by Kiki Swinson
“I don’t care what they told you. Everything that comes out of their mouths is nothing but lies.”
“Well, they were both interviewed simultaneously by two different detectives, yet they still came up with the exact same story.”
“And what story was that?” I asked, irritated.
“They both said you and Nikki hadn’t been getting along for a while and that you kicked her out of the shop and your house a couple weeks before you left town.”
“Rachael and Carmen said what?” I screamed with fury.
“Knock it off, Kira! And stop wasting our time. We know you know more than what you are telling us.”
“I don’t know shit!”
“Oh, you know something. Just like you knew about the drug dealings and the murders your ex-husband was involved in. Yeah, we know you talked yourself out of a federal prison sentence. Me and my partner got your entire file right here,” he said, pointing down at a manila folder.
“OK. And so what? You would have done the same damn thing if you were facing fifteen years behind bars.”
“But this is something different,” the other detective said. “This was your blood relative. You and she came to Houston together to start a new life, so there was a strong bond there. Carmen said you two were really close until just recently.”
“I don’t give a fuck what Carmen said.”
“Well, you better care about what I say,” the fat detective said. “Because this is a much more serious matter than that federal case you were in involved in. I smell conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.”
“That’s bullshit! I didn’t lay a fucking hand on her.”
“Well, tell us who did. We know you know something.”
“Are you fucking listening to me? I just told you I don’t know shit.”
“You can save that crap for a rookie. I’m a veteran in this game, and I feel it in my gut that you know more than what you are telling us. And when I find out that you do, I will personally make sure you won’t see daylight until you are eighty.”
“Am I under arrest right now?” I asked once again.
“No, you’re not,” the fat detective answered.
I stood. “Well, gentlemen, it was truly nice,” I said with a half-smile. Both detectives stood simultaneously, but the fat detective had more to say.
“You know, once you walk out this door, you’re on your own. There aren’t going to be any plea bargains.”
“What the fuck ever! Go beat the street and find the real killer!” I replied, and then I opened the door and slammed it as I exited the room.
It felt like a ton of bricks was lifted off my shoulders when the detectives allowed me to walk out of that room. But as soon as I turned the corner to enter the corridor that led to the main entrance, those same bricks were thrown back at me. Standing before me as if they were waiting for my arrival were my uncle and his wife, Nikki’s parents.
My heart skipped a beat, but I kept my composure. Quickly, I slid off my engagement ring and dropped it into my pocket. I didn’t want my uncle or his wife in my fucking business, questioning me about whether I was with another drug dealer.
Nikki’s mother was the first to speak. This bitch hated my guts. It was even more evident when she spoke.
With watery eyes, she pointed her finger directly at me and gritted her teeth as she said, “I knew you were bad news from the day you were born! And now I see why your mother left you with your grandmother. You were like a bad seed, a black cloud looming over her head, so she had to get rid of your ass!”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You heard me!” she roared. “You are the reason my child is dead! If you would have left her alone, she would’ve graduated from Norfolk State and probably settled into a career. But, no! You had to drag her out here to this godforsaken place! It wouldn’t surprise me if you encouraged her to hook up with another fucking drug dealer.”
“Auntie, I didn’t encourage Nikki to do anything,” I replied, trying to sound as polite as possible.
Apparently not noticing my tone, she leaned forward and smacked the hell out of me. “Bitch, don’t call me auntie! I will never be related to you. As far as I’m concerned, you are dead too.”
I placed my hand on the side of my face to suppress the sting of her blow.
My uncle grabbed Auntie by her shoulders with both of his hands. “Calm down, honey, before you have another attack.”
Totally ignoring him, she broke away from his grip and took two more steps toward me, her finger pointing directly at me. “You are going to get what’s coming to you! Now you mark my words, sweetie! Your time is coming, and ain’t nobody gonna be around to help you. Remember, everybody you used to deal with is dead! You are the only one left standing and breathing. Now I wonder why that is.”
“Come on, honey, that’s enough. We have to go!” my uncle told her.
“No, I’m not leaving until she tells me why everybody around her is dying.”
I put my head down and walked away. She was on a rampage, and I wasn’t about to let her make a spectacle of me, especially with all the cops hanging around. And now that I thought about it, it wouldn’t surprise me if she was trying to set me up with all the fucking questions she was asking me. I was hip to her games. I wasn’t that green. I had plenty of sense, whether or not she believed it.
I immediately exhaled when I exited the police precinct. With my carry-on bag and purse in hand, I walked straight down the boulevard, waiting for the next taxi to drive by so I could hop in. The sun was beaming down on me. It had to be every bit of one hundred degrees out here, and the humidity was even worse. At times, it felt like I couldn’t breathe, but I kept walking.
In the distance, I heard my name called. I looked behind me and saw that it was my uncle running toward me. I stopped in my tracks and waited for him to approach me. Out of breath, he panted a little as he stopped before me. He immediately pressed his left hand against his chest.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yes, I’m fine. I just need to take a breather.”
I grabbed him by his arm. “Take your time.”
He took three deep breaths and then exhaled. “Look, I can’t stay long. I just ran down here to apologize to you for the way my wife spoke to you.”
“No, Uncle Lanier, you didn’t have to do that.”
“Listen, I know a lot of shit has happened, but I am not about to let that come between you and me. We are blood, and don’t you ever forget that.”
“I won’t,” I said, getting choked up.
He embraced me, so I hugged him back and wrapped my arms around him as tightly as I could. I realized at that point that he was the only living relative I had left. And to hear him tell me that he wouldn’t let anyone come between us really made me feel some kind of way. I knew he had a genuine love for me, so that was all that mattered.
Right before he let me go, he looked into my eyes as if searching for something. It felt like he could see right through me. I felt very uneasy, so I put my head down.
He immediately grabbed me by the tip of my chin and lifted my head back up. “I’m going to ask you a question, and I want you to be honest with me, even if you think it will hurt me.”
I developed a huge knot in my throat. From the look on my uncle’s face, I could tell he was as serious as a fucking heart attack, and that he wanted me to ask me something to do with Nikki.
I took a deep breath. “OK.” But on the inside, I was a nervous wreck. It felt like I was about to be interrogated all over again, but by a loved one this time. I gave him the most sincere expression I could muster, and then I gave him my undivided attention.
He took a deep breath. “Can you tell me anything about Nikki’s murder? I mean, the police don’t have any leads. And the motherfucker who did this to my baby has to pay for it. So if you know anything or anyone she was messing around with, please tell me.”
“I’m sorry, Uncle Lanier, but I don’t know anything. W
hen Nikki and I got here, she and I didn’t live together long. She and I got into a big argument, and shortly thereafter she moved out. She stopped working in my shop too, so we pretty much stopped all communication with each other.”
“When was the last time you spoke to her?”
“About a month before I decided to leave the country.”
“So she hadn’t tried to contact you at all?”
“Nope.”
“What about a man? Did you meet any of her male friends that might be linked to her murder?”
“She pretty much kept her personal life to herself. I used to try to get her to go out on double dates with me, but she would always refuse to go. I guess she was still bent out of shape behind that guy named Syncere she used to mess with back in Virginia.”
Uncle Lanier shook his head in a frustrating manner. I could tell he wasn’t pleased with what I had just said. He wanted something more solid, but I couldn’t give it to him. I could see tears forming in his eyes, and my heart went out to him, but at the same time my hands were tied. I couldn’t implicate myself just to make him feel better. Hell nah! I would be a damn fool. He was just gonna have to let the homicide detectives do their job, because I couldn’t help him.
I rubbed him on his back and told him that everything was going to be all right, even though I knew it wouldn’t. Bintu’ and his family were notorious gangsters, and they were pros at organized crime, so there was no way the detectives or my uncle and his silly-ass wife would ever find out what went on in that abandoned warehouse. I made a vow to take what happened to my grave, and that was what I intended to do.
Uncle Lanier took another deep breath and then sighed heavily. “We are having Nikki’s body shipped back to Virginia today because her funeral is this Friday at noon, which is three days from now. So please promise me that you’ll come.”
I hesitated before I answered, because the thought of going back to that place gave me the creeps. I had no life there. Everyone who was left living and breathing hated my fucking guts, so why even bother?
My uncle grabbed my hand. “Look, I know you have a lot of bad memories there. But could you at least block all of that out for this one day?”
My mind was telling me to tell my uncle, “Hell nah!” But my heart was forcing me to say the opposite. I went against my better judgment and told him, “I’m only doing this for you and Nikki.”
He smiled. “That’s all that matters.” He kissed me on my forehead, said good-bye, and turned to leave.
I watched him as he made his way back toward the police precinct, his head held down the entire walk. It was evident that he was thinking about the loss of his only child. Nikki was his pride and joy. I knew her parents had many plans for her life. And now everything that they could have imagined would happen for her had gone up in smoke.
Although my uncle wouldn’t admit it, I knew deep down inside that he blamed me for the day she dropped out of school, to the day she got arrested for transporting Ricky’s drugs, to the very day she got mixed up with that whack-ass nigga Syncere. No matter what I could have said, they would not have believed me if I told them that I had nothing to do with her getting with that guy. She’d met him on her own. But, hey, what could I say? You win some, and you lose some.
After my uncle disappeared behind the double doors of the police station, I turned around and started walking once again. My stroll only lasted ten seconds because a taxi rolled up quicker than I could blink.
I got into the air-conditioned cab with absolutely no idea where I wanted to go. I really didn’t have a reason to be in Houston, other than to pay my real estate agent a fucking visit. How fucking grimy could she be, setting up my ass to be picked up?
I thought about calling her trashy ass and telling her I was taking my fucking house off the market and that I no longer need her damn assistance. But, nah, I was just gonna play her dumb ass at her own game and kill the bitch with kindness, see how she acted when she found out I wasn’t behind bars.
I retrieved my BlackBerry from my handbag and dialed her office number. Her receptionist answered the line and connected me to her. “Hello, this is Kendra,” she said.
“Hi, Kendra, this is Kira,” I said, and then I fell silent.
“Oh, hey, girl. How-ow-ow you doing?” she stuttered. “I’m doing fine. And you?”
“I’m g-g-g-good. How was your flight?”
“My flight was good. But are you sure you are all right?”
“Ahhh, yeah, I’m fine.”
“So what time is the closing?” I asked, even though I knew there wasn’t one.
“My assistant didn’t call you?” Kendra asked, her voice barely audible. “I didn’t hear you, Kendra. Can you speak up?”
“My assistant was supposed to call you and tell you that the couple couldn’t make the closing, so we’re going to have to reschedule it for another day.”
“When was I supposed to get this call?”
“She said she made the call yesterday.”
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t get that call, Kendra. And, anyway, I spoke to you yesterday morning to confirm the closing for today, and you told me everything was still a go.”
“Yes, I did, and that was because everything was set in motion at that time. But right before I left the office yesterday I got the call from the couple’s realtor saying that the couple hadn’t come up with all the money they needed for their closing costs. So we had no choice but to reschedule.”
“What’s the couple’s name?”
“I’m, well . . . I . . . um, don’t have that information in front of me at the moment, but if you give me a second, I can have my assistant pull their folder,” she replied, her voice fading in and out.
“That won’t be necessary, Kendra. Just call me when you guys reschedule a closing date.” It was pointless to continue probing her when all I was going to get was lies.
“Will do. But what are you going to do in the meantime?”
“I’m gonna go back to Anguilla.”
“Well, you have a safe flight back.”
“I will,” I assured her, and then I hung up.
I called her so many bitches after I disconnected my line. She was a fucking fraud, and I wanted so badly to expose her ass. But I knew I had to wait for my day and time to do that. Right then, I needed the bitch to sell my house, and since she had an excellent track record of getting rid of properties, I decided to let her hold the ball.
Since my plans had changed and I was headed back out to Virginia, I knew I couldn’t get back on a flight to go back to Anguilla. I instructed the driver to take me downtown to the Renaissance Hotel, which was one block over from where Fatu’ had his penthouse.
After I checked into my room, I walked onto the balcony of my twentieth floor suite and gazed into the night. The streetlights were bright as hell, and the streets were busy as usual. I could see Fatu’s old residence clear as day.
I stood there and thought back to the many nights I used to spend inside that building, and the mornings I used to wake up with breakfast served to me while still in bed. Not to mention the many times I sat up in his bed and wondered where he was.
I had to admit, life with him was an adventure. I just couldn’t believe how Nikki could go against me and sleep with him behind my back. Now, how scandalous was that? Did she hate me that much? Was I in any way toxic toward her? I mean, I couldn’t imagine being so terrible to her that she would want to stab me in my back.
Then the way Fatu’ carried me really had me taken aback. Who would have known? I was nothing but good to that son of a bitch, and look how he repaid me. He fucked my cousin and had her mind twisted the fuck up. I sure wished I could have gotten more out of him than I had, but it was too late now. He was gone, and so was she. So all that was left for me to do was move on and forget that they ever existed, which was what I planned to do.
I got undressed, took a quick shower, and ordered room service. I had no intention of leaving the hotel for fear
that I’d run into someone I didn’t want to see. I had a juicy filet mignon with a baked potato and a side of steamed broccoli. After that hearty meal, I settled down and watched an old western movie with Clint Eastwood. Shortly thereafter I dozed off.
***
The next morning I got up and got dressed. I had no plans to stick around in Houston, so I got a taxi driver to take me back to the airport. The quicker I got out of Houston, the better. When I got to the airport, I went to the reservation desk and bought myself a round-trip ticket to Virginia.
The next flight leaving was in two hours, so I had a little bit of time to mess around. Since I hadn’t had any time to get a bite to eat while I was at the hotel, I sat down at one of the cafés in the airport and ordered a breakfast platter with three strips of bacon, two scrambled eggs, hash browns, and two pieces of toast. The eggs looked really wet and uncooked, so I devoured the bacon and the toast and finished off my meal with a tall cup of apple juice.
Later as I waited for my flight, I got a call from Kendra. I answered after the second ring. “Hello,” I said.
“Hi, Kira. This is Kendra.”
“How can I help you, Kendra?”
She sighed heavily. “Kira, I have a confession to make. I tossed and turned all last night thinking about you.”
“What about?” I asked, even though I knew what she was hinting at.
“I haven’t been totally honest with you about why I needed you to come back to Houston. See, I got a call from a Houston homicide detective wanting to know your whereabouts. He said he was investigating a murder and you could probably help him. So I asked him what he needed from me, and that was when he told me to call you with some bogus story about me having a seller for your house so you would come back to the States. Now, believe me, I was reluctant to help him at first, but when I sat back and thought about it, I remembered back when my sister was murdered while some crazy guys were doing a drive-by, and no one ever came forward to give information so those guys could pay for what they did. So, you see, I felt compelled to help him. I couldn’t see doing it any other way.”
“Look, Kendra, you don’t have to go through that whole spiel. I understand.”