by La Jill Hunt
“How can you be certain?” he asked.
“My sister is a whole lot of things, bad things, but she loves those girls in her own way, especially Avery. She didn’t do this.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
“I do.” I nodded. “My sister’s avoidance has nothing to do with what happened to Avery. It has to do with money. She’s gonna do any and everything to get every single dime out of this horrible accident. If that means fundraisers, lawsuits, media blitzes, whatever, she’s gonna do it. But I can assure you she didn’t hurt Avery.”
“But you haven’t explained how you know.”
“Because at the time when all of this was going down, my sister was somewhere fucking my husband. And that, Detective Donaldson, is why I had to get the hell away.” I tried to remain stoic.
“I’m so sorry, Celia.” He shook his head and then, as if he sensed my breaking down, he took a step toward me and hugged me close as I cried in his arms. I enjoyed the warmth of his embrace for a few moments, until the light tapping on the door caused me to pull away.
“Shit. I’m so sorry, Detective Donaldson,” I told him, embarrassed as I regained my composure.
“Please stop calling me that.” He laughed as he walked toward the door to open it. “It’s Sean.”
“Okay, Sean,” I said. “I need a few minutes to get myself together.”
I went into the bathroom and washed my face. When I looked at my reflection in the mirror, I saw that my hair was coming out from the already messy ponytail that I had made right before their arrival. My heart was racing, and although I told myself it was from the emotional breakdown I’d had moments earlier, I knew that wasn’t the reason. I knew from the moment I saw Sean that there was a slight attraction, and now, there was no doubt that is was more than slight. But he was there to do a job, and I was still a married woman.
Whatever you’re thinking about thinking about, don’t, I told myself. The last thing you need in your life right now is to be feeling someone else. You know better than anyone else: before you go trying to open a new door, you better make sure the old one is closed, locked, and the key is thrown away. Besides, that man is just doing his job, and you’re feeling some type of way about your cheating-ass husband. Get it together.
I opened the bathroom door and walked back into the room, where Sean and his partner were waiting.
“Did you guys need anything else?” I asked.
“No, I think we’re done here. I did confirm with hospital security that your sister did ask that you not be allowed to see your niece. They didn’t explain why. I’m sorry about that,” Perkins told me. “But they also told us something else.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Celia,” Sean said, “Avery woke up about twenty minutes ago.”
Diane
“How is she?” Patrick whispered as he walked into the hospital room and stood on the other side of Avery’s bed. “I thought they said she’s awake.”
“She has been opening her eyes. She’s just asleep right now. They still got her on all kinds of meds,” I told him. “Did you give a statement yet?”
“Yeah, I let folks know that she’s regained consciousness but still not out of the woods,” he answered.
“Yeah, because if people think she’s better, the donations will slow down, huh?”
“Don’t worry. We’ll keep the momentum going,” Patrick told me.
I realized that I had said the words out loud without planning to. I didn’t want him to think that I was some kind of heartless monster who didn’t give a damn about her child. I was elated when they called and told me that Avery had opened her eyes, and I didn’t waste any time getting to the hospital. As soon as Ronda and I finished eating our lunch, we left in such a hurry that we didn’t even take time to pay the bill. Coming into the room and seeing my child’s eyes opened after being closed for a whole week brought me a sense of relief. She was only awake for about ten minutes at a time before drifting off, but clearly, her condition was improving.
“That’s not what I meant,” I said. “I’m just trying to see what’s next, that’s all.”
“Well, what’s your plan?” Patrick asked.
I didn’t really have a plan. The donations had steadily been coming in online, and the total was well over fifteen thousand dollars. In addition, Mount Hebron had taken up an offering on the Sunday Ashley and I attended, in addition to taking up money at the vigil they held that night. Patrick said the amount was another four thousand that we had coming. Even after his cut, that was way more money than I’d anticipated. My original goal was to get enough to buy me a decent car and maintain my bills for a couple of months until I got another job. Now, the possibilities seemed endless.
“Did you talk to your lawyer friend? What did he say about filing a lawsuit against the police department?” I asked.
“He’s working on it. But we need to sit down with him and sign some paperwork and pay a retainer,” Patrick explained.
“A retainer? Avery’s story has been everywhere, and this case is a goddamn goldmine. The city is gonna hurry up and settle. Fuck a retainer,” I hissed.
“I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime, we let folks know that Avery has mounting medical bills and a long road ahead of her to recovery. She’s gonna have to have physical therapy, not to mention the mental anguish that all this has caused her, the emotional trauma, et cetera.”
“I need that lawyer. The police have been on my ass, and I don’t wanna talk to them until after that lawsuit is filed.” I sat back in the chair and folded my arms.
“Just talk to them, Di. There’s no harm in giving a statement.”
“I ain’t telling them shit. And when the hell am I getting my share of the money?” I glared at him. “It’s been a whole fucking week, and you and these little nickel-and-dime payments ain’t helping.”
“The first deposit drops tomorrow, and I’ll get your money over to you. Hell, I been waiting my damn self. I got moves to make.”
“What kind of moves?” I asked.
“I decided to use my money and make a short-term investment.” He grinned. I wasn’t amused or impressed by his answer until he added, “I’m buying bricks.”
“Of what?” My eyes widened.
“Don’t act like you don’t know. I damn sure ain’t about to build a house with them, that’s for sure.”
Avery’s body jerked a little, and she let out a slight moan. I rubbed her cheek and then hit the call button. When the nurse came in, I motioned for him to follow me out into the hallway, and we walked a little farther past the nurses’ station, where no one could hear us talking.
“Now, tell me what the fuck you’re talking about.”
“I just decided now would be the right time to make a power move with my share of the money,” he explained.
“So, you mean to tell me you’re taking your cut and becoming a dope boy.” I smirked.
“Hell no! I’m too old for that street bullshit. You can make street moves without touching product. You do know that, right? The dope game is very much like the stock market.”
“You’re flipping it.” I thought about how much money my share had the potential to make. “With who?”
“A guy I know. He’s actually my fam. I’m going holla at him to work out the details.”
“I want in,” I told him.
“What?” He sounded surprised.
“I wanna flip my share too. I want in.”
“Nah, that ain’t a good idea.” He shook his head.
“Why not? I thought we were partners, Patrick. Haven’t we made a good team up until now? Now you wanna be selfish?” I stepped closer to him.
“I don’t know if he’s gonna be willing. . . .” His nervousness started to show, and I almost laughed.
“I’m going with you to this meeting,” I said matter-of-factly. “And I ain’t taking no for an answer.”
“Ms. Hughes?” The nurse waved at me from where she was standing
outside of Avery’s room. “She’s awake again.”
I glanced at Patrick then back at her and said, “Her big sister is around here somewhere trying to avoid me. You can find her and let her know that I’m gone, and she can sit with her for a while. I have a meeting I have to go to right quick.”
* * *
“What up, nephew?” Patrick walked up to a guy sitting in the back of Chubby’s, a greasy hole in the wall that served burgers and chicken wings.
“’Sup, Unc?” The guy looked up from the basket of wings and fries he was eating and nodded at Patrick, then me.
“Everything is everything.” Patrick smiled, then said, “I see you still eating good.”
“No doubt.” The guy seemed unbothered by our presence, and I wasn’t in the mood to listen to Patrick’s usual conversational bullshit. I decided to speed things up so we could get down to our reason for being there.
“What’s up? I’m Di.” I introduced myself.
“I know who you are,” the guy said, looking me up and down.
“Oh, really?” I smiled as I slid across from him in the booth. He was younger than what I usually went for, but he was legal, sexy, and from what Patrick told me, he had money. I figured if I played my cards right, I might be able to do this without Patrick’s help.
“So, you’ve seen me around?”
“Kinda hard not to. You and Pat been all over everywhere about what happened to your little girl.”
“Oh, yeah,” I said, slightly disappointed.
“That’s right, nephew. This is Avery’s mom. Di, this is my nephew Dell.” Patrick motioned for me to slide over so he could sit. “We need to holla at you, nephew, about some business,” Patrick told him.
“Now, Unc, you know that ain’t happening. Not after what happened the last time we tried to do business. I can make a donation for your little girl, but I can’t loan you nothing,” Dell told us.
“What?” I gave him a confused look. “A loan?”
“Naw, nephew, we ain’t looking for a loan. We got money.” Patrick leaned across the table and picked up one of Dell’s fries. “We trying to give you money.”
From the look on Dell’s face, I could see that he was surprised by Patrick’s statement. He pushed the basket of food closer to Patrick and said, “What are you talking about?”
“We wanna make a business investment of sorts.” Patrick continued eating the fries and then turned to me and asked, “You want some?”
“Nah, I’m good,” I told him. Then I said to Dell, “Patrick tells me you have a successful business, and I’ve recently come into an influx of capital.”
Dell looked from me to Patrick, then said, “Is that right? How much capital we talking about?”
“Ten grand,” I said.
Dell’s eyes widened in surprise, and he sat up in his seat. “Ten grand?”
“That’s right, nephew. I told you Unc wasn’t bullshitting you. We here to do real business.” Patrick smirked.
“And where is this ten grand coming from? Because it just took your ass damn near three months to pay me back three stacks.” Dell glanced at Patrick.
“Come on now, Dell. Don’t be like that. You know I paid you back and—”
“You paid me back?” Dell raised his eyebrows at Patrick.
“The point is that you got your money. There was a slight little hiccup in getting it back to you, and I’m sorry about that. But—”
“Don’t worry. We’re good for the money. I—I mean we—got it. Now, you tryna do business or what?” I said, becoming more and more frustrated.
“And just where did this ten grand come from?” He directed the question at me.
“It came from—” Patrick went to answer, but I stopped him.
“Doesn’t matter where it came from. We got it, cash. Do you ask all of your business associates this many questions?”
“I do.” He shrugged. “So, what are you trying to get for this investment?”
“A good return on our money, within a reasonable timeframe, of course. Let’s say three or four weeks?” Patrick told him.
Dell reached and pulled the wing basket back across the table and said, “Three of four weeks? You want me to flip ten grand in less than a month?”
“Yeah, is that not possible?” I asked.
“Real talk, for me, it’s not. Unc, you know better than I do that I ain’t in the dope game like that no more. I’m trying to go legit. I got my hand in some shit, but not like that,” Dell answered.
“Come on, man. This can be your last big hurrah. You know you got that wedding you planning. This can take care of that and the honeymoon if you handle it right,” Patrick told him.
I could see the wheels in Dell’s head turning. He took a few moments before he finally responded and said, “Lemme make a few calls and see what I can come up with.”
“That’s good enough for me,” Patrick told him.
“I’ma tell you right now: if I find out this is some bullshit, it won’t be good,” Dell said.
“I don’t deal in bullshit,” I responded. “How long is it gonna take for you to make your calls?”
“A day or so. You in a rush?” he asked me.
“I’m just about my business, that’s all. And if we ain’t doing business with you, then Unc, as you call him, and I need to take our business elsewhere. I’m sure you understand that.” I shrugged. “Come on, Unc. I got other shit to do.”
“Oh, well, a’ight then. I guess we’ll talk later, nephew.” Patrick stood up and gave Dell a pound with his fist.
“Sure thing. Nice meeting you, Di. Again, I’m sorry to hear about your little girl,” Dell told me.
“Thanks,” I said and held my hand out to him. He stared at it for a second and then went to shake it, but I snatched it back then held it out again. “You said you were gonna give a donation for her.”
“Oh, damn. You serious?” he asked.
“Damn right,” I told him.
He reached in his pocket and handed me a twenty-dollar bill. “Here you go.”
I took the money and tucked it inside my bra, making sure to give him a nice view of my cleavage, which I knew was popping in one of the new sixty-dollar Victoria’s Secret bras that I bought when Ronda and I went shopping. “We appreciate your support.”
Patrick and I walked out, and when we got into the car, he said, “Well, that didn’t go exactly the way I thought it would, but it ain’t go all the way left, so that’s good.”
“So, now what?” I asked him.
“We wait for him to call me,” Patrick said.
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Then I’ll call him.” Patrick shrugged.
I thought about everything Dell had just said. “Why the hell do we have to wait on his call? Why can’t we just find someone else to flip it for us?”
“Because he’s fam and I trust him. It ain’t like we can google ‘reliable drug dealer’ and come up with a list.”
“Shut the fuck up, smart ass. I know that. But didn’t you used to be in the game?”
“Yeah, shit, I was the one who put Dell’s ass on, to be honest. But that was before I cleaned up my act and found the Lord.”
“Cut out that Lord bullshit, Patrick. You don’t have to front for me.” I shook my head.
“Front how?” He had the nerve to act like he didn’t know what I was talking about.
“Well, for starters, you may work for the church part-time, but don’t front like you don’t be gambling down at Chubby’s and at the poker games with the big boys around town. That’s how you make money for real.”
“I minister to the guys at Chubby’s. That’s called ministry.”
“And say what you want about being in love with Nikki. That damn sure ain’t stopped you from checkin’ out my ass and titties every time you see me.”
He put the car in park and turned around in his seat so that we were face to face, then gave me a lust-filled look. “So what? I’m a man. What do you expec
t me to do? Especially when you have your ass and titties out on display for me to look at.”
“I expect for you to boss the fuck up,” I said.
“And do what?” He reached out and ran his finger along the side of my breast, causing my nipples to harden.
Patrick was corny as hell, but he was a good-looking man. I didn’t know if it was because I hadn’t had any good dick since fucking Terry to get my car fixed, or what, but he was starting to turn me on. I eased my hand on his crotch to see what he was working with and was pleasantly surprised. But we still had some business to deal with, and for me, that came first.
“Your nephew said he was making some calls, right?”
“Yeah.” His hand slipped under my shirt.
I pulled his head to mine and whispered. “Why don’t you call whoever the fuck he’s calling instead, and make shit happen for us?”
Bilal
“Now, if you click right here, you can get a full view of the other camera,” I said, showing Malik how to navigate the computer and use the new state of the art security system I had installed. I had done just as he asked and made sure he had the best system money could buy. He had video surveillance in every room of his house, none of which anyone could detect. People would never know they were being watched both inside and outside of his house.
“Damn, B, this is sweet as hell. Look at this shit.” He smiled as he looked at Tey and Kareema on the screen. They were in one of the bedrooms, half dressed, laughing while doing their hair in the mirror. “Can I zoom in?”
“You sure can.” I showed him how to zoom.
“That’s what I’m talking about. Look at that.” He wasted no time focusing on Kareema’s naked breasts.
“Yeah, the picture quality is amazing,” I said, reaching and turning to another camera angle.
“That ain’t what I was talking about, but yeah, that shit is clear as hell.” He laughed.
“A’ight, I’m gonna tell you this one more time, Malik. If you record certain stuff without their knowing and that shit gets out, you can go to jail. And you can end up with more time than doing other shit. They ain’t playing out here about this digital consent stuff, bruh,” I told him.