When her moans got louder, and she picked up the pace with her riding, I knew she was getting ready to cum, and so was I. I matched her strokes, drilling in her shit like this would be the last fuck that I would ever get in my life. My arms wrapped around her waist tight as hell, and in seconds, I was dropping off inside of her what I hoped to be my son. Her body crashed into mine, and she bit the shit out of my lip before she tried to roll over, but I held her in place, burying my sweaty face into the crook of her neck.
“Give me two seconds, and then I wanna fuck on the balcony. We got to take advantage of that view,” I let her know.
“I’m about to go and pee this nut out of me. I just stood my ass there and said that I wasn’t going to have no kids with you, especially with this shit going on, and now look,” she fussed, trying to get off me, but I wouldn’t let her.
“I just pumped two weeks’ worth of built-up nut inside of you. You not pissing that out. You mean to tell me you don’t want to have no kids with me?” I asked, grabbing a handful of her ass and slapping it.
“I do. Just not right now,” she said.
“Whatever, shorty. You trippin’. I ain’t fuckin’ you no more then,” I told her, and she laughed while finally escaping the hold that I had her in and laying her head on my chest.
“What happened to fuckin’ me on the balcony and looking at the Las Vegas view?” she asked, followed by a laugh.
“The shit funny to your ass now, but let’s see who gon’ be laughing in a few weeks when your period doesn’t come. The thirteenth, right? That’s when it’s supposed to start, ain’t it? We’ll see if you still laughing then. I may smoke a little weed here and there, but I’m healthy, shorty. My soldiers work. Watch out,” I said and pushed her off me then went into the bathroom.
I wasn’t even mad at Shae. Usually, whenever I asked God for something, he tends to give it to me. I’d been asking God to allow Shae to bless me with a baby one of these days, so I knew that blessing was right around the corner.
Jashae Johnson
I went to the graveyard this afternoon to visit my baby. I had a long, two-hour talk with him. I want to say that I felt just about every emotion out there that I could feel. I went from feeling sad to happy, angry, depressed, miserable, happy, and sad again, all in one sitting. Coming to visit my boy was nothing new for me. The thing is, it didn’t get better.
I believed in God, and I believed that Vonte’s body was the only thing left in that casket and that his spirit had gone to heaven. But, as his mother, I couldn’t help but still wonder if he was okay, you know? Was he scared? When Vonte was alive, especially as a little boy, it had always been my job to worry about him. I remember when I dropped him off at daycare for the first time. The whole day at work, I wondered if my baby was okay. I wondered if he was being treated fairly. I wondered if the other kids were being nice to him.
To ease those feelings, I remember driving to the daycare on my lunch break and checking on him through the window. My baby was just fine. He was playing with the other kids and nowhere near stressing like I was. I hoped that was the case now. I could only hope that he was in Heaven having a good time and getting the chance to be around my mother, who I never got the chance to meet. I hoped he was at peace because I still wasn’t at peace.
After leaving the graveyard, I ended up getting back in the car with Manny, who drove me around the corner to the church. I hated the idea of having security, but I knew that Miami wasn’t going to change his mind, so I guess I had to accept it. He claimed that this was only temporary, and I hoped so because I didn’t too much care for another man, who wasn’t my man, having to drive me around.
I went to the church because I needed to go up front to the altar, get down on my hands and knees, and pray. I could feel the dark cloud that was over me, so I wanted to ask God to protect me and my loved ones. Trip hadn’t called since our Vegas trip, which was a week ago, and I didn’t know how to feel about that. I didn’t know what shots he was calling in that cell.
I feared for Miami daily. I prayed for him more than I prayed for myself. Every day when I woke up, it’s like I was begging God, with tears in my eyes, to watch out for my man. I didn’t want to lose him. Miami wasn’t treating this issue as serious as I was. Although Dino was locked up, I knew that there were other people that Trip could call to do his dirty work.
By the time I finished praying, my face was drenched from the tears that I’d cried. I used the back of my hands to wipe my face, and I stood up. When I did that, I spotted a young lady standing in the aisle, holding a small trash can. There were white, latex gloves on her hands, and when she saw me, she gave me a small smile. Instantly, I just assumed that she had to have been a friend of Vonte’s or somehow knew him because she had the school sweater on that he’d attended.
“I didn’t hear you praying. I actually just came in about a second ago. I don’t want you to think that I was eavesdropping,” she shyly and timidly said.
She was a very pretty girl. Dark skinned, with the prettiest set of white teeth that I’d ever seen. Tall, with a slim build and thick, brown hair that she had hanging down with a headband on.
“It’s fine,” I let her know.
I was about to walk around her, but she cleared her throat to say something next.
“I attended the funeral for Vonte. I sat all the way in the back, though. I took a physics class with Vonte. Man, he was so smart. Most of the other basketball players would just horse around in class and copy from other people because they felt like because they were so good on the court that they didn’t have to take school seriously. Vonte and I weren’t necessarily close, but we were paired together a few times for group work and stuff like that,” she said, and then she took a pause.
I could tell that she was so shy, as she kept switching the small trash can from hand to hand, and at times, looking everywhere but at me. There was about a two-second pause, and then she started right back up.
“Umm, I know you heard it a hundred times or more, but I’m really sorry about what happened to him. I couldn’t say it at the funeral because… you know? I’m sure you wanted your space. This is my father’s church, so I’m here often. Sorry if I’m talking too much. I’ll let you go,” she nervously said.
She was so pretty, yet so timid and scared. It was like she almost wanted to tell me something but was too afraid to do so.
“Thank you, and you’re fine. You’re not talking too much. What’s your name? Maybe Vonte talked about you to me before,” I said.
“Olivia. Olivia Clarke,” she said and extended her hand out for me to shake.
“Okay, Olivia. I’m not sure. Your name could have come up once or twice before. Vonte always came home to me with a million and one stories about different people, so it was kind of hard to keep up with him and his stories,” I said.
She let out a nervous laugh and nodded as if she agreed.
“I’m here at the church just about every day, and my dad always makes me come in the sanctuary to pick up any trash that may be in the pews or on the floor. Usually, when someone is in here praying, I’ll just wait outside until they are done, so they can have their moment. Maybe a month after Vonte passed, I was outside in the foyer sweeping when I heard loud cries coming from inside here. I’m a teenager, so I can be a little nosey sometimes. I wanted to know who was inside here crying like that, so I peeked in. It was Taylor. It was what she cried about that bothered my soul. She wasn’t a good person, so when I found out about her passing almost a month ago, I couldn’t feel bad for her. I felt like she deserved what happened to her,” she voiced.
I could look into her eyes and see the anger that she had for Taylor. Immediately, I started thinking that maybe this little chick was crazy and had a secret crush on Vonte. Maybe I had watched too many Lifetime movies and was reading this all wrong. I would have remembered the name Olivia. Vonte never talked to me about anyone named Olivia. I only told her that I couldn’t remember because I didn’t want to h
urt her feelings.
“When you get older, you’ll learn about forgiveness. That comes with age and wisdom,” I said, and she looked at me like I was crazy.
“What? If she never did what she did, Vonte would still be here today,” she shrieked like she was shocked that I said what I said.
I had no idea what she was talking about, so I looked at her like she was crazy this time.
“What do you mean? My son died because of a severe asthma attack,” I corrected her.
“An asthma attack that could have been avoided. I was at the game that day. I never attend games, but my school was in the championship, so of course, I went. In the middle of the attack, everyone was looking for Vonte’s bag, and it was nowhere to be found. A month after his death, Taylor sat at the altar, down on her hands and knees, begging God to forgive her. She kept saying, ‘I should have never taken the bag. I should have never taken the bag,’” Taylor played her part.
“That car accident happening to her was no coincidence. It was Karma. It was Vonte giving her what was owed. Do you still believe that forgiveness comes with age and wisdom?” she asked me.
I didn’t respond. I was numb. My body was numb. Even to this day, I still questioned Vonte’s bag. I never even got to see it again. The head coach told me that the janitors had searched that whole school, and it didn’t pop up anywhere. I all but tore down my entire house, trying to see if it was there, but it never showed up.
I had to take a seat because it felt like I was going to pass out. I remember the night at the hospital after Vonte had the asthma attack. I remember Taylor and her cries. It was almost as if she was in competition with me. She cried louder than me, longer than me, and one would have thought that her pain was deeper than mine, and I had birthed Vonte! She knew she was responsible for taking his bag, and she felt guilty, which is why she was crying.
I felt tears rushing down my face as I thought of Vonte’s birthday. I remember inviting her to go with us to the grave, and she came up with a lame ass excuse about not being able to see him that way. That girl couldn’t see him that way because she knew that she was responsible for what happened. Olivia tried to say something else to me, but I shot up from the pew and went over to Manny, letting him know that I was ready to go.
“Take me to this address,” was the first thing that I said when we got back in the car.
This message was from months ago when Vonte was still alive, and I tracked down his location by using his phone number. It was Taylor’s mother’s house. I’m not sure if Manny didn’t question the address because he saw the look on my face and could tell that I meant business or because he knew that with or without him, I was going to take my ass to that address, so he opted to take me instead. The whole time we drove, my leg bounced up and down. It’s like I knew that this trip wasn’t going to end well, but I had yet to tell Manny to turn around.
As he drove, it felt like the damn car was spinning. You have to know that for months I haven’t been at peace, which is one of the reasons why my son’s passing hasn’t gotten any easier on me. Vonte took his inhaler with him like I made sure to always have a bad purse on me to match any outfit that I wore. He knew he needed it, even though his asthma had been improving. There was nothing that would get him so off track that it would cause him to forget his inhaler at home. Nothing!
Almost ten minutes later, we finally pulled up to the house. I barely waited for the car to come to a stop before I opened the back door and hopped out.
“Ms. Johnson, can you hold up a second? Mr. King will kill me if something happens to you,” Manny said, coming up behind me, but it was too late.
I was already banging on the front door. I knew that someone was home because the same car that Taylor had driven to my house was parked in the driveway. I banged like whoever was on the other side of the door owed me some money. In a few seconds, the front door swung open, and a woman who looked very similar to Taylor stood on the other side. She looked pissed that I was banging on her door like this, but I couldn’t care less. I wasn’t sure if I’d just woken her up or anything, but her eyes were red, and a confused look was on her face as if she didn’t even know what time of the day it was.
“Are you fuckin’ crazy banging on my door like this?” she asked.
When she saw that it was me standing on the other side of the door, she eased her aggression down a little bit. She tied her robe tighter around her body and released a sigh.
“Oh, it’s you,” she said, her voice and her face calming down some when she saw that it was me standing on the other side of the door.
I’m not really sure how she knew that it was me because we’d never met in person, but all I could think is that maybe she came to the funeral or knew me because the majority of people knew that I was Vonte’s mom.
“I want to take a look in Taylor’s room,” I said.
You would have thought that I was a police officer, and I had a warrant to search the house the way I was casually asking to see her daughter’s room.
“For what? You do know that my baby is dead—”
“And so the fuck is mine! I could give two fucks about your baby. I only care about mine! I’m looking for something that I’m quite sure is hidden in her room, so either you let me in, or I let myself in,” I said.
She tried to close the door, but I kicked it open with my foot and walked into the room. I had no idea which room belonged to Taylor because I had never been there before, but I went looking. The whole time, Manny was trying to get to me stop while Taylor’s mom threatened to call the police. I jogged up the stairs, and finally, I walked into a room that I knew belonged to Taylor because her pictures were on the wall. Her bed was perfectly made, and her room was spotless. That is until I flipped that room upside down, trying to find that damn bag.
“What are you accusing my daughter of? I just called the police. They will be here any second now,” my mom came into the room and said.
“It’s no secret that my son died because of an asthma attack. It’s also no secret that his bag with his inhalers went missing that day. Bitch, your daughter took that bag, and I’m going to find it,” I yelled at her as I went over to the closet and moved everything out of the way until I found what I was looking for.
It wasn’t in there. My last resort was to look under her bed. After this was all said and done, if I were to get locked up, I’m not really sure if I would regret barging into her home and doing this. Right now, I was moving off adrenaline, so I couldn’t stop myself from doing this even if I wanted to. I was doing this for me and my sanity. I was giving myself the answers to a question that I’ve been asking myself since the day of the championship game when I ran down the bleachers onto the court, asking anyone in close proximity if they knew where Vonte’s bag was.
“You’re crazy! My daughter would never do such a thing. She loved Vonte—”
“Bitch, fuck you! She loved the idea of what my son was going to be able to give her when he made it pro. Stupid bitch lied to me and my son, saying that she was pregnant with his child. I can’t put shit past that girl. Anybody who will go through those types of spiteful lengths is hateful and will do any fuckin’ thing, like depriving my son of his inhaler, knowing that his life depended on it,” I yelled at her.
At the same time, I pulled a trunk from under Taylor’s bed. It wasn’t that heavy, but I needed a key to open it. With all the strength that I could muster up, I picked it up and launched the plastic trunk onto the laminated floor. All the contents went spilling out along with the fuckin’ bag. My baby’s bag! With tears in my eyes, I unzipped the bag, and both of his inhalers flew to the ground along with a practice jersey, his wallet, and some cologne.
At the same time, the officers rushed to the back. The bag still had his smell on it, so as I sat to the ground, as if I was possessed, I cried, rocking my body back and forth in the process. He could have still been here. For these moments, it seemed as if the world had stopped, and my hearing had left. Out of blurr
y eyes, I could see her pointing to me and showing me to the officers, but I couldn’t really make out what she was saying to them.
Two officers came over to me, but they didn’t manhandle me. I was stood up from the floor, and it didn’t take long for cuffs to be slapped on my wrist. I finally had the answers to this puzzle, but this shit still didn’t make it any better. If anything, it made the situation even worse for me.
Toddrick “Miami” King
“When the fuck they letting her out, man?” I barked as I walked over to an officer who was sitting at the front desk. I’d been at the jail for almost three hours, waiting for them to release Shae. Out of all the people I would expect to bond out of jail, never in a million years did I think that it would be Jashae. Swear when she called me collect, telling me to come and pick her up, it took me at least five minutes to take her seriously. I didn’t believe her until her ass started crying on the phone.
She called me right when I was in the middle of a meeting. A bunch of locals in Miami and I had something big that we were trying to do for our city, which was the only reason Manny had been driving Shae around for me all day. When I finally accepted the fact that she wasn’t bullshitting me and that she was really in jail, I assumed that out of all the shit she could have done, she probably had gotten into a fight, but nahhh, badass wanted to barge in people’s shit and fuck around with their belongings.
I didn’t even know the full details of the story because she was crying and so angry on the phone, that I couldn’t make out what she was saying. It took no time for me to stop what I was doing, do what I had to do to get the money out for her bond, and now I was in here, pacing the floor and waiting for her to walk out of those double doors.
“Five minutes, sir,” the officer said, not even bothering to look up from the desktop that was in front of him.
Down With the King of the South 2 Page 16
