by Tameka Hicks
“Okay,” she answered. She glanced up at him, and then burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
She fixed his collar. “You buttoned up your shirt wrong and one of your pant legs are not down,” she said, a little giddy.
“Thank you. I’ll be back mama. I love you.”
“You’re welcome, and okay daddy, I love you too,” she rolled her eyes and smiled. She watched him out of the window and as soon as he pulled off she ran to the phone. “He’s on his way so give him about forty five minutes. Stick with the plan! Don’t fuck this up for us and don’t punk out. Don’t worry about me, follow instructions baby,” she hung up.
She finished making breakfast and took time to eat. “Today is the day. There’s no turning back now, and it’s not like I would do that anyway.” She grabbed her suitcase from underneath her bed and unlocked it. She was married to him, but she never unpacked her suitcase and had her own separate room. The excuse she had given him was that he snored when he slept and that she liked sleeping alone. This special suitcase contained a diary, a white T-shirt with a picture on it and a black pair of jeans, some gloves that were still packed in its plastic and a picture. She had picked out this outfit three weeks ago for this special occasion.
“This is my good luck outfit,” she said to herself. She had chill bumps over her body thinking about what she was about to do. She quickly threw on her LUCKY outfit and went into Michael’s safe borrowing a few of his items from it and stormed out the door.
“I’ll need these,” she snatched the keys off of the key holder in the dining room. She placed another call. “Are you there?”
“Okay, I’ll see you later,” she shook her head out of disbelief that people could be so stupid. She placed the suitcase in the trunk and quickly backed the car out the garage. She pulled into the Graham’s parking lot. She knocked three times on the employee’s entrance door as planned. Vondell opened the door and gave her a long, seductive tongue kiss for about a minute. “Hey baby.”
“Hey my smart, handsome, strong man, where’s Michael?”
He pointed. “By the machines, like we planned it.”
We, she thought. You didn’t plan a goddamn thing with your stupid ass. She pushed him gently. “Go ahead I want to make a grand entrance. Give me a minute. I left something in the car.”
“It’s almost over baby.”
She asked if he had brought the money and drugs and sat them around like “SHE” had planned.
“Yes, I did exactly what you told me to do.”
“Go ahead now, here I come. Let’s get this over with,” she said.
He walked back into the room where Michael was as he begged him to untie him. Tamara used a brick to prop the door open as she ran to car. She took a deep breath and exhaled, explaining to herself why she had to complete this mission. “Operation Get Revenge, in full effect,” she kneeled down and tied her shoelace.
“Why in the fuck are you doing this shit to me man?” Michael bellowed out.
“Because of me,” yelled Tamara.
He turned his body around as far as the chair and rope allowed. “Tina!
What are you doing baby,” he asked shocked as hell. She was the last person on earth that he had expected to see stroll from behind the machine. She was all that he was thinking about. What is my poor wife going to do if he kills me? And she was the one responsible for him being tied up. Go figure.
He instantly thought of the day that his mother told him that she’d had a bad feeling about her. She said that her skin crawled whenever she was in the same room with her. He thought that maybe one of the guys whom he had fired had come back for revenge. He wouldn’t have expected Vondell to be a back stabbing bastard, especially after thirteen years of what he thought was friendship.
Vondell checked the rope to make sure that he wasn’t able to wiggle free. He didn’t want to be the one that messed up their chances of being rich. He placed his gun back into his pants like he was instructed to do. Then she pulled her gun out telling Vondell to pass his weapon over to her.
“Huh,” he asked.
“Give me your gun Vondell,” she aimed directly at his head. “Come on out,” Tamara instructed.
He stood there dumbfounded, and Michael cackled shaking his head.
“Slowly baby, pass your damn gun to me.”
He thought it would be a wise decision to pass it over to her, or risk getting his brains blew out. She quickly snatched it from him, with a grin. “Thank you. Sit down in that seat right there!”
She yelled to one of her guests. “Come on and tie him up,” she tossed the rope to the masked person. The men looked puzzled as they tried to figure out who else she had caught in her web of lies. They walked from behind the machine wearing all black.
“My hands are full,” she chuckled. “And he’s a little tied up right now,” she chuckled.
She kicked the side of Michael’s chair. “Fellows, I would like for you to meet Black Man. Black Man, will you nod what up to the fellows?” The guy who stood off to the side nodded to the men like he was told to do. Both men looked afraid as well as confused not knowing what her motive was. “Bring me three more chairs from out of that room, right there, she directed Black Man,” her puppet nodded and did as he was instructed.
“Thank you darling. Now sit one of them here for me, and there for you,” she pointed next to Michael and Vondell, and the other one there. She said, “I know I owe both of you explanations so I’ll start with you Vondell,” she said pleasantly.
She gently rubbed his head. “I really liked you, but I met you at the wrong time baby. I needed you to set him up more than I needed you as my man.
You made love to me so damn good baby,” she squeezed his crotch a little harder than he’d liked. “I’m sorry that this good thing will be wasted. She licked her lips.
“I enjoyed it but hey, what can I say? Money over bitches,” she shrugged her shoulders spreading her hands like she was weighing her options. “Money or a man?” she guffawed, answering “Money.”
She straddled across his lap and stuck the gun into his side. “Which one do you find important? Money or pussy?” she laughed psychopathically. He didn’t respond. He yanked his head out of her hand. She whispered to Michael, “I can see he’s a bit mad, but he should really be mad at himself for being so stupid.”
He moved his legs for her to get off of him. “You’re trying to make me fall huh? Okay-I’ll get up because I’m anxious to talk to Mr. Graham over here anyway.”
She took off her leather coat and showed him her outfit. “Do you like my shirt?”
He didn’t respond at first. “You’re mad too,” she laughed. “Shoot Him!”
He quickly replied yes.
“Thank you,” she replied. These are the twins.”
“Tamara’s twins,” he said. “Okay.”
“Yes, Tamara’s twins,” she smirked. “Thing is I’m Tamara.”
“Who in the hell is Tamara?” asked Vondell.
“Shut him up,” she told Black man and he jabbed him in the stomach with his knee.
“Now let me try it again. Yes, let me sit down right here, next to you and tell you the truth about me,” she moved her chair closer to him. “Okay Mr. Graham. Here it goes, but first I need you to take care of some loose ends for me. Untie his right arm,” she told Black man.
“This is for you Michael.” she passed him his gun that was registered in his name, (the gun that was supposed to have been placed safely into his safe deposit box in his secret room with a six digit code.) She placed the other gun into his right temple. “Now, if you want to live you better shoot him in the head, before I shoot you!”
“I can’t do it,” he cried. She wiped his tears away using the barrel of the gun. She said frustrated.
“Why not,” she asked. “He had planned on blowing your brains out without any hesitation daddy.” She snatched the gun from his hand. “Punk.”
“No, I wasn’t man,�
�� he yelled, trying to plead his case.
Tamara yelled. “Will you shut him up again but better this time?” Black
Man hit him in the mouth with the handle part of the gun, and he yelled out in agony. “Man, I wasn’t going to kill you,” he said.
“Shut him up! He did talk too damn much.” He received a mighty blow to the stomach and back of the neck from Black Man. “Shut the fuck up man!”
He pleaded once again. “Tina, don’t do this shit! I’ll pay you. I promise not to call the police.”
She cocked the gun. “Fuck you Michael! I want everything!”
He cried out. “I’ll pay you a million dollars!”
She rolled her eyes. “A million dollars, did you hear that? He’s going to give me a million dollars to let him live. Do I look stupid?”
“No,” he said sincerely. “Please?”
She mocked him laughing. “Please?” She played with the gun by his head. “It’s a goddamn shame that it took all of this for a bitch to get paid like she deserved to. Do you know how long I’ve been suffering?”
He nodded sympathetically. “I know Tina. I can get you the help that you need.”
She felt insulted by his comment. “Fuck you bitch, I don’t need help. All I need is your money. I wanted your love, but you wouldn’t give it.”
“Tina, I loved you. That’s why I want to get help for you.”
She stood over the chair as she placed the gun into his mouth. “If you call me Tina one more time-I’ll have your tongue ripped out of your mouth.”
She told him to get the gun. “Last chance, before you die,” she said. “What’cha going to do?”
He grabbed the gun from her. It was clear that he was nervous because he shook like a leaf on a tree. She said, “Here you need some help,” he held the gun in his hand as she placed her hand over his hand. Vondell, screamed and frantically moved around trying to free himself. The sound from the pistol was deafening as hot lead penetrated his left temple killing him instantly. Michael screamed, and Tamara snatched the gun walking away from him. “I have something to show you,” she pulled a picture out of her back pocket. “Who is this?”
“I told you who that was,” he yelled.
She chuckled and said exasperated, “Don’t want to tell me the truth! I know who this is. You're a liar! Pinocchioyour nose is growing,” she placed the gun up his nostril. I wonder how it would feel to get shot in the nose. Would the bullet go through your brain? Should I shoot you in the nose to find out? You can tell a lot about a person’s feeling through expressions. Let me start from the beginning because you look lost Mickey. She pulled another picture out of her pocket. Do you know this lady?”
He looked at the picture. “Yes. Where did you find that picture?”
“I’m glad that you asked me that. These two pictures go hand and hand. You can’t have one without the other. Here’s my last picture that I need to show you.” “That’s a picture of me and…” he stopped mid-sentence.
“Don’t lie to me!” She balled up her fist and connected one to his jaw.
“I’ve waited a long time to do that,” she said rubbing her knuckles over the leather gloves. “This is you Michael and this is my mother Jeanette. This is a picture of me! You are a fucking idiot! I’m Tamara Brown and that over there in the black suit is… Do you know who the one that hasn’t said a word is?”
You’re fucking crazy, he thought.
Tina took off the mask and revealed her true identity on cue like she was told.
“That is Tina. Tina, say hello to Michael Trent Graham. She waved Hi to him. You two really know each other well, but you never were properly introduced.” She told him, “Trent, say hello to your child’s mommy, Tina Young,” she laughed hysterically. His mouth was wide open and his thoughts were going a mile a minute. He knew the possibilities of having to deal with his secret of having a love child would someday come and bite him in the ass, but never nothing like this.
He pictured his daughter being on his doorstep, but never in two million years would he imagine falling in love with his own daughter.
“Here’s my birth certificate without your name on it, and my real identification card, my social security card. I have a picture of my grandma. I have you to know that it took a lot of hard work to get to you. I had to save up money and sleep with a private detective to get information on the family. Don’t worry we never had sex daddy. The first few times I drugged you and lied about it, that’s why you never remembered doing it. The times that I tied you up, my girl, Tina was the pony rider not I. I’m a better fuck anyway,” she whispered into his ear.
“Don’t do this Tamara! I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you like I should’ve been but-”
She shook her head. “I know old Jackie stopped you right?”
“Yes,” he started to cry. “I’m so sorry Tamara.”
“When you turned eighteen you could’ve made your own decision to be in my life, but NO! You chose the money over me, so I decided that you are guilty of being the worst father in the world and your punishment is death.”
“She made me choose. I wanted to be in your life.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better? That’s why I took care of Grandma Jackie for the both of us. That old bitch refused to die from the car crash, so I snuck into the hospital and finished what I started. That’s why I never kissed you because although I’m dysfunctional, I don’t do the incest thing.” She held her baby picture up to compare. “I think I still look the same. What do you think daddy?” She held the picture up to his face. “I have your pretty eyes,” she batted her eyes at Tina. “What you think?” Tina smiled and shook her head.
“I have a message for you from your grandchildren.” She turned around and showed him the back of her shirt it read: THANKS 4 THE MONEY GRANDDAD! She stood in front of Michael, and a real tear dropped down her face. “I’ll see you in hell daddy.”
“He yelled out, “NO! Tamara! Don’t!” She didn’t but Black Man sure did, in the back of his head. She closed her eyes as the tears fell. She opened them back up and his head rested on his chest with blood covering his head and clothes. They scoffed around moving the chairs as Black Man placed the bodies the way they planned to make the crime scene to look legit. They shot the guns a couple of times to make it look like they’d had a shootout with each other. They had placed the money and the drugs in briefcases, and left. They ran towards the door. Tamara walked behind Black Man. “Shit, I forgot something,” she said.
He stopped. “What,” he asked.
She shot Tyrese in the back of his head. “To tie up all loose ends.” she laughed.
Tina jumped as the shot rang out. She heard the bullet fly pass her head. Tamara shot in the direction of the other men a few times with the gun to complete the puzzle. She put the gun into his hands shooting once, so a bullet would have come from that direction. She placed some money into his pockets and business cards of the men. She retrieved his cell phone and wallet from his pocket and placed a fake identification card on him. She pulled the crack filled syringe out of her pocket quickly injecting it into his arm.
“Tamara,” Tina yelled. “We have ten minutes before the police arrive!”
“Let’s go Tina!”
DIARY ENTRY Part 2 of 2
Dear Diary,
It’s been two long months and I have received somewhere in the neighborhood of 5.9 million dollars after taxes along with a bunch of other fees and shit. I thought long and hard, but I had Trent buried nicely with my money. I started to have his ass cremated, but I decided against that. I’m currently trying to sell the four houses and the cars. I’m going to sell everything that belonged to them. They’ve succeeded, for nineteen years (minus the two that I slid my way into their lives) to erase me out of their lives, but who Am I? Tamara Brown! If I want something I’ll find a way to get it. If I have to steal it, convince someone else to steal it, kill for it, convince you to kill for me-I’ll get it baby! I know that I gav
e you the run around sometimes, but I couldn’t tell you everything right then. You might think that I’m crazy for writing down the events that took place in my life. Especially stuff like this that could have me put away for a long time, shit forever. I know that you’re not an actual person, but I had to let my feelings out somehow. I burn each page after I write it down so there actually isn’t a diary because I’m always doing something. I know you're dying to know, “What happened? How did we get away with it?” Vondell had the place set up like Michael was shipping drugs using his business as a meeting place for dealers. Cocaine was found all over the business in his office and in his mother’s office. I don’t know where Vondell got the drugs from, but they were there. Five case loads of cocaine and heroin. I took Michael’s two guns out of his safe deposit box. We had on gloves the entire time so our fingerprints weren’t on anything. It looked as though they had shot each other over a deal that went wrong. I learned his code from one of his medicated nights I just asked him, and he told me. I figured if drugs had me signing shit, he would’ve told me his deepest secrets. He even confessed to me while sedated that he had a daughter, but he wasn’t ready to meet her yet. We had the crime scene flawless. Thanks to my cop show, I’ve learned a lot of do’s and don’ts from them. I sent Tyrese a plane ticket to come to Texas to help me execute my plan. He figured that he was helping the mother of his children, which I am not. Marion (my aunt’s ex-husband is their father without a doubt), and I have always known from the moment I thought that I was pregnant. He was the one coming over to Jeanette’s house when she was locked up. I was part of the reason why he was acting so strange because he knew that I was pregnant and that his marriage was going to be over if I told anyone. What I found out later was that he told Diane, and Jeanette knew from the beginning because the old nosey lady across the street was watching us the entire time, and she told Jeanette. That’s what happened to their marriage, he was abusive, but he had stopped after that night they had gotten married. Diane called me some months back telling me that Marion was the one who convinced Jeanette to give the kids to them. He paid for a DNA test and it came back a perfect match. Just as they both thought. He was the father and after that they separated Diane kept my kids but he was the one who provided for them. I never planned on being the reason for them breaking up and she assured me that she’s not mad at me because he was the adult in the situation, but I still feel bad for them. Not for my kids though. Damarcus and I had actually planned this whole thing together. He wasn’t expecting the hot grease, but I was going to later explain that I had to do it. He knew that I was going to call grandma and that they were going to come and kick his ass, but he did it all for LOVE. He didn’t plan on hitting his head, but SHIT HAPPENS! He was the one who told me who my real daddy was before grandma even mentioned it to me. He also told me that Trent had a lot of money because of his mother. I was the brain behind the operation, but I needed help so he agreed to help me. Damarcus and I had planned on being together that’s what sparked the whole plan. Really, “HE” planned on being together, although the outcome would’ve been the same but with him and not Tyrese. I liked him a lot, more than he’ll ever know, but I couldn’t split my money with him. That’s why he had to go. The insurance guy came to the house about seven weeks later and gave me a check for 5.9 million dollars. Of course, they had to investigate the situation before they paid up, but everything was everything. Tina went to the bank and deposited the check, and then she transferred four point nine million dollars into my account, and she keep one million in her account for her and my baby sister. She won’t have to go through all this hardship like I did to get help from his ass because her big sister already took care of that for her. I learned from the way that I treated my first sister not to treat this one like that. I will try to be a better person from now on. I’ll try! Can’t make you any promises. I told you that I was going to be rich. I had nothing but time to plan everything out to perfection while I was in The Loving Center. “Why do you put so much trust into Tina? I thought that you didn’t trust people? What if she betrays you, then what,” questions that I ask myself daily. I have her wrapped around my fingers like I have my men. She never had anyone look out for her like I do. Her father left and her mother beat her until she wanted to kill herself. I took her underneath my wings and took care of her when she had given up on herself. What I taught her was how to survive BECAUSE LOVE IS OVERRATED! Work for what you want and being Loyal goes a long way. A little memo to the fathers, get to know your child no matter how much money you have because your child might be a little DYSFUNCTIONAL and Tamara might be her inspiration. I don’t think you would want that would you? Time is priceless. I’ll write to you later.