by Shan
He turned to walk away with his partner following right behind him. The minute they left us alone, I jumped up from the seat and hurried to get to Rain.
"Did they touch you?" I questioned as my eyes roamed over her body.
"No, I'm okay. Are you okay?" Rain inquired.
She tried to lift her head, but it fell back onto the floor. I reached down and picked her up, straining from the pain of being dragged out of my car window. We left the house and went into the darkened streets where rain fell from the sky in light sprinkles. I took a good glimpse around to see exactly where we were.
"Hold up! I'm a have to call us a cab," I said as I sat Rain down on the steps of the porch. "Nigga could've, at least, gave me a ride back to my car."
I took my cell phone out of my pocket to call for a cab. Soon as I got back to the crib and got Rain settled, I went to see my uncles to make sure that they didn't fuck my money up. It was either them or that nigga Quin, but I had a good feeling that it was my uncles. Either way, I had figure out who.
11 Honey
"So, what are you saying? You saying I get to go home?" I asked my attorney to be sure I heard him correctly.
"Yes! Due to the fact that they did not read you your rights and searched your car without a warrant. But that does not mean that later when they gather more evidence that they can't file charges again. Right now, this is all because of a few technicalities," he said with a huge smile on his face.
"You gotta be fuckin kidding me? I told you the first day I was here that they didn't read me my rights or produced a warrant to search my car. It took you a fuckin month to get me out of here!"
"Ms. Mendez, it takes time. You were there when I informed the judge of the mistakes that were made by the Tyler Police Department. I had to wait until the judge rendered his decision in the matter. I'm sorry that it wasn't as quick as you would have liked, but it's a process, and I have other clients."
"Whatever. How long before I can go home? I'm ready to get out of this hell hole."
"The paperwork is being processed, so you should be out of here at any moment now."
I smiled a smile bright enough to light the world up. Un-fucking-believable. Shit like this just didn't happen to me. The pigs can try and bring charges against me later down the line if they want to, but they will have to find me first. For the past month, I dreamed about what I would do if granted the chance to get out of this place. Imran and Jahzara were definitely high on my to do list. Once I took care of them, I was out of Dallas.
***
"Thank you so much, baby." I leaned over the seat and planted a huge kiss on DeMarcus' cheek.
"I'm just giving you a ride home is all and to let you know not to contact me any more after this."
I chuckled and grabbed a cigarette from the pack that DeMarcus had sitting in the center of his car. I grabbed a lighter and put flame to the cancer stick and took a deep puff.
"It's like that, baby? You don't love me no more? Why? Because I killed your lovely little Tomeka?" I laughed some more.
DeMarcus glanced over at me with this strange look, like he was surprised that I said what I had just said. Everybody knew that I killed Tomeka. Hell! I admitted that I did. Of course, I drew up a story in my head about Tomeka and the bitch Jahzara robbing me and me shooting Tomeka accidentally and how I only had her in the trunk of my car because I was scared and blah, blah, blah. I took another puff of the cigarette and blew a cloud into DeMarcus' direction.
"Don't worry, baby. I won't call you anymore. Just take me back to my condo."
Thankfully, the rent had been paid on my condo for several months, so I still had a place to lay my head. The remainder of the ride to my house, DeMarcus didn't say another word to me, and I didn't care. I had major business to take care of, and it was best if he didn't know anything about it. I had seen him that day in court chasing behind Jahzara, so to trust him like I had before would have been more than dumb.
"Gracias, baby," I said, getting out of the car and walking up to my condo.
I peeled open my bag of personal items, reached in to get my keys, and opened the door. The smell of spoiled food, dirty laundry, and what smelled like death hit me hard. I covered my hand over my face and made my way towards my bedroom. I was stopped by the dried blood that had set into the carpet. Immediately, memories of what had taken place here flashed through my head. The shots being fired, Tomeka looking at me for a reason why, and her falling to the floor in front of me. I hurriedly walked past the stains in the carpet and rushed into my room. Staying here more than a couple weeks wasn't going to be possible. No matter how much I laughed and joked or even acted nonchalant about Tomeka being dead, I didn't mean it. I honestly hurt inside for what I’d done to her. It was truly an accident, and the person that should've died was Jahzara. The whole purpose of that night was to get rid of her, not Tomeka. I knew I couldn't take back what I had done, but I could make it right. I could make Jahzara pay for the mistake that I had made. After all, it was her fault.
After taking a shower, shaving, and changing into some fresh clothes, I caught a cab and headed over to Quin's house. His ass came to see me while I was locked up. He wanted to condemn me for telling him those lies about his precious little wife and for filling his head up with “bullshit”, as he put it. Hell! Nobody told him to believe me, but, trust, I was glad that he did. He wasn't supposed to marry her in the first place. I had met him first, fucked him, and sucked him first. How the hell did she end up with the last name and the ring?
"Just drop me off right here. I'll find a ride back," I said to the cab driver.
I tossed two twenties over the seat and got out of the car. There were two cars sitting in the driveway and every light in the house was off. I looked around the neighborhood and noticed a few fiends and d-boys out on the block but none of them paid me any mind.
Once I walked up onto the porch, I twisted the handle on the door, hoping luck was still on my side.
"Dammit!" I cursed.
I placed my hands upon my hips and tried to think of how I could get in. Suddenly, I remembered that Jahzara always left a spare key outside of her house under a rock. It was the key I had used to break in and steal Jahzara's safe a while back. I lifted the rock up, and, immediately, I was disappointed to see that it was no longer there.
"I'm getting up in this house."
I walked around to the side of the house, checking each window I passed. Just as I was about to say “fuck it” and call for the cab to come back, I noticed that the window at the very back of the house was cracked open. My frown turned into a pleasant smile as I walked over, pulled the window fully open, and climbed in. Quin’s stupidity excited me while I roam through the house. Who leaves their window open in the damn hood? I wondered.
The house looked pretty much the same. I hadn't expect for it to look much different. Quin didn't care for decor and preferred that the home stayed exactly the way his granny had left it. I roamed a bit more, using the light from my cell phone to guide me through the darkness. The door to Quin's bedroom was slightly open, and I gave it a little push with the tip of my finger. It creaked open, and I waited before entering to see if I could hear any movement.
Peaking in, I discovered that there were two bodies in the bed, and, carefully, I shined the light from my cell phone, and, instantly, my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach.
"Jahzara?"
12 Jahzara
Last night, I had a dream that Tomeka was standing over me while I slept. She seemed to be either mad or disappointed in me. I didn't know if she was mad at me for her death or the fact that Quin and I had gotten back together. I hoped that it wasn't for her death. If I hadn't been so damn stupid and naive when it came to Honey, then none of this shit would've happened. Either way it goes, there wasn't any way I could go back and change the mistakes that were made. Only thing left to do was to move forward, and, at this moment, moving forward with Quin made me very happy. There was too much love between the two
of us that it only seemed right that we work on things. I cared about Imran, but I cared about Quin more.
I pulled into the driveway of Imran's home, parked, and got out of the car. I was glad to see that his car wasn't there. It would be so much easier to get my things and leave while he wasn't home. I stuck my key inside and unlock the door and surprisingly the few things that I had there were already sitting by the front door. I shrugged my shoulders and reached down to grab one of my bags when a chick with a caramel complexion rounded the corner. She was dragging a nice sized trash bag in my direction and didn’t even realize that I was standing there.
"Oh, shit! You scared the hell out of me. You must be Jah," she said as I began to size her up. She was skinny as hell with some major acne problems. She looked to be mixed with something, but her skin was so damn bad that it didn’t even matter. I didn't feel the least bit jealous because, on my worst day, I looked ten times better than she did.
"Imran asked me to get your things together."
"Damn! It hasn't been very long, and he already has a replacement bitch," I said, pulling my bag onto my shoulder. She didn't respond, but I was unable to help myself. "What projects did he pull you from? Tell him, if he really wants to make me jealous, he needs to do a whole lot better than you."
I looked her over once more and had no idea what Imran saw in this chick. Anger built up inside of me along with a little sadness. I was angry because Imran ate me out better than ever and proposed to me. I was sad because of how quickly he had moved on to the next one. What if things didn't work out with me and Quin? How could I run back to Imran if this bitch was occupying his mind?
"Does my pussy taste good to you?" I questioned with a twinge of jealousy in my voice.
She frowned and crossed those skinny-ass arms of hers over her chest, "Look. I’m not trying to get in the middle of you and Imran's shit. I just did what he asked me to do."
"Answer my question. Did my pussy taste good to you? When you kissed him, did you like the way my pussy tasted? Nigga just ate me out and got on one knee to propose… so I hope you don't think you here ‘cause he like you or some shit."
I just couldn't help myself at that point. It disturbed me to see that Imran could ask me to be his wife one night and then later had some bitch at his place, going through my shit. It made me wonder if he had really loved me like he said he did.
"First of all…"
The front door opened, and Imran steps in with a frown written across his face. I, immediately, turned to him, ready to go the fuck off. I hadn't realized how much I cared until then. Yes, I loved Quin, but I also love Imran. There was a big difference between the two men, and every moment spent with the each of them always left a different feeling in the end. Imran was sweet, gentle, and caring. He left that bad boy persona in the streets, and I loved that about him. Quin didn't know when to turn the streets off, he brought it inside our relationship, in our bed, everywhere, but I, also, loved that about him.
"That quick, Imran! We haven't even discussed where our relationship was going, and you already got another bitch over here! You asked me to be your wife, and that quickly you move on?"
Imran looked from me to the chicken head bitch standing in the foyer and then grab my bags from the floor. He kept his silence as he began to take my things out of his home. His silence further angered me. I chased him out of the house, and, once I reached him, I pushed his back. He did nothing as he dropped my things on the curb.
"Imran, you hear me talking to you! You done with me already? Because I didn't accept your bullshit-ass proposal, you go and get some lil chicken head-ass bitch to replace me!"
Finally, Imran stopped from his little tirade of getting my things out of his house, glared into my eyes, and cracked a sinister grin. My hands quickly went onto my hips as I waited for him to answer me. Instead, he shook his head and stormed back to his house. His ability to not show anger whenever we had a little disagreement pissed me the hell off. He hated drama and the only way he knew how to deal with it was to bite his tongue.
"Imran, talk to me!" I grabbed his arm and tried to stop him from going back inside of the house.
"Talk to you about what, Jah? What you want me to talk to you about?"
Finally, I had gotten a response out of him. I breathe a sigh of relief, and, with sincerity, I told him how I felt. "We couldn't talk about where our relationship was going before you bed another chick? How could you do me like this? You proposed to me and told me that you loved me, but I came home to find my bags packed and another bitch up in here."
"You done?" Imran raised a brow. "If I’m not mistaken, you said that you were confused and how everything with us moved so fast and you didn’t know where you wanted to be. What is there to talk about? You left my bed and got into Quin's. Don't try to sit here and play a fuckin' victim, like I did you wrong or some shit. Get your shit outta my place, leave the keys to my ride, and kick fuckin' rocks!"
I blinked repeatedly, wondering how he knew that I was with Quin. I wanted to lie but I saw in Imran's eyes that he knew the truth. He reached out, snatched the keys from my hand, and left me standing in his driveway with a stupid look on my face. The pain that I felt was one that was indescribable. I thought that being with Quin was what I wanted, but I couldn’t be too sure. Quin had really hurt me, and Imran had been there to pick up the pieces of my heart and had treated me like nothing but pure royalty. Seeing him with another woman made me really question my decision.
I looked back towards the house and spotted his lil' chick looking at me out of the front window. Surprisingly, there was no look of joy or excitement on her face. She actually looked as though she felt bad for me. Tears slid down my face while I pulled my cell phone out to call a cab. I truly hoped I didn't come to regret my decision to go back to my husband. I just wanted to make the right decision, and, at that very moment, I felt as if I was making the wrong one.
Why the hell does this have to be so damn hard? I thought.
***
“What the hell are you doing in a cab? What happened to your car?” Quin inquired as he stepped off the porch and walked in my direction.
“The rightful owner of it took it back,” I sighed with a roll of my eyes.
“Rightful owner? That wasn’t your car, Jahzara?”
“No… I… I was jacked a lil’ while ago. Beat down and robbed of my car. Some more shit that I believe that Honey was responsible for. I drove around in a rental for a while and then Imran lent me one of his. I haven’t had time to go through the necessary procedure with the insurance company, but it looks like I don’t have a choice now.”
“Damn! I can’t believe you been driving around in that fool’s car.”
“It doesn’t matter now. I gave it back, so he could give it to his new little girlfriend now. Can you help me grab my things from the cab please?”
“Wow! Are you jealous that he has a girlfriend? We just had some of the best sex we have ever had last night, and you tripping ‘cause that bitch-ass nigga got a girlfriend?”
“I don’t care about him having a girlfriend, Quin. I’m just upset on how he handled things. How quickly he had another bitch up in there, going through my shit, and then he had the nerve to be disrespectful about the whole thing and toss my shit on the damn curb.” I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for Quin to help me with my bags.
“I need you to do me a favor. Like a huge, a huge favor,” Quin said.
“What is it, Quin?”
“I need his address. I really need to go and holla at him about something, and these niggas around here acting like they don’t know where he live at.”
“They probably don’t. He was real big on not giving people his residential.”
“Well, I need you to give it to me.”
I shook my head and walked to get my own damn bags. The cab driver had already tossed everything out and drove off as quickly as he could. Soon as I grabbed a bag from the ground, Quin jerked at my arm and forced me to
look at him. Giving him Imran’s address was out of the question. I was not that type of chick that would do some bullshit like that. No matter how bad I felt about the way things just went down with Imran, I couldn’t just hand over his info like that.
“What? I’m not giving you his info, Quin. I don’t care what we’re going through. I can’t do that. I wouldn’t even do that to you.”
“You don’t have to do that to me. You already invited him to my house. Invited him into my bed. You already gave it to him!”
“Please let’s not go there, Quin. I already apologized.”
“I don’t want your apology, Jahzara! I want my fuckin’ life back! I wanna be able to wake up in the morning and not have to worry about where I’m going to get some money from and how I’m going to pay my fucking bills! You took everything from me and handed it to that nigga, and you got the nerve to stand in my damn face talking about you apologized. Fuck that! If anything, you should be apologizing with that nigga’s address, so I can get my shit back!”