Street Symphony: A Tainted Love Story

by Treasure Malian

  She tucked the gun back in her waist and left the same way she came. She headed straight home where she showered, changed, and spent a little time with McKenzie before headed back up to the hospital.

  __

  “Pardon me,” Mitch said as he walked into Nadja’s hospital room followed by Niem. Sym had texted him the room number so after checking in; they came right up.

  Nadja was still on her stomach with her head toward the door, so she spotted them as soon as they walked in. She looked at Mitch oddly but kept her thoughts to herself.

  “Cheer up, you still look good,” Niem said to Nadja in hopes of making her laugh, and it worked. “I’m Niem, this nigga who acting like he can’t speak is Mitch.”

  Nadja smiled at Niem. “Hey, Niem. Hello, Mitch. I’m Nadja.”

  “Yo, Nadja. On God, I just want to extend my sincerest apologies, beloved. I never…”

  “We good, Mitch. I appreciate you coming up here to tell me that face to face. And Sym, thank you for allowing him to. I know how much that took out of you.”

  “Kory. Sym’s sister,” Kory introduced herself since Symphony had eased her way toward the window and was staring out of it.

  “We’ll go. I just really wanted to tell you I’m sorry for this. Whatever you need, Sym has my number don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “Mitch, I’ma leave with you. I think we need to talk,” Sym stated, finally breaking her silence.

  “I’ll stay here with Nadja and Kory,” Niem suggested. He and Nadja were sharing googly eyes even while she was laid up with holes in her back.

  “Before ya’ll leave, can I speak to you and Kory alone for a minute?” Nadja asked.

  The guys quickly exited the room, leaving the girls space to speak freely.

  “What happened, Nadj?”

  “Sym, is he McKenzie’s father?”

  Kory jumped to her feet and moved closer to Nadja’s bed. “I was going to ask you the same thing,” she added. “They look alike. What the deal?”

  Sym was exhausted and definitely didn’t want to have that conversation.

  “We’ll talking about it later,” She mumbled while making her way to the door before they could ask again. “Niem, you can go back in there,” Sym said before walking over to Mitch and leaving with him.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Symphony paced around the Mitch’s apartment looking over things she had seen plenty of times before. All in an attempt to avoid the conversation she knew she and Mitch had to have. She was cursing herself for allowing things to get as far as they did with him. Everything in her, from day one, told her to leave him alone. The universe was making fun of her by continuing to gravitate her toward him; no matter how hard she tried to back off. Now, look where they were. A mess that she didn't know if she could clean up had been made and options moving forward was limited.

  “Sym, what’s really good? You ready to tell me why you been lying to me?” Mitch asked. He was growing tired of the silence and wanted Sym to get what it was she needed to get off her chest, off.

  “You can’t possibly be calling me a liar, Mitch. Your story is that you own a sneaker store and invest, yet, niggas was willing to pay me a million to fucking kill you. You lied to me as well. Miss me with the whole holier than though thing.”

  “Yo, I’m not even going to argue with you. Evidently, we both have shit that we been keeping from each other. Are we going to share now or not?” Mitch huffed before slamming his fist down on the table before him.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you banging on shit, Mitch? Honestly, I already told you what it was. From day one, I told you, I didn’t want anything serious. I couldn’t have anything serious. I told you. Repeatedly. You pressured this. You got me to fall for you only to be fucking chicks behind my back lying to me?”

  “So, basically, you’re saying I’m forcing you to keep fucking with me? And I never fucked that girl. She sucked my dick a few times. And the bitch that was here earlier was an ex who popped up because she just came back in town.”

  Sym was quiet. “I’m still here, Sym. You came in my crib waving a gun around on some gangster shit, and I’m still right here. What we doing moving forward ‘cuz I'm not doing the back, and forth and clearly the lies gotta stop, or we’ll find ourselves right back here again.”

  “Ain’t no moving forward. I just want…”

  “Ain’t no moving forward? Aight, say no more, and dip then.” Mitch growled.

  He had his mind made up. This was the last time he was having any type of argument with Symphony. The last time he was going to attempt to solidify his spot in her and McKenzie’s life. Never in all his years of living has he had to go through so much for a chick. Unfortunately for him, he was in love with her. But knowing how deep her secrets ran and her on the verge of finding out his, he knew moving forward was probably out of the question.

  “The fucked up part is that; you really don’t know how to love. Matter fact, that’s not even the worse part. The worse part is that you can’t even allow a nigga to love you. Nah, McKenzie not my seed but I don’t see the nigga who she belongs to knocking your door down to be here for her. You get calls here and there from some random ass person saying how they miss McKenzie, but no one shows up. I’m here. Been here since we met and it’s still not good enough.”

  “Her father is fucking dead, Mitch. Why must you press this issue? The person who calls and who I visit when you’re not around is my mother. Who I’m better off dealing with from a distance which is why she doesn’t show up. Which is why no one shows up. I’m better on my own. Can’t you fucking see that.”

  Mitch moved toward Symphony. He reached out for her arm, grabbed it, and pulled her into him.

  “Let me love you, Sym. Let me show up. I want to know everything about you and vice versa.” Mitch wrapped his arms around her and held her.

  The pain in her voice was evident. The hurt in her eyes was present. There were many times where he saw a glimpse of her past through her eyes. It was something she never spoke on. But hearing her reveal that McKenzie’s father was dead, and her relationship with her mother was damn near non-existent, he knew there were many more layers to Symphony that needed to be pulled back. He was drawn to her tough exterior. He liked that she didn’t need anyone and was able to hold her own, but what he would like even more was if she allowed him to be that guy.

  “I can’t. It ends badly. It always ends badly. What happened with Nadja is just the tip of the iceberg if we continue this,” She sniffled back tears. Her mouth was saying one thing, but her heart was saying another. Her brain was telling her to pull away from Mitch’s embrace and leave, but her heart had her clinging on to his shirt and silently begging him to make her stay. “I think I love you, Mitch. I wish I could say that I knew I did, but I don’t know how it’s supposed to feel. I want you here, and I want you gone at the same time. This can’t be love. If it was love, I would know. I wouldn’t second guess it. I risked everything for you last night, is that love? We lie and keep secrets from each other, is that love? I don’t want that.”

  “I love you, Symphony. I love McKenzie. I want to be here for the both of you but, I can’t if you don’t let me in. I’ll tell you about my past, and when you’re ready, I’ll listen to you tell me about yours.”

  There was silence. Symphony’s thoughts raced between what would happen if she walked away from him right then and there and what it would mean if she stayed. She didn’t want to want to set the same example her parents set for her, for McKenzie. Eventually, she wanted McKenzie to find a nice man who she could settle down with, who would treat her like a Queen. The only way that example could be set was if she too allowed that type of love into her life. It was a risk, and it wouldn’t be easy but for McKenzie, she had to be willing to try. But was it too late for her and Mitch? Had too much already transpired that would prevent them from reaching that point.

  “Go sit in the living room; I ’ll be in there in a minute.”

  Sym walked
into the living room and flopped down on the couch. She zoned out as memories of the past few months flashed before her eyes. The good, the bad, and everything in between. She couldn’t understand for the life of her why she was still around. Mitch claimed it was love; Symphony wished she had that understanding of the emotion. She wished she felt that strongly for someone to deal with all that they came with. Maybe she was experiencing that now.

  Mitch walked back into the living room carrying a box. She sat down beside her and placed the box at his feet. “This is me taking a step in the right direction. After I tell you all there is to know it’s up to you to accept me for me and return the favor.”

  Sym chewed on the inside of cheek in anticipation of what was going to say. He started pulling articles out of the box and talking about his childhood. Growing up with a junkie father, and really only having his brother and sister. He showed her pictures from back then of him and his siblings and also a more recent one of his brother, who he started to tell her died before she stopped him.

  “I don’t want to do this right now. I… I… I can’t do this right now. I’m exhausted, physically and emotionally. I just…”

  “Relax; we can stop here and get back to this another time. Just lay back and relax. I’ll go in the back and give you space.”

  Sym nodded her head letting know that she wanted him to do that. She leaned back and rested her head on the back of the couch. The moment she closed her eyes, the image Mitch just showed her popped up. The image of the man she killed a little over a year ago in the club, where she met Mitch. Her heart felt like it was beating out her chest as she thought about the picture with him and Mitch. Sym was trying to slow down her breathing before it led to a panic attack.

  “You good? You breathing heavy and shit like you’re about to have an asthma attack.” Mitch sat back down beside her. “I’ma stay right here, but I won’t speak. We can just kick back in complete silence, what you need right now.”

  “I…I’m just not ready,” she stammered and clenched her hands tight, to stop them from trembling. “I can’t take the silence. Oh, my god,” she groaned. Panic was setting in. She couldn’t believe what was happening.

  “Aight, I’m put the TV on. Can you try to calm down?”

  Mitch reached for the remote and flipped to the new station. Sym took a few deep breaths and laid back. She forced herself to focus on the news. She watched the T.V but didn’t hear a word that came out the newscaster’s mouth. She was completely zoned out that she couldn’t stop herself from breaking another one of her own rules before it was too late. She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep. Mitch sat beside after retrieving a bottle of Henny, thinking about Sym’s weird ass behavior. Everything from the way she handled the gun, the revelation about her bodying Rory and Keisha after they tried to hire her. To how she was about to have a heart attack a few minutes prior. Now that he was thinking about it, he wasn’t sure this was shit he could handle moving forward. He glanced down at her again, making sure that she was knocked out, before turning off the TV; he needed the silence.

  Faint panting was coming from Sym. At least, they started out faint. She shook violently in her sleep, alarming Mitch. Her chested heaved up and down and right before he could wake her up, she said the name that would change everything.

  “Michael, Michael,” Sym called out in her sleep.

  He ever got around to telling her his brother’s name. Mitch looked at her oddly before reaching beneath the end table behind him and grabbing his pistol. He checked the clip before pressing the cold steel against Sym’s temple.

  She jerked from her sleep and grabbed at her chest. It took a minute for her to process that he had his gun to her head, and when she did, her eyes nearly popped out of her head. Her worse fear had come true.

  “How you know my brother?”

  “I… I… I swear I didn’t know he was your brother until you showed me the picture,” she stammered.

  He shoved the gun against her head harder.

  “How the fuck do you know my brother?” He repeated.

  She blurted out, “He’s McKenzie’s father.”

  “WHAT?” The room fell silent. “Nah, you…” Mitch paused as pieces of a puzzle started coming together for him. He met Sym the night his brother was murder; she was from Philly, where Mike had business dealings, and now… he knew what she did to get her money. It wasn’t rocket science.

  Mitch jumped up from where he was sitting and grabbed Symphony by her throat. Her head fell back against the couch, and her mouth dropped open as she gasped for air. Mitch took that as an opportunity to shove the barrel of his gun into her mouth.

  “Tell me you didn’t have anything to do with my brother’s death,” He growled.

  To be continued…

  I’m not really sure what love is. I know what they say it is in Corinthians; love is patient, love is kind, etcetera, etcetera. I’m just not sure I agree with all that bullshit. Love is relative to whomever it stems from. If the seed is weak, how could the love be strong?

  Maybe we should all stop looking and let it come find us. How could love not be prideful, when that’s all the giver of it knows. How about, I just don’t fucking know. Maybe we’ll all just keep fucking each other up, until somebody finally figures it out. Or we’ll kill each other trying. I don’t know. We’ll see.” Aishah (Love, I’m good)

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