Love, Lies, and Obsessions

by Demettrea

  Harlem

  When I came home, Mia’s car was in the garage. That made me smile. I hoped that she was ready to resolve our issues because I was tired of going through the drama with her. When I walked in Mia was lying across the couch asleep. I kicked off my shoes, climbed behind her, and pulled her close. This was what I missed the most. No words needed to be said as we lay in each other’s arms.

  Mia

  I laid in his arms while he rubbed my swollen belly and I loved it. It was well after ten when I woke up. I looked at Harlem lying there looking so peaceful. God I love this man. I got up to go to the bathroom without waking him. It was like the farther I got in this damn pregnancy the more frequently I had to urinate. It was becoming annoying and I couldn't wait to have this baby. I tell you one thing; I'm not having no more.

  After I used the bathroom, I went to our bedroom to put on some pajamas and found Harlem had come upstairs. He was lying across the bed.

  "Come here Ma." I did as he asked. He pulled me down on the bed with him. "I love you and I would never cheat on you. I know what you went through with ol' dude so I would never take you through that. Next time you have a problem with our relationship talk to me. I can't fix it if I don't know what's wrong." He was right. I had reacted to something a broad told me without asking him about it.

  "I know and from now on I'm gonna trust you. You haven't given me a reason not to trust you. I love Bae."

  "I love you too Ma."

  Chapter 9

  Larceny in ya Heart

  Harlem

  Tonight was the grand opening of Club XO and as much as I wanted Mia by my side she was too close to her due date. In addition, she wasn’t feeling very well. I decided to just go ahead with Tez. I assured Mia that I wouldn't be out all night. I called Dominick to sit with her in case she went into labor.

  When we got to the club there was a nice crowd. I was happy about that. "Well let’s get in here and get this party started,” I told Tez. Tonight we had an open bar to help draw in our potential customers. I was very proud of my new accomplishment. The club was right in the heart of downtown Detroit not too far from the Greek Town Casino and it was sure to bring in money.

  I was sitting in VIP with Tez and the rest of the crew enjoying the view when Vanessa walked up. I made a mental note to check my security. I specifically said that she wasn’t allowed in my establishment.

  "What the fuck you doing here," I asked her.

  "Well damn I came to congratulate you. Why you acting like I meant nothing to you," she asked.

  "Look Vanessa, I'm in a pretty good mood so I'm going to be nice and ask you to leave. Please don’t make me get security to put you out cause I will. You already know how I roll." She stood there for a minute as if she didn’t understand what I was saying.

  "Beat ya feet bitch!" Leave it to Jas. I was rolling because she was serious as hell. But Vanessa got the point. She hauled ass. She knew not to fuck with Jas.

  "Damn Jas, you mean as fuck home," Tez said while laughing.

  "I’m not, but he told the bitch to go on. She was obviously hard of hearing." We were all cracking up and having a good time. The turnout was nice and I was proud of what we had accomplished. Not many can say that they escaped the streets alive with no prison record; Tez and I could. I was ready to marry my girl and raise a family. Life was good.

  Tez

  This was the life. We were popping bottles and throwing bills around. I no longer had to risk my life thanks to my bruh Harlem. He made sure a nigga ate; for that, I'm forever grateful. Me and Harlem have been cool since I was a little nigga on the streets nickel and diming. He took me off the street and showed me how to make real money. Fast forward five years later and we got a club and two barbershops.

  I was officially out of the game I had a new chick Yvette, who I was digging the hell out of. I could actually see this thing going somewhere.

  I looked out and saw that Harlem was about to bust somebodies ass. I hopped up quickly. I had to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand.

  "Yo, we got a problem," I asked with my hand on my burner.

  "Naw, we don't have a problem. I was just leaving." I knew this nigga was going to be a problem later on. I could tell from the look in his eyes. We walked away back to VIP.

  "Yo, watch that nigga. I can just about bet he not gonna leave it alone. What the hell was that about anyway," I asked Harlem.

  "That pussy been had beef cause he couldn't bring his burner in. I told his ass if he didn’t like it then he could go elsewhere."

  "Well I ain't worried. We got too many soldiers in here to be caught slipping. Let’s enjoy the rest of the night."

  "Naw man I'm about to check out something in my office and then I'm headed home to wifey."

  "Aight yo, I'll check you later." We gave each other a fist pound and he headed off.

  I was chilling with Yvette when my phone went off. I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Mia.

  "What's up baby sis?"

  “Tez where is Harlem?" She sounded like she was in pain. That shit made me sober up real fast. "He went up to the office. You good sis?"

  "My water broke and I'm having contractions. Can you go get him?"

  "Hold on Sis." I jumped up and headed upstairs to Harlem's office with Jasmine and Yvette both following close behind.

  I pushed the up button on the elevator and it couldn’t come fast enough. Once we finally reached Harlem's office, he was already gone.

  "Sis he’s already on the way. Just calm down and breathe. I’m going to pass the phone to Jas. Stay on the phone with her till Harlem gets there. I have to go leave instructions with one of the team." I passed the phone to Jas, even though I knew Mia didn’t want to talk to her. She had this notion that Jas and Harlem had slept together or wanted too.

  "Keep her calm till Harlem gets there Jas." She grabbed the phone and began talking to Mia. I went to tie up some loose ends so we could meet them at the hospital.

  Mia

  “Oh shit! That hurt. Please hurry up Harlem cause this shit hurts,” I yelled out. I was bent over trying to catch my breath. Had someone told me the pain would be like this; I would have thought twice about having a baby.

  A few minutes later Jasmine got on the phone. I did not need this shit right now. Why the hell Tez would put this chick on the phone was beyond me. He knew damn well I didn’t like her.

  “Ma try to take it easy. Harlem is on the way.

  Harlem was leaving out the club never noticing the person following him. He never even had a chance. Gunshots rang out and all Harlem thought about was Mia raising their daughter alone. The pain was so intense that he could do nothing but close his eyes.

  Tez

  After making sure everything was cool I found Jas and Yvette and we headed out. I didn’t know what all the chaos outside the club was about but there was a crowd of people gathered near the front door. The security team was trying to get them to disperse.

  "What the hell is going on," I asked one of them. Somebody got shot. The ambulance is on the way."

  "What the fuck! You didn’t feel the need to inform me about this shit?” I pushed his ass to the side and made my way through the crowd. My heart broke in two when I saw my bruh laying there in a puddle of his own blood.

  "Get the fuck out my way!" I bent down near Harlem. "Hold on bruh. Stay with me we gonna get you to the hospital." He wasn't responding and the ambulance was taking forever.

  "Man come on don’t do this shit bruh. Your little girl is on her way into the world." Just then, something happened. I shed a tear and I hadn't cried since the day my mom sold me to a dealer to pay her drug debt. This was my family laying here fighting for his life. What the hell was I going to tell Mia? The sirens brought me out of my thoughts.

  "Sir we need you to move so that we can work on him." I didn't hear shit. I was like a zombie. They had to pull me off of him.

  "He has a pulse," I heard one of them say. Then they worked to load
him on the stretcher. I ran to my car to follow them.

  "Once I was following behind them I remembered Mia was in labor. "Fuck!" I called Yvette. "Vette, I need you and Jas to get Mia to the hospital ASAP. Stay with her and wait for me to call you." I hung up without waiting for a response.

  I had been in the waiting room for well over an hour. I had called Harlem's mom and she was devastated. After waiting another thirty minutes, the doctor finally came to the waiting room to speak with us.

  “Family of Harlem Williams?” We rushed over to him. “How is my son?” Mama Rose asked. “He’s stable for now but it was touch and go. We were able to remove the bullet that was lodged near his spine. Had it been a few more inches to the left it could have caused paralysis; however, he is in a coma. The next twenty-four hours are very crucial. It all depends on how much of a fighter your son is.”

  “Can we see him,” she asked. “Unfortunately due to the extent of his injuries he’s in the ICU. Depending on how he does throughout the night he’ll be moved and then he'd be able to have visitors.” I tried to comfort Mama Rose. Harlem was her only son and to hear that there was a fifty-fifty chance she could lose him tore her apart.

  Jasmine

  When we got to Mia’s house we found her crouched over. “I’m here Mama. Let’s get you to the hospital. Why this boy Dominick didn’t just take you is beyond me!” Dominick rolled his eyes at me and said, “I ain’t never been pregnant, how the hell am I supposed to know when it’s time to go!”

  “Where is Harlem,” she asked me. I felt bad because I didn’t have an answer for her. “I honestly don’t know, but I’m sure he’ll be there when you have the baby. Let’s go.” I helped Mia out to the car where Yvette was waiting and we made our way to Oakwood Hospital.

  Yvette jumped on Southfield freeway and was doing at least 90. Our mission was to make it to the hospital before that damn baby came out. I don't know where the hell Harlem's ass was but I was going to kill him. He should have been here taking her to the hospital.

  Fifteen minutes later, we finally made it. Yvette pulled up at the front door of the Labor and Delivery unit. The security guard must have seen us because he wheeled out a wheelchair for her.

  Once she was checked in, we found out that Mia was dilated to nine centimeters and her contractions were a minute apart. They prepped her immediately for delivery. Yvette and I stood there with her holding her hand. I felt so bad for her having to go through this without Harlem.

  Mia

  Once I was in the delivery room, I was ready to push; but I couldn’t help but wonder where Harlem was. He said he’d be here but here I was getting ready to give birth to our child and he wasn’t here to see it.

  “Jasmine, where’s Harlem,” I asked as another contraction hit. “Let’s just focus on getting that baby here safely and then we’ll find Harlem,” she tried to soothe me. I cried out because of the pain but also because Harlem wasn’t there. We shared a bond so strong that I knew something was wrong. Harlem wouldn’t just not show up.

  Jasmine

  One hour later Mia welcomed a beautiful 7lb 8ounce baby girl into the world. She should have been happy but she wasn’t. There was still no word from Harlem and she didn’t understand why. Her mom and I tried to comfort her the best way we knew how but all she wanted was for Harlem to walk in. We had tried numerous times to contact Harlem but he never answered.

  I’m going to go see if I can get in touch with Tez since Harlem’s not answering. I’ll be right back.” I left the room to go call Tez.

  “Yeah,” he answered.

  “Tez what the hell is going on cause Mia wants answers?” I heard him sigh and I knew it wasn’t good.

  “Harlem was shot and they don’t know if he’s going to make it. Please don’t tell Mia yet until we know more.”

  “What the hell am I supposed to tell her? She’s already thinking the worst because he didn’t show up for the birth of their baby.”

  “I dunno Jas, think of something just don’t tell her yet.”

  “Fine.”

  “I’ll call you when I find out something.”

  I hung the phone and prepared myself to face Mia. I hated lying to her but she had enough to deal with. She had just given birth.

  Chapter 10

  Everything to Me

  Mia

  I was devastated when I finally found out about Harlem. It had been two days since he was shot and I had given birth. I was being released from the hospital and wanted to go see Harlem. Tez didn’t think it was a good idea, but I wouldn’t take no for an answer. After dropping Harley off to Mama Rose I had Tez drive me to see him.

  When I walked in the room and saw him hooked to all the different machines I broke down. He wasn’t supposed to be here. He should have been taking me home with our baby girl. The tears began to fall. I was tired of crying. It seemed like every time things started to get better something always happened. I was worn out mentally and physically. I didn’t know how much more I could take before I had a mental breakdown.

  “You alright sis,” Tez asked me.

  “Yeah. Can I just have a minute with him?’

  “Sure.” Tez left so that I could have some privacy. I pushed a chair over to his bedside and sat down. I took his hand in mine and I cried. I cried for him. I cried for my daughter. I cried and cursed God. Why would he let this happen to such a good person? I didn’t know if he’d ever wake up but I prayed he did. Yeah I know you're probably thinking how am I praying when I just cursed God. I believed in God but I was real emotional right then. I know they say all things happen for a reason but I refuse to believe this was it for Harlem. Our life together was just beginning. He was everything to me and I didn’t want to live without him. I didn’t want my daughter growing up without her father.

  I had been sitting there for about thirty minutes when I started plotting revenge. Whoever had did this was about to feel the wrath of Mia. I was tired of muthafuckas playing with me. They had just brought out a side of me that nobody knew about. Everybody thought that I was sweet Mia. I’m a ruthless bitch when needed. Trust. I was ready to inflict pain on anybody that had hurt me in any type of way. Guess who was at the top of the list? Yes, you guessed right, Raymone and Milan.

  Mia

  It had been two months since the incident and Harlem had not woken up yet. I was doing better with the situation. Hell, I had to be strong for my daughter and Mama Rose. I had a few plans in motion too. Tez wouldn’t tell me but I had found out who tried to kill Harlem. It was some dude name Rico. He was sent by Balou who was trying to take over Harlem’s blocks. Only thing was, Harlem was no longer in the streets so he didn’t give a shit about those blocks. It was cool though because their time was just about up.

  Tez

  I had gotten word back about who shot Harlem. I was pissed when I found out who it was. It all made sense now. Jealousy. What I couldn’t understand was why? Harlem made sure everybody ate. I knew one thing though, this situation had to be handled before Harlem was released from the hospital. I had to make sure Harlem, Mia and Harley were protected. No one was allowed to visit him except Mia and Mama Rose. Ava had twenty–four hour security posted at the door at all times and with Mia and the baby. We couldn’t chance anything. It was bad enough that they gotten past his security at the club. It would not happen again.

  Mia was getting sick and tired of the security escorts. She said it felt as if she didn’t have a life anymore. She couldn’t go anywhere without them being there. She complained that she’d had enough so we had them back up a little. They were still there but she didn’t know it. Harlem would never forgive us if something happened to his girl or his baby.

  Chapter 11

  Real Gangsters Move in Silence

  Mia

  It was Friday and I was headed to Club Climax to look for Rico. I heard that was where he frequented. I dressed in a sexy black dress by Marc Jacobs. When I say it left nothing to the imagination believe me niggas was gonna be salivatin
g! I was on a mission and I wasn’t leaving until it was completed. I had visited Laila’s earlier and got a wash and curl. I added a little M.A.C. lipgloss and I was good to go.

  After getting ready, I grabbed my gold Michael Kors clutch and headed out the door. I hopped in Harlem’s Mercedes CL600 and sped off towards my destination.

  When I pulled up the club was packed. Before getting out of the car, I took another look at the picture that I had of Rico. He was a short stubby dark skinned man. He wore shoulder length dreads and he looked as if he didn’t wash his ass. I was gonna have to complete this mission quickly.