by Twyla T.
Chapter 11
Nikki held it together in front of Kamora, but she was distraught at the fact that her fiancé was cheating on her. She had lived her whole life waiting on him, waiting on this moment, only to be disappointed. Nikki was now standing in her living room, holding a certified letter that was delivered to her fiancé and herself. Nikki had been standing in the same spot for ten minutes, and she had read the letter a total of five times. Sabrina McComb was suing Ken for back time child support for two children, whose ages were eight and five.
Grabbing her purse, cellphone, and car keys, Nikki headed out the door. “Turning down men left and right, being stuck on stupid waiting on his trifling ass, and this is the thanks I get. That motherfucker gon have to see the other side of Nikki today, and I hope that bitch Sabrina is in the office too!” Nikki fumed while heading to Ken’s job. It took her all of fifteen minutes to get to his office, when it should have taken twenty-five to thirty minutes. Nikki double parked out front, hopped out, and stormed inside.
The receptionist called out to her, but she ignored her and kept speed walking towards Ken’s office. Barging in, Nikki found Sabrina and Ken in the middle of a heated argument. “Your little wifey will know about our kids any day now,” Sabrina was saying as Nikki burst through the door. Sabrina’s white face turned red as a stop sign. Nikki didn’t say any words; she just charged at Sabrina and hit her with a right hook to the nose. Sabrina screamed and fell backwards. Nikki jumped down on top of her and commenced to beating her ass. She gave her blow after blow until Ken pulled her up. When Nikki realized it was Ken who had her, she turned on him and was able to shift and punch him in the right eye.
“Shit!” he yelled and grabbed his eye. Since he grabbed his eye, Nikki was able to catch him off guard and get in a few more punches and scratches before security came rushing through the door.
“You got kids by this fucking white bitch! How could you do this to me? I hate you!! The fucking wedding is off, you no good son of bitch!” Nikki screamed as tears rolled down her face and one of the security guards pulled her off of Ken and out of the door and into a room down the hall.
“No, I don’t want to press charges. Let me talk to her for a minute please,” Ken said from the other side of the door about five minutes later. Nikki was sitting there, and it had finally dawned on her that she could go to jail. She really didn’t give a flying fuck and was sitting there thinking that she could’ve fucked them up more, if she was going to jail. The security guards wouldn’t allow Ken to come into the room where Nikki was being held.
“Let that motherfucker in!” Nikki got up and yelled. She tried to open the door, but it was locked from the other side. She kicked the door and sat back down after screaming a few more obscenities.
Ten minutes later, two cops walked into the room, one male and one female. The female officer spoke up first and told Nikki they were called to the location because they got a call about a disturbance. The officer told her that they had been briefed on what happened and weren’t sure if charges would be pressed, but it was their job to take her downtown to the station. “I hope y’all are taking those two motherfuckers too!” Nikki spat when they ushered her out of her seat. Walking out of the door, Sabrina was down the hall, yelling that she was pressing charges on that bitch for assault. Nikki tried to run towards her, but the officers intervened. “I hope you both rot in hell!” Nikki screamed to Ken and Sabrina as she was being escorted out of the front door.
Nikki was booked and escorted into a cell. She was thankful they walked past all of the cells that were full and put her in one by herself. As all of the shit she had done sank into her brain, along with being locked up, it made Nikki question if it was even worth it. “Oh my God! KJ!! I need to make a phone call,” Nikki pleaded to the officer. “My son… I need to have someone pick him up,” she continued. The officer looked at Nikki with sympathy and told her to give her the number, and she would make the call for her because it wasn’t time for her to be allowed a phone call. Nikki thought about Kamora, but she quickly got sad and dismissed that thought and gave the officer Ken’s mom number, since she was the closest.
All Nikki ever wanted was for Ken to settle down and love her the way that she loved him. She stood by him through thick and thin. When he didn’t have a job, she paid his car note, bought him clothes, food, paid his cellphone bill, and did any and everything he needed. Her parents always told her that she was too good of a woman to settle for Ken, but she loved him anyway. Nikki knew that Kamora felt some type of way about Ken and, although Kamora never judged her, Nikki still didn’t tell her all of the things that she had been going through. Deep down, she knew she deserved better, but she just felt like she had invested too much to just throw it all away. “Today was the last straw. Two fucking babies. I can’t deal with that shit,” Nikki mumbled to herself.
“Your son’s grandmother said she will pick him up for you,” the officer told Nikki through the bars and walked off. Nikki told her thank you and started back staring off into space, thinking.
About an hour later, Nikki heard keys jingling. She looked up and saw the male officer who was on the scene at Ken’s job, opening the door. “You’re free to go. Charges have been dropped,” he told Nikki. “He’s not worth you losing your freedom, and you’re far too beautiful to be going through this,” the officer freely admitted. Nikki felt bad about her actions, but it would be a lie if she said she wouldn’t do it all over again.
“Thank you!” she told the officer and followed behind him, so that she could get her personal belongings, which was only her cellphone that they retrieved from her pocket. “Do you have any idea where my car is?” Nikki asked him.
“It was supposed to be towed, but I drove it down here for you,” the officer told her quietly and slipped her the keys.
“Thank you so much!” Nikki thanked him again and gave him a hug.
When Nikki walked out, she bumped right into Ken. “Get the fuck outta my face, Ken!” she spat angrily and stepped around him.
“We need to talk,” he pleaded with her. The look she gave him let him know that he needed to back off ASAP. Nikki heard Ken saying he was sorry in the distance, but she kept walking. Ignoring him was the best thing to do at the moment, unless she wanted to be locked right back up.
Pulling up to Ken’s mother’s house, Nikki left her car on and got out. She had no plans on staying long. She simply wanted to speak, thank her for getting KJ, and leave. Unfortunately, her supposed to be future mother-in-law wanted to talk. Ken had called and fed her some bullshit story, and Nikki wasn’t about to entertain it. As nicely as she could, she told Ken’s mom that she didn’t feel like discussing the issue at the moment. She just wanted to get her son and go home. His mom stalled her for as long as she could and Nikki realized why when she finally went back outside and saw Ken pulling up.
“Daddy!” KJ said and started running towards his dad’s car.
Nikki felt herself becoming angrier by the second and she was afraid of what she might do next. Ken got out of the car and picked KJ up and playfully wrestled with him. “You wanna go to Laser Tag son?” Ken asked KJ, who said yes right away.
“Come on mommy!” KJ told his mom. Nikki knew exactly what Ken was doing, and she wasn’t about to fall into his trap. She just wanted to go home and wake up from the nightmare, but since Ken wanted to play games, she had a better idea.
“You and your dad can go on baby. Maybe he can pick up your siblings to take with y’all. I’ll see you later,” Nikki said sweetly and got in her car, leaving Ken standing there dumbfounded.
As soon as Nikki made it home, she went straight to the laundry room and grabbed all of the cleaning supplies, Clorox first. She went into their room and emptied every container she had, all of Ken’s clothes, shoes, and even on documents he had that were lying around. “His fucking job has gone to his head. I was with him when he didn’t have shit, and this is the motherfucking thanks I get. Stockbroking shit done made him
forget he was once a broke nigga,” Nikki vented as she destroyed everything she could. Her initial thought was to burn the got damn house down, but common sense kicked in. She told herself that Ken was going to get the fuck out and that her and KJ would be just fine. She was tired of crying over him and, deep down, it was only a matter of time before some shit popped off. Nikki was tired of crying, but the only thing she could do was fall to the floor and cry after she finished destroying everything she could that belonged to her ex fiancé.
Chapter 12
“We got the muthafuckin advantage right now, so why the fuck we ain’t capitalized yet? Do I have the right niggas on my team? Do I need to replace y’all mu’fuckas?” Jay addressed his team while smoking on some Kush. Jay’s right hand man, along with everyone else, was silent. They all shared the same thoughts and couldn’t figure out why he thought the task he had before them was going to be easy. Neither of them liked the fact that he was standing their making them feel like some little bitches, when they had all bent over backwards for him, even when he was on some bullshit. “I want them muthafuckas DEAD!! Do y’all hear me… DEAD! RIGHT GOT DAMN NOW!!” Jay fumed and left out of the room to go and check his safe. Jay never worried about anyone jumping stupid and pulling a gun on him because when they met at that particular location, no one was allowed to bring a gun in the front door. He had the shit set up like that for a reason. He kept one under the table at all times, but he knew he would never need it. Fear had been put into every nigga sitting in front of him. All eight men in attendance stood up and shook their heads. Each of them were responsible for keeping their teams in line, just as they had been doing, so they left to formulate plans.
Once Jay finished up counting his shit, he left and called Coco. He knew that she was going to be pissed about him giving Brooklyn a ring, especially when he had given her one last year and hadn’t married her yet. He needed to see her first before she found out from anyone else. He didn’t give a fuck about Coco’s feelings anymore, but it was a fact that she knew a lot of shit concerning his business, and he needed to keep her happy or he would have to kill her ass. “Oh, so yo ass finally remembered my number,” Coco said when she answered the phone.
“Well, hello to you too,” Jay said while chuckling, attempting to lighten the mood.
“What you want Jay?” Coco firmly asked.
“Book our room and meet me there in thirty minutes,” Jay replied and hung up without waiting on a reply.
Forty-five minutes later, Jay was pulling up to the hotel that he and Coco frequented, and he noticed that she was just pulling up as well. “Damn, this bitch ain’t prompt no mo,” Jay mumbled to himself as his phone began ringing. It was Brooklyn calling so he answered, but let her know that he was about to take care some of business, so she wouldn’t start a long conversation. Jay watched Coco get out of the car and go inside, so he sat there and continued talking until he knew she had everything taken care of. He wrapped the call up with Brooklyn by telling her he would see her soon.
Five minutes later, Jay headed inside and went straight to the room that was pretty much known as his. Even though it was his, he still had to let the manger know when he was there at this particular location. The door was left ajar and Jay walked inside and found Coco sitting on the bed, rolling a blunt. She looked up at him and rolled her eyes. This bitch done forgot what I’ll do to her mu’fuckin ass or sumn seem like, Jay thought to himself. Just as Jay was about to cuss Coco the fuck out, she spoke up.
“So, you ready to marry a new bitch, and I’ve been down with you for all these years?” she voiced to him with a mixture of sadness and anger in her voice. Damn, he thought to himself and wondered why he didn’t do this quicker, so he could have the upper hand.
Jay stood there listening to Coco vent, but he wasn’t about to take too much more of her shit. When she finally stopped talking, he began. “Yeah, you been down with me, but let’s be real. You’ve had your own motives since the got damn beginning. I wanted to be the one to break the news to you, but it is what it muthafuckin is. You don’t want my black ass no way; you just want the money. What kinda bitch goes and aborts the baby by a nigga they claim they wanna spend the rest of their life with? I’ll tell ya what kind. A bitch who been fucking and sucking any and everybody who will let you,” Jay said, unusually calm.
Coco opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She just sat there silently while Jay stared at her. “What’s the matter? Cat got ya mu’fuckin tongue now?” Jay asked with his head cocked to the side. Coco remained quiet, not knowing what to say. She had no idea Jay knew about the abortion, so she figured it was best to remain quiet because there was no telling what he would do if she tried to lie. Jay walked up to Coco and grabbed her around the neck and picked her up. She dropped the paraphernalia that was in her hands and tried to pry his hands from her neck, causing him to squeeze tighter. “I suggest you remember who the fuck you talking to and who you tryna play before yo ass become extinct!” Jay gritted through his teeth and threw her on the bed like she was a piece of paper and turned around and walked out of the room. After Coco finally gathered herself, she told herself that Jay would pay for every single time he ever put his hands on her and finished rolling her blunt, so she could smoke and relax.
Chapter 13
“Police, medical staff, and the coroner was called to a location outside of Atlanta late last night when the body of what appears to be a six or seven-year-old boy was found by a local resident who was walking her dog. No name has been released and no one has been notified because the body was so severely beaten that it will take dental records to determine proper identification,” the news reporter said when Kamora turned on the morning news.
“NOOOOOO OH MY GOD NOOOO!!!” Kamora screamed and fell to the floor. Demetrius hopped out of bed and ran into the living room.
“What’s wrong? What’s going on?” he asked her.
“Please… please don’t let that be my… my baby!” Kamora sobbed. Demetrius grabbed the remote from off of the table and rewinded the news, so he could hear the story Kamora was referring to.
“Police, medical staff, and the coroner was called to a location outside of Atlanta late last night when the body of what appears to be a six or seven-year-old boy was found by a local resident who was walking her dog. No name has been released and no one has been notified because the body was so severely beaten that it will take dental records to determine proper identification,” the news reporter repeated. Kamora screamed the whole time the news replayed. When the reporter moved to the next story, Demetrius turned the TV off and his heart sank. He fell to the floor and held Kamora tightly. He didn’t have any words to speak.
“It’s probably not him baby,” he finally said after about ten minutes of rubbing Kamora’s back and listening to her cry while he shed silent tears of his own, praying that the body found wasn’t D’Mani.
“They probably killed him for calling me,” Kamora whispered through more tears.
“Don’t say that baby… we don’t know… we just gotta have faith. Don’t give up,” Demetrius begged. He was trying his best to comfort her, but he felt defeated and helpless himself.
About forty-five minutes later, the doorbell rang. Demetrius had been on the floor holding Kamora since they watched the news. “Let me get the door baby,” he told her while shifting to get up. Kamora was numb. Demetrius opened the door to find the two detectives who had been working the case.
“I want to see the body!” Kamora said when she jumped up after noticing who was at the door.
“We’re not sure that’s a good idea, Mrs. Whitfield,” Detective Johnson told her.
“I… WANT… TO… SEE… THE… BODY!” Kamora spat angrily. Demetrius went to Kamora’s side and put his arm around her.
“Baby, let’s hear them out. Try to calm down,” he pleaded with her. He had been around Kamora long enough to know that when her mind was made up, it was just that. Demetrius told the detectives to have a seat. The
y did, and he ushered Kamora to the love seat adjacent to them.
Detective Johnson cleared his throat before he began talking. “I’m sure you guys saw the news. I wanted to get here before they aired it, but the story was leaked ahead of time. It’s very unfortunate for the family of the victim, but we really have no idea who the body belongs to. I must be upfront; D’Mani is the only missing child in the area…”
“I want to see the body right now. I will know if it’s my son,” Kamora said, cutting the detective off.
“We really think it’s best to wait on the dental records, but I can’t deny you the right to view the body, since you have a missing child that is similar to the description,” Detective Johnson said. “I really would advise you to wait though,” he continued, but Kamora wasn’t buying it. Her mind was made up.
“I have to see for myself,” Kamora declared as a fresh batch of tears streamed down her face.
“She’s not gonna change her mind, so can you set it up and we will be there later,” Demetrius told the detectives. They told him they understood and assured them that they would call with a time and give them the address shortly. Demetrius stood and escorted them out. He closed the door and just stood there, not wanting to turn around and face Kamora, but it was inevitable.
*******************
Three hours later, Demetrius helped Kamora into his car, and they headed downtown. The ride was eerily quiet, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Demetrius held Kamora’s hand as he whipped in and out of lanes. Twenty minutes later, he was pulling into a parking garage since, there was no available parking spot on the street. “We need to say a prayer before we go in here,” Demetrius looked and told Kamora after he put the car in park.
