“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I made him cheat on me.”
“I think I’m about to have a nervous breakdown.” Wayne tried to keep his head from spinning.
“When you and I broke up, I promised myself that I wasn’t going to do certain things with another man. He tried talking me into going down on him, but I told him to suck his own dick. When I walked in on him and Bridgette, she was doing what I refused to do.”
“So, you’re blaming yourself? If you would’ve sucked his dick, he wouldn’t have cheated on you? That is the craziest shit I’ve ever heard.”
“I shouldn’t have refused him.”
“Are you listening to yourself? Do you hear what you’re saying?”
“I don’t know what I’m saying, I don’t even know why I’m here, or why I even came back to Albany in the first place.”
Liana got off the bed and picked up her bag to leave. This time, Wayne didn’t try to stop her. He began to realize that his dream of them getting back together was just that: a dream.
***
Early the next morning, Liana was parked across the street from Hertz rent-a-car, waiting for Elizabeth to show up for work. When she got home last night, she tossed and turned until she finally figured out what was bothering her. Before Ron hung up on her, he said he should’ve never let Elizabeth convince him to fly up and try to patch things up. Now, she felt like she was on a stake out, waiting for her suspect to pull into her place of work.
Elizabeth pulled up at seven-forty-five sharp, as she always did, to allow herself at least fifteen minutes to get herself ready.
Liana got out of her truck, and walked to the back of Elizabeth’s car. She tapped on the window, startling her.
“You scared the shit out of me,” Elizabeth said, stepping out of her car.
“I saw Ron yesterday.” Liana decided to play it cool.
“Really? He came all the way from California to see you? That was sweet of him.”
“It would’ve been sweet of him if he came up with the idea himself, but seeing how he had to be convinced, it wasn’t that sweet at all.”
“C’mon, Liana. You just expected me to sit back and do nothing? I couldn’t watch you mess up a good thing.”
“I can’t believe you! Of all the people, you would be the last person who I thought would want to poke their nose into somebody else’s business.” Liana was referring to last summer when she, Jenna, and Reese tried telling her that although Indio opened a clothing store, he was still heavy into the drug game. Elizabeth had spazzed out on them, and told them to stay out of her personal life.
“Now the shoe’s on the other foot, and instead of you minding your business like you told us to do, you call Ron and convince him to come up here, knowing the history between him and Sha.”
Elizabeth adjusted the strap on her shoulder bag. “I did it for you, Liana.”
“Stop deciding what’s right for me, and who’s right for me. I’m a grown woman. I can make my own decisions.”
“Well, what decision did you make with Ron?”
“It’s over between me and Ron.”
Elizabeth squeezed her keys, as if they were Wayne’s neck. “Wayne is fucking with your head, Liana. You have to dump him once and for all.”
“Dumping him the first time, and the second time were the two worst decisions of my life.”
“You mean to tell me that you’re going to leave a million dollar man for a lawn mowing boy?”
Liana started walking away.
“Where are you going? Elizabeth asked.
“To get my man.”
***
Liana called Wayne’s cell and house phone, and kept getting his voice mail and answering machine. She decided to drop by his house to see if he stayed home from work, which she knew was highly improbable. When she didn’t see the lawn truck, she walked across the street to his parents’s house. Wayne’s mother answered the door. After they chit chatted for a couple of minutes, Julie retrieved her husband’s daily planner, and gave her an address in East Greenbush where they were supposed to be working.
When Liana pulled up to the address, her heart pounded with excitement when she saw the green and white pickup. She parked behind it and walked to the backyard where she heard the lawn mower. When she got back there, Wayne’s father was back there by himself. She smiled and waved at him. He nodded to her and cut off the lawn mower.
“Hey, Pop Pop. Have you seen Wayne?”
“He’s not with you?” Nevel asked surprised.
“No, I haven’t seen him since last night.”
“Motherfucker,” his father yelled, pulling out his cell phone and dialing Wayne’s number. “Ain’t this a bitch? When he didn’t answer his phone this morning, I assumed he was with you, but now you’re telling me you weren’t with him.”
“You don’t think anything happened to him, do you?” Liana asked, becoming a little worried. “We had an argument last night.”
“Umm,” Nevel said, as if she had filled in the missing piece of the puzzle.
“Umm, what?” Liana said.
“Nothing. Listen, I would love to chat with you, but as you can see, I’m short-handed. So, I got to get back to work. If he shows up later on, I’ll tell him to give you a call.”
“Thanks, Pop Pop.”
Liana climbed into her truck and headed to Second Ave. As she neared the store where she was carjacked, her hands started to shake. At every stoplight, she tried convincing herself to turn around and head back home, but she kept going until she arrived at the corner store on Grandview.
Two houses down, she spotted Taz on the stoop, talking with some young kids. She honked her horn, and waved him over.
“What up?” Taz shouted, as he walked up to her window.
“Have you seen Wayne?”
“He just left.”
“Did he say where he was going?”
“Said he was heading home. He’s not looking too well.” Taz backed up and got a good look at her truck. “Damn, girl, look at your ride.”
Liana smiled with pride. “Cee hooked it up, but he couldn’t have done it if it wasn’t for you and Wayne getting it back for me. I’m going to go back over to Wayne’s and see if he needs anything.”
Taz scratched his head. “I think he needs to be alone.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He just looked kind of distant this morning. Didn’t say much. Just dropped by, gave me some money to take to Cee, and then he bounced.”
“I’m going to go check on him, anyway.”
“Suit yourself.”
Liana saw Wayne’s hunter green Range Rover in his driveway. As she walked toward the front door, she noticed the long scratch alongside his truck. She rang the doorbell. When he didn’t answer, she knocked hard enough for the whole block to hear.
“You trying to break my door down?” Wayne asked, as he swung it open.
“You weren’t answering. I thought maybe you were in the shower and couldn’t hear me.”
“What do you want?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“I’m not in the talking mood.”
“Well, just listen.”
“I’m not too much in the listening mood, either,” Wayne responded.
“What happened to your face?” Liana noticed a scratch going all the way down to his neck. “And what’s up with that scratch on your truck?”
“Scratched myself a little too hard last night in my sleep. As for my truck, I was at Price Chopper this morning, and when I came out, I saw a shopping cart up against it.”
“A shopping cart did that?”
“Can you believe it? I just spent a fortune getting your truck fixed; now I have to put mine in the shop.”
“Listen, Wayne, about last night—”
“Not now, Liana. I got a splitting headache, and all I want to do is lay down. I’ll catch up with you at a later time.” He closed the door in her face.
&n
bsp; Liana stood there for a minute, debating on what she should do. Her cell phone rang. It was Reese. Liana wasn’t really in a talkative mood, but she decided to answer it, so she could tell her to tell their manager that she wasn’t coming in to work today.
“Hey Reese—” Was all she got out before Reese blurted out three words that made her grab onto Wayne’s handrail, and sit on the steps before her legs gave out.
“Did you hear me, Liana?” Reese shouted into the phone. “Ron is dead!”
CHAPTER 8
Elizabeth, Jenna, and Reese sat with Liana trying to comfort her. She couldn’t accept the fact that Ron was dead.
“He came to Albany because of me,” she sobbed. “I’m the reason he’s dead.”
“Don’t say that,” Jenna said, holding her hand.
According to an eyewitness, Wednesday night at approximately eleven o’clock, while Ron was at a traffic light, a man ran up to his car, and yanked him out the window. They tussled for a minute before Ron managed to pull away from the assailant, and started running. On wobbly legs, he stumbled onto oncoming traffic and was hit by a car. The assailant took off, as well as the motorist, which led the police to believe that the assailant and motorist were working together. Everybody in Albany knew that Fat Sha was behind the whole scheme. The police even brought him in for questioning, but had to let him go, due to a lack of evidence.
Liana, along with Ron’s brother, Derrick, took care of the funeral arrangements. Derrick informed her that Ron had added her to his will. At first, she refused to accept anything, because as far as she was concerned, they had broken up on their last phone call. After explaining to Derrick what had recently happened between her and Ron, Derrick was still adamant in executing the will as Ron had stipulated.
“Regardless of what happened between you two,” Derrick said, “I know that he loved you, and he would want you to have what he left you.”
“But Derrick—”
He held his hand up. “I expect to see you at the house for the reading of the will. You’re going to get what you’re entitled to. What you do with it afterwards, is up to you.”
All Liana could do was nod.
Wayne didn’t attend the wake or the funeral. Liana needed him more than ever, and he was nowhere to be found. Elizabeth used his absence to bolster her argument of why Liana needed to be done with him completely.
As soon as everyone cleared out of Nana’s, Liana took off her dress and slipped into a pair of jeans and a sweater. She drove to Wayne’s and pounded on his front door until he swung it open, and stared at her.
“You’re not going to say anything?” she shouted at him.
“What do you want me to say?”
“Anything!”
“I’m sorry about Ron. I wish I could’ve been there for you and—”
“Bullshit! If you really wanted to be there, you would’ve made it your business to be there. There was nothing stopping you.”
Wayne shoved his hands in his pants pockets and shrugged. “What do you want from me, Liana? I’ve been racking my brain trying to define what we’re doing. Are we rekindling our relationship, or are we just reliving our past? Or are we just living for the moment? Tell me what keeps bringing you back to me.”
“Back to you?” she repeated sourly.
“You buried Ron yesterday, and here you are today at my front door.”
“What makes you keep accepting me back?” Liana asked, flipping the question.
“I’ve never accepted you back,” Wayne yelled. “How can I accept you back if I never let you go?”
Liana wagged her finger at him. “You’re not going to flip this on me.”
“I’m not flipping anything on you. I’m just stating the facts. You moved on with your life. I didn’t. In my mind, I always knew you would come back. I refused to accept it was over between us.”
Liana looked him in the eye, hanging onto every word, but she didn’t respond.
“I will do anything for you. You know that. I’ve always put you before me. All these years, I’ve shown you just how deep my love runs for you.”
“And how deep is that?”
Wayne stared into her eyes. “Do I really have to answer that?”
“I see you got that scratch off your truck,” she said, quickly changing the subject.
“No matter how things may seem, Liana, I am here for you, and you know that.” Wayne grabbed her hand. “You hear me?”
She nodded.
“How you holding up?”
“As cold as it may sound, I’m not taking it as hard as I thought I would.”
“If there’s anything I can do—”
Liana walked off, leaving Wayne to finish his sentence to himself. She got into her truck and peeled off without looking back.
She drove around Albany, trying to clear her head, and prepare for what awaited her in California on Saturday. She could deal with Ron’s family, but Bridgette was a completely different story. She knew Bridgette was going to be at the house, acting a fool.
When Saturday came, the drama for Liana started at the airport. One of her suitcases was missing. It just so happened to be the one with her outfits. Luckily, she brought enough money with her to buy a couple outfits. One for each day she was staying.
Ron’s family, especially Derrick, treated her well. Bridgette shot venomous stares at the family members who were trying to make Liana feel at home. Liana came to find out that Ron left the house and the Sports bar in care of Bridgette for his daughter. Liana was even more surprised to find out that Ron had left her a portfolio of stocks worth two-hundred thousand dollars. She convinced Derrick to manage the portfolio for her until she could find a broker of her own.
On her flight back to New York, Liana remembered bits and pieces of the last conversation she had with Wayne. Are we rekindling our relationship, or are we just reliving our past? Or are we just living for the moment?
“What are we doing?” Liana whispered to herself as she fell asleep.
***
Elizabeth, Jenna, and Reese met her at the airport. Liana got into the front seat of the Ford Taurus.
“When are you going to stop being so damn cheap, and buy your own car?” Liana asked Elizabeth.
“Girl, please. As long as I’m working at Hertz, and I can drive any car off the lot when I want, I don’t need to buy a car.”
“So, how was your trip?” Jenna asked Liana from the backseat.
“I didn’t have to smack the shit out of Bridgette, so, I guess it went well.”
“Well?” Reese said. “You’ve been in this car for a whole forty-five seconds, and you haven’t mentioned what Ron left you.”
“Nah, ah,” Jenna said, elbowing Reese in the side. “You ain’t right.”
“Well?” Reese asked, ignoring Jenna.
“He left the house and Sports bar in Bridgette’s care until his daughter turns twenty-one.”
“Oooo, that sheisty motherfucker,” Reese seethed. “How come he didn’t just leave it in your name or his mama’s name until his daughter turned twenty-one? What kind of shit is that? That’s why motherfuckers got his ass.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Jenna asked, visibly upset. “How are you going talk about Ron like that?”
“It’s okay, Jenna, Liana said. “I’ve heard crazier shit fly out of her mouth.”
“Yeah,” Elizabeth chimed in. “We all know Reese done got beat down many a nights by females, because she can’t control what comes out her mouth, or what cums in it.”
Elizabeth, Jenna, and Liana started cracking up, giving each other high fives.
“Ha, ha, very funny,” Reese said, cutting her eyes at all of them. “You don’t have to tell us what he left you. He probably didn’t leave you nothing, but bills.”
“For your information, he left me a whole lot of money.”
“What’s a whole lot?” Reese asked with a tinge of excitement.
“None of your business.”
“Forget you, then,” Reese said, kicking the back of the car seat.
“You need to calm down,” Jenna said.
“You need to stop riding me. You’ve been acting like a real bitch ever since Efran put that seed up in you.”
Liana’s whole body whipped around in the seat. “You’re pregnant, Jenna?”
Jenna cut her eyes at Reese. “Yes, but I wanted to tell you myself when you were a little happier.”
“This is the kind of news I need to hear in order to be a little happier, girl.” She grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “I can’t believe it.”
“Neither can her mother and father,” Reese said.
Liana’s mouth hung open. “What are they saying?”
“They told her to pack her shit, and get the fuck out,” Reese said, answering for her again.
“Will you shut up? Damn,” Liana said.
Jenna placed her hand on her stomach. “They’re bugging right now, but they’ll come around. They just need some time.”
“And who are you staying with meanwhile?”
“Nana,” Reese said, budding in again. “You know she was livid when she heard what Jenna’s parents did. She told Jenna she was staying with her, and that was that.”
“What’s Efran saying?” Liana asked.
“He’s so excited,” Jenna said, perking up. “He can’t wait to drive up this weekend. Nana’s putting together a cookout this weekend to celebrate.”
“I’m so happy for you,” Liana said, cheesing. “Is Efran going to transfer to a college up here or are you moving down south to be closer to him?”
“No, we’re going to stick with the plan. He’s going to complete his degree in December, move back up here, and then we’re going to look for an apartment.”
“I’m so jealous,” Liana said.
“I can’t wait to wear my sky blue satin dress to the cookout,” Reese said, envisioning herself being the center of attention. “Everybody who’s anybody is going to be there. What about you, Elizabeth? What are you wearing?”
“I don’t know yet, but it’s nothing hanging in my closet, that’s for sure. Indio’s coming up from the city, and I haven’t seen him all week. So, you know I have to look tantalizing.”
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