Speaking of phone, I couldn’t find it anywhere. There was so much going on I prayed I’d just put it down somewhere at the house. I must have hit something because the iPad came on at a screen called notepad. It was the screen where Rasheed typed to Trey before he’d died. I shut it off and stuffed it back into my purse. My appetite was instantly gone and I sat there rigid as a board.
“Bae, you okay?” Devon put his arm around my shoulders, looking over at me concerned but I couldn’t speak past the lump in my throat.
“You’re cold, here.” He took his jacket off, draping it around me.
Towanna tried to get my attention. “Chelle, what’s the matter? We can leave if y’all ready to go.”
I didn’t want to leave, and I didn’t want to stay. I felt feverish but the minute I went to remove the jacket I felt cold again and pulled it back around me. I nodded. I was ready to go.
Denise was trying to call and check on Trey for me since I didn’t have my phone. When she couldn’t get a call to go out with a full signal, my favorite friends, fear and trepidation, paid a visit.
“Towanna? Remember when we were in that hospital?” I barely whispered my question.
She was sitting behind Devon on the driver side of the SUV and I barely looked over my shoulder to acknowledge her response. Devon and Denise looked back and forth trying to figure out what was going on. Towanna nodded ever so slightly.
“I had all these questions. There were so many things I didn’t understand. I asked those people question after question. Lania and Keyshawn, they weren’t on your agreement were they?” There was so much sadness and regret in my voice.
Devon frowned over at me in between glancing anxiously at the road. “Michelle, what’s all this about? What the hell has gotten in to you all of a sudden?”
We were slowing to a stop at a red light and I saw the only chance I had. I grabbed the syringe I’d felt in Devon’s jacket pocket at dinner and pulling the top off I reached back, stabbing Towanna in the leg.
The pistol in her hand fell to the floor and Denise screamed at the sight of the gun. I was surprised the glass didn’t shatter. Devon stomped on the brakes. Towanna stared at me in shock, her eyes taking on that drugged, glazed look.
Grabbing the pistol from her lap I turned it on Devon. Denise continued screaming like the gun was actually pointed at her.
“Denise, I’ll shoot you to shut you up at this point so please . . .” I threatened her, thankful for the immediate silence.
“Devon, you’re a psychiatrist with a damn chemistry lab in your asylum. You have people come and go at all hours of whatever on that floor. Rich people who could actually afford cocaine if they wanted it. You keep no record of who comes or goes or when they come or go. I’ve already dealt with one dealer. I’m not doing this shit again.”
The light turned green and he looked at me, hesitating. I pointed the gun, instructing him to drive.
“What you want me to do, baby?” he asked quietly.
I almost didn’t know what to say. My throat got this scratchy feeling like I was growing a baby cactus in it and for a second I couldn’t speak.
“You’re gonna have to turn yourself in. They’re not gonna stop until they have you.”
He nodded, but of course it couldn’t have been that easy; he wasn’t nodding at me.
Do all of these motherfuckas’ carry emergency knockout needles in their damn pockets?
I cringed, waiting for the pinch and paralysis that never came. Thank sweet baby Jesus in a manger, even after threatening her with a pistol Denise stuck Devon instead of me. I straddled his lap and pressed the brake, putting the car in park.
“Find Towanna’s phone. I know they called or sent her a text. I need to know where to take him.”
Just like my phone the day Devon checked it, there were no missed special agent calls or texts. I cursed silently trying.
“How long does that stuff last, Denise?”
“It depends. It could be twenty minutes up to an hour.”
I did the only thing I could think of. Hell it worked last time. I hauled ass toward the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. It wasn’t super early a.m. like the last time but there was barely a car out there. I stopped in the middle and Denise helped me drag Devon out and then we got Towanna.
“Okay, now you get back in and stay down. I got my ass shot last time.”
Her eyes got huge and she went MIA inside the truck.
I pulled out the pistol and fired into the air three times and waited. Every fiber in my being was clenched with the memory of the last time I was up here. You get shot one time you remember that feeling. It’s not like a tattoo needle or piercing, it definitely ain’t something you forget.
Squad cars came rolling up with the lights on, sirens blaring and I was beyond relieved. Devon was still out but Towanna was moaning. A spotlight turned on, blinding me and I shielded my eyes.
“Drop the gun. Get down on the ground, with your hands behind your head.”
“I need to see Agent Harper.” I called out nervously, dropping the gun, and the spotlight immediately shut off.
I was grabbed and thrown into the back of a car. I could see police officer’s going to Devon and Towanna. They yanked Denise out the truck ass first. I slammed my head back against the seat and waited impatiently.
“You were relieved, Roberts; what in God’s name are you doing here?” Harper blasted his question at the side of the car I sat in. The windows possibly rattled.
“Rasheed left a note on Trey’s iPad. Then you guys sent Towanna the message; when I figured it out, I brought him in.”
Harper exhaled loudly, leaning up against the side of the car. He was staring at the flurry of activity across the bridge where they had Devon. He’d finally come out of his stupor and was being put into the back of car across the way. Harper opened my door, letting me out the squad car.
“Don’t discharge another damn firearm in public. You’d better go make up with that man ’cause he look some kind of pissed off right now. You were relieved, Michelle, and we meant it.”
If I wasn’t mistaken, either Harper had given me tender smile or a heartburn, vexed scowl. It’s not like there were varying degrees of emotion to the man’s face.
Chapter 32
An Equal Sign = Ain’t Nothing but Stacked Up Minuses
Devon wouldn’t speak to me let alone look at me after the officers released him from the squad car. He’d stood there with his eyes mysteriously hooded by his dark lashes, feeling withdrawn and distant. In the entire time we’d been together I’d never seen him so angry and cold. I just kept waiting for him to turn around and blind me with that disarming boyish smile or wink at me, but nothing happened. Standing in jaw-gaping wide-eyed disbelief, I watched as he got in the Land Cruiser and with a stony voice suggested that one of “my girls” drop me off at the house. It was as if my best friend had sped off and left me holding the sack on the day of the championship three-legged race. I’d just felt the other end of betrayal’s double-edged blade.
Denise had called one of her nieces to pick up her and Towanna and they’d agreed to let me ride with them. The girls had all decided that drinks were in order after what they declared from beginning to end as “the official hell date of the year.” I was outnumbered and outvoted. As bad as I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry it would just have to wait until later. Of course they’d pick a strip club of all places.
I was sitting in Liquid Blue all the way out Newport News far from where I really wanted to be. My head hurt and my eyes hurt. I was squinting against all these bright blue neon lights that just followed me and magnified whenever I close my eyes. Towanna’s buying so of course the shot of the night was her signature drink, Pixy Stix. After about four of those things I just felt like I was gonna be Pixy Sick. All I could think about was how mad Devon looked and how horrible I felt for trying to turn him in. I mean in the time I’d known the man, granted he did put me in his asylum but he still took really good care of
me. It was more than Rasheed or Ris or anyone had ever done for me. He’d never cheated on me or lied to me and the one time that I should have trusted him, I took him to the Feds and straight up turned his ass in.
There couldn’t have been any way possible for me to feel like the world’s biggest douche. Until someone thought it’d make me feel better if I got a lap dance. Dynasty spun my barstool around and climbed, yes, climbed on top of me. She’d started grinding all over me and I couldn’t breathe because, one, I had Dynasty’s double Ds up my nose, and two, I’d started crying. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, there I was having a complete emotional breakdown in the middle of the strip club. Ass, titties, liquor, and tears . . .
Towanna, the guilty party, pulled me into the ladies’ room.
“Don’t cry, man. Everything’ll be fine.” She patted my back, trying her best to console me.
It was atrocious. I’d started doing this uncontrollable hiccupping thing like I couldn’t breathe but I was still trying to talk at the same time. Through hiccupping and sobs I’d managed to ask Towanna why she was even pulling her gun in the first place.
“Um, because your name was originally on my agreement. I was supposed to kill you on that bridge; you jumped in front of your own bullet and lived because you asked my mom’s name. They figured you knew more than you should. Remember the agent said you tried to commit suicide. I thought you’d gotten a call or something, you invite me on this date with a chick I can barely stand and midway through you go all Stepford wife, then we get in the truck and you go in with the questions—”
“That’s because I was thinking Devon’s name was on your agreement. Rasheed wrote ‘Don Cerzulo told Daddy see Doc in Trey’s iPad. I sat there piecing everything together and when we got in the truck and Denise’s phone didn’t work I thought you were going to kill him. I’d just as well take him in and I fucked the fuck up . . .” I started crying all over again.
It was a total misunderstanding, except you know neither of them drugged and then literally drug me to the law enforcement. Towanna was just a lot more forgiving about it all than Devon was.
He sat in the darkened living room in nothing but his sweat pant bottoms when Denise dropped me off at three a.m. I was still wearing my dress from our date night. An empty cocktail glass was sitting on the coffee table in front of him as he sat with his forearms resting on his knees.
I stood in the doorway debating what to say while I closed it behind me. I settled on keeping it simple. “Hey.”
He didn’t look up or anything at the sound of my voice. “I think you and Trey should find a place for a little while. Might be best that way.” He was frowning at the floor in front of him.
Tears clouded my vision, welled up and burned so hot I wouldn’t see my own hand if it were right in front of my face even if I’d wanted to. I blinked and they rolled down my cheeks. There was nothing for me to say. If he wanted me gone I’d leave. There wasn’t a single thing I could think of to make up for my fuckup of mammoth proportions.
I got my and Trey’s things together as quickly as possible. I put his key on the table beside the door and just like that I left. Now, I knew Devon was missing from me the moment; he wouldn’t smile for me anymore. It’s actually fucked up because in these movies we grow up with, the guy chases his woman down yelling about how much he loves her. And, it’s usually right about now that he’d do that shit. Because sometimes they have to watch you leave to realize they really want you to stay.
Well, some shit just doesn’t go down like it does in movies. Checking my rearview only made me cry harder and it only made my heart feel like a worthless block of sorrow sitting in my chest when I didn’t see him there. My phone, which had been in the bottom of my purse all along, was painfully silent.
My chest almost exploded when it rang. Seeing Denise’s number I was so let down I didn’t answer. Towanna called and I still didn’t answer. I just didn’t feel like being bothered right that second. We could chat and I’d let them know what went down later. I needed to find a damn hotel. I almost threw my phone out the window when Towanna called a second time.
“Yes, Towanna?” I answered in a watery voice.
“You good? I’m worried about you.”
“I’m good, I promise,” I lied.
My eyes were so puffy and swollen I could barely see the road. I’d passed at least five hotels but I was so depressed I kept driving just for the sake of having something to do.
Towanna’s voice was whisper soft. “You can always come to me.”
“What’s your address?”
Exhausted I actually just wound up finally parking in a Wendy’s parking lot and reclining the seat. My intent was to only close my eyes for a couple of minutes.
There was a loud tapping on my window, and I blinked and shielded my eyes against the intrusion.
“License and registration please?” The officer waited beside my car.
“I’m not driving, sir,” I called out, looking at him, confused.
“Are you intoxicated? I will have to write you a ticket for public intoxication as well as disruptive conduct and . . .”
I looked at the clock, and winced. I didn’t mean to sleep until almost eleven a.m. Annoyed, I got my shit out. It must have been end of the month and these idiots were trying to meet their damn quotas and shit. Handing him my information I rolled my eyes and sat back as he walked to his car. He finally came back and handed me my ID and registration and the damn ticket.
Leaning down beside my window he said, “Okay, I’m just issuing a warning this time. This is her, boys.”
Two men hopped out the back of his squad car and climbed into the back of my car. I’d gotten lazy and comfortable; the old me would have been ready for something like this.
No, the old you wouldn’t have been out here for something like this to happen.
“Drive.”
I could feel him staring at me, watching my every move. It’s akin to when you’re outside and people peek at you through the curtains. That feeling you’re in a room and the hairs in your ear vibrate and stand up on the back of your neck.
“We haven’t been formally introduced have we?”
I looked up into the rearview and found myself gazing into eyes the turbulent color of the underside of thundercloud. For some reason, I couldn’t help feeling as though I’d seen them somewhere before.
Chapter 33
Sins of the Father
I stared at this silver-eyed stranger and my mind clicked. He sent champagne to Keyshawn at Liv.
Glancing back in the rearview as I drove without directions I asked him, “I’m sorry, but are you sure we haven’t met before?”
“I’m sure we have not met. Pay attention to the road please. So in case you’s wondering I’m Angelo Testa. Rasheed got some vital info out of my father and killed him. His name was Don Cerzulo. Now, I need you to take me to Rasheed; that info was extremely important. Otherwise, I’ll use you and your son to flush him out.”
This might not be a good time to tell him neither of those is possible. How do I keep ending up in these impossible, impossible-ass situations? Koala’s fingerprints look similar to humans. They’re almost identical.
“Rasheed is in the hospital with his momma, but I have the info. Look in my purse, it’s on the iPad. He typed it so he wouldn’t forget. I didn’t know what it was or I would have erased it. Trust me.”
Angelo gave me a suspicious glance before digging through my purse. I dropped my phone into my lap, tempted to text Towanna but I didn’t know what to say just yet. I couldn’t risk reaching down to put my phone on vibrate and drawing attention to it. So I let it be.
“It’s a phone number with the name ‘Doc.’ I’m setting up a pickup at your house, what’s the address? That way if there’s any funny business and this shit isn’t real, you’ll suffer.”
I glanced down at my phone and gave him Towanna’s address, then quickly sent what was probably the worst shorthand text in history: omw
2 ur plc wt angelo 2mt drg dealr b rdy
Angelo called and set up his deal and I drove toward Towanna’s, praying the entire way. When she didn’t respond I almost cried. I was pretty sure I’d died and hell was reliving your last moment thinking you were still alive. Because, when we pulled up to the house and I saw the empty driveway I died over and over again. If I’d left Angelo would have known I was lying about where I was taking him and his supplier. He probably would have shot me on the spot so I committed to my lie and pulled into the empty driveway.
I was so busy looking for Towanna’s car that when I finally saw Devon’s Land Cruiser pulling up on the opposite side of the street I gasped out loud and if I’d had my gun I’d have shot it at him.
“There’s your man,” I told Angelo, pointing at Devon’s truck. I was seething with the most irrational anger. I bet he didn’t even know I’d be here either. Probably feels stupid, too. I’d started climbing out the car and walking over without a second thought, barely glancing at the black car pulling up in the driveway. Devon got out of the truck. I took one look at his face and almost turned around and ran back across the street.
“Dad? What are you doing out here?” he shouted across the street.
Confused, I spun around and there was this handsome older clone of Devon standing at my car. It wasn’t Towanna who had pulled up; it was a black Lexus. I’d walked right past him. At that moment Towanna did pull up, along with the FBI. Angelo was yelling about his narc sister turning on family as they put him into a car.
“Devon, I thought your dad was dead.” I looked at him still completely puzzled by everything I’d just seen.
His face was a complete mask of upset. “I never said that, it’s something else you assumed and ran with instead of asking me. I said my great uncle raised me. Pops fell in love and took off with Melanie, her case if for murdering her first five of husband’s he was the sixth. They were too busy globetrottin’ and shit to deal with us. He might as well have been dead though. I didn’t want him or her in my life after that.”
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