by B. Love
I smiled and placed my feet on the floor. “Thanks. Let me hop in the shower and I’ll be on my way.”
“Cool.”
“Where are you going?” Rell asked as I ended the call.
“To find Jessica with Jabari.”
“Mane, they stay in some shit.”
“I know right. That’s my little sis, though.”
“Speaking of sisters… take some time today to see about yours.”
I looked at him skeptically. “Why?”
“She going through some shit right now.”
“And she talked to you about it instead of Kai or me?”
“Not intentionally. I woke up this morning and found her crying.”
“Crying? What the hell is wrong with her? Is it Mike?”
“Kind of. Just… take care of this shit with them and then see about her.”
The softness in his expression and voice warmed my heart. Even though she did him wrong he still cared about her.
“I will, baby.”
“I love you. Call me when you get to that nigga and call me when you on your way to her. Matter fact… do I need to go with you?”
“I’m sure it’s nothing, baby, but if you want to come you can.”
“Just, text me the address to where y’all gone be and I might slide through there.”
“Cool.”
After my shower, I threw on some basketball shorts and a baby tee and made my way to Jabari’s place. When I got there, he was sitting on the porch waiting for me. I parked my car on the street and made my way to his car. He met me there.
“Hey… sorry,” he said lightly standing in front of me.
“It’s cool. She still ain’t answering?”
“Nah. I’m just gone go to the address her phone is at and see what’s up.”
“Cool.”
We got inside his car. After he put the address into the GPS, I texted it to Rell.
“So… besides being engaged what’s new?” Jabari asked.
“Um, I don’t know, Jabari, still working on my poetry CD. I recorded some of my songs to send out to some labels to try to get on as a songwriter. You?”
“We’re opening a second restaurant so that’s cool.”
“That’s great, Jabari. What’s up with you and your girl?”
“Man… she’s cool. I don’t see it going anywhere, though.”
“Why not?”
“Jessica don’t like her.”
I chuckled. “Why not?”
“She ain’t you. You got her spoiled.”
My smile faded.
“You ain’t gotta close up. She knows nothing will ever be between us. She just… really likes you.”
“Well, I love her like a little sister. That will never change, but that shouldn’t keep you from being in love and happy.”
“It won’t. I’m just going to give her some time to get you out her system. Me too. I told you Al, I just wanted to see you loved and happy, whether it was by me or not. I meant that shit.”
I nodded. “How far away are we?” I asked.
“About fifteen minutes away.”
“Cool.”
Rell
I scooped Bishop up before heading to the address Al sent me. I just didn’t feel right sending Al off to handle some shit with that nigga alone. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him… Fuck it. I didn’t trust him. I didn’t know him, and as much drama as he and his little sister stayed in, I just wanted to keep my baby safe. Bishop and I made light conversation as I drove to the address she gave me. We were a couple of streets away when I texted her to see what was going on. She didn’t reply. I sighed heavily unintentionally before throwing my phone in the cup holder.
“What’s wrong, nigga?” Bishop asked.
“Shit. She ain’t texted me back yet.”
“Yo ole impatient ass.”
“Mane… I know I am so I’m tryna be cool about it.”
“You think she’s in danger or some shit?”
“Nah. She trusts the nigga and she loves his sister. Ion know. I know he still wants her. Maybe that’s what it is. Ion know.”
“I feel you. Well, we almost there, nigga. Y’all need to set some boundaries if you feel that strongly about her dealing with the nigga.”
“We gone have to do some. He can’t be calling her all times of the day. They gone have to get their shit together. Especially once I knock her ass up.”
“Lord have mercy. That’s gone be a sight to see. Yo over protective possessive ass already crazy now. I can only imagine how you gone be then.”
I just smiled. His ass was right. That was gone be some shit.
Alayziah
When we made it to the house that Jessica’s GPS on her phone led us to, Jabari said he was going to try to call her once more before we went in. When she didn’t answer, we got out and headed for the door. He knocked, but no one answered.
“Stay here,” He said walking to the side of the home. I waited there for a second before pulling my phone out to call Rell. That’s when I noticed he called me. As I let the phone ring Jabari held one finger up to his mouth and motioned for me to come with him. I hung the phone up, put it back in my purse, and walked towards him. When I got to the back of the house, he’d already gone inside. I followed suit. After I walked inside the home, I closed the door lightly. I turned around and saw Carmen standing in front of me.
“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this?” she asked. I was so caught off-guard that I couldn’t even respond. I just looked at her crazy ass. “Do you?” she screamed. I scanned the rest of the room for a sign of Jessica but she wasn’t there.
“Jabari,” I called out calmly. He slowly walked into the room. His face was laced with sadness.
“I’m sorry. She saw me kill Chris. She has been following me. You. Us. She said if I didn’t help her trap you she was going to go to the police,” he rushed out.
I nodded in understanding. I wasn’t messed up about him snitching. A nigga will do anything to keep his freedom. What I was pissed about was the fact that he didn’t appreciate all that I’d done for him and his sister to warn me.
“It’s cool Jabari,” I said nonchalantly throwing my purse to the floor.
“So what’s up, Carmen? What’s your beef? You wanna kill me cause I fucked your man and beat your ass?” I stepped towards her but stopped when she cocked her gun.
“No, bitch! I want to kill you because you took him from me. He was my last chance, Alayziah. My last chance to be happy. Do you know how hard it was for me to find a man who accepted me and my children as his own? And dealt with my crazy ass daddy? And you took Alex from me.”
I laughed lightly and shook my head. “Carmen, I didn’t take your man. He married you,” I reasoned.
“No. That piece of paper and ring didn’t mean shit to him. He still wanted and chased you. That’s why I killed his ass.”
My heart dropped. My ears had to be deceiving me. I know she couldn’t have said what I thought she said. She must be stone cold crazy. She had to have lost her mind. Alex died in a car accident. The hell she mean she killed him?
“The hell you mean you killed him?” I asked taking another step towards her.
“Stop fucking moving, Alayziah. You make me nervous when you move. Be still! I can’t think with you moving.”
“Fine. Fine. Just talk to me. Tell me what you mean. You said you killed him. Alex died in a car accident, Carmen.”
“I know, but I put sleeping pills in one of his bottles of tea. That’s why he fell asleep at the wheel. We took vows, Alayziah, that nothing but death would separate us. Not you. Not his family. Not my father or my baby’s daddies. Nothing but death. So, since he divorced me and planned to be with you I made sure death separated us, but now, you get to join him.”
I inhaled deeply before rubbing my face. Shaking my head as tears fell from my eyes. Running my fingers through my hair, I felt like my heart was pounding, trying to get out of my chest. Chill
s pierced my skin but I was hot on the inside, so hot my palms began to sweat as I stared into her eyes.
“You killed him? You took him from me?” I asked calmly.
“Seemed fair to me. You don’t agree?” she asked with a smile.
I opened my mouth to reply, but as I did, the door was kicked down behind us. Without even looking to see who it was, I took that as an opportunity to tackle Carmen and take the gun from her. After tossing it across the room, I started bashing her fucking face in. I have never been so angry in my life. Yes, I was happy, in love, and satisfied with Terrell and what I had with Alex could in no way compare to what I have with Terrell… but still… I loved him with all of me. I gave him access to my soul and that wasn’t something that could be easily forgotten. It was one thing for me to think that his death was just an act of God that neither of us had any control over, but to know that she took it upon herself to play a part in his death, took away what little rationality I had. I’d hit her so many times I was tired when a pair of arms wrapped around me and I knew by the grip that it was my baby.
“That’s enough, Ziah,” he said calmly pulling me away from Carmen. I didn’t even protest. Her face was already swelling beyond recognition. Bishop pulled his gun out and aimed it at Jabari.
“You want this nigga or can I have him?” he asked Rell as Jabari lifted his hands in the air.
“I want him,” Rell said putting me on my feet.
“Wait… wait… I know it looks like I set her up, and in a sense I did, but I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her. I only did it because she threatened to go to the police about me killing the nigga that raped my sister. I’ve been recording the whole thing. My camera is on top of the fireplace,” he said in one breath.
Rell walked over to the fireplace and pulled the camera down. After stopping the recording, he played it from the beginning. I walked over to Jabari and slapped him.
“You couldn’t fucking warn me?” I asked.
“I’m sorry, Al. Please, don’t be mad at me. I wasn’t going to let her harm you.”
“Where’s Jessica?”
“She’s at my mom’s. She’s safe.”
“I get that you did what you felt like you had to do… but this shit is just too much. For you to use my love and care for Jessica against me was low, Jabari. Do you know how scared I was that something had happened to her? You couldn’t think of another fucking lie to use?”
“I’m sorry, Al. I knew you wouldn’t come for me. I’m sorry.”
I shook my head in disgust as Bishop made Jabari go outside.
“What we gone do about her?” I asked Rell grabbing my purse.
“What you wanna do? We can do this the legal way and take her and this tape downtown and let her serve her time or we can do this the illegal way and dead her ass right here and now.”
Tired of the fighting, drama and death, I looked down at Carmen, as she lay unconscious. “Call the police.”
Rell
The past two weeks had been mad crazy. After the whole situation with Carmen was over and done with, Alayziah had a look of peace about her that I hadn’t seen before. I don’t think it was so much about Carmen, but about the closure, the situation gave her with Alex. She’d visited his grave and his parents after Carmen was arrested and she even introduced me to his brother. I didn’t sweat the shit because I knew she needed it. I didn’t want her taking that baggage into our union.
Her new furniture had arrived and instead of her moving back into her apartment until we were married, I convinced her to put her new furniture in my home. Our home. I let her completely redecorate the whole thing so she could truly feel like it was hers. Bishop’s sister Imani decided to move to Memphis for a little while since her divorce from Brian was finalized. Turns out, when she went back home after spending some time at Bishop’s house before he and Kai married, she found his ass cheating. Now, they have split custody of the twins and she’s trying to get as far away from him as she can. I thought it would be a good idea for her to move into Al’s old apartment and they both agreed. She was going to spend the week here in Memphis and fly out to Dallas on the weekends to be with her kids or have Brian bring them down.
Layyah finally told Al and Kai that she was done with Mike and moving back to Memphis for good. They couldn’t be happier because their little trio was going to be together on a regular basis. All in all, shit was good right now. Now, all I had to do was give Al her dream wedding so she can get off her birth control and give me my son – soon.
Alayziah
“Baby… can we get married here? I’ve always wanted a garden wedding,” I asked Rell as we walked around the Botanic Garden.
“Anything you want, baby,” he replied, squeezing my hand.
He led me down this concrete trail that led us to a secluded part of the garden. When I saw Marcel standing near the river I stopped walking abruptly. I looked up at him and he smiled.
“What is he doing here?” I asked. He shrugged.
“To walk his best friend down the aisle, I guess. What type of husband would I be if I married you without your other best friend being here?”
Tears filled my eyes as I buried my head in his chest. “Relllll…” I whined as he wrapped his arms around me. “Baby, you’re the fucking best!” I yelled as I sobbed.
“Watch your mouth…”
Epilogue
When Rell surprised me with our garden wedding, my joy was complete. To have a man as good and as fine as him was more than a blessing to me. Rell loved me just as hard passionately and unconditionally as I loved him. I was so happy I let my guards down one last time to get to know him. Lord knows I didn’t want to, though. I was so scared of being hurt again that I almost missed out on the man of my dreams, the man of my reality, the man that was all mine.
I looked around the garden as my family of friends congregated. Rell and I had about an hour or so left before we had to head for the airport and I wanted to take that as an opportunity to pass the love torch. Jabari and Jessica came for the wedding but left shortly after. Kai convinced Khalil to come down and see Imani so they were in the cut chilling, cheesing all in each other’s face. Rell told me about some nigga he knew that he thought would be perfect for Layyah. When I saw a light-skinned nigga saunter in that I’d never seen before, I figured that was him. I grabbed Rell’s arm to gain his attention.
“What’s up, baby?” he asked.
“Please, tell me that’s the nigga you got for my sister,” I whispered.
Homeboy looked good. He had the same light skin as Layyah. His muscles were exposed because he was wearing a v-neck black t-shirt. He had coal black wavy hair and a thick ass beard full of curls. Swear I’ve never seen that shit before. His lips were pinkish red in color and when he smiled at Rell, he flashed a set of pearly whites. Good Lord.
“Ion go for light skinned niggas but he fine as hell,” I continued.
“What you say?” Rell asked, pulling me behind him.
“I mean, he fine for Lay, you know you’re the only man who catches my eye.”
“Mane, whatever. You ain’t never said no shit like that about me before.”
“Rell, you a damn lie, I tell yo ass you handsome, fine and looking good all the time.”
“Who you cursing at?”
“Your crazy ass. You know I love you.”
“What’s love got to do with it?”
“Baby, I promise you fine as hell. I wouldn’t trade you for him or anybody else in this world. Just the sight of you gets my panties wet, especially when you have your hair up in a bun like this,” I pulled him down to my lips by his bun, his dick swelled against me immediately.
“Well, I know that ain’t Layyah,” the light skinned nigga said.
Rell pulled away from me and licked his lips as he stared at me.
“Baby…” I said nudging him towards the light-skinned nigga. “Introduce me to your friend, Rell.”
“You know you paying for that when we get i
n the car right? I’m spreading them legs as soon as we get out there.”
“Come on then. Hurry up and introduce them.”
Finally, he acknowledged his friend and they dapped it up.
“What’s up, nigga?” he asked.
“Shit what’s up? So, this the wife?” he asked looking at me.
“Hell yeah,” Rell said proudly. “Baby, this is Israel. Israel, this is my good thing Alayziah.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” he spoke taking my hand into his.
“You as well. You here for my sister?”
“Yeah, I guess so. Where she at?”
I pointed towards Layyah and Israel grabbed his dick through his pants. I chuckled and took a step back. His ass was gone be just like Terrell and Bishop.
“Damn, she looks good as fuck,” he mumbled, walking towards Layyah.
I followed behind him, Terrell followed behind me.
“Who is that?” Kai asked.
“Girl,” was all I could say as I blushed. Kai handed BJ to Bishop and walked towards us.
“Nosey ass,” Bishop said.
Layyah watched us all walk towards her skeptically. I couldn’t imagine how crazy we all looked. When Israel made his way to her he looked back at us. Chuckling, he shook his head and looked at Layyah. Her mouth opened slightly as she looked him up and down.
“What we about to get into?” he asked simply.
Layyah looked from him to Rell, then me.
“Who is this nigga?” she asked me.
I shrugged.
“You ain’t gotta ask them, ask me,” Israel said gently pulling her attention back to him by grabbing her chin and turning her face towards his.
“I shouldn’t have to ask you. When you approach a lady you’re supposed to introduce yourself,” Layyah replied, pushing his hand away from her face.
“Had I came at you like the average nigga would you have paid me any attention?”
“Hell nah,” Kai and I said simultaneously.
“Aight, let’s go,” Rell said, grabbing both of our hands.
