After Everything I've Done For You 2

by Nicety

  “Uh, I’m sure your mother is fine ma’am. But actually we’re here to talk about your cousin, Damita Paxton,” Detective Ficks chimed in.

  “What about her?”

  The solemn looks on their pale faces alerted me to the very thing that I already knew. It was so silent that the only thing that could be heard between the three of us standing there was the wind. No trees rustled. No birds chirped. There was just a presence that seemed to drift by us as if it was spirits letting us know that they were right there with us. I closed my eyes feeling faint for a second before opening them again. I could feel it as I lowered my head, even though I couldn’t feel it before they showed up to my house. She was gone. Damita was dead.

  “How? What happened to her?” I breathed through a crackling voice.

  “She was shot in a car whose license plate lead us back here to you with a male whom I’m assuming was her boyfriend. Uh, a Mr. Jeremiah Cutter,” Detective Broham fumbled through his paperwork before bringing his attention back up to me.

  “Oh my God.” I covered my mouth with one hand in complete anguish. “No, he was my boyfriend. He was supposed to be driving her to the bus station last night.”

  “Well, uh, ma’am when the two were found they were positioned in an uncompromising position. They were parked near a kids’ play lot type of park directly across the street from the bus station. No bus tickets were ever purchased by their credit or debit cards nor were they found on their person,” the detective explained.

  “I’m…I’m sorry? Come again?”

  “Ma’am, they weren’t at the bus station at the time of the shooting. They were in the backseat of the vehicle engaging in—“

  “Uh, ah. Don’t even say it.” I put my hand up as my head bolted to the left out of their sight for a brief moment while my eyes closed. I just needed a minute to gather my motherfucking thoughts on the shit they were trying so desperately to explain in the nicest form.

  “We’re very sorry ma’am,” Detective Ficks began. “But we would like to find out who did this to your boyfriend and your cousin.”

  “I have no idea who would want to do anything like that to them.” My tone reeked of disappointment. “I obviously don’t know them like I thought I did.”

  “Well, if you want to see your boyfriend he’s at Christ. Last time I heard he was in critical condition and in surgery but that was hours ago.” Detective Broham reached into his jacket pocket pulling out a business card before handing it over to me. “If you could think of anyone who might be involved in this case, please don’t hesitate to call us. We would really like to get this thing solved for you and make the person responsible pay for what they’ve done to Damita and your family.”

  “Thank you detectives.” My voice was still cracking.

  “We’ll be in touch.”

  As the two men headed down the stairs and I shut the door, my heart seemed to drop falling off the pedestal it was sitting on. The sound of the door closing must have alerted Myking to the their departure as he peeked his head out the doorway before entering the room. In a zombie like state I moved towards him, my eyes fixating on nothing yet unable to blink. A feeling of emptiness overcame me, partly because my cousin was dead and the other part was because they were both shot while they were betraying me in the worst way.

  When Damita and I were kids, she would always follow up behind me. Even though I was her only cousin, she used to call me her favorite cousin. My momma took us everywhere together and used to dress us up alike all the time. My auntie never really played the mother role with her. She just didn’t know how to be a mother, I guess. So my momma kept Damita most of her life and because of that we grew thick like sisters.

  We had a bond that was so tight that not even Superman himself could break it. But along the years, we grew apart so much so that we barely even spoke. Damita’s body filled out in full force with ass and titties when we got to high school. That’s when she began doing her own thing, being disrespectful and getting heavily into boys while I kept my head in the books. I mean shit, I was into boys too but not to the point of rebelling against my momma for them. All of that shit aside, never in a million years would I have dreamt that she would ever stab me in the back so deadly the way she did.

  “What’s good baby?” Myking wrapped his arms around my waist.

  “Damita and Jeremiah were shot last night,” I grimaced breaking free from his grasp taking a seat on one of the nearby barstools at the bar.

  “What the fuck? Awe damn man. That’s fucked up,” he bellowed. “Did they say who did the shit?”

  “Naw, they are about as clueless as a box of rocks.” I shook my head.

  “Damn, so are they good or what?”

  “Jeremiah is at Christ Hospital. They say he was in critical condition hours ago. But Damita… Damita didn’t make it.” For some reason, I felt like I should’ve been crying but the hurt I felt behind what they did to me wouldn’t allow the tears to form.

  MyKing leaned his body up against mine allowing me to bury my face in his bare chest as he stroked my hair. “It’s okay baby. You know I’ll always be here for you.”

  “You mean so much to me,” I mumbled before rising to kiss him. “I think I need to go though.”

  “Go where? The morgue to view Damita’s body? Oh cool, I’ll go with you.”

  “No, I can’t go see her right now.” I headed for the bedroom in search of my phone so I could inform my mother of the news.

  “Okay, so where are you going then?” Myking pressed on.

  “Ugh,” I exhaled. “Myking, I have to go to the hospital.”

  “Huh? You ain’t got to do shit.” He was becoming irritated. I could tell by his increasingly rising tone. “What you gotta go up there for? He’s not your man anymore, B. Remember? I’m your man. You ain’t gotta take care of him no more. Didn’t we just go through this?”

  “I know baby but… it’s just out of respect for human life. Wouldn’t you want someone to come and check on you if it were you?” I headed up towards him placing one hand on his cheek soothingly. “If he dies, I’m the one who has to report it to his family because we were together. His parents are in Florida and will fault me for not at the very least letting them know that their son was dead even if we aren’t together.”

  “Alright, but you ain’t renigging on telling him about us if he doesn’t die. You belong to me now. We belong together. Ain’t shit out here breaking that up. That’s real talk.”

  Myking’s eyes released the tension within. He was beginning to realize that I had a point. After exhaling his frustration, he kissed my forehead before wrapping his arms around me once more for an embrace that I obliged. I knew he was just scared of losing me to Jeremiah again. But after the news that I had just gotten, he never had to worry about that ever again. Even if Jeremiah wasn’t dead, after the shit he pulled with my cousin, that motherfucka was dead to me.

  Chapter 4

  Later That Day

  Myking

  I can’t even believe this shit, for real. Fury burned through my eyes as I gritted my teeth at the sight of her sitting at his bedside crying over his half sickly body. Jeremiah was fully awake and soaking every minute of it all in. They found him early so they were able to rush him into surgery and remove the bullet before it caused any more damage. One fucking bullet to kill her and almost him. Hell, if you ask me the bullet got the wrong motherfucka.

  She said she was done with him, over his shit. But I couldn’t help but think that in the back of her mind she still held a deep love for this nigga. He was my friend but the keyword here is was. That ship had sailed a long time ago and whether that nigga lived or died, he would soon know that shit. My blood boiled over every time I peered through the hospital room door window at her holding his hand, caring for his well being, and sobbing for his condition.

  “Myking, you heard about Jeremiah too huh? Why you ain’t call me?” Sunset questioned swaying her hips on the way up towards me.

 
“Shit, I just found out not too long ago. How’d you find out?” I asked.

  “My momma saw it on the news. She called to tell me so I rushed right over.” Her facial expression read of the same concern Bianca had. “Do you know what happened to him?”

  “He and Damita dipped off to the park to fuck and got shot while they were fucking. When the police found them they were naked. She was still on top of him,” he paused staring down the hallway seemingly keeping a close eye on his surroundings. “He’s straight. She’s dead.”

  I didn’t sugarcoat shit for her. She didn’t need it. Sunset knew that nigga wasn’t shit. There was no reason for her to continue to be lost in translation for his ass. It was time she woke all the way up and saw this shit for what it really was. Staring into her face, her demeanor quickly turned from concern to hatred for his ass as it should have. Her eyes became watery like she wanted to cry but her anger was too high to let the tears fall.

  “Ain’t that a bitch. And, last night my momma caught them in my house fucking. They just couldn’t stop fucking around for one minute, huh? Now she’s dead.” Sunset shook her head releasing a little laughter in the process but I could tell she was at the end of her rope, enraged about the shit. “Fuck them. That’s what their asses get. Look, we need to talk.”

  “What’s good?” My arms folded in front of me wondering what this shit was about.

  “Listen, I’m about to tell Jeremiah every fucking thing. Everything.” She muttered heatedly at me, pointing her finger in my face before I batted it away.

  “What? Naw, you ain’t telling him shit yet. She ain’t ready. Once she’s ready then you can tell him whatever you wanna tell him. But right now we do this shit on my terms. I told you that shit from jump.” My face twisted into anger. I had a feeling she was gonna pull this shit once she found out. But she just needed to be cool until the time was right. “And who the fuck you think you talking to like that?”

  “Myking, I can’t keep going through this shit with Tee. That nigga is straight bat shit crazy. He’s been following me around and shit. I can’t even date nobody else without this nigga knowing. He threatened to kill the new dude I’ve been seeing. And I really liked him too.” Sunset shook her head before lowering it.

  “Well quit fucking with him on that level. The only nigga he approved of was Jeremiah and that’s cause you was with him before you got with Tee. You can’t step out on that man when he ain’t fucking nobody but you,” I retorted.

  “Myking, I don’t love him like that though—“

  “Only ‘cause you not allowing yourself too cause you so caught up in this nothing ass nigga,” I snapped back at her ass.

  “Hmm and who’s fault is that? I bet the beauty queen would be heartbroken if she knew the truth about her knight in shining armor.” Sunset sneered shooting me a wink.

  “Bitch is you crazy? Did you really just say that stupid ass shit to me? Do you know I will end your ass right here in this fucking hallway?” I walked up on her breathing heat in her face as she coward. “Remember who really takes care of them babies. I thought you were about to buy that house in the suburbs that you always wanted. How the fuck you gonna do that shit on a Macy’s cashier salary? Remember who got you on that shit. Let’s be clear.”

  Sunset looked around as if to see if anyone was watching as I checked her. She had some nerve to come at me the way she did. Yeah, I may not have gotten with Bianca honestly but I’d be damned if a young thot like Sunset was gonna be the one to be my downfall on the shit. Sunset had gotten too high on her motherfucking cloud and needed to be brought back down to earth real quick.

  “Look, I’m sorry Myking. I ain’t mean none of that shit. You know I aint gonna tell B. I’m just hurt as fuck by this nigga, alright? That’s all,” she sighed lowering her head once more. “Besides, Tee getting crazy talking about killing motherfuckas. He say he’ll kill my new guy and Jeremiah if he has to just to have me.”

  “Sheesh, that nigga straight stupid. His ass too damn hotheaded. Don’t worry about that fool. I know how to deal with him. Let me handle that. You just get your ass back on your job and remember what the fuck I’m paying you for.” My head nudged in the direction of Jeremiah’s room door. “Now get your ass in there and get to work before that shit gets too deep.”

  “Alright.”

  I watched as she sauntered her ass into the room commanding Jeremiah and Bianca’s attention, breaking them up out of their loving gaze. Inside I smiled from ear to ear but the battle wasn’t over yet. Bianca wouldn’t be completely mine until this nigga was totally out of the fucking picture. Motherfuckas know they did a shitty job when they shot at them last night. If that fool was dead this game would be over. But it was all good. I was the one that started this shit and I would no doubt be the one that finished it.

  Chapter 5

  Sunset

  “Hey you. I’m glad to see that you’re still in the land of the living,” I smiled as I sat on the edge of Jeremiah’s hospital bed grasping his hand in mine sympathetically.

  The show must go on. Though even in light of the reason why he was here, I still felt some type of remorse for him. After all, I did still have the faintest bit of love for him bottled up inside of me. Tears streamed from my eyes and down my cheeks as I looked up into his swollen face. It looked as if a gang of niggas had jumped on him, like they had done nothing but stomp his face in.

  Before I came up to the room, I spoke with one of the attending physicians on duty that told me that he made it out of surgery successfully and everything looked good for him. He said that it was basically up to Jeremiah now to get better. Other than the swelling, he looked almost like his old self.

  “Baby, I know that we haven’t been on the best of terms, but I never wanted this for you, ever. No matter how much we get into it, you’re still the love of my life,” I rambled on hoping my words touched him in some kind of way laying my head on his hand.

  “Sunset?”

  “Yes?” My eyes shot up to see him groggily calling my name. “Yes baby. I’m here. I’m here for you.”

  “You’re here?”

  “Yes, baby. I’m right here.” I squeezed his hand even more firmly than before.

  “Um, thanks for coming,” he looked confused as if I wasn’t supposed to be here. Shit in my eyes I had more of a right to be here than she did. “But you didn’t have to come though. I’m already in good hands here.”

  I don’t know what it was about this nigga that had me so sealed on him. The shit we had together was crazy as hell. I didn’t know if it was the way he fucked, the way he walked or talked to me, or the way he held me on the days he actually cared about me but whatever it was I just couldn’t shake him from my thoughts.

  Until just now I ignored her. She was irrelevant to me. My eyes shot over to her, the one bitch who he truly loved, the one bitch I would never measure up to in his eyes. She stared back at me with hate in her eyes like she wanted to box again but was restraining herself in front of him.

  “Hi, Sunset,” Bianca spoke as I rolled my eyes turning my attention back to Jeremiah.

  “So when did they say you can get up out of here and go home, Jeremiah?” I asked pretending like she didn’t exist.

  “Uh, I don’t know. But I’m sure I’ll be good. Bianca’s gonna make sure I’m well taken care of.” Jeremiah turned to her smiling bright as the fucking sun causing vomit to rise in the back of my throat. “I’m going home with you right baby?”

  “I…uh…”

  “Yeah, he’s going home with you right baby?” I egged on sharply.

  Myking shot through the door before she could answer marching right up to her as if he were on a mission. He stood so close behind her in the chair that she could probably feel the bulge of his junk on her shoulder. Her whole demeanor changed. Bianca went from the loving, caring girlfriend to a cold stranger. The tension was so thick in the room that there was no cutting it with anything. It took everything in me not to bust out laughing hard
as hell at the scene before me.

  “Shit, don’t hit him with that switch up now, B. Gon’ and tell him what you was gonna say,” I said crossing my legs and arms simultaneously.

  “What’s up bro?” Myking said cutting his eyes from me to Jeremiah.

  “Shit, I can’t call it. Sitting here fucked up cause some bitch ass nigga shot at me. You know how it goes.” Jeremiah cut his eyes to Myking. “Same shit just a new day in the hood. Ya feel me?”

  “Yep, yep,” Myking remained short with him.

  “So, what’s good with you bro?” Jeremiah asked almost looking confused.

  “Same ol’ thing. Trying to make this money.”

  “Always,” Jeremiah turned his attention from Myking towards Bianca and back again.

  I could tell that he sensed something was up but he couldn’t put his finger on it. It was all in his face that he suspected some shit though. Myking turned to me giving me an demanding eye, before I jumped up. I already knew what he was on. He didn’t even have to stare at me long. I leaned down grabbing Jeremiah’s hand kissing the top of it as I pressed my cheek against it again like it was the softest thing in the world my cheek had ever touched.

  “I’m just so glad you’re okay, Jeremiah. I don’t know what the kids and I would’ve done without you.” I looked up into his eyes to see if that shit was working on him. It was.

  “How are they, Sunset? I wanna see my kids.” Jeremiah focused in on me.

  “They’re perfect and ready to see their daddy. My momma is watching them.” My smile widened.

  “Well I’m glad they’re in good hands while you’re here with me.” Jeremiah returned the smile before turning back towards Bianca. “So, am I going home with you or not B?”

  It was the elephant in the room. I couldn’t believe the nigga actually asked her the question again. He wasn’t backing down no matter the tension in the room. Though I couldn’t help but to feel amused by the entertainment in front of me. I stared over at her as well waiting for a response. Myking focused his attention on Jeremiah instead of her. Again, I fought back an eruption of laughter.