Status s-1

by Jordan Belcher

  I looked behind the washer and saw that I hadn’t clicked “post” yet. My message was just sitting there. Secretly, I stuck my hand out and tapped enter. His head popped up and I jerked my hand back.

  “I just wanted you in my life,” he said to me. “That’s what this was all about. She wanted Rodrick, I wanted you.”

  “Are you gonna kill us?” I asked him.

  “I think I have to, Tyesha. It was just supposed to be your daughter. Because me and Deja knew the only thing keeping you and Rodrick together was Kylie. But then you came here and threw everything off. I knew I couldn’t let Deja kill you. If anybody is gonna do it, it’s gonna be me.”

  I glanced over at the screen. Shit! It was still buffering my message!

  “But I don’t know if I can go through with it,” he continued. “I love you too much.”

  Confused, I said, “You don’t even know me enough to love me, Gideon.”

  “I know everything about you. I know you’re favorite chicken is honey barbeque. You hate horror movies. You can’t sleep with the TV on at night—and me either. You love romance and watching chick flicks with a bag of caramel popcorn. On March 19th, close to midnight, you made a post that you like men with short hair better.” He waved his hand over his fade. “I used to have braids, Tyesha, but I cut it for you.”

  I was so stunned. He lied to me about not having a Site page. Because everything he mentioned was things I posted about myself on my profile, things I didn’t think people paid that much attention to. And it scared me that he knew my posts almost word for word.

  The blood pooling from the hole in Deja’s back streamed close to Kylie’s shoe. She scooted her foot back and the path of the blood went down the drain.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “Those are just simple things I know about you. Even though I think the simple things count, I also know about your intimate thoughts. In one of your letters you wrote to Rodrick you said all you wanted out of life was a husband, children, and a happy home. You would make your dreams whatever your husband’s dreams were and support him to the fullest. You don’t know how hard that hit me. I’ve always wanted a real woman like that.”

  I gasped. “He let you read my letters?”

  “No. I would sneak and read them whenever he left the cell. My favorite one was the letter you sent him where you told him how you missed him being inside you, from the side with one leg in the air. I learned in that letter that you liked being touched or kissed behind the ear. I actually took that letter from him. It’s in an envelope upstairs.” His eyes bore into me. “I made it a point to stay in touch with Rodrick when we got out of prison. Just so I could get close to you.”

  “Gideon, you’re crazy.”

  “If I’m crazy, then you’re crazy if you think Rodrick will ever change. Honestly, I think we could be one big happy crazy couple. I would love you to death. Only if you could get over the fact that I tried to kill your daughter and realize why I did it.”

  Something beeped in Gideon’s pocket and he started pulling out his phone. When I glanced at the computer screen I saw that my message had posted. I suddenly realized that Gideon probably had all of my status updates synced to his phone. I quickly tried to distract him.

  “Gideon, I realize why you did it,” I said.

  He took his eyes away from his phone. “You said what?”

  “I know how you feel about me. I felt it every time you came around. But if you didn’t think me and Rodrick would work, you should have waited our relationship out.”

  “I did wait! I waited forever! You kept going back to that fuck nigga.”

  “You didn’t wait long enough. You kidnapped my daughter because you couldn’t wait. If you knew anything about me, you’d know I like a patient man.”

  His eyes grew dark. He set his phone on the steps. “Don’t talk to me about patience. I did seven years in prison, waiting for my turn to find a good woman. And when I found her, she was with a man that was taking advantage of her like it was a fucking sport!”

  His phone beeped again and he looked down at it.

  “Look at me, Gideon,” I said. “I need you to look at me. Please?”

  He glanced at me, then his attention went back to the phone. He picked it up and stared at the screen.

  “Gideon, look at me and talk to me! I’m begging you!”

  When his brow furrowed, I knew he was seeing that he had a Site notification. I looked over at the computer screen and saw that 21 people had already Liked my status update. But I didn’t want them to Like it; I wanted them to call the damn police! There were five comments:

  Rita RealSpit Gibson: R U in trouble?

  Bobby Mason: No, her daughter is. If you see her, call the police.

  Diva Lee: Her daughter was kidnapped yesterday.

  Rita RealSpit Gibson: I know.

  Shake-it Girl12: We’re praying for you, Tyesha.

  I looked back at Gideon and I knew he was reading my message on his screen. His eyebrows were slanted angrily.

  “What the fuck?” he uttered. Then he looked up at me and I saw hell in his eyes. “How the fuck did you just make that post?!”

  He got up and stormed over to me with the pistol in his hand. He was about to shoot me until he saw the soft glow behind the washing machine. He leaned over it to see what I was hiding.

  This was my only chance.

  I sprang to my feet with the box cutter in hand and stabbed Gideon in the neck. He squealed, slapping his hand to his neck to stop the blood, as I grabbed my daughter’s hand and tugged her up the steps. She was moving too slow so I picked her up. At the top step, Gideon pulled my foot from under me and I let go of my daughter and slammed against the dining room floor.

  “Run, Kylie!” I screamed, as he yanked me back down the steps, my head bouncing against each step on the way down. Halfway, I turned over and kicked him in his chest and sent him tumbling to the concrete floor.

  I scrambled back up the steps and saw Kylie struggling to turn the knob on the front door. I turned it for her, snatching it open—but it caught. The chain was on. I closed it back, fumbled with the chain and got it off, then there was a loud blast and the door’s window shattered and my ears were buzzing.

  Snatching Kylie off her feet, I ran into the living room as another bullet nearly took my head off. I cut around to the kitchen where Gideon, who must have took a short cut, appeared at the other end. I doubled back and ran up the stairs carrying my daughter. Needless to say, I was panting heavily at the top.

  “Kylie, go in the bathroom and lock the door,” I said to her. She ran inside and I heard the lock click.

  Gideon was leaping up the steps. I made sure he saw me as I ran into the nearest bedroom and closed the door. I locked it and stepped back.

  Gideon barged into it and the door crashed open. I screamed as he smacked me across the face with the pistol and I fell to the floor.

  He stood over me and put the gun to my lips. “You stabbed me,” he spit-growled in my face. “And you ran from me like you don’t even know who I am. I fuckin’ loved you!” He thumbed the hammer back with a click. I don’t know if he was doing it on purpose or accidentally, but the muzzle was pressing harder and harder into my lips, making my teeth feel like they’d snap inward out of my gums. I tried to turn my face but he grabbed my chin and kept the muzzle on my mouth. “Look at me! Because this is the last face of the last man you will ever see! The face of the only man that loved you!”

  “Wrong,” said someone from behind.

  Suddenly, Gideon was pulled off of me and bodyslammed against the floor. It knocked him out cold.

  I should have been happy but I wasn’t. I was even more terrified as I stared into the face of Ladykiller.

  “I saw your message and I came to save you,” he explained. “I kept driving until I saw your car on the side of the house. It’s okay now.” He extended his hand to help me up. “C’mon. I think I heard Kylie in the bathroom.”

  Hesitan
tly, I took his hand, and when he helped me up I kneed him square in the balls. He dropped to his knees as I raced out the room. I beat on the bathroom door.

  “Kylie, open up, hurry!”

  “I can’t,” she said from the other side, the knob rattling.

  “Tyesha, I’m here to save you.”

  I turned. Ladykiller was walking towards me holding his crotch.

  “Don’t come near me!” I screamed with my back against the door. Kylie was still rattling the knob. I tried the knob myself while keeping my eyes on Ladykiller.

  He got within ten feet of me when I saw Gideon appear in the doorway behind him. He shot Ladykiller in the back, twisting him around, fired again and he collapsed to the floor. Bleeding badly, Ladykiller pushed himself against the hallway wall. He stared down at the blood weeping out of his stomach, when Gideon put the gun to his head.

  “So you’re in love with her too, huh?” Gideon asked him.

  “No,” Ladykiller wheezed out.

  “Why are you here then, nigga?”

  “I came to save her.” Ladykiller looked at me, letting out fast pants of breath. “She’s my big sister.”

  My brow furrowed at his claim. The first thing that popped in my head was that he was lying. How could that be? Was he that delusional?

  Gideon chuckled. “You hear that, Tyesha? He thinks he’s your brother?”

  “I am,” he said. “Your father, Leeland Fenty, is my father. He got my mother pregnant, and your mother wanted nothing to do with him when she found out I was born…” He swallowed his own blood. “I just wanted to meet you, Tyesha… to be your friend. I wanted to meet my niece. But your mother wanted me to stay away from you.”

  My mouth dropped in shock. I could see the striking resemblance now between Ladykiller and my father. Their dark brown eyes were unmistakably the same. No wonder I had an uneasy feeling the first time I saw him. All my life my mother had kept to herself about the true reason surrounding why she left my father. All I knew was that he was a cheater, but I knew deep down there was something more she was hiding from me.

  “Well I’ll be damned,” Gideon said. “I guess I wasn’t the only man that loved you, Tyesha.” He stepped back and aimed down at Ladykiller with precision. “But I am now.”

  “No!” I screamed. Without thinking, I charged toward Gideon. He swung the gun at me as I plunged into him.

  We broke the wood railing and fell together, smacking the hardwood below. The fall banged us both up—me a lot more. I could barely move and my vision was blurry but I saw Gideon already crawling over the broken pieces of the railing toward the gun.

  Then the front door opened and let in blinding light.

  “Hello?” the woman who stuck her head in asked. “Tyesha?”

  Gideon paused, but only for a moment. He crawled faster toward the weapon but the woman at the door quickly picked it up and pointed it at him.

  “Don’t move, motherfucker,” she said to him. “Tyesha, I’m Rita Gibson. Are you okay?”

  -

  Tyesha816: Thank you to everybody who showed me support in finding my daughter! She’s HOME!—with Rita RealSpit Gibson, Ladykiller, and 4 others.

  September 1st, 8:00 a.m.

  CHAPTER 20

  Momma bounced back and forth from the stove to the sink, preparing another one of her famous meals. I was leaning against the doorway of the kitchen, occasionally glancing up at her between reading the comments on my phone from the status update I made this morning. It took me over a week to make another post. I didn’t want anything to do with The Site. I was too busy spending time with my daughter. But I had missed the interaction with my internet family—the ones that supported me, anyway—and I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold out for long.

  Quita Wheeler: I had faith that you would find her!

  Diedra Murberry: I’m glad she’s home. I hurt every day she was gone.

  Atlanta Baby: Give that pretty girl a hug for me!

  Project Life (Patrick Henson): Now I know why white people keep they kids on leashes. I just bought one for my son.

  Tyesha816: @Project Life. I think I might head to Target tonight! Lol!

  Lataya GrindGirl: God is good all the time!

  Renae MyPerogative Watson: The whole time she was gone I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t imagine how you felt. Thank you for posting that she’s home. Now I might be able to get some rest.

  God’s Angel: ^^same here.

  Rita RealSpit Gibson: We all have trials and tribulations in our life that are hard to face alone. We all need support, even if it’s from people we barely know or don’t know at all.

  Tyesha816: @Rita RealSpit Gibson. Me and my daughter wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for your concern and courage. I can’t thank you and @Ladykiller enough.

  Rita RealSpit Gibson: I don’t know if it was so much as courage or instincts. Would I have pulled the trigger if he made a move? I’m glad we didn’t have to find out.

  It wasn’t just Ladykiller and Rita RealSpit Gibson that showed up at Gideon’s house to help me. There were four others that found the house right before the police showed up—Christina “MsFineGirl” Irving, Joanne Dunley and Stuart Bradshaw, and Marley “Fedbound” Dubois. I personally thanked them all on their profile pages.

  “So who’s the special guest?” my mother asked me, as I took my eyes away from my phone.

  “You’ll see. He’s in the dining room at the table, ready to eat.”

  “He?” Momma’s lips formed an “O,” and her eyebrows lifted in excitement. She whispered, “You brought over a new man?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “Any man has to be better than that Rodrick. I’m glad you finally saw the light.”

  “Momma, who I brought over isn’t somebody I’m dating.”

  “No need to explain,” she said, cutting me off. She shoved the bowl of salad into my hands. “You’re friends, I get it. He’s probably hungry. Let him get started on that while I finish up the beef. He does eat beef, right?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  We waited in the dining room with eager smiles on our faces—me, Kylie, and Landon Roby, aka Ladykiller. Well, Ladykiller’s smile seemed a bit more nervous than eager. He was at the head of the table in a wheelchair.

  He whispered to me, “I don’t know if this is a good idea?”

  “Why?”

  “Last time I was here, she kicked me off of her property.”

  “That was then. This is now. I think she was just trying to protect me from knowing—”

  Glass shattering startled us. Momma had dropped the plate of croissants right when she entered the dining room. Her face was full of shock and disbelief.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “Uncle La’killer is here,” Kylie chirped.

  It looked like Momma was angry. I swallowed and said, “I invited Landon over for dinner.”

  “Only family eats at my house on Sundays,” she said in a dark tone. “You know that, Tyesha. I didn’t let Rodrick eat here and I’m not letting him eat here either. Show him to the door.”

  “Momma, he is fam—”

  “No, he’s not!” she yelled. “He’s not a part of this family. He’s a mistake.”

  “How could you say that? He’s my brother.”

  She shook her head violently. “No! If he didn’t come out of me, he’s NOT your brother!”

  “Really?” I raised my voice. “I had gotten over the fact that you didn’t accept Rodrick. But I’m seeing now that you won’t accept anybody, if it’s not within your perfect little lie you choose to live in. Momma, I’m not perfect, daddy wasn’t perfect, and neither are you.”

  “Don’t talk to me like that!”

  “I remember when Kylie was born. You refused to come to the hospital to see her just because I had her out of wedlock.”

  “Stop it,” she seethed.

  “But over time you learned to love her,” I went on. “Please don’t push Landon away. We have
the same flesh and blood. He is my brother. And he saved my life.”

  “Get him out of my house right now!”

  I let out a mean breath like a bull, then grabbed the back of Landon’s wheelchair. “Come on, Kylie.” I wheeled him outside, bumping down the concrete steps.

  He hit the hand brake.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. He blinked, and two tears trickled down his cheeks. “My mother is the same way. She didn’t want me trying to get in touch with you. But I always wanted to meet you and get to know my other family. I’m sorry for not going about it a different way.”

  He lowered his head and started crying. I kissed him on the cheek and put my arms around him.

  “I don’t care how you got in touch with me. I’m just glad you did. We can start our own tradition. Waffle House, every Sunday. How you like that?”

  He smiled wistfully. “That sounds good.”

  Kylie’s little arms wrapped around us, too.

  “Oh,” he said suddenly. “Since we’re going somewhere else to eat, I have a question?”

  “What is it?”

  “Can I bring my daughters?”

  I gasped. “You have children?”

  “Yep. My oldest daughter is two, and her birthday is a day after Kylie’s. My youngest is nine months. Two different baby mommas. Yo little brother has a way with the ladies. That’s why they call me Ladykiller.”

  I cracked up laughing. “Oh my God! I can’t wait to meet them.”

  “Me too,” Kylie said.

  -

  Tyesha816 listed Ladykiller as her brother.

  CHAPTER 21

  The guards wouldn’t let inmates touch the money, so I had to place nine quarters into the vending machine myself. When the turtle cake fell, Rodrick hunkered down and grabbed it out of the slot.

  “Do you want a drink?” he asked me nicely, as if he were paying.

  “No. Do you want one?”