by Tiece
“No problem,” Grant quickly said. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Monica softly smacked her lips. “That’s one thing you can count on,” she said with sarcasm.
“It was nice to meet you both. Have a good night,” the doctor said as he exited the room.
Monica quickly stood to her feet. “Let’s get out of here. I hate hospitals,” she said, as she reached for her Birkin bag that was sitting close by. “And where is my phone? It’s dead and I need to charge it so that I can call my man and tell him what happened,” she said, digging inside of her purse.
Grant simply shook his head. “He’s the reason that you’re here. Had you stayed home and waited for me to return, then this would’ve never happened.”
“I’m grown, Daddy. Don’t start that,” she said, looking in the mirror that was just above the sink as she ran her hands through her bouncing hair that was cut shoulder length in a thick, natural bob. “Plus, I told you last week that I would be coming to Georgia to stay for a while.”
“And I told you then that it wasn’t a good idea. You could’ve been killed tonight.”
“Well, I wasn’t,” she said. “Even though I’d heard those things going off.”
Mr. Grant frowned. “What things?”
“You know that buzzing noise that alerts everyone in the hospital. I think someone may have died tonight.”
Grant glanced upwards towards the ceiling as he whispered, “Thank God it wasn’t my daughter. I bet your mother is turning over in her grave,” he added. “How do you think I would’ve felt if something happened to you? Especially knowing that it was because you were chasing a man.”
“I’m not chasing a man. I’m here to be with my boyfriend.”
“He doesn’t need you here. He’s probably going to have a busy schedule and you’re going to get lonely. It’s not like you know anyone here.”
“I know him.”
“So you keep telling yourself that. How do you know he wants you to live with him, anyway?”
“Daddy, please. That’s my boyfriend. He doesn’t mind if I stay with him while I’m here.”
“Well, I do,” he said, talking to her like she was a young teeny bopper. And even though she was twenty-four and could make decisions on her own, he just wasn’t feeling her boyfriend. He wasn’t the guy for her, in his eyes. “Let’s get out of here.” Grant opened the door, just ready to get out of there. With an unsatisfied pout on her face, Monica followed her father out of the emergency room. As they walked to the car, she looked over at him.
That red bump isn’t going anywhere. For one, your skin is too light,” he said, as she attempted to cover it up with her bangs.
“Thanks to mom,” she cut in with sarcasm, while thinking about her mom’s dad being a white man and her mom’s mom being a black woman. However, from the pictures that she’d stared at for hours while growing up, her mom looked more white than black. She took that honestly and was nicknamed Snow White in school. Ironically, it was a perfect fit, being that her last name was also White.
As they walked the parking lot heading towards his car, Monica started, “I can’t believe that idiot sideswiped my car like that. He wasn’t paying any attention and now my car is messed up.”
“Is it bad?” Grant questioned.
“Yep,” she said.
“That’s good enough reason for you to catch a flight back home. I know you don’t want to be stuck in a city with people you don’t know.”
“You act like they don’t have rentals here,” she popped. “And, just so you know, I’m not going to be staying with my boyfriend. I’m going to be staying in your house.”
Grant frowned. “What house?”
“The house that you apparently didn’t know I knew about. I know that you own property in different states, like the crib you have in New York.”
“What I tell you about snooping so much?” Mr. Grant asked, as he hit the locks on his brand new Audi S7. They both got inside the car as Monica looked over at her daddy.
“The question is if you can hide something as small as owning property, what else would you hide?”
Mr. Grant started the engine and backed out of the parking spot. He then pulled off, as he glanced over at his daughter. “You talk too much. Remind me of your mom,” he said. “I’m not hiding anything from you. It’s just certain things that I don’t feel necessary to talk about,” he said, like having twins the same age as her outside of his marriage and never acknowledging them. Now, they were in the same city and right under his nose. Whatever happened, he had to make sure that they never crossed paths. That was the other promise that he’d made to his wife out of loyalty and respect of their marriage.
“Okay dad, but I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying in that house,” she insisted, as she pulled out her IPhone and instantly connected it to the charger inside the car. All she wanted to do was hear from her man.
“We’ll only stay a couple of nights, and you can thank the doctor for that. But then, we’re heading back across the country.”
“You’re heading back, not me,” Monica spat, as Mr. Grant shook his head. In his mind, he knew that she’d probably win. He was now just hoping that whatever business her boyfriend had in Atlanta, that he’d make it quick so they could leave. Explaining a past life that he had tried to forget may not be as easy to come clean about, especially to a daughter that has longed for siblings since she was younger, to fill the void of not having her mom there.
Chapter 6
Brooke held her head down in the palm of her hands. Being embarrassed was an understatement. Never did she think that something of this nature would come back to bite her in the ass, but it had. She glanced upward a bit at Chase, as he stood as still as a statue with a confused expression on his face.
“So, are you going to tell me what the fuck this is all about, and why was this sent to me?”
Brooke shrugged her shoulders as the tears wailed in the corner of her eyes. They had literally sat there it seemed like forever in silence. She was truly at a loss of words. For once, she had nothing to say as she regrettably shook her head. Quincy was behind this for sure. He was back and he was already causing havoc in her life.
“I’m waiting. Talk,” he added.
Damn, what am I supposed to say? she nervously thought.
“Well,” Chase let out, while waiting for her to say something because at this point, anything was better than nothing.
Brooke sat there wanting to say something, but nothing came out.
“If you don’t start talking now, I’m going to file for full custody of our son. I don’t feel like you’re fit, Brooke. You’ve been acting real unpredictable lately and I can’t trust that around my boy.”
Brooke glanced up at him with a disheartened look on her face. “What can I say? I’m sitting here shocked to the core to have you even watch something like this. The minute I try to get my life on the right track, something else always messes that up. First, it was Rayne and now this.”
“Don’t go there, Brooke. Just tell me what this is all about,” he said, as he disappointedly shook his head. “Hell, I didn’t even know you liked women.”
“I don’t,” Brooke uttered.
“Unless my eyes are fooling me, that video says differently.”
“I was young, dumb, and stupid,” she admitted, as she dropped her head feeling defeated. “I can’t lie. I’m embarrassed.”
“So, what exactly are you admitting? Tell me. Who is this Brooke Mendez because it’s not the Brooke that I know?
Brooke shook her head. “It’s not the Brooke that I know either. At least not the Brooke that I am today. I was young and I did some foolish things. I got caught up in a crazy world back then. One that I wished you knew nothing about,” she said to her surprise. For once, she wasn’t lying, but she wasn’t exactly telling him everything either.
“I don’t know you,” Chase said. “I just don’t know you.”
“Yes, you do. I’m the
woman that you were once in love with. The woman that had your son and helped you start your career. I’m the woman that has stood by your side for years, Chase. Don’t do me like this.”
“I’m not doing you like anything. I just can’t believe that I’ve been with a woman that I don’t even know. I understand being young and doing things, but is this the only thing that I’ll find out about you? Somebody went through some serious lengths to get this video to me. Clearly, someone wants to tarnish your name but why?”
“I don’t know why!” she yelled out, as she stood to her feet. “I’ve changed. I’m trying my best to be a better person. I don’t understand why people just won’t let me do that.”
“People?! What do you mean, people? Everything that has happened in your life, I’m sure you had full control over.”
Brooke somberly shook her head from one side to the other. “If you only you knew.”
“I don’t know, so tell me,” he said, just wanting her to come clean with him.
“It’s hard to explain,” she responded, while feeling as if she couldn’t swallow. Her throat had gotten dry and she could feel her heart beating faster. “I feel faint,” she let out as she stumbled a little.
“You okay?” Chase quickly questioned, as he grabbed at her before she could fully lose her balance.
“No,” she softly responded. “I feel like I need to take my medicine. I need something to drink before I can talk about anything right now.”
“Well, calm down,” Chase said, unsure of how he should feel. He could tell that she was under pressure and the last thing he wanted her to do was go off the deep end or fall out in front of him. “Go fix yourself something to drink. I just need us to talk about this. More than anything else, I’m more so concerned about why I got the video in the first place. However, I need to know about your past because I have a feeling that something or someone has come back to haunt you. And nothing is good about that because they’re trying to fuck with me to get to you,” he said with a serious face.
Brooke nodded her head. She definitely agreed. “You’re right,” she started as she moved out of his grip, like she’d regained her composure. “I need to fix me something to drink and take my medicine while I’m at it. Can you just sit down and chill? I promise to tell you everything.” I don’t know if you can handle it all though, she thought, as she walked off heading in the direction of her bedroom to grab her anxiety medication.
Chase sat down with all kinds of thoughts going through his head. He didn’t know what Brooke was about to tell him, but whatever it was, it couldn’t have been good. He just had to prepare himself for it. I hope it ain’t nothing that’s going to make me wanna choke her ass out, he thought with an irritable shake of the head, as he sat waiting as patiently as he could for her to spill the beans.
The minute Brooke stepped into her bedroom, the house phone began to ring. The only people that called the house phone were her parents and she was certainly not in the mood to talk to mom or dad. Whatever they wanted to talk about could wait until later. She had enough on her plate at the moment. She ignored the ring as she walked over by her bed and opened the nightstand drawer. There, she saw the pill bottle laying there for her anxiety. Next to it was a clear bottle of some even better shit. She stood there for a moment, contemplating which one she needed the most right now. Her eyes glanced over towards the caller ID before she could grab the pill bottle for anxiety. Quickly, she noticed that it was a private call and not her parents.
No one calls me private, she thought, just as the phone stopped ringing. With a confused hunch of the shoulders, she started out of the bedroom, only to be stopped by the ringing of the house phone again. Quincy.
Without hesitation, she quickly reached over on the nightstand for the cordless phone and answered it. “What?”
“Now is that a way to answer your phone?” Quincy responded in an unbothered tone.
“Listen muthafucka, you’re doing too much-” she got out but was quickly cut off.
“I assume you’ve seen the video?” He chuckled.
“You are a heartless bastard. I have a son now; why would you do that?”
“He didn’t see the video, did he?” Clearly, Quincy was toying with her emotions and he knew it.
“Why don’t you just leave me alone? If you wanted to embarrass me, it worked. Your work is done here.”
“My work just started, baby girl.”
“What do you mean, just started?” Brooke questioned with an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“I want my money. You know the money that you stole from me. However, that money has grown interest over the years.”
“What?! Interest? Stop playing with me,” Brooke said with a perplexed shake of the head.
“Playing,” Quincy responded, as if he was offended. “Bitch, ain’t nobody playing! I want my money or I’m going to show you who’s really playing. And if you tell anybody about me or the relationship that we used to have, you and your baby daddy will be sorry.”
“It doesn’t even have to be like this. You’re living good still it seems. You’re apparently a business man now that people depend on. Why? It ain’t like you need the money.”
“No one takes from Quincy and think it’s all good. Just because I let you have it then, didn’t mean that I wasn’t ever coming to collect.”
“Collect what, Quincy? If I get you your money, will you leave Atlanta quietly? You’ve already caused enough mayhem in my life.”
“We might just be able to work that out. All I’m asking for is a half a million dollars,” he told her.
Brooke frowned. “Five-hundred thousand dollars?! Have you lost your mind?”
“Not yet, but I am if you don’t come up with my money. You got two weeks.” And with that, he hung up in her face.
Brooke sat down on the edge of her bed. She was mortified of what things Quincy could really expose about her. During their relationship, she’d done some really nasty things just to please her man. However, a lot of those things had become something that he enjoyed just a little too much. This caused her to step it up every time, just to make sure that she would be the perfect woman he wanted. That ride or die type of chick. However, what she didn’t know is that it was actually not something he could see in a woman he planned to marry and have kids with. There was no way his ride or die chick would have a past of sleeping with different people, men and women alike, just to please him. His woman needed some kind of backbone, some kind of restraint. Unfortunately, it became clear that Brooke was a certified hoe that enjoyed having sex a little too much for his liking; even though he loved every minute of watching it.
Damn, she thought while feeling lost. She was seconds away from explaining her past in hopes that this would back Quincy up, if he had nothing to hold over her. But the game had changed. He wanted his money and didn’t mind exposing or killing a bitch to get it. At that moment she, realized that she had to come up with another plan. Fuck, she thought, as she grabbed the small clear bottle and shook it up. The euphoric liquid swished around in the bottle as she eyed it, while thinking of her next move. If nothing else, it would surely buy her a little time.
She started out of the bedroom and headed down the stairs towards the kitchen. Before entering the kitchen, she called out, “I’ll fix you a drink too!”
“That’s cool1” Chase called out, while thinking that he might just need a drink to deal with Brooke’s ass and whatever it was that she had to tell him.
“You sure as hell gon’ need it,” she mumbled.
***
Yung Gunner sat in a booth at Denny’s, staring out of the window as he ate his food. The night’s events played out in his mind. He and Willie were in seemingly tip top shape and were discharged from the hospital almost immediately. His female companion was the only one who sustained minor injuries but was released right after them. Luckily, Yung Gunner’s manager had made sure that once his hospital visit was over, he’d have a car parked out fr
ont for him and Willie to make it back to the hotel safely. After dropping Willie off, Yung Gunner decided to grab a bite to eat to calm his throbbing headache and to shake the events that had occurred earlier. He glanced down at his phone as it started ringing. He smiled as he saw the name, My Shawty show up on his Caller I.D.
Immediately, he answered, “Wassup, Bae. I tried calling your phone about an hour ago, but you didn’t answer.”
“Yeah, my phone was dead. I’m sorry about that,” the sweet voice on the other end responded.
“What’s wrong? Are you here, yet? Where are you?” Yung Gunner questioned, as he glanced down at the time on the diamond Cartier timepiece wrapped around his wrist.
“Yes, I’ve made it to Atlanta. I’m actually in the car with my father. We’re heading to a house that he owns here.”
Yung Gunner frowned. “Your father? What are you doing with him?” he questioned.
“I had an accident the minute I got here. Some guy sideswiped my car out of nowhere. That had to be the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced,” she explained.
“An accident? Are you okay?”
“Yeah Boo, I’m better now,” she said, just feeling good to hear his voice. “I’m sorry I couldn’t call you, but my phone had died a few hours ago and I was planning to stop and buy a charger. However, being involved in an accident threw all of my plans of doing anything off. And since dear ol’ daddy,” she said, glancing over at Grant as he drove, “is listed as my emergency contact person, he came wide open I’m sure the minute he got the call.”
I’m sure he did, Yung Gunner thought. He and Grant didn’t really see eye to eye about things; mainly Grant’s daughter. He felt that Yung Gunner was a street thug that hid behind the creative thought of being a legendary rapper, as if he really did have a career ahead of him.
“None of this would’ve happened had you kept your butt at home,” Grant chimed in as he glanced back over at her, causing Monica to crossly roll her eyes.