by B. M. Hardin
My head was spinning.
Of course he’d already said that he’d done it, but I just didn’t want to believe it.
“I can’t believe you did that to me! After all that you guys put me through with pretending that I didn’t even exist for years, you took the one thing away from me that I wanted more than anything in the world! You have got to be fucking kidding me!”
“It had to be done Moe, although things did get a little out of hand. They went too far and almost killed you. I wasn’t happy about that part and they had to deal with me for not following my instructions. It was supposed to be a few kicks to the stomach and that was it. They weren’t supposed to beat you half way to death. But Daddy took care of it. I even let Drake get a little taste of the action. He was livid with how bad they’d hurt you.”
Oh really?
He was livid?
Oh, I’m going to show him what a person does when they’re livid!
His stupid ass should have never allowed it to happen in the first place!
I don’t care who Daddy is to him, or what “business” they have together, I am his wife!
I am his best friend!
I am the bitch that went to prison for him and that has always been there for him, no matter what.
I was supposed to come first!
But why am I not surprised?
Drake was always doing something to benefit himself, which is how I had ended up his side chick for years in the first place.
Someone’s priorities were messed up, and listening to Daddy, they always had been.
“In Drake’s defense him nor did Kane like the plan. They even promised to squash the beef at your expense. But once that baby got here and if, for whatever reason, it had been Kane’s, they would have been at it all over again. So, it had to be taken care of.”
I looked back at Kane but he looked at Daddy.
Instantly I thought about his calls and the text message that he’d sent me just before the attack had happened.
Kane had been trying to warn me.
He had been trying to save me and my baby.
Despite Daddy being his “boss” or whoever the hell he was, Kane had tried to help me.
That was more than I could say about Drake’s sorry ass!
“I hope that you can forgive me, but I had to make an executive decision; one that I almost regretted. If they would have killed you, I don’t know what I would have done. I would have never been able to forgive myself. I love you Moet. And I care about what and who you love too. That’s why I did it,” Daddy said.
“What?”
“I would have hated to have to result to taken care of one of them. I couldn’t afford to lose Kane or Drake. But the baby wasn’t here yet, so I had to do what I had to do. You see, one bad mistake can cause things to get all out of whack. Kane overstepped his boundaries. You ended up pregnant. The father of the child was up for questioning and causing confusion. So, the baby had to go. I fixed it. No big deal. All is well,” Daddy said.
I had a headache.
Daddy might as well been the devil himself!
And Drake and Kane were his faithful little servants.
“Daddy, you are a liar! And a murderer! You killed my baby!”
“And I am still your father. I suggest you watch what you say to me.”
I didn’t know if he was chastising me or threatening me and quite frankly I was afraid to ask.
“So you’re even more on top then Kane?” I asked cautiously and still in shock.
“Like I said, Kane works for me. You do the math,” Daddy said.
“So what about marrying Jinx for money and power because of her brother?”
“All my plan to help the process of making her brother one of our top suppliers and connects. He got the job done, married her, and pretty much everything after that he earned or deserved,” Daddy said.
“And so Naomi and Drake?”
“Naomi knew some of it, but she didn’t know who I worked for. She didn’t know about your father. And it really was my idea for them to get married. As I said, it looked better. And I was serious about some of our “business” partners only knowing Drake as “Kane”. I had to go to prison, and it just worked better for us at times for him to pretend to be me. Drake has runs, but it’s always been clear that his heart has been torn between who he was, and the man that he wanted to be. So, I handle most of them,” Kane finally spoke and Daddy nodded.
“What about these random break-ins? Drug related?”
“Maybe. We don’t know but they could be. We’re very careful but you just never know.”
I should have known that something else had to be going on when they’d started happening.
Of course they were probably drug related.
“So it’s you? Then Kane. Then Drake?” I asked Daddy again for clarification.
“Something like that. They both work for me. But Drake normally gets his directions from Kane. Drake would much rather be doing other things. Kane is all about making his money.”
I couldn’t believe that Drake was still dirty.
All of this time, he had been lying to me.
He had been lying about everything.
“Drake never left the game Moet. He only changed it. He gave us a different avenue by getting a trade and becoming a business owner. It still provided more money because a lot of the folks that he sells houses to are related to our dirty business. Either way, it provides legal money and the dealers get to keep folks out of their business. More money and more business for everybody. We kept it going when Kane got the car lot. And another one of my workers has a barbershop. But Moe, I can tell you this. Drake really has been ready to get out for a while. He was just in too deep. I’d promised to bring him out before you got out of prison, but we’d just come up on a huge move that we had to make and I just couldn’t afford to let him go; especially because they were asking for “Kane”; which at the time Drake was pretending to be him. But now with you, and Krissie, oh and with you being pregnant and all, it’s time to let him out so that he can enjoy being with his family.”
What?
What the hell was he talking about?
I wasn’t pregnant.
I couldn’t get pregnant thanks to him!
“I’m not pregnant. Thanks to you, I can never get pregnant again, remember?” I asked Daddy with an attitude.
I was angry.
Scratch that, I was pissed the hell off!
I couldn’t believe that my own father would do something like that to me.
I didn’t give a damn what his explanation was, I was his daughter and I was carrying his grandchild at the time and he’d taken my baby away from me.
I wanted to cry but considering what I’d just found out I didn’t want to appear weak.
“Yes you can. You can still get pregnant Moet. It was a lie. I paid the doctor to tell you that because I was going to get him to tie your tubes while you were doped up on medication. It was Drake’s request. He didn’t want to put you through the pressure of trying to get pregnant again. But just as the doctor was about to go through with the procedure, he changed his mind. I’d already had him tell you that getting pregnant again was impossible, so we just left it at that. He did say that it might be difficult anyway, and maybe very painful, so I figured if you ever popped up pregnant again we all could simply go along with it and call it some kind of “miracle” or something. But you are pregnant Moet. Drake thinks you are too.”
What!
I was about to lose it!
This was too much, at one time, and I leaned over as though I was going to throw up.
Kane stepped up and touched me again but I damn near killed myself trying to jerk away from him.
Struggling to get myself together, I spoke.
“So what am I supposed to do with all of this?”
“Nothing. This conversation will not leave this room. You will not so much as mention to Drake or anyone what you heard here today. We never had this discus
sion. I trust you Moet. You’re a big girl. A tough girl. You got that from me. You can handle this.”
“I need some answers from Drake.”
“No. All you need to do is keep your mouth shut. I am your father Moet and I do love you. But this thing is bigger than you and I and a lot of people are involved. We don’t need jaws flapping and we don’t need any more problems Moe. As I just told you, I don’t like problems. You do understand don’t you?”
I looked at him.
How was he going to tell me something like this and then tell me not to mention it to Drake?
Hell it wasn’t like Drake wasn’t already involved.
“The consequences won’t be pretty. And sacrificing one life to save many is a choice that I would hate to have to make…again; even if it is way too close to home.”
Did Daddy just threaten to kill me?
I wasn’t sure.
But I sure as hell wasn’t going to find out.
As far as I knew and because of what he’d just confessed to me, he was capable of anything.
I didn’t even know who the man standing in front of me really was.
“Y’all finish up here. I’ll see you both later. Remember Moe; not a word to anyone---not your sisters or brother or Drake. He may be your husband, but I can assure you that the bulk of his loyalty belongs to me.”
And with that Daddy and Krissie headed out of the door.
The door closed behind them and immediately I felt as though I was having a panic attack.
I closed my eyes real tight and then opened them again to see if I was dreaming but I wasn’t.
I was wide awake.
After panting for a few seconds, I screamed aloud.
Really?
Did that just happen?
I looked at Kane who was standing there looking at me.
He didn’t say anything for a long while and neither did I.
I could tell that he wanted to say something to make it all easier to digest, or maybe he wanted to say something completely crazy and out in left field like he always did, but either way, he stood there quietly until I said the first word.
“This has to be some kind of dream.”
“It isn’t.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“You should.”
“You’ve worked for him all along?”
“Yes.”
“And Drake has worked for him too? All this time?”
“Yes.”
I was so disturbed.
I felt like I didn’t know anything, or anybody around me.
Honestly, I didn’t.
But I still had questions.
I still needed answers.
Drake was my husband and I deserved to hear what he had to say about all of this.
“Whatever you are thinking, think again. He means just what he said. He meant every single thing that came out of his mouth Moet. Now that you know, the best thing you can do is accept it, shut up and don’t piss him off. He’s still your father. But the streets got to him a long time ago. He isn’t the man that you think he is. Trust me. I know.”
Kane put the key in my hand.
“If you want the building for your little business, or whatever, you can have it.”
“No. Apparently my husband is some big time drug dealer and I don’t need to work at all. What’s the point?” I said reaching him the key back and he took it.
“Go home Moet. And forget everything you just heard.”
Kane headed towards the door.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why were you willing to betray Daddy and warn me of the attack? Why would you do that for me?”
“That’s for me to know, and for you to find out,” Kane said with a straight face and walked out the door.
Hell from the looks of it, the man that I hated the most was the only one who’d seem to give a damn about me.
Ain’t that a bitch?
~***~
“Why don’t you want to stay at your father’s house anymore? We still don’t know what’s going on around here. You and Krissie will be safer there,” Drake said.
It was taking everything in me not to say anything to him about what I’d found out.
I wanted answers.
I wanted to understand.
Hell, I wanted explanations and maybe even to slap the hell out of him for not going up against Daddy’s plan for those people to attack me.
But maybe a part of him actually wanted the attack to happen since he wasn’t 100% sure that the baby was his and not Kane’s.
But I would never get to ask him since Daddy ordered me to keep my mouth shut.
Obviously Daddy was serious about taking care of “problems”.
So, my lips were sealed.
“I just want to come home. I miss being home.”
By home, of course I still meant Naomi’s old house that we were living in.
Or maybe I should call it Krissie’s house.
Either way, I didn’t want to be in the same house as Daddy any longer.
Drake stared at me.
“But I need you and Krissie to be safe.”
“I want to be with you Drake so, I’m staying,” I said to him and he nodded his head.
Daddy had me scared to death.
For the past week, since Daddy’s confessions, I’d still been at my parents’ house but I hadn't slept in days.
Even when Drake was there beside me, I always felt uncomfortable.
I’d been with Drake knowingly when he sold drugs back in the day, and even helped him plan a murder, but thinking about Daddy in that way just didn’t feel right.
And being around him, after knowing what he’d done to me, just made me feel nothing but terror when I was around him.
Though Drake had lied to me too, and was still dirty, I was more comfortable being around him, then being around the man that had been lying to me my whole life and seemed to have a little too much power and pull than I was comfortable with.
He was paying doctors, attackers and there was no telling what else he was willing to pay someone else to do.
I wanted to be as far away from Daddy as possible.
And I wanted Drake out of the game and I wanted him out now!
And for real this time.
Daddy mentioned that he was about to let Drake go anyway.
At least that’s what he’d said.
But Daddy couldn’t be trusted.
And maybe Drake couldn’t either but at the end of the day I still loved the hell out of him despite his truth.
He had been lying his ass off, but I still loved him.
He was everything that he used to be and nothing that I thought he was, but I still wanted my husband.
And no matter what, loved the decisions that I didn’t understand, I knew that he loved me too.
“I don’t have time to argue with you right now. I have to go to work,” Drake said, bringing me back to the matter at hand.
I cringed.
Now that I knew that his “work” could be drug related or dealings with someone that was related to anything illegal, I felt uneasy.
I thought we were past all of this.
“Then don’t.”
“I’m not leaving you here by yourself Moe. At least go back to your father’s house until I get home.”
I looked at him.
“Don’t go to work today. You’re the boss. Call out or just don’t show up.”
“I need to go today. I have some business to take care of.”
“Like what?”
“Like work. What’s wrong with you today?”
Drake stared at me but I turned away.
“Nothing.”
“Well, come on. I’m not leaving you here. You can come back when I get off if you insist.”
“I don’t feel good. Stay home with me.”
Honestly, I didn’t.
I was nauseous and on top of that I was exhausted.
&
nbsp; “Moe, come on. Let’s go. Don’t even try it,” Drake laughed as though he hadn't cared about what I’d just said.
Pouting, I grabbed Krissie’s hand and followed Drake outside.
He kissed us both and waited for us to pull off before even getting into his car.
I figured that I would let him get settled in at work and then go back maybe an hour or so later, but just as the thought crossed my mind, Drake called me and said the very thing that I had been thinking about doing.
“Don’t try to go back to the house without me Moet. It’s for your safety. Trust me Moe.”
Considering everything that I’d just found out, he was probably right.
“Shut up. I wasn’t going to go back.”
“Do you know who you’re talking to? Yes you were. I know you,” Drake laughed.
I wished I could have said the same about him but obviously he’d had me fooled.
“Promise to call me as soon as you are off. Krissie and I will head back home then.”
“I might call you and I might not. I might have to call my other boo.”
“Oh really? Do you and your other boo want to die?
Drake laughed.
“I love you girl. Have a good day and do something productive. Exercise or something. You getting a little extra meat on them turkey thighs of yours lately,” Drake chuckled.
“Fuck you.”
We hung up and I thought to myself how I could possibly give up what we shared, despite all of his secrets.
Basically now, all I wanted him to do was quit.
Get out of the game and all of the lies would be forgiven.
Refusing to be around Daddy, I didn’t have a choice but to head over to Lee Lee’s.
Chardonnay was probably already at work, and I didn’t want to impose on Velvet and her new husband, so Lee Lee was the only option.
She was working from home for a few months so I figured that I could waste time there and that we could try to have some kind of conversation about the whole Kane issue.
We hadn’t talked in a while so of course I hadn’t told her what Kane said about his reasoning for pursuing her were only because he couldn’t have me and to piss me off.
I guess we could start with that.
“I’m surprised to see you.”
Krissie and I walked in.
“We need to talk.”
“About what?”
“You already know. I think we need to talk about it.”