Never Again, No More 3

by Untamed

  “Man, I’m surprised you didn’t catch a murder rap up in here. That bitch was bold!” I fussed, shaking my head.

  “Yeah, she was. It’s cool, though, ’cause I got her fucking number. The minute she told me that, I started writing her sister and talkin’ real sweet on her. You know? Tellin’ her about how my old lady hurt me. Her sister had just divorced at the time, so she was tellin’ me her problems, too. We’ve been kickin’ it ever since.” He gave a sinister laugh.

  “Oh, so that’s the chick that be coming here?”

  “Yep and writing me, too,” he said with a chuckle. “She is straight up and honest, too. Anything I ask she’ll do for me, and she’s already making plans for us when I get out. Now, that’s a down-ass chick. The funny part is that her sister don’t even know about us. I told her to keep it between us until I get out. I just want to see the look on that bitch’s face when she sees me with her sister!”

  His revelation made me think, and I got quiet for a minute. If Chocolate Flava didn’t come through and Lisa wouldn’t come through, maybe I could get Wolf’s girl to smuggle some shit on the inside for me. It would mean I’d have to bring Wolf in as a partner because I knew he was gonna want a cut. That might not be a bad idea considering he’d been in this joint for a minute, and because of that, niggas in here trusted him, so he had pull and contacts. But the question was could I trust him? Damn these other lame, fake, shit-packing muthafuckas. Could he be down with me and help me realign the Dope Boy Clique? Hmmm . . . a true hustla’s wheels were always turning.

  “You ’sleep?” Wolf asked.

  “Oh, naw, man. My bad. I was thinking about some shit for a minute.”

  “Thinking maybe you’ll do the same thing to your ol’ lady?” Wolf asked.

  I laughed even though I felt a pain in my heart. “Even if I could do that, I doubt it would even matter to her.”

  “Damn, bruh. That’s cold,” Wolf said.

  “Tell me about it.” I started to fume all over again about the situation. Tomorrow was Thursday. Chocolate had better have found out something, or I was gonna cuss her black ass out. “I’m going to bed. Them bumpin’ buddies done finally nutted.”

  * * *

  I stood in line, pacing like a muthafucka. This dude in front of me needed to hurry up. He was up there talking sweet nothings in this phone, and I had some shit to do. It was always best to catch Chocolate around six in the evening, right before she went to bed for a couple of hours to get ready for her night shows. It was 6:02 p.m. and counting.

  “My dude, you gon’ be long?” I asked him. I was trying to be nice about it.

  He frowned at me. “Nigga, I’m on the phone with my lady,” he said rudely and completely turned his back to me.

  My temper flared. This nigga didn’t want it with me. For real. I tapped him on the shoulder lightly. “My man. I understand that, but I got some important shit to find out, and I really need to get to that phone,” I said, trying not to show my anger.

  He held up two fingers. “Two minutes.”

  If I wasn’t working on an appeal, I’d fuck him up while his bitch listened on the other end. I already had double life. Any more time after that didn’t even fucking matter. Three minutes later, that nigga hung up then turned to look at me and laughed.

  “You got it, bruh,” he said to me.

  It was 6:06 p.m. I got his ass. “A’ight, man.” I grabbed the phone and made my collect call.

  “Hello?” Chocolate Flava said sleepily after answering the phone.

  “Did I wake you up?” I asked, knowing I did.

  “Yes. You know I go to bed around this time,” she responded with an attitude.

  “I know, but some dumb nigga was holding up the line.” Why was I explaining shit to her? Fuck that. “Forget all that. Did you find out anything?”

  “Well, Attorney Stein is working on a deal—”

  I interrupted. “We can talk about that next weekend or tomorrow. I’m talking about Trinity.”

  She huffed with irritation. “The only thing I can really say is Terrence is definitely not around, because I found out that he don’t live in the same apartments no more. The landlord told me he put in his notice to leave like two months before you got arrested. I may be wrong, but I don’t think Trinity ran off with him either. My cop friends told me that when they did the raid, the weirdest shit was that your house was left like someone was still staying there. Trinity’s clothes and shoes were there, and the kids’ furniture and clothes were still there. No furniture was moved, and there was still food in the refrigerator. Trinity’s car was there, but it got confiscated with the rest of your cars. I think they gon’ start auctioning all that shit off soon, too.”

  That was strange. If Trinity had left, wouldn’t she take something with her? Now, a part of me was worried that someone had done something to her and my baby. If somebody had hurt Trinity, my unborn child, and Princess, I was straight gon’ get another double life sentence because they was gettin’ done the fuck in. Period.

  “Wait a minute. So, nothing was gone? Absolutely nothing?”

  “That’s what it looks like, and we all know Trinity’s high and mighty ass ain’t going nowhere broke. Not the way you provided for her ass,” Chocolate Flava sneered.

  “Chill with that shit. She was my girl. That was my job.”

  “Well, I’m your girl now, and all you do is question me about Trinity,” she snapped.

  Ignoring her attitude, I said, “But this shit don’t add up. Her mom and her little brother and sister are gone, too.” My mind wandered. “Did you find out anything about them? Have any of her friends said something?”

  “Them niggas pulled some Houdini shit. Her mom was just up and gone, and Ms. Tina, her neighbor, said the landlord was pissed about that. Like I said, Terrence’s manager said he put in a notice like eight months ago, and he didn’t know where he was at. I’ve seen Lucinda, and she said she ain’t even talked to Trinity in months. LaMeka ain’t talked to her neither, but them hoes might be lying. Charice is gone to New York with Ryan, so she probably knows less than all of them. I tried to catch up with Terrence’s old friend Skeet, but I ain’t been able to catch that nigga. I don’t know, Pooch. I don’t know what to make of all of it.”

  This shit just got stranger by the second. Something was definitely up with this shit. Somebody knew more than they were letting on. I knew Lucinda or LaMeka wouldn’t talk regardless, and I knew those bitches knew something, even if it was nothing else but the reason why Trinity was gone. Shit, but who knows? If a muthafucka got to them, then they may be closed-lipped to protect themselves, too. Muthafuckas do know just how to lean to keep bitches quiet. Trinity’s friends had kids too, so I knew they weren’t risking they kids’ lives to give up no info on Trinity. For now, I’d keep them in my back pocket. Even if that damn LaMeka wouldn’t help, maybe I could lean on Lucinda. She and I went back, and I had leaned on her in the past. But for now, I’d take another route.

  I couldn’t help but sigh with frustration. “A’ight. You did all right. But look, catch up to that nigga Skeet. He may be the only hope right now.”

  “A’ight. I’m going to bed.”

  “I’ll call you tomorrow about that appeal.”

  “A’ight, and call before six, or I ain’t answering,” she said and hung up in my face.

  I stared at the phone for a second in disbelief. If I didn’t need this bitch, I would cuss her the fuck out.

  Now, I was stuck between being worried about Trinity and being pissed at her ass. My chest ached out of love for this bitch. Damn, why couldn’t I just find out what’s up? How the fuck could it be possible to hate and love someone at the same time? Part of me wanted to knock her block off, and the other half just wanted to hold her like I used to. That bitch fucked me all the way up. No surprise, because she’d had me fucked up since the fourth grade.

  For now, it was back to my cell after a stop to the laundry room. This cool-ass cat named Pit, who worked in
the laundry room with the disrespectful-ass phone dude, had a cousin in my Dope Boy Clique and told me to let him know if I ever needed anything. Now, I did.

  “Strangle that bitch,” was all I was gonna say, and by nighttime, phone dude’s bitch was gon’ get another phone call—from the administration for identification purposes only.

  Chapter Three

  Lucinda

  “She’s lying! She has to be!” Aldris ranted for the tenth time as he paced the floor. “People have seen her since we broke up. They never said shit to me about a baby except the one she was having with her husband!”

  “Aldris, maybe you should go back to work so you can get this off of your mind,” I pleaded with him again. In truth, I needed time to adjust to this news myself. I mean here we were, fine with our happy little family, and here comes another child the same age as Nadia out of left field.

  “I can’t, Lu!” he yelled. He stopped as soon as the words came out of his mouth, then walked over, and hugged me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. It’s just I’m so fucked up right now by all of this.”

  I hugged him back. “Ay dios mío. We both are.” I walked him to the sofa, and we sat facing each other. “So, are you absolutely sure there couldn’t be any possibility that this child is yours?”

  He sighed and rubbed his face as he sank back into the couch. “I’m not saying that, Lucinda. I mean she was my fiancée. We had an active sex life, regardless of the fact that I was doing my thing on the side, and we didn’t use protection all the time. So, I mean, there is a chance it could be, but damn. I’d think she would’ve said something before six years!”

  “Well, when she left you, she was pissed off. What’s the old adage? Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. There’s no telling what a woman’s capable of if she gets hurt,” I told him as I massaged his right shoulder.

  “Ugh!” Aldris jumped up and hollered in frustration. “This is fucking bullshit. I have to make some phone calls,” he said, walking to our bedroom.

  I followed him. “Who are you calling?”

  “First, my job to let them know I’m gonna be out a couple of days. Second, I’m calling my mother. And she had the nerve to name her after my momma! I can’t believe that shit.” He continued his rant while he put on some jeans and a polo shirt. “Third, I’m calling my fucking attorney so he can recommend a good family lawyer, and immediately after, I’m calling that lawyer for an appointment for today or tomorrow so I can take this paperwork to them to determine the best course of action.”

  I walked up behind him and planted reassuring kisses on his back. He leaned into my embrace. “I love you, papi. We’ll get through this together.”

  He turned to face me and cradled my face. “I’m sorry, Lucinda. I know this must be hard for you, too. I know this affects both of us. I love you, baby, and I thank you so much for sticking by me and not blowing up. I swear to you that I knew nothing about this child that Jennifer is talking about. I hope you know that.”

  “Yes, of course I do, Aldris. You’re a real man. You would never keep something like this a secret from me. You take too good of care of Nadia and me not to take care of your own child,” I reassured, looking into his eyes with complete confidence.

  He kissed me and smiled through his pain. “That’s why you’re my wifey.”

  “See, that’s what I want to see—your smile. You’re damn straight I’m wifey, and that ain’t changing—baby or no baby. We’ll just have to roll with the punches. Mrs. Lucinda Sharper can definitely handle it.”

  He kissed me again. “I love you,” he said sweetly. “Now, I have some phone calls to make.”

  I knew he needed some space, so I went into my office with every intention to do some work, but I just couldn’t get a thing done. It was at times like this that I could kick Trinity’s ass for up and leaving me! I understood why she dipped, but I needed her so bad, and not only could I not see her, I didn’t even have a direct line of contact. I was forced to talk with her on her terms, but I had no idea when she would call me. Being as such that I hadn’t talked to her in a month already, you could see that our communication was rare.

  With no one to vent to, I gave up hopes of getting any work done. It was obvious that my mind was stuck on Aldris and this child and probably would be until all of this got resolved. Why did all of my wedding bliss have to be tainted by this news? This should’ve been the happiest time of our lives, and now it was riddled with accusations from both ends of the spectrum. Call me selfish if you want, but I truly did not want to share Aldris’ attention, time, or money with anybody else. Of course, if—and I do mean if—this child was his, I wouldn’t stand in the way of him being a father to her. However, one thing was damn sure not about to happen; I wasn’t sacrificing my happiness for Jennifer or Jessica. They were going to have to work around us because on June 8, which was in exactly four months, I was going to be married to Aldris. Period.

  Chapter Four

  LaMeka

  I don’t know why I was sitting there. I guess a part of me really couldn’t believe that this fool actually recovered from being shot, but mostly, I guess I was there because I felt so sorry for him. After two emergency surgeries and three close encounters with death’s door, Tony actually lived. After a full week in ICU, he was finally stable, but he was in a coma. I had contacted his parents, and despite the heartache and pain Tony had taken them through, they’d been up here day and night to look after and monitor him. Being a mother, I could relate. Nobody wanted to see their child knocking on Heaven’s door, no matter what mistakes they’d made.

  As suspected, Tony had been shot for trying to play stick-up kid to get rocks. No one confessed who the shooter was, but I already knew that was a no go. Nobody in the hood snitched, especially when a nigga didn’t mind making an example of you, and Tony was exactly that, an example.

  I didn’t want Tony to die, but a small part of me was happy to see him suffer. I wanted him to suffer, just like I had suffered all those years I was with him. Yet, a part of me—the kinder and holier part—was hopeful for a full recovery. I wanted to see Tony get better and make a change for himself. He’d had his dreams snatched away at a young age, nearly lost his life while he was lost in a world of drugs, and now, he had to deal with being HIV positive. Yep, it was official. He had the “package,” and I could bet a dime to a dollar he didn’t even know it. The truly sad part about all this was that there was no telling how many women or men—hey, being on that shit does strange things to people, so you never know—he’d lain down with since he contracted this virus. These diseases were out there, man, so you had to be careful.

  “I thought I’d find you in here,” Gavin said as he entered the room, startling me.

  I wiped my tears. “Gavin. You scared me.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I was just checking on you,” he apologized. He sat down next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. “No change, huh?”

  I shook my head. “Nope. He’s still unconscious.”

  He rubbed my back and smiled at me. “He’ll pull through. With you by his side, how could he not?”

  I pushed him and giggled. “Your game is so weak.”

  “Girl, please. My game is tight. That wasn’t real game anyway. That was just me comforting a friend.”

  “Thanks.” I smiled at him.

  He smiled back. “No problem.”

  Thinking about the possible gossip floating around, I released a dreadful sigh. “So, how bad is the rumor mill about the new student who knows the guy who is HIV positive?”

  Gavin waved off my question. “Don’t worry about that.”

  “So, it’s that bad, huh?” I rolled my eyes, thinking about the water cooler gossipers.

  “LaMeka—”

  “Just be straight up with me,” I interrupted.

  He rubbed his face and released the same dreadful sigh. “On the real, it bothers some people. You know they got mad questions about how you really know his HIV status
, and if I keep it one hundred with you, shawty, they want to know your status.”

  “I can’t believe, with as much shit as we have to deal with, that these so-called medical professionals would worry about bullshit like that. This is what we do every day.”

  He nodded. “True. True. I feel you in a way, but they’re human. That shit is scary, LaMeka. We deal with a lot of shit every day, but it doesn’t mean we’re immune to being scared of dealing with it.”

  “It’s a manageable disease. Nobody is running to the other side of the building if a person finds out they have cancer or even herpes, which are incurable diseases as well.”

  “Come on now, LaMeka. I get your point, but those are totally different from the “package.” For one, cancer, while incurable, is not contagious. Everybody in here can have cancer, but your body has to materialize cancer cells on its own for you to have it. Second of all, herpes may be incurable, but it’s not life threatening. I mean, people on constant medication live perfectly normal—sexual activity inclusive—lives. Yet, I beg to differ on the running part. I don’t know too many people voluntarily laying down with a person who has herpes.”

  “Right, and who wants something they can’t cure regardless of what it is?” I argued. “Besides, with the new advancements in HIV treatment and with awareness, it’s hardly the death sentence it used to be.”

  “True,” he agreed, “but I guess the disease still has so many unknown factors that it’s hard for people to be comfortable with it.”

  “So, I guess you’re one of the ones who want to know the deal? Is that why you’re defending their ignorant asses?” I asked with an attitude.

  Pinching the bridge of his nose, he frowned. “Calm down, shawty, damn,” he responded with a slight attitude of his own. “You asked me. I was only being straight up like you asked me to be. I haven’t asked you a thing about your personal status or business. I figure if you want to tell me, you will.”