by Deja King
I woke up to the sunlight streaming through the skylights. A smile crept across my face as if a new day was upon us, and it was. I threw an ivory silk, tie-front wrap around my naked body and headed downstairs to find Supreme. I was anxious to find out what time the meeting would start to discuss bum rushing Vernika's and Donnell's house. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I was stunned to see a large group of men dressed in all black coming out of Supreme's office and making their way down the hall. "Supreme, what's going on?" My hand was placed on my waist with hip swung out to the side. The smile I woke up with was now gone. "Go back upstairs. I'll be there in a moment." Supreme continued talking with the men as he escorted them to the front door. Realizing a few of the men were distracted by the sight of me in my barely-there wrap, Supreme gave me an icy stare as if I was supposed to run back upstairs like a five-year old child about to be reprimanded. But I wasn't budging. I waited for Supreme to shake the last hand and close the door before lighting his ass up. "How the fuck are you going to have a meeting and not include me? I made it clear last night that I wanted to be a part of whatever plan you had to get Aaliyah back. I have to wake up and find the meeting is over." "Listen, I got the ball rolling early this morning and didn't want to wake you. I was going to give you the play-by-play when you woke up." "That's fucked up! I try to include you in what I know, but then you turn around and act as though I'm incompetent." "Yo, you blowing this way out of proportion. I have no problem including you in anything. It was a meeting. Instead of you riffing, let me tell you what we discussed." "Go `head," I said, being short with him. "Two men have been watching the house since last night. They've only seen a man, which I'm assuming is Donnell. They've taken a picture and they're going to compare it to whatever booking mug shot they get a hold of" "Have they seen Vernika?" "There's been no sign of Vernika, but the woman and Aaliyah could be staying someplace else. I have another set of men following Donnell wherever he goes. They are going to continue to watch the house and Donnell for the next day or so. If there is still no sign ofAaliyah, then we'll make our move and take him down... see what we can find out." "That's it?" I asked, unimpressed with the plan. "What you mean, that's it? Hopefully watching that nigga will lead us to our daughter, but if not, we'll just have to beat it out of him." "But what if Donnell doesn't talk, or yanking him up gets Mike to flip and run off somewhere else with our daughter? Then what?" "Precious, then what the fuck do you think we should do?" "I think we should give it more than a day or so. As long as your people are following Donnell and watching the house, we should be patient. Maybe in a few days Mike will pop up and have Aaliyah. I just don't want to make a move that will trigger suspicion with Mike and he disappears with our daughter." "I don't either. But I hate to see time go by and them niggas still on the street." "Yeah, but at least we have an idea where they at, and that means they can always lead us to Aaliyah." "Alright, we'll give it more than a couple of days, but on day five, whoever we see, they're bringing them in young, old, crippled, I don't give a fuck. Somebody gon' talk." Supreme said his peace and walked back to his office and closed the door. I sat on the bottom step, staring up at the crystal chandelier dangling from the ceiling. I remembered how scared I would be, because for some reason, Aaliyah would love to crawl across the foyer and sit right under the chandelier. She would look up as if hypnotized by the crystals. I knew it was securely fastened to the ceiling, but the idea of the chandelier crashing down would make me cringe. My mind became so preoccupied with it that I forbade Anna to allow Aaliyah to crawl in that area. Those were the types of illogical concerns I had for my daughter, never thinking there was a much more dangerous threat awaiting her outside those front doors. I snapped out of my daydreaming when I saw Anna walk into the living room. Since I tried to choke her to death, we had only seen each other briefly. I don't know if she was purposely trying to stay the fuck out my way, or if I had been so busy we hadn't crossed paths, but now that she was in my face, it was a perfect opportunity to iron shit out. "Anna, I need to speak with you." Anna stopped her dusting and slowly dragged her legs towards me as if apprehensive that I would try to finish what I started the other night. "Yes, Mrs. Mills." "Listen, Anna, I want to apologize for the other night. I was understandably pissed." "Of course. I still feel guilty about poor little Aaliyah." "See, that's the thing. I feel you're guilty too." Anna's face frowned up. "I didn't have anything to do with what happened to Aaliyah...I swear." "And you know what, you probably didn't. But since my daughter was in your care when she was kidnapped, I look at you in disgust. And if you're as innocent as you claim to be, I'm sorry for my hostile attitude towards you, but until I know for sure, my feelings for you aren't going to change." "So what are you saying, Mrs. Mills? Are you firing me?" "Basically, I want you to pack up your shit and leave." "But this is my home. I left my family to come live here with you." "Actually this is my home, and I was letting you live here. I'm more than willing to financially compensate you for sending you back to your family, but I can't stomach seeing your face one more day." "Mrs. Mills, I'm sorry you feel this way about me. But I forgive you for your hurtful words. I know you're saying this out of pain for losing Aaliyah. One day you'll see I'm innocent and that I love Aaliyah, and would never do anything to hurt her or your family." Ring... ring... ring... "Saved by the bell!" I said with contempt. "I have to answer that. So please pack up your things and I'll have the driver take you to the airport." I wanted Anna out of my house and there wasn't anything else to discuss as far as I was concerned. I went to answer the phone, putting her out of my head. "Hello." "Why aren't you answering your cell phone?" "It's upstairs. Maya, this must be awfully important if you tracking me down on the home phone." "Yeah, pretty much." "Is everything okay?" "No. My car was supposed to be ready this morning, and I've been down here for two hours and the shit still fucked up." "I told you not to fuck with them Jaguars. Them some bullshit cars. Something stays wrong with those motherfuckers." "I remember your words of caution. But that candy apple red shit was looking so pretty sitting on that car lot I begged Clip to get it for me when I got my driver's license. Now I wish I would've listened to you. I be cramming my brain, dense on how a brand new car can always have something wrong with it. But any-who, Clip ain't answering his phone and I'm tired of waiting. Will you come get me?" "Girl, you need to get a damn car service, or tell the dealership to loan you a vehicle until they get your shit fix." "They offered me some whack shit, but I rather wait until I get my fly whip back. Come on, Precious, you need to get out the house anyway." "Says who?" "Says me. I know you moping around the house thinking about Aaliyah. We can go chill, get something to eat." "Maya, let me call you back. The doorbell's ringing." "Are you coming to get me?" "Yes, crazy. Let me get dressed and I'll swoop you up." "Alright, call me when you about to pull up so I can come outside." "Cool, but I got to go. Whoever's at the door `bout to bang it down." On my way to open the door, I glanced down the hall wondering if Supreme had heard the banging, but his office door was still shut. "Mrs. Mills, sorry for disturbing you," Detective Moore said as if embarrassed. I looked down and realized my wrap had come loose and I was one step from having a wardrobe malfunction. I quickly tightened the strap and folded my arms over my braless breasts. "No problem, I just woke up a little while ago and haven't had a chance to get dressed. Come in." "Is your husband home?" he asked as I closed the front door. "Yes." "I wanted to share some new information. I'm sure he would want to hear it also." "Of course. I'll go get him. Please have a seat." When I got to Supreme's office, his door was locked. I could hear him on the phone, but he was talking so low I couldn't understand what he was saying. "Supreme, Detective Moore is here," I said, knocking on the door. "I'll be out in a minute." "Okay." I kept my ear to the door for a few seconds hoping to overhear something but it was useless, so I went back up front to where the detective was sitting. "Supreme will be out in a minute. Do you have some new information about Aaliyah?" "I think we should wait for you husband." I was about to offer the detective
a drink but he pissed me off with that "wait for your husband" shit, like I was the little lady of the house. I tapped my toe on the marble floor becoming restless for Supreme to bring his ass on. "Supreme!" I hollered, causing Detective Moore to jump out his seat. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." "That's fine. It's was just so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. I wasn't expecting..." his voice faded off. "Expecting what, for me to holla for my husband? I mean since you're keeping your lips sealed until we're graced with his presence, I really didn't have a choice." "Mrs. Mills, it's nothing like that." Before the detective could finish with his lame excuse, Supreme finally popped up. "Detective Moore, I'm assuming you have encouraging news for us?" Supreme's words sounded more like a matter-of-fact statement than a question. "Not exactly news," he said with hesitancy. "No disrespect, but why are you coming to my house if you're not bringing tangible information?" "I wanted to keep you and your wife abreast of what's going on." "What, your phone isn't working anymore? Because last I checked my number is good." I knew Supreme was becoming annoyed with how the investigation was going, but his abrupt attitude towards the detective had me on edge. "I think my husband is a little concerned with how slowly things are going." Supreme glanced at me with coldness in his eyes as if telling me to shut the fuck up because he can speak for himself. "I understand. We have all of our manpower on it. There are some potential leads pinpointing Mike Owens' location that is what I wanted to update you about. We also found a match on the gun shells left at the scene of the drive-by shooting yesterday." "Who is it?" "The gun was unregistered, but it did have a body on it from an unsolved murder a few years ago in New York. We're working with the officers there hoping that case can shed some light on who was responsible for the attempt on your life." "So basically, you're no closer to finding my daughter," Supreme interjected. "I believe we're making progress. Cases like this can take some time. But I believe your daughter is very much alive." "What do you mean by cases like this?" I asked, fishing to see where he was going with that statement. "A lot of times when a baby is kidnapped from someone high profile like your husband, it's for a ransom-they're looking for a big payday. Or if they have no idea who your husband is and it was random, maybe it's a disturbed woman who is obsessed with having a baby and can't conceive, so they see an opportunity and steal one. But I don't believe either of those options applies here. This seems personal and well thought out. I agree with you, Mrs. Mills, that Mike Owens is behind the kidnapping, but he has a lot of help. There has been no spotting of your daughter, although I believe she's very much alive." "Is that all, Detective?" By the tone of Supreme's voice it was clear he was ready to show Detective Moore the exit. "For now, but I'm optimistic that we'll have some updates soon." "When you do, let us know." "I will, and I also hope you'll keep me updated if you find out anything." The detective locked eyes with Supreme as if trying to read what was going on in his mind, but Supreme didn't flinch. "Of course." "Thanks, Detective. I appreciate you stopping by with your updates," I said, wanting to add my two cents. Supreme slammed the door so swiftly that I couldn't catch the detective's reply. "That motherfucker coming over here telling us shit we already know, hoping we'll lay our cards on the table. Ain't nobody stupid," Supreme murmured while pouring a glass of Remy Martin X111 cognac. "But we ain't telling them nada. We gon' handle this my way," he asserted before taking a shot to the head. To see Supreme drinking liquor this early in the day meant he was seriously vexed. "I have to pick Maya up from the dealership. After I drop her off maybe we can have lunch." "No, I have too much business to handle. Go take care of Maya. I'll see you later on." Supreme took another gulp of cognac and headed back to his office. He basically lived in his office all fucking day, and it was driving me insane. With Aaliyah gone and now sending Anna back to New York after firing her ass, this huge house felt vacant. There was security covering the grounds, but they remained on mute unless Supreme needed them to speak. I rushed upstairs to get dressed, desperate to get out the loneliness of my surroundings. After a quick shower, I threw on a cotton-candy pink velour Juicy Couture jogging suit. I slicked my hair back in a ponytail with a baseball cap. I slipped on some shades and felt incognito. Since word spread that Supreme's daughter was kidnapped, that's how the headlines read, the press was becoming relentless to get an interview. The one and only statement I gave when I was cornered at the airport wasn't enough. They were begging for a sit-down, but Supreme and I both agreed that we needed to keep this strictly about Aaliyah and not his celebrity. It seemed to be working as the tons of press that were initially staking out our house had dispersed, leaving only sprinkles here and there. That was a relief, but to remain guarded I continued to dress down. When I got downstairs to retrieve my car keys, I remembered my Bentley was out of commission. I grabbed the keys to my Range but stepped back when I turned around to see one of the bodyguards blocking my path. "Excuse me, but why are you standing in my face?" "Hello, I'm Devon. I'll be driving you around today. I already have the car out front waiting for you." "I don't need a driver. Thanks, but no thanks." "I'm following your husbands' orders." "Well, now I'm telling you to follow mine. No thanks. Now excuse me." "I can't do that, Mrs. Mills. I work for Supreme. I have to follow his instructions. If you have a problem you should go speak with him." "Don't tell me what to do. But since I'm not up to arguing with my husband, you can drive me around today, but don't get too comfortable. This will more than likely be your first and last day transporting me around." I sat in the back of the Maybach Supreme was normally chauffeured around in. The blinds were down on the windows so no one could see who was in the car. The privacy was totally in affect. "Where is the first stop?" I heard the driver ask. "Fifteen-twenty North Wilcox Avenue." I closed my eyes during the smooth ride and had to admit it was rather relaxing. When I was behind the wheel of a car, a hint of road rage was always bubbling inside me. But being a passenger in the backseat gave me an opportunity to let my psyche travel to other places. "How far away are we?" "About five minutes." I flipped open my cell and called Maya. "Where the hell are you at? I thought you would've been here an hour ago," was Maya's greeting when she answered the phone. "I can always not come." "Stop playing, Precious. I'm hungry that's all. How far are you?" "Like five minutes, so come out." "What you driving?" "I'm not." "What you mean." "I have a driver. We're in a black Maybach." "Excuse me! Sometimes I forget who you married too." "So do I. I'll see you in a few." Sometimes I did forget I was married to Xavier Mills, a.k.a. superstar extraordinaire, Supreme. A few years ago I was struggling, living in the projects ready to sell my body to the richest dope dealer. My biggest aspiration was going from project chick to hood queen. Now I was living on an estate in Beverly Hills, being chauffeured around in a Maybach, and my husband was unbelievably fucking rich and famous. On paper this was every hood queen's dream life, but in reality, it was a fucking nightmare. The husband I never felt worthy of having was slipping through my fingers, and our life together was crumbling more each day. In the past I was always able to concoct a scheme and have shit beating to my drum. Somehow, my mojo got missing and I had to get it back. "Mrs. Mills, are we picking up this young lady?" he pointed to Maya who was walking towards the car. "Are you new? Because I thought all the guards new Maya." "Yes. I started working for your husband last week." "Oh, well if he keeps you around you'll get used to seeing Maya's face. She's family." "Girl, I can't wait for Clip to go triple platinum so he can cop one of these," Maya said, getting in the car. "Where is the next stop, Mrs. Mills?" "Mrs. Mills," Maya repeated. "Dang, Precious, he speaking to you like you Queen of Sheba," Maya joked. "Anyway, where do you wanna eat?" I asked, ignoring Maya's foolishness. "I don't care, any spot with good food." "Head over to Wilshire Boulevard." "What's over there?" "They have this Italian restaurant that I love. The food is off the chain." "Is that my phone or your phone?" Maya asked, reaching in her purse. "I think that's me. Hello?" "I've been missing you. Our last conversation ended so abruptly." "I was wondering when you would call again. What took so long
? Let me guess. Being on the run is keeping you more occupied than you originally anticipated." "Actually, catching up on the missed time with my daughter is what's keeping me busy. I'm enjoying it though. Who knew being a father could be so rewarding?" "You're sick." "Speaking of sick, I thought you'd be recuperating from your brush with death yesterday. From what I was told, that Bentley your husband got you for Christmas is full of bullets. You're lucky none of them had your name on it." "I knew that hit had your name written all over it. You're such a pussy. You couldn't even handle the job yourself" "Who is that?" Maya mouthed. "Your brother," I mouthed back. "Instead of being sweet with the tongue, you should be thanking me." "What the hell do I need to thank you for?" "For letting you live. What, you thought that once again you beat death? No, pretty girl, I was sending you a message." "And what message is that?" "That your life is in my hands and I can take you out anytime I like, remember that." "Fuck you, Mike!" "I'm looking forward to doing that with you too. Soon, I promise. But until then, our daughter wants to say goodbye." I heard Aaliyah's babbling for less than ten seconds, and then the phone went dead. I held onto it so tightly I thought it would break in my hand. "Precious, are you alright? What did my brother say?" "A lot, like I figured. He was the one that ordered that drive-by." "My own brother was trying to kill me?" "No, you were at the wrong place at the wrong time. That was strictly for my benefit. He was sending me a message. My thing is, whoever he has working for him has to be someone in me and Supreme's inner circle." "Why do you say that?" "Because he mentioned that Supreme got me my Bentley for Christmas. How would he be privy to such private information?" "Do you have any idea who it could be?" "I'm not sure. Supreme has a shit-load of people on his payroll. Maya, I'm not up to going out to eat. Do you want to come back to my house?" "Yeah, I can hang out over there, but can we stop by my place first? I want to get a couple of things. I need to speak to Clip too." "Sure." "Let me call the crib and see if he made it home yet." Maya dialed the number, then hung up and dialed another number. "He's not home and he's not answering his cell. Oh well, maybe by the time we get to the house he'll be there." "Devon, there's been a change of plans. We're going to stop at Maya's place first and then home." "Not a problem. What's the address?" Maya waited for me to give Devon her address, but she saw the blank look on my face and spoke up. I remained quiet as he drove to Maya's house. I wanted to find some sort of solace, but not even hearing Aaliyah's voice on the phone brought that. I hated to admit it, but right now Mike was winning. "Precious, are you coming up with me?" I had drifted so far off in another world I hadn't realized the car stopped. "No, I'll wait for you in the car." "Come in with me. It might take me a minute and you can keep me company." "Okay, I need to go to the restroom anyway. Devon, we shouldn't be that long." "Take your time, I'll be here waiting." I shut the door and followed Maya upstairs to her condo. "Precious, I'm worried about you," Maya said, opening her front door. "That makes two of us. But we can discuss that after I use the bathroom `cause I'm `bout to piss in my pants." "The one in the hallway is broke so use the one in my bedroom." "Okay, I'll be right back." I shuffled down the hallway, almost sliding on the hardwood floor desperate to get to the toilet. As I slid up on Maya's bedroom door I heard soft music playing. I figured she must've forgotten to turn it off before she left earlier. I wrapped my hand around the doorknob to open the door and damn near pissed in my jogging suit. I gently closed the door and speed-walked back to Maya. "Damn, that was fast," Maya said, coming out of the kitchen with a Twinkle and glass of juice. "Yeah, I was in and out. But we need to bounce, now. I just got a 911 text from Supreme." "Oh shit, let me grab something from the bedroom and we out." My natural reflex kicked in and I snatched Maya's arm so she wouldn't move. "Precious, I'll only be a second. I promise I won't take long. Let go of my arm." "I can't do that." "You're buggin'. What's wrong with you?" "Maya, I don't know how to tell you this..." "Tell me what?" "Let's get in the car and I'll explain everything." "Okay, the sooner you let me get what I need out my bedroom, the sooner you can tell me what has you acting so weird." "Is what you want in the bedroom that fuckin' important?" "What, did you leave the bathroom funky or something? You were only in there for a second it can't stink that bad." Maya freed her arm from my grip and started walking towards her bedroom. I wished that I had magical powers that could freeze her steps, but my mouth would have to suffice. "Don't go in that bedroom, Maya." She ignored me and kept walking. "If you do, you're probably gonna catch a case!" I yelled out in a last attempt to say enough to pull her back in without revealing the real dirt. But of course with Maya being the feisty chick that she is, my pleas only made her more determined to discover what was hiding behind those doors. "I'ma kill you!" was the threat I heard from Maya's mouth as I ran down the hall to stop her from wreaking havoc. By the time I reached her, the glass of juice she was holding had shattered on the headboard, just missing the face of Clip and the naked woman lying in bed with him. The woman was the first to get rattled out of her sleep by the crash. "Clip, get up!" the woman said, pushing him so he could wake up. But he wasn't budging. They had to be doing some serious fucking. That nigga must've cum so hard because he was damn near in a coma, I thought to myself. Then Maya stormed over to the bed, and slapped that motherfucker so hard, spit flew out his mouth. Now I knew that would wake his ass up. "How dare you bring this ho up in our crib in our fuckin' bed!" "I ain't no ho." The chick had the audacity to try and defend herself. Maya paused for a moment, stared down at Clip then reached over and swung on the chick with a closed fist. All I heard was a loud thump as head, ass and tits hit the floor. "What the fuck is going on?" Clip mumbled as if struggling to come out of his daze. He looked down at his naked body and seemed shocked that his dick was hanging out for all to inspect. "Clip, how could you do this to me? You fuck this nasty trick in our bed! You could've least got a room, you disrespectful sonofabitch. I almost got killed yesterday, and all you thinking about is running up in some pussy?" I moved closer to the bed because I wanted to make sure Maya didn't go too far. She deserved to fuck them both up, but I wanted to avoid a murder charge. As Maya continued to cuss Clip out, I peeped the other woman trying to pull herself up from that smackdown she received courtesy of Maya. She looked strangely familiar, and then it hit me. She was the female coming out of Clip's room at the video shoot yesterday. "This is that conniving heifer, Destiny, who was playing Clip's leading lady in the video yesterday," I said, blowing up his spot mad that he lied in my face when I confronted him about the trick. "I knew you were fucking her," Maya said, pointing her finger at Destiny while she stood there with her fivefoot-six framed video deluxe body on display. Clip turned toward Destiny as if just realizing she was in the room. "What are you doing here, and why are you naked?" Her eyes widened at his question. "Don't act like you don't know why I'm here. You wasn't saying that shit an hour ago when you had your dick all up inside me." "Where the condom at?" Maya barked. She knocked the lamp and papers off the nightstand, opened the drawers, and ripped off the bedspread and sheets. "You fucked this dirty bird raw? How can you be so fuckin' reckless?" Clip said nothing. The silence made Maya fly into a rage. She jumped on top of the bed and tackled Destiny like a linebacker on the football field. She banged her head against the floor repeatedly, screaming, "You trifling ho, I'ma kill you!" After the fourth head flop, I had had enough. "Stop, Maya. She ain't worth you going to jail over and neither is Clip." "Fuck that!" she said, continuing her rampage. "Girl, if I have to pull you off that trick and we come to blows, this is one fight you will not win. Now get the fuck off of her-now!" I took a deep breath, maintaining my composure. I was being patient because Destiny deserved every lick she got. She saw Maya at the video shoot yesterday and knew that Clip was her man. To bring her stank ass into another woman's bed was straight grimy. Back in the day if I had caught my nigga doing this bullshit, a bitch like me would've been plotting that ho's murder and his, but at this point in my life, this shit was trivial. I couldn't stand around and watch Maya get both of
us hemmed up on some nonsense. Clip finally got his strength together and decided to intervene. "Maya, chill. You `bout to kill this girl," he said, grabbing Maya's arm. But she swung it off. "Maya, get the fuck off of her right now before I bust your ass," I stood in my "don't fuck with me" stance. Maya's eyes trailed up my body until meeting my face. My facial expression said it all. She released Destiny's head and stood up. "Are you okay?" Clip bent down next to Destiny and asked. "Fuck if she's okay or not! You checking for this broad?" "Maya, you almost killed homegirl. Of course I want to make sure she a'ight. But I ain't fucking with her like that. I don't know how she got in my bed naked." "Clip, are you for real with this line you're running? I mean come on now, you insulting all three of us with that bullshit," I had to state. "Precious, I ain't tryna insult nobody. I swear I don't know how Destiny got in my crib or my bed, and I definitely don't remember fucking her. This shit is fucking bizarre," Clip said, shaking his head. "Maya, what you gon' do, `cause I can't stand here and listen to this nonsense anymore." "I'm leaving." "Maya, don't leave like this. When you coming back?" "I ain't, motherfucker! I'm done wit' yo' black ass!" Maya ogled a badly bruised Destiny. "He's all yours. Clip, you'll never feel the inside of my pussy again after running up in that. Fuck both of you." Maya said then spit on the floor between where both were standing. CONFRONTATION