Desirae hurried down the steps, using the banister as her guide in the dark. Once she’d gotten down to the bottom, now standing in the dining room, she looked back up the stairs. She could still hear D’Mann snoring, heavily and steadily. Quickly, she made her way around the dining room table and into the living room. She gently picked up D’Mann’s keys off of an end table and walked over toward the door. She tried various keys, trying to see which one would open the door before she went as far as sliding into her clothes. Never had she felt so nervous and scared as she did right then. In fact, she almost felt twice as fearful as she had felt when she’d heard D’Mann shoot Makim down in the basement.
“Shit, shit, shit,” Desirae said. She’d fumbled with three of the four keys within a matter of seconds, still not finding the right key to open the door. “Which one is it?” she whispered. “Which fuckin’ key is it?”
Desirae tried a couple more keys before she heard D’Mann’s feet hit the floor upstairs, as his bedroom was directly above the living room. Her heart jumped. There was just no telling what he might do if he came downstairs and found Desirae trying to get out of the house. Catching her like this would let him know that she really did see something down in the basement.
Moving quickly, Desirae quietly set the keys back down on the table, careful to not let them jingle. She could hear D’Mann’s footsteps coming down the steps, causing her to think quickly. Determined that she could use being a female to her advantage, she grabbed her purse and headed toward the staircase. Just as she was approaching the bottom, D’Mann was coming down. He looked at her. “What you doin’ down here?” he asked.
Desirae held up her purse as she forced herself to make a sleepy face. “Woman problems,” she said, looking at her purse. “Excuse me, but I gotta handle this.”
D’Mann relaxed. He nodded and headed back upstairs as Desirae followed behind him. She went into the bathroom where she pretended to be using her purse. She ran water and even flushed before going back out into the hallway and getting back into the bed with D’Mann. As she lay there, next to him in his strong arms, she struggled to get any sleep for the rest of the night. There was something about D’Mann that didn’t sit well with her; she couldn’t wait until he dropped her off back at her mother’s house in the morning.
***
When D’Mann pulled up outside of Desirae’s mother’s house, a huge feeling of relief came over her. In a strange way, she’d felt like she survived the night. Now, while she didn’t plan on going back over to D’Mann’s place, based on what she’d seen in the basement, she would just have to come up with a way to get him to go away.
“A nigga had a nice night with you,” D’Mann said.
Desirae looked across the consul and smiled. “Me too,” she responded. “Fuck, I’m still sore.”
D’Mann chuckled, knowing that he was the man. “Yeah,” he said. “You not the first chick to tell me that. That’s why I go easy the first couple times. Down the road, I go even harder.
Desirae giggled as she began to open her door.
“Wait a second,” D’Mann said, gripping Desirae’s thigh. “Why you in a rush to get out the car on a nigga like that? Damn!”
Desirae leaned back into the SUV. “Oh,” she said, trying to come across as if she didn’t realize what she’d been doing. “I wasn’t thinkin’ like that. I ain’t know if you had somewhere to be yet or what.”
“Did you hear from that nigga yet?” D’Mann asked.
Desirae nodded. “Yeah,” she answered. “He actually text me while we was sleepin’. He said that he was gon’ be bringin’ the twins back over around 1 o’clock or so.” She glanced at the clock above the radio. “It’s about noon now, so I was gon’ go in there and get a little somethin’ to eat before he show up.”
“Somethin’ to eat?” D’Mann asked. “Shit, if you wanted somethin’ to eat, I coulda stopped and got you somethin’ to eat. All you had to do was say so and a nigga coulda took you to get somethin’.”
Desirae shook her head. “Naw,” she said, “I don’t really feel like eatin’ out, actually. I just want somethin’ simple that don’t got a buncha extra shit in it. When Titan and James get back, I’mma prolly lay down and take a nap.”
“Okay,” D’Mann said, feeling like something was up with Desirae. “If you say so. I do got somethin’ I wanna ask you, though. You feelin’ a nigga anymore?”
“What you mean?” Desirae asked.
“I mean just what I said,” D’Mann said, smiling. “I mean is you feelin’ a nigga? Is you into me and stuff?”
Desirae shrugged, not knowing how she wanted to answer at this point because there was nothing she wanted to do more than to get out of the car and get into her mother’s house where the world was safe. “I mean, we just kickin’ it, ain’t we?” she said. “What was you try’na be? We done moved kinda fast with this and ain’t really got to know each other.”
“There you go with this knowin’ each other shit,” D’Mann said, chuckling and shaking his head. “Look, I’m the kinda nigga that prides himself in being what you see is what you get. But, okay then, I see how you bein’.” He smiled, showing Desirae that he was being sarcastic. “I’mma let you go on and get back into the house and shit so you can get settled in before baby daddy come back around try’na start shit with you.”
“Yeah,” Desirae said, shaking her head. “I hope he ain’t around long for today. Just come and drop my babies off and we good.”
“Remember what I told you,” D’Mann said. “Let me know if that nigga disrespect you even the littlest bit. I’ll jump on that ass. Shit, with the way that nigga was lookin’ at me yesterday, you woulda thought he was lookin’ into the eyes of some crazy nigga or somethin’.”
Desirae looked at D’Mann then thought about the rope she’d seen dangling in the room in the basement. Furthermore, the look on D’Mann’s face when she’d run into him as she’d come upstairs let her know that he could very well be crazy. She kept her cool and told him that she was going to hit him up when she woke up from her nap later on. D’Mann went ahead and watched her get out of the car and grab her shopping bags out of the back. He’d offered to help Desirae, but she declined. Instead, his eyes following her plump ass as her belt looked as if it were about to pop from around her waist.
D’Mann watched Desirae walk up to her mother’s porch then let herself into the house. Once she waved goodbye to him and disappeared into the house, D’Mann slowly pulled off. Something did not sit well with him. Ever since he’d gotten home last night from being on his way over to his buddy’s house on Tibbs, something seemed to have changed with Desirae. It was as if she’d been warm when he left the house then cold when he returned. To make matters worse, D’Mann had a strange suspicion that Desirae had seen more than she was supposed to see when she went exploring down into the basement. He looked back at her mother’s house in the rearview as he slowly rolled down the street. Maybe I need to stay in the neighborhood for a little while, he thought to himself. No matter how much he enjoyed smashing Desirae twice last night, he still felt as if she was holding something back from him. And he wanted to find out what it was, and if she could be trusted as he had hoped.
When Desirae got into her mother’s house and sat her shopping bags down on the floor behind the door, it was as if a heavy weight had been lifted off of her shoulder. In the silence of her mother’s living room, she pushed the door closed then stepped over to the curtains covering the large picture window. Barely opening the curtains a couple of inches, she watched as D’Mann’s SUV slowly rolled down the street. Even though she’d gotten out of his house safely, she still felt as if he knew something was up. Not only had his line of questioning when he’d discovered her coming up from the basement frightened her, she was also alarmed with how quickly he’d rushed downstairs in the middle of the night only minutes after she’d crawled out of the bed and made her way down to the living room. There was just something about D’Mann’s actions that to
ld Desirae he was suspicious of her. This made her hate herself even more because she knew she shouldn’t have rushed home with some man she’d just met.
“How could I be so stupid?” Desirae asked herself as she headed toward the dining room. When she stepped into the kitchen, it was clear her mother had been in the house. She’d left a coffee cup and some empty tea packets sitting on the middle of the table. Desirae pulled a chair out and sat down, thinking about the current situation of her life.
Was I overreacting? Was whatever that was hanging from the ceiling really something I need to be worried about? C’mon, Desirae. You know somethin’ is up with that nigga. Why else would there clearly be two places where blood had been cleaned up? Why else would there be some sort of rope thing hangin’ down from the ceiling like that? On top of that, it was inside of a room that clearly isn’t used for anything remotely social. The look on his face when he saw you comin’ from downstairs…. The way he looked at you when he came downstairs last night. It was almost like he was watchin’ you, maybe makin’ you the next victim.
Desirae shuddered a little. She imagined the many true crime episodes she’d seen on television about various serial killers around the country. While it was rare that serial killers were anything other than white men, she didn’t want to overlook any major signs and wind up being the victim of a serial killer that had yet to be discovered.
Desirae went upstairs and showered, changing her clothes. She felt refreshed to have taken a shower and wiped all of D’Mann’s sweat off of her body. After sitting down in the dining room for a moment to get herself together, she heard her cell phone vibrating from inside of her purse. She dug it out and answered. It was Tron calling.
“Hello?” Desirae answered, calmly.”
“Hello,” Tron said, the radio playing in the background. “You home and shit. My mama bout to get back on the road and head back to Louisville. The weather is gonna get bad. I can already tell from the way these clouds is out here lookin’ that it’s gon’ be bad as shit. If you don’t mind, I can drop James and Titan off in about thirty minutes. Is that coo?”
“Yeah,” Desirae said, her nerves finally calming down. “That’s coo. I’ll be here.”
The two of them ended the phone call. Desirae stood up and looked at her face in the mirror. While some of the bruises and scratches were slowly fading away, there were still others that seemed a little more persistent. She’d been proud of herself for doing her makeup just right yesterday when Tron had brought his mother Brenda up to meet her.
Fifteen minutes passed with Desirae checking out of the front window every so-many seconds. Soon enough, Tron’s SUV pulled into a parking spot outside. He made his way up to the door, carrying Titan and James. Desirae opened the door and helped Tron inside.
“Wassup?” Tron asked, stepping into the living room. “I ain’t mean to rush you and stuff, but I got some business I gotta handle later on that gotta do with the club.”
“No, you’re fine,” Desirae said, not really trying to start any sort of argument. “Did you feed them any of the baby food that I packed in the bag yesterday or what?”
“Yeah,” Tron said, nodding his head. “Well, actually, my mama and auntie did. We actually went out and got some more last night at Target.” He set the bag on the floor after setting Titan then James down into separate basinets. “They in there.”
“Okay,” Desirae said, very casually.
Tron noticed the change in Desirae’s demeanor, as if she had a lot on her mind. He looked through the living room, squinting through the somewhat see-through curtains. When he’d pulled up into the parking spot out on the street, he didn’t see any truck that looked like D’Mann’s. He stepped back into the dining room and approached the table.
“Look, I know we’ve had some rocky shit over the last year, Desirae,” Tron said, trying to come across as diplomatic as he could, “but I need to know if you fuckin’ round with that nigga D’Mann.”
Desirae looked at Tron and rolled her eyes. “And if I am?” she asked. “What is it to you if I am messin’ around with him? Why do you care?”
Tron stepped closer to Desirae. His body language was telling her that she needed to listen, and that he wasn’t really trying to start anything with her. Tron chose his words carefully. “Desirae,” he said, “that ain’t the kinda nigga you need to be messin’ with. I’m tellin’ you, Desirae.”
“Why you say that, Tron?” Desirae asked, knowing that she needed to play her cards close to her chest, figuratively speaking. “Why you tellin’ me that I don’t need to mess around with him?”
“Desirae, look,” Tron said, “I used to know that nigga back when I was out in the streets. Back before me and Tyrese had saved up our money and was even thinkin’ bout try’na open the club. That nigga is nothin’ but bad news, I promise you, Desirae. He is nothin’ but bad news.”
“Why?” Desirae asked, wanting to hear Tron out for once. “You gotta give me some reasons. Maybe he’s changed. I mean, what make you say that he a bad dude?”
Tron looked up toward the ceiling. “Your mama ain’t here, is she?” he asked.
Desirae shook her head. “Naw,” she answered. “I got here like a hour or so ago, and she wasn’t here when I got here. So, no, she ain’t here.”
“That nigga be killin’ niggas,” Tron said, sounding very concerned for Desirae. “I swear to God, that nigga be killin’ niggas and gettin’ away with the shit because everybody is too scared to come forward and say anythin’ because he might kill them too.”
Desirae heart jumped. She thought about what had happened down in the basement with Makim. Then, she thought about her own adventure down into the basement and what she’d found. “Killin’ people?” she asked, wanting to know more. “What you talkin’ about, Tron?”
Tron gently grabbed Desirae’s arm to show his concern for the mother of his sons. “I know what you think or me, and yeah, I have fucked up some,” he admitted, “but everybody in the hood, especially from back then, know that he be killin’ niggas that he feel like either gon’ tell on him or fuck with his money or business or whatever. I remember it was goin’ around that D’Mann had killed three dudes. They ain’t never been seen again. Don’t nobody know what he doin’ with the bodies. From what I remembered, he always lived in weird places where he ain’t have a lot of company and shit. I’m tellin’ you, Desirae, that nigga is a fuckin’ killer.”
Just as Desirae was opening her mouth to tell him about her experience spending the night with D’Mann, there was knock at that door. Tron looked back at the front door. “You expectin’ company?” he asked, his voice low but rather loud because of how quiet the house was.
Desirae zoned out for a moment, hearing only the clock above the China cabinet. It ticked behind her, almost in the same rhythm as her heart. She shook her head. “Hell naw,” she said. “I ain’t expectin’ no company. I don’t know who that could be.”
“Did you spend the night with that nigga last night when I saw him waitin’ outside when I was here with my mama to get the twins?” Tron asked. “When he drop you off?”
“Like an hour ago,” Desirae answered.
There was another knock at the door, this time harder than the first.
“How you even meet this nigga?” Tron asked.
“I met him out south,” she said. “You don’t think this is him do you? He dropped me off like a hour ago. Why would he even still be in the neighborhood?”
“I don’t know,” Tron said. “Maybe it ain’t him.” He turned and walked toward the door. “I can answer it for you just to be safe if you want me to. Just wait right there.”
“No,” Desirae said. “You don’t even live here. What if it’s one of my mama’s neighbors or one of her friends or somethin’? She would be shitty as fuck if I let some nigga that don’t even live here answer the door.”
Tron stepped back into the dining room and stood over to the side as Desirae crossed the living room and opened the fro
nt door. As she pulled the door open, her eyes met with D’Mann. Deep down, she was startled, but she managed to be strong and not show it. Not even waiting to be invited in, D’Mann stepped inside.
“I ain’t interuptin’ nothin’, am I?” D’Mann asked, looking around the living room. “I was still in the area, about to head back out my way, and thought that I’d just pop back by and make sure that you was coo.”
Yet again, Desirae felt very vulnerable. D’Mann towered over her, dominating the room with his muscular physique. “Naw,” she said. “Just gettin’ my babies back.”
“Hmm, hmm,” D’Mann said, seeming to not believe what Desirae had said to him. “I see the nigga’s car is still sittin’ outside. He ain’t in here givin’ you no problems is he? Remember what I told you, right?”
“No,” Desirae said, shaking her head. “We just in there talkin’ bout the twins and stuff. That’s all.”
“Where he at? Why the nigga hidin’ and shit? He scared or something?”
Before Desirae could open her mouth to respond to D’Mann’s inquiry, Tron had stepped out from behind the dining room wall. “Why the fuck you askin’?” he asked, boldly.
D’Mann chuckled when he looked up at Tron. “Long time no see, huh?” he said. “I ain’t think I would still see you here.”
“My kids live here,” Tron said. “So, yeah, you gon’ see me here. There ain’t no problem with that, is there?”
As D’Mann moved closer to the dining room entrance, Desirae feared what was about to happen. Just thinking about how D’Mann had shot Makim in the basement was enough to make her fear for the life of her sons’ father. More than anything, she wished that she could go back in time and not have answered the door.
The Diary of a Side Chick 6 (SCD) Page 21
