by Linda Wright
“I went to the gym and took care of some other things. What’s up?”
“Nothing. I was just worried about you. I left the condo to go check on Uncle Junior. I’m gonna stay with him tonight to give Kira a break. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I love you.”
“I love you too. Bye.” Keisha hung up and called Natasha. The call went to her voicemail. She hung up, got her bags, and went up to the condo. When she walked in she found an empty living room and kitchen. She thought for a minute that Takia was not there. Then she heard the bathroom door open and saw her walking down the hall. She had on a dress with makeup and jewelry. But on closer inspection, Keisha realized that she was not just wearing a dress and jewelry, she was wearing HER dress and jewelry. She stood there blinking for a few moments. Then she said, slowly, “Um, hey. Is that my dress and jewelry?”
“Oh, yeah, girl. I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t really have anything nice enough to wear and you keep telling me to help myself to anything.”
“Oh, no. It’s okay. Is that my perfume too?”
“Yeah. You always smell so good.”
“Thank you. You look nice. Where are you going?”
“Oh, your family invited me over for Sunday dinner.”
“Oh, right. I almost forgot about that. I better get dressed.”
Keisha ran back into her room to get ready. Her family had a huge dinner every Sunday night. She must have been really tired to have forgotten. She put on one of her new outfits and put on some light makeup. She hurriedly found some shoes and grabbed her purse to go. She almost forgot Takia was out there waiting. As soon as she came to the living room Takia got up and headed for the door. They went down to the car and rode to her parent’s house in silence. Keisha put in the code and they went through the gate up to the house. When they got there, Keisha had barely stopped the car before Takia was climbing out. Keisha grabbed her purse, got out and followed her to the door. Takia stopped to ring the bell, but Keisha stepped around her and walked right in. Her parents never locked the door on Sundays.
Keisha walked into the kitchen just as her mother and the housekeeper were putting in the final touches. She gave her mother a big hug and kiss before turning to Rosetta, the long-time housekeeper, and giving her a hug as well. She turned around to introduce Takia, but her mother was already approaching her. They hugged and chatted like they were very familiar. Keisha stood and watched in surprise. Apparently Natasha and Sicily had brought Takia around in her absence. Most of the family had already met her. Since she did not have to make introductions she went to find her seat. Just then Natasha and Sicily walked in, loud as ever. Natasha entered the room and said, “Hey KeKe.” Keisha turned around to greet her, only to realize that Natasha wasn’t talking to her. She was talking to Takia. Since when was she going by KeKe? All of the time she had known her, she had never heard her called that. Kia was one thing, but KeKe was another. She tried to shake it off.
She got up and went over to talk to Natasha and Sicily. They were talking animatedly with Takia. She waited patiently for a lull in the conversation to jump in. She said, “Hey y’all. I’ve been texting and calling you.” Natasha and Sicily turned to her. They looked agitated. She tried to think of what their reason could be. She thought maybe they were upset that she had put Takia off on them, but she couldn’t help it. She had to work to get the deal done. Natasha threw her a tight, “Hey” and turned back to Takia. Sicily said nothing at all. Keisha was extremely taken aback. She had never had any issues with either of them. She stood for a moment trying to think of something to say, but came up with nothing. She walked back over to her seat and sat down sadly.
The family dinner was as lively as usual. That is for everyone, but Keisha. She sat there quietly eating her dinner and watching. She couldn’t understand it, but it seemed like everyone was treating her differently. She didn’t get it. On the other hand, everyone seemed to love Takia, or KeKe as everyone was now calling her. She laughed and talked just like one of the family. Keisha felt all but forgotten. She thought it was silly; she had wanted Takia to feel a part of the clan, but not at the expense of her. She kept telling herself she was over-reacting.
That is until her Aunt Rita said, “I cannot wait until my party. It is going to be amazing. The best of the best.” Keisha sat in confusion. She hadn’t heard about any party. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t really heard from her family since she had left work. That may not be odd for other people, but for the Mosby clan that was major. They were in constant communication. Keisha piped up, “Aunt Rita, I didn’t know you were having a party.”
At that everyone at the table turned to look at her. Before Aunt Rita could say anything Natasha stepped in and said, “Well, now I guess you know how it feels.” Keisha could only imagine the look on her face. She had no idea where that had come from. She wasn’t keeping any secrets from her family. She said, “Tasha, what are you talking about?” Sicily intervened and said, “We hear you like to keep a lot of things to yourself.” Keisha’s bewilderment continued. What the hell was going on here? She was completely confused. What were they talking about? Everyone at the table was staring at her. That is except for Takia. She was staring down into her lap. Keisha began to think that Takia had been telling her family things about her. She tried to think of what she could have possibly said. It had to be lies, because there was nothing that she could have told them truthfully that they had not heard from her. She was completely in the dark and she hated it. She wished that Jason was there with her.
She sat there for a moment, feeling like she was in a nightmare. She cleared her throat, trying to loosen the lump forming there and said, “What do you mean? I haven’t kept anything from you guys.”
“Oh really? So what is this about you quitting the family business once you marry Jason?”
“What? I’m not quitting. Where is this coming from?”
“Apparently it’s coming from the place you keep everything from us at. I guess it should be no surprise that Little Miss KeKe isn’t as perfect as she seems.”
Keisha felt very hurt. Not only was she being attacked, but no one was coming to her rescue. Her hurt slowly turned into anger as she became outraged. How could her family believe something from someone they had just met over her? The final straw was when Takia finally looked up and said, “You guys, don’t be upset. I only told you those things because I thought you knew. I’m sure Keisha wasn’t trying to deceive you. You know how it is. There are just things you don’t tell your family.”
Natasha turned around and said, “No! There is nothing you cannot tell your family. Keisha should know that.”
At this Keisha jumped up out of her seat and went to stomp out of the room. Before she left though, her anger reached a boiling point and she launched at Takia saying, “How could you do this? All I’ve done is help you and this is what you do? You try to turn my family against me? You lousy…” Keisha flew at Takia. Her family got up to grab her and block her from getting to Takia. Once again, Keisha felt like she was on the outside looking in. The tears were falling down her face. She broke out of their arms and ran out of the door to her car. She could barely see, but she put the car in drive and rode off.
Keisha was completely rattled. She could not believe what had just happened. She wanted to stop and pinch herself to wake up. But it was all too real. Her family had just turned on her for someone who she thought was one of her best friends. She was having a complete out of body experience. She wanted to call her daddy. She knew if he had been there things would not have happened like that. Unfortunately he was away on business. She knew there was only one person she could turn to: Jason.
She drove down the highway towards Uncle Junior’s house. Her mind was racing. She kept playing it over and over again to herself. She truly could not believe it. She welcomed Takia into her home and into her family and she completely flipped everything on her. The betrayal was so awful. And she had been concerned about leaving her with Jason. Apparently t
hat was the least of her problems.
Before she knew it Keisha was pulling onto Uncle Junior’s block. She found a park and got out of the car. She had not even thought to call Jason before she came. She just knew that she needed to be with Jason right now. She rang the doorbell and waited. She felt unsteady on her feet. It took a while for him to come to the door, probably unsure about the uninvited visitor. As soon as the door opened, she fell into Jason’s arms. He had to catch her and all but carry her over to the couch. He held her in his arms and rocked her as she cried. She could not even get the words out to tell him what had happened. It seemed she wouldn’t have to. Still holding her close, he said, “Your mother just called and told me what happened.”
Keisha jolted upright and looked him in his eyes. Before she knew it, she was stumbling backwards on her feet. She could not believe it. They had gotten to him too. She felt like she was losing her mind. Everything was turning against her. She felt completely alone in the world. She looked at Jason. He was looking at her carefully, clearly trying to read her expression. She turned away from him. She began to walk towards the door. He said, “Keisha…” He took a step towards her. Keisha shook her head and backed out of the door.
She ran back to her car and immediately drove away. At first she wasn’t sure of where she was going to go. But she realized that she was pointing her car towards home, which is probably where she needed to be. She would go in there, pack up Takia’s things and put them outside of her door. She must have been speeding because before she knew it she was coming to a screeching halt in her parking lot. She parked and went up to her condo, barely conscious of what she was doing.
Keisha put her keys in the door and opened it to a nasty surprise. Takia was sitting on her couch waiting for her. She could not believe the gall of this woman. She must really be crazy. Not as crazy as Keisha felt, though. Keisha closed the door behind her and stepped inside. She felt a wild energy radiating through her body. She stood waiting. She refused to be the first to speak. She wanted to hear what Takia had to say for herself. After some heavy moments of silence, Takia stood up and took a step towards Keisha, but only one. There was a look of sympathy and remorse on her face. Keisha’s mood did not change. She continued to wait.
Finally Takia said, “KeKe I am so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. I was just talking to TaTa and CiCi and the next thing I know things were out of control.”
Keisha stood there looking at her. She felt the apology was weak. She wanted answers. She demanded, “What did you tell them?” Takia maintained her expression and went on, “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and I would never do anything to hurt you. It’s just, I wanted to fit in and be a part of the family. I talked about the only thing I knew we had in common; you.”
“What did you tell them?”
“KeKe, this week has been so amazing. I have had the time of my life. Please forgive me.”
“WHAT DID YOU TELL THEM!!!” Keisha had lost patience. She was tired of listening to Takia’s so called explanation. She wanted the truth. Takia kept on, “KeKe…”
“Stop calling me that! That’s what my friends and family calls me.”
“Okay, Keisha. Please…”
“If you’re not gonna tell me the truth then just get your stuff and get out!”
At first Takia maintained the same expression. She was clearly trying to convince Keisha of how sorry she was. Keisha did not relent. When Takia saw no change in Keisha’s stance or expression, hers began to change. Keisha watched as Takia’s face turned into something almost morbid. Her expression became something grotesque. Keisha felt a pang of fear burst through her anger. It was as if she was witnessing a transformation. Takia lost all pretense of sympathy and remorse. She had almost a snarl forming on her face. She took another step toward Keisha. Keisha forced herself to stay still.
Takia said, “You’ve always been like this. A self-righteous goody two shoes. Miss Perfect, pristine little KeKe. Miss Everything. Everybody loves you, you have it all. The family, the career, the man. I don’t have anything. Nothing. My parents never wanted me, my grandma only took me in for a check and I never had any friends. I had to struggle and scrape every step of the way to get to college and you just strolled in there like it was nothing. Nobody even paid me any attention. I was KeKe’s roommate. KeKe’s friend. Even after you left.”
Keisha stood there listening in utter shock. All of this time she had thought that Takia was her friend, but she had clearly been wrong. The pain of it was too much, not to mention how stupid she now felt. She could barely stand to hear anymore.
Takia was not done yet. She said, “I tried to be nice about this, I really did. I was going to let you at least stick around, but I see you’re not going to let that happen. You want to know what I told them? I told them whatever I could think of to smear their perfect image of you. And Natasha and Sicily were more than happy to hear it. They knew what it was like to have to compete with the perfect KeKe. As soon as I started talking, they were all ears, more than willing to believe whatever I told them. About the sleeping around in college, the abortions, and the drinking. About how badly you talked about them behind their backs and your plans to push them aside and take over. You’d think how nice you’ve always been would count for you, but actually it went against you. It seems fake and people have always been waiting for you to mess up. I gave it to them. That’s your flaw. You are too perfect. You make the people around you feel bad about themselves. You’re not right. You’re not right for Jason. You neglect him. I’ll be so much better for everybody. When I’m you, I’ll be much more relatable.”
“When you’re me?”
“Yes, that’s right. I’m taking over. What do you think I’ve been doing this whole time? Getting in good with the family, the company, and your fiancée. I’m going to be better than just like you. I’m going to be you. After everything I told them and how you acted tonight, no one’s going to miss you. I’ll make sure of it.”
The hairs on the back of Keisha’s neck stood on end. She should have realized that the only reason Takia would have told her all of that was that she was planning to get rid of her. She had been so stunned by everything that she had not had time to think of that. She was officially more afraid than she was angry. Takia was not that far away. Keisha did not think that she could run out the door or into any room and lock the door behind her. She felt trapped. She could feel Takia watching her waiting to pounce. She felt like this was a moment of fight or flight. Since flight was not an option, it seemed she would have to fight.
Keisha did not want to be a sitting duck, so she decided to make the first move. She began walking towards Takia. Takia prepared to pounce. Keisha circled around the room trying to find an angle. When she got to the space closest to Takia, Takia sprang at her. She was a lot stronger than Keisha was expecting. For such a slim woman, she packed a lot of punch. She was able to wrestle Keisha down to the ground. She used her knees to force Keisha’s legs closed and put her hands around her neck. Keisha tried to fight her off, but she couldn’t breathe.
She was able to get her elbow lodged up into Takia’s ribs, knocking the wind out of her. When she loosened her grip, Keisha flipped her off of her and began to grab at her. Keisha had never been much of a fighter; she had never had to be. But now she was fighting for her life and she found strength she didn’t know she had. She pulled Takia back towards her end table. With her knees pushing down on her back, she reached for her lamp and brought it down on her head. Takia fell over with a thud and did not move. Keisha felt horrible watching the blood ooze from the wound on her head, but she had no choice. It was either her or Takia. It was not going to be Takia. She realized that at some point she had lost her phone. She began to look around for it so that she could call an ambulance. They had begun their struggle by the couches so she got down on her belly to look underneath. She spotted the phone on the far side by the wall.
As she began to reach for it, she heard movement
behind her. Just as she was about to come back out she felt something wrapping around her neck. It felt like Takia was using a belt to choke her. She struck out, grabbing at it and trying to get it loose. She could hear her phone going off beneath the couch. Her mind began to focus on her lack of air. The strap was pulled so tightly that her eyes began to blur. She could feel herself starting to lose consciousness. She heard Takia sneer, “That’s right. This is perfect. It’ll make your suicide by hanging that much easier to sell.” Keisha tried to buck back into her, but she was locked up tight. It felt like her world was coming to an end.
Just as she thought she could take no more, she heard a commotion from somewhere in the room. The belt loosened a bit around her neck as Takia jolted up in surprise. In the next moments she could feel Takia getting off of her and the belt sprang loose. She fell forward on her stomach, coughing and gasping for air. She vomited on the floor in front of her. She could still hear struggling behind her. Takia was screaming at the top of her lungs. She turned around to see what was going on and she saw Jason holding Takia down trying to get control of her. She wanted to help, but she could barely move, still trying to refill her lungs with air. Just as she thought she was regaining herself she began to fade.
The next thing she knew she was being shaken. She blinked her eyes open and looked up to see Jason over her. It took a few moments for her to understand what he was saying. As the buzzing went out of her ears she could hear him saying her name. She tried to answer him, but the words wouldn’t come. It took her a few tries, but finally she felt his name leaving her lips. He pulled her into his chest and rocked her. Her body ached all over. Even his embrace hurt. She kept blinking and trying to figure out what was going on. The lights were on all over her house and there were other people moving around the room. She tried to see who it was, but Jason was still holding on to her.