“I’ve waited a long time to do that. You have gotten away with too much shit, Kayla, and your biggest mistake was lying to me about Jacoby being my son. You want to talk about forgiveness? I will never forgive you for that. ’Cause you see . . . my son, my own flesh and blood, would never plot my demise. He would never want me dead, nor would he pay someone to kill me. You taught Jacoby to hate me. You wanted his plan to fall into place. That way you could have everything in life that I worked so hard to get, so that you could sit on your lazy ass, just like you’re doing now, and do nothing. I know all about it, baby. Evelyn told me all about it, and it’s too late for you to come over here and try to tell me anything. I don’t want to hear one word from you, and you can tell Jacoby the same thing too.”
With tears pouring down my face, I looked at Cedric with so much hate and anger inside of me. “Don’t you dare talk to me about Jacoby! You are the one who destroyed him! You made him hate you by bringing all your tricks around him and by dogging his mother out. He felt like he had to do something to stop you. And I don’t care what you’ve been told, but he didn’t want to go through with it. He wanted to tell you, but I wouldn’t let him!”
Cedric grabbed my neck and pushed my head back on the floor. I had never seen him like this. When we were married, not once had he put his hands on me. I didn’t know who this man lying over me was. He had the look of a killer in his eyes. I tried to fight him and get him off of me, but he grabbed my arms and punched me in my face again. I felt blood trickling from my nose and flowing over my lips.
“That’s your fucking problem now. You’re always treating him like a baby, and you won’t let him grow up and be a man. When a man wants to confront somebody about his wrongdoings, you need to move your ass out of the way and let him. But once again . . . ,” he said, tightening his grip on my neck. He lifted my head, then slammed it hard on the floor. So hard that the back of my head stung. I didn’t know if it was bleeding or not. “Once again, you felt it was best to keep secrets from me. You thought your way could save us all, and you were wrong, wrong, wrong!”
He banged my head three more times before letting me go. I rolled over. I was in so much pain. I seriously thought Cedric was going to kill me. I needed to get out of there fast.
He continued his tirade. “Then you bring your ass over here, talking shit about Evelyn. Hell, yeah, I’m still fucking her. Your pussy was never good enough, so a man gotta do what he must. You will never be better than her, and if it wasn’t for her, I would still be left in the dark. I owe her my life, as well as a little more dick too.”
I lifted my head and felt real dizzy. My eyes were blurry from crying, but I could see Joy a short distance away, biting her nails. She looked too afraid to say anything, and I now knew exactly where her black eye had come from. Cedric had lost his mind. Trying my best not to say anything else to him, I crawled my way to the door and reached for the knob. He grabbed both of my arms, then pulled them behind my back so hard that I thought they would break.
“You will not leave here without telling me you’re sorry!” he yelled. “I want to hear you say it, and you damn well better mean it. Because if you don’t, I am going to call the police right now and have them go to your place and arrest Jacoby. I have all kinds of proof about what he did, and I may even concoct some shit to have yo’ ass arrested too.”
My arms were hurting so bad that I had to say something. “So . . . sorry. I’m sooo sorry,” I cried out, blood now dripping from my chin. “Now, please let me go, Cedric. You’re hurting me!”
“Good! Now you know what it feels like to hurt. Tell me again, and this time, mean it! Leave all that other shit out of the mix!”
I swallowed hard, then lowered my head. “Sorry. Truly sorry for what I’ve done.”
He let go of my arms, then pushed me away. He then opened the door and grabbed me by one of my arms. The next thing he did was toss me outside and slam the door behind me. My nose and my hands were bleeding, and so were my knees. I could see that my knees were bleeding through the holes in my jeans. I limped to my car, and if I could’ve called the police, I would have. I wanted to go home and get the gun I had taken from Jacoby, but if he saw me like this, I was sure that he would use the gun this time. I was a complete mess as I drove away, and I was mad as hell at Evelyn. She was the one who had told Cedric everything. I was going to make sure that she paid for running her big mouth.
Within an hour, I had stopped at a gas station to clean myself up and then had driven to Evelyn’s apartment, only to discover that she didn’t live there anymore. I had forgotten that Trina had told me in person that Evelyn had moved, and she had also told me so in her voice mail messages. But I didn’t know where she had moved to. I called Trina to ask for Evelyn’s address, but she was real short with me.
“I’ll have to text it to you. Check your phone in five minutes,” she said.
I could hear a male voice yelling in the background, but I didn’t bother to ask if something was wrong. I just waited on her text message, and when I got it, I drove to Evelyn’s new place, which wasn’t too far from where I lived. It angered me that she was this close to me. And I hoped that this would be the last time I ever saw her face again.
Still banged up from what Cedric had done to me, I walked slowly to Evelyn’s door, rubbing my sore arms. I knocked, and it wasn’t long before she opened the door. As soon as her mouth opened, I slapped her across it. I then rushed inside and jumped on top of her. I pounded her head with my fists and yanked at her hair.
“Are you crazy!” she yelled out as she squirmed around on the floor. “Bitch, have you lost your mind!”
I didn’t say a word. Just kept pounding away at her until I got tired. She tried to grab anything on me, but the only thing she could get ahold of was my shirt. She pulled on it so hard that she tore it off my body. After that, she bit my arm, then scratched the side of my face. That caused me to fall off of her. And when I did, she scurried into another room. I went after her and was met at her bedroom doorway by a nine millimeter. She aimed it at my head, trying to catch her breath. Her hands trembled as a tear rolled down her face.
“Put your hands on me again, and I will kill you, Kayla! What in the hell are you thinking?”
I wanted to go for the gun, but I already knew how unstable and jealous Evelyn was. She would blow my brains out, and somehow or someway she would make herself look like the victim. Afraid of that gun as I was, I still showed no fear as I told her how I felt about her betrayal.
“How dare you tell Cedric what I told you about Jacoby! You have caused my son great harm, all over a lousy dick that you just can’t get enough of. I will never forgive you again, and this time you have really and truly gone too far. I don’t even know how you sleep at night, Evelyn! Please tell me how in the hell you can live with yourself. You are the worst of the worst, and damn me for ever considering you my friend!”
Evelyn was breathing real hard, and her chest kept moving in and out. “I don’t know what Cedric told you, but I did not tell him about Jacoby. He’s playing you, Kayla. Playing you like a fool, and you’re too blind to see it. I told Trina all about his plan, but I see that telling you will do no good. You are looking for someone to blame for all of this, and like always, that person is me.”
“You’re doggone right it is! And if you didn’t tell Cedric about Jacoby, then who did? After all, you are the one who is still fucking him, aren’t you? I guess you’re going to lie about that too.”
“I’m not going to lie about it, but I had my reasons. You—”
“Shut up!”
I wanted to break that heifer’s neck, but when I moved forward, she squeezed the gun tighter and gave me a warning.
“Think before you make another move. As a matter of fact, turn around and get out of here. If you want to believe Cedric, fine. I have nothing else to say. What I know is, I’m not going to allow you to put your fucking hands on me again.”
I was done with Evelyn and Cedric
. I hadn’t really wanted to come here, but I had had to. This was the last straw. Everybody had a breaking point. This was mine. I walked out her door, vowing never to let her back in my life again.
13
Evelyn
Wow. In all the years I had known Kayla, we had never fought like that. She was on a rampage. I was so confused by what Cedric had told her. I hadn’t said one word to him, but there he was, lying on me again. I had figured he would do something like this, and when I called to chew him out, he laughed about it.
“You made your bed, so you need to lay in it,” he said. “I told you that if you didn’t get me the information I wanted, shit was going to start happening, didn’t I? My only question to you is, did Kayla beat that ass, or did you beat hers? I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall to see who got the best of who.”
“You’re truly the devil, Cedric, and this is what I get for dancing with you. It would be so nice if Paula had killed you when she had the chance, and I should go straight to that jailhouse and slap her for not finishing the job.”
“Awww, don’t be so nasty, sugar pie. You weren’t talking all that shit when I had my dick up, and just a few weeks ago, I was the best thing ever. I saved your life and made you a rich woman. According to you, you owed me big-time. Now, all of a sudden, my name is dirt. I’m not worth two cents, and you wish I was dead. That’s no way to speak to a man who is on edge right now. And you’d better watch yourself, because I will give you a dose of what I gave your friend earlier.”
I hung up on Cedric. He was cuckoo. I didn’t know what he said or did to make Kayla believe him, but she should have known better. Why didn’t she just come over here and ask me? I would have told her everything, even though I’d have figured that she wouldn’t listen to me. I was concerned about Cedric winning this battle, so after I cleaned myself up and brushed my hair into a sleek ponytail, I called Trina to see if she had spoken to Kayla about our conversation.
“What is it?” she yelled when she picked up her phone. “I’m busy right now. I’ll have to call you back!”
She hung up, and that was that. I guessed Kayla must’ve gotten to her before I did, and they were, once again, on the same team. I threw my hands in the air and then got back to what I was doing before Kayla came barging in here and interrupting me. I was in my office, doing research on the best way to invest my money. I knew that I couldn’t keep spending it at the rate I was. If I didn’t want it to get away from me, I had to start doing something that would make my money grow. I searched the Internet for a few hours or so. I also set up an appointment with a financial adviser, but I wasn’t meeting with him until tomorrow. I then figured that Charles might be able to give me some good advice too, so I called his phone to see if my number was still blocked. After hearing his voice, I knew that I was back in business.
“Please do not hang up this phone,” I said.
“You’re hardheaded, Evelyn. I told you not to call me.”
“I know what you said, but unfortunately, I don’t always listen. Can I stop by your office tomorrow to see you? I have certain things on my mind, and I want to ask you some questions about investing the all-mighty dollar.”
There was a long pause before he finally responded. “Your time will be limited.” After that, he ended the call.
For now, I intended to take whatever time I could get.
* * *
The next day, I left the financial adviser’s office around two o’clock and then headed to Charles’s office. Like always, I made sure I looked good, smelled like a bed of roses, and was at my best. I strutted into his office, looking like a movie star. Heads turned as I asked the receptionist to buzz him, and when he came to the lobby, we immediately stepped into a nearby boardroom that had a round mahogany table with eight chairs surrounding it. Charles sat down in one of the chairs, while I closed the door and stood by it.
“My first question to you is, why are you playing games with me?” I said. “You know I’ve wanted to see you again.”
“I’m too old to play games. And a whole lot of people want to see me. I don’t make myself available to everyone. You shouldn’t, either.”
“Trust me when I say I don’t. But I do make exceptions for special people. Don’t you?”
He looked at his watched, then shifted his attention back to me. “Don’t I what? What did you say?”
Unfortunately, he wasn’t paying me much attention, so I spoke louder. “I said, ‘I do you make exceptions for special people. Don’t you?’”
“I don’t know of many special people, so no, I don’t.” He looked at his watch again.
“I guess with you constantly looking at your watch, that means you have somewhere to be and I need to hurry this up. Right?”
“Exactly. We’ve been in here for almost five minutes, and you still haven’t told me the purpose of your ongoing calls.”
“You know the purpose of my calls, so stop trying to pretend that you don’t. I want to play with your sock again. I really and truly do miss it.”
“My sock doesn’t have time to play. And what would make you think that you can just snap your fingers and have it available to you?”
“Because I have it like that, that’s why.”
His brows rose, and he stood up. “There is only one person in this room who has that much power. Breaking news, baby. It’s not you. It’s me, and I say my sock is busy.”
“What makes you think that you’re the one with all the power? I’d like to know, and if you can spare five more minutes of your time, please tell me.”
“I’ll tell you in less than a minute. You’re here because you want me. You want to feel me again, and if you do, the only way you’re going to get what you want from me is if you get on your knees, crawl over here, and come get it. There’s still no guarantee that I will switch the power to you, but you have to start somewhere.”
I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not, but he was out of his damn mind if he thought I was going to get on my knees and crawl to him for some dick. I hadn’t met a man yet who made me want to do that, and even though he was top-notch, that was a no-no.
“You can’t be serious, and if you are, I may have a few words for you that you may not like.”
He walked toward the door, then opened it. “Words are just words. When you’re ready to do as I asked, call me. If not, don’t bother.”
He left the room and was gone in a flash. It looked as if I wasn’t going to be getting any more of the good stuff anytime soon. If I had to crawl for it, I definitely didn’t need it.
I stopped at the mall to pick up a customized purse I had ordered, and then I stopped to get some groceries. I thought about Trina not calling me back, and it made me kind of mad that she had cut me off earlier and hadn’t even called back to apologize. That was just how things were in my world. I felt as if it was time to start removing more people from my circle. Cedric and Kayla were already gone, and Trina was the next one on my list. Instead of moving to a new town house, what I should’ve done was moved out of town. I needed to get away from everyone, and not even a seven-day trip would do me much good.
When I got home, I threw a TV dinner in the oven, popped some popcorn, and then prepared to watch a movie on Netflix. I was thirty minutes in when someone knocked on the door. There were only two people who knew where I lived. Either it was Trina or Kayla, obviously here to cause more trouble. I guessed Evelyn hadn’t gotten the message from yesterday, when I had told her what I’d do if she didn’t cut the crap. I meant every word.
I went to my bedroom to get my gun before going to the door. When I asked who was there, there was no answer. I looked through the peephole, and that was when I saw a big white man standing outside my door.
“Yes?” I said. “I think you’re at the wrong door.”
The man didn’t budge. He knocked again, and when I pulled the door open, he looked me up and down.
“Mr. Washington wants to see you. You have to leave now.”
A frown covered my face. I didn’t have to do anything, and if Mr. Washington wanted to see me, then he’d better come here. I didn’t mean to display an attitude, but what in the hell was going on here?
“Please let Mr. Washington know that I’m in the middle of watching a movie. If he wants to make arrangements to see me, then he needs to call me in advance.”
The strong man lifted me and threw me over his shoulder. He reached for my door to shut it, and as I kicked, screamed, and hollered out in my pajamas, he put his hand over my mouth. He tossed me in the back of a black Escalade and then closed the door. He sped off, and when I kept asking him where he was taking me, he ignored me. I tried to unlock the doors, but to no avail. I screamed, “Help!” and banged on the windows, but it did me no good. I finally calmed down a little when I realized that the Escalade was on the way to Charles’s office, or to his bunker, I should say.
Several minutes later, the man parked in the garage. When he opened the car door, I slowly got out. Taking the same route as I had with Charles, I found myself deep in the bunker and waiting for the man to get access by entering a code. When the doors opened, I followed him inside. He pointed toward a room.
“In there,” he said, then walked away.
I made my way toward the room, and when I opened the door, Charles was there all by his lonesome self. He was sitting on a long sofa, with no clothes on. The room was rather dim, but I could see a bottle of champagne to his left and an array of stronger alcohol to his right.
“You know,” he said, “I’ve been kind of thinking that that one little, measly time we spent together just wasn’t enough. And since you keep calling and showing up at my job, I thought that maybe if I give you another chance to show me what you can really do with this, you’ll decide to step up to the plate. The thing is, though, my comment from earlier still stands. If you want it, there is only one way to get it.”
The whole time Charles spoke, my eyes were focused on his muscle, which rested on his leg. I had dreamed about being with him again, and all kind of thoughts had swum in my head about what I would do if or when I was given another opportunity.
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