by T. Styles
“I remember the day, but what happens now? If Slade catches Eleanor, she’s going to tell him that Farah tried to kill her, even though she tried to kill her too.”
“Farah is sick and lives in the moment. Most liars do. She doesn’t understand that her lies will come back to haunt her. She’ll do whatever she can to get out of the situation. The only thing on her mind is keeping Slade and cleaning up her mess. But when you do so much dirt, it’s hard to clean it all up.”
“I’m scared for Farah,” Cutie said, sipping her soda. “Part of me thinks she deserves to be alone, but the other part of me is sad.”
“How are you scared for her when you don’t even know her?” She laughed, sitting in the recliner.
“I know it’s crazy.” She sighed. “But I feel like I know her. She had a hard life, and I do too.” She placed her soda on the table. “It’s like we are . . .”
“The same?” Mooney questioned. “I told you when I first began the story that you both were alike.”
“That’s kind of scary though.” She pouted. “What about the Fold? The Bones character sounds scary.”
Mooney laughed. “He is.” She paused. “And what did you mean by saying you have a hard life?”
Cutie looked into her soda can. “I don’t want to talk about that kind of stuff right now.” She seemed saddened. “Maybe later.”
“Okay, but I want you to know you can talk to me about anything, Cutie,” Mooney said honestly.
“About anything?”
“You name it.”
“Well, can you start by telling me the rest of the story?” She laughed.
“That was good.” She chuckled. “Anyway, wanting Eleanor and catching her had proven to be two different things.”
Chapter 33
Farah
“The last thing we need is for the cops to be circling around here.”
It seemed as if Farah had been chasing Eleanor forever. When Farah originally spotted Eleanor, she chased her down the street, but before Farah could catch her, Eleanor dipped into an apartment building. There was no way Farah could lose her now, so she stayed on Eleanor’s trail.
Farah ran up and down the hallways of the property trying to find Eleanor. To her dismay, she realized she’d lost Eleanor. She felt like kicking herself in the head. In the end, all she could ask herself was, How does she keep getting away? She was about to search another floor when Slade found her on the fourth.
“Where the fuck did she go, baby?” he asked, walking up behind her. “You didn’t let her get away, did you?”
Farah had an idea of which floor she hid on, but she had no intention of telling him. “I’m sorry, baby. I tried to stay on her trail, but she was too fast. You saw how quick she was running.” She punched at the air. “I feel like I let you down again.”
“Don’t worry about it, babes. I’m going to knock on every door in this mothafuckin’ building until I get her. That’s on my mother.” He looked around where he stood, trying to determine which door to knock on first.
She saw the determination in his eyes and had to put a stop to it. “No, Slade! You can’t do it this way.”
“Why?” He frowned, looking down at her. “If we let her get away, we’ll never be able to find her again.”
“Because . . . because . . . uh . . . when we started chasing her,” she stuttered, “somebody said they were gonna call the police. For all we know, they may be on their way here right now.”
“I don’t give a fuck about no police, babes! I dream about this bitch every night!” Slade yelled. “And she gonna tell me why she had my brother’s phone or I’ma light this building on fire. I know this bitch know more than she told us. Why else would she be hiding?”
“You’re right. She’s hiding because she does know something,” Farah encouraged him. “I been telling you that from the jump, and I’m glad you’re able to see it for yourself now, but we have to be smart, baby. The last thing we need is for the cops to be circling around here. You don’t want to get locked up for threatening no white woman.” She pulled him closer. “Then you really won’t be able to find Knox’s body.”
He pushed her back. “What you mean find Knox’s body?”
The hair on the back of her neck rose. “I didn’t mean it like that. I meant find Knox. I’m sorry, baby.”
He was still skeptical about her response, but said, “My brother is alive somewhere, and I’m going to find him. Don’t ever say body and my brother’s name in the same sentence again. Understand?”
“Yes, baby. I do. I know you want her, but you not going to be able to get her if the cops catch you.”
There were two things that she said that scared him to death since he was from the South, and they were getting locked up for threatening a white woman and not being able to help his family. Slade paced the floor angrily because he knew she was telling the truth.
“You right. Let’s get the fuck out of here. I got a plan.” They rushed to the truck, but once they were inside, he didn’t pull off. Instead, he got on the phone and called his brothers. “Major, the family with you?” Slade sounded anxious.
“Yeah. We all here! Everything cool? You sound out of it.”
“No. I need y’all to come down here to Mama’s Kitchen. This bitch Eleanor just went into this building, and I don’t want to take my eyes off of it until she walks out. Bring Judge and Grant too. We need as many people as possible on this shit. I don’t care if we have to stay out here all night. I want niggas in the front and in the back. You got me?”
“Say no more. We on our way!”
When he ended the call, Farah was sweating so hard she was about to pass out. This was the one thing she was trying to avoid. She had to think quickly on her feet or else a bag of shit was about to blow up in her face. Think. Think. What can you do to save yourself? She was hard pressed for an excuse to get the fuck out of dodge, until she broke out in hives all over her arms and face. Back in the day, it was the worst thing that could happen. Now it was a blessing in disguise.
“Slade,” she exhaled, “baby, I gotta go home.”
“Not now, Farah,” he said, eyes still glued on the building. “I’m waiting on my brothers to get here first. We finally about to get some answers around here.”
“I know, but I’m not feeling too good. I got to go now,” she said in a low voice as she watched him continuously looking at the building.
“I told you I can’t.” He stopped short of yelling at her when he looked at her face. She was covered in red splotches and looked like an entirely different person. He’d never seen anything like it in all of his life. “Oh shit, are you okay?” He grabbed her arms. “Damn, baby, what the fuck is going on?”
“I’m having an allergic reaction. I’m not feeling too well.”
“But we didn’t eat anything yet.” His eyes continued to roll over her body.
“I know. It’s probably something in that building.” She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just gotta get out of here.”
“You want me to take you to a hospital or something?” he asked, concern heavy in his voice.
“No, I got some stuff at my house though, but we gotta leave so I can get it, or else it’s gonna get worse. I know you want to wait on Eleanor, but I’m in so much pain, baby. If I don’t get what I need, my throat may close up.”
He looked over at the building and his right leg moved rapidly. This was the last thing he needed to happen, but he also didn’t want the love of his life to be in pain. What if her heart kicked into overdrive or something and she died?
He pulled out of the parking space and drove into traffic. Agitated, he took his phone out of his pocket and called his brothers again. “Major, something came up, man. I gotta go.”
Major sounded frustrated. “What you mean, you gotta go? We almost there. Give us a few minutes.”
“I can’t. Just know that an emergency came up or else I wouldn’t leave. The building is right next to the restaurant. She’s a white o
lder woman and she’s wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt. Question every white person who fits the description. Matter of fact, question everybody. Whatever you do, don’t let her get past you. I don’t give a fuck what you have to do.”
“Are you sure she went into the building?”
“I’m positive!” Slade told him. “You hear the pump in my voice. This shit is the real deal. Something tells me we’re finally about to find out what happened to Knox.”
“Okay, we on it. I’ll get up with you later with an update.”
When Slade was done, he hung up and continued on the way to the house. Two minutes later, his phone rang again and he answered. “Hello.”
“Slade, you gonna pay for leaving me at the restaurant. I promise,” Shannon screamed into the phone.
“Suck my dick, you whore-ass bitch,” he yelled, ending the call.
Farah looked over at him. “Who was that? Shannon?”
He rubbed her leg. “Don’t worry about all that. I need your mind at ease.” He snatched his hand away and moved angrily down the road.
Farah could tell he was annoyed, so she kept quiet so he could concentrate on driving. The last thing she needed was to irritate him even more, especially since it was because of her he had to leave. When they made it to Platinum Lofts and then her apartment, she just knew he would go back to the building. Instead he followed her inside the apartment.
“Are you going back?” she asked. “I figure you’d want to as soon as possible.” She wanted him gone so she could pack her shit and get the fuck out of dodge.
“You playing, right? My girl in here fucked up and you want me to leave? Naw, baby. I gotta make sure you’re okay first.”
She threw her keys on the table next to the door.
“What you got for your condition? And why you didn’t tell me you had allergies like that? You gotta be careful out here.”
“I don’t always know when it’s gonna kick in. My stuff is in the bathroom though.” She walked down the hall, but he was right on her heels. Needing space, she said, “Baby, can you bring me something to drink? A bottle of water from the fridge?” She tried to make a joke. “Try not to break that one. It’s new.”
He laughed. “At least you got a sense of humor right now.”
“Seriously, I need water to take my medicine,” Farah said.
“No problem. I got you, babes.”
When he walked into the kitchen, she dipped into the bathroom and locked the door. She slammed the medicine cabinet a few times to make noise and sat on the toilet to clear her head. What can I say to get rid of this nigga?
A minute later, Slade was wiggling the doorknob. “You okay in there, baby?”
She loved him to pieces, but at the moment, wanted nothing more than for him to go away. “I’m fine, Slade. I have to use the bathroom too. Can you just hold the water for me until I come out?”
“You sure you okay?” Slade inquired. “Because you got my head fucked up out here.”
“I really am fine. Just give me a few moments.”
“Okay, I’ll be in the living room in case you need me. And if the medicine doesn’t work, I don’t care what you say, I’m taking you to the hospital.”
Fuck. Having spent most of her childhood in hospitals, the last thing she wanted was to go to one. “Okay, baby. I’ll see you when I get out.”
Farah had to come up with a plan. She had no doubt in her mind that his brothers would be grabbing that old woman and hauling her there in any second. When that happened, what was she going to do? What was she going to say?
After faking long enough in the bathroom, she walked out and into the living room with a sad look on her face. She stood in front of him while he observed her beauty.
“Even now you’re beautiful.” He reached his hand out to her, and she sat next to him on the sofa. “Drink up.” He handed her the bottle of water, and she curled up into a ball and lay on his chest. “I didn’t fuck up the fridge.” He nodded toward it. “But I did break a glass getting you some ice.”
She laughed. “Leave it to your cock-strong ass to break some shit.”
“Where is your medicine?”
“I took it already.” She felt the cool bottle in her hand. “I used faucet water.” She placed it on the table.
“Well, how do you feel now?”
“I’ll be better in a little while.” She lied so much she couldn’t stand herself anymore. “I don’t want you to worry, Slade. I go through this all the time.”
“Baby, I’ma always worry about you. Even when we weren’t together, I worried.” He rubbed her face. “What you take?”
“It’s something the doctor prescribed. I can’t even remember the name of it.” Farah swallowed.
“You should always know what you take. Go get me the bottle. I want to see what they giving you.”
I know this is you, Knox, trying to ruin my relationship from the dead! “Slade, I just want to lay up under you. Can you give me that?”
“You right, baby.” He rubbed her back. “What did you want to tell me the other night when your crazy ass jumped out my ride on the side of the road?”
Originally she wanted to tell him about her lifestyle, but what if he didn’t understand? What if he left her and this time for good? “I do things, sometimes, to make me feel better.”
When she stopped, he said, “Things like what? Drugs? Weed?” He chuckled. “We all do a little something different when times are hard. As long as you not fucking with dope or crack, I’m good with it.”
“It’s nothing like that.” She shook her head. “It’s like . . . like . . .”
“You can tell me anything, Farah, so don’t hold back with me anymore. I want us to be stronger, and we do that by staying honest.” He was in his head about their relationship, when for some reason, he thought about what Shannon told him a while back. He never asked her about it before because it was too farfetched to be true. “I heard something a while back that I never said to you because it didn’t make any sense.”
She sat up straight and looked at him. “What was it?”
“Somebody told me you drank . . . that you were drinking blood.”
Farah’s heart dropped. Out of all of the things in the world, she didn’t imagine he would ask her that. She considered telling him the truth, since he heard the rumor a while back and never stopped loving her. She was about to confirm the story, until she considered the way he looked at her at the moment. His expression was filled with slight disgust, and she knew telling him about her lifestyle would be the death of the relationship.
“Slade, don’t ask me anything so crazy like that again,” she spat.
He laughed and appeared relieved. “I knew it was dumb, but I wanted to check with you anyway. So what did you want to tell me?”
“Can we do it later?” She paused, rubbing his leg. “For some reason, my head is starting to hurt even more.”
“No problem, babes.”
After a few more minutes passed, she said, “So . . . you talk to your brothers yet? Were they able to catch Eleanor?”
He took his phone out of his pocket. “I’m waiting on them to call right now. I don’t want you to be worried about all that though.”
Yeah, right. It’s the only thing I can think about.
His phone rang. “Speak of the devil.” He answered it. “What’s up, man? You got her?”
“Is Farah with you?” Killa questioned.
He looked down at her and rubbed her hair softly. “Yeah, why?”
“Keep her there, man. We on our way now.”
He looked at the phone strangely and put it back in his pocket. Suddenly there was a shift in his body mechanics. He wasn’t as loving as he was earlier, and Farah felt it. “Who was that?”
“My brother Killa.”
He didn’t tell her what he said, but he didn’t need to. She was a wizard at knowing when something was wrong.
“You sure you okay?” Farah asked him. “You seem differe
nt now that you’re off the phone.”
“I’m fine.” Slade smiled. “I told you to stop worrying.” Slade pulled her closer. “You not going anywhere right now, are you?”
She shook her head. “No. Why you ask? I don’t even feel like leaving the house.”
“Good. I’ll be glad when all of this shit is behind us.”
“You and me both, Slade.”
When Killa arrived, he was flanked by Major and Judge and Grant, and they all looked ready for business. Although the four of them made it obvious they didn’t fuck with her, it was the scraggly-looking man with the nappy hair who held her attention. It was the same man who robbed her in the dope house.
“What’s up?” Slade looked at the stranger. “Who the fuck is this? And where’s the bitch?”
Killa walked past Slade and up to Farah’s spotty face. His jaw clenched, and for a second she felt like he was about to lay hands on her in a bad way. “When are you gonna start being real with us, Farah? We know you had something to do with Knox going missing. Just shoot us straight. If you love my brother like you said you do, you’ll speak the truth.”
She stepped back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She looked at Slade. “I don’t even know this man, baby.” She didn’t want to tell him that they’d met each other before.
Killa looked at the unwanted visitor. “Come here, man. Tell her what you told us at the building.”
The man who robbed her cautiously stepped closer to Farah. “Eleanor was at my apartment earlier.” His voice was low and fragile. It was as if he was afraid of her, and she guessed it was because he robbed her. “She’s been living with me for the past few months. Anyway, she told me when she saw you earlier that she was in fear for her life. She said you’re trying to blame her for something she didn’t do.”
“Are you sure it’s not the fact that she tried to kill me?” Farah responded.
