by Margo
“No, you didn’t.”
“Yes, I did.”
While Dior and Aaliyah went back and forth about who was going to roll their blunt, Tineya snatched the jar of medicinal marijuana, breaking it down. She took her time picking out the few stems and seeds. Tineya was lost in her thoughts as she took the Swisher Sweets blunt wrap from its wrapper. She stuck the entire blunt into her mouth, sucking on it lightly and careful to not soak it completely. She used her fingernail to cut the blunt, dumping the tobacco into the blunt wrapper. The weed replaced the tobacco.
“Sis!”
“Now let a nigga find out you a thug.”
Tineya came back from her thoughts with a laugh, fixing her bangs and noticing that Eron stood next to two other guys. Eron was by no means small or anything like it.
“What y’all talking about?”
“We talking about your ass pearling that blunt like you throwing up Taylor Gang or Crip walking through the LBC,” Aaliyah joked about Snoop Dogg and Wiz, who everybody knew smoked like chimneys.
Everybody snickered except one of the guys. He stood right by the door as if he was waiting for them to leave. The guy’s eyes kept finding Tineya’s.
“Sooooo, are you going tell us how you are a weed connoisseur?” Aaliyah asked, clapping her hands together.
“My uncle. It was just us, and even though I don’t smoke, he made me learn.”
“What you mean made you?”
“I mean . . . not like that. I just mean he taught me.”
“Aye, Liyah, we’re about to go shoot some moves. See y’all later.”
“You not gon’ say bye to me?” Mal walked up to Dior, standing directly in front of her.
“Fuck you.”
He backed up smoothly. “You know that can always be arranged.” Dior simply put her middle finger up.
The men left the living room without another word.
Chapter Twenty-one
Tineya
“What was that?”
“Who, Mal?” Dior asked defensively.
“Why? Didn’t you just tell him ‘Fuck you, daddy’?”
The ladies laughed. “Now you just making shit up,” Dior snapped. “Who called him daddy?”
“We could hear your undertone.”
“Whatever. It’s complicated.” Dior waved her hand.
“So anyway. I haven’t been feeling the way that people around me have been moving.”
“Always trust your instincts.”
“My uncle Nathan is my dad’s, Nick’s, younger brother. After that shit happened to my parents, I became a recluse. I was withdrawn from everything. School, work, that’s it. But anyway I moved with my uncle. He’s only a few years older, so he took on a huge responsibility by taking me in. We dodged Detroit Child Protective Services together. We grew close. He was all I fucking had. Everybody knows the day of my birthday is also the anniversary of my parents’ deaths. Needless to say, I hate it. But this year Salena, Dro, and Nathan asses acting like they hate me. Nathan just start going off on me, telling me how I need to settle with bullshit I been dealing with for years, all because nobody would want to have a girl with a scar on her face.”
“What the fuck?” Dior snapped. Aaliyah sat up with her elbows on her knees with damn near smoke coming from her ears.
“Just go ahead. I seen the bitch Salena. I knew I couldn’t vibe with her that one time that I met her,” she went on to say as she had her phone in her hand. “This why the bitch posting all these lonely-ass ‘friends ain’t really friends just some cool-ass niggas’ posts.”
“No, let me tell you. Remember the day I was late to therapy? We actually got into a fight.”
“Stop fucking lying.”
“I knew some heavy shit went down.”
“So anyway, I confided in her about the abortion, and she told Dro. He went off on me, dragging me through the mud. But when he said it, something in me snapped. I went to her house. The bitch wasn’t remorseful at all. She acted as if it were her decision to make. I just hit and kept hitting her. I’m so mad. Like I need another scar.” By this time Tineya was pacing.
“Stop worrying about that scar. You cold and you don’t even realize it. Fuck them, they toxic. You giving them way too much power over you.”
“Way too much. I want to ask you something. You said your dad was a pharmacist, right?”
“Yes.”
“That tells me that his shit had to be together. I mean insurance policies and shit like that. I’m thinking that your uncle is in some way benefitting from you.”
“What? No. He puts my money in my account like clockwork. He even puts extra in it. I don’t think he would move like that.”
Dior said, “Man, come on, Tineya. That nigga ain’t moving like a real one. He’s a snake. A snake in every sense of the word. Slimy and unpredictable. Some foolish people keep a snake as a pet, thinking that if the snake knows them, then it won’t turn on its owner. Even if it’s the same person who provides its food. Even if it’s in a cage and you have it for a long time, a snake is calculating, coming up with a way to get you. A snake doesn’t need a reason to attack. It just does it. Long story short, a snake can’t be trusted and neither can a human who’s moving as suspiciously as your uncle. See, between Jamal and Eron, I am learning people. They always taught Aaliyah ways to read a man. Number one was that a solid person should be able to look another solid person directly in the eyes. I bet Nathan’s eyes told a different story from yours. You speak admirably about him, but that’s not the person who thinks you should settle.
“An untrustworthy person is always out of touch with reality. Who does that sound like? Sounds like Salena to me. She broke the fucking code. It’s some shit that she never should’ve spoke about if you told her it in confidence. Whether she agreed with moves you was making or not, she should’ve been riding with you, right or wrong. Period!” Dior finished. “The only people who don’t do that want your man or they’re jealous. And I am sure the signs were there, but you think the person is all good when all they did was a good gesture. But even then, you have to wonder why they good the good deed. Are they doing it because they will stand to gain?’
Tineya sat there attempting to process the things that were being said. She tried her best to hold on to the one good thing Salena did or how she stood up for her. As fucked up as it sounded, Salena wanted Tineya to suffer at the hands of her and not anybody else.
“This shit actually makes sense.”
“The only way to kill a snake is to chop his head off,” said Dior.
Chapter Twenty-two
Tineya
“Don’t get y’all ass out that car until we get there. And don’t park directly in front of the house,” Eron said smoothly on speakerphone while they sat in the car just down the block from Tineya’s old house. Tineya’s palms were sweaty. She’d made it a point to stay away from this house by any means necessary.
“This house still standing it, and it looks good. I’m surprised the crackheads haven’t made it through it yet,” Dior said absentmindedly.
“Now tell me what happened again. This way, when we get there we can go in with no worries,” Eron’s voice boomed through the car.
“I think Tineya’s father left either money or a policy for her. She remembered that he had a safe. We want to check if anything is in there.”
“A snake huh? Does Tineya realize that snakes don’t get to live?” Aaliyah looked back at Tineya as she sat wringing her hands as if she wanted to get water from them.
“Wait. Do you mean kill him?”
“Look I’ll say this. Snakes plot and scheme until they get what they want. Snakes will lie in the cut until they are ready to attack. That won’t happen to me or mine. Get ya head in the game.”
Before anyone knew it Eron, Mal, and Ro came back, walking up the street.
“Get out of the car,” Eron voiced boomed through the speaker one last time before they heard the line clear.
“Which house
?” Ro asked in a raspy, quiet voice. He was dominating. His features were very prevalent even in the dark. His eyes pierced through the dark, looking into Tineya’s soul. Tineya pointed in the direction of the house she grew up in. Ro took off in the direction of the house, leaving the group.
“He’ll go in first, then he’ll come out to get us.” About a full minute went by as they stood at the back door. Mal and Eron stood firmly, feet planted just as they show you at a gun range, feet about shoulder-length apart diagonally with the left foot in front of the right foot. They equally blocked the women.
Ro appeared at the door with his finger up to lips in a “Shhhh” motion. They could hear arguing in the basement.
“A.J., I told you I couldn’t get nothing out of her.”
Everybody looked at each other, listening in a confused fashion.
“Didn’t y’all do that bullshit-ass letter-writing shit? Let me see the letter.”
“No. No. That’s too much. Just too much. I will not allow you to take away the patients’ privacy. And why did I have to meet you over here? You could’ve come to my house like you usually do.”
“Are you serious? Now you worried about the privacy shit? You’ve told me everything y’all discussed thus far. Look, the money is getting low. I need her on the hook. I need her to feel sorry and like she owes me something. I been forging her signature thus far, but now the attorney is requesting to see her.”
“I’m sorry. You know I really want to have a baby and be together.”
“Well, I need to know what’s in those letters. I need to know if the girl knows that I set up that accident. If her boyfriend finds out, I am dead.”
“Aaliyah doesn’t know. I can assure you. She thinks it was purely her bad luck.”
Aaliyah stood back crying silently. She was angry but not as angry as Eron. Mal stood bear-hugging Eron, trying to calm him down so that they could hear what was said.
The first level of the house was pitch-black. They had to thank God that they all wore dark clothes. The steps creaked just as Tineya remembered that they always would. The person who came down the steps didn’t even realize a gun was trained on them. The person appeared as if they were waking up from sleep.
“Nathan!”
The person whose voice it was blew Tineya away. It was none other than Salena. She followed the light of the open basement door.
“Who the fuck is that?”
The two voices went back and forth as Salena went down the stairs into the basement.
“Really, Nathan? Really? In the same fucking house?”
“This is my man. Where’d you get her from? He doesn’t owe you any explanations.”
“Bitch, you don’t even know his real name. That’s how serious he is about you.”
“Okay, y’all, stop. Just stop. We are not getting anywhere like this. My bad about y’all finding out like this. But shit, I need y’all both.”
Both women stood there crying.
“Jennifer, I needed her to get as much information about how Tineya been feeling. They’re best friends.”
“Well, we were.”
Nathan aka A.J.’s head turned abruptly. “The fuck you mean ‘were’? You were supposed to always be my inside source.”
Nobody paid attention as Jennifer pulled her registered pistol out of her purse, pointing it at Nathan’s back.
Pow! Pow! Pow!
The group looked at each other as a hurt Dr. Jennifer Long walked out the front door frantically.
“Aye, Eron, take Aaliyah out to the car. We gotta move quickly.” Ro’s gaze shifted to a wide-eyed Tineya.
“The safe is in the basement, right? Okay, either you go down there, or you can give me the combination and I can do it for you, but we gotta be quick.”
“Uh . . .” Tineya’s hands waved up and down as she tried to think. Ro’s gloved hand grabbed her hand in an attempt to bring her back. “I think it’s twenty-one, one, nine.”
“Okay, go out to the car and wait.” Jamal ushered both Tineya and Dior out of the house, wiping down anything along the way. Tineya walked out the door being careful to not touch anything. Only seconds later Ro walked out of the house with a book bag on. Eron hopped in the car. Aaliyah drove because she could barely focus. The car ride was silent. Tineya didn’t even notice or care that Ro had the bag with him.
Chapter Twenty-three
Three Months Later
“Please, have a seat at that table second from the last. Don’t touch the inmate. She will be coming right out of the double doors,” an angry-ass, bad-built correction officer said all in one breath. She didn’t bother to wait for a response.
Aaliyah and Tineya looked at each other. “Okay.”
They sat as they waited for the person to come out. They couldn’t help but feel a wave of sadness wash over them. It was heartbreaking seeing the separation of families. Mothers sitting with their children, trying to explain to them why Mommy couldn’t go home or why their contact was limited was tough to see.
“Man, I’m ready to go.” No sooner than Tineya said that a very pregnant, miserable-looking Dr. Jennifer Long squealed.
“Oh my gosh! How did you guys know I was here?” She chuckled nervously, looking around at the dreary grayness of the visiting room.
“So you were dating my uncle?”
“We’re just cutting right to the chase, huh?”
“Appears that way.”
Dr. Jenn slammed her hand on the table. “I did everything right, and now I’m having a baby in prison. I was with a man for years who beat me over and over. He beat me because the meteorologist lied about the weather. He never needed a reason. I wanted nothing more than a baby. He said he wanted one too. Yet, he beat the mutherfucker out of me.
“I’d finally had enough. I left him. I went to get my mind right. I went to school. I figured since I couldn’t fix myself, I would work on other people’s minds. I stayed away from dating. I just didn’t need it. But I met A.J., and he swept me off my feet. I didn’t expect him to want to know all about my business, but I grew to appreciate it. He told me that he loved me. Then everything started out with, ‘If you loved me, then you’d do x, y, and z.’”
“So basically you got manipulated?” Aaliyah questioned.
“See, now you getting it. He asked, and I delivered. I figured if I did what he wanted, we could run away and be happy. It was no coincidence that either of you were assigned to me.”
“Now you starting to sound as if you are proud of this shit,” Tineya said.
“Oh, look at you. You look confident. Even letting that scar breathe some.”
“Jennifer. Jennifer. Jennifer.”
Jennifer stood at the small creases of the window, coming back from her daydream. It was a recurring daydream. Each day it got further and further away.
“Jennifer, you have to participate in the group.”
She looked around at the small group and couldn’t help but compare it to when she ran her own group. “Tiffany.” Jennifer started walking toward the empty chair.
“Tiffany? My name is Dr. Daniels. I’d like to be addressed as such.”
“Well, you don’t call me Dr. Jenn.”
Dr. Daniels stood up. “Listen, I don’t call you Dr. Jennifer because the fact remains you are not a doctor. You threw that away on a man. You violated a patient-therapist confidentiality clause. I am trying my best to work with you, but you need to understand that I run this session. Whether or not you like the way I run it doesn’t matter. You lost that privilege when you killed two people and were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Session dismissed. Jennifer Long, inmate 264290, please come back with a better attitude. Guard!”
Chapter Twenty-four
Aaliyah
“Eron,” she yelled as soon as she opened the door. Aaliyah was pissed that he parked in the middle of the driveway. It left no room for her to get her car into the driveway. Aaliyah was very strategic with her steps with her being i
n pain twenty-four seven.
“Why the fuck is it so dark in here?” Aaliyah snapped, turning on the light in the foyer. She was PMSing, so every little thing was pissing her off. “Let me relax,” she tried to tell herself as she locked the door.
“Oh. My. God.”
As if on cue, Eric Benét’s “Spend My Life with You” came on.
“Aaliyah, I just want you to come dance with me. Can you do that?” Eron extended his hand for Aaliyah to grasp.
“Yes.” Eron held on to Aaliyah ever so gracefully. Aaliyah’s legs were bad as she couldn’t dance for real, but they couldn’t sing for shit. But they held a tune, singing to each other.
I never knew such a day could come, and I never knew such a love could be inside of one.
“Damn. That’s my shit.”
“I know, right?”
“Sit down. I know you’re a trooper. But I also know your legs hurt.”
“So bad. I didn’t want to ruin the mood though.”
“See, hearing shit like that lets me know I’m doing the right thing. You make this shit easy. Come in the backyard,” Eron said all in one breath.
Aaliyah had never seen Eron nervous, so it was making her nervous about what she thought he was trying to get the courage to do. She didn’t want to get to ahead of herself, so she was just following his lead. Truthfully, even if this didn’t lead to a proposal, she’d be happy, because he’d never done anything this nice and intimate.
“Close your eyes.”
Aaliyah felt Eron leave her side, so her balance shifted.
“Now open them,” she heard Eron yell from a distance.
Aaliyah just stood still as Eron stood in the middle of their family and friends. Each person held a sign that read: WILL YOU MARRY THIS GUY? There were even arrows pointing to him as stood there in his B-boy stance.
“I have a letter I want to read you. Aaliyah,” Eron announced, pulling out his phone.
“Well, that’s romantic!” somebody from the crowd shouted, making everybody snicker. It was almost as if joke was just what the doctor ordered.