by B. M. Hardin
“Yep.”
“To Kane?”
“Yep.”
I looked at him confused.
But how?
Then I remembered that he’d told me a lie in the past.
“So, you did know about their relationship?”
“Yep.”
Okay, what was going on here?
“Then why did you lie? Why did you even marry her then?”
He sat there for a second and looked at me.
“Because he told me to.”
And with that he stood up and the conversation was pretty much done.
Who told him to?
What the hell did he mean by that?
We didn’t talk about it for the rest of the night but my mind was on it.
Once Drake started having one of his nightmare, instead of waking him up, I sat in listened.
He didn’t say much this time but he was fighting.
His fists were tight and I could tell that whatever he was dreaming about was a battle.
Something was wrong.
Something was very, very wrong.
~***~
I had been asking Drake for days to elaborate on what his comment from the other night had meant, but he said it was the past and none of it mattered.
So basically, Kane and Drake had some kind of relationship that I didn’t know about.
I was no dummy, so I figured that it was more than likely drug related.
Despite what Drake had told me, I was sure that it was.
Sure, it was probably in the past now, but obviously they’d had more dealings than I thought and I could only assume that he had been talking about Kane when he’d said that he told him to marry Naomi.
So how did Naomi get thrown into the mix was the question?
And so what was Kane’s real motive for pursuing me?
I had so many questions.
“None of it matters. It was all a part of business like I’d told you from the very beginning. It’s nothing you need to worry about and its nothing that no longer concerns me.”
“But I feel like you are keeping something from me.”
Dray sighed and rolled his eyes.
I knew he was getting frustrated and tired of me asking him questions but so what.
Had he been completely honest at first, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
He knew he was going to have to tell me something.
“Kane, Naomi and I had some dirty money ties. It was tied up in our businesses. It was tied up with each other. Kane and I did lose touch after killing Mario, but I needed more money to push my company and I made a few moves for him back then. In return I got paid and he referred me to Naomi for some legal financing help. It was all about making everything look as legit as possible. She has a real company; but it’s also dirty. Just like Kane’s and just like mine was at first. Some of my very first clients were drug lords, heads of the cartel, mob power couples and more. All connections of Kane’s and Naomi’s. As far as their past goes, I’m not a hundred percent sure.”
I studied him to see if he was telling the truth.
He looked like he was.
But he gotten so good at lying, hell, you just never know.
“They never told me why they had to go their separate ways, all I know is that they did. He had to marry Jinx. My guess is that it was something to do with money, drugs, connections, or maybe a debt even. I’m not sure. And just before he was about to be locked up, he came to me and asked me to marry Naomi. I asked questions, but he only answered with more and more dollar signs. She was on board and told me that she would help me take my business to the top and get me legal, legit, customers and revenue, combined with what Kane was offering to pay me. And I would never have to be a part of the drug game again. So, I took their offer.”
I looked at him as he caught his breath.
I had so many questions.
Why had Kane divorced Naomi and married Jinx?
Why had he paid Drake to marry his ex-wife?
Was Drake being completely honest with me now?
Why had he hid all of this before?
“Like I said, some things I don’t know. And I didn’t need to know them. I did my part and once Kane was released from prison and whatever was taken care of that involved them, Naomi came home and said that we could proceed with the divorce.”
This was some twisted shit here I tell you!
“I was never in love with her. Sex was of course in the mix, only when she asked me for it. And I wasn’t sure if it was because she wanted to or if it was more so that we knew that we were supposed to do it as a “married couple”. So we did it occasionally. She told Kane, so he knew off gate and even suggested it because he didn’t want her satisfying her needs anywhere else, while he was away or what not.”
It was all just a bit much, and to think that Drake would even agree to something like that was crazy.
I knew he’d said that he’d married her to benefit him and his company, but damn!
“Naomi always knew about you. And I always knew about Kane. We just had to stay together for whatever their plan consisted of. We were more like team mates. Now, I will say that we did care about each other. We were around each other too long not to. That little stunt she pulled, popping up and showing out that day, even threw me for a loop. But she had told me to stay away from you, since you were acting up, until “business” was handled. I guess she was just upset because I hadn’t listened.”
I knew without a shout of a doubt that he was telling the truth about everything he was saying.
It was something about the way that he said it.
But there were still so many unanswered questions.
“So, Jinx didn’t know any of this?”
“No. Not from my understanding. Like I said, I believe he used her or she was some type of cover up or something. Maybe she had some kind of access to something or someone. I’m just not sure. Whatever it was, he had to keep her around until he could figure it all out. And as for you. I don’t know why he pursued you. He knew that you were mine. He knew that I loved you, because Naomi knew and she told him everything. So that part was on some foul shit, and I didn’t appreciate it. He had no right because I had only done what he’d paid me to do. No more. No less.”
Wow.
That was all I could say.
Drake had said a mouth full and to be honest, I didn’t like the way that it made me feel.
I should have known it was more to their little story.
I should have known.
“Am I safe?”
“What? Of course. Why wouldn’t you be? I’ll do anything to keep you safe.”
I believed him.
But the question was should I trust him.
The fact of the matter is I trusted him more than I trusted myself but with the conversation that we’d just had, I figured that maybe I trusted him too much.
Maybe I didn’t ask enough questions.
Maybe I didn’t require enough answers.
But those days were over.
I wasn’t sure what all he was tied up in or had been tied up in but I was going to be all over his ass.
For the most part, I knew that he had just laid everything out on the table, but I was watching him.
“Don’t let nothing happen to us Dray.”
“Never Moet. Never.”
That was all he said and the conversation was over.
************************
Chapter NINE
I was sitting at the hair salon when I noticed the television.
“Turn it up please.”
-Today was a horrible day for innocent bystanders as they watched two women gun each other down, as well as shooting and killing a mother of four in the process. A few witnesses stated that they heard the women bickering only moments before. Some said that it was believed to be over love or an affair referring to hearing the phrase “She wanted what I had. He was my husband.” Sadly, both women came p
repared for what was soon to be the outcome. Witness say that they both pulled out their weapons and started to fire. Both of the shooters and the innocent mother looking on was hit multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene.
I opened my mouth wide as the single mother’s photo came across the screen, followed by Vicki’s and Jinx’s.
They were dead.
They were both dead.
“I don’t know what happened. The shooting just came out of nowhere. I was right behind the one of the women and I hit the ground. It sounded like they were arguing about one of them stealing the other’s one man. Just another sad case of a side chick, catching main chick feelings, I guess.”
The woman on the TV said, but she couldn’t have been more wrong.
Vicki was mad because I was sure that she believed me when I said that I thought Jinx had something to do with her sister’s death, and that she maybe had it covered up.
I was sure that Naomi had mentioned to her sister that Jinx hadn’t let her talk to or see Kane, so it didn’t seem too farfetched.
Jinx probably simply carried her gun with her everywhere that she went, and especially since I’d put a little bug in her ear.
I was sure that Vicki was probably the one to approach her and since I’d told Jinx that I’d heard her scheming on her at the funeral, I was sure that she was ready just in case Vicki tried something.
No witness could say who actually reached for their guns first, but I was sure that the conversation got heated and they both just went for it.
This wasn’t exactly my plan entirely, but it would do.
I knew that Vicki was darn near crazy and I knew that with Jinx’s smart mouth, if Vicki approached her, Jinx was going to spit fire in her direction.
She had never been a great fighter but Jinx had always had a mouth on her and I knew that it would result in trouble for her.
It resulted in trouble for both of them.
My plan had worked.
A lot more than I’d planned it to.
I was hoping that maybe one shot the other and the other ended up in prison.
I was hoping that Jinx actually shot Vicki.
I didn’t know that Vicki even had a gun but considering Jinx’s previous background, I knew that she wasn’t supposed to be in possession of a firearm.
But I knew that she had it from her pulling it out on me that day.
I thought maybe they would get into a dispute, maybe Jinx would have shot and killed Vicki, and then she would be headed back to prison.
Even if it had been self-defense or some other crazy reason, because she had the gun, I knew she would have still gotten some kind of time for the crime.
Vicki dead.
Jinx gone back to prison.
Two birds with one stone.
Or Vicki could have killed Jinx and she could have gone to prison.
Either way.
But they both ended up dead.
I guess that worked too.
I didn’t feel bad for either of them.
Not one bit.
I didn’t want Drake to kill Vicki, but I knew that she still had to go.
That was the only way for Lee Lee to get her life back.
It was the only way.
Death or prison for a long time were the only two options.
And as for Jinx, I truly felt that she had some responsibility with my attack and even if she didn’t, she was the only one that it made sense to use against Vicki.
She was the only one that Vicki would have believed might have wanted her sister dead and out of the way.
So I had to do what I had to do.
And I didn’t exactly feel bad about it.
The only one that had my sympathy was the mother of four who now was gone and her kids were without a mother.
I felt terrible about that part but she just had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Maybe I would donate money to help with her funeral or something.
Without even allowing the woman to finish my hair, I grabbed my purse and headed to tell Lee Lee that Vicki was dead and that she was free.
Everybody was out of the picture now.
And even though Kane wasn’t dead, he was out of his mind, so there were no problems for any of us and everyone that I loved was free.
And boy did it feel good to be free!
~***~
“Kane Ruiz room please?”
The nurse looked at the chart.
“He checked himself out a while ago.”
I looked at her.
“How is that? He lost his memory right?”
She shrugged.
“All I can tell you is that he left voluntarily.”
I nodded at her and headed out of the hospital.
Though I knew that I probably shouldn’t, once I was inside the car, I called Kane’s phone but the number that I had for him was disconnected.
My purpose for going to see him was to simply see what he remembered.
Even though Drake had told me not to, I figured that maybe he could answer some of my unanswered questions and maybe he did remember some things that might give me some closure on a few things that I needed to know.
I still wasn’t fond of him, but hell he didn’t remember what he’d done to me, so holding him to it was pointless.
But I just wanted to see.
And besides, someone needed to tell him that his baby mama and his wife were dead; or was it his wife and his ex-wife?
See, I needed some answers.
I was confused.
I called Drake next to see if he was going to be home anytime soon and then I headed over to Lee Lee’s.
It was so good to have my sister back.
She knew that I had something to do with it all; with what happened to Jinx and Vicki, but she didn’t bother asking.
She didn’t even care.
She was just happy to have her life back.
We told the police and the rest of the family that she was back and she now had to find a new job and a few other things, but she could start back living a normal life.
“Is that whole one man things still in full effect I said,” smiling as I took Krissie out of her arms.
“Absolutely. I’m thinking about getting saved. I need to change my life. I could have died.”
Wow.
I thought she would have reneged on her words by now but for right now, she was sticking to what she had said down in the basement.
“Maybe you should ask for some forgiveness too. You didn’t pull the triggers, but it was just as bad.”
See, I knew she knew I had something to do with it.
I’d never told her what my plan was, but she wasn’t stupid.
She definitely made me feel guilty and silently I did just as she’d said.
Hopefully everything in my life would be better from now on and I wouldn’t have to do anything like that again.
Drake seemed to be happier these days.
He was still having this sudden nightmares, but not as much.
The only thing was that his phone still ringed, a lot; and he still rarely answered it.
For a while it had stopped and I thought maybe it had been Naomi all along, but it was still always ringing.
But I never mentioned it to him again.
Krissie had gotten so use to me that she was starting to call me mommy.
She would hug and kiss me and tell me that she loved me.
Finally all seemed to be going in the right direction.
“Well, you know Velvet has her wedding plans back on since you are home, so we have a dress fitting coming up. And I want you to go with me to pick out a few decorations for it.”
Lee Lee nodded and we continued to enjoy each other’s company until Drake called and said that he was on his way home.
Krissie and I headed out and Lee Lee closed the door behind us.
After getting her situated, I headed to get into the car, but something told me to look back.
There he was.
Kane.
Sitting behind the wheel of a car that I didn’t recognize.
He stared at me even when he noticed that I was looking at him.
He looked from me, to Krissie, and then at Lee Lee’s house.
He was staring at me as though he didn’t remember me, or maybe it was that he was trying to figure out what he did remember about me.
But even I could see that he wasn’t himself.
After another minute or so, he rolled up his car window and then he drove off.
I jumped into the car and locked the doors.
Uh oh, here we go with his ass again.
Ugh!
~***~
Time was moving faster than ever.
Seasons were changing and everything was great.
It was time for Krissie’s second birthday and I wanted to throw her one heck of a birthday bash.
She probably wouldn’t remember it, but it was a reason to use my decorating skills.
And then the weekend after that was my little sister Velvet’s wedding, and I was in charge of not only the church set up but also the bachelorette party.
“Do you think you could go get her brother this weekend?”
The little boy was still with Kane’s family; when he wasn’t with Naomi’s God parents and other relatives.
I didn’t keep up with him, but Drake made it his business to find the little boy and bring him to see Krissie from time to time.
“Yeah, I’ll see what I can do.”
“So did you really have to find Kane’s family, or considering that you and Kane dealt with each other more than you’d said, did they know you pretty well already?”
“Well enough.”
I left the conversation where it was.
At least if I asked something he was being honest.
It was in the past so I wouldn’t get mad, but I wanted to know everything.
Speaking of Kane, I hadn’t seen him since that day outside of Lee Lee’s house.
I wondered if he’d somehow spotted me and followed me there.
I hadn’t had any strange calls or issues or anything like that so I figured that he was probably going to leave me alone.
Good.
Drake said that his family still hadn’t seen him or heard from him, nor had he been to see his son, not even once.
Yes, I went ahead and told him that I’d gone to the hospital but I’d said that it was just to tell him about Jinx because I felt like he had a right to know.