Side Chick Catching Main Chick Feelings 3

by B. M. Hardin

  What’s the point?

  As mentally tired as I was, I just wanted to try to heal.

  I just wanted the hurt and agony to go away.

  Lee Lee approached me.

  “I really am sorry for your loss and all of this. I don’t know who would have done this to Drake or why, but I know that he didn’t deserve this. I love you sister. If you need me, I’ll always be here for you. Kane and I are both here if you need us,” Lee Lee.

  For the life of me, I had to be rub her the wrong way and get up under her skin.

  It wasn’t the time or the place but it would have killed me if I hadn't.

  “Oh I know how Kane feels. He personally let me know when we met at the house the other day. But thanks,” I said.

  She didn’t say a word, but I can see that she was bothered by my comment.

  Eventually, silently, she walked away and left me to mourn in peace.

  She was so stupid!

  And she was acting desperate and I didn’t like it.

  Though Kane swore that he hadn't touched her, sexually, I didn’t believe him.

  There was no way that she was like that about him and never even had the dick.

  No one could tell me otherwise.

  And then maybe again, that could be why she seemed to really be into him because he didn’t seem to want her for her body.

  Sex had also been something that she used to her advantage, and maybe the fact that he wasn’t after her ass was making her feel like he was something special.

  Or maybe dumbass was a side effect of all of the pills she was shoving down her throat.

  But whatever the case may be, she was delusional.

  But I knew the truth.

  And I didn’t really care.

  The only thing that I cared about at the moment was figuring out how I was going to be able to continue on with only half of a heart.

  Finally with everyone gone, I just stood there.

  I stood there to reminisce and even laugh and tell jokes to Drake from my heart.

  I thought of all that we had been through and I wished that things could have been different.

  I wished that he had waited for me and not involved Naomi.

  I wished that I hadn't gotten involved with Kane.

  I wished that he could have just told me what he was involved in the game a long time ago and I could have convinced him to get out for good.

  Dropping the last rose that I had in my hand, I knew that I had to let go.

  I was so full of anger and hurt that I could barely breathe.

  But life must go on.

  And it must go on without Drake.

  In tears, I turned my back to Drake’s burial plot but I looked over my shoulder one last time.

  “I love you Dray. I always will. Remember…I got you.”

  Now the question was…who was going to have me?

  ~***~

  “Are you going to stay here?”

  “No. I think Krissie and I are might go to the secret house that Drake had. I think we will be safe there. Just for a little while. And once everything is handled, I think we are going to hit the road.”

  “And go where?”

  “Anywhere but here. I can’t stay here Daddy.”

  “Well, you can stay here as long as you need to. Who knows, maybe when you are ready to go, I might just go with you.”

  I don’t think so.

  I’d concluded that he probably didn’t do anything to Drake but I still didn’t want him to come with me.

  We’d had plenty of conversations, as many as I’d wanted to have, and Daddy seemed to really be trying to figure out what had happened to him.

  Just to give me a peace of mind.

  “The police say that they have possible leads, but they are wrong. They are never going to find whoever did this. It was too clean to be random. This was a hit,” Daddy said.

  I could tell that Daddy wanted to discuss something with me, but he didn’t. Maybe he wanted to mention something about the money again, but he didn’t want to seem pushy so he backed off.

  “I’m going out. I’ll be back later. Stay here. You will be safe here just in case.”

  Just in case what?

  Daddy was gone and I sat there in a daze.

  I wondered what kind of plan Kane had up his sleeve.

  I wondered if he had a reason for wanting to make me think Daddy had been up to no good.

  Or maybe he really did have reason to believe that Daddy had been involved.

  My phone started to ring and I saw that it was my sister Chardonnay.

  Glancing at the time, I was surprised to see her calling while she was at work.

  She was always at work.

  “How are you holding up?” she asked as soon as I picked up the phone.

  “Better.”

  “Did you stop bleeding? Spotting?”

  “Yeah. Are you at work? You want to do lunch?”

  “I’m working through lunch.”

  “You are going to work yourself to death you know that?”

  “Honey, I have to work. Who else is going to be pay all these bills?”

  “It’s just you Chardonnay and I’m sure you make plenty. There can’t be that many bills.”

  “Trust me. There are. Well, I was just calling to check on you. Love you. Oh wait, have you heard from Velvet or Lee Lee?”

  “Velvet, this morning. And Legacy, not since the funeral.”

  “She still trying to have something going on with Kane?”

  “Probably with her nasty ass. Did you know she was on pills?”

  “Yeah. She said she was having trouble sleeping and staying focused. Why?”

  “Just asked.”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  And with that we hung up.

  Against Daddy’s orders, with my brother Rum offering to watch Krissie, I headed out.

  I needed the ride.

  I needed the fresh air.

  It wasn’t until I had Kane’s car lot in my view that I knew where I was going.

  I walked in and didn’t bother to ask for him.

  Opening his office door he looked at me.

  Surprisingly he smiled.

  “There she go,” he joked.

  “Look, I thought about what you said about Daddy and…”

  “You want to take me up on my offer to take you on a date?”

  “What? No.”

  “I’ll pick you up for dinner tonight at 8.”

  “No. You know what I don’t even know why I came here.”

  To be honest, I really didn’t.

  I didn’t know if I was going to ask more about Daddy and his thoughts. Or if I just wanted to tell him my thoughts.

  Either way, it was a mistake.

  I walked out of his office and out of the car lot and straight into Daddy.

  “Surprised to see you here,” he said.

  I could say the same thing but I figured that he probably came there often.

  I’d just never run into him before.

  “Drug business?”

  “No. I’m out of all of that but you know that already. New car business,” and with that Daddy walked inside.

  I got into my car and noticed that Kane had been standing in the window.

  He turned his back just as I pulled off, assuming that Daddy had walked into the office.

  I headed back towards my parent’s house.

  After driving for only a minute or so my phone started to ring and at first I assumed that it was going to be Kane but then I saw that it was Lee Lee.

  “Why were you at Kane’s office?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I asked why you were at Kane’s office.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Did he ask you to come by? What did he say? Did he say anything about me?” Lee Lee asked.

  “Nope.”

  “Then what did he say?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Nothing at all?”

/>   Not hearing from her wasn’t so bad after all, I thought as I exhaled loudly in her ear.

  “Okay Lee Lee, what’s going on here huh? What’s with the pills?”

  “I need them. They help me sleep and sometimes I get anxiety since all of that crazy stuff happened to me. Why?”

  “You seem strange. I’m worried about you. There can’t be some real connection between you and Kane okay. Snap out of it already.”

  “But there is. I’ve never felt this way before Moe. He listens to me. And he doesn’t even want sex from me.”

  I guess he was serious about them not being intimate, but Legacy’s behavior was just way too much for no reason at all.

  “He’s not who you think he is Legacy. Kane is trouble.”

  “Not for me. I can change him. I’m changing every day, for the better. And from what he has told me, he wants more out of life too.”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “What?”

  “Why were you at Drake’s office that day? Why had you been calling him?”

  She took a deep breath.

  “Stop by my house.”

  She hung up and I drove to her house in a hurry.

  She opened the door before I could even knock.

  I followed her to her bedroom.

  She told me to have a seat in front of her computer.

  “He had me doing this for you. For the dream wedding that you were planning.”

  I clicked through all of the photos.

  The slideshow had pictures that I hadn't seen in years.

  Some of them were from when Drake and I were just kids.

  Of course I became emotional.

  “How did you find these?”

  “It wasn’t easy. I had to go through boxes. Mama’s stuff. Drake’s stuff and even some of your stuff when you wouldn’t be home. I’ve been working on it for weeks. Trying to make it perfect. He wanted it to be a surprise on the day of the “wedding” day. He planned for it to be playing as you walked down the aisle towards him. I was going to add whatever songs you picked to it to play the whole time and you wouldn’t notice that it was attached to the slide show until it was time for you to come in.”

  I knew he had been up to no good.

  But in a good way.

  He was doing something special for me.

  I should have known.

  I started to whimper.

  It was crazy that I’d even let the thought of him doing something other than something sweet for me cross my mind.

  “He loved you so much Moe. I just wanted a piece of that. I need a piece of that. I used to play with love but I realize that it isn’t a game. I want something more.”

  “Then find it Lee Lee. But it’s not with Kane.”

  She smiled and hugged me.

  “Thank goodness that I don’t live my life based off of other people’s opinions, especially when it comes to love. That’s something that I learned from you,” she said.

  Well, I guess she had a point there.

  ******************************

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “I like the way you licking on that cone,” Kane said approaching me as Krissie and I got ice cream.

  I looked at him as Krissie smiled at him.

  “Why won’t you go away?” I said looking around, knowing that Lee Lee was probably somewhere looking on.

  Kane checked his surroundings too.

  “Stop playing hard to get. Neither one of us are attached anymore.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Yep.”

  “Maybe you should inform Lee Lee of that.”

  “Trust me. She got the message.”

  “Kane, I don’t even like you.”

  “You did once upon a time.”

  “No. I liked the man that you pretended to be.”

  “I wasn’t pretending. That was the best of me.”

  “Look, I’m pregnant and I just lost my husband. So, just leave me alone.”

  “You’re going to keep the baby?”

  I thought that I was going to lose it, but I hadn't, so I wouldn’t have it any other way.

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t I? And I just want to raise my kids and try to live a normal life.”

  “I can be normal.”

  I laughed aloud.

  “Well go be normal with Lee Lee.”

  “Legacy and I are just friends. I was only trying to get up under your skin, but I think she is getting a little ahead of herself.”

  “Nah, you think?”

  “At least let me take you out to dinner. We don’t have anything to lose and we did have some good “grown up” together,” Kane said out of nowhere.

  Krissie repeated the word “grown-up.”

  “Uh, no. Didn’t you just hear what I said Kane? I’m pregnant.”

  “So. It ain’t like Drake will be around to help you take care of it.”

  He crushed my heart with his words and they even made me angry but I didn’t show it.

  “Not a chance in Hell.”

  He laughed wickedly.

  Hell, he’d bothered me while Drake was alive so I wasn’t surprised that he was really a nuisance now that Drake was dead.

  “Well in that case Moet…welcome to Hell,” he said and walked away.

  He turned back to smile at me but was caught off guard when he turned around to see Lee Lee standing there.

  He said something to her, very briefly, and then walked off.

  And without even speaking to me, she followed him.

  ~***~

  Only Daddy knew about the secret house, and I’d told him not to tell anyone where I’d gone.

  I made sure to always pay attention to the cars behind me just to make sure that Kane wasn’t following me or anything.

  I’d almost considered staying at the house with Daddy, but Lee Lee was getting on my last nerve.

  She was always around as if she was trying to make sure that Kane wasn’t bothering me or something.

  A few times that he’d called I reached her my phone, and he would hang up on her.

  It tickled me that she was sweating him the way that she was, but I could do without seeing it on a daily basis.

  Getting settled, Krissie played on the floor, and I made a few calls to have our things cleared out completely from the house that Drake and I bought, as well as the other one that we were living in that Kane had told me had been left for Krissie.

  I’d found out that Drake was on the deed with Naomi; he’d never mentioned that part, but it all worked out in my favor. Since they were both dead, the house was technically mine, and I was about to put that one and ours up for sale.

  What I didn’t want or need was going to be sold, and both of the houses were sold, I was adding the money to what I already had and I was moving somewhere where nobody knew my name.

  The baby was healthy.

  There were a few concerns but so far, everything was just fine.

  I was hoping that it was a boy.

  I was going to name him after Drake of course and I hoped that he looked just like him too.

  In a way the baby made me feel closer to him. It was almost as though he was gone, but I was blessed enough to have part of him still with me; inside of me.

  The sudden knock on the door made me nervous.

  No one knew but Daddy where I was, and he was old school so he would have called before coming.

  I peeked out to see who it was.

  It was the little old woman from across the street.

  I opened the door with a fake smile.

  “Hi.”

  “Hi. I noticed you carrying a few things in. I assume that you will be staying here while Drake is away.”

  “Yes. Yes I’ll be here for a little while.”

  She smiled.

  “Well, I made you a pie. It’s apple. Homemade of course. Drake used to love my pie.”

  I caught on that she’d said it in past tense.

  “I know th
at he’s dead chile. He knew that it was coming.”

  I invited her in and figured that just maybe Drake had told her a few things that I might need to know and hear.

  She headed to the dining area to sit down the pie.

  Obviously she knew her way around.

  “He said that he could feel it. He’d said that he was mixed up in some trouble and he didn’t know how much time he had left. You’re his wife aren’t you? Not the first one; but the one that went to prison for him? The one that he loved all along?”

  I nodded and forced my mouth closed.

  “He told you all of that?”

  “Yes. He told me everything.”

  “Did he mention what kind of trouble he was in?”

  “Only that it was about money. He said that he and Moet’s father, your father, took some money from some people and he had the feeling that they were looking for it. He said that he had the feeling that things could turn bad and I guess he was right.”

  He’d told her way more than he’d ever bothered to tell me.

  “Why didn’t he just give the money back? Where is the money now?”

  “Giving it back wouldn’t have saved his life I suppose. And he never mentioned where it was or at least I can’t remember if he did or not. I forget things, often, but I always remember. It might take a little while, but it always comes back to me. One of my many problems at my age.”

  My mind was racing, but I didn’t say my thoughts aloud.

  She headed towards the door.

  “Oh, see, I almost forgot this.”

  She pulled a letter out of her back pocket.

  “It’s from Drake. As I said, he had a feeling that something bad was coming. Anyway, I’m right across the street if you ever need anything or just to talk. I don’t get many visitors these days. I don’t have much family either. Just like Drake. But he always made sure to visit me. Enjoy the pie. I baked it with love.”

  I made sure that she made it across the street safely and then I hurried back to the table where Krissie was waiting on a slice of pie.

  After inspecting it, I cut her a piece and sat down to unfold the piece of paper.

  I shook my head at the fact that it was typed.

  Only Drake would be so thorough.

  -Moe,

  If you are reading this, chances are something happened to me and I’m already dead. You probably know the truth about me by now. Your father swore to tell you the truth if I hadn't done so already. I was getting a little worried with the break-ins so I was planning to have a talk with you. I don’t know if that ever happened or not. I know you probably hate me. I just didn’t know how to tell you. There was nothing that I could do to stop what was going to happen. Damn, that was a bad decision. I stole some money Moe. But your father told me to. He and I did it together. Why we did it? Greed. Spite. Stupidity. It was a bad move. I guess we didn’t expect to get caught. The money is in the back room. Press on the wall behind all of the clothes in the closet. My money as well as my half of the money that I stole should be there. I don’t know how they found out but somehow they did. Since I was the one that actually took the money, they may not suspect your father’s involvement, but if they do, he might be next. Not that he cares. If he hasn’t told you yet, he has a tumor Moe. He has had it for years. I should have let him do the dirty deed on his own, but I didn’t. At least his time was already limited. And because of me my time was cut short. I love you Moe and even though I’m not physically there, I’ll be with you always. I got you. And I know that you always had me too.