Loyal to His Lies

by T. C. Littles

  “What you say, bitch?” I lunged at him.

  “You heard me, dude!” Izzi grimed me, not moving an inch.

  “Dawg, suck my dick!” I grabbed my nuts, spitting onto the ground.

  “Naw guy, Zaria got this dick right here covered!” Izzi proclaimed, starting his engine and pulling off into traffic.

  I couldn’t move fast enough. I must’ve been hearing things. I replayed the conversation that had just taken place. I was still a little drunk, and my supposed-to-be homeboy had thrown me off my square, talking about he was banging my baby moms. They were both officially on my list.

  Calling a cab first to get to Zaria’s, then the police, I anxiously waited, pacing the club’s parking lot with intense anger as several of the valet attendants looked on with a “so what your truck is missing?” attitude.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  The Ultimate Revenge

  Izzi

  I’d kept pressing the REDIAL button over and over, trying to get through to Zaria. I was trying to plan for us to meet up at the hotel afterward. After all that had unfolded tonight, a new game plan was needed to go forward.

  Why in the hell isn’t she answering the phone? I hoped she wasn’t going at it with Spice. Nardo’s flock was all out of line. I didn’t know the exact details of what went on at Nardo’s condo or what she’d done, but I knew a lot of truths were about to hit the fan. I’d already brazenly snitched to Nardo about me and Zaria’s secret relationship, and I already knew he was gonna try coming at me hard behind having a scarred ego. I was ready to take him out, though. Nardo ain’t never been a real street nigga like he proclaimed to be.

  Spice

  I had been camped out in front of Zaria’s house for hours. I’d even gotten out and walked around her house and looked through the windows. I hated her to my core, but I wanted to see what she was living like. I wanted to see what drew Nardo over here when he’d go against my wishes to visit. I kept thinking he was going to pull up and I was going to catch the two of them fucking around, especially since he hadn’t answered the hundred or so calls I’d placed to his phone, but there hadn’t been any movement.

  “Mommy, the battery is red,” my son whined from the back seat.

  “Give it here and I’ll charge it for a little bit and give it back. You can rest your eyes for a bit.” I knew he was antsy from having to sit still. As soon as I looked up from plugging the tablet in, I saw Nardo’s truck coming up the street and pissed in my panties.

  I knew I should’ve listened to my daddy about your trifling ass. My eyes filled with tears and as my finger glided up and down the blade I was holding in my hand.

  As the truck passed by, I looked up and saw Zaria driving it.

  “What the hell is she doing driving my man’s shit? Matter of fact, that’s my truck as much as I’ve paid for it.” I climbed out my car, ready to find out. “I’ll be right back, baby. Stay here,” I told my son then slammed my car door.

  Zaria was caught up in her own world until I cut her off in mid-step.

  Zaria

  Once I turned onto my street, I let out the biggest sigh of my life, thankful that I was about to be at home without getting pulled over by the police. I was still paranoid and confused about what I’d done. I couldn’t stop glancing over my shoulder at Melanie’s wrapped-up corpse. I knew my love for Nardo ran deep, but the emotions had literally driven me crazy. I’d literally taken a life. After parking Nardo’s truck a few houses down from mine, I hopped out and started rushing to my door. I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I didn’t even notice I was being watched or walked up on.

  “You’ve got to be out of your muthafuckin’ mind!” I yelled in amazement at my baby daddy’s li’l island monkey. “What in the hell are you doing at my spot? Did you come here for another beatdown?” I was still frantic and in another head space over murdering Nardo’s other play-toy.

  “I didn’t come here to play with you, Zaria.” Spice exposed the knife she was holding behind her back and wildly waved it at me.

  I started laughing erratically. “Girl, bye! You better make sure you kill me since you done pulled that little piece of bullshit out.” I taunted her. “I ain’t never let a bitch threaten me and get away with it!” I screamed and braced myself for a fight.

  She waved her knife at me again, but closer to my face. I didn’t let her arm get all the way back down or in another full motion before grabbing her wrist. I then started twisting and yanking it as hard as I could till the knife fell from her hand.

  “Oh, hell naw, you should’ve definitely stayed in the burbs with yo’ weak ass.” I grabbed the knife and put it to work. I first cut her across the left side of her face. Then, I lost control and started slicing her entire face up. The same feeling that came over me when I killed Melanie had slipped inside of my spirt again. It felt like I was possessed and having an out-of-body experience. “I told you to leave me alone. I told you to leave my family alone. I fucking warned your dumb ass not to come for me.” I thought about all the nights I’d laid up lonely while Nardo laid up with her.

  Izzi

  I slammed on my brakes and burned rubber in the middle of Zaria’s block when I saw the drama that was unfolding. It was sheer anarchy and had me stuck still. Zaria was like a savage as she slit ol’ girl all across the face. I thought she was gonna fuck around and gut her, until she dropped the knife and started beating Spice’s ass. I’d never seen a chick act as deranged as Zaria was acting. Her hair was all over her head, her jaws were clenched tightly with determination, and her eyes looked like she was possessed by the devil. I knew Nardo had fucked her heart up, but I had no idea he’d fucked up her mind too. It wasn’t until a bright pair of headlights flashed into my face that I came out of the trance I was in.

  Oh shit, let me get this girl. I jumped out of the car to disarm Zaria.

  “Oh, hell naw! What the fuck is going on? Spice? Oh my God! What happened? Baby, are you okay?” I heard Nardo’s yelling turn from shock to pure fear.

  I turned around to see him leaping from the back seat.

  Zaria

  “Oh, no the fuck you didn’t just scream for your precious Spice. Are you blind or something? You do see where she’s laid out at, right? My fucking house. Our daughter’s fucking house, shall I be all the way politically correct.” My heart was racing, and I was out of breath. “You got some nerve coming to her defense,” I shrieked out as I let Spice, who was begging for her life, fall to the grass. “First she can shoot my car, and now this? I’m the one constantly being disrespected—by you and her.”

  “I been told you our relationship was over, Zaria, so please quit playing that victim role you love playing so much. Ain’t no bitch that’s fucking my homeboy a muthafuckin’ victim. Real talk. Yup, the cat is out of the bag on that one. You ain’t shit, and you ain’t never gonna be shit.” Nardo was coming toward me, fists clenched. “Now I’m about to teach you a real lesson about what disrespect really is.”

  “Hold up, guy! I’ll put a bullet in that ass before you put a hand on her.” Izzi stepped out of the shadows, making his presence known. “You better slow yo’ roll.”

  Chuckling like he was purely amused, Nardo looked between me and Izzi like we were ghosts. “This bullshit must be a joke. Are you serious, dog?” Nardo questioned Izzi as he started walking up on me again.

  “Try me. You already know I gets down,” Izzi pledged.

  “I can’t believe I was down for you, and all this time you were running around with skeezers, getting every pussy in the world to carry your little punk children. I hope you die in your sleep, Nardo!” I shouted.

  “You think I wanted kids by your trifling, stank ass? Hell to the fuck no! You didn’t amount to anything before Cidney, and you ain’t gonna amount to nothing never. You always gonna be a gutter rat trying to be on the come-up,” he predicted before getting down on his knees at Spice’s side and opening his cell up to call for help. “Go over there and suck my boy’s dick like you
been doing. Maybe he still wants yo’ messy ass.”

  I looked Izzi directly into his eyes and shook my head in disbelief that he’d told Nardo about our special secret encounters. How could you do that to me? I puzzled as the dampness of the night surrounded me. Not a single breeze was in the air as I stood in the middle of my front lawn with my life in a complete shambles and a bloody steak knife down at my side.

  All my nine-to-five nosy neighbors, who had grown to love me and my baby daughter, were all in bathrobes, standing on their porches, passing judgment on me. A small child, who appeared to be Spice’s son, was banging on her car window, trying to get out and probably kick me in the leg for hurting his mother. Even the stray cat I used to give a bowl of milk to every morning walked past me, turning up his nose. And worst of all in my real-life nightmare was that Nardo’s truck, which was housing Melanie’s dead body, was parked just a few short yards away, waiting for someone to look in the back and discover I was a murderer. I didn’t want to go on, yet I’d gone too far to turn back.

  “What’s next?” I lifted my head, asking God, knowing He had finally given me more than I could stand. It was then that I realized the fairytale I’d been living in my head was exactly that—a fairytale. My baby daddy was never gonna respect me or be loyal to me.

  Out of nowhere, I dashed to Izzi’s still-running car with revenge fueling my rampage. Hopping into his ride, I threw the gear into drive and slammed down on the gas pedal. As the automobile quickly accelerated, jumping the curb, Izzi was smart enough to get the fuck out of my way by diving into the thick row of bushes and taking cover. But Nardo, the source of all my problems, was not that fast-thinking or wise. Frozen stiff, he was dead in my path, eyes cocked wide open like a deer trapped in headlights.

  “I hate you, Renard!” I relived flashbacks of all the heartache, resentment, and drama he’d taken me through as I gripped the steering wheel and pressed my foot down on the gas pedal. “I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.” It felt my chest tightening as the anxiety ate me up. I couldn’t see straight. I felt enraged! My heart was racing, and my veins were filled with vengeance as I rapidly increased speed toward my child’s father and made contact with his body. I didn’t see him helplessly soar up in the air, but I sure as hell felt him come forcefully down. Nardo’s muscular frame came crashing down on top of the car’s hood, making a gigantic dent when he landed.

  The heavy impact of him hitting Izzi’s car made me feel powerful. I’d spent too many years at his mercy. I couldn’t stop laughing as I heard him crying out in pain. I felt like he deserved it. I didn’t pity him.

  “You’re lucky I didn’t kill you and that you can still fight for your life, with yo’ dumb ass,” I coldly shouted, then callously slammed on the brake and knocked his cheating ass onto the concrete pavement. “Matter of fact, now y’all can love up on one another in rehabilitation.” I slammed on the gas pedal again, this time pulling off and over his tatted-up leg at the same time. “Bye, Renard.” I had the last word, laugh, and vengeance.

  “Damn. I done fucked up,” I said, regretfully realizing what I’d done as I looked in the rearview mirror at the chaos in front of my house.

  Oh, well! I did what I had to do. It couldn’t be helped. After all, I am a woman scorned.

  Now, ready or not, I was about to move on and start a new chapter in my life. There would be no more VIP treatment, no more shopping sprees, no more hair appointments, and no more pedicures at Kimmie’s. No more would I be known as Zaria, the number one, topnotch bitch in Detroit. I had a new title to live up to. I would now be known as Zaria, the bitter baby momma on the run.

  As I was driving and coming to grips with what I had to do, my maternal instinct kicked in. Confidently, I opened my cell to call the babysitter, informing her I was on the way to pick up my innocent baby girl Cidney, so she should have her ready.

  Started from the bottom now we’re here.

  Started from the bottom now we’re here.

  My ringtone went off. I powered off my phone. I knew Izzi wasn’t gonna stop calling. Wiping the multitude of tears from my eyes, I felt messed up that I couldn’t talk to the one person who had been down with me, but I couldn’t take the risk of answering. I didn’t know if he was hemmed up, or if it was even him on the line. So much had gone down in front of my house with my neighbors watching that I was sure the police already knew my name.

  I started panicking and shaking when I heard their sirens off in the distance. I didn’t know if they were coming for me or not, but I rubbed my belly and took off. I was officially a pregnant chick on the run because I refused to have me and Renard’s second baby in a jail cell.