Torn: I Dont Need You, But I Want You

by Latoya Chandler

  Chapter Seventy-Six ~ Bernard’s Partner

  We ride together, we die together. Bad boys for life.

  — Bad Boys 2

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  The crying becomes louder the closer I get to the room where all the commotion is coming from.

  “Please, everyone go back into your rooms! I am a policer officer!” I plead, trying to diffuse the crowd.

  As I get closer to the room, the cries become familiar to me, causing my heart rate to speed up a bit.

  “Nae? What happened?” I question, closing the door behind me, observing the older gentlemen sprawled across the floor riddled with bullets, along with Latavia passed out or dead on the floor.

  “What happened here? Is Tae dead?” I nervously question.

  “No!” she cries. “She shot her father like a mad woman before passing out on the floor. She emptied all the bullets into his chest, Nard! He’s dead!” she continues to cry.

  Grabbing Nae’s face and pulling her close to me, I calmly give her instructions, saying, “I need you to calm down. Now is not the time to panic. Latavia can’t go down for this so I need you to hold onto the gun for me and I will take care of the rest,” I say, kicking the gun closer to her.

  I turn to walk out the room and walk smack into a sweating, weak-looking man who resembles D. “D, what are you doing here? How did you know . . . When did you get out of the hospital?” I quiz.

  “Nard, there’s no time for twenty-one questions. I had to take care of something that couldn’t wait,” he replies.

  “What are you saying, D? Let me help you,” I plead.

  “It’s already done and I will have to suffer the consequences for my actions. No need for you to get any more involved than you already have been,” he confesses through his tears.

  “D, you’re talking nonsense. We are in this together. Please tell me what you’ve done.”

  “My partner, my dear friend and brother, you know I don’t believe in divorce; it is not an option. I did what I had to do in order to fix my marriage,” he discloses as the boys-in-blue flood the hall, trying to assess the situation.

  Chapter Seventy-Seven ~ The Revenge of Nariah

  In moments of pain, we seek revenge.

  — Ami Avalon

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  Recapping what I witnessed is sucking the life out my body; I am numb. How could Nard fix his lips to ask me to hold on to a weapon that was used in a cold-blooded murder? The murder of my future husband! Tae took everyone who truly loved me away from me, and she will pay for her hard-hearted actions. I refuse to allow her to walk away from this scot-free like she does with everything else.

  The entire police force is made up of a bunch of cowards who cover shit up, looking out for their own. They stand there and look the other way as Darnell hobbles his cripple ass out of the hotel with Nard like he didn’t just kill BK. When I get done, we will be one big, happy family of cellmates with the exception of Tae. She will be reunited with her father and BK in paradise.

  I wait a few days to allow myself to mourn and have a proper burial for my love before making a guest appearance at Tae’s bedside. She must have forgotten the fact that her darling husband Darnell gave both of us lessons at the shooting range, and I am more than happy to remind her of it. I have been playing my part, calling up to the hospital, pretending to be a concerned family member, making sure no one has beat me to the punch. Even though I am well aware they can’t give me too much information, technically all I want to know is if she’s still ticking.

  It feels as if I arrive at the hospital in the blink of an eye as fast as I get there. I’ve been listening to Keith Sweats How Deep is Your Love since my love’s murder. The more I listen to the song now, the harder I press on the gas petal, as well as becoming more enraged by each note of Keith’s begging.

  ‘Tae is about to get her Keith Sweat on in a minute,’ I think as I approach her room. I can hear voices in her room the closer I get, so I stand outside and wait for the coast to clear. As I enter the room, of course she’s being extra dramatic with the whys and can’t believe it, annoying the fuck out of me.

  “Believe what, you selfish bitch?” I spit, pointing the gun Nard coincidentally asked me to hold onto.

  “What are you doing with that gun? You’re my sister,” she cries.

  “Now we’re sisters? What was I when you tried to kill me?” I spit.

  “I didn’t almost do anything! I knew exactly what I was doing and who I was killing when I was shooting!”

  “Is that right?” I question, hitting her across the face with the butt of the gun. “You can say your prayers and Hail Mary’s now; you’re about to join your father in heaven with the same gun you killed him with, bitch!” I spit through my tears.

  “What’s wrong with you?” she screams as blood oozes from her mouth.

  I hate her with everything in me! She had it all, and to think I stuck with her through it all, but she couldn’t be happy and leave well enough alone. She caused all of this, and I am a firm believer of getting to the root of a problem and eliminating it. After saying my final words to her, I am now standing over her with the gun planted right between her eyes.

  “What the hell! Get off of me!” I scream as two officers tackled me down to the floor.

  “Ms. Westbrook, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Latavia Carter. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?” one of the officers recites as he is placing me in handcuffs.

  “Attempted murder? I didn’t attempt to kill anyone! She’s the murderer, not me!” I scream as they lead me away.

  Chapter Seventy-Eight ~ Sharon’s Horrific Dilemma

  We don’t like admitting this, but it is a key component of human existence:

  the fact that life has the potential for things both wondrous and horrific.

  — Douglas Kennedy

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  I’ve been cooped up in this hotel room for one-too-many days. There is but so much television one can watch and I don’t have any of my books to read. ‘I guess it’s the perfect time to go downstairs for a glass of wine or two,’ I think. ‘There’s nothing a nice glass of Cabernet Sauvignon can’t cure. That wine has been there with me through the good and the bad times dealing with Braxton.’

  Stepping off the elevator, my heart lights up as my eyes land on Bernard. ‘This has to be fate. What are the odds that he would walk into the same hotel that I am staying in at this very moment,’ I excitingly think.

  “Bernard!” I say, walking in his direction.

  He doesn’t respond as he is currently distracted by the harlot pulling him in closer to her. Bernard totally disregards me and my feelings, not even blinking twice or looking at me.

  “Excuse me, ma’am. I don’t mean to be any trouble, but I am trying to enjoy my evening with my guest and I am not in the mood for the confrontation that this woman wants to bring my way. Can you please have security or someone remove her from my presence?” he asks, displaying his badge.

  I assume that’s all it took. She must have some button or something to alert security; before I can get a word out, security appears from thin air and are now staring me in the face. All it takes is a nod from the receptionist and they are all over me like I am some kind of criminal or something.

  “I am not a mass murderer! Get your filthy hands off me!” I demand.

  “We apologize, ma’am, but are you a guest of this hotel?” the flashlight cop questions.

  “Yes, I am, and this is uncalled for, sir,” I state.

  “We will have to ask you to leave the lobby area, ma’am. We received several complaints from fellow patrons,” he says.

  “Several complaints? You have got to be kidding me! The only one complaining is this womanizer!”
I spit.

  “Ma’am, we don’t need things to escalate any further and cause—”

  I refuse to allow him to say another word so I cut him off mid-sentence. “You know what? This is ridiculous! Get your filthy hands off me. I know my way to my room and you’d best believe this sleazy hotel hasn’t heard the last of me! And you either, Bernard!”

  After retreating to my room, I cry hard to myself; I am furious and completely mortified. The only person I can call is Braxton so he can get me to my car with the quickness so I can get as far away from this place as possible.

  “Braxton, can you please come to the hotel? Bernard had security take me to my room for no reason,” I cry, unable to get any other words out.

  He hangs up the phone before I get a chance to give him the room number to my new room. I know if I call him back he won’t answer, and he more than likely will leave me up here longer. I can’t afford for that to happen. There’s no way in God’s name I can stay another minute in the same hotel as Bernard and his tramp.

  

  “That’s record timing, Braxton,” I say when I open the door to let him in.

  “Where is he?” he questions.

  Trying to calm the vexed mad man also known as Braxton down, I assure him that Bernard isn’t in the room with me; he’s in another room with his new slut.

  “What did you say?” he scolds, and before I can explain, he literally slaps the spit out of my mouth.

  Right now, everything is happening so fast, and before I can process what’s taking place, a malnourished, famished man who’s violently sweating is standing at the door with a gun pointed at the center of Braxton’s head.

  “You picked the wrong woman to have an affair with!” the man says to Braxton, still pointing the gun at him.

  If you’re going to cock it, you’d better pull the trigger,” Braxton threatens. Continuing to speak, he says, “By the way, playboy, Latavia is my woman, always has been. You were just keeping her warm for big daddy,” Braxton ridicules.

  Bang! Bang! rings out in the air as Braxton’s lifeless body drops to the now-bloodstained carpet.

  “I apologize you had to witness this, Miss Lady, but I take my wedding vows seriously and will honor them by any means necessary,” the man who has now been identified as Latavia’s husband apologetically says as he struggles to leave the room.

  “Lord, please help me! Please help Braxton! Braxton, please hold on!” I cry, knowing it is too late, staring at the two bullets lodged in the center of his forehead.

  “Bernard, why is this happening?” I ask as he enters the room.

  Chapter Seventy-Nine ~ Bernard’s Cover-Up

  I survive by keeping my emotions in check – by maintaining my composure and tucking it all away. I managed to stay under the radar . . .

  — Rebecca Donovan

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  After D quickly fills me in on what he’s done and that Braxton is two rooms down the hall, I have him stay put in a utility closet to be kept unseen while I do what I have to. There isn’t a chance in hell I’m going to let my boy go down for murder. We’ve worked too fucking hard to get where we are.

  “Fuck that!” I say to myself, entering the room.

  “Sharon! What’s going on?” I ask, ignoring her question.

  “Latavia’s husband shot him dead!”

  “The first thing I need you to do for me is calm down,” I instruct, closing the door behind me.

  “How can I calm down, Bernard? He’s dead,” she whimpers.

  “I understand this is hard, Sharon, but you have to take responsibility for the part you played in all of this,” I say accusingly.

  “What part could I have possibly played? I didn’t shoot anyone!” She continues crying.

  “Sharon, do you realize none of this would have happened had you not tampered with the brake line on Nae’s car? You and I both know God is not pleased by your actions, and this is the reason why all of this is playing out the way it is,” I say, trying to manipulate her.

  “This is not my fault, Bernard! You cannot blame me!”

  “If Darnell had never gotten into that car accident, Tae wouldn’t have been with Braxton, and he wouldn’t be on the carpet with part of his forehead missing!” I retort, going in for the kill.

  “Oh my God, what have I done?” she sobs.

  “I can help you, but I need you to do what I say exactly the way I say it.”

  “Whatever it is you need me do, I will do it! I can’t go to prison, Bernard!”

  “Let me worry about that. How did Darnell appear to you when he came in here?”

  “He looked a little spaced out to me. He didn’t look well at all.”

  “Good, that’s just what you need to say when PD comes in here for questioning.”

  “What about the brakes, Bernard?”

  “Nae’s car, Nae’s problem. I have that under control. You don’t know anything, you hear me?” I ask, staring into her eyes.

  “Yes, Bernard, I am so sorry for all of this, and I just want you to know I have never stopped loving you,” she confesses.

  “I love you, too,” I half lie. I know the only way for this to work according to plan and in D’s favor, I have to be to Sharon what she needs me to be and then some until this shit dies down.

  “Sharon, when PD comes in here tell them exactly what you saw,” I instruct.

  “But, Bernard, that will get him into trouble.”

  “Let me take care of the rest. Your job right now is to tell about the spaced-out, weak man who came in here; do you understand?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Good; I have to leave now. I was never here, okay, Sharon?”

  “Yes!”

  “I will get in touch with you later and, Sharon?”

  “Yes, Bernard?”

  “I love you. Everything is going to be all right,” I say, trying to sound convincing.

  Chapter Eighty ~ For Better or For Worse

  I take you to be my partner for life.

  I promise above all else to live in truth with you

  I give you my hand and my heart, wherever our journey leads us

  A pledge of love, devotion, faith and honor as I join my life to yours

  Together, Forever

  — Darnell Maxell Carter

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  “Hey there, buddy, how are you feeling?” Officer Martinez greets me shortly after Latavia’s words brutally attacked me.

  “Not good, man; not good,” I confess.

  “What can I do, man? Anything you need, name it and it’s done.”

  “Latavia is planning to leave me from some dude named BK.”

  “Yeah man, I know and I’m sorry you had to hear it right now. Bernard tried to fix it for you, but everything went left.”

  “What do you mean, you know? Please tell me what the fuck is going on,” I spit angrily.

  The next forty-five minutes could not have been scripted or planned, and I feel as if I am being beat repeatedly with a bag of nickels. Martinez informs me of, or should I say brought me up to speed on, all that I missed while asleep.

  ‘Looks like he just woke me-the-fuck-up.’

  This shit is like one of those Lifetime movies Latavia spends her Saturdays watching. From what I gather, Nariah’s female lover cut the brake line on the car, the same car I jumped into running behind my wife. ‘First question,’ I think, ‘is when did Nae’s ass become a carpet-muncher? Knowing her ghetto ass, she’s probably been one from the jump, which isn’t important either way. What I’m really upset about is finding out Latavia was involved in the accident and she lost our baby in the interim.’

  “Do you need a moment, Officer? You’ve been very quiet and there’s more,” Martinez says.

  “I’m okay. I need to know the truth, so don’t hold anything back,” I reply.

  I guess, like they say, you get what you ask for. He continues talking, giving it to me raw and uncut, without a condom
or lubricant. Leaving nothing unanswered, the one thing Martinez says that blows my mind is Nae’s lover happens to be the wife of the man who’s trying to destroy my marriage. She was out to hurt Nae in order to get close to Tae when she met Nard and fell in love. Ain’t that about a bitch for you! Confusing as hell. Martinez says Nard put the pieces together with his help, and it was hard on the both of them.

  Now I see why Latavia never came to see me. She was playing house with this Braxton guy in Connecticut until Nard shut that shit down. My boy is nothing to mess with; he really looked out and held me down. I know it was hard for him, and knowing him the way I do, I know he wanted to fuck Latavia up for disrespecting me and our marriage, but of course, again out of respect for me, he didn’t.

  “Martinez, out of everything you’ve shared, there is one thing that isn’t adding up,” I say.

  “What’s that?”

  “Latavia mentioned something about a baby between Nae and me?”

  “D, you got me on that. I didn’t hear about that one.”

  “I don’t know what the hell she’s talking about, but best believe I will find out.”

  “I’m in; I will help you with whatever it is you need, buddy.”

  “You’ve done enough, Martinez. You don’t have to get any more involved than you have. I appreciate it.”

  “Like you said, I am already in it, Officer, and you didn’t deserve any of this.”

  “You need to be aware that nothing’s changed. Just like on the job, I believe in getting my man, and I won’t rest until I’ve done so. We can always work out the story later,” I inform him.

  “Say no more; I understand,” he replies, signaling he is on board.

  I haven’t really thought any of this out thoroughly, but I will process it after I make a quick run to the house. There’s a tracking device installed on Latavia’s car I had put on shortly after we were married. That will give us a head’s up to her whereabouts and we can take it from there.

  Martinez assists me with getting out of the hospital unnoticed. I don’t know how he did it, but it was like he had it strategically planned way before I mentioned getting out of there to him. Walking into the house, I can smell Latavia all over the place. She’s wearing her favorite perfume, Angel by Thierry Mugler. That smell arouses me every time. Latavia would spray it on the bed sheets and pillowcases, and that scent would stay with me throughout the day, no matter how much cologne I put on. This was her way of keeping the maggots away as she would say, as well as a way for her to stay fresh on my mind when I was away from her.