“No!” She yelled, her face wet with tears. “She looks just like you!”
“Is that your only fucking defense! Your only proof!” Chauncey was now crying at the recent revelation, this was the worst. “Aw man, don’t tell me this, man! What the fuck! Not my Bri!” He was pacing the floor, gun in his hand. “Not my fucking baby! Argghhhhhh, I hate you bitch!” He charged at Sasha and she cowered lower to the ground.
“She’s yours! She’s yours, I swear!”
“How the fuck do you know? Did you fuck him that summer? Did you!”
Sasha cried hard and dropped her face in her hands. She was so young then. You make mistakes when you’re young. Chauncey had broken up with her for those couple of weeks for no reason. She had visited Atlanta and Bleek was looking good, he was getting money with Jayde, he was showing her attention. She needed that.
But Aubrey was Chauncey’s spitting image. Sasha may have questioned it when she first got pregnant, but her and Chauncey were good by then, he had proposed, things were looking up. Even though Bleek had his doubts he let her ride with her insistence that it was Chauncey’s. By the time all that stuff happened with Neli and Kim died, Sasha felt in her heart it was Chauncey’s. She considered an abortion though. But when she met Mike she figured it didn’t matter anyway. She had a new family.
“Sasha…” Chauncey started, more calm than he’d been that whole evening. She looked up at him and saw his tears falling. She felt terrible. “Sasha, did you fuck him when you got pregnant with Aubrey? Please tell me you didn’t.”
Sasha sniffled, her lip trembling something awful. She looked up at Chauncey and shook her head from side to side.
“She…she looks just like you, Chauncey!”
Chauncey knew that meant yes. He lifted the gun to her, ready to kill the source of all of his pain, but he couldn’t pull the trigger. Look at her face.
“Freeze! Drop the fucking gun!”
Police stormed in the house, weapons raised and pointed at Chauncey ready to fire on his black ass.
“Drop the fucking gun, motherfucker!”
Chauncey held unflinching eye contact with Sasha and her world crumbled. They were at a point of no return.
“I’m so sorry, Chauncey! Oh god, please don’t take him! Don’t take him!”
Chauncey never took his eyes off of her, even when he slowly lowered the gun to the ground and stood back up.
Fuck it, he figured. Just fuck it.
“Hands on your fucking head, now!” The officers yelled.
“Please!” Sasha screamed out, standing abruptly. Bleek’s blood was completely covering her. “Oh god! Chauncey… I swear. I swear we’ll fix this baby!”
Chauncey continued to just stare at her, wondering if they were always destined for disaster. Maybe they were never meant to be. But they were drawn to each other.
“You’re under arrest. You have to right to remain silent…anything you say or do can be and will be held against you in the court of law…you have the right to an attorney….”
Sasha ran up to him.
“No please! Take those cuffs off! Take ‘em off! Don’t leave me Chauncey! We can work it out! I forgave you, just forgive me babe…”
“Step back, ma’am!” The officers yelled and noticed the bruises on her. She was most definitely next on the list of dead bodies, at least they figured so. Sasha knew in her heart Chauncey could never kill her though.
As they cuffed Chauncey’s hands behind his back, Aubrey emerged down the steps holding the cordless phone to her small face.
“Yes, they’re here now,” she spoke and Sasha’s heart fell, knowing she had called 911 like Sasha had taught her a while ago. Most likely when she heard the gun shot.
“No,” Aubrey cried looking up at the sight of Chauncey being led away in handcuffs. “Daddy! Daddy! I thought somebody shot my daddy! Don’t take my daddy!”
Chauncey looked at the little girl he always called his own and knew he’d never see her again. He was going to jail forever and even if he wasn’t, their family was over. He looked down at Bleek and then spoke to Aubrey.
“Somebody did shoot your daddy, Bri-Bri.” With that he shot one final look at Sasha.
Sasha shook her head in disbelief as Chauncey and the officers moved through the door. And as they were just about to walk through the doorway, she called out to him.
“Chauncey!”
He turned his head although the cops had his body facing forward, and Sasha mouthed the words that he had once mouthed to her as he was being sent ironically to a jail cell years ago.
‘You still love me?’
Chauncey stared at her long and hard and just as the officers pushed him and ordered him to keep it moving, his mouth moved and she read his lips… ‘No.’
And then he was gone. And then they were over.
“If you ever do anything to my brother, I would never forgive you. Never.” – Tatum, Thicker than Water
-14-
“You can stay here as long as you want, dear. And you know that.”
Tatum sniffled, dipping her green tea bag in the hot water repeatedly and thinking hard.
“Thank you, Mrs. Seals,” she replied, a bit delayed. She was at Sasha’s mother’s home, the one place that she knew Ree could and probably would not find. Not right away anyway. She had been calling Sasha since she arrived to Jersey, thinking maybe she could fly up, but she hadn’t received a response yet.
“Tatum please…none of that Mrs. Seals here. You call me Terri…or you can’t stay,” she joked. Tatum laughed with her as Terri took a seat on the couch opposite of Tatum, her own cup of tea in hand.
It was in these wee hours of morning, the latest hours of night…3:36 a.m. to be exact. This was when Tatum could see the true Terri, the one who was awakened out of her sleep so she sported not a stitch of makeup yet her skin glowed like warm honey. The one who donned a silk pajama set instead of a Chanel suit. And the one who was smiling more, laughing, joking, quite the opposite of what Sasha always complained about. Tatum wondered if Sasha ever saw her mother like this. She was always deeming her so frigid. The thought made Tatum crack a smile.
“You look like your mother when you smile,” Terri told her. That made Tatum smile even more. Terri had met Tatum’s parents a couple of times when the girls were younger, before the crash obviously. She remembered how close Tatum was to them.
“Your mother always knew you’d turn out great Tatum…She’d be really proud of you.” Tatum wondered if that was true. Married to a gangster? Would that make her parents proud? Something inside of her told her they would have been anyway.
“But Chris…,” Terri started shaking her head and it made Tatum tense. “Your mother always said he couldn’t avoid trouble. He was destined for it…God rest his soul.”
Tatum pressed her lips together and chose her next words carefully.
“Mrs. Se-” She looked at Sasha’s mother and smiled. “Terri. I know…well I think I know what you’re getting at. And yes, Chris…I can’t make excuses for him. He did some dumb things. But he… he didn’t deserve to die. And it shouldn’t have been my husband to kill him, you know what I mean?”
Terri sipped her tea slowly and nodded at Tatum. Tatum had filled her in openly on everything that had happened. Unbeknownst to Tatum, she could relate more than anyone could imagine.
“Tatum baby, I want you to do me a favor, okay? I want you to think about Chris. Not in the way you think about him usually, you know…growing up together, birthdays, and brotherly talks and seeing him in diapers, those things. I want you to think of the type of life he led in those streets. The things he did out there because he was a different Chris than you knew. Tatum, those streets are not a joke. They are not a movie, and when you’re out there it’s a whole different ball game and new rules. Do you honestly think that the way Chris was living his life and the decisions he made in those streets wouldn’t have led him to his grave sooner or later? Or better yet, think about this. If Respect would have don
e what he did to anyone else besides your brother, because of what they did to him, would you still think it was wrong? Tatum these streets have a code. And in order to survive in them, you have to live by the code.”
By the time Terri finished Tatum was back in tears and angry. She did not agree and no matter what, she could not justify what Ree had done.
“So what? Ree had to honor the code? Snitches get stiches? Rats gotta die? Ms. Terri with all due respect, I think Ree would have survived just fine without killing my brother. That was my brother!”
“And that is your husband, young lady! And your brother tried to put your husband in jail for a very, very long time! And how could he ever rest letting him walk the streets? Tatum, the type of man Ree is. The type of person he was bred to become…you don’t understand. Baby these streets birthed, raised, and sculpted him. He doesn’t even think like normal people. And the moment you said ‘til death do us part, you accepted that about him. I know what kind of man he is because I know what kind of people created him.” She thought of Mickel. “He could not survive letting your brother live. And I don’t know how you ever expected him to. Honey, I always thought you were more street smart than that. You should have been put this together. Now I’d expect that from Sasha,” she smirked.
Tatum chuckled in disbelief. She half expected for Ree to pop out from behind Terri holding onto her strings like she was his puppet.
“Ms. Terri, I asked him. I begged him not to…”
“And he said okay. And just like that he wasn’t going to touch him. Forget his reputation, forget his freedom, risk going to jail forever because you asked him to….Okay.” Terri nodded sarcastically and Tatum sipped her tea, getting pissed.
“Baby this is no Teri Woods fable. You are not living the real life Hustler’s Wife story.”
“Ms. Terri how do you know those books,” Tatum had to laugh, her tears still falling.
“I’m serious!” Terri exclaimed. “Young lady, marrying a man like Ree comes with a price tag. And not a lot of women can afford it. But if you love him, and I think you do. You have to think about if you really want to spend your life without him for something you can’t change.”
Tatum sighed, taking in an abundance of air and shaking her head no. Her mind and body was rejecting the notion before she even gave it thought. They were saying no, you cannot be with your brother’s killer. But her soul. Ree was all up and through her soul.
“I don’t know, Ms. Terri. We have been through too much. Too fast.”
“This to me is even more of a reason to hang on to each other…” She let that marinate for a moment. “But I won’t pressure you. Honey, you have got to make that decision for yourself. Just make the right one.” Terri’s thought faded out to the choices she herself had made. For no reason did she want Tatum to end up like her. Her thoughts were broken by Tatum chuckling and posing her next question.
“No offense, Ms. Terri…” Tatum couldn’t do the ‘Terri’ thing; she had too much respect for her elders, so Ms. Terri would have to do. “But seriously…you are the last person I’d expect to be lecturing me on the code of the streets. And do you understand my pain, though? Like he betrayed me. Looked in my face everyday knowing he hid this secret from me.”
Terri nodded.
“Oh yes. And that was wrong. And there is nothing like when a man you love with everything in you betrays you and breaks your heart. Only defense I can offer is that he probably loved you too much…and he didn’t want to risk losing you. Not when he had gotten you back in his life after the first time you guys parted. Nothing’s sweeter than a second chance, Tatum. And you never want to ruin that.” Her own words really made her think of Mickel then. “And trust me, I know more than you think I know.” Terri took another sip and grinned over her cup.
Tatum laughed but then realized she was being a tad loud.
“Oh my god, I’m sorry! I don’t want to wake Mr. Seals.”
Terri’s face transformed from a smile to one of a solemn look and then she raised her eyebrows slightly.
“Tatum, Bill’s not here. He’s moved out. He has an apartment over in Highland Park and he’s purchasing a new house.”
Tatum was shocked, stunned, she needed to make sure she understood. Sasha’s parents were the black American dream, the Huxtables, the Obamas. Sasha would surely be devastated.
“He’s moving alone?”
“Mmm hmm,” Terri nodded, seeming to not be too affected.
“Did he cheat?” Tatum asked in shock, sure that was the case. Of course he cheated, successful, attractive black man. That’s what happened, probably with a white woman, Tatum assumed.
Terri laughed, so much so she had to cover her mouth to prevent her tea from spilling out. After a pause and a clearing of her throat, she spoke.
“No…no, my dear. He didn’t cheat.” She placed her cup down on the table and looked at Tatum, as if debating something. And then she nodded affirming to herself.
“Tatum, I’m going to tell you a story.”
Tatum put her own cup down and leaned forward, resting her head on her folded hands. She was intrigued and finally someone else’s drama to take her mind off of her own.
“I’m going to start with Jayde.”
“Jayde?” Tatum questioned harshly. Did Jayde fuck Mr. Seals? I wouldn’t put it past her.
“Yes Jayde,” Terri confirmed. She sat back and sighed.
“You told me you overheard Jayde say that Ree killed your brother, correct?”
“I said that she said he was responsible.” Tatum remembered, because she remembered feeling like that didn’t give her enough clarity. She wanted to know if he pulled the trigger.
“Did she know you were there?”
“I mean…she knew I was outside.”
“But she knew you were home?”
“I was…I was quiet when I heard their voices. I doubt she knew-”
Terri laughed, cutting her off.
“Tatum please. Do me a favor? Don’t ever doubt that woman.”
Tatum swallowed hard and looked down and then looked back to her.
“It doesn’t matter though. She didn’t make him do it. He did it.” Terri stared at her for a while and then started on a different angle.
“Baby, Respect is close with a man…was close with a man…Mickel Dupree…”
“I know Mickel,” Tatum stated quickly and then realized she’d said a mouthful. Ree told her how important it was to act as if Mickel were dead. “I mean…”
Terri took a deep breath.
“Okay! Now that that’s out of the way, we both know he is alive. But please Tatum, don’t ever say that again.”
Tatum nodded and wondered why Terri cared so much about keeping Mickel’s status.
“Anyway,” she started again. “Let me tell you from the beginning. When I was a young girl…in Atlanta, I used to go out with my girlfriends every Thursday up to the skating rink. I mean, it was all the way live,” she laughed and Tatum laughed too. “Anybody who was anybody was there. Local basketball stars, street guys, local celebs, everyone. And there was always this group of guys that would come… right before closing time. They’d come in, they’d throw their money around, they’d take women, and they’d leave in their fancy cars. Everyone knew they were dope dealers, most didn’t care. They were it. The ringleader…the head honcho…none other than Mr. Mickel Dupree himself. Everyone knew who he was.” Terri smiled thinking back to it. “He had eyes for me, I mean badly. And if you think I’m something now, honey please, I was a brick house. I had a 24 inch waist, sweet hips, lips, and fingertips. I still had my hazel eyes and a perfect Farrah Fawcett hairdo.” Tatum laughed at that.
“But I was something, the most wanted of the bunch. I hardly paid him mind, but my friend Emerald, boy was she head over heels for him. She’d always say, ‘Terri, I’m gon’ have his baby if it kills me!’ See Mickel had wavy hair, he had clear island skin and those eyes. The prettiest teeth. And he could sweet talk any
southern girl right out of her underwear. But he didn’t seem to be checking for her. He pursued me and pursued me and I fell eventually.” This shocked Tatum, now her ears were fully perked.
“I asked Emerald if it was okay. She said it was fine, she was over Mickel. He was a dog. So we began courting. He took me everywhere, to California, New York City, Vegas. We saw boxing matches and sat with celebrities, he bought me chinchilla furs, draped me in diamonds, I always say he’s the one that set the groundwork for the standards I live by now. He spoiled me so. And he loved to show me off. We had an apartment over in Macon, Georgia and we’d have these crazy parties and he’d just watch me dance all night and he’d smile. And he’d tell all of his friends that I was his Terri. I was his star. And I’d be going with my white bell bottoms, halter top, and my Farrah Fawcett and we’d laugh and this may shock you, but we’d do a few lines because back then it was different …and I mean we were just crazy in love. So in love! I was so wrapped up in Mickel I didn’t know what was happening in town anymore. Well, word got back to me that Emerald had birthed a baby, a girl, and that she was claiming it to be Mickel’s and I just died. Apparently she claimed they were together but I later found out she had been one of the women he’d picked up after the skating rink closed one night, one of those nights before we got together and I had turned him down. People were saying she was sleeping around and they didn’t think it was even Mickel’s baby. Anyway, my heart was broken, it didn’t matter. I left Mickel, as hard as it was. After I left, I started hearing that he always had the little girl with him, he adored her. She had pretty green eyes like her mother. I just figured and knew he had to be a family with Emerald now.” Terri sipped her tea.
TTW 3 ( Thicker Than Water 3 ) Page 28