell you again.”
He hit the speaker button. “Change of plans.” He put the phone on the bed. “Aphtan, Scooter’s wife, is coming by to get the money.”
“Why would his wife come by to get the dough?” the man on the phone asked.
“I don’t know.” Ralph continued to look at Tsunami. “This came straight from his mouth. I don’t know what exactly it is that he’s planning, but do it.”
“What will she be driving?” the man on the phone asked.
“A black Mercedes,” Tsunami whispered.
“She will be in a black Mercedes.” Ralph picked up the phone. “She’ll be there any minute now.”
“I got it.” The man hung up the phone.
Ralph threw the phone on the bed and stood up. “I did what you asked. I’ll stay here until you collect your money.”
“You’ll stay here.” Tsunami emptied her clip into his body. “But it won’t be alive.”
Tsunami rushed to the table and put her gun in her purse before gripping the purse tightly. She grabbed her shoes and dress from the floor and rushed out of the dingy hotel room. Getting inside of her Mercedes, she knew she had to move quickly. She needed to pick up the money, get her son, and head outside of the city limits. Scooter would never suspect her. Aphtan would take the fall for the betrayal. It would be her parting gift to both of them.
* * *
A cold northerly wind blew bitterly, chilling Aphtan to her marrow as she walked through the rusty, ancient cast-iron gate. Overhead, dark clouds blotted out the full moon from time to time, casting the centuries-old cemetery into an inky blackness. Yet farther afield, she could see the storm gathering. Lightning flashed in the distance. She hurried along with the chore that brought her out in the middle of the night, following Cole’s every move as her hand rested in his.
The deafening silence was pierced suddenly and without warning by the deathly shriek of a blackened crow. Again, it shrieked, and again. Like the screaming of a child or the roaring of some terrible beast, the presence of neither would seem strange in this place. The unending fog hung on the stones of the dead like a heavy, suffocating sheath, casting a relentless misery on all who trespassed through it.
The moonlight casts its eerie shadow on the path that lay ahead. It seemed to beckon with a ghostly glow that none could resist. Pulling, pushing, dragging each victim farther through the mist, each one silenced by the beauty and terrified by the power.
As she moved farther into the cemetery, a fresh chill ran anew along Aphtan’s spine. Grayish white headstones dotted the landscape before her. She continued to walk as fear swept over her like a broom.
Everywhere she turned, a silence prevailed, yet not so silent that no noise at all spoke to her unsteadied nerve. Among the trees, the wind whispered and called to her. A bush, its living green now dormant, rattled against some unknown tombstone.
“What are we doing here?” Aphtan asked as she swatted a bug away from her leg. “This is freaking me out.”
“We’re almost there.” Cole kissed her lips. “Trust me, Aphtan.”
All of her fears left when he kissed her. The day with Cole had been magical. She was like a little kid at Disney World for the first time; she didn’t want it to end. She wanted to ride the ride over and over again, no matter how scared she was. He was helping her get over Scooter’s betrayal, and she adored him for that.
Falling in love with Cole wasn’t a part of Aphtan’s plan, yet she wouldn’t take back a second spent with him. He was like an upgraded version of Scooter. Every time he looked at her, it was like he was staring at her for the first time. He made her weak in her knees with every glance.
Aphtan needed Cole now more than ever. Her feelings were real, but her motives were selfish. After being hurt so many times by Scooter, and wanting revenge, when she made her move a war was soon to break out. Whenever it did, she needed as many people on her side as possible.
She faltered over whether she could forgive Scooter, which, deep down, she couldn’t. He had caused her pain she never thought she’d experience; like she was exempt from it. Everything that she held near and dear, he severed the bonds she had with it and demolished i
t before her very eyes, with his own hands. She would never be able to talk to him again, let alone be with him. A divorce was necessary.
“Here.” Cole stopped and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her from behind. “Take a look.”
“What am I looking at? I saw my father’s grave yesterday.”
“Look at the one next to it.”
Aphtan looked at the tombstone with her mother’s name on it as tears left her eyes. “Cole, did you do this?”
“Of course.” He wiped the tears from her eyes. “I know you need a place to come talk to her whenever we come back in town. So I thought, what would be more perfect than you being able to talk to both of them at the same time?”
“Thank you.” Aphtan kissed him. “No amount of money, piece of jewelry, designer bag or clothing could ever mean more to me than this moment. Thank you, Cole. This was so thoughtful and selfless of you.”
“I did it for you, Aphtan.”
“I know.” She rubbed his chest. “I know you did this just for me.”
“I love you.” He kissed her forehead. “I always have.”
“I love you, too.”
Aphtan’s insides got cool as the words rolled off of Cole’s tongue. Her feelings for him were being appreciated, no longer going unnoticed. It felt good to finally hear those words from his mouth. Being deprived his love for so long made her a patient woman, but her patience would have eventually worn thin. Not having to find out how much longer she could wait made her the happiest woman in the world.
She could see them building a life together and starting a family. A new house and children. She had everything planned out. The first thing on her plan was relocating. Scooter would start a war the second he saw them with his own eyes. Cole’s and her safety was her first and most important priority. Anything else came second to it.
“It won’t be this eerie in the daytime.” He put his chin on top of her head.
“I hope not.” She stared at the tombstones. “I’m so ready to get out of this town,” Aphtan confessed.
“I know.” He held her tighter. “Tonight we will be gone. I have more than enough saved up. Let’s go somewhere where no one knows our names.”
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