by T. N. Baker
Chapter 90
Smitty kept his word. Two hours after he left her at breakfast, they met up and he had the 5 G’s for Shana.
Surprised that he really came through, Shana was even more shocked that he was going so hard at the chance to fuck with Epiphany again. If she knew that was what it took to get Raina out of jail and keep his ass off her back, she would’ve hooked him up a long time ago.
It was time to keep her end of the bargain. She dialed Epiphany, but after a few rings, her voice mail picked up. Shana ended the call and dialed her back again, still ending up with her voicemail.
Smitty was starting to get a little uptight, thinking that Shana was trying to pull a fast one on him.
“Yo, Sha, this is some bullshit. Just forget it, a’ight. Gimme my shit back, yo!”
“Yo, nigga, pump your brakes. Damn, I already told her you feeling her, so just take her number and holla at her later!”
“Nah, fuck that. That wasn’t the plan. You supposed to hook that shit up in front of me.”
“Well, I can’t do shit if she don’t answer, right?”
“Yo, that’s why I’m saying fuck it. Just gimme my loot back.”
“Wait, I’m a keep trying until I get her then.”
“Nah, yo, I ain’t got all fucking day!”
“Smitty, here, just leave a message. I promise she’ll call you back,” Shana said, passing him her cell phone, while it was ringing Epiphany’s phone.
“Huh, what up, ma? This Smitty. Holla back, a’ight love.” He left his phone number on the message too.
“Now, was that hard?” Shana asked.
“Nah, but shorty better holla back or else me and you gon’ have a serious beef, word up!” Smitty threatened.
“Trust me, she’ll call. Damn, what the fuck she did that got you so strung the fuck out, nigga?” Shana was curious because Smitty was acting a little too desperate and nervous.
“Yo, she ain’t do shit,” Smitty answered hostilely.
“Whatever, nigga, just hold on tight to your phone, so you don’t miss her call. Oh, and here’s her cell number just in case.”
“A’ight, stop talking shit and hurry up and get Raina out ’fore she bust that ass.” Smitty laughed, taking the piece of paper from Shana.
Shana ignored his snide remark, but that’s exactly what she was on her way to do—post Raina’s bail and be out. As she started up her car and pulled off, she tried dialing Epiphany again just to see if she’d answer, and this time she did.
“Hello?”
“Oh, now you answer,” Shana said sarcastically.
“Girl, I’m sorry, I was on the phone with my boo, and the shit he was talking was sounding too good to be put on hold. But anyway, what’s good?” Epiphany said.
“Well, damn, I’m glad my life didn’t depend on you answering your phone, and what’s good is the same shit we already talked about, unless your boo got you having a change of heart.”
“You know what, Shana? I’m in a good mood right now, so I’m not even gonna entertain your smart ass, a’ight?”
“Yeah, okay. Just check your message and hit that nigga back!” Shana demanded and abruptly ended the call.
Ooooh, I can’t stand that bitch. Epiphany retrieved Smitty’s message and phoned him.
“Yo, who this?” Smitty wasn’t familiar with the number.
“Who you been expecting?” Epiphany said in a sensual tone.
“Yo, don’t play games. Who this?” Smitty asked again. Even though he assumed it was Epiphany, he ain’t want to seem like he was beasting.
“Damn, my feelings is hurt. I thought you was waiting on my call.”
“C’mon, ma, you know I been waiting to talk to you. What up, though?”
“I don’t know. My girl Shana told me that you was checking for me.”
“Yeah, you don’t remember me?” Smitty questioned.
“From where?”
“I don’t know, around I guess. But yo, that’s neither here nor there. I’m trying to see you, ma.”
“Not a problem.”
“Cool. I’ma call you later at this number when I’m ready to scoop you, a’ight.”
“No doubt. See you then!”
Chapter 91
All Shana did was post Raina’s bail. She didn’t care how the girl got home, or if she even had money to get home. As far as she was concerned, her part was done.
Shana was actually relieved now that she felt she and Smitty had resolved their issues, and once she paid him back, she would no longer be in debt to him. The Chasity drama was dead, and with Raina bailed out, all the skeletons in her closet were gone.
“Yo, Sha, this bullshit gotta stop between us,” K.C. said as soon as she walked in the apartment.
“Stop what, K.C.? Your lying or your cheating?”
“Come on, baby, how long you trying to be mad at a nigga?”
“K.C., you know what? Right now you better be glad all I’m doing is giving you the silent treatment, ’cause I could go out and get me a nigga that knows how to treat a bitch. Instead, I stay stuck like glue to your muthafucking ass, and what do you do? Nothing but talk shit, lie, and bring fucking diseases home.”
“Disease? Yo, what you mean, disease? Ain’t nothing wrong with my dick.” Since K.C. had no symptoms, he had no idea what she was talking about.
“Oh, nigga, you ain’t go get your dick checked yet? That’s right, disease, muthafucka. You know, the shit you get when you out in the streets fucking nasty hoes with no condom,” Shana sarcastically yelled.
“Yo, I don’t know what you talking about. I supposedly gave you something? What I give you, huh?” K.C. didn’t have a clue.
“Nigga, you gave me Chlamydia from being out there with other bitches. Play stupid if you want to, but you better hope my other tests come back negative.”
“Yo, I ain’t never heard of that, but if I did, I’m sorry. I ain’t fucked around on you in a minute, though. Sometimes I think something’s wrong with me, like maybe I got the same shit that Halle Berry’s man got. I don’t know why I be fucking other bitches—I just do. I’ma go get my shit checked out, so can you stop being mad at me, please.”
K.C. always had a way with words, and as much as Shana didn’t want to fall victim to his bullshit, she couldn’t help it. She suffered from a sickness called love. She just loved him. She didn’t know why, but she did. He was always able to break her down, and love was stronger than pride. Shana forgave him, but only on one condition: Her tests had to come back negative.
Chapter 92
On his way to meet up with Epiphany, Smitty couldn’t help but feel a little nervous about fucking with her again, especially after the way he dogged her the first time. It was like she had some kind of hex on him, because even after getting stomped out in public by C-God and Mike over her, he still sort of obsessed over her. Honestly, he regretted forcing himself on her and wanted another chance with her.
Epiphany wasn’t comfortable with Smitty picking her up from her parents’ home, so she arranged for him to meet her at this cozy little Cuban restaurant on Queens Boulevard. She waited for him to arrive, so they could go in and be seated together.
The dimly lit restaurant was small but always packed. The tables were so close together that it almost felt like people were sitting on top of each other, but for some reason, no one seemed to mind.
There was a long period of silence between the two. Epiphany stared at Smitty often. Her intent looks made him a little apprehensive, but she couldn’t help it, because something about him seemed all too familiar.
“I’m sorry I keep looking at you so hard, but there’s something about you—I just don’t know what it is,” Epiphany said, breaking the silence first.
“Stop trying to figure it out and let’s just have a good time. We could start by ordering some drinks.” Rudely, he flagged down the waiter. Epiphany ordered an apple martini, and since Smitty was feeling the guilt eat away at him, he ordered a Grey Goose mixed
with Hennessy and a splash of cranberry juice to help mellow him out.
The alcohol did ease the tension a bit, as the two began to converse a little more. Smitty complimented everything from Epiphany’s hairstyle to her shoes and also ran a few dry jokes by her. Epiphany chilled on the hard looks and pretended to find his jokes funny.
After dinner, Smitty wasn’t ready to call it a night just yet, so he suggested that she follow him to this little bar on Linden called Deja Vu. All Epiphany could think about was getting home in time for her midnight call from Wild. She tried to refuse but ended up giving in to his pleas and agreed to go and have one drink.
As they took a seat at the bar, Epiphany glanced around to check out the spot. She could tell it had a nice vibe to it, and since the crowd looked to be a mature one, there wasn’t a lot of rowdiness. The bartender was very friendly as she took their drink orders, and Smitty went on to boast to Epiphany about a popular book the bartender wrote entitled Sheisty. Epiphany didn’t find that to be all that impressive, but she did like the way the girl made her apple martini strong.
One drink ended up turning into three as they both started to unwind around each another. Epiphany had to admit that his jokes got better, and so did her liking for him (after the alcohol kicked in, of course). Smitty was doing his best to keep her entertained, hoping that his jokes mixed with the strong-ass drinks would land him up in the pussy again, only this time not by force. Unfortunately for him, that thought was more of a pipe dream, ’cause yeah, he might have been given a second crack at her, but the game was still the same as far as Epiphany was concerned. Her goodies stayed in the jar until a nice amount of money had been spent. It was gonna cost him a little more than a meal and some drinks to taste her cookie.
As soon as eleven-thirty hit, Epiphany decided to call it a night. Leaning over, she planted a soft kiss on his lips.
“Good night.”
Damn, he thought, caught a little off guard as the softness of her lips and the whiff of her scent made his dick rise.
“You leaving me already?” Smitty questioned with disappointment.
“Yeah, I have to go. I finally recognize where I know you from though,” Epiphany said.
“What?” Smitty responded tensely as his heart began to pound.
“Yeah, I remember you now, from Club Cream a while back. You were at the bar with K.C. and some other guy.”
“Oh, yeah. Okay, right . . . right!” Smitty answered as he let out a deep sigh of relief. He didn’t know how he was gonna fuck with Epiphany without the torture of worrying about when, or if, she would ever remember how much she really hated him and why.
As Epiphany left, Smitty waited for a few moments and then secretly followed her to her home for the hell of it.
Chapter 93
A couple weeks passed, and things were all good between Shana and K.C., especially since her test results came back negative. She even escorted him to the clinic to get tested. Since K.C. knew he was running around fucking everything in sight, he took it a step further and agreed to be tested for HIV. Shana still refused to take an HIV test, because she felt that since his results came back negative, then she was negative, and HIV was as simple as that.
Shana was also able to relax more without the static from Raina. Maybe Raina wasn’t upset about having to stay in jail a couple of days and was just happy to be home, so she decided to let it go. K.C. and Smitty were still handling their business, and money would soon be straight for them.
Now Smitty was all caught up in Epiphany; therefore K.C. and his friendship turned into more of just a business partnership. Of course, Shana was happy about that, because that meant K.C. ran the streets less and spent more time with her. They were finally starting to connect. They laid up for most of the day watching movies, making love, getting high, and even talking about one day having kids. It all seemed too good to be true, because in the three years that she’d been with him, all they ever seemed to do was fight, fuss, and fuck. Sure, he claimed to love her, but this was the first time since his bid that she actually felt his love for her.
She felt the time was right to clear her conscience and pull all her skeletons out of the closet. She told him that she and C-God had had more than just a business relationship, but it was brief. She then went on to drop what she thought was going to be a bomb—her sexual experience with Chasity. To her surprise, K.C. already knew. He said he had gotten the word on all that when he was locked up.
“How?” Shana questioned, anxious to know the answer and hoping it wasn’t Smitty that told.
“Yo, don’t worry about it. Just know in jail a nigga hear everything!”
“Well, was you mad when you heard?”
“What I’ma be mad for? Baby girl, you was holding a nigga down, so how I’ma knock your hustle? The shit about you fucking with that bitch, man, I knew as soon as daddy came home that shit was gon’ be a wrap!” K.C. said.
For the first time in a long time, Shana was able to exhale. She was glad to know that she didn’t have to stress over none of her secrets anymore, but she also was mad that Smitty put a twenty-thousand dollar dent in her pocket for nothing.
K.C. caught Shana gazing off into a deep thought.
“Yo, is there something else you gotta tell me?”
“Nah, that’s it.” Shana smiled and snapped out of her trance.
“A’ight then, climb up on daddy’s dick and give me some of that pussy,” K.C. ordered.
Shana was more than happy to obey his order. Just as she was about to lay it down, there was a hard knock at the door.
“Who the fuck is that knocking like they crazy? Oh, boy, I bet it’s Smitty’s stupid ass,” Shana said, slightly raising her voice as if her high was just blown. She got up out of bed and threw on something to go see.
Swinging open the door, expecting to see Smitty, she was surprised to find four policemen standing there. Her heart dropped. She knew it would be only a matter of time before she was busted.
“Shana Marie Scott, you’re under arrest for the intent to sell and distribute drugs. You have the right to remain silent. . . .” The arresting officer read her rights, handcuffed her, and hauled her off to jail.
Chapter 94
Keisha was working hard to get her life in order. She was granted weekly unsupervised visits with her son until her court date for custody. After enrolling back in school part-time, she got a job at a real estate office, working for commission. Lastly, she left Blackplanet.com alone. Everything was starting to come together once she became a believer in Christ.
Going to church and reading the Bible with Mrs. Wright had helped Keisha develop a better understanding about what it meant to believe in God. She’d learned to stop blaming the Lord for her bad decisions and mess-ups, because “Although He is the Almighty,” her pastor would say, “sin is your choice.”
Changes didn’t happen overnight, so when thoughts of killing Lea surfaced in her mind every so often, she just prayed for strength. Keisha refrained from having any kind of contact with Tucker, at least until the court hearing came. Momma D’s house was the location for the baby’s drop off and pick up. That way they never had to cross each other’s paths.
When she was lonely and missed him, she’d press *67 before dialing his cell, just to hear him say hello. Oddly enough, she felt he was doing the same, because she had gotten quite a few crank calls herself. It was over between them, and she was almost ready to move on.
Keisha had made amends with Loretta and started calling her Ma. The two of them talked on the phone every day, sometimes twice a day, establishing a tight-knit relationship, discussing any and everything on their minds. Loretta’s discussions were mainly about her mistakes and Keisha’s younger sisters.
Keely, only sixteen, wasn’t going to school and hanging out ’til all times of the night with the local thugs. Kelly was a breath of fresh air, attending Clark University and doing exceedingly well. Keisha would always be her mother’s pride and joy, her firstborn, her
lovechild, and she expressed that love to her every chance she got. Keisha had to admit she loved feeling her mother’s love and how blessed she was to have a second mom in Mrs. Wright.
Keisha’s improvement made Mrs. Wright proud. Keisha gave Mrs. Wright hope that her own daughter, Epiphany, would make a change in her life as well.
Chapter 95
Tucker was finally adjusted to Lea being around. She was loving, caring, and very helpful with his little man, and he appreciated that more than anything else. Following his mother’s death, every woman his father would bring home despised him and didn’t want the responsibility of caring for another woman’s child, which led to abuse. His father’s need for women was much stronger than his need to be a dad, so he allowed the hateful behavior from them to go on without saying a word.
Lea was such a good woman to him and his son that he decided to take their relationship a step further with a three-carat, emerald cut diamond and a marriage proposal. Yes, he was ready to take it there, but he didn’t want a big blow-out wedding like the one he and Keisha were planning. No, this time he wanted it to be simple without her feeling cheated, so he planned to take her to Montego Bay, Jamaica, to tie the knot.
Sometimes he wondered if maybe he should’ve just married Keisha. Things might have turned out differently, and she would have been his wife. No matter how hard he tried to front, he missed what she was to him, and deep down inside, the love he had for her was still there. Clearly too much had happened to turn back.
Tucker phoned his boys down South to tell them the latest.
“Hey, what’s up, cuz? You all right, dawg ?” Peewee recognized the New York number.
“Yo, I’m chilling, Pee. How you?”
“Man, shit is all gravy thanks to you.”
“Where my nigga Cornell at?”
“Ay, T, man, since that nigga done got a little paper in his pocket, he stay fucking around with these scandalous-ass broads down here, man. I’m try’na get this paper, dawg!”
