by T. Styles
She sighed. “Just you guys being here means a lot to me.” She looked over at Race.
“Is there anything else I can do to make things easier?” I persisted.
“If you can get my mother to wear some clothes around here, that would be a start.”
Race shook her head. “She walked in on me and Ramirez in our bedroom with that outfit on too,” Race said.
“Girl, your mother is a fucking mess,” I laughed. “The other day I came home and found her in my bed. I think she was waiting on Kevin and was mad when she got me instead. I read her a new ass before I kicked her out my room.”
“I’m so sorry, ya’ll,” she said between soft giggles. “If I knew where Grainger was she wouldn’t be here but she’s a wreck without having her around. Someone has to always be watching my mother.”
I bit down on my bottom lip and looked over at Race. She looked away. The guilt of knowing that Race and I killed Grainger bothered me daily, especially when I stared into Denim’s eyes. Denim and I may not have been blood related but I loved her like we were sisters and I hated keeping secrets from family.
Denim needed Bradley but if I told her that he gave the word to have her sister killed so she couldn’t testify against him in court, she would’ve been devastated. They fed off of each other and Denim had to be with him, especially with Jasmine gone.
After so much time, I thought Denim would be smart enough to know that Grainger was dead but she seemed to be holding onto hope that she was strung out and doped up somewhere. She may have realized the truth if Sarah wasn’t around.
I still remember the day Race and I murdered her.
Earlier in the week, we met with Bradley in the jail because he was locked up for raping Grainger. Although he denied doing it, I believed he did the moment I saw his eyes. But it wasn’t about judgment, Bradley was family and that was the bottom line.
In the meeting, he had one request for us…to kill Grainger.
Since Grainger was always more trouble than she was worth, Race and me put her out of her misery. And chopped her up in so many pieces she’d never be found whole.
“Listen, no matter where Grainger is, you deserve to be happy, Denim,” I said softly to her. “You do know that don’t you?”
She held her head down and a tear rolled down her cheek. She placed her hand over mine and looked into my eyes. “Not knowing where she is, that’s harder than anything. I really have to find her, Bambi. I have to!”
****
After my conversation with Denim, I got on the phone and called the east coast bosses. My family and me had to move again and I needed to know that the bosses had our back if it was time for war. We couldn’t fight the Russians alone. We needed manpower.
The only thing was, not all of them reported to me. Although a few got their cocaine directly from us, most received their work from Mitch. So I couldn’t make them do anything they didn’t want.
Still, I wanted to alert them that the Russians were moving in on the east coast and that if they were successful in killing us and getting Mitch, their cocaine supply would be cut short.
One by one, I made the calls and my disappointment grew with each contact made. Although some were nice, they each shared the same position…that the beef with the Russians was a Kennedy Kings issue, not an east coast one.
Frustrated, I walked out of my study, grabbed a glass from the cabinet and the vodka bottle from the freezer. Since I gave up sobriety, there were good days and bad days in my life. Sometimes I handled my liquor well and others I didn’t.
I had drunk days that were so bad that I would get up and everybody in the house would be mad at me. Half of the time, I didn’t know what I did wrong and after awhile they were used to it. As much as I wished I never picked up the bottle when Kevin disappeared, I knew there was no going back now. I was going to drink and my family would have to accept it.
After pouring three glasses and downing them all, I was buzzed. I figured I needed to call my husband to give him and update on Mellvue being in our home.
Sitting on the couch, I crossed my legs and dialed his number. After three rings, the phone picked up. “Kevin, you have a minute?” I sighed. “Something happened.”
Silence.
I heard someone moving in the background but I didn’t hear him respond. “Kevin, are you there?” I frowned.
When I pressed the phone closer to my ear I realized his cell was probably in his pocket and he answered by mistake. I told him over and over that shit like that was going to get him in trouble. I guess he didn’t give a fuck.
I was about to hit the end button but instead, I listened. Since we didn’t talk anymore, I was curious to find out what kinds of things he did when we weren’t together.
I got my answer.
I felt gut punched when I heard his voice followed by that of a woman. “Kevin, stop playing,” the girl giggled. “You always talking shit but you never back it up. I’ma stop fucking with your sexy ass.”
“I’m serious,” he responded. “You…me wanting to pull this car over. Why you wear…dress?” I couldn’t make out a few of his words but I got the gist of the conversation. He was with a chick that he must’ve been so attracted to that he wanted to fuck her on sight.
I was trembling.
My heart hurt.
Kevin was mine whether I wanted him or not.
She giggled again and I was hoping he would say her name so that I could locate this bitch and have her murdered by night’s end. Because although Kevin and me weren’t together, I was still his wife and every bitch on the east coast knew it.
“Don’t talk about it, be about it,” she responded. “You already know I’m ready when you are. So let me see that chocolate dick.”
The phone must’ve been moving around because I heard some muffled voices and then suddenly things were clearer. He said, “Shhhhh.” I guess he took the phone out of his pocket and realized it was on. “Hello,” he finally said. “Bambi?”
Humiliated enough already, I hung up.
I tossed the phone on the couch, leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. What kind of life was this? Why was I even still in this marriage? I was rich and scared for my life. A mother and yet I felt childless. And I was married to a man who was making it clear that he didn’t want me.
I knew Kevin and I had problems but dealing with another woman while he still slept in my bed messed up my head. I know I was wrong for fucking his cousin but I didn’t have a choice. The nigga was blackmailing me. And I fucked him for family and to stay out of jail.
Playing her voice over and over in my mind, I was surprised how badly my feelings hurt. I wasn’t supposed to show emotion. I was Bambi Kennedy, of the Pretty Kings, and I was strong.
If all that was true, why did it hurt so much?
When my phone rang, without looking I knew who it was. My cheating ass husband. But in that moment I made a decision not to answer. If he wanted to carry shit like it was really over then all I could say was, let the games begin.
****
MELLVUE
After returning the marked police car to the warehouse, Mellvue took a shower at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and slid into her Versace dress and three thousand dollar heels. Back to her old self, she slipped into her silver Aston Martin and called Arkadi, her fiancé.
The sound of the phone ringing through the Bluetooth speakers filled the car as she glided into traffic. Speaking in her native Russian tongue, she updated him on the status of her mission. “I told you they would let me inside,” she said smiling brightly. “If only you let me help you more, your troubles would be over.”
“Lyubov Moya Mellvue, I didn’t doubt you once,” he chuckled.
She grinned and looked at her face in the rearview mirror. Using her pinky finger, she cleaned up the red lipstick that smeared toward the corners of her mouth. “But you said they were smart. That they may not believe I was a police officer and to respect the chorn. But you were wrong. They allowed me into
their home and they believed everything I said. If you ask me, they aren’t so smart.”
Angry that Mellvue didn’t respect the Kennedys as viable threats, he snapped. “It would be as great a mistake not to take them as reputable threats as it would be to not take me as one.”
Remembering the times he beat her for insubordination, she clutched the steering wheel tighter and swallowed. “I didn’t mean to say things in that way.”
“And yet you spoke disrespectfully anyway,” he responded. “Should I remind you how to speak to me and then purchase you another set of teeth again?”
“No, dear,” she said in a low voice.
“Then let me be clear. You don’t get to the level they’re on in this business without having wits. And the moment you forget that when you come in contact with a Kennedy, you will die.”
Mellvue whipped her brown hair over her shoulders. She didn’t respect black people and she certainly didn’t think they were smarter than her. “I understand,” she said softly. “I merely wanted you to know that you have them right where you want them. All you have to do is make a move and end this war.”
“And when I deem that time to be right I will do just that. Now, who else was in the Bunke?”
“One woman with blue dreadlocks, another with a brown bob and some woman with long hair, fatigue pants and a scar on her face.”
“This woman with scar…was she also beautiful?”
“Yes, as far as niggers are concerned.” She paused. “Why?”
He laughed softly. “That was my sweet Bambi. You may not know this but I put that scar on her beautiful face myself. I wanted every day she woke up and looked in the mirror to be a reminder of me and Iakov.”
Mellvue caught his amusement and grew jealous. “No, honey, I wasn’t aware.” She gritted her teeth in an attempt to hide her jealousy.
“It’s amazing that with all the money she possesses she still hasn’t had the scar removed. I think she’s wearing it as badge of honor. She’s proud of scar as I was to give it to her. That’s mark of true soldier.”
Mellvue rolled her eyes. “So what are you going to do now, Arkadi? Attack?”
“We’ll make a move later. If Bambi was there, she’s smart enough to know who you are and that we are coming for Mitch, wherever he may be. I’m sure she’s packing the family up and moving them as we speak.”
“So why did you send me there?”
“I have my reasons. One of them is because I wanted her to know that she’s touchable. And that soon, very soon, their empire will crumble.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
KEVIN
TWO WEEKS LATER
Women twirled around the poles like snakes within the dark Smack Back strip club. The Kennedy Kings lay back comfortably on a red velvet semi-circle couch with stacks of one hundred dollar bills piled in front of them on the table. With all the beauty to behold, Kevin had one thing on his mind, his wife.
While it was true that the Kennedys were at war outside the house, he was also at war inside himself. He had a feeling that he accidently answered the phone when Bambi called some weeks back and she overheard him but she never mentioned it. Instead, she started sleeping in one of the extra rooms in the new bunker they moved into. And instead of being angry, she treated him extra nice, even making him breakfast a few times although he refused to eat it for fear it would be poisoned.
He hated her coolness and yet there was no other woman he wanted to be with in the world, including the nurse he was squiring about town on the day Bambi called.
When a group of women who hadn’t touched the dance floor wiggled toward their section, each brother made way for them. Not being able to wait, Bradley snatched up a light-skinned girl with a big booty and yelled, “Let me see that ass wiggle.”
Kevin and the other brothers felt that ever since Bradley returned from jail, he was trying harder to appear tough. He didn’t know what was going on with him but he hoped that soon he would return to his normal self.
As the night went on, Kevin poured each of his brothers a glass of champagne. He raised his in the air. “We don’t get to do this shit a lot so I’m gonna make a toast,” Kevin said. “To blood, to money, to us.” Kevin looked over at Camp. He had his glass in the air but the solemn look of missing his son never left his face. It was a permanent part of his features. His kidnapping was always on his mind. “And to my little nephew who we will find, no matter what we gotta do and who we gotta do it to,” Kevin continued.
Each man raised his glass and took a sip. Although the beauty on his lap was doing her thing, Kevin was interested in the tall chick with green eyes on the dance floor.
“Who’s that, mama?” he asked the stripper.
She turned her slender neck, looked at the stage and rolled her eyes. “That’s Romance. Why?”
“Do me a favor.” He peeled a band off one of the stacks and handed her a one hundred dollar bill. “How ‘bout you get up and tell old girl I want to see her.”
She stuffed the money in her bra and rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she responded stomping away.
“That was cold as shit,” Ramirez laughed. “You in this joint hurting strippers’ feelings for no reason.” He paused. “She was thick. Why you send her on her way?”
“Not everybody be in this joint wifing bitches like you and Race,” Kevin responded.
“Damn,” Bradley laughed. “You sliced that nigga’s heart,” he continued as the dark-skinned cutie hovered her tight ass over top of his crotch.
“I just go after what I want,” Kevin replied.
“So why you not going after your wife?” Camp responded as he sipped a beer and whispered something in the stripper’s ear that caused her to get up and stomp out of VIP.
“Before I answer that question, what you tell shawty?” Kevin asked looking at the stripper.
“I told her to get the fuck off my lap. She kept leaning on my shirt and shit.” He dusted something off of Master’s face. “Now answer the question. Why you not back with Bambi?”
“Because she don’t know how to respect a man,” he responded. “I think Bambi believes she a dude sometimes.” His brothers didn’t know that Bambi was responsible for their aunt’s death or that she fucked Cloud before he was killed and he decided to keep it that way. That alone was the main reason for their beef.
“Ain’t that one of the things you liked about her?”
Kevin looked across the club at the tall cutie who was getting off the pole and coming his way. “I’m done with Bambi. Sometimes you marry a person and when you see who they really are you realize you made a mistake.”
His brothers laughed, not one of them believing it was over.
“That’s how I feel about Scarlett,” Camp said. “I know she wants to be with me but I’m done with her.”
“This shit is wild,” Ramirez said. “Kevin and Bambi don’t want each other. Camp doesn’t want Scarlett. Bradley is obsessed with his wife and Race doesn’t want shit to do with me even though she lets me eat her pussy every other night.” He laughed. “What the fuck is going on with the Kennedy family?”
The brothers laughed heartedly.
Roman walked up to Kevin. The first thing that grabbed him was her sparkling green eyes. “May I sit down?”
Kevin smiled and looked over at Ramirez. “Ain’t nothing going on with the Kennedy family. We good. Besides, as long as I got my brothers, the rest of this shit is trivial.” He took Romance’s hand. “Of course you can sit down, beautiful. That’s why I called you over.”
CHAPTER NINE
DENIM
The cool toilet seat was uncomfortable as I peed on a stick inside of the luxury bunker that Bambi had built for us. Bradley was standing beside me rubbing my back as if I was already about to give birth. I could feel his excitement and it made me tense.
I loved this man so much that sometimes it hurt. And I also knew that things were about to get crazy with the Russians taking direct fire at us. I even had visions about
burying someone under a Kennedy cloth. And since I was having the dream personally, I figured it was my husband. With all that said, the last thing I needed was another baby. But as sick as I’d been lately, I might not have had a choice.
When I pulled the stick out from between my legs Bradley took it out of my hands and sat it on the sink. Instead of getting up right away, I remained sitting on the toilet. “How were the dancers tonight?” I asked, still smelling the liquor on his body.
“How you know we went to the strip club?”
“You smell like cheap Victoria’s Secret body spray.”
He laughed. “It was aight.” He looked at the stick again and then back at me. “You said you didn’t mind so I figured it was cool.” He shrugged.
“Bradley, I don’t mind you going out, especially with your brothers. Besides, none of them bitches got shit on me and I’m not that shallow. I just wish you gave me the same freedom.” I paused. “I mean, why don’t you like me hanging out with Bambi and them?”
“It’s not that I don’t like you hanging out. We all live together. Ya’ll kick it here all the time.”
“You know what I mean.”
“It’s like this. Bambi, Scarlett and Race’s marriages are fucked up. And I don’t want their shit rubbing off on you. If that’s wrong, then kill me.”
“But they never do that,” I said seriously. “Not once have they said anything negative about our marriage.”
“Not even Bambi?” he asked with one raised brow.
“Not one of them, Bradley. I wouldn’t stand for it.”
He shook his head and looked at the stick again. “Damn, how long does this shit take?”
I glanced at it and then back at him. “If I am…you know…pregnant…what do you want to do about it?”