She has had her share of thoughts about that night as well, but they surely wasn’t in unison with his.
“Nah. What I can do, though is take you out sometime.”
“I can’t do that.” She hastily answered and took the bag from him. “Thank you,” she shot over her shoulder as she made her way to the exit.
“Symphony, stop running from me,” Mitch huffed after running behind her to stop her from getting away again.
“Not running. I was walking a nice pace.”
“Come on, man. You know what I mean.” He was frustrated and at the point where he wanted to say fuck it and let her go about her business, but something was stopping him from doing that.
“I can’t go out with you tonight,” she exclaimed.
“I didn’t say tonight. We can exchange numbers, and whenever the time is right for the both of us, we’ll do something. No pressure.”
Symphony thought about it for a minute. Since she had been in New York, she hadn’t had the company of a man and figured it would be nice, even though she wasn’t looking for anything serious. Especially, not anything serious with him.
She decided to go, against her better judgment. “Alright, take my number,” she sighed as he pulled his phone out.
Symphony rambled off her number and said goodbye before he had a chance spark any more conversation.
Downtown Brooklyn was just a hop, skip, and jump away from the high rise where Symphony lived. The walk was short and good to take a quick, mid-morning stroll with the baby. Who would have known that the walk would have led her back to him?
The sudden vibration against her butt caused Symphony to stop mid-stride and retrieve her phone from her back pocket.
“Hello,” she held the phone to her ear with one hand and used the free hand to guide the stroller.
“What’s good, sis? We got the money from Roger,” Kory revealed.
“And he’s early. That’s always good.”
“Yea. Where you at?”
Symphony leaned over the stroller and popped Kenzie’s pacifier back in her mouth. She was starting to whine because it came out.
“I’m on my way home. Went for a walk downtown and got Kenz some sneakers. Laverne should be there by the time I get in. So, I’ll see you in a little while.”
“Aight, bet. See you later.”
Symphony slipped her phone into her back pocket and continued her walk home. As expected, when she got there she found McKenzie’s nanny, waiting patiently for their return.
“I don’t plan on being at the office long today,” Sym spoke while moving about the apartment making sure everything was in order for Laverne and McKenzie’s day together. “It’s Friday, but I don’t have any plans tonight. I really just want to relax at home with Kenz, maybe watch Netflix.”
“You need to get out, Symphony. Since I’ve met you, it’s been all work and McKenzie. How are you ever going to find you a nice young man, if you’re cooped up in your office or this place all the time.”
Symphony understood Laverne’s unsolicited advice, but she didn’t get too deep into it with her. Finding a man was nowhere on Symphony’s radar, and she didn’t think Laverne would understand that. So, why bother explaining? You see, Symphony wasn’t raised in an environment where the ultimate objective for her was to find a man, settle down, white dress, and baby mess. Although she had the opportunity to experience love, at least, the closest thing to it, it wasn’t anything she was looking forward to experiencing again. Too much pain came along with it, at least, it did for her.
Symphony was raised in a home with two parents, who tolerated each other because society told them they had. Symphony’s parents were nothing more than two teenagers who slipped up and got pregnant during their senior year in high school. The good part is they went on to both be successful regardless to being teen parents; the sad part is they only stayed together for the kids.
Symphony knew love in the sense of the love that parents showed their children because she and Kory were never denied that from them. However, what she never got to see first hand was how to build and maintain a healthy relationship. That along with the fact that it just wasn’t what she wanted, after her first failed attempt at it kept her out of any situations that had the potential to become something serious.
“God’s timing,” Symphony pacified Laverne’s thirst for her to find a companion. “Kenzie, be a good girl. I love you.” Symphony kissed her daughter's hand. Before saying goodbye to Laverne and heading back out.
__
Kory made her way to the bunker without a care that she may have been running late. She knew how Symphony was about being on time and knew that she would hear her mouth even if she was late by a measly five minutes. However, today, she didn’t care. What was more important to her that day was the guy she met, a few nights prior, when she and Nadja went out for drinks. She couldn’t tell her sister and Nadja why she was late, though. They already thought she was boy crazy and money hungry. Money hungry? Absolutely. Boy crazy? Not so much. She just liked to be wined, dined and fucked a little more than Symphony and Nadja did. Most of the time they excused her behavior and wrote it off as her being young and dumb. At twenty-one, she was most definitely young, but most certainly not dumb. Kory put in just as much work as her sister and Nadja did, but it always seemed like she had the most to prove. She didn’t have no problem proving that she deserved to sit at the round table with them. She had been doing it her entire life. Walking in the footsteps of Symphony, having to be just as great as her sister in everything, and always being reminded to be more like Sym. Anyone else would have grown to resent their older sister for those reasons exactly but not Kory.
Symphony loved her little sister as if she was her own seed from the minute her mother bought her home from the hospital. Yes, she was great at many things growing up, but she never held it over Kory’s head. In fact, she always encouraged Kory to be better. Their relationship was close knit due mainly to the fact that they knew each other better than anyone else. Maybe except Nadja. There was one thing that she knew; that Kory didn’t and that one thing would surely tear the sisters apart at the seams.
“She joins us,” Nadja teased Kory as she walked into the room relieving herself of her phone and her gun.
“How you call me an hour ago, as if you were already here or close and you end up being late, Kory?” Symphony questioned.
Kory took a seat and shrugged. “After I left Nadja with the money, I ran home and changed my clothes, my bad sis.” She didn’t really lie. After she left, Nadja she met up with the dude, they fucked, so she was forced to go home, shower, and change. She just omitted a few of the details.
“So, about this situation.” Symphony flipped open the folder that was on the table in front of her and sifted through the documents. “I have an idea how we can get the location of the witness. But, this shit is going to be risky, which you both already know.”
“Greater the risk, greater the reward, says the three million we about to be up,” Kory added.
When it came to getting money, everything other than the logistics was irrelevant to her.
Nadja shifted in her seat and directed her attention to Symphony, who was zoned in on the paperwork in front of her.
“What’s the plan?”
The documents had Symphony’s complete attention, so neither she nor Kory was surprised when she raised her head and said huh? As if she missed something.
“I just asked what’s your plan?” Nadja repeated.
“Judge Haywood is presiding over this case,” Symphony smirked.
Kory knew exactly who Judge Haywood was because of the run-in they had with him in the past. She looked over at her sister and nodded her head knowingly. “Well, this should be easy,” Kory added.
Nadja was lost. During this particular case, Nadja was away handling family matters, so she didn’t know the significance of this particular Judge.
“Judge Haywood has a thing for young boys. Not kids. B
ut young compared to his old ass. Not to mention he’s married with children,” Sym scoffed. “Holla at Terrence. Toss him a few dollars; I ’m sure we can get him to get the honorable Judge in a compromising position.” Terrence was a boy they went to high school with. He had moved to New York a year before Symphony did. They’d been in touch here and there; seeing as at one point he was Sym’s gay husband. They were thick as thieves in high school, until the day that changed everything.
“We get the proof of him and T and threaten to expose him?” Nadja inquired.
“Exactly,” Sym and Kory said at the same time.
Sym closed the folder after reading everything she needed to know. “All we need is the location of the witness. I’m sure he’ll give that up. He won’t risk what exposure will do to his career and family. And from prior experience, he knows I’m not to be fucked with. This should be open, close. Well, getting the location will be simple, moving in on a safe house is another story, but it’s nothing we can’t handle.”
“You got a plan for that?” Kory directed at Symphony.
“Get the location and let me handle the rest.”
Kory tossed her hands up in the air. “Say no more, sis.”
Chapter Four
Symphony glanced down at McKenzie to find that she had finally succumbed to the sleep she had been fighting for two hours. She leaned down closer to her baby and whispered, “I love you,” in her ear. Gently, she slid out of the bed, set up a pillow fort around McKenzie, to ensure that she didn’t roll off the bed and turned on the baby monitor. She paused before walking out of her room, as the thought to put McKenzie in her crib came across her mind. Quickly, the thought faded, one wrong movement and Kenzie would be up fighting sleep again for another few hours. Symphony grabbed her phone off her dresser and headed into the living room. She made herself comfortable on the couch and channel surfed.
She had settled for the re-runs of Moesha on the up channel. Watching the show was nostalgic for her. Had her thinking back to her high school days when she had fewer cares and worries. A time before everything changed. A time before she changed. Her phone vibrated and temporarily took her attention away from the TV. It was damn near midnight, so, she had the right mind to ignore the caller, but when she saw it was him, her interest was piqued.
“Midnight though?”
“It’s Saturday; I thought you would be out or whatever. Were you sleeping?” Mitch questioned.
Symphony sucked her teeth at the weak excuse he had for calling her.
“That’s the best excuse you can come up with? Yea, I was sleeping,” she lied.
“Nah, honestly. I was thinking about you. This was the first free minute I had all day. I’m sorry for waking you up.”
She smiled at the revelation of him thinking about her. She thought that was cool or whatever.
“It’s cool. What’s up?”
“I got tickets to Summer Jam tomorrow. One of my boys can’t make it.”
“Can’t make it.”
“I wasn’t even going to ask you to go. I was venting.”
“Then what the fuck you call me for?” One thing Symphony hated was her time being wasted. If Mitch didn’t already know that, he knew right then.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down shorty. I was joking, I do want you to come, but if you busy, I guess another time would have to do.” Mitch had no intentions of there being another time because of the way she came at him, but something reminded him, he had to.
“It’s pretty last minute. I don’t have a babysitter.” It was, and she didn’t. Saturday and Sunday’s were the two days out of the week that was completely devoted to McKenzie. She rarely answered her phone unless it was her parents, Kory, or Nadja. Not to mention, she gave Laverne those days off as well.
“Where is McKenzie’s father?”
Symphony had to nip that conversation before it even got started and she knew exactly how. “Not here. But look, maybe I can ask my sister to watch Kenz for a few hours.”
She knew him hearing that she was considering going to the concert with him would take him mind away from any other questions he was going to ask about McKenzie’s father or anything else pertaining to her personal life. Something’s were just off limits.
“What time are you going?” She inquired.
“Tryna leave the city by like two. You can bring one of your homegirls. Since Niem was bringing his shorty and she won’t be coming either.”
“Okay, can I call you in the morning and let you know what my sister says?”
“Yea. Goodnight.”
“Good—” The line went dead.
Symphony sucked her teeth and sat the phone down on the cushion beside her. All she could think about was if he didn’t like her attitude or the way she responded to his question all he had to do was say never mind. Not hang up on her. That’s another reason she didn’t deal with niggas on a serious level. They were way too fucking emotional for her liking. She was no longer in the mood for Moesha. She powered down the TV and made her way back to her bed, beside her daughter. Before turning in for the night, she shot Kory a text message.
Kor, can you come over in the morning to watch McKenzie?
As expected, Kory was up, so her response was almost instant.
Depends. If you need me to watch her so, you can get your guts dug out? Yea. If not…
Symphony shook her head at her sister’s antics as she punched in her reply.
That’s the plan.
She may not have been the relationship type, but she enjoyed sex just like the next person.
Got you. I’ll be there early, and I’ll use my key cuz I know Kenz about to get up in a little while and have you up.
Symphony didn’t bother responding to her sister. Instead, she reached beside her nightstand for the cord to her charger, plugged it in, and sat the phone on the then nightstand. She didn’t know how to tell her sister that, at only three months McKenzie slept through the majority of the night, and that she was being kept awake from the reoccurring nightmares she had. There wasn’t a way to tell her sister those things, without sharing where the nightmares stemmed from. She just wasn’t ready to divulge that. When it all happened, Kory was too young to understand, so Sym turned to the next closest person she had; Nadja.
She got in the bed beside her daughter and got comfortable. She said a quick prayer, which excluded herself. Symphony believed that she’d done so much in her short amount of time on Earth that there wasn’t a way God could grant her prayers. So instead of wasting prayers that would go unheard, she prayed for her baby, her baby’s safety, and her future. Sym knew that God was a forgiving God; she grew up going to church with her grandmother before she passed. She just thought that something’s were unforgivable, and her sins fell into that category. Thoughts of her grandmother and the many lessons flooded her mind until she gave in and dozed off.
Her chest heaved in and out as sweat beads trickled down her face. She raised her hand and felt her shirt. As always, it was completely drenched in sweat. While attempting to control her breathing, she pulled the shirt over her head and tossed it on the floor, beside her bed. Symphony leaned back against the leather, quilted, headboard and rubbed her temple in a futile attempt to ease the throbbing pain she felt. She reached beside her for the phone to check the time.
“Four thirty-eight,” she whispered before sucking her teeth. She glanced beside her just as Kenzie stirred in her sleep. Frustration and sleepiness consumed Symphony, but she knew sleep was something of the past as least for the next hour or some. There was one thing she could have done to release some of the frustration she was feeling but with no one at her home to watch McKenzie, that couldn’t happen.
“One night of good rest,” she silently cried out. Her pleas were purposeless. Sleep was something she longed for, for ten years. And for ten years, all she was able to have was cat naps.
Deciding on a shower, Symphony slid out of the bed and picked up a sleeping McKenzie. She couldn’t risk being i
n the shower when she woke up crying out for her mother. Symphony held her close to her chest and gently patted her back. She whined, from being woken out of her sleep.
“Shh, okay stink.” Sym cooed while gently patting and rocking her simultaneously. She made it to McKenzie’s nursery and lied her down in her crib. She was up but lied still looking as if she was contemplating on going back to sleep or staying up to wreck havoc. Sym hit play on the iPod connected to Kenzie’s beats pill. The volume was low, but the serene sound of the fifth symphony crooned throughout the room, instantly soothing the baby. Kenzie was a fan of Beethoven and Mozart way before she even fully understood what music was. Symphony had her mom to thank for that. During Symphony’s entire pregnancy her mother, Simone, encouraged her to play that type of music for the baby while she was still baking.
Symphony stood over the crib and watched as McKenzie dozed in and out of sleep until her eyes rolled shut and remained that way. She made her way to the bathroom, turned on the water, stripped out of the remainder of her night clothes and got in. The water was welcoming. It was refreshing. Like Mozart, Vivaldi, and Beethoven soothed McKenzie, the steam from the hot shower soothed Symphony.
Chapter Five
“Alright he’s downstairs,” Sym announced as she made her way from the back of the apartment. She had spent the majority of the morning being convinced by Kory to go. It took Kory a lot but finally she got Sym to text Mitch her address and confirm that she indeed was going with him. Besides mentally preparing herself for the day out, she spent a lot of time trying on different outfits and listening to Kory give her spiel about going out and enjoying herself.
“Oh, you decided on a fit. And of course, it would be the first fit that I told you was perfect,” Kory shook her head.
Symphony looked down at her fit and gave herself a nod of approval. The distressed denim jeans, yellow crop top, and strappy, heeled, sandals were perfect for the occasion. The heels might have been much since she would probably spend the majority of the concert on her feet but while she wanted to be comfortable, she had to look good as well.
Street Symphony: A Tainted Love Story Page 3
