by T. N. Baker
Epiphany
P.S. Keep the car.
By the time Epiphany finished her last letter, her knight in shining armor was outside her house, waiting for his princess. She took one final look around the house and headed to the door, where Wild’s driver met her at the top of the stairs to carry her bags. Off to Jersey they went.
Keisha pulled up at the house seconds later, just missing Epiphany. She got out of the car and opened the back door to take Li’l Man from his car seat.
“Hey, E, I’m back,” she yelled once she opened the front door. When Epiphany didn’t answer, she put her son down and noticed there were three folded pieces of paper on the kitchen table. One of them had her name on it. She read the letter and tears started to fall.
Keisha was going to miss Epiphany, and part of her knew she’d probably never see her friend again. Truth be told, Epiphany was good at starting over. Keisha could only hope that she wouldn’t be forgotten.
She called Tucker, and he told her that he and Lea were over. He also apologized for being so fucked up toward her. He wanted to know if they could try to make their family work.
Keisha was hesitant for a moment, but more than anything in the world, she knew she wanted her family back together. She agreed, but only under certain circumstances.
“Tucker, we can try again, but not in that house, not after Lea lived in it. I want us to start fresh.”
Tucker didn’t see a problem with starting fresh at all. As a matter of fact, when he had gone to get Li’l Man from Atlanta, he loved it so much that he had purchased a six-bedroom house on the low in hopes that maybe one day they would be reunited. He didn’t tell her that part yet. He figured he’d hold on to that bit of information and surprise her with it later.
“Whatever you want, Keish. I’m with you.”
“Good. Now me and Li’l Man would like to take you out.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be there to pick you up in a half,” Tucker said.
“No, we’re coming to get you. Epiphany gave me her ride.”
“Keish, I’m coming to get you. You don’t need her car.” After everything that had gone down, Tucker still disliked Epiphany.
“Tucker, stop it. We’re leaving now. You don’t have to ride in my new car. We’ll switch when I get there. Okay, baby? It’s not a big deal, all right!”
“A’ight, and Keisha, I want you to know that I never stopped loving you.”
“Baby, I’m glad to hear that, because I still love you too. I’ll see you when I get there!” Keisha said, smiling.
* * *
Smitty spotted Epiphany’s car pulling out as he turned the corner. Driving his black Expedition at full speed through the block, he unloaded six shots from his nine through the driver’s side window, hitting Keisha. Realizing all too late that he had shot the wrong girl, Smitty panicked and mashed down on the gas harder, losing control of the wheel, spinning across the street, and crashing into a telephone pole. The impact knocked him out.
A few of the neighbors had witnessed the whole incident and called the police right away. Mr. Swinton, one of Jay Wright’s buddies that lived next door, ran over to the car when he heard the baby’s frantic cries and removed him from the back seat. Mr. Swinton checked his body to make sure he wasn’t hit, then told his wife to take him in the house, away from the gruesome scene. In minutes, the police and ambulance arrived, but unfortunately, Keisha was already dead.
Tucker called her cell phone several times, wondering what was taking her so long. Becoming a little worried, he told himself that he’d try one more time before he headed over to pick them up.
On his last try, a police officer answered Keisha’s phone and informed him that there had been a tragic accident and he needed to come right away. Tucker’s heart dropped. Hearing the word “tragic” he automatically started to think the worst.
Rushing over to Epiphany’s house, he prayed to God, “Please, God, not another one. Don’t take another person I love away from me.”
As the ambulance carrying Smitty, who was in stable condition, pulled off, Tucker arrived at the scene and instantly broke down when he spotted Keisha’s dead body lying on the ground next to the car door, covered with a bloody sheet, awaiting the coroner. It was heartbreaking to see him down on his knees, holding her body, crying out in so much pain.
“Keish! Come on, Keisha! Please don’t leave me. I need you, baby!” he cried repeatedly. Tucker would have given anything to bring her back.
The Final Chapter
NEW BEGINNINGS
It had been a year since Keisha was laid to rest in a Georgia cemetery, and even though everyone had finally started to move on, she would always be missed and never forgotten.
Tucker and Li’l Man moved down to Atlanta, where they were trying to make the best out of the situation, day by day. They found peace in spending a lot of time with Keisha’s mother, Loretta, her grandmother, and her sisters Kelly and Keely, who had since straightened up her act. On Sundays, besides having dinner together, they all visited Keisha’s grave to bring fresh flowers. Tucker now counseled youth about the negatives of the street gangs and the drug game. Li’l Man was growing fast and looking more and more like his mom every day.
Shana served six months in jail and was released, but she deeply regretted not being able to say good-bye at Keisha’s funeral. She felt partly responsible for what had happened. Because of her own selfish reasons, she had hooked Smitty up with Epiphany.
She and K.C. were still together, and things were good between them. Their little investment had turned out to have a bigger profit than expected. They were able to purchase a condo and open a bar/lounge spot in Queens called Life. It was doing well for them. Although the money was straight, K.C. still hustled. Old habits die hard. However, he did stop cheating and in four months he and Shana would be the proud parents of their first baby, Keisha Shamari Cright. A girl, of course!
Smitty was brought up on murder charges and sentenced fifteen-to-life, but only lived to serve one month of his time. Uncle Ramel remembered the name and kept his promise. When Smitty was in Rikers, he had some of his people take care of him with a nice slit to the throat.
C-God stopped getting high and was back on the map in the never-ending drug game with his new partner Alpo. Together, couldn’t nobody hold them down, as long as the feds didn’t catch him.
Ness’s remains were never found and only C-God, Alpo, Hassan, and the dog Venom knew why, and they were not telling.
Epiphany never made it to Keisha’s funeral. She knew Tucker would blame her for Keisha’s death, just like he did with Malikai, and she had to admit she blamed herself too. She felt she was supposed to die, not them. If she had never invited Mali over to her house that night, or gave Keisha her car, both of them would still have been alive. The guilt ate away at her. She truly loved both of them dearly and did manage to visit their graves when she could. Her parents sold their house shortly after Keisha’s death and moved to a nice area out in East Hampton, Long Island, where her father, Jay Wright, and mother, Tiara, were both studying ministry and were devoted members of a new church.
Epiphany and Wild moved to L.A. and shortly after their relationship started to deteriorate. It lasted for three months. Apparently, she felt he was too nice. She needed drama in the relationship and since there was none, it got boring. Epiphany started hanging out at all the celebrity affairs and managed to meet the right people and get the exposure she wanted. It’s not always what you know, but who you know. Being with Wild for that short period of time served its purpose. Epiphany was now living lovely in Burbank California. She dabbled in everything from modeling to dancing in videos, but her heart was in acting.
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