A Thug's Wife (Full Length Novel)

by Shan

  Marco reached over and pulled the glove department open and snatched out a little black box that sat on the inside. He shoved it into the side of Cherie’s face. He’d mushed her so hard he caused her head to hit the window. Cherie looked at the little black box that had fallen into her lap and shook her head. She flipped the box open and spotted the most beautiful diamond she had ever seen in her life. The diamond shined so bright that it almost blinded her.

  "That’s what you fucked up, Cherie. You wanted that, and I was going to give it you. I thought you was for real about this, but I see you just a bird still playing little ghetto games. You still out here trying to chase these niggas for they cash, when I could have given you anything you ever wanted. All you had to do was be patient and ride for a nigga like I told you when we got back together."

  "Marco, please. I promise you; I only fucked with Kareem because that’s what my mama wanted. I’m supposed to be moving in with you today. I barely see him; I promise you that. Marco, please give me another chance."

  "Fuck you! Don’t even know why the fuck I’m tripping over your ass. You ain’t even worth it mane! Ya’ feel me?"

  Cherie reached over for Marco when he backhanded her in the face. She brought her hands up to cover her face when she felt blood pour down her nose onto her lip. She looked at Marco with shock pouring from her eyes. She watched as he made a U-Turn in the middle of the road.

  "Take your dumb ass back to your mammie since that’s who the fuck run your life, right? Fuck you, fuck Kareem and fuck your mama. Don’t fuckin’ call me no more! Don’t text me. Stay the fuck out my way a’ight. And yea keep that ring as a little reminder of the real nigga that you lost."

  Cherie shook her head hoping that she could fix this. She didn’t want it to be over between her and Marco. This was where her heart was at. Kareem really was just a way to keep her mama off her back. She had long lost feelings for him back when she got with Marco. He wasn’t anything to her anymore, yet Marco was her everything.

  "Marco, please can we fix this? Please Marco!" Cherie begged as Marco turned down the street that led to her mama’s house.

  "Shut the fuck up talkin’ to me mane!" he roared causing Cherie to jump back.

  The moment Marco got close to Tammy’s house, he sucked his teeth. There were two police cars sitting outside of the home. He shook his head and looked down at the pistol in his lap. He went to reach for it, when Cherie quickly grabbed it, and tucked it under her shirt.

  Marco looked over at Cherie and as much as he wanted to reach out and strangle her, he had no choice but respect her for that move. He knew running from the law would have him fucked up worse than he would be if he just pulled over and let them do what they had to do. He placed the car into park, grabbed a cigarette from the console, and fired it up.

  "I’m a get out and tell them that everything is good," Cherie told him as she stuffed the gun as far down in her pants as she could. She pulled her shirt down and looked over at Marco once more before stepping out of the car. She began to approach the officers when they suddenly drew their weapons and proceeded toward Marco’s car.

  "Wait! Wait a minute!" Cherie yelled. She chased behind them and watched as they jerked the car door open and pulled Marco out. They tossed him to the ground roughly and forced his hands behind his back.

  "Lock his ass up! Look at my daughter’s face! He tried to kidnap her! Lock his ass up!" Tammy yelled.

  "Mama no! No! He didn’t kidnap me! I went with him willingly! Officer, please wait!" Cherie begged, but they continued on with the arrest of Marco. They walked him over to their car and tossed him in the backseat. Cherie looked at her mama. "You know what? I fuckin’ hate you! I am so sick of you!"

  "Oh, girl shut up! Look at your damn face! Told your dumb ass to leave his trifling ass alone a long time ago!"

  "Mama, I’m leaving and you ain’t gonna never see me again. You have ruined my life! Don’t you see that?" Cherie screamed. Her mama didn’t see it. She didn’t see anything wrong with what she was doing. Cherie was speaking on deaf ears. It didn’t matter what she said to Tammy; she would never see anything past what she saw. It was who she was. Cherie and Zaria needed to get it together. Not her.

  Chapter 30: The Blame Game

  The sun had just gone down by time Zaria finished shopping. She popped the trunk on her BMW and began to remove the bags from her basket. She couldn’t believe that both Yessenia and Cherie had stood her up. They were supposed to help her register and shop for her upcoming baby shower. She tried to call both of them, but was unable to get through to either of them. It had taken her hours to register and get everything that she had needed. She was completely worn down and exhausted from being on her feet for so long. She rubbed her hand across her protruding stomach and then placed both hands on her back as she stretched out.

  "Oh, my God. I will be so glad when you get here little mama. I’m so damn tired," Zaria said and continued to fill the trunk with all of the bags. She placed the last bag in the car and went to close the trunk when she felt her phone vibrating her purse. She looked over her shoulder and spotted the car that had been following her everywhere that she’d gone. She frowned and pulled out her cell phone to answer it. She knew they were only doing their job, but she hated having them watching her like she was the First Lady, and they were part of the Secret Service.

  "Hello," Zaria answered. She pulled her car door open and stepped inside.

  "Babbby," Quasym sang through the phone.

  Zaria smiled. Quasym had been right when he called her out for being so insecure and allowing her mama and sister to get into her head. When she had let that go and stayed away from her family, things had gotten better between them. She no longer tripped about Tianna and just let things be. Her only focus had been on pleasing Quasym, being the best stepmother she could be, and preparing for the arrival of their unborn child.

  She fucked up when she started talking back to her sister and allowed Cherie to bring her into the plot that she had against Marco. That was the reason she had to tell Quasym ‘cause she didn’t want to feel like she was going against Sym when things had been so good. She wondered if that was why Cherie didn’t show up today.

  "Hey boo," Zaria said into the phone.

  "Where you at?"

  "Just now leaving Babies R Us. Neither, Yessenia or Cherie showed up to help me. I’m mad at both of them heifers."

  "Shit, Cherie probably fighting with Marco. I told that nigga this morning before I went and met with the boss man what you told me the other day."

  "Damn, I kinda figured that’s what it was. Oh well. She shouldn’t have done that, and I can’t believe I helped her. I don’t know what I was thinking."

  "We ain’t gonna worry too much about that though. Look, I got something to tell you."

  "What’s up?" Zaria hiked the phone between her shoulder and her ear and backed out of the parking spot.

  "Mane, you ain’t gonna believe what I found out today," Quasym told her. He was still in shock about finding out that Andres was his brother. He had been driving around all day trying to figure out how he was gonna handle the situation and finally decided that he would give in and go and meet his father for the first time in his life.

  "What?"

  "I found out who my father is and not only that, my boss man is my fucking half-brother. Can you believe that shit?"

  "Oh, my God! Are you serious, Sym?"

  "Serious as a fucking heart attack. Shit is so damn crazy, babe. I’ve been driving around all day thinking about that shit. My father wants to meet me. Come to find out he isn’t dead, but he is about to die."

  "Huh?"

  Quasym chuckled, "Long story. But look, he lives in Venezuela with his wife and I’m gonna fly out to go and meet him, and I want you to be with me when I do."

  "Okay of course. When are we leaving?"

  "I got my boss-shit my bro-damn that shit sound crazy. He gonna set the flight up and let me know what’s up. How long before y
ou be home?"

  "I’m on my way right now. About thirty minutes."

  "Check the rear view, them niggas behind you right?"

  Zaria checked in her rear view and then checked her side view mirror, but she didn’t see them. They were with her in the parking lot a moment ago, but now they were nowhere to be found.

  "They were, but I don’t see them now."

  "Shit. Okay, let me holla at them, and I’ll hit you right back."

  "Okay, baby see you later."

  "A’ight, I’m about to head home. Be safe, and I’ll see you soon."

  "K, bye," she hung up.

  ***

  Cherie was pissed as she turned down the street that led into the subdivision where Zaria lived. Her life was being ripped apart, and she didn’t know how to put the pieces back together. Marco was sitting in jail behind her, and she had since broken it off with Kareem. She wasn’t lying when she said she didn’t want him. She was done listening to her mama and only wished she had the sense enough to do so long ago.

  She grabbed the bottle of vodka that she’d stolen from her mama from the passenger’s seat. She’d been sipping on it for the better part of the day. She removed her hands from the wheel and opened the bottle. The car swerved from side to side, and she damn near clipped a car, but caught herself when she placed one hand back on the wheel. She was fucked up.

  The alcohol had her mind all over the damn place as she headed towards her sister’s house. She was on her way to confront Quasym and Zaria for breaking up her relationship with Marco. They just couldn’t let her be happy and had to go and fuck it up for her. Zaria thought she was the shit now that Quasym was making a little money and felt like she could outdo Cherie, but Cherie was about to let them both know that it wasn’t true.

  She was about to tear them a new asshole, and she hoped that she said all the right things to them to tear their relationship apart like they had done hers. As she turned down Zaria’s street, she tilted the bottle back and took a long sip of the liquor. She didn’t care if she was really the one to blame for her break up with Marco, the alcohol was telling her different. Right now, in her drunken mind, this shit was all her sister and Quasym’s fault.

  "Look at this bitch," Cherie giggled as she spotted her sister grabbing bags out of the trunk. Again, she tilted the bottle up and took another sip, allowing the liquor to penetrate her blood stream. She tossed her hand up and incidentally dropped the bottle of liquor onto the floor of her car. "Shit!"

  Cherie removed her hands from the wheel and looked down to grab the bottle of Vodka. She couldn’t reach it, so she pulled her seat back, and then tried again. She could feel her car swerving all over the place, but she was too inebriated to pay it any mind, "Got it!" she said as she came back up, but it was too late. Her eyes popped open as her car smacked directly into her sister, causing a loud crash that caused her front window to crack, and her head to hit the steering wheel.

  Cherie brought her hand up to her forehead and rubbed it. She brought her hands to her face and noticed the blood on her fingers. She bit down on her bottom lip, removed her seatbelt from her body, and stepped out of the car. She staggered as she made her way to the front of the vehicle, looking for her sister.

  "Zaria!" she yelled out frantically. She didn’t see her anywhere. "Zaria! Zaria, where are you?" She got down on her knees and looked under the car, but didn’t see Zaria. She slowly stood to her feet and then walked around to the other side of Zaria’s car, but she still didn’t see her.

  Finally as she made it to the back of Zaria’s car she could see a trail of blood leaking from the back of one of the tires. Zaria was practically tucked underneath the car of the BMW at the edge where the trunk was located. Cherie was horrified with what she had done. She tried to say so many things, but nothing would come out. She had only come here to confront Zaria for what she had done, but she wasn’t trying to kill her. It hadn’t been that serious, and she loved Zaria. They could fight every day of the week, but she would never want to see her dead.

  She wanted to reach out and grab Zaria, but panic began to set in. She quickly backed away from Zaria, ran around the car, and jumped back inside of hers. She placed the car in reverse and smashed the gas, but it wouldn’t move. "Oh my, God! Come on! Come on!" She smashed down on the gas once more, but the tires only dug into the grass. She placed the car in Neutral, and it caused the car to jerk backwards. Quickly, she threw it into reverse and backed out of the yard until she was back on the street. Throwing the car in drive, she zoomed down the street leaving her sister and her unborn baby tucked under the car to bleed to death.

  ***

  Cherie pulled her car to halt in the middle of the road. Tears cascaded down her face as she thought about her sister bleeding to death. She had left her! She couldn’t do her like that. She had to go back no matter what the consequences could be. Zaria could still be alive, and she had the opportunity to make things right, but she had to turn around. The effects of the alcohol were quickly wearing off as the realization of the tragedy she caused set in. She made the nearest U-Turn and smashed down on the gas.

  "Please be okay, big sister. I’m coming back. I didn’t mean to do this! Oh God!" Cherie turned down the closest street that led her back into Zaria’s subdivision and quickly sped down the neighborhood street.

  BONK! BONK!

  Cherie slammed her foot onto the gas as a fire truck with flashing lights sped past her. Her heart dropped into her stomach. She pressed the button to let the window down as the fear that hit her caused her body to overheat. She placed the car into park, opened the door, and vomited into the streets. She knew they were headed for Zaria.

  "Damn, what the fuck have I done?" she asked herself as she spit onto the concrete. She hopped back into the car, placed the car into drive and drove toward Zaria’s house. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she turned down the street. The whole block was lit up like a Christmas tree. It was filled with police cars, two ambulances, and that big ass fire truck that just whizzed by her. She backed up and turned her car around, and then parked her car in front of one of the houses. "I gotta do something. I gotta make it seem like I just got here. I know what I’m a do."

  Cherie got out of the car, stumbled a bit, but headed towards Zaria’s house. It had only seemed like a good five minutes to her that she drove away from the scene and that fast help had arrived. She thought she was going to have enough time to make up for what she had done, but they’d already beat her to the punch. Thinking quick on her feet, she bolted towards the scene screaming at the top of her lungs.

  "Zaria! Oh, my God! Zaria!" Cherie cried out. She spotted Sym standing near the car as the paramedics placed Zaria onto the gurney. She wanted to throw up again. Zaria’s lower part of her body was covered in blood, and her stomach was not as big as it had been earlier. She knew she fucked up more than she thought. She had to fix this shit.

  Quasym briefly looked away from Zaria and spotted a bruised and bloody Cherie coming toward him. He didn’t know what the fuck was going on. He pulled up and spotted one of his neighbors kneeling down by Zaria’s car with a phone to their ear. It was like déjà vu all over again, back to when Zaria had been gunned in their driveway in the hood only months earlier.

  "Aye, somebody help her!" Quasym yelled out. He looked down at Zaria once more and then rushed over to Cherie noticing she was about to fall over. He reached her before she could hit the ground and held her up. "What the fuck happened?"

  "I don’t know; I was coming down the street and them niggas was speeding my way when they clipped my fuckin’ car."

  "What? Who?" Quasym asked with a confused look on his face.

  "I was getting ready to turn down this street to come and see Zaria when the bitch ass nigga just hit me out of nowhere. It was like he was trying to get away from something."

  "Who? Who the fuck are you talking about?" Quasym asked through gritted teeth. He shook Cherie by the shoulders trying to get her to focus. She was talking
in circles, and shit was making the situation that much more confusing.

  "It was Hova. I saw him and them bummy ass dreads. He sped off the street and ran right into my car."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yes, I’m positive. I saw him. It was Hova."

  Chapter 31: Make Them Niggas Pay

  The following night, Quasym, sat in his car blowing a blunt away. He glanced at the clock in his car and looked around as the chick he had been waiting on came towards him. She knocked on the window, and Quasym pressed the unlock button to the doors. She pulled the door open and dropped down in the passenger’s seat.

  "What they say?" he asked.

  "They said that he will be out by morning," Ashley said as she handed Quasym the paper for Marco’s bond.

  "A’ight, ‘preciate it ma’. So you sure that this address you gave me is where I can find Hova at?"

  "Yea, I just dropped Samantha off before I met you down here to take care of this. I made sure that’s where they were going to be at, and she said yes. She said they were gonna chill out; she was gonna cook, and put on some movies. She even invited me and my niece to come out and chill with them."

  "A’ight good looking," Quasym handed Ashley a rubber banded wad of money and cranked his car up.

  "Thank you. Make sure you let Marco know that I helped you out on this and tell him to please call me. I haven’t heard from him in months."

  "A’ight ma’. I’m a be sure I pass that along. ‘Preciate it."

  Quasym waited until Ashley stepped out of the car before pulling away from the bails bondsman place. He sped through the city streets until he reached I-30 and headed towards West Dallas. He didn’t know where the fuck Devon was at and why he hadn’t been able to get in contact with him.

  He tried to call him all day yesterday after Andres hit him with the news of him being his half-brother, but never got a response. He tried again last night after the whole ordeal with Hova coming at Zaria again, but still nothing. He was beginning to worry that maybe Hova had gotten to him and was only waiting for someone to tell him that they found Devon’s body. Even then, he had the address to where Hova was located thanks to Ashley. He was about to head out to the address, but first he had to handle something.