Still thicker than water

by Takerra, Allen

  “Has my guest already arrived?” She asked, approaching another henchman.

  “Yes, right this way Big-J,” he based.

  They made their way throughout the empty restaurant. Jayde had ordered it be cleared out for her meeting.

  As she approached the table, dead in the center, she smirked at her visitor.

  “Hello, long time…no see,” she humored, taking a seat.

  Jayde sat her purse down and stared with poise.

  Neli sat up and folded her hands on the table, her face stern.

  “Yeah well, you’ve been a hard person to catch up to Miss Jayde Dupree.”

  Jayde laughed lightly and took a sip from the water that was already on the table.

  “What can I say, places to see…people to do…” She smiled sinisterly and her green eyes twinkled. “But I’m sure you can understand that…Miss Neli.”

  Neli rolled her eyes and reached into her purse swiftly, but two henchmen nearby pulled their guns and she froze.

  “Whoa, whoa guys…cool out,” Jayde told them giggling. “Me and her go way back.”

  Neli glared at them all, but then continued into her bag cautiously. She pulled out a manila envelope wrapped in a rubber band and threw it dead smack in the middle of the table, hard.

  Jayde’s face gradually became serious and she just looked at her.

  “What’s that for?”

  Neli kept her intense stare.

  “You know what it’s for…it’s the money.”

  Jayde chuckled and leaned back in her seat, slightly amused with Neli.

  “I don’t need the money, love. It’s fine.”

  Neli’s blood began to simmer.

  “No it’s not!” She looked around at the henchmen who were getting antsy, and then she lowered her voice. “It’s not fine, Jayde…It’s over. Just take the money, and leave it alone.”

  Jayde started to laugh hysterically at Neli’s seriousness.

  “Take the money Jayde, leave it alone,” she mocked.

  “Neli, Neli, Neli…when will you learn? I’m the one that calls the shots. What’s wrong…you having a revelation now? The looney bin took all of your big, bad, problems away and now you want Jayde to change her ways, too? You must have forgotten… you started this love.”

  “Yeah, and now I’m ending it. It was a mistake,” Neli sassed back.

  “Oh so now it was a mistake? You tracked me down, and you paid me to finish what you started…you wanted me to make sure that Sasha wasn’t done suffering when you found out that she was moving down here, you paid me to finish ruining her life since you couldn’t do it, because you were locked in the looney bin. This was your crazy ass obsession with her, baby doll.”

  “I was sick!” Neli yelled. “I was wrong…and now I’m paying you to stop…so just stop.”

  Jayde shook her head at Neli as if she were clueless.

  “Stop what? I’m not doing anything…” Jayde popped an altoid and then looked at Neli sincerely. “Oh wait…you thought that was me the whole time? Poisoning the kid, all of that bullshit? No sweetie, that’s not my forte. Besides, I wouldn’t have fucked that up.” Jayde took another sip and leaned into Neli, her bad bitch aura overpowering Neli’s pathetic attempt at confidence. “No see, that was her little weak ass husband, Mike. In fact, he’s a lot like you. Well, was like you, I’m sure Chauncey has killed him by now. But anyway, he was ridiculously obsessed with the broad, just like you, to the point where he couldn’t see her happy with anyone else… Oh, and for the record, you can’t pay me to leave anything alone, because I never did it for the money.”

  Neli looked on in resentment, while Jayde continued.

  “I’m a queen bee sweetie, I make more money than your little nutty ass can count... I did this, well, because ever since I was a little girl, Sasha always had the silver spoon in her mouth. And at the time, when you offered it to me, I thought it would be fun to take that spoon out, shake her shit up a bit, and maybe get a glimpse of this man… and this dick… that had you going crazy…literally. But now, I’m over it. I like Sasha…she’s become… more real, since the last time I’ve seen her. And being that I’m not the least bit interested in Chauncey, I’ll let them two have their happily ever after,” Jayde concluded with a shrug.

  Neli still felt a twinge of jealousy at the thought and mention of Sasha and Chauncey’s happily ever after, but she knew she had to let that go. She furrowed her eyebrows.

  “So that wasn’t you?” She asked, surprised.

  Jayde shook her head.

  “No, it wasn’t.”

  Neli didn’t understand one thing though.

  “Sooo…if you’re not trying to hurt Sasha, then why are you still around them? I know the ever so self-sufficient Jayde is not pressed for girlfriends,” Neli humored.

  Jayde shot her a slick smirk and she drummed her manicured fingers onto the table rhythmically.

  “Let’s just say…something, or better yet…someone, has caught my attention.”

  Neli didn’t respond and Jayde looked up with a smile before continuing.

  “You know, Neli. I don’t get you. You spend all of this time, chasing behind a nigga like Chauncey…trying to ruin Sasha’s life, all for a man that is clearly in love with someone else…” Jayde spoke slowly. “I mean yeah, he’s sexy. He’s got that tall, dark, rugged thing going…but he’s not the king. How could you even focus on him, when you have a man, like Respect, in your same proximity?”

  Jayde’s eyes filled with lust and she bit her lip as she thought of Ree. Ever since she laid eyes on him, she knew that she had to have him. Neli shook her head, and now she understood.

  “You mean Tatum’s Respect.”

  Jayde sucked her teeth.

  “Oh please. A man like that belongs to no one, but himself. He’s a god Neli, out of this world. They don’t make his kind anymore…and I…will…have…my…piece.”

  Now it was Neli’s turn to laugh, and she did.

  “Not…gonna…happen. Do you see the way he looks at her? He loves Tatum… not to mention, Tatum’s smarter than Sasha. She’ll sniff you out like the trash that you are Jayde.”

  Jayde jerked her head back and grinned.

  “Ooh, testy. I think you’re forgetting one thing as well, Neli. I’m… smarter… than… you. And I won’t try to fuck my way to Ree, like a whore.” That was a clear stab at Neli because that was her M.O. with Chauncey. “Well, not literally... I will mind fuck him. Plus, I’ve got something that he wants, very badly. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

  Neli lowered her eyes, truly feeling bad for bringing Jayde into the mix. She loved Tatum and she knew Tatum had been through a lot, she didn’t deserve this. She looked up at Jayde with courage.

  “I’ll tell her. I’ll stop you, Jayde. I owe her that much.”

  Jayde shook her head dismissively, and grabbed her purse to leave.

  “They hate you. They won’t even listen to you. Remember last time you tried to warn Sasha about me, don’t you?”

  Neli fumed, still determined.

  “I’ll get through to Tatum…she’ll listen. And then Ree won’t even come near your evil ass!”

  Jayde looked up at Neli venomously and scowled. This meeting was over.

  “You know Neli,” she said standing up. “I think we’re done here. And I’m feeling a little like… it's judgment day or something.”

  Jayde pulled out the .32 from her purse and promptly aimed it at Neli, who gasped in shock.

  “Your wicked ways have finally caught up to you, mama.”

  Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

  Jayde looked down at the bloody and limp Neli and shook her head in arrogance.

  “How dare she threaten me…clean her up!”

  She stormed out of the restaurant, her alligator shoes clicking across the floor, as Neli lay dying in her pool of blood.

  “Mommy, I want to be beautiful like you,” a young Neli had sung to her mother. She stared at her mother’s reflect
ion in the mirror, her long hair, and striking features, her designer labels, and sweet perfume. Her mother was glamorous, fabulous, high class, and Neli admired her so.

  “Aw sweetie, I can help you,” her mother had responded.

  Neli remembered feeling instantly hurt. Her mother hadn’t said that she was beautiful herself, or anything of that nature. She only said she could help her.

  She remembered her father coming into the room, completely ignoring Neli and wrapping his arms around her mother.

  Her father was tall and dark, just like Chauncey.

  “Your mother’s beauty is a rare one,” he had said. “No one can be as beautiful as her.”

  Tears had welled in Neli’s eyes as she watched her parents interact so lovingly, as if she weren’t there. And this was what everyday was like for Neli growing up in her house. Attention deprived, and lonely.

  Years later, she would be watching Sasha putting on her makeup in the mirror, and she would find herself uttering to her glamorous and fabulous friend.

  “God I wish I were beautiful like you.”

  Sasha had turned around and smiled, and then she said.

  “Aw Neli…I can help you, girl.”

  Neli had an instant déjàvu, and it worsened when Chauncey had come and wrapped his arms around her, as if Neli weren’t even there.

  Something inside of Neli snapped at that moment like a broken twig.

  These were the memories that played in Neli’s mind as she lay there on the restaurant floor. But at this moment, none of that mattered.

  She was off of Sasha, off of Chauncey, off of her parents, and off of herself. She had made a promise from the moment the bullets riddled through her body and she was determined to keep it.

  If I make it through this…I have to do one thing, and one thing only…

  I have to… Stop Jayde…

  Chapter 23 - Rebirth

  Two Days Later

  “Well, it’s been an eventful week, to say the least,” Sasha acknowledged, sitting on Chauncey’s lap while Aubrey played with her toys on the living room floor. “I don’t know how I got through all of this…but I’m glad I have you all here.”

  She smiled kindly at everyone, who were all seated on the couches, and her and Tatum locked eyes.

  “Aw shut up girl, you know we love you…”

  Everyone laughed and Tatum looked over at Ree and grinned wide.

  “And I love you,” she whispered. He kissed her softly.

  “Alright, alright, enough of that,” Jayde interrupted, rolling her eyes. “There is still one single person here,” she joked. “Y'all mothafuckas are too lovey dovey for me.”

  “Aw, y'all…we gotta get Jayde a man… new project,” Sasha declared.

  Jayde shot her a middle finger playfully. Tatum, lost in her thoughts, sighed, still not believing everything that had happened.

  “What’s wrong…you okay, Tay?” Chauncey asked, noticing her solemn look. Ree looked at her seriously.

  “It’s just…I don’t know. Between this shit with Mike, and Kim dying, and E… and even my brother…I just hope this is it, you know?”

  Sasha nodded understandably and Chauncey looked down in reflection of everything that had occurred. Ree grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips.

  “It is…,” he assured her. “Excuse me for a minute.”

  He stood and dismissed himself, unable to really look at her at that moment. He had never really heard her talk about the effects of her brother dying.

  He made his way downstairs to the bar in the basement and Jayde stood up as well.

  “I think I’m gonna grab a drink, too.”

  Ree stood at the bar, sipping on a glass of Hennessy, deep in thought. He heard the footsteps coming down the stairs and he saw the red heels and jeans before he saw Jayde’s face.

  “Can you pour a lady one,” she suggested, finally reaching the floor and walking in his direction. Her long hair was down and she looked flawless, but Ree was unaffected.

  He grabbed another glass and filled it halfway, and then he handed it to her.

  “So…Mickel Dupree’s daughter.” Ree looked at her acutely and she matched his gaze.

  “Figured it out, huh?”

  Ree took another sip and shrugged.

  “Not much to figure…”

  Jayde swallowed hard and took him all in, her head becoming light. Being in his presence was so electric, it was so arousing, she could hardly contain herself. Once Tatum had revealed that the bellhop was really her long lost love Ree, Jayde had known at that moment that he was the infamous Respect. From then on, his appeal had multiplied. It was something with her, but powerful and dangerous men turned her on. It was like playing with fire.

  “My father told me a lot about you…he really had a lot of love for you,” she disclosed.

  Ree nodded.

  “Your father was a really good man. He was…a friend.”

  Ree got lost in a memory.

  “My condolences,” he added.

  Mickel Dupree was something like a teacher to Ree when he had first come to New York from the states. And Ree remembered when he was murdered.

  “My father said you were a natural…a natural at this,” Jayde spoke. “He said you were smart…and calculated…and that you knew how to make a lot of money. He said you were…a born gangster.”

  Jayde’s voice was breathy as she spoke, she had been infatuated with Ree before she had even laid eyes on him.

  The reflection caused Ree to look at her. And then he shrugged.

  “Yeah well, that’s flattering. But I’m a little more than that now.”

  Jayde looked at him incredulously.

  “Really? Like what else?”

  “Like somebody’s potential husband,” he stated matter of factly. He didn’t even mention the possibility of being a father to Trinity’s baby.

  Ree knew the game should be over for him, but for some reason it kept calling him from all angles.

  The statement annoyed Jayde, although she had already seen Tatum’s ring. It would be hard to miss that big ass thing.

  “Oh, so that’s it. Back to Jamaica now?” She questioned.

  “That’s it,” he nodded.

  Jayde smiled and there was silence as they both sipped their drinks. And then…

  “It’s a shame,” she finally admitted.

  Ree looked at her firmly, wanting to know her angle, and she could tell by his expression that she’d better explain.

  “It’s just…I don’t know. You’re so good at what you do. And plus, I mean there’s money here. Me and Chauncey we’re doing well. But with someone like you in charge. Your ideas…your plans…the sky’s the limit, you know?”

  Ree was quiet as he let her words penetrate his mind.

  “Plus the guy you killed, he was the last obstacle to us completely taking over.”

  “Chauncey said he killed E,” Ree added, feeling as if he had killed two birds with one stone, or with one bullet for that matter.

  Jayde pursed her lips.

  “Well…now that I think about it, my vision is getting a little foggy… I don’t think it was Capo that I saw shoot E. I must have been mistaken. But it is a damn shame what happened to E, huh?”

  Ree stared at her and the growing smirk on her face read that she had done it, she had played a part in E's murder, and more importantly, she wanted him to know that she had done it.

  “Why?” Ree asked, showing no change in emotion. People rarely shocked him, especially people like Jayde.

  She sighed before answering and then leaned against the bar.

  “E wouldn’t respect me… and I know you of all people know the value of respect. Plus, I found out he was into some shady dealings…he was planning on linking up with Capo and doing some side business.”

  “So set E up and then say it was Capo, to eliminate them both.”

  She nodded and pointed at him as if to say, ‘bingo!’

  Ree put his drink down on the
bar and took a step toward her.

  “You know I should kill you, right?” The intensity of his words shook and excited her. “That was my dude’s right hand,” Ree reminded her with a somber look.

  Jayde swallowed hard, briefly frightened by the potential she knew that Ree had, but then her regular swagger returned.

  “You should…maybe. But I know you won’t.”

  Ree raised an eyebrow and rubbed his goatee, anticipating her analysis as Jayde stepped closer.

  “For one,” she reasoned. “You know I was right. Regardless of who he was, he was apart of my team, and he broke the code of the game…just like Chris did.”

  She could tell by Ree’s tenseness in his face that she may have crossed a boundary mentioning what she knew about the Chris situation.

  “And two,” she continued, wanting to put the mood back at ease. “You wouldn’t…because…” But she didn’t say it out loud, she just stepped closer to him, close enough to where she could smell the faint and tantalizing scent of him, and then she whispered something softly into his ear.

  That something, caused Ree to reconsider and Jayde knew she had sealed the deal.

  As she pulled away, and Ree stared straight ahead in deliberation, her heart pounded, and not because she was afraid of what he would do. She was like a bitch in heat for Ree, only moments away from howling and jumping all over him.

  “You think about it,” she said, forcing herself to reluctantly turn and head for the steps.

  Ree began to soak up the conversation, especially the end of it, as he heard her make her way up the stairs. Moments later, he heard footsteps return and he wondered if it was Jayde.

  “Hey you.”

  It wasn’t. It was his queen.

  Tatum smiled lightly and walked over to him.

  “I was wondering when you were gonna come back upstairs, we’re about to eat.”

  He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

  “I was just down here having a drink.”

  “And talking to Jayde?” Tatum tried to hide her discomfort.

  “Yeah, Jayde,” Ree repeated as if Jayde were a joke. “She was doing most of the talking, though.”

  Tatum wrapped her arms around his neck and looked at him sassily.