Both Sides of the Fence 4: Bad Blood
Page 21
He looked at me and then at her in shock. “Yes, Alex, this girl is in love with you. Infatuated even. She was killing up more chicks than Jeffrey Dahmer did them gay boys back in the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Sorry, Jasmine, I lied. You going down for a long time. I, on the other hand, walked into all of this mess on a hunch and caught you after the act. What a sad way to end up. But I don’t give a shit. I will be free of the nightmares and you all will be dead and in jail. Case closed.
“So go on over there, Jasmine, and get this scene rolling so I can get on with my life.” I motioned with the gun. She hesitantly did as instructed. I knew she was enjoying it on the inside though. She worked feverishly as his manhood began to expand. I looked on in awe at the size. The two sisters had their eyes tightly closed. I guessed they didn’t want to see their brother getting a blow job.
“All right, Jasmine, that’s enough.” She got up and wiped the saliva away from the sides of her mouth. “Now it’s time for you to feel the pain that my father felt that night and scream like he did as well. Too bad no one heard him but us. And that will be the same thing that happens tonight.”
“No, the fuck it won’t. You won’t be doing any of that.” Wallace appeared out of nowhere. “This is the end of the road for you.”
“Yes, you are going down for a very long time.” Nelson walked through the door to the room. Both of them had guns in their hands. “So get your shitty hands in the air. You are under arrest.
“We had you under investigation the whole time. You thought you were fucking me over, but I in turn was doing it to you. A friend of my father, Wallace, was in town and came to see me down at the precinct. He said he had some bad vibes about you. I was doing my own research as well. I started running and digging into your logins at work with the permission of the chief, who didn’t like you to start with, and found out that you were doing a lot of monitoring of the Black family’s whereabouts. We got a warrant to raid your house this morning and found all types of good stuff to put you away for a very long time. You probably will never see the light of day with all the things going on with you. Man, you are one sick prick. Too bad though because the wood you had was good. What a waste.” He laughed.
I was handcuffed and put in the back of the police car right beside Jasmine. She sobbed all the way down to the lockup. I on the other hand was not going to show any emotion. I was going to take it like a man as I had done up to now.
Jasmine’s Epilogue
They say confession is good for the soul. I was now sitting on death row waiting for my turn to be put to death. I confessed to multiple counts of premeditated murder. I know what you are saying. Why didn’t I take the insanity plea? It was simple. That would have made me like my mother. Weak. Insanity was for the weak and I was not going out like that. That was my logic. I had to make it known that I did all I did for the man I wanted. Was I crazy? Delusional? Or just a ride or die chick? The choice is yours to believe what you want to believe. I say I am a ride or die chick.
I would have done anything to get Alex. That was why I when I gave birth to twin baby boys, I signed them over to him. I wrote him and broke down the details of my impregnation and asked him for his forgiveness. I received a letter from him with that forgiveness.
Ironically, I received another letter from my mother letting me know that she was released a few weeks ago for my father’s murder. She had done her time in the mental institution and now was free. I, on the other hand, was now waiting for my life to end.
I was now sitting in a waiting room for her to come and see me. I was only allowed one visitor a month. Ashley came and saw me a few months ago and now it was her turn.
I watched the door as it opened. I was in a single-door room with a thick piece of glass that stood between us. She walked over with an emotionless face. I was already seated and waiting for this moment to be over. I only allowed this meeting to get the air between us cleared. She said she had something to say to me. I was curious as to what it was.
“Hello, baby,” she greeted me. She had pity in her eyes. I hated pity. “How are you holding up?”
I rolled my eyes and then answered, “Don’t pretend to care. Say what you have to say so I can leave this earth in peace.”
“Don’t talk like that. I love you, Jasmine. You are my only child. My shining star. I can’t believe things ended up for you like this. This wasn’t the plan I had for your life. I wanted more for you. Do you feel sorry for the things that you have done?”
I looked at her for a few moments, because I really didn’t have much remorse for my action. I did it with purpose. “Sometimes,” I mumbled. It was a true statement that I struggled with most of the days in this place.
“Baby, you ask God for forgiveness? He will forgive you. He forgave me.” She looked sincere as she spoke.
“Forgiveness can’t bring my father back can it?”
“Jasmine, I take the blame for my actions. I told you that I was sorry for that. What more do you want?”
“I want your soul to burn in hell. And then burn some more.” I got up from my seat and walked away from her. My eyes watered with tears. The hate and pain I carried would be buried with me.
Troy’s Epilogue
I would be spending my whole natural life in prison for kidnapping, criminal conspiracy, and murder. I had a lot of time to reflect behind these iron bars. Most of all, I thought about if all of this was worth my freedom. To be spoiled and broken in by my father was immoral and unfathomable by the world’s standards. A family with those types of problems was instantly shunned in the world. They said that I was mentally unstable and would need years and years of counseling to even touch the surface of my problems and mode of thinking.
They played back the audio of the speech that I recorded on the night of my capture in that room with the Black family siblings. The looks on the faces of the jury were ones of pure horror and pity. I held my head high as I was the only one in my family to even be in the room for the trial. None of my siblings called or showed their faces. I didn’t expect them to do either. But I did get one letter from one of them. It was a letter that was filled with regret and remorse.
My oldest sibling, the one who wrote the letter, explained to me in great detail why he went away all those years ago, never to return. He wrote of years and years of mental reconstruction therapy along with tons of medication that was only a mild answer to his sleepless nights and rampant promiscuity. He spoke of his terror as he watched his brothers and sister be treated the way that he was and act as if they were all the better for it. He went on to tell me of how all of them were in the same boat and he was happy that my father didn’t get a chance to do the same things to me. But said that he looked up my case particulars online and read about my pursuant behavior for my so-called inheritance. He was glad that I was caught and that I would have a better chance at a sane life than he would ever hope to have.
I read the letter several times and felt the hurt and pain that was poured onto the pages with eloquent words. It made me think but I was still curious of the inheritance aspect of it all. Yes, I would need a great deal of counseling and purging to get to a clean state of mind. Here I was thinking that I was ridding the world of the so-called bad blood in James Parks’s offspring when I should have been concerned with my own bloodline.
Alex’s Epilogue
Fragile.
That was the one word that described me right now. I still couldn’t believe it. I had not one but two mouths to feed. The news of their presence on this earth brought me to my knees, literally. I couldn’t believe that I was a father. I was reckless and wild. But those days were now behind me and it was involuntarily. If this was God’s way of getting my attention, then He had it.
When Jasmine wrote me the letter informing me of the paternity on my end, there were some doubts there. It was enough to take a few days off and get some time to myself. How could a person take that type of information and not respond with some uncertainty? I knew that as
soon as the babies arrived and the looks on their faces made me melt instantly they made me weak with emotion. I cried like the babies that they were for days and the blessing that they were. I took a paternity test and they came back a 99 percent positive match for me being the father. Lexington and Lacey were their names and they were definitely my weakness.
I sat in the living room of my parents’ house as each of my family members took turns holding and spoiling them to death. My parents were just as shocked as I was when it came to the news.
“Look at them, they are just so precious. Shawn, can you believe we are grandparents?” my mother said with a proud smile on her face as she looked at my father.
“No. I still can’t believe it.” He smiled too. “Though I was sure that it was going to be Ashley who started us off down the road that leads to rocking chairs and Depends.” Everyone in the room laughed at my father’s remarks. It was a joyous time for us all at the moment. Babies always brought joy, even into the most grievous situations. And considering that three of their children almost lost their lives a little less than nine months ago, this was a very momentous time in all of our lives.
We were still a family. The Black family. Ups and downs, kidnappings, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, murder, and betrayal; we survived them all. God was definitely on our side. We didn’t know what tomorrow would hold but we knew that we had each other through it all.
I looked across the room at my twin, my ace, my other half. She was one of my favorite people. Not because she was a family member but because she wasn’t letting any of the past hold her back from living. She was back to work and even considering dating again. Troy really had us fooled. Who would have known all of that was going on behind the closed doors of his family’s home? We all had problems within our family, some more tumultuous than others, but nothing was insurmountable in my eyes. A family who stuck together could make it through anything.
Ashley’s Epilogue
I looked around the room at all of the family in the room. There were now four generations in the room. I was in awe that I was still alive to tell you the truth. Troy had us all fooled, even himself. When you think that you are the smartest and untouchable is when you become your weakest. He underestimated the power of family and how tough we were. Death had come my way too many times for me not to be conscious of who I dated from now on. Oh, yes, I was going to start dating again, but a lot slower and with little expectation. I tried to move past my demons so fast that I set myself up for anything. Not that I could control any of it. It’s just that not taking your time and being honest with oneself could lead to situations just like this one or worse.
I was now an auntie and I was loving every minute of it. My brother was going to be a great father, but I knew that it would be a challenge for him to slow down his fast-paced lifestyle. He said that it would be no problem to do so now but I would definitely have a talk with him about it all. This new situation would make us closer for sure. He would need all of the help he could get.
My mind wandered on to Jasmine and all that was revealed about her and her obsession for my brother. I was quite shocked to know how deep the obsession went. I went to see her a few months back and to see her behind bars awaiting death was bone chilling. That could have easily been me, if I continued down the path that I was on a few years ago. It was only by God’s grace that I was not in that type of situation now. I surely knew that I deserved it. Maybe all of this was a lesson for me to pull back and let God continue to lead my life. I thought that was it. I had made a mess of it so far; now I had to be patient and wait for Him. A big smile covered my face at the thought of inner peace and no pressure when it came to a mate. There was one out there and I was sure he would be the right one for me.
“Hand me Lexington.” I reached out to my mother who was showering him with kisses. She handed him to me and then almost snatched Lacey from my father. We all laughed at the look on his face.
“I see I am going have to fight you for my grandbabies now.” He laughed.
“Don’t start nothing and it won’t be nothing.” She laughed and everyone else followed suit afterward.
“I trump all of you,” my grandmother boasted. “Hand me both of them babies before I turn this mother out.” We all laughed as the babies were instantly passed her way.
This was my family. We were blood through it all. Nothing could tear us apart. We were here to stay. Four generations strong.
Urban Books, LLC
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Both Sides of the Fence 4: Bad Blood
Copyright © 2014 M.T. Pope
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ISBN: 978-1-6016-2423-9
First Trade Paperback Printing September 2014
This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living or dead, or to real locales are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places, and incidents is entirely coincidental.
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