Angelique closed the box containing the meatless bones and licked her greasy lips.
“Damn, I shoulda got you a five piece.”
“I know huh, I probably would have ate it all.” She giggled wiping her mouth with a napkin.
I pulled into a parking spot at the hospital. It seemed like I was at this place more than I was at home recently. But instead on coming here on bad terms, the visit today was a good one.
Angelique and I held hands as we walked into Sabrina’s room. Her eyes lit up when she saw me.
“Hey you, I’ve been waiting for you to come see me.” She gave me a pretty smile.
She looked better than she did when I brought her here. I really thought she wasn’t going to make it, but she was stronger than she looked and proof of that was laying right in front of me.
“I’m happy you made it through.”
“Shit, so am I, from what they tell me around here I was pretty jacked up.” She motioned for us to sit.
“So who’s this lovely lady sitting next to you?”
“This is my girlfriend Angelique, Angelique this is Sabrina.” I did the formal introduction thing.
Sabrina smiled, “It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too.” Angelique responded kindly.
“I thought you said you had two girlfriends.” Sabrina put up two fingers. “Where’s the one I
met at the restaurant? The one with all the attitude?” Sabrina rolled her eyes.
“You must mean Dallas…she’s no longer with us.” Angelique crossed her legs.
Sabrina looked concerned, “Oh, did she pass away?”
I laughed, “Naw, I jus’ broke up with her this morning…it’s a long story.”
“Oh well, I won’t say I’m sorry to hear that because I’m not…I really didn’t like her much.”
I didn’t want to rehash old stuff so I moved the conversation to a more serious level. Besides, I never liked beating around the bush. I needed to get some things off my chest and I needed to get them off now.
“You feel like talkin’ Sabrina?” I pulled my chair closer to her bed.
“I was kinda hoping you wouldn’t ask that question…but I guess we do have some things to discuss. Let me start, first of all, thank you for saving my life. I would not be here looking out this big ass window at this beautiful day if it wasn’t for you. Second, I feel soooo embarrassed that you saw me get my pussy ate and seen me naked! Don’t get me wrong I wasn’t embarrassed at the time but now since you’re my freakin’ brother it kinda changes things.” Sabrina blushed. I was shocked when she said that, “How did you find out?” I leaned in closer to her.
“My nurse told me and then my doctor confirmed it. I asked him to run a DNA test and sure enough, about twenty minutes ago he came in with the lab results…I’m your sister. Isn’t that weird, I had a crush on my freakin’ brother!”
Angelique’s ears perked up when she heard the c word. Sabrina quickly filled in the details to clear it all up.
“Don’t worry Angelique, he was a complete gentlemen, he politely told me that he was committed to his relationship, he was about to let me down gently…but I kinda got hit by a car so that stopped that conversation.” Sabrina joked seriously. “Speaking of which, who the fuck hit me?”
I huffed at that question, “You ready for this one? Our dad ran you over! Then this nigga ran off and left you for dead! I’m sorry to say, I had to kill your uncle Armando and I have Diego tied up in my trunk right now. The only reason I didn’t put a bullet in his head is because of you. I wanted to ask you what you wanted to do. If it was up to me I’d take him sky diving without a parachute but I know you got love for his punk ass, sooo what you wanna do?”
Sabrina sighed heavily, “Did he really jus’ leave me there?”
“Yep, and he said you’re dead to him.”
Sabrina took a moment to soak in the disturbing truth. I could see the pain and turmoil on her face. I reached out and stroked her arm attempting to comfort her.
“You know what, fuck him, whatever you want to do with him is fine with me! If he doesn’t give a fuck about me than I don’t give a fuck about him! It’s your call bro, what do you want to do with your sperm donor?”
Witness
Pamela helped Gloria get into the back of the patrol car. It was mid afternoon and the sun was high in the sky. It was a beautiful day in L.A. with the morning fog long since burned off. Today was the day Gloria was finally leaving the confines of her hospital room, and not a moment too soon, she was about to go stir crazy in there.
The one bright spot of her stay was when she got to meet her son after all these years. Only a mother who’s lost a child knows what it feels like. The pain is indescribable. Gloria had to endure that heart wrenching pain for over two decades. The worst thing about it was that she blamed herself for his death. When Tyce walked in the hospital room looking like the male version of herself her heart and spirits lifted. It was like a refreshing river came through and washed away all the years of filthy mourning that was stuck in her soul like a deep rooted weed.
Sitting in the back of that patrol car as it drove through the city streets, Gloria reflected on her life. She met Diego when she ditched school one day. She was afraid to tell him she was underage so she lied and said she was 18. They never really dated or anything like that, he would just pick her up and take her shopping sometimes. Of course, he would make her pay for the gifts by sleeping with him, but she didn’t really mind. Diego was quite the catch back then. Gloria knew he had money and power and was on the rise…that’s what attracted her to him in the first place. But after she got pregnant two years later, everything changed…he changed.
“Is this the address Ms. Adkins?”
Pamela looked out the window, “Yes officer.”
The maroon car followed by another unmarked vehicle turned simultaneously down the alley. Officer Hurley, Officer Ruiz, Pamela, and Gloria all exited the car at the same time. Both officers pulled their guns out and rushed in the same direction.
“Stay back ladies!” Officer Ruiz instructed.
Officer Hurley gave a silent count to his partner with his fingers. ONE…TWO…THREE.
Officer Ruiz thrusts the heavy black lid open giving his partner some room to shove his gun inside the wide gap.
“GET UP SLOWLY WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!!”
The man didn’t move a muscle.
“I SAID GET UP!!” Officer Hurley repeated.
“Is he dead?” Officer Ruiz peeked inside.
“No, he’s still breathing, he’s just unconscious, call the paramedics. Ms. Wright, Pamela, I need you to come and identify the perp.”
Pamela reached out and grabbed Gloria’s hand. She had a limp in her step as she gingerly walked toward the officers. With the lid now fully open, all four of them stared into the grimy back alley dumpster.
“Is this the man who shot you Ms. Wright?” Ruiz looked at her.
Gloria peered down at Diego and smiled, “Yes, that’s him alright.”
After repeated pokes in the ribs by a night stick, Diego finally woke up. He shielded his eyes from the bright sunlight with the back of his hand.
“Whut the fuck es thes, wher the fuck am I?”
“Diego Alverez, you’re under arrest for attempted murder and kidnapping!”
“Whut the fuck are yu talking about? I wus the
one who wus kidnapped, whut the fuck es thes? Whu the fuck are yu?” Diego tried to stand up.
He was lying on a bed of trash bags and boxes so the task was difficult. Not to mention since he was woken up abruptly the paralyzing pain in his balls returned and was spreading through his entire body.
“We’re police officers Diego and you’re under arrest.”
It took a few minutes for the police to pull Diego out of the dumpster. He could hardly stand up due to the pain.
“Looks like someone really busted your balls huh Diego?” Officer Ruiz laughed.
Hurley chimed in, “Hey Diego, we got a witness that isn’t afraid to testify…you’re going away for a long time.”
“Fuck yu white boy, I’ll be out en a week, money talks en I know sum judges whu luv tu listen tu me!”
Pamela and Gloria both looked at Diego in disgust. Gloria spit in his face, then she grinned when she whispered to him.
“Pamela and I have a son…he has a lot of money too, and he’ll make sure you stay your ass in prison you piece of shit!”
The two mother’s held hands as they watched the ambulance drive away with Diego in the back, he was on his way to the hospital but after that he was going straight to jail. The officers assured them that two cops would be posted outside his room 24 hours a day.
Discellaneous
After meeting with Sabrina and talking it over with Angelique, I decided to do what Diego did to me. I left his ass in the same dumpster he left me in, now that’s what I call taking out the trash. I know Diego thought he could just buy his way out of jail but that shit wasn’t going to happen. I was prepared to line the pockets of who ever I had to just to make sure he got convicted on all charges.
A couple days later, I met up with Khalil and paid him the money I promised him. He was all happy and shit, he practically snatched my arm out of socket he shook it so hard. I thanked him for being a soldier and told him if he ever needed anything to let me know. He told me now that Armando was dead, and Diego was out the picture, the game was wide open and he was ready to take shit over.
I planned on getting to know Gloria. After all these years of not knowing who or where I came from, it felt kind of odd to know the truth. After such a shitty start, my life turned out alright. Sure I had to go through some fucked up shit to make it here but if I hadn’t gone through that, I wouldn’t be the man I am today.
Pamela told me why she named me Tyce. She said it stood for Tough, Young, Cute, and Exceptional. I smiled when she shared that with me. I loved Pamela, and she loved me. So the question I asked myself is which one do I call mom? Pamela or Gloria?
The answer is…both
I insisted Angelique move into my bedroom with me. No more separate rooms. It was an US thing from now on…me, her and the baby. Angelique was busy doing her party planning thing. Thanks to Gloria, I found out when my actual birthday was. All this time, I never celebrated getting older because I never knew when I was born. I was happy to hear that Gloria delivered me on May 11. Angelique was all geeked up because that was only two weeks away and she wanted to throw me my first ever birthday party.
I went to visit Sabrina again, we spent hours just talking about life. She told me about Carmela and how sweet she was. She also told me about her fucked up child hood with Diego. We still couldn’t believe we were actually brother and sister. We both admitted to being sexually attracted to each other when we first met. But now, all that shit was erased. All that lust was instantly replaced by a budding love between long separated siblings. We chose to keep that little kiss a secret.
Sway and Ranae are still doing the marriage thing. After that whole shit exploded that night, he never called me or tried to talk to me about it. It was understood between us that aint shit happen. What I did ask him about was how he was dealing with his addiction. That nigga damn near dropped the phone when he heard me say that. He asked me how in the world I knew. I told him, after being around dope feins for ten years; you learn how to recognize the signs. He assured me that everything was cool and that he was off the drugs for good.
All my life I had beaten the odds. One thing I knew about me is that I hated to lose. For the life of me I couldn’t understand why niggas kept fucking with me…didn’t they understand that I was the baddest man on the planet?
Shit, I stay ready so I aint gotta get ready.
All I need is a bag of Skittles.
Special Delivery
Carmela rubbed her son’s head with a cold washcloth. He was running a temperature along with a terrible bronchial infection. The antibiotics she received from the Medicaid clinic wasn’t helping him get better. The medicine was just a band-aid, it wasn’t intended to cure him, only make him somewhat comfortable. She held back tears. She didn’t want him to see her cry, that would only upset him more.
Her motherly duties would have to be put on pause as the doorbell rang. Carmela reluctantly left her son’s side and went to answer the door. A tall man dressed in a black khaki uniform stood on the other side of her screen door.
“Hello maam, are you Carmela Lopez?”
“Yes I am.” She replied nervously.
“I have a package I need you to sign for.”
“Oh ok, what is it?” She opened the screen door and took the clipboard from the polite man.
“I have no idea maam, it’s certified and marked confidential, that’s all I know.”
Carmela scribbled her name on the designated line, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, have a nice day.”
Carmela closed and locked the screen. She took a second to look outside her door for anything suspicious. Unexpected packages never came to her; all she ever got was bills. Sitting at the small table in her cramped kitchen, she opened up the medium sized box.
Her eyes bulged when she saw a stack of hundred dollar bills sitting inside.
“Oh my God.” She whispered to herself.
She took the money out of the box and held it in her hand. It seemed like a dream, she stared at the thick stack in disbelief. After several seconds she looked back in the box and seen a note on the bottom. Placing the stack back inside, she retrieved the piece of paper and read it anxiously.
I heard about your boy and I wanted to help. I hope this money is enough to get him the procedure he needs to get better.
I could also use a good cook-so if you want you can come work for me. But if you don’t know how to make southern fried chicken…I suggest you learn before you show up cuz my girl loves it.
Ps. Thanks for saving my mom’s life…TYCE.
Alone
Dallas sat in the middle of the bed staring at a picture of her and Tyce standing next to a horse. The picture was from their first real date. She noticed that she looked so happy in the photo. She scrolled to the next image on her phone and a picture of Angelique popped up. Dallas tightened her grip on the phone as she felt anger surge through her petite body.
Who did this bitch think she was?
I know she didn’t expect me to just disappear like a fucking magician!
Fuck that!
Dallas threw the phone against the wall. Just like her heart, it shattered into pieces.
A woman with a plan…and a case full of money…was a dangerous combination.
TYCE
I I
BY
SHAREEF JAUDON
I wanted to take this time and thank you for reading my book; I hope you enjoyed the ride.
FACEBOOK: search Shareef Jaudon
For booking information
Email: [email protected]
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
First and foremost I’d like to thank Allah for giving me the determination, energy, and talent to complete my second novel! God is good. I’d like to shout out my son Shareef and my daughter Karese, daddy loves you both up to the sky! I owe a special thanks my lady love Melanie who helped me several ways with this project. I love you dear. Thanks to Ms. Sherdava Mayes for all the editing, publicity, and for having never ending patience with a slow cat like myself. I gotta give a shout out to T.J. Anderson of New Vision Marketing & Design for all the cover work. You got talent man. My cover is that new hotness for real. Ok, next up is the list of folks that had my back, support me, and gohard.com…all the ladies and gents of Black and Faithful book club, Readers R Us, Black E book club, We Read Urban Lit, Divas & Gents, Locksie of ARC book club, Author Treasure Blue, Author SK, Lisa Tyrell Perry-Amos, The Temptress Precise, Author David Weaver, Darlene Guerrero, Kayla Scurlock, Denise Gilliam, Jennifer Martin, Carla, Shikira, Foxxy, Love Jone
s, Marissa Palmer, Tamika Davis, Brandi, Senobia, Angela Day, Knook, Karma, Author Angel Michelle, Nicole, Ashley, Chell, Chica, Lisa, Shaquita Hudson, Dcbookreviewer Rawls, Kelia, Natasha, Cleopatra, Sharon, Char Foxx, Michelle, and all the readers that I haven’t had the chance to interact with. I love each and every one of you!!! It’s to many to name here…that would be another book. Lol. I love all the readers on my fan page! I gotta thank my family, starting with my parents Rose and Willie and my siblings, Jameelah, Ayesha, Wali, and Ameenah…you guys keep me motivated and focused. I want to thank all the authors who are pulling for me and continuing to write bangers. Keep em coming, I know I will. I wanna thank all the readers who support me and love TYCE ADKINS!!! I wouldn’t be here if you didn’t go hard for me! THANKS A MILLION. A special shout out to all the readers who took the time to give me a review on Amazon.com or Barnes and Nobles.com-you don’t know how much that means to an author. Thank you soooo much. Thanks again for checking me out….until next time America, “Stay ready so you aint gotta get ready” PEACE!!!
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