The Art of Deceit

by Fabiola Joseph

  * * *

  “So, Doctor, is she pregnant?” Tay asked as he paced back and forth.

  I sat on the examination table, unable to make up my mind. Tay seemed so happy at the thought of having a child, yet I was so unsure on the subject. What if it’s not his? What will I do? I had so many questions.

  The doctor read the chart and then smiled at Tay. “Congratulations. You’re going to be a father,” he said as he shook Tay’s hand.

  “Baby, we’re pregnant,” Tay said as I flashed a fake smile.

  “Can we leave now?” I asked as I headed for the door.

  I didn’t say much on the ride home. Tay asked me if I wanted to go shopping for bigger clothes, but I just told him to take me home. Once inside my bedroom, I stripped down to my bra and panties and climbed into bed.

  The phone had been ringing nonstop since we came back from the honeymoon, and it had been driving everyone crazy. It rang again now. Tay picked it up and heard a still upset Shamika on the other end.

  “Didn’t I tell you to stop calling here? Don’t make me have to call the police on your ass,” he said before hanging up on her. But it didn’t stop her. She just kept on calling.

  If there was one thing that I could say about her, it was that she could hold a grudge. It had been over a month since I leaked her tape, yet she still wasn’t over it. I turned off the ringer on the phone and pulled the covers over my head. Tay looked down at me, as if he was puzzled and wanted answers that I just couldn’t give.

  “Tangie, what’s going on with you? Aren’t you happy about the baby?”

  I didn’t answer him, and that pissed him off even more.

  “I know it’s kind of soon and all, but it’s not like we don’t have any money. We’re going to be able to give this child everything.”

  “Can we please talk about this some other time, Tay’von?” I asked, with the covers still over my head. He pulled them off me so that he could see my face while he talked to me.

  “What the fuck is wrong, Tangie?”

  I sat up and decided to tell him the truth, since he wasn’t going to stop until I did.

  “I didn’t hear you ask me if I even wanted to keep this baby. It’s my body, and it’s my choice. But you just come home with your mind already made up without even talking to me.”

  “Are you losing your mind? What do you mean, it’s your choice? You’re having this baby, Tangie!” he yelled out of disbelief.

  Tony knocked on the door and told Tay that Shamika was on the phone again. Tay yanked the phone out of Tony’s hand and slammed the door shut.

  “Bitch, stop calling my fucking house!” Tay yelled before throwing the phone down on the bed.

  He turned back to me. “What is it that you’re lacking, Tangie? Tell me what would make you question having this child. This baby is here for a reason, and I will not let you take that away from me or yourself.”

  I felt like I was going crazy. I had started to feel like I wasn’t in control of my choices, and it was fucking with me hard. It was like no one understood me.

  “I don’t have to tell you shit, Tay’von! I am going to do what I want to do, so just leave me alone about it.”

  He walked over to the bed, and for a second, I thought that he was going to hit me. Instead, he touched my face gently.

  “Look, I don’t want to upset you, so please calm down. All I’m asking is that you don’t get rid of my baby. Don’t get rid of the little person that’s growing inside you. I love you, Tangie, and I want you to have my child.”

  Tears ran down his face, and it opened the floodgates for mine. While we stayed in our bedroom, arguing and crying, neither of us paid attention to the phone, and to whether Tay had properly hung it up or not.

  Chapter 19

  The Beast That Came

  To Drag Me To Hell

  The phone rang, waking me out of a deep sleep. I looked at the clock, and it read 7:30 p.m. I reached over and picked up the receiver, and to no surprise, it was Shamika.

  “Get a fucking life, Shamika,” I said before hanging up.

  As soon as I laid my head back down, the phone rang again. I picked it up, ready to give Shamika a royal cussing out.

  “Bitch, if you—”

  A man’s voice interrupted me before I could really unleash the bullets I used as words. “Tangie, it’s Carmello—”

  “What are you doing calling me here?”

  “Shamika’s on her way to your house, and she has a—”

  “I know you didn’t just say that Shamika’s on her way over here.” I thought that maybe I was dreaming. That bitch had to have some major balls if she was thinking about coming to my house.

  “Look, she showed up at my office, talking all types of crazy shit. She even tried to pull a gun out on me, but I saw it coming.”

  I sucked my teeth at the thought of Shamika’s empty threats. “Fuck her. She won’t be able to get through the gate, anyway. I’ll just call the cops when she gets here.”

  “Is your code one-oh-three-one-two-three?”

  My heart skipped a beat, which caused me not to answer.

  “Tangie, is your code one-oh-three-one-two-three?”

  “Yes, it is. Oh my God! I gotta go get Tay,” I said out loud.

  “Look, I’m on my way over there. Just hang up and call the cops,” Carmello said before hanging up.

  I opened the bedroom door and slowly walked down the stairs. I walked past the living room and peeked into the kitchen. The only person I saw was Tony.

  “Where’s Tay?” I asked as I tried to stay calm, but my voice was a little shaky. If Tony was paying attention, he would, or I should say should, have picked up on it.

  “Oh, he said to tell you that he and Carl went out to get your favorite dinner, so calm your ass down. He’ll be back soon,” Tony said in a hateful tone.

  I took a long look at him and decided not to tell him what was going on. I hated his ass and thought that I could wait for Tay to deal with things. I went back upstairs and called Tay. He picked up, but his cell phone was breaking up something bad. All I heard him say was that he would call me back. I hung up and called Carmello back.

  “Is she there?” he asked, concerned.

  “No, but I just called Tay. I couldn’t really hear him, so he said that he’d call back.”

  “Did you call the cops?”

  “Oh shit. I for—”

  There was a loud noise that caused me to stop talking. A few seconds later, a louder bang rocked me to my core.

  “Tangie, was that a gunshot I heard go off?”

  “Oh, shit. I think she’s here!” I told Carmello as I gripped the phone.

  “Look, hang up the phone and call the police. I’m almost there.”

  He hung up as I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. I looked around the room, hoping that I could find something to use to knock this crazy bitch out. Nothing. I ran into the closet and grabbed the first thing I saw, Tay’von’s bat. I waited behind the bedroom door, with a heart that raced a million miles a minute. I got in position to knock her head off, but the footsteps stopped coming my way, and soon after, I heard them heading back down the stairs. I took a deep breath, opened the bedroom door, and walked into the hallway. I slowly made my way down the stairs, hoping to go unnoticed. I couldn’t hear anything, because Shamika had turned on the music full blast. I walked into the living room and saw Shamika standing over Tony.

  “Where the fuck is she?” she yelled as she paused the music with the remote.

  “Look, I don’t like the bitch, either, but this is my job—”

  Shamika cut him off, not caring to hear any more of his bullshit. “Nigga, if you were doing your job, I wouldn’t be here. Now, tell me where Tangie is, or I’ll shoot you dead.”

  I tried to move slowly and quietly to the front door, but as we all know, people make the most noise when they’re trying to be invisible. As soon as I turned the corner, the bat hit the vase that sat on the piano. It was as if every
thing went in slow motion. My eyes followed the vase as it hit the marble floor. I gazed at it in disbelief. How could I have been so stupid? When I looked up, I was staring into the eyes of the beast that had come to drag me to hell, and in those eyes was the danger that I had thought I could ignore.

  She had nothing to lose and was 100 percent invested in completing her own mission, which was to kill me. That bitch was on fire and lusted for revenge. She walked over to me. I swung the bat, missed, and she ended up slapping me with the gun. I fell back, and she yelled for me to get up. I moved too slowly for her liking, so she came over and kicked me in my stomach. I fell back down and clutched my baby.

  “Yeah, that’s right, bitch,” she snarled. “I’m going to kill that unborn muthafucka. Then I’m going to kill you.”

  I looked up at her and wondered how she knew about the baby.

  “You and Mr. Too Gay should really make sure y’all hang up the phone next time. I heard his bitch ass begging you to keep his baby. What, did you think that I was going to let you fuck me over and not try to get you back? Please, I’m a bitch from the hood. We just don’t let shit slide like that.” She smiled and looked like an escaped mental patient as she grabbed me by my hair and sat me down by Tony, who had a puddle of blood forming around him.

  She waved her gun in the air. “Now, you have one minute to tell me why and how you and Carmello set me up.”

  I thought about it and weighed my options. I could try to fight her, but the crazy nut had a gun. So I tried to lie my way out of it instead.

  “Shamika, I don’t know—”

  She didn’t even let me finish. “You must be out of your fucking mind, Tangie. Now I know that you’re high saddity and shit, but this is a fucking gun. So how about you try telling me the truth, because my trigger finger is a fast-moving bitch. You get me?” she said as she waved the gun in my face.

  I told myself to forget the bullshit and give her what she wanted, so I did. I told her everything. I told her that I knew she really hated me. I told her that what Tay had done to me because of the drugs she gave him, and because of the talk they had, was her fault. I told her that a man had violated me in my youth, and that I had vowed that if it ever happened again, I’d deal with whoever was responsible. I didn’t leave anything out as I told her of meeting up with Carmello and planning her demise. I explained that I was sorry that Black had had to take the fall, but that bringing him down had been necessary to take away the little bit of fame and shine that she had by being with him. He was just the fall guy behind her downfall.

  I knew that I was taking a big chance, but I made sure to take my time when telling her what had really gone down. I was hoping that Carmello would get there soon. She just laughed and rocked back and forth the whole time I spoke. Even Tony’s eyes grew big as he listened to my story. I was nearing the end of it when I noticed Carmello at the front door. Shamika didn’t see him, so I just kept on talking, as if he was not there.

  “So you mean to tell me that you did all of this to me over some drugs that Tay and I smoked?” she asked as she wondered whether I was really the one who was insane, and not her.

  “That, and for the things that followed. I am good at reading people, Shamika. I have always known that you wanted to be me. It killed you that I was the one in my position. You always thought that you were going to be the queen bitch, and not only did I step on your toes, but I stepped out and got in front of you too.”

  I said this because it was true, but for the most part, I just wanted a reaction out of her. As soon as she turned and faced me, Carmello charged her. The gun flew out of her hand, and he held her down while I grabbed the gun. What Carmello didn’t know was that Shamika had a knife in her back pocket. She slid it out while they rolled around on the carpet, and stabbed him in the arm, which forced him to let her go. She tried to hurry to her feet, but it was too late. I pointed the gun at her and told her to sit down in a chair. I had some things I needed to say and do before I killed her ass.

  She did as she was told, and then I told Carmello to keep an eye on her. I walked over to Tony without taking my eyes off her so that I could check on him.

  “Are you okay?” I asked him.

  “Yeah, but she shot me in the back,” he said in a faint voice.

  “I am so happy to hear that. Now I have the pleasure of killing you myself,” I said.

  He twisted his face in confusion, but I was going to make things crystal clear for him.

  “You know too much. And as much as you love Tay, I know that if I let you live, you’ll tell him everything.”

  “No I won’t, Tangie. Please just call nine-one-one and get me some help.”

  “You can get that thought out of your head. You’re not going to live to see a hospital.”

  His bitch ass started crying like a baby. All that did was make me smile.

  “Don’t cry now. You weren’t crying that day I heard you in Tay’von’s hotel room, telling him that you could fuck him better than me.”

  The whole time that I spoke, I was looking right into Shamika’s eyes. I wanted her to see what a real crazy bitch looked like.

  I went on. “That’s right, Tony. When I showed you a little pussy, it wasn’t because I wanted to fuck. It was because I wanted to see if you were the queen that I had you pegged to be. And sure enough, you turned me down. No straight man turns me down, Tony.”

  He didn’t even bother to say anything, but for some reason, Shamika did.

  “So if he told Tay that he could fuck him better than you, how do you know Tay didn’t let him try? I knew that nigga was too pretty to be straight.”

  Shamika was trying to get a reaction out of me the same way I had done to her, but I was way too smart for that. I just smiled and answered her.

  “’Cause Tony is the one who has been fucking Black. Always has and probably always would, that is, if Tony wasn’t a dead man. See, Shamika, I watched Tay and made sure that he wasn’t going around fucking men. No, Tay’s not gay, but Black, he loves to fuck men, and Tony here was one of them. Isn’t that right, Tony?”

  If looks could kill, I would have been a dead woman. Shamika had murder in her eyes after my comment, but it wasn’t worth shit anymore. I had the gun. I just laughed and continued my conversation with Tony.

  “So now that you know what I know, do you still think that I should let you live, Tony?”

  “Please, just let me explain. Yes, I was fucking Black, and I even tried to get at Tay, but he wasn’t having it. I swear that it will never happen again,” he mumbled as tears dripped down his chin and landed in the puddle of blood that had formed from his bullet wound.

  “This isn’t about you trying to fuck Tay. This is about you knowing too damn much to live. Plus, I never really liked you, anyway.”

  “Tangie, please, you have to let me live. Just let me explain.”

  I stood there and pretended to think about letting him live. Then, with one quick move, I turned the gun from Shamika to him.

  “I don’t have time for explanations.”

  Bang, bang.

  He died as soon as the bullets hit his skull. I quickly turned the gun back on Shamika after taking care of Tony, and for the first time since walking into the house, she had fear in her eyes.

  “So I know that this is a big cliché, but I just can’t help myself. Do you have any last words?” I said.

  As soon as she opened her mouth . . . bang, bang. I pulled the trigger twice; both shots went straight to where her brain should have been. I was not going to give her the pleasure of any last words. She didn’t deserve them.

  “Damn. You’re nicer with that gun than I thought,” Carmello said as he pulled out his cell phone.

  “Don’t call yet. We gotta move the bodies, remember?”

  Movies and TV shows on how to get away with murder came in handy. We moved the bodies to make it look like Shamika had killed Tony. Then I sat in the puddle of his blood and scooted on my ass and made a trail of blood, as if I h
ad been backing away from her as she walked over to me with the gun. That was where Carmello came into the story. Thank God she had stabbed him. She made the story we were going to tell the cops even more believable. Now we could say that I had thought that she was going to stab him to death, and that was why I’d shot her. After standing her body up and letting it hit the floor, I put another shot into her head, hoping that the blood splatter would match my story.

  “You don’t even want to know how nice I can get with a gun or a setup, trust me. Now call the cops,” I said while standing there, admiring my work of art. It had all gone down so well.

  I had truly created a masterpiece of deception.

  I called Tay on the house phone and put on my hysterical voice as I told him what had just gone down. He told me that he was about ten minutes away and that he was going to speed until he got home. In his hurry to get to the house, he even beat the cops there. He and Carl ran into the house and came over to where I was sitting in the living room.

  “What, what . . . who? Where’s Tony? That nigga is supposed to stop shit like this from happening,” Tay said as his eyes searched the room frantically.

  “He’s dead,” Carmello answered him, while I played too shocked to speak.

  That was when Tay took notice that he was there. He looked at Carmello and then back at me. I knew what he was thinking as soon as I saw the expression that was on his face. I started crying and talking at the same time.

  “Shamika ran up in his office, yelling and asking him for a ride over here. When he told her no, she said that she would come here on her own and kill everyone in the house. If it wasn’t for him rushing over here to stop her, I would be dead right now.”

  Tay sat down next to me, put his arm around me and looked over at Carmello. He gave him a “thank you” nod as I sobbed in his arms. I even pretended to be shocked and started screaming when I faked realizing that the gun was still in my hand. Tay’von took it from me and stood up.

  “Freeze!” I heard a bunch of voices say. This part was certainly not in my plans.

  “Sir, put the gun down and put your hands in the air,” a single voice said.