by Mz. Toni
“You have a fiancé and children that need you right now, but you're out on some wild goose chase!” she snapped.
“Speaking of children, how the fuck you gon tell Jasmine about her mama? That wasn't your muthafucking place!” I snapped.
“What the fuck is wrong with you? Like I told you before, I’mma do whatever it takes to find Lil Mama!”
“You weren't gonna tell her and she needed to know.”
“My daughter is already dealing with enough. I was gonna tell her when I decided the time was right. You got life fucked up if you think that shit was cool. Her fucking mother is missing and you tell her that her other mother is dead!”
“That’s the problem, you’re so worried about your precious Lil Mama that you're saying fuck everything and everybody else. I'm trying to plan our fucking wedding alone because even when you're here, you're not here!” she screamed.
“Kaliah, I don't have time for this right now!” I said, pacing the floor.
“You never have time,” she said, before walking away. Walking out the door I hopped in my car and after dropping Jasmine off with Evelyn, I drove to Mark’s house. When I got there, I knocked on the basement door and was met by all my niggas and their main priority was getting Cherish home safely.
“I don't understand how we can't find one fucking bitch!” I snapped.
“Man, I don't even know,” Mark said. Cherish had been missing for forty-six hours and we still have no leads as to where Jayden was.
“We need to find Cherish, before something bad happens,” I said, stressed.
“What you mean find Cherish?” Camille asked.
“Babe, what you doing up, go back to bed,” Mark said.
“No, I'm fine, tell me what’s going on!” she snapped.
“Everything is fine, we got it handled,” Kasan said.
“Nigga shut up, I wasn't talking to you, I'm talking to my husband!”
“Come on Cam, calm down, that shit ain't good for the baby.”
“Don't tell me to calm down, I ain't a fucking child. If something is wrong with my fucking friend, I want to know now!”
“Fuck it, just tell her,” Mark said.
“Cherish is missing, we think Jayden took her.”
“Nooooo! Noo, we gotta find her!” she said, as tears fell from her eyes.
“We gonna find her Cam, I promise!” Mark said, hugging her.
“How the fuck did this happen? I swear she can't catch a break. I'm so tired of muthafuckas fucking with her!” she snapped.
“Don't worry, Jayden gonna fucking pay with his life!” I snapped.
“Did y'all try to find her phone?” she asked.
“What you mean find her phone?”
“If her phone is on, then you can find it on google.”
“That's some CIA, FBI shit. I told y'all the fucking government watches us all,” Chris said.
“Nigga, shut the fuck up!” Kasan said, shaking his head.
“Let me go grab my laptop,” she said, before rushing out. When she came back downstairs with her laptop in tow, she quickly accessed Cherish’s phone, which surprised the shit out of me.
“It says she’s in Burlington, NJ. Why would Jayden have her there?” she said.
“I don't know, but I'm bout to find out!” I said.
“Yeah, let’s go!” Camille said.
“You ain't going nowhere, not with my baby in you!” Mark snapped.
“Well I ain't gonna just sit here while my friend is missing!”
“You did enough, now go sit ya ass down somewhere!”
“Whatever, y'all better bring my friend back in one fucking piece!” she snapped, before walking back upstairs. After writing down the address, we loaded into the car and headed out to Burlington. Pulling up to the address, it seemed to be a normal house, nothing out of the ordinary.
“We gonna stay here until it’s dark, then we’ll move,” I said. We sat in the car and watched the house for hours, and it seemed like every few minutes, Kaliah would call me and text me, wanting to know where I was, but I ignored every call and text. At about 6pm, the sun had started to go down and right when we were about to jump out the car, cops swarmed the house. Everything happened so fast, I wasn't even sure how the fuck the cops found the place. The moment I heard a gunshot, I raced out the car, only to be stopped by police officers.
“What the fuck, my wife is in there!” I snapped. I wasn't trying to hear shit they were saying, and I continued to try and push past them.
“Jason, we have everything under control,” Tyler said, surprising me.
“Man, who the fuck got shot, where is my fucking girl!” I snapped. I didn't care about what he thought he had under control. Until I laid eyes on my Lil Mama, I wouldn't be calm.
“Step over here with me, let me holla at you.” Tyler said pulling me to the side.
“Man I ain't got time for this shit, I need to know what the fuck is going on!” I snapped.
“Cherish is fine, she wasn't harmed, I don't know who the fuck that nigga is or what the fuck is going on, I grabbed Jayda last night, that bitch is a done deal, I handled her my fucking self.”
“Where was that nigga, and if it was him that grabbed her then who?” I asked.
“Man I don't know, but I know it was Jayda, this bitch was laid up in some hospital all beat the fuck when I found her, I went to the county to talk to the nigga that was charged and he said he didn't know that she use to be a man.”
“I knew that shit was gonna catch up to his ass.” I said shaking my head.
“Mega!” I heard Cherish scream. Pushing past everyone, I rushed to her and when she fell into my arms, I didn't want to let her go. As I looked over her body to make sure she was untouched, I let out a sigh of relief.
“Are you ok?” I asked, hugging her.
“You came for me?”
“Why wouldn't I, you know I always got ya back Lil Mama.”
“I just thought…” she started to say, before breaking down. Picking her up, I carried her to the car. As soon as I sat her down, Camille, Shante, Shana and Queesha came running up to us.
“What the fuck are y'all doing here!” Kasan snapped.
“We had to make sure our girl was ok. I got my baby tucked away real nice,” Camille said.
“You always tryna shoot somebody,” Cherish said laughing.
“Excuse me, but she can't leave. She needs to be checked and we need a statement,” a cop said, stopping us from leaving.
“Nigga, you need to move, I ain't leaving without her!” I snapped.
“No one knows exactly what happened in there,” the cop said. Just as I was about to talk, a little girl was being brought out of the house in handcuffs. She looked so young and I didn't understand what all this was about.
“Where are y'all taking her!” Cherish jumped up.
“What’s wrong, ain't she one of the people who took you?” I asked, confused.
“Nooo, she saved my life!” Cherish screamed, before running over to the girl and hugging her. At this point, I was completely fucking lost. I had no idea what was going on as she embraced this little girl. Walking up to Cherish, the little girl looked up at me and at that moment, I felt like I’d seen her before, but I couldn't figure out where.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cherish
“Take your time and tell us exactly what you remember,” Tyler said.
“Me and Blue were talking and I was letting her know that if she let me go that I would do everything in my power to protect her from that man. She was about to let me go, when he came back to the house. She quickly tied my blindfold back on and when he walked in, he had a gun. He started rambling on about how I had tried to take someone that didn't belong to me anymore, but I had no clue what he was talking about. Before I knew what was happening, he had the gun aimed at my head, but before he could pull the trigger, Blue shot him in the chest. Seconds later, y'all came busting through the door,” I said honestly. As I recalled
the events, I couldn't help but cry. I was so blessed to come out of that with just a few scratches because it could've been a lot worse. As Mega held me in his arms while I was telling the story, for the first time in a long time, I felt complete.
“Did he say anything to you before passing?” Tyler asked.
“I don't remember.”
“It’s fine, that's all we need for right now, but I have your number.”
“So what’s gonna happen to Blue?”
“Right now, she will be handed over to our social worker and laced in a home.”
“She can stay at my outreach program.”
“Cherish, are you sure?” Mega asked.
“Yes, I'm positive. That girl ain't his child. I don't know who she belongs to, but until y'all find her actual family, then she can stay in my care.”
“That’s fine. You have a government funded program, so it shouldn't be a problem,” Tyler said.
“Thank you, can I go now?”
“You're free to go, and I'm so sorry about what you’ve been through,” he said. When we were done, Mega drove me home so I could be with my babies. I felt so weird because I knew we had a lot to talk about pertaining to us, but I was so mentally exhausted, I just wanted to go home.
“Do you need me to stay?” he asked.
“No, I'm sure you're just as tired as I am.”
“You know I love you, right?”
“Jason, please don't do this right now. You have a whole fiancé,” I said, on the verge of tears.
“And I'm sorry about that, but I’mma figure this shit out,” he said, before kissing my head and walking away. I knew who I wanted and where I wanted to be, but I didn't want to push what I wanted on him. I needed him to want me, not because he felt sorry, but because I'm the only woman he wanted. As soon as I got home, I kissed my sleeping babies and hopped into the shower. After spending over an hour washing off the filth, I curled up in bed. The next morning, I was awakened to the best sounds I’d ever heard in my life, crying babies and cartoons. Jumping out of bed, I walked out into the living room
“Mommyyyyy!” Jasmine said, hugging me.
“Hey baby, I missed you so much!” I said, kissing her.
“I missed you too. Daddy promised he would bring you home.”
“Did he?” I asked with a smile.
“Yup!”
“You want some pancakes?” I asked.
“Yes please, chocolate chip!” she said happily. After fixing breakfast, I had to head out to the outreach program and make sure I had a room set up for Blue.
“Hey Cherish, glad to have you back!” one of my counselors said.
“Glad to be back. I have a newbie coming soon, so can you set up a room? Make sure it has the works.”
“Will do,” she said, before walking away. Walking into my office, I called Tyler to see what was going on with Blue and when she would be coming. Pulling out his card, I dialed his cellphone number and waited for him to answer.
“Hello?”
“Hey Tyler, I'm calling to see when Blue will be coming.”
“We are on our way to you right now,” he said.
“Ok, thank you so much,” I said, before hanging up. After waiting ten minutes, in walked Tyler and Blue. She seemed so withdrawn and it broke my heart.
“Cherish!” she said with a smile, before hugging me.
“Hey sweety, how are you?”
“I'm ok, I kinda miss Daddy,” she said, making my stomach turn.
“I understand, but don't worry, you’ll be fine,” I said with a smile. Walking her to her room, I was surprised by how happy she was with it.
“Wow, this is all mine?” she asked.
“Yeah, this is all yours, for as long as you want it. I’mma go talk with Mr. Tyler, you can go look around,” I said, before walking out her room. Leading Tyler back to my office, I wasted no time asking questions.
“So have you heard anything?”
“No, I haven't found any of her family. But the guy who kidnapped you, we went by his house and it was extremely disturbing. His wife was also charged with child endangerment after she willingly admitted to knowing that he had kidnapped you.”
“But why did he do it?” I asked. I was completely over being kidnapped and it just happened yesterday. What was eating me up was the not knowing. I mean who did I hurt so bad that they would want me dead.
“I’m still trying to figure that out, but when I do, don't worry, you will hear from me.”
“I'm sorry about Ashley. At one point we had our problems, but I could see the change in her and she didn't deserve to die.”
“Thank you. I miss her and I'm in pain, but I will heal,” he said, before shaking my hand and walking out. As I continued to handle paperwork and introduce myself to the children, Camille and the girls walked in.
“Tell me why I went to the house to see you, only to have Ms. Evelyn tell me that you're here,” Camille said.
“I can't let one monkey stop the show, I still got shit to do,” I said.
“You better talk that shit!” Shante said.
“How you feeling though?” Camille asked.
“I'm ok, I'm just glad Blue is fine,” I said.
“I can't believe that nigga got away with kidnapping a fucking little girl and nobody was looking for her,” Queesha said, shaking her head.
“Yeah, it’s crazy,” Shana said.
“Alright, well how long you gonna be here?” Camille asked.
“I was about to leave before y'all came.”
“Oh aight, well come on, I'm starving,” Camille’s pregnant ass said.
“Girl, I'm tired. I'm going home with my babies and going to bed.”
“Whatever, what’s up with you and Mega?” Shante asked.
“What you talkin bout?”
“Don't play stupid. We all saw how that nigga was holding his Lil Mama,” Camille said.
“He is about to get married, so ain't nothin up with us.”
“Whatever, be in denial all you want, but we out,” Shante said before they all left.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Mega
As I laid in bed, I couldn't get the little girl's face out my head. It was fucking me up because for the life of me, I couldn't remember where I had saw her at. As I continued to stare into the dark ceiling, it was as if a light bulb went off in my head. I jumped out of bed, grabbing my phone, and called Tyler.
“I know where I know that little girl from,” I said when he answered.
“Where?”
“I went to Kaliah’s parents house, and she was in a book of photos he had.”
“Wait, Kaliah’s father?”
“Yeah, I assumed the picture was old, but obviously not.”
“So are you saying that the man who tried to kill Cherish is somehow connected to Kaliah? I ran a check on him and they never had kids.”
“Can you send me a picture of the dude?”
“Yeah, give me a minute,” he said. When I finally got the picture, I opened it and was shocked. It was definitely the dude that Kaliah introduced to me as her dad.
“I don't know what the fuck is going on, but that’s Kaliah’s dad.”
“Damn, this shit is fucking weird. I need some time to do some digging, give me until tomorrow afternoon,” he said before hanging up. As I laid in bed, I watched as Kaliah slept and all I could think about was whether or not I actually knew the woman I was engaged to. I continued to be caught in my thoughts, until sleep took over.
The next morning, I woke up bright and early, hoping that Tyler had some news for me. I had been spending most of my time with Cherish and the kids, but every time I came home, Kaliah drove me crazy, talking about this wedding that I didn't even want. I had been trying hard to tell Kaliah that I didn't want to get married, but every time I made an attempt to tell her, she didn't give me a chance. When I came home and told her that we had found Cherish, she was disappointed and I knew why. Kaliah knew that as hard as I tried to
fight it, my heart belonged to Cherish. At the same time, I felt fucked up for hurting Kaliah.
“Hey babe, I'm so glad things are back to normal,” Kaliah said, kissing me.
“Yeah, me too,” I said.
“So I’ve been thinking maybe we should just go to city hall. I mean I don't have anyone to bring, so it would be small anyways.”
