“Well, you need to let me meet your sister, and both of you owe Mama Smith an apology. No matter the situation, her house shouldn’t have been disrespected,” he said.
“I have no problem apologizing to Mama Smith, but I need for you never to shut me out again. If we have an issue, we need to discuss it like adults,” I told him.
“Tamia, I’m hoping there won’t be a next time. And if I find out that you lied to me about anything else, it’s over. I refuse to be in a relationship with you lying to me,” he said.
I wanted to get fly out of the mouth, but I changed my mind, because he wasn’t leaving me until I said that the relationship was over. I called Tamara up, told her that everything was cool, and invited her to come over to have dinner with us so that she could meet German. I went into the kitchen after telling German that my sister was on her way over to have dinner with us. After setting the table, I called Tamara back to see how long it would be before she got back over here. After having two beers, German’s ass was now dozing, and I needed to get this shit done tonight so that Tamara and I could get back to what I needed her to do next.
Chapter Eighteen
Jakiyah
My phone rang just as I pulled up to the house the Realtor was showing me today. I had decided to rent a home instead of buying. I honestly didn’t think I would be staying long term in New York, like I had originally planned, so renting was the best option for me right now. I ignored Qua’s call as I got out of the car to get this over with and to stop delaying my move. Yes, I was no longer upset with my mother, and I had apologized for disrespecting her house, but I was ready to move out and be in my own space. She was not happy with my decision, but it was a decision I needed to make, as I was sure this wasn’t going to be the last time we bumped heads about that trick Tamia.
“Hello, Ms. Smith,” the Realtor greeted me.
“Hello, Mrs. Walters. How are you?”
“I’m fine. Are you ready for the tour of the home?” she asked, smiling.
“Yes, I’m ready,” I responded as she opened the door.
The house was located in Rosedale, off of 148th Road, and I had to say it was a beautiful home. It had three bedrooms—the master bedroom had its own bathroom—a spacious living room, a dining room, and a kitchen with all new appliances. The best part was the wood floors throughout the home. I really didn’t need three bedrooms, but when I was searching for two-bedrooms, I discovered that the price wasn’t much different than that of three- bedroom houses. After touring the house with Mrs. Walters, I took a few more minutes to do a walk-through on my own. I did want to say yes in haste because she had made the place sound perfect, which it was, and I wasn’t going to get all excited in front of her.
I stood in the master bedroom, already decorating it in my head. Next, I went to the bedroom toward the back of the house to look out at the backyard, and I loved it. I wished that there was a pool, but there wasn’t, but I could live without a pool. My ass didn’t know how to swim, anyway. I knew that I could afford the nineteen hundred dollars a month rent, but I would definitely have to get my ass back to work at somebody’s job sooner than later. People might wonder how I was able to afford nearly two grand a month, but it was nobody’s business.
“Mrs. Walters,” I called out once I got back downstairs.
“I’m here, hon. What do you think of the place?” she asked, coming from the kitchen.
“I love the home. The only complaint that I do have is that the tiles in the hallway bathroom are loose near the tub area,” I told her.
“Okay, I can assure you that if you take the place, I will make sure that the owner has that fixed before you move in,” she responded with a smile.
“I’m going to take the place, Mrs. Walters.”
“Great. You can meet me at my office tomorrow morning with the Realtor’s fee, first month, and security.”
“No problem, and thank you so much,” I said, shaking her hand.
I left the rental house, and since I had about thirty minutes to kill before meeting up with Yessenia for lunch, I decided to stop by the bank to get the money that I needed for tomorrow. Yessenia finally had a day off, so we had decided to meet up to discuss the bullshit that had been going on in my crazy life. Getting my own place made me feel somewhat better. However, I knew that my mother wasn’t going to be pleased with me leaving the house, but she would have to accept that I needed my own place.
I loved my mother to death, but she had made me realize why it was so easy for me to leave the first time I left: she wasn’t the easiest person to get along with at times. Since the incident at her house, I just felt like she blamed me, even though I had apologized for my part in the fight. Sometimes I wished that my dad would stand up to her and let her know when she was wrong, but he always stayed neutral. I just hoped that she understood that I needed my own space and that me moving had nothing to do with the disagreement that we had. I hated that I would not be there to help with baby Andrea the way that I had been, but I would make sure to help out as much as I could.
When I got to the restaurant, Yessenia was already waiting because I was, like, twenty minutes late. I had no idea where my ATM card was at, so I had had to wait on a teller to get the money and had decided to cancel the ATM card and get a replacement.
“Hey, sorry I’m late,” I said, hugging her.
“No worries. It’s not like I have anywhere to be,” she said before she walked over to the hostess to let her know that her guest had arrived.
“So, what the hell happened over at the Smith residence? I tried calling you back when I got off of work, but you didn’t answer,” she said when she sat back down at our table.
“Well, like I told you on the phone, all I did was ask Tamia why she had Tamara at my house, and Tamara got out of pocket, so I had to check the bitch. I don’t know if I told you, but when it was all said and done, I heard my mother telling Tamia that it wasn’t her fault. I took it as her saying that it was my fault. So, there’s been a lot of tension in the house since it happened, and I’m not feeling it,” I said sadly.
“Well, there were three parties involved, so she could have been speaking about Tamara, especially if your mother heard how it all started,” Yessenia said, defending my mother.
“Yeah, but even though I apologized, I still feel like she’s mad at me. I might just be reading more into it than I should,” I admitted.
“Okay, so on to the next issue. Let me see the video that you said Qua sent to your phone. I have to be honest with you, though. I don’t think that Qua would send you a video of him fucking another female. This has Tamara written all over it, just like I told you on the phone,” she said, still not convinced that it was Qua.
I watched her as she looked at the video, and she was better about it than I was. As soon as I saw that it was a sex video starring Qua and that bitch, I had clicked it off. She, on the other hand, was all into the video, as if it was arousing her ass. This pissed me off just a little, because I wanted her to have the same reaction that I had had.
“Enjoying it, are we?” I asked with a hint of sarcasm.
“Hell no, and trust, his ass wasn’t enjoying it, either. That bitch drugged his ass. Look and tell me what man you know that when a bitch is riding him, he’s not grabbing her ass or her breasts. Jakiyah, Qua is trying to get the bitch off of him, and she’s holding him down,” she said, all excited, like she had just solved her first murder case.
I really didn’t want to watch the video again, and especially while sitting in the restaurant, but Yessenia kept pushing. She wanted me to tell her I saw exactly what she was seeing. I took a deep breath before lowering the volume, just in case, and starting to watch the video. I felt the anger rise in me as I was looking at what Yessenia had described, and I wanted to beat Tamara’s ass all over again. Damn, I hadn’t even given him a chance to explain when he was trying to tell me that he didn’t send the video.
I fucked up, I thought to myself. This desperate bitc
h really needed her ass beat, and I swore that if she came anywhere near me again, I was going to be the one beating that ass.
“You need to call him,” Yessenia said, bringing me back to the present. She could tell I was really seeing red now.
“Jess, he’s not going to talk to me. I’ve been ignoring his calls and his text messages,” I whined, calling her by my nickname for her, which I hadn’t used in, like, forever.
“Trust me, he’s waiting for his phone to ring,” she said, trying to convince me.
“I’m going to wait until later. Let’s just take this time to enjoy our meals,” I said, knowing I wouldn’t be enjoying my meal, because now my mind was elsewhere.
“So, tell me about the place you found and where it is located,” she said, trying to get me to focus on something else.
“Girl, the place is really nice. It’s a three-bedroom located in Rosedale, right off the corner of One Hundred Forty-Eighth Road, near the store. If you remember where Keita used to live, it’s, like, a block from there,” I told her.
“Oh, yeah. I know exactly where that is. Did you get a good price?” she asked.
“I got it for nineteen hundred dollars a month.”
“Damn, it’s a good price for that area, but shit, you’re practically paying someone’s mortgage.”
“I know, girl, but I just can’t see myself buying a house right now. I don’t know if New York is going to be my final resting place,” I said, being honest with her.
“I feel you, but you need to make up your mind because that’s a lot of money, and you could be putting it into your own home,” she said seriously. “So, if you’re basing your sticking around on Qua, you better get his ass on the phone ASAP,” she added.
“No, that’s not why I’m not sure if I’m sticking around,” I lied.
I would love to see where Qua and I could go with a relationship, but I wasn’t going to lie. I was scared to death because of the drama that had already started, and he wasn’t even my man. My phone rang just as my greedy ass was about to stuff another mozzarella stick into my mouth. I ignored it at first, but then I saw it was my mom calling, so I took the call, praying that everything was okay.
“Hey, Mom. What’s going on?” I asked, a little nervous.
“Where you at, bighead?”
“Ty?” I asked, trying not to get excited, since I wasn’t sure.
“Who else would it be? Now again, where are you?” he asked me again.
“I’m on my way,” I said excitedly. I looked over at Yessenia. “Girl, Ty is home. I have to go, but I promise I will make it up to you,” I told her.
“You better stop. We’re good. I’ll take care of the bill.”
“Thanks, sis,” I said. I hugged her before rushing out of the restaurant.
Once I got on the road, I had to tell myself to slow down. I was driving too fast, and Lord knows, I didn’t need to get pulled over before I made it home to see my brother.
Chapter Nineteen
Jakiyah
I almost tripped on the porch steps from running so fast, trying to get inside the house. As soon as I made it through the front door, I ran into my brother’s arms. I wasn’t trying to let him go as the tears fell.
“Why are you acting like I’ve been gone for years?” He laughed.
“I just missed you so much, and I didn’t know if I would see you again,” I cried.
“I’m out on bond, but I’m sure my lawyer is going to beat this case,” he said, sounding convinced.
“Well, I’m just glad you’re home. And I pray that this nightmare will be over soon.... I know that you didn’t do this.”
“Nah, I didn’t get a chance to handle his ass, but trust, if I had had the opportunity, his ass would not have been found,” he whispered to me.
“Baby, are you hungry?” my mom asked him.
“Yes, Mom. The food up in there was horrible.” He laughed.
“Okay, baby. I’m going to fix dinner, but in the meantime, I’ll fix you a sandwich to hold you over.” She turned to me. “Jakiyah, would you like a sandwich too?” she asked me.
“No, thank you. I just finished lunch with Yessenia,” I told her. I wondered if I should tell them that I had found a place and would be moving.
My dad had already gone back upstairs to do what he did best, and that was sitting in his recliner and watching the Spike channel. I told Ty about my run-in with Tamia and the sister whom no one ever knew she had. He tried to convince me that Tamia was good people, and she had never disrespected our mother or her house for as long as he had known her. I wasn’t trying to knock what he was saying, but I just felt that if her sister was grimy, she was grimy too.
“Who picked you up from the courthouse?” I asked him, trying to change the subject because I had already given them tricks enough of my energy.
“Chanel came and picked me up and drove me by the club to pick up my car. I’m going to go back to the club tomorrow and try to get it open for the weekend,” he said.
“Really? So soon?”
“Yes, I missed my family, but I missed my club just as much,” he said, laughing. “That shit was crazy, locking me up on some bullshit at my showcase. I didn’t even get to finish the show, so I’m going to put that back in rotation and schedule it for next weekend.”
“I found a place,” I blurted out.
“You found a place where? And does Mom know?” he asked, looking at me like I was crazy.
“No, Mom doesn’t know, and I don’t want you to say anything just yet. The place is in Rosedale, not too far from here, so it shouldn’t be an issue.”
“I don’t know about it not being an issue, but you know Mom is not trying to hear about you moving out.”
“I know that she doesn’t want me to move, but, Ty, it’s time for me to get my own place. You already know how Mom is. She’s stuck in her own ways, and I’ve had just about enough of it. It feels like I’m living here as a child all over again, and I’m so ready to go,” I explained, being honest.
“I feel you, and I’m not telling you not to do it, but I know she’s going to feel some kind of way about it. Anyway, what’s up with you and my nigga Qua?”
I just looked at him and shook my head. I didn’t even know if I wanted to share what had happened with Qua. I had never kept anything from Ty before, but I was kind of embarrassed this time to tell him. But what the hell? He was probably going to find out from Keem or Qua, anyway.
“Tamia’s sister, Tamara, is Qua’s ex-girlfriend from North Carolina, and she came to visit. He put me out of his crib to accommodate her. So, the day after she showed up here and got her ass kicked, I get a video that night of Qua and her fucking, so you know my ass was pissed,” I told him. “I let Yessenia see the video, and she and I both agree that he looks drugged in the video. He tried to tell me that he didn’t send the video and that he didn’t remember fucking her. I kind of just told him that I didn’t believe him, and that it is what it is, because we weren’t together.”
“So, that bitch is living foul like that?”
“That’s what I was trying to tell you. I know that Tamia’s done pulled the wool over on every last one of you all, but trust when I say that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Both of those bitches are living foul.”
Someone rang the doorbell just then, and Ty and I looked at each other. Neither one of us was in the mood for bullshit. I got up to get the door. If it was Tamia just dropping by, I was going to drop her ass right where she stood. I opened the door to find the two detectives from New Jersey who were investigating my sister’s murder. I let them in. Ty went into the kitchen to let my mother know, and I ran up the steps to tell my father that they were here. Then we all gathered in the living room.
“I’m sorry to show up without calling, but I wanted to come by personally to give you an update on your daughter’s case,” one of the detectives said to my mother. He had spoken to her several times before.
“Not a problem, Detectiv
e James. Please have a seat,” she told him and his partner.
They both took a seat.
“First, let me introduce you to my partner, Detective Brooks, who is also from the homicide unit. As I told you before, the gas station owner wasn’t being cooperative with the release of the video from the night that your daughter was murdered, so we served him with a warrant and were able to retrieve the video footage from that night. On the night in question, the video does show her husband, Andris, being very aggressive, striking the driver’s window of her car, and it also shows him pulling something out of his pocket. Unfortunately, we are unable to make out what it is on the tape.”
Detectives James went on. “The gas station attendant comes out of the store and says something to Andris, who turns and runs to his car, and he leaves the scene. Minutes later, the video shows another car pulling up behind your daughter’s car, and someone dressed in a black hoodie and black jeans walks over to her car and fires into the car before fleeing the scene. So, Andris didn’t kill your daughter, Mrs. Smith. We are in the process of trying to get a make on the car from another video, one from the auto shop located next door. The angle of the camera doesn’t give us much, but we have the best team on it, trying to get us something to work with.”
So now we sat there, puzzled. If Andris didn’t kill Cydney, then who the fuck killed her? And what was their reason to kill her? I still didn’t feel any kind of way about Andris’s ass being dead, since whether he killed her or not, he had still put his fucking hands on her. My brother didn’t say much, and neither did my father. They both looked as if they were in deep thought. My mother thanked the detectives, who in return let her know that they were going to do everything possible to catch the person responsible for my sister’s murder. Then the two detectives stood, and my mother showed them out.
Now that Andris had been cleared, if he were alive, he probably would have been of some assistance to the detectives: he might have offered them something that our family couldn’t. For instance, he might have known if Cydney had any jealous friends or had a beef with someone who might have wanted to harm her. It could even have been that Andris was cheating, and the jealous female that he was dealing with had killed her. Now I felt as if we were right back at square one. I just hoped that the detectives were going to look into all of those possibilities that I had just thought of. Better yet, I was going to call Detective James tomorrow to let him know what I was thinking.
He Used to Love Me Page 8