“You really need to answer your phone. I have a funny feeling that something is wrong,” Mia spoke up.
“Shit!” Ricky hissed as he jumped up and grabbed his phone from the floor.
It stopped ringing as soon as he grabbed it. Mia sat up and started putting her shirt back on since she wasn’t feeling being intimate with him anymore. Tre was heavy on her mind, and she just wanted to go home and get into her bed.
“What are you doing,” Ricky questioned with a frown.
“I’m not really feeling this right now. I have too much on my mind,” Mia answered honestly.
“Yeah!” Ricky yelled when he finally answered his phone for whoever was calling.
Mia didn’t know what the person on the line was saying, but he picked his clothes up from the floor and started to get dressed as well. When he walked into his bedroom and closed the door, Mia knew that she had made the right decision in not having sex with him. A few minutes later he came back out fully dressed and asked Mia if she was ready to go. She grabbed the gifts that he bought her and followed him to his front door. When they got to his car, he opened the door, but Mia never had a chance to get in.
“You must be crazy if you think you’re about to ride another woman in my car,” a female said as she ran up on them out of nowhere.
Mia’s head snapped around and came face to face with a cute girl with short curly hair. She had on a pair of navy blue hospital scrubs with a stethoscope hanging around her neck. Mia looked behind the woman and was shocked to see the truck that Ricky used to pick her up in. She asked him a while ago about the truck, and he told her that he didn’t have it anymore. She assumed he traded it in for the Chrysler that he drove around in, but now she knew better. The nigga had straight up lied to her.
“Carmen don’t come out here starting no shit,” Ricky said while walking up to her.
“How am I starting shit because I’m not letting you ride another woman in the car that I pay the note on? I knew it was a reason why you weren’t answering your phone, but I didn’t think you would be this stupid. Your broke ass can’t even afford to keep your phone on, but you got the nerve to be entertaining company,” Carmen laughed sarcastically.
Mia saw the hurt in her face, and she knew exactly how she felt. This nigga had just finished eating her like she was his last meal knowing all the while that he had a girl. As bad as Mia wanted to say something she chose to keep her mouth closed. Carmen had never gotten out of the way with her, and she would give her the same respect. She referred to Mia as a “woman” and not a “bitch” or “hoe”. That alone let her know that she wasn’t the ignorant type.
“Broke,” Ricky repeated. “You weren’t saying that shit when you were in school, and I was paying all of the bills and taking care of your ass.”
“That was almost three years ago, and you just can’t let that shit go. You haven’t had a job in over a year, and I’m tired of carrying your ass. I pay the note on two cars plus I go half with your mama on your rent and your phone bill. Whatever you did for me has been paid back a long time ago.”
“Man Carmen, let me bring my friend home and we’ll talk about this later,” Ricky begged.
“You must not be hearing me. Give me my keys and you can keep it pushing. Don’t make me call them people and report my car stolen. Girl, I promise that it’s nothing against you, but I would be a damn fool to let him drive you anywhere in my car. He’s been lying to me, and I’m sure he’s been lying to you too,” Carmen said turning to face Mia.
“It’s cool. I’m about to call me a cab,” Mia said while shaking her head.
She scrolled through her phone and found a cab company to call. Once Mia gave them her location they assured her that someone in the area would be there shortly.
“Let me call my sister to come drive my car home for me,” Carmen said out loud.
“Carmen don’t do this man. Why would you put our business out here like this?” Ricky said.
“Boy please, we don’t have any business. You’re about to be one less bill that I have to pay. Ole broke ass nigga,” Carmen replied.
When Mia saw Tre calling her phone again, she hit the ignore button and waited at the curb for her cab. This Valentine’s Day proved to be more interesting than she ever thought it would be. Although she was pissed, she couldn’t help, but to laugh at the scene in front of her. Ricky was standing there looking like a lost puppy while Carmen was removing her car key from his key ring. She had already called somebody to come for her other car, so she was playing the waiting game right along with Mia. When Mia saw her cab coming down the block, she wanted to jump up and down and tell him that she was the one that who had called. He was rolling down the block too slow, and she was ready to get home. She promised herself that she would never be caught without her own car again. When the cab finally got close, Mia was ready to hop in until she noticed that she was still holding on to the gift that Ricky have given her.
“You can have these cheap ass gifts back too,” Mia yelled as she swung the bag and hit Ricky in the chest with it.
“His broke ass was out there buying gifts too? I damn sure didn’t get one, and my money probably paid for it,” Carmen yelled right as Mia’s cab was pulling off.
Moonie called her phone, and she sent her to voicemail and then she called Brandis to fill her in on what happened.
“Hey bestie,” Brandis answered.
“Bitch, tell me why my stupid ass is in a cab on my way back to The Court,” Mia laughed.
“A cab?” Brandis screamed. “What the hell are you doing in a cab?”
Mia took a deep breath and started telling her friend everything that happened starting with her visit to Terri’s hospital room. Brandis was crying laughing and by the time the cab pulled up to her apartment Mia was too. It was funny when she talked about it, but it wasn’t funny when it was happening to her.
“Girl I’m going to take me a shower and forget that this night ever happened. Maybe we can hook up tomorrow and go see Terri. I’ll feel better if I don’t have to be around Tre by myself,” Mia suggested.
“That’s cool with me. I haven’t seen her in a few days, so I’m down,” Brandis replied before she hung up.
Mia paid her driver and walked up to her apartment and let herself in. Moonie greeted her at the front door with Mitch hot on her heels.
“Mia where have you been? We’ve been calling you for hours. Tank has been trying to get in touch with you all day. I was getting scared thinking that something happened to you since your car was here, and you weren’t,” Moonie rambled.
“I’m good, and I’ll call Tre tomorrow. I just want to take a shower and go to bed,” Mia replied.
“You need to call him tonight,” Mitch suggested.
“For what?” Mia asked in aggravation.
“Terri died,” Moonie said knocking all of the wind from Mia’s body.
“What? When?” Mia asked.
“About two or three hours ago. That’s why we’ve been trying to call you. Von is trying to catch a flight back home, but he couldn’t get one until tomorrow evening,” Moonie replied.
Mia fumbled around in her purse until she found her keys and walked to the door. She felt so bad that she didn’t answer the phone and she had to hurry up and get to Tre. Von wasn’t back, so she knew that he was probably at home alone mourning over the death of his mother. Mia had just seen Terri earlier that day and made plans to go see her again on tomorrow. She was complaining about how bad her day was when Tre had it even worse than she did. One thing was for sure, Tre would probably never see Valentine’s Day the same ever again.
C hapter 18
Mia didn’t remember stopping at red lights nor stop signs as she raced to Von’s house. She tried calling Tre, but, of course, he didn’t answer. She didn’t answer for him, so he returned the favor. When she called to tell Brandis the bad news, she was just as heartbroken as Mia was. They’d formed a pretty tight bond with Terri, and they were going to miss her. Tr
e was going to have it the hardest. He was the one who had to make the arrangements and bury his mother.
Mia pulled up to Von’s house and was relieved to see Tre’s truck parked in the driveway. She was hoping that he wasn’t out driving around anywhere because he was probably in no condition for all of that. The house was quiet and dark when Mia walked in, but she headed right for Tre’s bedroom. She took a deep breath and opened the door to see where he was. Mia’s heart broke for him when she spotted him sitting on the floor in the corner of his room with a bottle of Ciroc in his hand. The only reason she saw him at all was because of the night light that she made him put in there months ago. It was scented and made his entire room smell like baby powder. She walked in slowly and turned on the small lamp that sat next to his bed. He flinched a little and covered his face to shield it from the light. Mia kneeled down next to him and tried to take the bottle out of his hands. She thought he was going to release it until he looked up at her and forcefully snatched it back.
“Move Lamia,” he yelled angrily. “I don’t know what the fuck you came over here for. Go back to that nigga that you wanted to be with so bad.”
“Tre I know that you’re hurting, but I’m only here to help,” Mia said softly. He was lashing out at her and she understood why.
“How can you help me? My fucking mama died and you couldn’t even answer the phone when I called you.”
“I’m sorry Tre, but I didn’t know that’s why you were calling. You basically put me out of the hospital, and I didn’t want to talk to you. That’s why I didn’t answer when you called.”
“You can leave. You couldn’t be there when I really needed you, so I don’t need you to be here now. Aside from Von, all I have is me,” Tre said shaking his head.
“That is not true, and you know it. I’ve always been here for you even when you did me wrong. How was I supposed to know that she was going to die? I planned to go back up there and see her tomorrow,” Mia replied.
“Well she’s in the morgue now, so you can’t go see her. You can use the same key that you used to come in to let yourself right back out. And turn my light off before you go,” Tre ordered.
Mia got up and turned his lamp off. She could barely see him now, but the night light helped her out a little.
“I know that Von won’t be back until tomorrow. If you still want me to leave once he gets here, I will, but I’m not leaving you to go through this by yourself.”
“What the fuck do you care?” Tre yelled making Mia flinch. “My mama was probably taking her last breath while you were out there fucking another nigga.”
“I wasn’t fucking nobody,” Mia denied.
“I don’t even care. Just get the fuck out!” Tre yelled scaring Mia to tears.
“Fuck you, Tre,” Mia said as she cried softly. “I’m trying to be here for you, but I’m not about to kiss your ass to do it. And just for the record, I’ve never fucked anybody, but your dog ass.”
Mia grabbed her purse and headed for the door, but Tre grabbed her before she could leave.
“Mia I’m sorry,” he said burying his face in her long hair.
“Let me go Tre,” Mia continued to cry. “You wanted to hurt my feelings and you succeeded.”
“I’m not trying to hurt your feelings Mia, but I’m fucked up right now. I just watched my mama take her last breath right in front of me,” Tre said making her feel sorry for him once again.
Mia allowed him to lead her over to the bed and lay down. He kicked off his shoes and pulled hers off as well. They were lying face to face, but none of them said anything. Mia didn’t want to be the first one to talk because she didn’t want to say the wrong thing. She didn’t know how Tre was feeling, so she just rubbed his back and comforted him in silence. They stayed that way for almost an hour before he spoke again.
“I don’t know what happened Mia. Terri was talking to me one minute and then she just started coughing like crazy. I tried giving her some water, but when that didn’t work I called for the nurse. When the staff came in they did whatever they had to do, but nothing seemed to work. She started wheezing and her eyes were rolling in her head like she was catching a seizure. Then she just stopped breathing. I yelled for them to help her, but they told me that they couldn’t.”
“What do you mean they couldn’t?” Mia asked in disbelief.
“She signed a fucking do not resuscitate order,” he replied angrily.
“What does that mean?” Mia questioned.
“That means that if her heart stops beating, or she stops breathing they can’t do anything to save her. She basically gave them the okay to let her die. That was so fucking selfish of her to do me like that,” Tre said as he hugged Mia tight and burst out crying.
That was a first for Mia since she’d never seen Tre shed a tear in all the time that she’d know him. His entire body shook as he soaked up the front of Mia’s shirt with his tears. She felt so helpless, and she wished that Von was there at that moment. He would know what to do because she definitely didn’t. She just kept whispering to him that everything would be okay as she continued the rub his back. Once he was all cried out, he fell asleep, and Mia was out a few minutes after.
***
“Mia,” Tre whispered in her ear. He’d woken up over an hour ago, but she was still knocked out.
It was after three in the morning, and they’d both slept well over four hours. Von had called, and the ringing of his phone is what got Tre up first. He was telling him how sorry he was about Terri, and he was trying to get home to him as soon as possible. He knew that Tre would need help with planning the funeral and Von wanted to be there every step of the way.
“What,” Mia finally mumbled when she got tired of him calling her name and pulling on her ear.
“Are you hungry?” Tre asked.
Mia’s eyes popped open, “So you woke me up to ask me if I’m hungry?”
“Yeah,” Tre laughed.
“Nah, I’m not hungry. So tell me, why did you really want me to get up so bad?”
“Here,” he said handing her a gift bag. “I told you that I had something for you.”
Mia grabbed the bag from him and opened it up to see what was inside. Since she threw Ricky’s gift back at him, this was really the first and only gift that she had. Mia’s eyes watered a little when she pulled out the diamond necklace and matching bracelet with her name on it. The jewelry box that it came it was even better than the one that Ricky had for her. It also had her name on it with a picture that she and Tre took when they went to Miami for her birthday.
“Thank you, Tre. This is so pretty,” Mia said while continuously admiring her gifts.
“You’re welcome. I’m happy you like it. And I hope it’s better than what that other nigga gave you too.”
“Boy shut up,” Mia said laughing.
She wasn’t going to go into detail with Tre about what happened at Ricky’s house. She would probably tell him eventually, but she didn’t feel like talking about it right now. She knew that he would find it funny because the situation was quite comical to her as well.
“So, you really never had sex with ole boy?” Tre asked getting to the real topic that he wanted to discuss.
“No Tre, I never had sex with him or anybody else. You were the only person that I was dumb enough to open my legs for.”
“Don’t say that Mia. You weren’t dumb. Why do you always say shit like that?” Tre frowned.
“Because that’s how you made feel,” Mia shrugged.
“Do you believe that people can make mistakes Mia?”
“Yes.”
“And do you believe that people can change?” Tre asked.
“Yes,” Mia repeated.
“Then why is it so hard for you to believe that I made a mistake, but I’ve changed enough to know not to do it again? I heard a song when I was in the hospital with Terri a few weeks ago, and I swear it said everything that I want to say to you. I’ve heard the song a million times, but I finally
took the time and listened to the words,” Tre said as he got up and grabbed his iPod and gave the earplugs to Mia.
“You want me to listen to the song?” Mia asked.
“No, I want you to listen to the lyrics,” Tre replied while pressing the play button. “Close your eyes and really listen.”
Mia did as he instructed and waited for the tunes to start. She immediately recognized the beat of one of Tyrese’s newest hits with Jennifer Hudson called Shame. She liked the song, but she never really listened to the lyrics like Tre was asking her to do now. When Tyrese started singing Mia immediately got what Tre was trying to say.
“I need your forgiveness. And your mercy to
I must be all kinda crazy. For what I've done to you
I hope you understand. That my heart is true
Mistakes, I've made em. But I'm making a change for you.”
“Have I learned, that's your question. And my answer I have
But if you're expecting perfection. Then we're not gonna last
This is not an excuse. I'm just telling the truth
Baby, I'm so sorry. For hurting you.”
“Here,” Mia said handing him back his iPod once she had heard enough. She tried hard to hold her tears in, but a few crept out against her will.
“Listen to the rest of it,” Tre encouraged.
“No, I’ve heard enough,” Mia whispered as she jumped into his lap and hugged him as tight as she could.
“I love you, Mia,” Tre said hugging her back. “I just want us to start over and get it right this time. It’s been off and on, but we’ve been together for two years, and I don’t want to lose you.”
“I love you too,” Mia replied finally letting him go.
“On my life Mia, I swear I’ll never do anything to hurt you again. I just need you to trust me.”
“I can’t make any promises Tre, but I’ll try. Just don’t expect it to happen overnight.”
Creepin' 2: A New Orleans Love Story Page 15