by Charae Lewis
“I understand, friend. You know I'm always here for you so when your divorce is finalized, don’t be trying to write us out of your life too,” Paris warned with a smile on her face.
“I won’t, but I do need to take some time away. A bitch needs a vacation after all of this drama,” Asia laughed.
“I feel you. Did you move all of your things out yet?”
“Yeah. Aimee and I went late at night when we knew Dinero would be gone. Thank God we kept my parents’ house.”
Asia and Aimee never sold their parents’ home, so she went to stay there. It was an eerie feeling being in the house that was once her mother’s, but at the same time it was comforting. Asia had mentioned it to Dinero before about still keeping the house, but she wasn’t sure if he’d remembered. She knew if he did he would be over there trying to woo her back.
“Do you think Dinero would come looking for you there?” Paris asked.
Asia shook her head. “Honestly, I think he forgot about the house. I'm glad too because I do not want to see his ass.”
“Well, I’ll give you the number to the attorney so he can get the ball rolling right away.”
“Thanks, Paris. I really appreciate this. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have my sister, you, and Cam.”
“You know you're our girl. We got your back.”
Asia smiled because she was so grateful for her friends. They were really helping her cope with her situation with Dinero. Rochelle had been a great help to her too. Asia had informed her about her decision to divorce Dinero and she supported her one-hundred percent. Asia loved that Rochelle wasn’t biased because Dinero was her son. She wouldn’t support his terrible behavior, and Asia could appreciate that.
She dialed the divorce attorney’s number and got started on the process.
****
Sheek drove home with a million and one things on his mind. He had been trying to reach out to Asia for the past week only to be ignored. Sheek wanted to apologize to her for lying on her. He knew he was wrong and couldn’t help but be ashamed of his actions. The jealousy and alcohol had taken over his mind, and it had led him to do something that wasn’t even in his character. So since he couldn’t get in touch with Asia by phone, he decided to send her an email. Although Sheek was sorry about what he’d done to Asia, he was still pissed at Fabian and Braylon for firing him.
Sheek had thought long and hard about his revenge against them and came up with the perfect plan. Since he knew Fabian’s Instagram password, he logged into his account and sent tons of messages to random women. When they responded back, he developed a friendly conversation that turned into a sexual one. After hyping the chicks up with hotel information, he took screenshots of the conversation and prepared to send them to all of the blogs.
He hadn't prepared a plan for Braylon just yet, but he knew one would come to him. Sheek didn’t like the fact that they’d basically chosen Dinero over him. He’d made a lot of money for Fabian’s label, and he didn’t like how they hadn’t even given him a second chance. He was the one who’d discovered their R&B singer, Magic, who had gone platinum with her debut album. Sheek had always been about his business, and after one fuck up, he couldn’t see how Fabian and Braylon could just dismiss him like they did.
Sheek pulled up to his home in the River Hills area of Milwaukee. He had a long driveway that led to his garage. Deciding not to park in the garage, he pulled in close to his back door. Sheek slowly got out and grabbed his phone and charger. When he closed the door, he began to walk toward his back door but was stopped when a plastic bag was put over his head. Sheek fought frantically for air, but the bag was wrapped so tightly around his face that he had no air to breathe. He kicked and swung his arms wildly which caused him to use more breath than he already had. Sheek knew he was in trouble when he started to feel lightheaded. Just as he was about to pass out, the bag was snatched from his face.
Sheek dropped to the floor and began to gasp for air. When he looked up, his heart almost exploded out of his chest. Dinero stood over him with a sinister grin sketched onto his face, wearing all black. Sheek wanted to knock the shit out of him, but when he saw the gun in his hand, he had second thoughts.
“You thought I wasn’t gon’ catch up to you didn’t you?” Dinero smugly asked.
Sheek became furious and began to get up but was instantly kicked in the chest. He coughed violently as Dinero planted his foot in his neck.
“What the fuck you was gon’ do, bitch?” Dinero taunted him.
“You know I got cameras outside of my house. Your dumb ass is being recorded,” Sheek spat.
“Yeah, I know. I disabled them before you pulled up.”
“Fuck,” Sheek mumbled, scared out of his mind.
Dinero rested the pistol on his temple. “Now, tell me again what you did with my wife, nigga?”
“I ain't do shit with her. I was just fucking around.”
“Fucking around?” Dinero frowned. “You don’t fuck around with a man about his wife. Do you know how crazy you fuckin’ look right now?”
“You shouldn’t have called me out. What the fuck was I supposed to do? You was trying to hoe me in front of everybody,” Sheek explained.
“So you thought that saying you fucked my wife was cool? Didn’t your daddy teach you not to lie on your dick, bitch?” Dinero fumed.
“Nigga, I ain't have no dad so fuck you,” Sheek fumed.
“I can tell that you were raised by nothing but bitches, but I got you, my nigga. I'ma teach you something that’ll you'll never forget.”
“And what the fuck is that?”
“This.”
Dinero shot two bullets into Sheek’s head. He watched his eyes roll into the back of his head as he tried to fight for his life. After seconds of battling his fate, Sheek finally took his last breath. Dinero smirked and then ran off into the night.
****
Days later, Dinero sat inside of his car parked outside of Asia’s job. He had relentlessly been on the hunt for her with no luck. There was no use of him calling her phone because he’d been blocked since the night at the hotel. Dinero was going insane without Asia. He had never experienced the kind of emotions he was currently going through. Dinero was literally sick to his stomach with each day that passed.
Adrian Marcel’s “4 Page Letter” played softly through the speakers causing Dinero to miss Asia more. He usually wasn’t the type to listen to R&B music, but he was lovesick, so he made an exception. Kiyan’s words continued to torture his mind on a daily basis. He’d cheated and hadn’t been there for Asia’s miscarriage, and Dinero had started to believe Kiyan when he said that Asia wouldn’t forgive him.
Dinero slowly got out of the car and made his way inside of the nursing home. He stopped at the front desk where an older black woman greeted him.
“Hello, how can I help you?”
“Hey, I wanted to know if Asia DeMao was available?” he asked.
“I'm sorry, but Asia no longer works here.”
Dinero placed a puzzled look on his face. “How long has she been gone?”
“For about a week now. It sucks because we all loved her,” the woman sadly said.
“Aight,” Dinero said and then walked out the door.
As soon as he got to his car, he pulled out his phone. He dialed Aimee’s number in hopes of her giving up Asia’s location. She finally answered after the fourth ring.
“Yeah, Dinero,” she answered dryly.
“Aye, where is your sister?” he asked getting straight to the point.
“In her skin,” she snickered.
“Come on, Aimee. Tell me where she’s at with your fat ass.”
Aimee smacked her lips. “I ain't telling you shit, and you better quit calling me fat with your immature, cheating ass.”
“I need to see my girl, Aimee,” he stressed. “Why you acting like that?”
“Because you did my sister dirty. Just let her go, Dinero. I think it’s best for both of you gu
ys,” she advised.
“Fuck what you talkin’ about. I need to talk to my wife, and I wanna see my dog.”
“Mothafucka, you don’t give a damn about that dog. Stop it!” Aimee quipped.
“Wench, where she at?”
“Did you just call me a wench?” Aimee laughed. “Big, you better come get this phone before I curse your ignorant ass brother out.”
Seconds later, Big got on the line. “Dinero, I’ma kick your ass,” he threatened with laughter in his voice.
“Man, Aimee lying. I ain't called her shit.” He laughed. “Say, bro, I need you to see where Asia is staying at for me,” he pleaded.
“I got you,” Big assured and hung up.
Dinero sat and prayed that his brother would come through for him. He didn’t know how many days he would be able to go on without any contact with Asia. He wondered if this was the same feeling she’d experienced when he’d done the same thing to her. If it was, then Dinero was truly sorry.
Chapter Seventeen
Asia stood at Aimee’s side with tears of joy in her eyes. Aimee had just given birth to her nephew, Dakaden Jr. and he was nothing short of perfection. She had been in labor for over twelve hours, and Asia had been there every step of the way. Big held his son with a contented look on his face. Asia could tell that he was just as happy as she was. Seeing her nephew being born into the world briefly made Asia think about her unborn child. As soon as the thought popped inside of her head, she quickly got over it. Asia wanted to be there for Aimee and the baby without any thoughts of her chaotic life.
“Big, you might need a DNA test. My nephew is too light-skinned to be your baby,” Asia joked.
“Hell yeah. Aimee probably dipped off on me too,” he added.
Aimee was too tired even to argue back with them, so she stuck up her middle finger.
“No, but for real, Aimee. He is so gorgeous. Looking like his auntie,” Asia gloated.
Big gave her a side eye. “Stop it. He looks just like his daddy.”
“Anyways,” she said rolling her eyes. “How you feeling, sis? Are you tired?”
“Yes girl, extremely but he was all worth it. I'm so glad I'm not pregnant anymore,” Aimee laughed.
“I know. It seemed like you were pregnant for a long time. You want me to stay the night with you?” Asia offered.
“No, you don’t have to. Big is going to stay. I know you need to put all of your clothes up anyway.”
Asia still had yet to unpack all of her belongings from the house she’d shared with Dinero. She didn’t realize how much stuff she had and wasn’t looking forward to putting it all up.
“I know, don’t remind me,” Asia groaned.
“Aye, Asia, let me holla’ at you real quick,” Big requested and passed the baby to Aimee so she could breastfeed.
Asia nodded and began to follow him toward the door.
“Don’t be trying to persuade her to stay with your brother,” Aimee warned.
“Shut up and feed my baby,” Big shot before walking out of the door.
Big and Asia found a reception area down the hall and sat. Asia kind of had an idea what he wanted, but she wasn’t too sure.
“You know bro been looking for you,” Big said referring to Dinero.
Asia released a sigh. “I know, but I don’t wanna talk to him.”
“Why not?”
“Because he shitted on me when I'm supposed to be his wife.”
“That dude went to your job and everything trying to find you. He’s sick without you.”
“I heard. I told them to say that I quit if he came up there,” she laughed.
“You bogus for that shit,” Big said shaking his head. “So you really don’t wanna be with him no more?”
“It’s not about wanting to be with him; I just can’t. I can’t lay up with Dinero while knowing that he’s not down for me like I'm down for him,” she explained.
“Man, Dinero is down for you. He just fucked up this one time.”
“Big, no he is not!” Asia snapped. “He believed another man over me when I'm the one he’s married to. Then he shut me out and wasn’t there for me when I needed him the most. We’re not even going to mention him running back to his ex.”
Big nodded. “I understand, but everybody makes mistakes. Look at how I did your sister and she still forgave me. I learned from my shit, and I’ll never do it again.”
“Yeah, but at least you were trying to get her back. You didn’t just shut her out of your life. You tried your best to make up for your wrong doings. Dinero ain't did shit!” she spat.
“You don’t think Dinero deserves another chance?”
“You're just looking at it like he cheated, but there’s so many aspects to this shit. I shouldn’t have had to go through my miscarriage alone. That shit was fucked up that he was absent while I was suffering. And for him to leave for a month off of speculation was messed up. Then to put the nail in the coffin, I caught him at a hotel with another woman. I wouldn’t have ever done him like that,” Asia spoke in a shaky voice.
“He knows he messed up Asia. He tells me every time I talk to him. He misses you, and all he wants is a chance to explain himself. You never gave him that.”
“Why should I allow him to explain himself when I already know what happened? I feel like it’s a waste of time.”
“Well, I can’t tell you what to do, but I think y’all should talk before you decide to end shit permanently. That’s my opinion.” Big stood. “I'm about to head back to the room.”
“Wait Big…I just want to thank you for taking care of my sister. To see her so happy gives me so much joy. I hope you be the man that she and DJ needs.”
“No doubt. I’ma marry your sister whenever she’s ready. That’s my baby.”
“That’s great. You’re a good man, Big.”
“Thanks, sis.”
Asia watched Big walk off while she continued to sit. She heard him loud and clear, and she wasn’t feeling what he was saying. She and Dinero had nothing to talk about. The only thing Asia wanted to converse about was their divorce proceedings.
****
Dinero sat with his head down on the table. He had finally made his way to see his mother after weeks of dodging her. He knew that Rochelle was ready to read him his rights, but he didn’t want to hear it. Surprisingly, when he got there, she didn’t say much to him. Her silence was torturous for Dinero. He’d been expecting her to go off the minute he stepped through the door, but she hadn't and it left him puzzled.
“Go ahead. I know you're about to say I told you so,” Dinero spoke as he lifted his head.
Rochelle gave him a side eye and continued to browse on her laptop. Dinero chuckled because his mama was such a character.
“I'm not going to rub it in your face. Shit, you know how bad you fucked up,” she quipped.
“I know,” he said with defeat. “Mama, what am I gon’ do? I can’t even find Asia to apologize to her. She’s really not fucking with me.”
“I don’t know what you should do. Asia is really hurt right now, and I don’t see her getting over it no time soon.”
“So how far along was she when she lost the baby?”
“She was seven weeks. I believe Asia lost the baby because she was under so much stress. Dinero, why didn’t you hear her out? Why would you believe the word of another man over your wife?”
“Ma, the man had a picture of his hand on her thigh, and he mentioned her tattoo that’s on her hip. How could I not think that they had been together? Y’all acting like I just took his word and ran with it. I saw some shit that didn’t sit well with me, and that’s what I went off of, not his damn word,” Dinero snapped, not liking how people were getting the two confused.
“I know you better check your tone. Shit, I did nothing but pick up the slack for your damn absence,” Rochelle retorted.
“My bad, Ma. I'm stressed out.”
Dinero didn’t know what he would do if he didn’t see Asia soon.
He wanted to talk to her to see where her head was at in regards to their marriage. Dinero still wanted to be with Asia and he hoped that she at least felt the same.
“Well, you know she filed for divorce, right?”
Dinero cut his eyes at her, not believing what he was hearing. “What?”
“Yeah. She filed, I believe, last week. The people have been looking for you so they can serve you the papers.”
Dinero’s heart dropped to his feet. He knew that Asia wasn’t trying to see him, but he had no idea that she was trying to divorce him. He honestly thought that she would consider a separation before a divorce. Dinero was heartbroken and angry all at the same time. He didn’t get married just so he could get a divorce. In his mind, a divorce was not happening.
“Ma, I know you know where she’s at. I need to talk to her because we’re not getting a divorce.”
“Boy, it’s not up to you. The courts make that decision.”
“Yeah, we gon’ see. Mama, I need you to arrange a meeting between us. Call her and set it up. I’ll meet her wherever,” Dinero said as he stood.
“Didn’t I just say that she don’t wanna see you? What kinda language do you need?” Rochelle quipped.
“Ma, I'm your son and you all on her side. That’s fucked up,” he fussed.
“Yeah, you're my son, but I'm not about to condone your fucked up behavior. You don’t get a pass because I gave birth to you. You hurt that girl with all of your unnecessary bullshit, and now you want everybody to jump because you want your wife back. Boy, you better get a fuckin’ grip!”
Dinero took a deep breath before he responded. He didn’t like how his mother was taking Asia’s side. Yes, he had royally fucked up, but he was her son, and he expected her to back him up just a little bit.
“Look, can you just call her and have her meet me somewhere? Please, Ma,” he pleaded.
Rochelle rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth. “I’ll see what I can do, and if she says no, then that’s it. Leave her alone.”
