“Okay. So I guess we’re going,” I said, getting up.
I went into the bedroom, pulled my shirt over my head, and removed my jeans and boots before stepping into the bathroom to take a shower. I swear, I didn’t want to believe that she would do this, and if she did, I was confused as to why she would set him up. It just wasn’t making sense to me. After my shower, I called Ty and let him know that we would be at the club on Saturday. Then I got in bed and called it a night because my head was banging behind this shit. Tamia had been sleeping downstairs for the past few days, so I didn’t expect her to be joining me, which was a good thing. I didn’t feel like sleeping with the enemy, if, in fact, she was.
When I got up for work the next morning, my head was still banging. I really hadn’t got any sleep, because the shit was weighing on my mind heavily. I took two Advil before getting ready for work, as that was the only way I was going to be able to get through the day. Tamia was still sleeping peacefully on the couch, hugging her pillow, so I just grabbed my keys and headed out without waking her to let her know I was leaving.
I couldn’t seem to focus at work today, but I made it through half the day. When I was on lunch, sitting in my truck, really not feeling like going to get something to eat, I decided to give Jakiyah a call. I didn’t think that she was going to answer, but she did.
“Hey, German,” she answered dryly.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” I asked her.
“Nope. Just running some errands for my patient. What’s up?”
“I forgot you started working. How’s it going?”
“It’s going,” she offered.
I could tell that she didn’t really want to be having a conversation with me, but it didn’t stop me from engaging her in conversation until she said she had to go.
“You know we never got to talk about what happened between us,” I put out there.
“German, aren’t you at work?” she asked, letting out an annoyed sigh.
“Yeah. I’m on break, sitting in my truck, so I’m good to talk,” I told her.
“Well, there really isn’t anything to talk about. It happened, and it’s over,” she stated.
“I agree, but I don’t want our friendship ruined because of what happened.”
“German, I don’t think that we can be friends after what happened, because I didn’t feel right not telling Qua what happened. He knows, and I don’t think he is going to be comfortable with us having a friendship, being that we crossed the friendship line already,” she admitted.
“Wow. Are you serious right now? We’ve always been friends before anything,” I said, a little disappointed in her.
“German, we can still be cordial. I just don’t think that he’s going to feel comfortable with us hanging out again.”
I understood that she and Qua had a history, but they hadn’t been back together long enough for him to be telling her who she could kick it with. I was a little bothered that she was going along with it, but what could I say?
“Jakiyah, I’m not going to say that I’m not bothered by what you just said, but trust that I will respect it. Enjoy the rest of your day,” I told her, then ended the call. My damn headache had returned.
Chapter Thirty
Tamia
I was upstairs, trying to find something to wear to the club, when German walked into the room. He wanted to know if I really wanted to go out tonight, because he was tired. I told him that I was sure that I wanted to go out, and he had me starting to wonder why the hell he really didn’t want to go out. He never missed hanging out at the club with Ty, so he had me thinking something had happened between the two of them.
“Did something happen between you and Ty?” I asked him. I needed to know.
“Ty and I are cool. I just worked all week, and I’m kind of tired,” he answered.
“Well, we don’t have to stay long. I just want to get out of the house,” I told him, because I wasn’t about to stay home.
I needed to be at the club tonight, and I needed to find a way to get to this mini camera that Ty’s ass just so happened to remember that he installed. German was dragging his feet, so I went into the bathroom to take a shower. We were going to the club whether he wanted to or not. After I showered, I didn’t get all dressed up in my normal club attire, because I was on a mission. I wore some black leggings, a black tank with a scooped neckline, and some pumps. Simple but still cute.
* * *
We had been at the club for about forty-five minutes now, and I’d been waiting for German to come back from the bathroom for about ten of those minutes. I saw Jakiyah when I first got to the club, but she had disappeared too, so I was guessing she’d gone out on the dance floor. I didn’t know if I should attempt what I had come to do without knowing everyone’s whereabouts, but I was anxious, and the more I just sat here, the more anxious I got. I honestly doubted if anyone would be up in the office, so I gulped down the rest of my drink and got up to handle my business. German had stressed that he wasn’t feeling well, so the quicker I took care of this, the quicker we could go home.
I headed up to the office. I stood in front of the office door, looking around to make sure no one was watching me, before I turned the knob and entered the office. Ty wouldn’t need a damn mini camera if he stopped leaving his door unlocked, I thought to myself as I felt around for an office chair, which I intended to stand on. I didn’t want to turn the light on, because I was sure that Ty would notice the light if he happened to look in the direction of his office. Just as I put my hand on one of the office chairs, the door opened and the light came on, causing me to panic slightly.
“Tamia, what are you doing up here?” German asked me.
“I—I just came up here to use the phone,” I stuttered, caught off guard.
“You need to use the phone to call who?” he asked, walking farther into the office, looking at me like he didn’t believe me.
“Why is that important? You’re acting like I came up here to rob the place or some shit,” I responded, getting defensive.
“Tamia, I’m going to give you one last chance to tell me why you came up here to Ty’s office,” he said in a tone that let me know that he was serious.
“German, I don’t know what the big deal is. I just wanted to use the fucking phone,” I spat, walking around him to leave the office. My heart started beating fast when I opened the door and found Jakiyah and Ty standing there. I took a step back into the office.
“Ty, what’s going on?” I asked him.
“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on, starting with why you’re up here in my office?” he barked, which caused me to walk closer to German.
“Ty, just like I told German, I didn’t think it was a big deal to come into your office to use the phone.”
“Stop lying, bitch!” Jakiyah yelled, trying to get to me, but Ty stopped her.
“I thought you would be woman enough to tell the truth, but I guess that would be asking too much of you. If you were searching for the video, I already looked at it, and I saw what you did. So again, are you going to be honest and tell German what you did?” Ty said, holding up the mini camera that I had come to take.
I started to shake my head. My nervousness was now turning into anger, and I started to lash out at him, because he had just pissed me off.
“So, what you want to hear me say is that I killed Andris. You’re damn right I killed his ass. He deserved it, and if I could do it all over again, he would still be dead!” I shouted.
“Tamia, what the hell do you mean, you killed Andris? What reason did you have to kill Cydney’s husband?” German asked me, in disbelief.
“He wasn’t always Cydney’s husband. He used to love me, and he’s the reason I lost my baby,” I cried out.
“Tamia, what the hell are you talking about?” German asked, getting impatient.
“Andris was my boyfriend, until he met Cydney. He told me he was leaving me, and I begged him to stay for his child and me. H
e told me he would take care of the baby, but he was in love with her, and that’s who he wanted to be with,” I revealed. “I tried to stop him from leaving, and I lost my balance, fell down the stairs, and lost my unborn child. He didn’t even stay at the hospital long enough to know that I had lost the baby.”
I went on. “So, yes, when I saw him show up at the bitch’s burial—when he didn’t even show up for me when I lost our child—I made sure to make him pay. Once I tracked him down, I followed him to the house we used to share together and shot him multiple times, until he took his last breath.”
“So what reason did you have to frame Ty?” German asked, grabbing me like he wanted to hurt me.
“Get your fucking hands off of me,” I snarled. “You have always been so fucking gullible that you never knew that I was sleeping with your best friend. Don’t look so surprised. Why do you think I was always over his mother’s house so much? After I found out that I was pregnant with his baby, I wanted to be a family—just me, him, and the baby. But he said he wasn’t ready and promised me that if I got the abortion, we could tell you that we were going to be together.”
I continued. “Once I got the abortion, he told me that we could no longer see each other, and that if I told you, you wouldn’t take my word over his. I was so upset that I befriended his mother. I decided that once she trusted me, I was going to take her life to let him know how it felt to lose someone you love. But I couldn’t do it, because I had really started to love her as my own mom. So, when I heard that Andris had killed Cydney . . . What better revenge than to kill Andris and frame the grieving brother?”
When I finished speaking, Jakiyah attacked me. Ty pulled her off me, but German just stood there, looking like he wanted to cry, being the punk that I knew he was.
“You dirty bitch. I hope you rot in prison!” she yelled, trying to get out of Ty’s grasp.
“Jakiyah, I’ll be a dirty bitch, but you should ask your perfect boyfriend about me. He’s walking around like he doesn’t remember me, but trust, he used to love me too. He’s just another fucking man who needs to be removed from this world, and had my sister not fallen in love with him, he would be dead too,” I spat at her.
“You’re a crazy bitch, but you’re a stupid bitch too, because we set your ass up and you fell for it. There was never a tape, but we’ve got one now. So thank you, dumb ass,” she said, smirking at me and pointing to the camera that has been set up in a corner of the room.
* * *
I couldn’t believe that they had set me up, and that German had helped them do it, with his weak ass. Now I didn’t feel sorry for sleeping with his best friend for almost the entire relationship. Fuck him, I thought as I was being taken away in cuffs.
Chapter Thirty-One
Jakiyah
Tamia’s ass had turned out to be crazy, just like I had said her ass was. I wasn’t going to lie. I was thankful that my mother’s life had been spared, because this bitch had said that she was going to kill her. I couldn’t believe that Ty had been fucking with her behind German’s back, and I had no idea what was going to happen between them. I wanted to reach out to German, but after I told him that we could no longer be friends, I didn’t know if he would even speak to me at this point.
I didn’t even get a chance to ask Qua what in the hell the psycho was talking about, because after Ty closed the club, I followed him to my parents’ house, where we’d been ever since. My mother was really hurt behind what Tamia did. She had really cared for Tamia and had had no idea she was just a pawn in her sick game. We were scared to leave her since we didn’t know if Tamia was going to get bail or not. Thus both Ty and I would be staying at my parents’ house until it was all figured out.
I went into the living room, where Ty was sitting up, playing a game that I was about to interrupt, because I needed some answers from him. He looked up from the game with his “I’m not in the mood” face on, but I didn’t care.
“So, do you want to tell me why you were sleeping with German’s girl behind his back?” I asked him.
“The same reason you slept with him behind your dude’s back,” he responded, being sarcastic.
“Well, I doubt if it’s the same reason, because I can admit that I was intoxicated, and it happened only once,” I said to him.
“Well, she lied. I wasn’t sleeping with her like that, and it happened only, like, three times before she pulled that ‘I’m pregnant’ bullshit. I told her that it wasn’t mine. She was still sleeping with G, and I wasn’t about to let her blame that shit on me. Yes, I told her what she wanted to hear until she got rid of it, and then I stopped fucking with her, like she said.”
“So, what are you going to do about your friendship with German?”
“I’m not going to do him like you did. We’re boys and will always be boys,” he said, making me feel some kind of way.
“You can’t be serious. Again, not the same thing. I can’t continue to be friends with him like that after fucking up and sleeping with him. Qua is not going to go with that ‘We are just friends’ bullshit after what happened.”
“Whatever. Grab the other controller so I can kick your ass in some boxing. I need to let off some steam,” he said, trying to hand me the controller, which I kindly declined.
“I’ll pass. I’m going to take a shower and talk to my boo until I pass out, bighead. If you’re bored or need to release some stress, you better call Chanel and have her come over or go to her house. Mom and Dad are good, and if I need you, I will call you.”
“Nah, I’m good,” he said, dismissing me.
I went upstairs to my old bedroom, pulled out something to sleep in before going to the linen closet to get a washcloth and towel. I headed into the bathroom and took a shower. After I got out of the shower, I couldn’t help but wonder if German was good, so I dried off and called him. I knew I should have just left that shit up to Ty to fix, but both of them were stubborn and would not reach out to the other. I waited for him to answer, but the voice mail picked up instead. I decided to send him a text message, to see if he would respond.
Hey, German. I was just texting you to see if you were okay.
I was going to call Qua while I waited for German to respond, but he texted right back.
I’m good. It’s just fucked up that Ty would do some sucker shit like that and not say shit to me. He didn’t even call me to offer me an apology.
My fingers flew on my phone, and then I hit SEND.
Well, we’re at my mom’s house. Why don’t you come by tomorrow, so we can all sit down and talk?
I don’t know right now, but if I decide to come through, I will let you know, German texted back.
I shrugged. Okay, I texted.
I knew he was hurt behind this. Ty was my brother, but he was wrong when it came to this shit. It was kind of late, almost two in the morning, and I knew Qua had worked yesterday, so he was probably sleeping by now. I still decided to call. I wasn’t going to be able to sleep without getting some answers about Tamia’s accusations. As big as New York was, you would think it was a small town with limited hookups, the way our small circle was sharing.
In my defense, both men were familiar territory, but Ty’s ass didn’t have to go behind German’s back and hook up with Tamia After all, Ty already had plenty of chicks, including Chanel. My boo didn’t answer, so our conversation would have to wait until tomorrow. I called it a night and lay down on my bed, then turned on the television. At some point, I dozed off during Martin reruns.
When I woke up the next morning, I handled my hygiene, then went downstairs to join my mother and baby Andrea in the kitchen. My mother was making Sunday breakfast before heading out to church with my dad and li’l mama. She invited me to go to church, but nope, I had enough of her dragging me to church when I was younger. I believed in God, and that was enough for me.
“How are you feeling this morning?” I asked her as I took a seat at the table.
“I’m feeling okay. I’m going t
o pray for Tamia today in church,” she responded, catching me off guard.
We all needed prayer, but I didn’t know if I’d be praying for the person who had attempted my child’s downfall. She looked at me, expecting me to argue with what she had just said, but I didn’t even bother to say anything, other than that she should pray for me too. I heard someone moving about in the living room, so I went in to see who it was. It was Ty. He had never made it upstairs to his bedroom last night.
“Good morning, bighead. Mom cooked breakfast, so go take care of your stinky breath and wash your face,” I told him, laughing.
I could hear my phone ringing from the kitchen, so I rushed back there to answer the call, already knowing it was my boo because of the ringtone.
“Hello,” I answered.
“Good morning. I see I missed a call from you. What’s up?” he asked me.
“I needed to talk to you about something last night. Do you want to come to my mom’s house for breakfast, and we can talk after?” I asked him.
“As long as it’s not one of those talks where you’re breaking a nigga’s heart again,” he joked.
“No, I won’t be breaking any hearts this morning. It’s Sunday.”
We both laughed.
“I’ll see you in a few,” he said. He ended the call after I told him okay.
“Mom, Qua is coming by for breakfast. Is that okay?” I said, knowing it wasn’t a problem.
“No problem, honey,” she responded, taking the biscuits out of the oven.
She had a nice little spread going, and I couldn’t wait to dig in. She had made eggs, grits with cheese, pancakes, hash browns, bacon, sausage, salmon cakes, and biscuits, and there were fresh strawberries. If I missed anything about being home, Sunday breakfast was one of those things.
Qua arrived twenty minutes later. I refreshed Mom’s and Dad’s memory of him before setting the table. Ty was in the kitchen, feeding baby Andrea eggs and apple sauce, while he waited for the food to be placed on the table so that we could say grace and get our eat on. After breakfast, Mom, Dad, and baby Andrea left for church, Ty went upstairs, and Qua helped me clear the table while I washed the dishes.
He Used to Love Me Page 13