Heartbreak And Past Mistakes

by Chenell Parker

  “This is Zina. Who is this calling my husband’s phone?” Sanai countered with a smirk.

  “Wow. No worries love. I won’t be calling again,” Lyric replied before she hung up.

  “Stuck up bitch. Go cry yourself to sleep,” Sanai said as she sat the phone back where she got it from.

  About five minutes later, Deuce and Darnell came back dragging Warren with them. Deuce grabbed his phone from the bar right before they walked out of the club.

  “Good looking cuz. I owe you one,” Deuce said once Darnell helped him put Warren inside his truck.

  “You can repay me by keeping this nigga away. I got Sanai’s mind right but ain’t no reasoning with this clown. He think he run shit just because you own the club.”

  “Don’t sweat it bruh. He’s done for after tonight,” Deuce swore right before he got into his truck and pulled off.

  He was heated as he headed to his mother’s house to drop off her dead weight. As soon as Warren was sober, Deuce was going to light into his ass and dare his mother to interfere. Warren was messing with his money now and that was unacceptable. His club made too much money every week and he wasn’t about to let Warren stop that.

  When he pulled up to his mother’s house, Wanda was standing on the porch. It was a little after one in the morning and Deuce was pissed that she was letting Warren take her through so many changes. He tried talking to his mother a few times before but it was a waste. Warren was like her second child and she wasn’t trying to hear it.

  “I’m so sick of this shit. He’s about to be finding him somewhere else to stay,” Wanda fumed as Deuce helped her brother inside.

  Deuce didn’t even reply because she was always saying the same thing. Warren would act right for a while just to shut her up but it never did last.

  “I’m not carrying this clown up all those stairs. He can sleep right here tonight,” Deuce said as he dropped Warren on the living room floor.

  “Careful before you hurt him Deuce,” Wanda replied.

  “Fuck that nigga. He gon’ see me when he’s sober,” Deuce promised.

  “I’ll talk to him,” Wanda said, making her son mad.

  She was an enabler and she didn’t even see it. He wasn’t in the mood to get into another conversation about Warren, so he walked to the door and prepared to leave.

  “Come lock up ma. I love you,” Deuce said before he walked out the door.

  “I love you too baby!” Wanda yelled after him right before she closed the door and locked up.

  Deuce hopped in his truck and dialed Lyric’s number as he drove away.

  “What?” Lyric snapped when she answered for him.

  “What’s with the attitude? I was just calling to tell you that I was on my way home,” Deuce replied.

  “This is not your home, but you can come and pack your shit. I wish the fuck I would let you play these games with me,” Lyric said angrily.

  “What are you even talking about Lyric?” Deuce replied. After turning down his marriage proposal, she couldn’t possibly be mad with him.

  “If you wanted to stay with the bitch, you shouldn’t have divorced her. But, you’re her problem now. If it’s not about our son, we don’t have shit to say to each other,” Lyric said, sounding more confident than she felt.

  In reality, she felt like she was dying inside. She couldn’t believe that Bronx had played her like he did. He probably would have gotten away with it too if Zina hadn’t answered his phone. True enough, it sounded like he was at Ace’s like he said. He just failed to mention that he was going there to meet his ex-wife. She knew that bullshit about him going to get his uncle was a lie. He didn’t even fuck with Warren like that. Once again, Lyric was dealing with heartbreak and yet another mistake.

  “I don’t know what you’re even talking about. And if Zina is the bitch that you’re referring to, then you really got shit twisted. I haven’t seen or talked to her since I moved out of her house,” Deuce noted.

  “That’s hard to believe seeing as how she just answered your phone,” Lyric pointed out.

  “Baby, I swear on my life. I was at Ace’s but I did not see or talk to Zina. I went there to get Warren and I just dropped him off at my mama’s house. Call and ask Darnell. Hell, you can call and ask my mama. Who told you that shit?” Deuce asked.

  “Why, so they can lie for you? The first time some shit pop off between us and you go running back to your ex-wife. I guess you weren’t as hurt as I thought you were. You don’t have to be done because I am. I feel stupid for even believing you in the first place,” Lyric said before she hung up the phone.

  “Lyric! Lyric! Fuck!” Bronx yelled as he banged on the steering wheel.

  He increased his speed trying to get to her as soon as possible. He didn’t know what the hell Lyric was talking about, but he needed to get to the bottom of it. Deuce was happy that the streets were fairly empty because he was driving recklessly. He was so focused on getting to Lyric that he didn’t notice the police car that was parked on one of the sides streets that he passed. The red and blue flashing lights snapped him out of his daze and had him slowing down and pulling over.

  “I really don’t need this shit right now,” Deuce mumbled as he grabbed his credentials from his glove compartment.

  He sat everything on his dashboard and waited. As soon as the officer approached his window, he rolled it down and put both his hands on the steering wheel. He wasn’t about to become another statistic and there were no witnesses around. Another officer approached the passenger side and shined his flashlight through the window and looked into the back seat.

  “License, registration, and insurance please,” the office that was on his side demanded sternly.

  “It’s right there on the dashboard. You can get it because I’m not moving my hands from the steering wheel,” Deuce replied.

  “Are there any weapons in the car?” the second officer asked.

  “Nope,” Deuce answered.

  One of them grabbed his info from the dashboard and they both walked away. Deuce stayed in position for about ten minutes before both officers approached his car again.

  “Step out of the car please,” one of them requested.

  “For what?” Deuce questioned in confusion.

  “You have a warrant out for your arrest for failure to appear,” the officer explained.

  “Failure to appear where? I never even had a court date,” Deuce noted.

  “We’re only doing our jobs sir. I called your info in and that’s what came back. You’ll have to take that up with a judge,” the officer replied.

  “Can I call someone to come pick up my truck?” Deuce asked.

  “Step out of the car to make your call. That’s for your safety and ours,” the officer said.

  Deuce understood that and he was just thankful that they were even allowing him to do it. They talked forcefully, but they weren’t all that bad. When he got out of the truck, they frisked him to make sure that he was free of weapons. Once they saw that he was clean, Deuce called Wanda to let her know what was going on. He was only about five minutes away from her house and she assured him that she was on her way. He took everything out of his pockets and left it on the seat.

  “I can’t believe this shit,” Deuce mumbled as he was cuffed and led to the police car.

  Before they put him in, Wanda pulled up in an Uber and rushed over to him. Deuce was just saying how Warren was taking her through so many changes and here he was doing the same thing. His mother looked like she’d been crying or at least trying not to.

  “What happened Deuce? What are you being arrested for?” Wanda asked.

  “I don’t even know ma. I’m just as confused as you are. I’ll call you the minute I get booked and processed,” Deuce replied.

  Wanda watched helplessly as they put her son into the back of a police car and drove away. She needed to get in touch with Lyric, but it was too late to call her now. Wanda was hoping that she could get one of the lawyers at her f
irm to get her son out of jail. She didn’t mind paying whatever they charged.

  Deuce hadn’t been to jail since before his father died but it was never for anything major. As far as she knew, he was doing everything the legal way, so him going to jail was a surprise. Wanda was happy that he called her to get his truck. Other than that, it would have been sitting in the middle of nowhere. As soon as she got in, she put all of Deuce’s personal items in his glovebox and drove away. Just like when he went to jail when he was younger, Wanda knew that she wouldn’t be getting any good rest until her son was home.

  Chapter 43

  Three days later and Deuce was still in a nasty ass jail cell trying to figure out what was going on. He had gone before the judge, but he was baffled as to what he was talking about. They had Deuce on a bunch of bullshit charges that he’d never even been arrested for. He was denied bond and that was even more of a shock. It felt like he was back in the dope game because he was locked up with the same niggas that he used to hang with before. They were all shocked to see him come through there, but no one was as shocked as he was.

  Lyric was still on her bullshit and that was something else that had him stressing. He needed to get the hell up out of there to make things right with her. More than that, he needed to be free to see his first son enter the world.

  “Aye Bam, let me see that thing!” Deuce yelled to one of the dudes that he was cool with.

  He and Bam went to high school together and they used to hang out at Ace’s sometimes. Bam was always a wild child and he stayed in jail more than he was home. He and his two sisters basically raised themselves and they were menaces. Bam was still a wild one and he ran the jail like it was his. Coincidentally, it was the same jail that Mary’s son had been killed in. Bam told him that he didn’t have anything to do with it, but he knew who did. Mary’s son had snitched on some ruthless gang members and a lot of people weren’t too happy about that.

  “Here you go fam. I’ll look out while you do your thing,” Bam said as he handed Deuce the iPhone that one of the guards had smuggled in there for him a while ago.

  Deuce went into the corner of the cell and dialed Lyric’s number on Facetime. Surprisingly, she always answered when he called and she never hung up on him. That act alone let Deuce know that she still had love for him in spite of whatever she thought he’d done.

  “What do you want Bronx? I’m busy,” Lyric said when her face appeared on the screen.

  “Your ass ain’t doing nothing but laying there eating ice cream,” he laughed.

  “That’s what depressed hoes do. We lay around eating and getting fat,” Lyric snapped as she rolled her eyes.

  “Please don’t do this to me, Lyric. I really need your help baby. Some shit just ain’t right. I haven’t been to jail in years. These people got me in here on some bogus ass charges that I never even heard of. And they’re denying me of bail. Can’t you get your boss to look into it? I’m not trying to be in here when my son is born,” Deuce replied.

  “Why didn’t you ask Zina to do it?” Lyric frowned.

  “I keep telling you that I don’t talk to Zina. I haven’t seen or talked to her in months. I don’t even have her damn number. I’m losing my fucking mind in here and you’re not helping me,” Deuce argued, making Lyric feel bad.

  “Mr. Malone doesn’t really do that kind of stuff anymore Bronx. He’ll assist on big cases but that’s about it. I can get Elise to look into it for me though,” Lyric offered.

  “Please do. And I promise you, Lyric, I haven’t been with Zina or nobody else since we got together,” he swore.

  “Who answered your phone that night then? The same night that you claim to be going to Ace’s to get your drunk uncle,” Lyric countered.

  “I have no idea what you’re even talking about. If Zina was there, I damn sure didn’t see her. I was only there for about fifteen or twenty minutes. When I got there, I sat at the bar and talked to Darnell for a minute or two and had a drink. Right after that, Sanai told us that Warren was about to get jumped and me and Darnell went to go see what was up.”

  Just then, Deuce remembered something that had obviously slipped his mind before. After he called his mother to tell her about Warren, he sat his phone on the bar. He remembered that because he grabbed it when he and Darnell were walking Warren out. Sanai was standing there the entire time and now it was all starting to make sense.

  “That dirty bitch!” Deuce yelled out angrily.

  “Who?” Lyric questioned.

  “I bet you it was Sanai who answered my phone. She was the only female who even came close to me that night,” Deuce replied as he ran it all down to Lyric.

  “Why would she say that she was Zina though?” Lyric questioned.

  “Because that bitch is miserable and messy,” Deuce fumed.

  “Yeah okay,” Lyric replied skeptically.

  “Don’t do that Lyric. Damn, I can’t catch a fucking break,” Deuce fussed.

  “Call me tomorrow morning. I’ll see what Elise can do to help you,” Lyric said.

  “Okay baby. I love you and I’ll call you when I think you’re at work in the morning,” Deuce said before he disconnected the call.

  He called his mother soon after and asked her to retrieve another number from his cell phone. As soon as she gave it to him, he dialed the number and hoped that someone picked up. After the third ring, Deuce was getting discouraged. After ring number four, he was happy when he heard Kierra’s voice on the other end.

  “Who is this?” Kierra snapped when she answered the phone.

  “This is Deuce, Kierra. I need a big favor,” he replied.

  “Well, too bad for you that I’m all out of those. You just don’t get enough of hurting my cousins. First, you leave Zina for Lyric, only to turn around and start fucking with Zina again. I’m sick of your ass and I hope my cousins are too,” Kierra ranted angrily.

  Deuce hated that Lyric got to her first, but he wasn’t surprised. For someone who didn’t like to put people in her business, Lyric was doing a good job of it now. She even had his grandmother cursing him out as if he’d done something wrong. Even though he knew for a fact that it had to be Sanai, he could tell that Lyric wasn’t convinced.

  “Are you done or is there anything else that you need to get off your chest?” Deuce asked sarcastically.

  “Whatever Deuce. What do you want?” Kierra questioned.

  “Like I just said, I need your help. And stop believing everything that you hear. I’m coming to you with facts and I need you to listen,” Deuce noted as he ran the entire story down to her.

  He needed her help, but it took a lot of convincing on his part. Kierra was a tough shell to crack but Deuce was persistent. After a bunch of begging and pleading, she finally agreed to help him out. That was the best news that he’d received since he got locked up.

  ***

  Lyric walked into the office and sat her things down on her desk. She had a lot of things that she needed to do but she also needed to speak with Elise. She tossed and turned all night, thinking about what Bronx said to her about Sanai. Lyric didn’t know what to think, but his story sounded believable. Sanai didn’t like her too much, but she was okay with that. They didn’t run in the same circle, so they never had to cross each other’s paths. Bronx told her about the slick comments she always made about her, but Lyric wasn’t about to stoop to her level. Truthfully, Sanai didn’t have a level. She was trash and she carried herself as such.

  When Lyric told Melody about it, she believed what Bronx was saying. Melody informed her that she’d seen women do worse things than that. She kept telling Lyric to trust her man and she was trying her best to take her mother’s advice. Aside from lying about his marriage in the beginning of their relationship, Lyric couldn’t remember a time that Bronx had ever lied to her before. One thing he said was right and he needed to be home before their son was born.

  After checking a few emails, Lyric walked out of her office in search of Elise. When she g
ot into the hall, she spotted Elise walking to the elevator with her briefcase.

  “Just the person that I need to see.” Lyric smiled.

  “Hey Lyric. What’s up?” Elise asked.

  “I know I already owe you for helping Ms. Mary, but I need another huge favor,” Lyric said.

  “You don’t owe me a thing. You help me out just as much. What do you need?” Elise asked.

  “I need you to get another criminal record from the court house for me. Something is not adding up and I just need to see what’s in there,” Lyric replied.

  “Not again. Are the courts really this incompetent?” Elise frowned.

  “Apparently so, but this one is very special to me,” Lyric said as she rubbed her stomach.

  “Say no more. You’re just in luck because I have to get two more. What’s his info?” Elise asked as she pulled out her phone.

  “His name is Bronx Harrison,” Lyric said as she rattled off all of his information to Elise.

  “Got it. Oh and I might need your help with something too. We’ll discuss it later. I should be back in about two hours. I’ll come to your office when I do,” Elise replied.

  “Okay Elise and thanks again,” Lyric said as she walked down the hall to the break room.

  Lyric had slowed down on the coffee since she’d been pregnant, but she needed some now. She groaned inwardly when she saw Javier standing there making a mess with the Keurig machine. It was the easiest thing in the world to work, but he made it seem like rocket science. Lyric wanted to be a bitch about it, but she decided to be the bigger person. She still couldn’t stand Javier but being nice to him wouldn’t hurt. She grabbed another cup from the drawer and put it in the machine. She pressed two buttons and Javier’s coffee started to brew into the cup that was underneath.

  “Thanks beautiful.” Javier smiled as he looked at her.

  Lyric didn’t bother replying. She needed him to move out of her way, so that she could fix her own coffee and go. Javier was creeping her out with the way he was staring and she wanted to get away from him. Something about him seemed much different than when she was with him before. Lyric was happy when his phone rang because it took his gaze away from her. When a woman’s picture popped up, he declined the call and grabbed his coffee. The phone started ringing again and he continued to ignore it.