by Nikki Turner
“It’s bad, babe,” he said to Simone with a lump in his throat.
“What is it, honey?” Maintaining a poker face, Simone had all kinds of things running through her mind.
What the fuck is it? What could it be? Is he coming to lock me up? Has he found out about the banks me and my sisters robbed? Then she told herself, Girl, keep it together. What’s worse than cancer?
“It’s your mother.” He cleared his throat. “It’s Deidra.”
“Deidra?” Tallhya asked, shocked. “Well, what the fuck that bitch done did now?”
“She’s dead . . .” He paused. “We found a few parts of her body, but enough to identity her with dental records.”
“Parts?” Rydah questioned. “Parts?”
“Damn, wouldn’t you know it? All of Deidra’s bullshit finally came around,” Simone said, knowing good and well that she wasn’t surprised. She tried hard to think about having cancer and the effects it had taken on her body so she could get some tears, but they wouldn’t come right away.
Rydah sat, astonished, then asked, “Are y’all okay?”
Chase’s eyes looked at Rydah. She was drop dead gorgeous and resembled the Banks sisters, but she had a certain hotness about her.
Rydah saw Chase looking at her. She had not been formally introduced to him, so she attempted to make light of the situation. “Hi. I’m Rydah, from Miami. I’m their sister. Deidra sold me at birth, so we just met today, and we’re bonding. Long story, but that just about sums it up. How are you doing?” She reached to shake his hand.
“Chase,” he said, extending his hand. “I’m your brother-in-law. Sorry we had to meet under these circumstances.”
“Right?” Rydah said, shaking her head.
“Damn, I knew this day was coming, but didn’t think it would be this soon.” Tears appeared in Tallhya eyes.
“I’m sorry, Tallhya.” Rydah hugged her. “I’m sooooo sorry.”
Simone got up and hugged her sister too.
Gladys came in to comfort the girls. On that note, Gladys said, “I know for a fact that Mildred had a life insurance policy on her, too.”
Tallhya’s tears dried up. “God be working in mysterious ways. He knew I needed this good news.”
“Good news?” Rydah questioned. “I know Deidra was a bad excuse for somebody’s mother, but her dying isn’t good news, is it?”
“No, but if you knew where I was two days ago, how bad Deidra really was, and how bad off and desperate I was, then you would understand.”
“She really was a greedy piece of shit,” Simone said, “and nobody with a loving mother like what I’m sure yours is would ever understand a rotten woman of such magnitude of shittiness Deidra is or was. And when you look at how she reproduced such beautiful children, you would never understand the pain and let-down she took us through.”
“She was really rotten to the core,” Gladys co-signed, because it was the truth, but also because she didn’t want Simone and Tallhya to look like heartless bitches. “She wasn’t no earthly good, and I know she ain’t heavenly bound. All that mess she put y’all through, she’s going to have to account for that. Judgment Day.”
“You right about that. God going to deal with her, then,” Rydah said.
“Don’t you mean Lucifer?” Simone asked. “Trust me, she ain’t getting into the gates of Heaven, not by a longshot.”
“Well, at least I know for sure I will be able to get my damn surgery, finally,” Tallhya said.
“Damn, are you going to be okay?” Rydah was puzzled.
“Honestly, the best thing that woman could do was die. Trust me, she saved us a lot of pain and suffering. She’s never done one motherly thing for us but give us life, because after she brought us into this godforsaken world, we were fair game. All she ever did was lie, steal, and pimp our asses in her own way. Bitch is better off dead,” Simone said with malice.
“You got that right,” Gladys said under her breath.
Tallhya busted out laughing, and everyone in the room turned their attention to her. “Now irony will have it that the bitch had to die for us to finally get a benefit from her ass.”
“The benefit is a financial settlement from all the abuse,” Simone added to what Tallhya was saying.
“You’re so right, girl.” Tallhya slapped hands with her sister. “I bet that bitch running through Hell, hot as fish grease that we get to collect that insurance money.”
“I know that’s right. Raising hell in Hell. Mad, looking for a reason to trick it out of us if she could.” They kept the running sarcasm going.
“Chase, you see what you married into? This family crazy, right?” Tallhya said when she noticed Chase was speechless.
“It is, but it’s mines though,” Chase said with his chest poked out. He leaned in and kissed Simone.
“Well, I’m here to do anything you need. And I know I speak for me and my grandmother as well,” Rydah said, trying hard to console her newfound sisters, even though they didn’t seem too much like they needed consoling. “Yes, we are here and will give her a nice memorial. At least put her away nice,” Rydah suggested.
Rydah felt as though they were blessed. Richmond had been a blessing. She was collecting money on her grandmother’s and her mother’s death. Or was it a curse?
“Memorial service? How much is that going to be?” Tallhya asked in a dead-serious tone. “I don’t wanna be dipping into my surgery money. Shiiiit, she wouldn’t even bury us if the shoe was on the other foot.”
Simone spoke, knowing that she needed to cover her own tracks, since it was she, after all, along with Bunny and Ginger, who had killed Deidra, and she had helped them dispose of the body. “Cremate the bitch!”
Chapter 16
MIA
The first few days after returning to Miami went by quickly. There was something about going to Virginia and meeting her family that gave Rydah life and the will to put the memories of the carjacking behind her.
Rydah spent most of her free time preparing for Tallhya’s arrival. The two sisters spoke on the phone several times a day.
“Should I get a car? What kind of car do you think I should get?” Tallhya asked.
Rydah tried to convince her sister that transportation would be the least of her problems once she got there. “How many times do I have to promise you that wheels are not a thing? You can borrow one of mines until we get you proper.”
“You sure?” Tallhya didn’t want to impose on her sister any more than she had to. Rydah had already got her the hookup with a five-star-rated doctor to perform her liposuction procedure. She not only got Tallhya pushed to the front of a 6-month waiting list, but Rydah also managed to negotiate a 30 percent discount. All that, plus, she said Tallhya could stay with her as long as needed.
“Because,” Tallhya said, “I have no issues with getting a rental.” Tallhya wasn’t the freeloading type. She’d been drowning—emotionally and financially—before God answered her plea for help, sending her a much-needed life preserver. Her share of the money Me-Ma left them had literally saved her life. She could now afford the surgery, which would help with her lack of self-esteem, and she’d still have enough money get back on her feet.
“Will you just relax and let your little sister do her thing?” Rydah chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
“I can tell we share the same DNA,” she said.
“How so?” asked Tallhya.
“Because I had almost the same reaction to Grandma Gladys when she insisted that I drive her car while I was in Richmond. I didn’t want to impose—blah, blah, blah. But really, Tallhya, it’s cool. You’ll see.”
“Okay, but eventually I’m going to have to buy one. I saw this li’l Kia with low mileage that I think I could get a good deal on, but I wouldn’t try to drive it to Florida.”
Rydah cringed at the image of her sister driving a Kia. She hated that South Korea crap. “Hold off on the Kia, sis. We’ll get you whatever you need from down here
, even if I have to build it myself,” she said. “Hold on to your money, girl. All you need is an airline ticket for right now.”
“I need new clothes,” Tallhya insisted
“What for?” Rydah reminded her. “You’re not going to be able to wear them after the surgery.”
That was something Tallhya looked forward to. “But for now I have nothing,” she said.
Rydah came up with a compromise. “Then pick up the bare necessities, but nothing more. We’ll figure out the rest together after you get here. Just don’t go overboard.”
Tallhya currently wore a size 16. She had been considered “big boned” for her entire life. That was what the nice people called her. It was hard to envision herself a “normal” size.
“Thank you, sister. You’re the best.”
Rydah said, “There’s only one catch. . . .”
There’s always a catch, Tallhya thought. “What is it?” she asked.
“Every Sunday I have to spend the day with my parents. It’s sort of like a tradition. We do breakfast, attend my father’s church, and then have big dinner. It’s non-negotiable. No ifs, ands, or buts. Just on general principle you’re going to be expected to roll with the script.”
Tallhya thought about her sister’s request. Me-Ma was a Bible thumper. When Me-Ma died, they found out that the pastor at her church had scammed her into signing over her house and bank accounts to him, and was then on the down-low getting head and sleeping with her transsexual brother. But in the end, he would have to answer to God for that.
She asked, “Is that it?”
“That’s it,” Rydah said.
“For a second I thought I may have to sign over my first born or something,” she joked.
* * *
Two days later, Rydah picked her sister up from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
“How was your flight?”
Tallhya had taken her advice. She only had two bags: a carry-on and a small suitcase. This was her first time flying.
“The seats are way too small,” she said. “Other than that, everything was Gucci.”
Rydah put the suitcase in the back of the purple El Camino. The inside was white with purple piped-out seats. The headrests had her name embroidered into the white leather in purple script. When she turned the key, the engine roared like a cat out of the jungle. The five hundred horses under the hood were so powerful, Tallhya felt the vibrations penetrating her body. Rydah asked her if she was hungry.
“Yup! I could eat. The only thing they gave us on the plane was a tiny bag of peanuts and a half can of soda.”
“Shit. You were lucky to get the peanuts for free.” Rydah laid down on the gas, burning a little rubber, before peeling out of the airport like the police were hot on her trail. In a matter of seconds, the speedometer reached 60 miles per hour.
Tallhya buckled up. “You better slow your ass down, girl.”
“This isn’t fast.” Rydah turned on the music. “Wicked” by Future blared from the speakers. Then she dropped a few ounces of pressure on the accelerator. The souped up El Camino jetted down the highway like it had wings.
Tallhya was amazed by all the different types of palm trees on the side of the road. They were everywhere.
Cruising at a smooth 85 miles per hour, Rydah navigated the purple rocket in and out of traffic effortlessly. An app on her phone alerted her to road hazards, speed cameras, and squatting cops waiting to make their monthly quotas.
The sisters met Wolfe for lunch at a seafood restaurant in Bayside. Wolfe was on his best behavior. He and Tallhya seemed to hit it right off.
When they were done grubbing out, Wolfe excused himself. “I got business to attend to. I’ll have to catch you ladies later,” he said. He paid the bill, kissed Rydah on the lips and her sister on the cheek, and bounced.
After lunch, Rydah drove Tallhya to Brickell.
They parked inside the high-rise and took the elevator up to the thirty-third floor.
“Damn, sis!” Tallhya had to pick her mouth up off the floor in order to speak. “Is this where you live?”
“You like it?” Rydah kicked off her shoes. She’d read that besides a lot of unwanted dirt, bad energy clings to the bottom of people’s shoes and gets tracked through the house.
What is there not to like? Tallhya thought. The place was fucking amazing. Tallhya imagined herself living this way: three hundred and fifty feet in the air, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Right away, Tallhya knew that this was where she wanted to start over.
The two sisters sat on the balcony, talking. Rydah gave Tallhya the 411 on Miami, and Tallhya shared stories about Bunny and Ginger. She kept saying how much Rydah and Bunny looked alike. And the outrageous things she shared about Ginger were straight up made for TV. Before either of them knew it, hours had flown by.
Rydah’s phone rang. “I had no idea it was this late,” she said before answering it. “It’s Wolfe, girl. He’s downstairs, on the way up here.”
Tallhya said, “I didn’t know that he lived here.”
“He doesn’t,” Rydah corrected. “He comes over when he isn’t working, though. But he’s always working.”
Tallhya smiled. “It’s good that y’all spend a lot of time together. I like Wolfe. He seems like he really fucks with you hard.”
“I do.” Wolfe took off his shoes at the door. “That’s my baby. For real.”
He joined the girls on the balcony with a bottle of gold champagne then went back inside to the kitchen for glasses.
“How romantic.” Tallhya examined the bottle of expensive champagne.
“Girl, he trying to impress you,” Rydah casually said to her sister.
“Hey, I heard that.” Wolfe came up from behind and kissed her on the neck. Rydah took one of the three glasses from his hands. “And it’s true,” he said. “For you, my dear sister-in-law.” He handed Tallhya a long-stem champagne glass. “And yes, I ended my workday early to come and spend time with you. What do you want to do tonight?”
Tallhya’s face lit up. “What are our options?” she asked.
“Well, we can do whatever we want. The city is our oyster. You want to party? You want dinner? You name it.”
“Hmmmm . . .” Tallhya thought about the choices she was offered. “Decisions, decisions, decisions. A party sounds good, but I would prefer to go out and celebrate after my surgery.”
“I have an idea,” said Wolfe.
Rydah took a sip of the champagne Wolfe had poured. “Do share,” she said.
Wolfe told them what he had in mind. “We can have a chef come to us and fix a gourmet dinner here. And when you’re healed from your surgery,” he said to Tallhya, “I promise you an epic night out on the town to welcome you to MIA!”
Tallhya hadn’t yet gotten past the part about the private chef. “Sounds good to me.” She smiled, raising her glass for a toast. “To family. . . .”
A few glasses of champagne later and a couple of plates from the private chef Wolfe brought in, and the night was coming to a close. Everything was cleaned and put away, and Tallhya was about to wind down when she overheard Wolfe and her sister in a deep discussion.
“So what about that bitch, Buffy?” Wolfe’s voice had lost most of its charm.
“What about her?” Rydah said.
“You asked me not to deal with her petty ass until you got back. You’re back,” Wolfe said. “And my patience is wearing thin.”
Wolfe was convinced that Buffy was responsible for Rydah getting snatched, and he was a firm believer in retribution. Rydah was more forgiving.
“Let God take care of her,” she said.
“God?” Wolfe laughed. “I’m told that God forgives. I don’t,” he said. “And neither should you.” Wolfe spoke a little too loudly.
Tallhya walked into Rydah’s bedroom. She asked, “What are you two lovebirds arguing about?”
Wolfe didn’t take too kindly to people interfering in his business. Normally, he would have checke
d the violator with violence. He didn’t discriminate on gender or kin—man, woman, child, mother, brother, or sister-in-law. His motto was that if you were able to commit the violation, you were able to pay the price.
However, he saw the reward in getting Tallhya to see things from his perspective. Wolfe asked Tallhya, “Did Rydah tell you about the girl that set her up to be kidnapped?”
Rydah rolled her eyes.
Tallhya looked from Wolfe to Rydah and then back to Wolfe. For the short time she’d been in Miami, it had been all fun and sunshine, but this sounded serious. “What happened?”
Wolfe gave Tallhya both the facts and his interpretation of the facts. Then he shared how he thought the transgression should be handled. “But Rydah thinks we should leave it in God’s hands. I’m just afraid that if God takes too long to act, the bitch might try her hand again. Next time, Rydah may not be as lucky. What do you think?”
One of the main things Me-Ma taught the kids she raised was that if someone fucked with one of them, they fucked with all of them. That’s the way the Banks rolled. Me-Ma ain’t raise any punks, including Ginger.
Tallhya said, “I think we should beat that bitch’s ass!”
Chapter 17
Not My Sister
“And I’m telling you right here and now,” Tallhya said to Rydah, “that bitch needs to be dragged. And if you don’t do it, I will. That’s a promise. I put that shit on Me-Ma, Bunny, and Ginger’s grave.”
Wolfe got a better reaction out of Tallhya than he expected. She was a natural firecracker waiting to explode. But he played it cool.
“I can’t let you do that,” he said. They were standing in the entryway of the den, which doubled as Tallhya’s bedroom.
Tallhya wasn’t trying to hear it. “I’m telling you the God’s truth,” she said. Her eyes were on the screen of a laptop that Rydah had let her borrow earlier.
Wolfe was curious. “What’re you looking for online?”