Crazy in Love 2

by Yoshe

  Chapter 26

  After Rasheed came from Sean’s house, he had a major attitude. He started telling Asia what happened with Milan and Tuki and, naturally, she was disappointed with her cousin’s reckless behavior. Ironically, India was unmoved by the news.

  “So you mean to tell me that Tuki was in town to be with Sean’s wife?” Asia asked. “That’s freaking bananas!”

  Rasheed threw his car remote onto the wooden coffee table and sat on the couch. Then he started talking about India right in front of her. “And India was the one who brought that mess into the house!”

  India crossed her arms in defiance. “What the hell are you talking about, Rah? You ain’t gonna blame me for that shit!”

  Rasheed waved India off. “Man, listen, like I said, you were the one who brought that shit over here! Ain’t no telling what you and your cousin were plotting before y’all walked through that door!”

  Asia, who was sitting next to India, gave her a nudge with her elbow. “India, did you know anything about Tuki and Milan’s relationship?”

  “What?” India replied, stunned by the question. “Hell no! I didn’t know nothing about that! All Tuki said was that she wanted to see you, Asia, and I brought her here, to see you!”

  Asia shook her head. “There’s something that you’re not telling me, India! I can always tell when you’re lying because that bottom lip of yours begins to twitch!”

  India tried to control the nervous twitch by biting on her bottom lip. “I swear to you, I don’t know shit, Asia! And I don’t know why your bitch-ass man,” she added, pointing at Rasheed, “is always trying to accuse me of doing something!”

  It was Rasheed’s turn to chime in. “Because, you’re always doing something!” When he stood up, his six foot four frame towered over the petite India. “The bottom line is that you’re a miserable bitch and you can’t stand to see nobody happy, not even your got damn sister!”

  The two began to argue but they stopped when the pregnant Asia physically stepped in between them. “Stop!” she yelled. “India, you stay here! And, Rah, you go upstairs for a moment. Let me talk to my sister.”

  Rasheed grabbed his keys and stomped out of the living room. Asia listened for the upstairs bedroom door to slam before she started talking to her twin. She looked India square in the eye.

  “I don’t know what’s going on with you, India,” Asia began.

  India cut her off. “Asia, I didn’t do anything!”

  Asia hushed her. “Like I said, I don’t know what’s going on, India, but I smell a rat. Whatever reasons Tuki had for being in New York is strictly her business; I’m not going to worry about that. But if I find out that you participated in this thing with Tuki and Milan, I’m going to ban you from my house, my baby, and my life. Do you understand me?”

  India threw up her hands and fought back tears. “So you really would do that to me, Asia? After all of the shit that I did?” Asia held her hand up and India stopped talking.

  “I don’t want to hear nothing about what you done did for me! I always had your got damn back and you know it! You were the one who always was talking me into doing some negative shit. It’s like you wanted me to be fucked up! And when I straightened up my act and got with Rasheed? You didn’t like that, India. You weren’t happy for me!” India wiped her tears and acted like she was unfazed by Asia’s words. Asia gave her a look and let out a sarcastic chuckle. “You know what, India? I ain’t gonna tell you what I’m going to do anymore; I’m going to show you. So please leave this house and don’t bother coming to see your niece or nephew until you fix that fucked-up heart of yours, India.”

  India reached for her Louis Vuitton tote bag, her coat, and walked out of the front door without saying good-bye to her sister. As far as she was concerned, if Asia wanted to dismiss her from her life, she was going to learn how to deal with not having her sister around. And it was just that simple for the guilty India.

  India turned off the car radio, preferring a quiet ride home. Considering the way everything went down, she had a lot to think about. When she arrived in the proximity of her apartment building, her cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and smiled when she saw that it was Tuki calling her. She felt relieved when she heard her cousin’s voice.

  “What’s the deal, cuz?” Tuki screamed into the phone, sounding higher than a kite. “Where are you? What are you doing right now?”

  India sighed. “The question is where the fuck are you, Tuki? We were worried about you, girl!”

  Tuki giggled. “Child, I’m with my baby, Milan, right now!”

  “Are you at the hotel with her?” India asked. “I thought I told you that I wanted you to stay with me tonight.”

  “She’s with me!” Milan called out in the background.

  Now India was annoyed. After the fallout with Asia, she needed to project her anger and Milan was the perfect target.

  “Tuki, put Milan on the fucking phone! I need to talk to her.”

  Tuki gave Milan the phone. India had to move the phone away from her ears because she was talking loudly.

  “Hey, cuz!” Milan slurred. “You know that we’re cousins now!”

  “Sorry but we ain’t no relation, boo,” India shot back at her. “So knock it off with the cousin shit, okay?” An evil smirk came on her face. “So, Milan, what’s up with your husband?”

  “Shiiiiit, fuck Sean!” Milan replied. “I’m finally free, girl!”

  India wanted to get right to the point so she could hurry the drunken Milan off the phone. “Fuck Sean is right; you ain’t got shit to feel guilty about! And don’t feel like the bad guy, boo, because you’re not the only one who’s been cheating. Sean has been fucking around on you for some time now! And if you don’t believe me, just ask Brandi Wallace. You do know who Brandi is, right?”

  There was slight pause on the other line. India silently counted up to ten and like clockwork, Milan responded before she could get to the number eleven.

  “Sean was cheating on me? With Brandi?” she said, in a barely audible voice.

  “Yep!” India replied. “That’s some foul shit, ain’t it?”

  Milan didn’t reply to India. Instead, she passed the phone back to Tuki.

  “Do you think that it was a good idea to tell Milan all of that crap about Sean? I mean, she seems real upset about it,” Tuki said. “She just locked herself in the bathroom!”

  India blew Tuki off. “Whatever. She’ll be all right. Now you can have her, Brandi can have Sean, and I can have my man, Kane.” India heard Milan call out Tuki’s name in the background. “Anyway, go tend to your heartbroken little girlfriend.”

  Tuki sighed. “Okay. Kiss Asia for me and I’ll give you a guys a call before I head back to Atlanta. And, India?”

  “Yes?”

  “Thanks for everything,” she said, before hanging up the phone

  Tuki’s gratefulness actually brought a smile to India’s face. Her cousin seemed pretty happy with her decision, even though she used unorthodox methods to get there. Meanwhile, India was tired of coming home to no one. Everyone around her was either married, living with each other, having babies, or in a committed relationship. All India wanted was a man to call her own. All she wanted was her happily ever after.

  India had never told anyone but she contemplated suicide on several occasions. She just felt like she was undeserving of love. With her personal firearm, a Glock 16, stored in a lockbox on the top shelf of her bedroom closet, India could have easily taken the same route that Yadira did, ending a lifetime of misery and emotional conflict with one slug to the brain. As India thought about the way her life turned out, suicide didn’t seem like such a bad idea at the moment. The things that Asia said to India made her wonder if her twin sister would live a better life without her.

  India walked into her bedroom and reached for the unloaded gun. She took her hands and inspected it, like it was the first time she saw it. Then India began crying. She cried harder than she ever ha
d in her entire life.

  Chapter 27

  Due to their hectic schedules, Dollar hadn’t seen Brandi all week. But fortunately, they talked on the phone a few times a day so they were good in the communication department. And it was during those intimate telephone conversations that they learned a lot about each other.

  Dollar had repeatedly expressed to Brandi that he regretted not being a better father to his only son. He couldn’t understand how he allowed the tumultuous relationship with his child’s mother and his lifestyle to affect his parental obligations to the boy. He wanted to change that.

  “Why don’t you call him up, Dollar?” Brandi told him. “I mean, it couldn’t hurt.”

  So Dollar did just that and much to his surprise, Gregory Jr. was very receptive. Even his mother was cooperative. Reconnecting with his son made Dollar very happy and he had no one but Brandi to thank for the advice.

  Now it was eight o’clock Friday night and the workweek was over. At least, it was for Brandi. Dollar had things to do on Saturday but he had no problem putting his business obligations aside for the new lady in his life.

  It was mid-November and the wintry night air made it feel much colder than it was supposed to be for that time of the year. Dollar was sitting in front of Brandi’s building, with the heat blasting in his truck, waiting for her to come downstairs. It was a date night for them and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on her.

  Dollar’s octopus hands weren’t the only things that were in store for Brandi. Now that it seemed as if they were one step closer to becoming exclusive, Dollar knew that he had to step his game up to impress a woman of Brandi’s caliber. He opened the black jewelry box and smiled as he took another look at the two-carat tennis bracelet that he purchased for her, just the other day. All he could do was envision the expression on Brandi’s pretty face when she saw the gift. It cost him a pretty penny but that didn’t matter to Dollar; he could afford that and much more.

  Dollar turned up the radio and began singing along with the music. As he basked in his glory, he didn’t see the shadowy figure creeping on the driver’s side of his truck. Suddenly, three gunshots rang out. The frightening sound of Dollar’s screams and shattering glass pierced the silent fall night. Shortly after committing the heinous act, the mysterious ski-masked suspect quickly ran back into the shadows.

  Unfortunately, the wounded Dollar wasn’t that lucky. He was slumped over the steering wheel, with two shots to his neck and shoulder. Pieces of glass from the shattered driver’s side window were all over him and there was blood everywhere. Dollar was slowly drifting in and out of consciousness. Thankfully, a male passerby walking his dog ran over to the truck and called 911 for help.

  In the meantime, the excited Brandi didn’t have any idea what had gone on. She wrapped the scarf that she was wearing around her neck before she exited her building and stepped outside into the breezy night air. Brandi had a huge smile on her face after spotting Dollar’s truck near the driveway of the building. But that smile immediately turned to a look of terror when she saw the small crowd of people gathering around the truck. They were all staring inside of the driver’s side window. Brandi’s four-inch heels clicked loudly against the pavement as she ran toward the crowd. She had to practically push people out of the way to get to Dollar’s vehicle.

  “Dooooollaaaar!” Brandi wailed, once she laid eyes on the unconscious Dollar slumped down in the driver’s seat. “Nooo! Oh, my God! Somebody call the cops, please! My boyfriend, my baby’s been shot!” she cried.

  Pretty soon, the block was filled with more than just onlookers. Plainclothes detectives and police officers from the 75th Precinct swarmed the crime scene. When the ambulance arrived, the cops handled the crowd control so that the paramedics could remove Dollar’s limp body from the truck. They put him on a gurney and wheeled him to the waiting ambulance. In the meantime, Brandi was wrapped in the arms of one of her neighbors and crying hysterically. But before that ambulance pulled off, she was right by Dollar’s side. She sat on the seat next to the gurney and held Dollar’s bloody hand in hers.

  “Please, don’t die on me, baby,” Brandi whispered to Dollar. “If you make it through this, I promise you that I will never leave your side again. Please don’t die!”

  As the ambulance raced across town to the Kings County Hospital trauma unit, the police started their preliminary investigation of the incident. Little did they know, the shooter was standing in the crowd of spectators, sans the ski mask, watching everything.

  Somewhere in Brooklyn, Kane sat in his car at a red light. India called him earlier that day, practically begging him to spend some time with her. Naturally, Kane had his reservations about this. It wasn’t a secret as to how much of a pain in the ass India was. She was not above calling him all times of the day and night, leaving texts and voice mails that he didn’t bother acknowledging. But the bored Kane decided to give India another shot. After being all wrapped up with Brandi, who had since moved on to Dollar, he needed a serious ego boost. And who better to do that than India?

  Kane pulled up in front of India’s building, checking out the address before he parked his car. She lived in a well-kept, pre-war building in the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn. The neighborhood itself was decent and gentrification had brought an onslaught of young yuppies from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Kane had never been to India’s place but the neighborhood that she lived in said a lot about her character. With the way she carried herself sometimes, it wouldn’t be hard to assume that she was from the projects. And that was what turned Kane off the most.

  Kane rang the intercom and India buzzed him upstairs. When he got to her apartment, India surprised him when she opened the door. She was looking different from what he remembered. The India standing in front of him oozed sex. Her long hair was pulled up into a high bun. She was rocking the hell out of a cropped shirt, exposing her flat stomach and a pair of cutoff denim shorts that was showing off a little bit of cheek.

  Kane paused. Damn, she looks hot! It was crazy but he had never taken a good look at India until that moment. She definitely was a physically attractive woman. If only she’d had the personality to match.

  India stepped to the side so that Kane could come in. He walked inside and looked around her cozy apartment.

  “Nice place, girl,” Kane said, giving her a nod of approval. “Very nice.”

  India smiled and took Kane’s coat, hanging it up in a nearby closet. Then she grabbed his hand and led him into the small dining area. There, she had the table fully set with plates, wine glasses, and candles. Kane smiled. Initially, he thought this visit was going to be a typical booty call. But judging from the way that India was trying to impress him, her intentions had Kane thinking differently.

  “Hey, I like this setup,” he complimented her, as he slid into one of the chairs. “Candlelight, wine glasses . . . What gives, girl?”

  India didn’t reply. Instead, she walked into the kitchen and emerged with platters of food. She put the dishes on the table and poured some chilled Moscato into their glasses then sat across from Kane and told him to dig in. Kane took a bite of the grilled salmon and nodded his head.

  “Damn, girl! Who knew you could hook up shit like this?” he said, giving her accolades on her cooking.

  “It’s a lot that you don’t know about me, Kane,” India calmly replied. “A hell of a lot.”

  Kane held his glass up and smiled. “I’m sure that I’m gonna find out a lot more about you tonight.”

  “I’m sure that you are,” India said, with a flirtatious look on her face.

  As they ate dinner, they chatted briefly about themselves. When Kane mentioned his house fire to India, she was visibly upset.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, with a look of concern on his face. “Why did you get so quiet all of a sudden?”

  India shrugged her shoulders and picked at the food on her plate. “I feel so bad about what happened to you, Kane! I’m glad that you made it out, though. I don�
�t know what I would do if anything happened to you. Do you know who did it?”

  Kane sighed. “Don’t worry, babe. Daddy ain’t going nowhere,” he said. India laughed. “And yes, I have an idea who did it. But I ain’t got no worries. That shit is gonna be taken care of.”

  India frowned at him. “Who do you think did it?” she asked, while taking a sip of her Moscato.

  Kane waved her off. “It’s not important, babe.” He quickly changed the subject. “Anyway, what’s up with you, girl? To what do I owe this invite?”

  India put down her fork and wiped her mouth with the cloth napkin. “I invited you over because I wanted to know what’s up with me and you. I mean, I really do like you, Kane, I do. But for the last couple of years, you’ve been treating me kinda fucked up; you would have sex with me and then don’t call me for weeks! I want to know, what is it about me that makes you treat me like some cheap whore?”

  Kane took a moment to think about how to put his reply into layman’s terms so that India could understand. The truth was that she had been one of the fast ones. India was a woman who was willing to give up the panties to a man very quickly and then mistakenly assume that she could handle the outcome. But she couldn’t handle it. India was too insecure and needy to be sexually liberated. Kane knew what she really wanted was a relationship and maybe that was something that she should have specified when Kane first got with her. Perhaps, he would have shown her a little more respect.

  “You have to remember when we first met, India, we jumped right in the bed with each other and honestly, that was all I wanted at the time. I wasn’t interested in being in no committed relationship with you or any other woman, for that matter.” A look of disappointment came over India’s face and Kane found himself trying to clean up his statement. “Look, India, you’re a gorgeous chick. You’re sexy and you seem cool but seriously, babe, your chill button is never on! And, in order for you to get what you want, it might be time for you to grow up.”