A Trillion to One

by Chenell Parker

  “Come on baby, let’s go,” Amore said as she reached her hand out for Tristyn.

  “She is not your baby. Come on sweetie, we’re going home,” Leah said as she grabbed Tristyn’s hand.

  “You must be out of your fucking mind. She’s not going anywhere with you,” Amore snapped.

  Unlike Trillion, she wasn’t about to hold her tongue for Leah’s crazy ass. She looked deranged standing there with her wig all twisted and dry. Amore regretted not leaving Trinity home like Trillion told her to. She just wanted to give him a little break to relax but she was now regretting that decision.

  “Try and stop me,” Leah said as she picked Tristyn up and took off running out of the store.

  “Fuck!” Amore yelled as she grabbed Trinity’s car seat from the basket and ran after her.

  “Put me down!” Tristyn screamed as she was being carried out of the store.

  People stood around looking but nobody made a move to intervene. Amore ran outside just in time to see Tristyn being placed into the back seat of Leah’s car. Running with a car seat slowed her down and Leah was pulling off before she even strapped Trinity down. Amore called Trillion as soon as she got into the car to let him know what was going on.

  “What’s up Love? You called at the right time. My mama is fussing at me for coming over here without the girls,” Trillion laughed.

  “That crazy bitch took Tristyn!” Amore yelled as she pulled away from the store.

  “What!? Who took Tristyn?” Trillion yelled as he ran out of the house with Jackie and his father running out with him.

  He listened as Amore told him the entire story and he was pissed. Leah was all out of chances now. Trillion was taking her to court for full custody and he wanted her the fuck up out of his house. Not having the proper paperwork from the courts had Leah thinking that she still had a say when it came to Tristyn but she had him fucked up.

  “I’m on my way to her house and I’m fucking her up,” Amore fumed.

  “Baby, no, let me handle this. You have Trinity with you and I don’t want you getting into any trouble. The house is mine but it’ll be considered trespassing if you go there,” Trillion reasoned.

  “I can’t just sit around and do nothing Trillion. That bitch is a lunatic. I’m mad with myself for not leaving Trinity at home with you like you told me to. Ain’t no way in hell she would have done that shit had me and Tristyn been alone,” Amore ranted.

  “This is not on you, Love. Leah is unstable and I don’t know what’s been going through her head lately. I used to say that she would never hurt Tristyn but I’m not too sure about that anymore. There’s no telling what she’ll do just to get back at me. Don’t trip though, I’m almost to there,” Trillion said.

  “And so am I,” Amore noted.

  “Stay in the car Amore and I’m serious,” Trillion instructed.

  “Okay, I will,” Amore assured him.

  It took about five more minutes for her to get there and Trillion pulled up right behind her. He got out of the car with Jackie and his father and Amore got out of her car too.

  “Where’s Trinity?” Jackie asked.

  “She’s in her car seat sleeping,” Amore replied.

  She was happy when Jackie got into the back seat with her baby because she wanted to be by her husband’s side. She also wanted to lay hands on Leah and she was happy that she had on comfortable clothes and shoes. When they walked up the stairs, they heard yelling over the sounds of Tristyn’s crying.

  “Help me! Somebody, please help me!” Trillion heard Abby yell.

  “Shut the fuck up with all that crying Tristyn!” Leah yelled, enraging Amore and Trillion even more.

  He didn’t bother knocking, Trillion used his key to open the door and hurried inside. What he saw let him know that his suspicions had been right all along. Leah was standing over her mother with a hand full of her hair in one hand while she hit her with the other. It was fucked up because Abby couldn’t even get up from her wheelchair to defend herself. She tried her best to block Leah’s blows but she couldn’t do too much.

  “Daddy!” Tristyn yelled as soon as she saw him. She ran and jumped into his arms, right as Leah turned around and saw them standing there. A look of embarrassment covered her face as she let her mother go. The look was quickly replaced with rage as she stormed over to them.

  “Put my baby down! She’s not going anywhere with you. That bitch gave you another daughter so you can leave mine alone,” Leah fumed.

  “Trillion, help me please. I need to get out of here. Help me get away from her and I’ll tell you everything,” Abby swore. Her lip was leaking blood and one of her eyes were swollen.

  “Shut up and go to your room!” Leah screamed.

  “Tell me what Abby? What do I need to know?” Trillion asked as he handed Tristyn to his father.

  “Nothing and you need to get out of my house. You got what you came here for. I won’t fight you for Tristyn anymore, so you can leave now,” Leah said as she rushed to open the door.

  “This is my shit and the only person who is leaving is you,” Trillion replied.

  “Fine, we’ll be out by tomorrow. Mama, go start packing your shit,” Leah said while looking at Abby.

  “No! Trillion, please don’t leave me here. I’ll confess. I’ll do whatever you want me to do,” Abby begged.

  “What’s good Abby? Say what you need to say,” Trillion said while ignoring Leah.

  “She doesn’t have shit to say. Get out and you can have your place back tomorrow,” Leah fumed.

  “Abby,” Trillion said, trying to convince her to say something.

  “Get out! What else are you trying to take from me? It’s bad enough that you took my baby,” Leah raged.

  “Fuck it then. You want to stay here and keep getting abused, that’s all on you,” Trillion said to Abby as he headed for the door.

  “Tristyn is not her baby!” Abby blurted out, making Trillion stop his stride.

  “Shut the fuck up!” Leah yelled as she charged at her mother. Amore stopped her with a right hook that had Leah on her ass in no time. She looked dazed and confused as she held her bloody mouth and crawled away from her. She remembered the beat down that Amore gave her all those years ago and she didn’t want another one. Amore was frowning down at her, daring her to try anything stupid.

  “What do you mean Tristyn is not her baby? Whose baby is she then?” Trillion asked.

  “Jade,” Abby said as she lowered her head.

  “That’s a lie!” Leah shouted as she jumped up and started to pace the floor.

  “Jade,” Trillion repeated in shock.

  That was a name that he hadn’t uttered in a while. Since being with Amore, he hadn’t even dreamed or thought about her very much anymore. He was confused as to why Abby was bringing her name up to him now. He was even more confused as to why she was claiming that Tristyn belonged to Jade instead of Leah.

  “I’m so sorry Trillion. I shouldn’t have done it. I shouldn’t have helped her deceive you and I’m so sorry,” Abby cried.

  “What are you talking about Abby? Leah and Jade were pregnant at the same time. If Tristyn is Jade’s baby, where is the baby that Leah had?” Trillion questioned as Amore and his father stood there in shock.

  “She lost it when she was three months pregnant. She wore a prosthetic belly for months so people wouldn’t know the truth,” Abby reveled.

  “You bitch! After all that I did for you!” Leah screamed as she paced the floor while mumbling under her breath.

  “All you ever did for me was involve me in your bullshit and beat on me,” Abby replied.

  “It’s not like you’re not used to it,” Leah replied

  “I’m still confused about a lot of what you’re saying Abby. How did Leah end up with Tristyn?” he asked her.

  “I need you to understand a few things about my daughter Trillion. Leah has bipolar disorder that she was diagnosed with at a young age. She functions fine as long as she takes her
meds, which she always seemed to do when she was with you. These past few months have been hell since she’s convinced herself that she no longer needs it. I was so happy when you took Tristyn away from her. It wasn’t safe for her to be here. I knew that it was a mistake to let her bring me here to live with her. I knew that there was a catch and I was right,” Abby sniffled.

  “That’s a lie! I never needed that medicine and I’ve been fine without it. You wanted to make me crazy. You wanted me to forget about my fucked up childhood but I couldn’t,” Leah screamed and cried.

  “This is crazy. Where the fuck is Jade at then?” Trillion questioned.

  “I only did what I thought was right. She didn’t want the baby and I didn’t want Tristyn to get hurt or end up in the system. That’s why I kept her here with me and raised her as my own once Jade left with her new man,” Leah swore.

  “Enough with the lies, Leah. My conscious won’t let me go on like this any longer. When I told you to get a DNA test done, I wasn’t saying that you needed to be tested. I wanted you to test Leah. There was a reason why she never wanted us to talk. I knew all of her secrets and she was afraid of being exposed. I’m sorry Trillion, but Jade is dead. She didn’t leave you for another man like Leah tried to make you believe,” Abby revealed, making his heart drop.

  “Dumb ass. I hope you know that you’re going to jail right with me,” Leah said with a maniacal laugh.

  “Good. Jail is better than living here with you,” Gabby noted.

  “She’s dead,” Trillion repeated in shock. He wasn’t expecting to hear that at all and he was shocked.

  Abby felt horrible but she had to tell the truth. Although she was in a wheelchair, she was still a registered nurse. She guided Leah through the entire procedure and even helped out as much as she could. Leah getting her out of that nursing home was for her own benefit more than anything else. She was obsessed with Trillion and her actions showed it.

  “I could have saved her but she wouldn’t let me. After we delivered the baby, she started losing too much blood. I could have stopped it but she locked me in the room until she bled out. I thought that was what killed her but I was wrong. When I saw her two days later, her throat was slit. She was already dead and wrapped in blue tarp. Leah carried her out of the house in a suitcase and buried her body,” Abby cried, right as someone knocked on the door.

  Before anyone could even open it, two uniformed police officers walked in, followed by Jackie, who was holding Trinity in her arms.

  “I didn’t know what the hell was going on in here. Y’all were taking too long so I called the police just in case,” Jackie said as she looked around.

  “Uh, we’re fine officers. Everything is okay.” Leah smiled, looking like the deranged nut that she was.

  “We are not fine. She attacked me and I want her arrested. I also need to speak to a detective. I have some information that someone needs to hear,” Abby said.

  “You stupid bitch!” Leah yelled as she tried to attack her mother again. One of the officers hurriedly grabbed her and slammed her to the floor. He could see that Abby wasn’t lying because her injuries were evident.

  “I should be arrested too,” Abby said as she held her wrists out for them to cuff her.

  “I’m sorry ma’am but you haven’t done anything wrong to be arrested,” one of the officers pointed out.

  “Once you hear what I have to say, you’ll think otherwise. I’m so sorry about all this Trillion. I only hope that you can find it in your heart to one day forgive me,” Abby said as she watched him walk away. Amore grabbed her husband’s hand as they walked to the car together.

  “We’ll take Trillion’s car and bring the kids home with us for a little while. Call us when y’all are ready for us to bring them back,” Gary said as Jackie nodded in agreement. She didn’t know what was going on but she was sure that her husband would fill her in. She grabbed Trinity’s car seat and diaper bag before Amore and Trillion pulled off.

  “I won’t even ask you how you feel right now. I’m sure that there are no words to describe it,” Amore said as she held his hand while she drove.

  “Disbelief is the only word that I can use right now. I don’t even know how to feel about all the shit that I just heard. How the fuck did I end up being in the middle of a Lifetime movie?” Trillion questioned aloud.

  “I’m sorry baby but I really don’t know what to say. I’ve never heard of anything like this happening to anyone before,” Amore said honestly.

  “Me either but it all makes sense now. Every time I mentioned us going to court, Leah always backed down. That also explained why she never produced a birth certificate or social security card for Tristyn. My baby probably never even got vaccinated. The fuck am I supposed to do now?” Trillion sighed.

  “First of all, there is no I. You’re my husband and we’re in this together. The first thing we’re going to do is call the lawyer and let him advise us on where to go from here. I’m sure Abby will be all too willing to talk to him,” Amore noted.

  “Why the fuck did I ever believe anything that Leah said?” Trillion asked as guilt consumed him.

  “You believed the crazy bitch because the story sounded believable,” Amore replied.

  “Jade told me that she didn’t want to live there anymore but my hands were tied. It wasn’t like I could have left the military to come get her. My baby spent four years of her life with the muthafuckers who killed her mama and that shit is all on me,” Trillion said.

  “Don’t do that to yourself baby. Nothing that happened was your fault. There was no reason why you would have thought anything otherwise. I’m sorry about what happened to Jade but thank God that Tristyn is okay. Just think, the baby that you were so worried about not knowing has been in your life all along. No need to worry about her calling another man daddy because you’re the only father that she knows,” Amore pointed out.

  “Yeah, that’s true. I don’t know how I’m gonna explain all this shit to Tristyn though. Before you, Leah was the only mother that she knew,” Trillion said.

  “You don’t have to explain anything to her. When was the last time she even asked about Leah?” Amore inquired.

  “Shit, she never asks about her,” Trillion replied truthfully.

  “Exactly.” Amore nodded as she pulled up to their apartment.

  As soon as they got inside, Trillion went straight to the balcony. Sitting out there seemed to help clear his head and Amore knew that he had a lot on his mind. A huge balcony outside of the master bedroom was one of her requests for their house because she knew that he would spend a lot of his time out there. Amore fixed Trillion a strong drink and rolled his blunt before she took it outside to him. It sounded like he was on the phone with his lawyer and she didn’t want to disturb him. When he saw that she was walking away, he grabbed her arm and pulled her onto his lap before she got too far.

  “We can come see you today or tomorrow. Whatever works best for you,” Trillion said. He sipped his drink and talked for a few more minutes before he hung up.

  “What did he say?” Amore asked.

  “Shocked as fuck, just like me. But he said that I shouldn’t have anything to worry about as far as Tristyn is concerned. I told him that I need a birth certificate and stuff, so he’s gonna work on that first. I’m changing her last name too,” Trillion replied.

  “Yes, you should.” Amore nodded.

  “I also gave him the go ahead to get started on the adoption process. That’s if you want to go that route,” Trillion said while looking at her.

  His head wasn’t on straight and he didn’t even think that far ahead. He had a lot on his mind and he was still trying to process it all. When his lawyer mentioned adoption, Trillion thought it was a great idea. Amore loved his daughter just as much as he did and Tristyn already thought of her as her mother.

  “Don’t be stupid. She’s already my baby. But, can we do that? The adoption thing?” Amore asked.

  “Yeah. Technically, I’m h
er only parent so there’s nobody to contest it. He said that as long as there are no other living parents, the process only takes about three months to complete.” Trillion shrugged. They had a long road ahead of them but he was ready to do whatever it took to make things right. His lawyer made it sound so easy, but Trillion knew that it was a process.

  “Aww, I’m so happy.” Amore smiled.

  “Me too. This entire situation is fucked up but at least something good is coming from it,” Trillion noted.

  He was mad with himself for not grabbing Leah by her neck and choking the life out of her once everything was revealed but he was too busy trying to process it all. One thing made sense to him though and that was the bipolar diagnosis that Abby mentioned. He remembered calling Leah bipolar a few times during arguments and she used to go crazy whenever he did. Now he knew that she only got so upset because it was true.

  “I know it wasn’t the outcome that you wanted but at least you got some closure. Jade didn’t leave by choice and she didn’t run away with another man,” Amore pointed out.

  “Yeah, I know. Now that I think about it, my dreams didn’t make any sense. She was always apologizing to me but I never knew why,” Trillion replied.

  “Maybe she was apologizing for leaving you and her daughter. But I hope she can finally rest in peace now because I got y’all.” Amore smiled.

  “I got you too Love,” Trillion replied while kissing her lips.

  Amore was right. It wasn’t the outcome that he wanted but he was happy to finally have closure. He knew that he had a long road ahead of him but he wasn’t traveling it alone. He had a real ride or die by his side and he was proud to call her his wife.

  “D amn bro, this shit is fire,” Blue said as he blew smoke from his nose and mouth.

  “I told you boy. Nothing but the best,” Trillion replied.

  “I’m good on that. Shit got me feeling dizzy as fuck,” Rod complained from the back seat.

  “That’s how you know it’s good,” Blue said as he pulled from the blunt again.