Never Again, No More 4

by Untamed

  While most men cheated, degraded, abused, misused, and disrespected their lady, I was the complete opposite. My pops had left before I was even old enough to know what having a dad was. It had been me, my sister, my moms, and my grandma, so I had grown up very fond of those three women. I had been the son, the brother, the father, the husband, the protector, and the provider. I had learned early on that women were to be valued. And with all that my moms and grandma had done for me . . . Shit, ain’t no way I was gonna dog the woman who had given me my children, and especially since she also held the title of my wife. I wanted to be a part of my kids’ lives and have them love me the way I wished I had a father to love. It killed me how guys could grow up wishing their mom and dad were together and wishing their dad was in their life, then mistreat the chicks they were with and make babies that they weren’t willing to take care of. I just couldn’t see it. I remembered how that shit had felt as a kid, so there was no way in hell I could put Trinity or my kids through that. I had vowed to myself to be a better man than those fucking baby getters.

  I stayed on the grind for mine every day, just to be sure that I gave them everything I hadn’t had. My kids were in the best schools and had the best of everything. Terry was the star of the swim team, and just like his mama, he could draw his ass off. My big girl, Brit, had her thing going on too. She was gonna be the next Alicia Keys on that piano. Besides encouraging them to pursue their own personal interests, I made sure they knew how to defend themselves by enrolling them in martial arts. And they were both straight A students. Princess was already learning to speak in semi-complete sentences, and she even knew some of the alphabet in both English and Spanish. I couldn’t wait to see what talents she and Tyson had. It made me proud that I could give them the life they needed and deserved.

  It especially made me proud that I’d come up from the D-boy I used to be. My paper was legit, and I could take care of my lady the way she truly deserved. It felt great seeing her achieve her dreams. We’d come a long way since that first tattoo of a lion’s head that she’d stenciled for me. I sat back and thought sometimes about how we had started dating from our official meeting at the club. Being four years her senior, who would’ve thought that I’d be interested in a chick so young? But there was something so genuinely sweet, innocent, and pure about Trinity that had attracted me to her. She was from the hood, but in a soft kinda way. Like a concrete rose. Not to mention she was real and down for me. And, my God, did she develop into a stackhouse. I loved Trinity with my whole heart. She was the only woman I had ever been faithful to from dating to marriage, not only because she was the mother of my kids, but also because I had always known that one day she’d be my wife. I was beside myself that I could give her all her heart’s desires.

  The ringing of my cell phone brought me out of my random thoughts.

  “Hey, Mama Tracy. What’s up?” I asked, answering my cell.

  “Hey, Terrence. Baby, are you busy?” Trinity’s mom asked.

  “I’m not working today. I’m just sitting in my office, going over our finances and paying bills, but you know I’ll make time for you.”

  She laughed. “You have always been so sweet. Diane did a good job raising you.”

  I laughed. “Thank you, Mama.”

  “But on a serious note, is Trinity at home with you?”

  “No, ma’am. I know she was running the kids over to your house so that she could go to the gallery and get some work done. Did you try there?”

  “Yes, I talked to the manager, Jalise, and she said that Trinity told her that she’d be back in an hour, but it’s been an hour and a half, and she isn’t back yet.”

  “You know Trinity. She’s probably out somewhere burning a hole in my Amex or Visa card.”

  “Yes, Trinity has changed a bit. Lately, she’s become so. . . What’s the word? Boujee.”

  Admittedly, I agreed. “Yeah, she has been actin’ kinda brand new.”

  I hoped it was a phase, though. None of us were used to that kind of money, and when you weren’t used to things like that, sometimes it could take you out of your element. I felt like eventually the self-proclaimed Barbie of mine would come back down to Earth. I prayed so, anyway, because I couldn’t take too much of the Paris Hilton routine. We were from the hood, so I could deal with the Trina routine or the Taraji P. Henson routine, but this tip that she was on was wreckin’ even my nerves. Eating salads and tofu and shit. Money or no money, I was black. Always had been and always would be. Give me some fried chicken, pork chops smothered with gravy, and some biscuits and shit.

  “But nah, Mama. She ain’t here.”

  “I thought y’all might have been trying to play house,” she joked.

  “No, ma’am.” I laughed, although that would be a good idea. Shit, it’d been three days, and I was fucking hurting. “Why? Is something wrong with the kids?”

  “No. I was going to ask her to buy me an extra pack of Pampers to keep over here for Tyson. That son of yours eats and shits all the time.”

  “That he does.” I laughed. “She didn’t answer her cell?”

  “It went straight to voicemail.”

  “Hmm.” I rubbed my chin. “It may be dead, and she’s trying to charge it. Or maybe she mistakenly turned it off. I don’t know. I’m sure she’ll call you back after she gets out of the store.”

  “You’re probably right. I will try to call her in another ten minutes or so.”

  “All right, Mama Tracy. Just give me a call if you can’t get in touch with her. Kiss the kiddos for me and let them know I’ll see them tomorrow afternoon.”

  “All right, Terrence, I will. See you tomorrow.”

  I continued looking over the finances and balancing our accounts once I had hung up with Trinity’s mom. We were pulling in hella money, and everything was looking real nice, even after paying the bills and Trinity’s Visa card bill again. Who in the hell spends five grand just for summer clothes and shoes for kids, especially for a child Princess’s age? She still needed to shop for Terry and Tyson. We were gonna have to have a talk about my diamond princess’s spending habits.

  The way Trinity was going, she was going to have the kids so spoiled that they wouldn’t know how to fend for themselves when they became adults. I was not working hard to take care of my grown-ass kids for the rest of their lives. Once they got out of college—and they were going to college—they had better have a plan. I’d guide them, help them, and direct them, but taking care of them was out of the equation. I wanted to retire early, live off the interest of our money in the bank, and travel the world with my wife. Then we’d come back and help our kids raise their kids, not work until it was time to put me in the box. Was that asking too much? I’ll answer for you. Hell no. Who didn’t want that? Apparently, my wife, if she didn’t bring her head and our credit cards out of the clouds long enough to see that she was out of control with the money.

  After I finished up with the finances, I poured myself a glass of Cognac and lit one of my Cuban cigars. Now I understood why my Barbie enjoyed having the house to herself. Sometimes you needed that wind-down “me” time. I had been grinding so hard that I hadn’t realized I needed a break too. I decided to take this time and enjoy it to the fullest. After I finished off my Cognac, I killed the amber in my cigar and headed to my bedroom to shower up. My conversation about Trinity’s spending habits was gonna have to wait. I needed my wife to come home to handle some business.

  I turned on the shower, then watched water cascade furiously from the multiple showerheads. As I waited for the water to heat up, I took out the band holding my dreadlocks together, then eased off my button-down shirt. I never grew tired of admiring Trinity’s artwork. The lion’s head on my chest was still as fresh as the day I got the tat. On one bicep was the tat that she drew for me with the cross and the rings, and on the other was my grandma’s name, with a small set of praying hands underneath it. On my stomach was the kids’ names—I had even had Princess’s name added. Pooch’s o
r not, she was still my child, and I loved her as such. The last tat that was special to me was the one of Trinity’s face over my heart. Wrapped around her face were the words Trinity’s forever. It meant that she’d forever have my heart.

  After I shed the remainder of my clothes, I stepped into the shower and let the warm water run down my head, shoulders, and back, easing the stress out of my muscles. I missed Trinity bad as hell. I could damn near feel her running her fingertips down my six-pack and back muscles. I wished she was right there to wrap her legs around my waist so I could make love to her. Those thoughts brought my manhood to full-attention mode. Damn it, man. I had to hurry up and call her to take care of that for real. I stepped out of the shower and finished my routine. I heard my cell ring as I wrapped a towel around my waist. Trinity. Thank God, I thought as I ran out of the bathroom into our master suite, but when I looked down at the screen on my phone, I saw it was her mom again.

  “Mama Tracy?”

  “Terrence, I still can’t reach Trinity, and Jalise said she hasn’t come back. She’s tried to call her too, and she’s not answering. It’s going straight to voicemail. She’s been gone for two and half hours. I’m getting kinda worried now.”

  “All right, Mama. Let me put on some clothes and see if I can find out what’s going on. Are the kids cool?”

  “Yes, they’re all here with me, and we are fine. So are my other two kids. I just hung up with Jalise. No one in the gallery has seen Trinity or talked to her since she left.”

  “All right. I’ll call you. I promise you I’ll find out something.”

  “Thanks, Terrence. Call me,” she said and hung up.

  What the fuck was going on? I threw on some jeans and a T-shirt, so I could leave if need be. When I tried her cell and the call went straight to voicemail, worry crept in. I had had a GPS tracking system installed on both of our vehicles. I needed to log in to find out where her car was, so I hurriedly switched to the tracker app on my device and located her vehicle. I found her car at a shopping plaza. Perhaps she’d forgotten and left her phone in the car, but I wasn’t gonna sit around and wait. I decided to go to the shopping plaza and see if I could find her. On the way, I made a call.

  “Yo, Aaron, I know you ain’t talking to me, but I may need your help to locate Trinity. I know you care about her, even if you don’t care about me. So call me. I’m trying to find her, and it may be nothing, but in my gut, I feel like something ain’t right. Call me.” I hung up and prayed he would actually listen to the message.

  Twenty-five minutes later, I pulled up in the parking deck where Trinity’s car was located, and I found her Mercedes in a parking spot. I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking she had to have left her cell phone inside the car. Still, I got out and walked to the car. I damn near had a heart attack when I found that not only was her cell phone in the car, but so, too, was her purse. And the keys were still in the ignition. Now I knew something was wrong. Ain’t no way she’d leave her purse in the car or the keys in the ignition. Shit. Shit. Shit. Pacing, I didn’t know what to do.

  “Think, Terrence. Think,” I said aloud, hitting my head.

  I ran up to the security booth and tapped on the glass. “Excuse me.”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Have you seen this woman?” I asked, pulling out my phone and showing the guy a picture of Trinity.

  He shook his head. “No. Somebody that fine I would remember.” He laughed.

  I sucked my teeth. “Well, I’m her husband, and her car is over there, with the keys in the ignition and her purse and cell inside. But she ain’t there.”

  “You sure she ain’t steppin’ out?”

  “Muthafucka, look! I’m the only nigga stickin’ my wife. You need to get on your fucking job and secure this place. She’s missing, and I need to find her.”

  He put his hands up. “I apologize, sir. How long has she been missing?”

  “She left her job damn near three hours ago, and she was supposed to be back two hours ago.”

  “Well, sir, I would call the police, but a person has to be missing for twenty-four hours before they fill out a missing person’s report,” he said, coming out of the booth.

  “Do you know what all could happen to her in twenty-four muthafucking hours?”

  “Sir, calm down. It is suspicious that her personal items are still in the car, but I’m telling you what I know. Are you sure she wasn’t meeting anyone?”

  “I’m fucking positive. I can’t wait that fucking long. I’m calling the fucking police myself.” Just as I began to dial 911, my phone rang. It was Thomas. I picked up.

  “Yo, Thomas! Did Aaron get my message? I really need his help. Trinity is missing.”

  “Man, I don’t know what he got, but I know what I found.”

  “What?” I asked, curious.

  “Look, man. I don’t know what is going on with my brother, and I hope he forgives me for telling you this, but I was at his house today, and I found a photo album. He’s collected pictures of Trinity over the past two years, bunches and bunches of pictures. Some were cut out of other pictures, and he put them in an album, but it was all photos of her. It’s almost like a fucking shrine or some shit. It’s like he’s obsessed with her. Then I found two very odd things together, and I have no idea what it means, but it can’t be good. First, I found paperwork on a storage rental for storage unit two-two-four-five at Quality Warehouse Storage. Why he needs that I don’t know, because he has a storage shed with nothing in it.” He paused. “Lastly, I found some shit you ain’t gonna like. It was some paperwork to release Vernon ‘Pooch’ Smalls.”

  My mouth flew open. This muthafucka was insane. I knew good and fucking well he didn’t get Pooch released. I didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but I knew damn well that storage unit and Pooch had something to do with my wife, and I was gonna find out what.

  “A’ight,” I said plainly. “I gotta go.”

  “T, I know you’re pissed, but we’re family. Just remember that.”

  “Cuz, if your brother has done some ignorant shit and got my wife caught up in it, then I can let you know the blood line stops there. My wife and kids are my first priority, not Aaron.”

  Thomas sighed. “Do what you gotta do, then, man.”

  I ran back to my truck and drove like a bat out of hell back to the house. I jumped out, leaving the truck running, and ran inside the house. I grabbed both of my chrome-plated .45s and extra ammo. When I got back in my truck, my cell phone rang again. It was Mama Tracy.

  “Terrence, have you heard anything?” Trinity’s mom asked me when I picked up.

  “Just make sure you take care of my babies, Mama Tracy. That’s all I ask,” I said and hung up on her.

  Chapter 21

  Pooch

  It felt good as hell to say that I was a free man. I sat down and waited to be out-processed in fresh new clothes, courtesy of Big Cal. I had one mission and one mission only—to get my hands on Trinity. I couldn’t even fully enjoy being free, knowing that I’d probably end up right back in there, but I didn’t give a damn.

  I couldn’t wait to see the look on that bitch’s face when she came face-to-face with me again. I bet when she woke up this morning, she never imagined running into this nigga. Oh well. She wanted to be a dirty broad, then I could be an even dirtier nigga. I was gonna force her to give me that good pussy and then strangle the life outta that ho. I deserved to see both come to fruition. All those nights I’d imagined bangin’ the one chick I thought was true to me and I had risked everything for. She was gonna make every last one of them fantasies come true. I was about to bring new meaning to the words till death do us part.

  “You ready to get the fuck outta here?” Big Cal asked me, hitting my arm.

  I one-arm hugged him. “You know it, man.”

  “It’ll just be a few more minutes,” he said, then turned back to the officer.

  Just then, I saw them walking Wolf by in handcuffs on the other side, and I turned my h
ead.

  “Pooch! Pooch!” he screamed.

  “Shut up, inmate,” one of the COs yelled.

  “Pooch! Man, you gotta tell ’em it wasn’t me. Pooch, come on, man,” he said in desperation.

  I got up and walked to the bars. “What’s going on, Wolf?”

  He looked me up and down. “Where the fuck are you going?”

  “You didn’t hear? I got sprung. I’m imperative to a new case.”

  “Whose?”

  “Yours.”

  He looked at me. “Pooch, they are gonna put this drug shit on me, man. I can’t do another ten years in here. I can’t. I was up for parole, and my girl is waiting on me. Adrienne ain’t gonna wait another ten years. You gotta help me,” he said, looking at me with tears in his eyes.

  “Can y’all give us a second?” I asked the COs.

  They shrugged and backed up. They were on Big Cal’s team anyway, so it really didn’t matter if they heard what I said or not, but appearances were made to be kept up. I motioned for Wolf to lean forward as I did the same.

  “Don’t worry. Ten years is easy to do. You’ve already done it before. As for testifying, well, dawg, you know I tried to tell you that dealin’ drugs inside the prison was wrong.”

  He frowned up. “What? Me? This shit was your—”

  “And don’t worry about Adrienne. She ain’t checking for you. Since you’re gonna be in here a while, you should probably know that her and Flava fell in love, and your chick is a certified lesbo now. Oh, and the only man who she’s gonna let fuck is me. Don’t worry, dude. I’ll write you and tell you how the pussy tastes.” I laughed. “But by then, you probably won’t even care, ’cause you’ll be Cock Diesel’s bitch the moment I step outside this hellhole. You can go full-fledged now and take it up the ass too, ’cause that’s about as close to sex as you’ll get for the next ten years.”