by T. Styles
The question came from nowhere and I felt like the life had been drained from me. If there was one topic I hated talking about, Bunny was it.
“What you mean?”
“I mean what happened to her? What really happened? Why is everyone, including my boys, afraid to talk about the fact that she was murdered in her house?”
“It’s not that we don’t want to talk to you about it. It’s just that whenever the topic is up for more than five minutes you get angry.”
“That’s because she’s the only woman who really loved me.”
I frowned. “So what am I?”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just…”
“Worried about something that can’t be changed,” I said finishing his sentence. “She’s gone, Kevin and I know it hurts you but it’s the truth.”
“It just fucks me up. I never got to say goodbye. What happened, Bambi? I feel you know something but you holding back.”
“This is what I’m talking about. The family is afraid to talk about Bunny because we can’t provide you with any more information than what we already have. All any of us knows is that somebody robbed her, ran up in the house, stole her chain and killed her.”
“I wish I knew who took that chain. If I knew who took the chain I would be able to find her killer too.”
My heart rate increased even more. Not only was I aware who took his aunt Bunny’s chain, I also knew who killed her. It was all me. That dirty, old bitch died by my hands when she tried to get in the way of a major deal that was going down with the Russians. I didn’t wanna kill her, but Bunny pushed me into a corner and I came out in attack mode. In the end, it became her life or my money and she lost.
The worst part about it is that before she died she alluded to having a sexual relationship with her own nephew, Kevin. Part of me knew it was because she was trying to hurt me and remind me that Kevin loved her more than he did me. But the other part of me believed her and I had a small seed of hate in my heart for Kevin.
“You really need to let it go, Kevin. It’s time to move on with our lives. You home now and—”
“Did you have something to do with my aunt’s death?”
“Do you really think I could be that cold?” I placed my hand over my heart. “Is that what you think of me? Bunny and me had our beef but I didn’t hate her and I wouldn’t hurt her. Why would you even ask me something like that?”
He dropped his head. “I know you didn’t do it, sweetheart. I’m sorry about how I been coming at you lately. My mind is messed up and I feel like I don’t know who I can trust. Even though I know now that the nigga who came up in the casino had nothing to do with my brothers and me, at one point I thought it was a hit. I thought you was out to get me because you found out about my son.”
He was right on some part. I was going to kill him but when he was almost murdered I realized I loved him and wanted him alive. It was a close call but that serial killer saved his life.
“Well you were wrong,” I responded. I put my hand on the side of his face. “You’re safe now.”
He was looking at me but I could tell he was thinking about something else. “If I find out who killed my aunt it won’t be good.” He focused on me and I dropped my hand. “It’s important that you know that.”
“I know, baby. I know. And if I find out who did it my gun gonna be right beside yours.”
CHAPTER FIVE
SCARLETT
*A FEW DAYS LATER*
Classical music played in the air as Ngozi fucked me hard on a public toilet in the men’s restroom. We were in the mall when he said the urge to have sex with me hit him so hard that he couldn’t hold off until we made it back to the hotel room I rented for us.
Since he was sitting on the toilet bowl, my back faced him as I rode his dick. I felt slutty but that was one of the reasons I agreed to do it. I knew Camp would be devastated if he saw me like this. I knew it would break his heart even if he claimed he didn’t want to be with me anymore. After all, I was still his pregnant wife. He would never be able to stomach that his baby was in my belly as I gave another man the pussy.
“Fuck this dick, you pretty white bitch,” Ngozi said in a heavy African accent. He pumped into me so hard that it felt like I was on one of them mechanical bulls. “I’m going to fill you up so that you remember my name. And who this pussy belongs too.”
“Give it to me,” I encouraged. “Give it all to me, baby.”
I placed my hand on his thighs and bit down on my bottom lip. When I looked down to the floor I was staring at the brown leather Christian Louboutin tennis I bought him and my red high heels. Crumpled tissue and drops of urine were everywhere around us.
I didn’t care how disgusting everything was. All I knew was that my pussy tingled and I was on the verge of cumming. Damn he knew how to make me feel. He knew what I liked and he didn’t mind giving it to me, rough or soft. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I tricked on him so hard.
Money was not a problem although I hated when he asked me for it. I preferred to give it to him freely because I wanted him to have it. It was as if I owned him. There was something else that bothered me about him. Although he always wanted money I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something else he wanted from me. Something he wasn’t telling me.
Ngozi placed his hands on the side of my stomach and pushed into me so hard I could feel my baby kicking around again. I should’ve stopped him but I wanted to mentally escape from my world.
Earlier today Bambi made a huge breakfast for everyone. The entire time Camp was sitting at the table judging me, looking at me and making me feel like a slut. He wanted me to know how he felt about me and he wanted our family to know too. The marriage was over and I knew it. I didn’t even want to go home anymore.
“This my pussy right, Scarlett,” Ngozi asked. “Tell me it’s mine.”
“Fuck me harder,” I responded ignoring his question.
Ngozi pounded into me so hard my head banged against the stall door. I was moaning and making so much noise I knew people heard us.
“Hey, what are y’all doing in there?” someone yelled on the outside.
“What does it sound like we’re doing?” Ngozi responded while still pumping into my body. “We’re fucking,” he laughed.
“Well I’m going to get security! This is an outrage.”
When he left, Ngozi and I laughed.
“You better hurry up,” I whispered to him. “Before he—”
My sentence was cut short when I felt a warm sensation streaming between my legs. When I looked down a murky fluid spilled out on the bathroom floor. Suddenly Ngozi’s thighs were moist and the floor was soaked.
“What the fuck is that,” he asked. “Did you just piss on me?”
“Ngozi, I think my water just broke.”
“What? How did that happen?”
“I don’t know.” I looked down at the floor again. “Maybe it got something to do with how rough we’re being.”
I rubbed my lower belly. Suddenly I realized that I was a pregnant woman and shouldn’t be going so hard just to get back at Camp.
“Your water didn’t break,” he told me as if he were an unsympathetic doctor. “Just relax. Besides, this is a fantasy of mine and I’m having a good time.”
“You gotta stop, Ngozi! ”
“But I didn’t cum yet.”
I turned my head around and looked at him. When I tried to move he kept pulling me back down. “Ngozi, I’m in labor. I have to go to the hospital. The game is over.”
He looked at me and it was as if his face transformed. He wasn’t the same person I had come to know. He looked demonic. Like he didn’t care for my baby or me. I was horrified because it felt like I was sharing my body with a complete stranger all this time and didn’t know it.
“Did you hear what I said, bitch? I didn’t cum yet. Now turn your head back around so I can finish before you have that baby in this bathroom. I’m gonna be quick.”
He smooshed my face real hard, which forced my head frontwards. His dick continued to pump in and out of me roughly. I couldn’t believe he was doing this. He was being beyond selfish. I felt waves of pain throughout my belly and my head throbbed. I didn’t want my baby entering into the world with a man’s sperm on his crown, but what could I do? I didn’t want to admit it but he was raping me.
****
I finally made it to the hospital. My feet were sitting in the cool black stirrups. My knees touched the sides of my belly as I pushed with all of my might. The doctor stood in front of me as he coached the baby out of my body. Two nurses were at his side and giving me all of the support they could. But still something felt off. There was one person who shouldn’t be there. But there he was holding my hand as if he hadn’t raped me not even two hours earlier.
“I see the crown of the baby’s head,” Dr. Morgan advised me. “Don’t give up. Just keep pushing.”
As I continued to push all I kept thinking about was my husband. I wondered where he was and what he was doing. I realized at that moment that I did want to try again even if he didn’t want to. I just needed to get rid of Ngozi. I’m such an emotional mess. So confused.
“You’re doing good, Mrs. Kennedy,” the black nurse said as she smiled down at me. “Just keep breathing.”
Her warm eyes made me feel safe and I needed her because there was a demon at my bedside.
“The baby is coming,” the doctor coached. “I can see his head. Just keep pushing.”
I bore down with all of my might. And since Ngozi held my hand and refused to let go I tried to crush the bones in his fingers. He tried to snatch away from me but I didn’t let him go.
You wanted to be here so be here, bitch. I thought to myself.
It was because of him I had to have this baby with no anesthesia. By the time I made it to the hospital the baby was already coming and it was too dangerous to give me an epidural.
I pushed and pushed until I saw the doctor holding my baby in his arms. I knew at that moment when I saw his little penis that it was a boy. The doctor placed him into my arms and I kissed him on the head. He was perfect. My tiny baby was perfect.
The doctor grinned as if Ngozi were the father. “So what’s his name?”
I wiped my finger over his forehead. “Master. His name is Master Kennedy.”
CHAPTER SIX
KEVIN
Kevin and Cloud were watching a basketball game while drinking beer on Cloud’s living room sofa. They were cousins who didn’t always see eye to eye but they tried to get along. One of the main reasons Kevin didn’t like him was because he had an idea that Cloud was in love with his wife Bambi. But they were blood and Kevin took blood seriously.
“So how are things at home?” Cloud asked while looking at the TV.
“Home is home,” he said flatly.
Cloud looked over at him. “What does that mean?”
“It means that even though I’m back and it hasn’t even been a year, so much has changed. I don’t know her anymore. It’s hard for our marriage, man.”
“Of course you do. It ain’t like she’s still not your wife.”
“I know she’s my wife but things are different now.”
Cloud popped the top to another beer. “How?”
“For starters she takes a lot of late night calls. And when I ask her who she’s talking to she says it’s business related.”
“Maybe it is. She is running the operation.”
“I know my wife. I mean I really know my wife. I can tell when she’s about to get her period three days before it comes just by the smell of her pussy. So trust me when I tell you that something is different.”
“You think she’s cheating?”
“I don’t know if it’s that or if it’s something else. You know? Whatever it is I do know I’m not feeling it.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I’m gonna play it by ear but if I find out she’s fucking another man I’m going to kill her and then I’m going to kill him.” he looked over at Cloud as if he were speaking directly to him. “You feel me?”
CHAPTER SEVEN
SCARLETT
My baby boy was beautiful but something strange happened once he was here. I realized I didn’t want a child. The feeling was strong and precise. Not even three hours later I felt disconnected. I told myself it was postpartum depression but I really couldn’t say for sure.
Maybe if I saw my husband I would feel differently and I couldn’t wait for him to see Master and hug him. But there was one problem. I had Ngozi, and now his mother, Abebi, inside of my room smiling like Master was in their bloodline.
“You are blessed,” Abebi said to me. She wore a beautiful gold and blue scarf tied around her head with a matching dress. “To be able to give birth is a gift from the Gods. It means you are special and you are to never forget that. Ever.”
I forced a smile. I didn’t know this woman and wanted her and her sick ass son away from me. Why were they still here? Why wouldn’t they leave me alone? Part of me wanted to contact the police but the other part was too embarrassed. Not only that, I had warrants for some shit I did years ago and couldn’t risk getting caught.
After Ngozi raped me on the bathroom toilet when I told him I was going into labor I knew our relationship was done. Besides with the baby I wasn’t going to be able to hang out with him no more. I had responsibilities now.
“Thank you,” I said to his mother.
“No. Thank the Gods.”
I nodded. This chick was getting weirder by the second.
“Ngozi,” I said softly. “Can I talk to you? In private? It’s really important.”
Ngozi looked at his mother and said something to her in his native tongue again. She looked over at me. This time she didn’t have a smile on her face. It was more like a smirk. Abedi gave me the creeps because she practiced a faith that I didn’t like.
When I was coming up my grandmother and aunt practiced Black Magic. My aunt would have parties at her house where her friends would come over and they would put hexes on people they didn’t like. I shared my fear with Ngozi a few weeks after we got together. He told me all about his family but he never mentioned that his mother practiced Voodoo until a week ago.
Ngozi spent countless hours telling me how his mother’s co-workers were dropping left and right after having disagreements with her. He seemed proud that whatever she wanted she got and whoever didn’t agree with her was wrong.
A few stories scared me but there was one that made me not want to be around her—ever. One day Abebi got angry with one of her co-workers at Subtle Sanitation Services, when the woman was offered a promotion over her. Ngozi said she invoked Ti Jean Quinto, a mean African spirit who lives under bridges and assumes the form of a policeman.
In one month, her co-worker lost the promotion, her job, her husband to divorce, and she was stricken with cervical cancer, which eventually took her life. I learned from the beginning to fear Abebi and I always did.
Abebi walked over to me, placed her hand on my forehead and said something in her language. Her voice was loud and rocked my core. A nurse walking by looked into the room until Abedi gave her the evil eye.
What did Abedi say over me?
“I’m leaving now, sweetheart,” she said in English. It was as if she were now an entirely different person. “I understand that you want to be alone with my son and I will give you that time.” She ran the back of her hand alongside my face. “Don’t look so sad. I’ll be back later to check on you. Okay?”
I nodded hoping she would leave right away. What was her obsession with me? It wasn’t like the baby was Ngozi’s. Her and I had no business together so you might as well say I was just a jump off.
I watched her high headscarf bend the corner before I finally breathed a sigh of relief. One irritant down and one more to go.
“You look irritated with me,” he said.
“Can you tell?
“Why are you angry?”
He was playing me closely. I was starting to wonder if he was afraid that because he raped me in the bathroom, that I would not want to be bothered with him any more. He was right.
“Ngozi, I’m fine and there’s nothing wrong. All I wanted to say to you is that I’m better and you can leave now.”
He walked up to the bed and smiled. “And why would I leave you now? That’s not like me.”
“You should leave because I had the baby already and all I want to do is get some rest.”
“But you’re alone in this world, Scarlett. Even with all of those people around you. Besides I’m from Africa and the men in my country would never abandon a woman in this time of need. So I won’t either. Now you can rest and I’ll be by your side when you awaken.”
I couldn’t believe he was doing this. He was acting like he didn’t just take advantage of me even though I begged him not to. “Ngozi, let’s not play games. You raped me in the bathroom and I can’t stand the sight of you anymore. Now if you want me to consider you at all in the future I need you to allow me the time I need to think about our relationship.”
“I didn’t rape you,” he said flatly. “You gave me your body willingly and I accepted. So what are you going to do? Be the kind of woman to sleep with a black man and then scream rape?”
“Ngozi!”
“I’m simply asking a question.”
He had me so angry I was huffing and puffing. I needed to calm down before I sent my pressure into overdrive.
“You did rape me. I told you I was going into labor and you wouldn’t let me go. Remember? I don’t know about your country but in America, white or black, that’s still rape.”
“You and I are meant to be, Scarlett. And there aren’t many things that can change that.”
Many things? What does that mean?
