by Shontaiye
“I’m not leaving until you talk to me,” he demanded.
Razul’s irritation increased and he figured he would have to call up a buddy from the nearby precinct. He was off duty and from what he could sense, Noah was going to be an issue. The desperate man before him had no intention of letting up.
“Razul give me a minute okay. I’m going to step outside and talk to him,” she said, throwing her hands up.
Noah shot Razul a dirty look and the duo proceeded to head outside in front of Zeppi’s.
“Wassup?” Shaleea asked. She wanted to him to make it quick and get to the point.
“Why you ignoring me Shaleea.? Everybody’s ignoring me. I called your mom, your sisters, and you. Nobody has been picking up for me. Nobody has been answering my texts or voicemails…It’s like that?” he asked in disbelief. They were like his family and it truly hurt him that they had all turned their back on him.
“Noah they are my family. What do you expect. You literally fucked up seven years in 12 months. It’s over. They love you, but out of respect they are distancing themselves.”
“Shaleea baby, we can work this shit out,” he pleaded.
“No we can’t Noah. And stop fucking saying it,” she said angrily, her lip quivering.
“You had a baby with her,” she snarled angrily in a low tone so no one would hear them. “I can’t accept that…I won’t accept that. For the last year I begged and pleaded with you to end that shit,” she said referring to his affair. “I did my part. I even gave you the opportunity to be honest and you did not. Why the fuck should I stay with you and help you raise another bitch’s baby?” she asked. She had heard; Nikka had told her that Noah sought legal custody of his love child. However, his attempt at trying to do the right thing wasn’t impressive to her. It was painful and she wanted no parts of it.
“Cuz I helped you do the same fucking thing. And don’t fucking act like you a Saint. You did some fucked up shit too,” Noah replied selfishly. He knew she knew exactly what he meant. She couldn’t believe the nerve of him.
“Heaven’s father is dead Noah. When we got together, we were a package and the circumstances were different…I didn’t have Heaven during the course of, and outside of our relationship. And furthermore, like I always say to ya ass, one time is a mistake, multiple times is a choice. What I did was a mistake.”
“So why the fuck you in here with that nigga?” he demanded to know.
Shaking her head in disgust, Shaleea began to walk off and back into the lounge. Noah grabbed her arm. Although she snatched away, she slowed down and stopped.
“Leea baby..I am sorry. I fucked up…I live with this shit every day. You’re like my other half,” he stated. He figured he didn’t have shit else to lose so he chose to speak from his heart and beg her for forgiveness. “I swear I’ve changed.” He stared directly into her eyes so she could see his sincerity. “I’m trying to make better choices. I know I hurt you…I know. But I love you a lot. And I don’t want to be with anyone else.”
He wanted to make excuses. He wanted to tell her that Eve had played him, but it was pointless. He knew she wouldn’t want to hear it. The only option he had was to play on her emotion’s and the fact that he knew she loved him.
“Noah,” Shaleea began, while shaking her head in dismay. Her black shiny hair moved with her. She quickly wiped at it. She was disinterested in what he had to say. She didn’t want to do this. The topic was not only emotional for her, but it was pointless.
“It’s over Noah,” she said slowly and sadly. “Please don’t make this harder than what it has to be. I love you. I probably always will…but I deserve better.” Tears quickly formed in her eyes and spilled down onto her face. She wiped at them with her French manicured hand. She didn’t want any stupid tears getting in her hairs. Besides, crying wouldn’t get her anywhere. It never had with Noah.
Noah let go of her arm and peered at her solemnly before speaking. “Naaa,” he replied, while shaking his head in disagreement. He turned around and walked back to his car that was parked in front of the restaurant. Begging wasn’t getting him anywhere and his anger was only escalating. Rejection of his apologies was fueling his fire and adding salt to the wound, she was on a date with another man. He figured it was best for him to leave before things escalate. He wasn’t ready to give up though. He just had to show Shaleea he was a man that had changed.
Shaleea shook her head sadly and walked back into the restaurant without looking back. She didn’t know what Noah meant, but what she did know was, he was going to be persistent. He always had been, and that was one of the reasons she had stayed around so long. Things were different now; that chapter of her life was closed and Noah was just going to have to accept that.
Shaleea
“So back at Zeppis….what was that about?” Razul asked, as he plopped down beside Shaleea on his spacious microfiber sectional. He moved a few pillows so they could be close, then he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into him. He kissed her softly on her cheek to relax her. He sensed she was bothered.
After the verbal exchange with Noah, Shaleea had returned inside the restaurant. While Razul noticed she seemed bothered she still proceeded as if nothing had occurred. They quickly left at her suggestion and they were now back at his place to watch a movie and chill.
“That was Noah,” she calmly replied. She took a deep breath and decided to explain their situation. She had given Razul bits and pieces of her past but hadn’t delved in too deep about her relationship with her former fiancée. She figured now was the best time if she really wanted to get serious with Razul. She knew it hadn’t been long but she really liked him and felt like he may be exactly what she needed.
“Noah and I had a beautiful life together.” She stared off. “Basically he had the money and I had the degree. We were a team…We built a successful business and we were trying to build a life. But he cheated…Not once, but many times. A lot I looked past, I let go…He would always make it up to me,” she said sarcastically. “A diamond bracelet here. A bigger house there. A new car, earrings. Material shit…But this last time was what ended us…The girl was pressed and she made her presence known…Well known…A year of drama, and ultimately, a newborn baby is why I am now sitting beside you…I couldn’t do it anymore. I was good to him. He loves me. I know he does. Always has. And now he won’t let go. He says he’s changed. But so have I. I just have to move forward with my life. Things I went through, things I wound up doing that were completely out of my character…I just can’t.”
She basically summed it up as best as she could. She knew she should tell Razul certain things but she refused to move forward into a new relationship with a bunch of baggage and issues. Some things were better left unsaid.
Razul stared at her as she spoke and saw the pain in her eyes. He took his hand and stroked her arm. The light display of affection from him gave her chills.
“You still love him?” he asked. He had to know. He really liked Shaleea and knew if he kept dealing with her, he would grow to love her deeply. He could sense a good woman when he saw one. One who was wounded, but nevertheless, a good woman. He just hoped that even though she had been wronged many times by someone she loved, she was still able to identify a good man.
“Yeah. I do,” she responded, without hesitation. Noah would always be in her heart.
“I ask you that Shaleea because I really dig you. I would like for us to be together on a more serious level but you would have to determine exactly where you want to be.”
They had talked about getting serious before, but Razul had never seen Shaleea interact with Noah before. While he wasn’t intimidated by Noah himself, he was a bit intimidated by his effect on Shaleea. Her entire emotional state changed when he entered that restaurant. He knew love when he saw it. There’s had been deep and he just wasn’t sure if he could compete with it. He needed her reassurance.
“I love Noah, but I’m not going back to him,” she said with finalit
y. She turned to look at him. While he still saw pain, he also saw sincerity. He hoped her eyes weren’t deceiving him and she was telling the truth. He kissed her and she kissed him back briefly before gently pulling away. He smiled and kissed her again on the face before grabbing the remote. Whenever she was ready, so was he. He wouldn’t force her. Shaleea had decided she would wait. She had a lot of shit to take care of and wasn’t going to confuse the situation more with sex. Razul quickly thumbed through the movies that were On Demand.
“The Hills Have Eyes?” he asked with a smirk, figuring she wasn’t fond of gory movies.
“Yesss, that’s my joint. I love scary movies,” she said.
He smiled again. “Bet.” They were alike in more ways than one. He was beginning to think he had found “The One.”
Mann
Mann quietly sat in his car and continued to wait for Shaleea to exit out of the townhouse she had entered several hours before. He had followed her from the restaurant and had witnessed her meet the same mystery man there, and then trail him to this address. He also couldn’t help witness a desperate looking Noah stand on the corner and make a fool of himself by begging Shaleea for conversation. He hadn’t heard the verbal exchange but speculated that was what he was doing. He appeared pathetic if you asked him. She had clearly moved on from everyone, him included. That made no sense to Mann since her favorite excuse for not being with him was because he and Noah were friends. Difference between him and Noah was he wasn’t going to beg her. She would answer and pay for her deception.
THIRTEEN
Bianca
“Hi, I’m here to see Eva Prevot,” Bianca said to the front desk receptionist with a warm smile.
“Okay. Sign your name on the clip board and have a seat over there. We’ll have someone to take you back shortly.”
This was only Bianca’s third time coming to the state center, but she was already becoming a familiar face to the staff at Harbor Haven, a group home for infants.
Bianca signed the board using the attached pen and took a seat in the waiting area. Coming into Harbor Haven always left Bianca with mixed feelings. She was grateful that baby Eva had a place to go but uneasy because she knew before long, she would be sent to a foster home. Her godchild had become a ward of the state since Eve’s mother fell ill a few weeks ago.
With HIV, it was especially important that she take her medicine, and Arima had not been doing so. Without the much needed anti-viral meds suppressing the monstrous virus ravaging her system, a minor upper respiratory infection quickly led to pneumonia.
Once Bianca received the phone call from a sick and weary Arima, she did her best to step in only to be turned away. Although she had succeeded in getting an apartment, Eva’s worker wasn’t confident it would be enough to get the judge to allow her to take the newborn home with her. Given the circumstances around her mother’s death, they were being cautious with associates other than family caring for the baby.
“Bianca,” Eva’s worker Stephanie said as she walked over to greet her. She was a plain, professional looking brown skinned-woman. Although neat her pant suit looked as if it had been washed over a hundred times judging by its ashy, faded gray color.
“Hi sweetheart, I’ve been meaning to call you, she continued in a stern voice. She appeared in a hurry and almost irritable. “Come back with me,” she waved.
Bianca followed behind her and went to the back of the office building to Stephanie’s small space amongst an array of other side by side, drab white cubicles. A foot of space separated Stephanie’s workspace from her neighboring cube. Bianca took a seat. She hated coming to the facility or any other government facility. She did her best to get comfortable as she waited for Stephanie to get to the point of why she had brought her back to speak with her.
Normally when Bianca visited, she would go directly back to a large room. She very rarely saw Eva’s case worker. When she did, she would have to catch her unexpectedly and sporadically after making numerous attempts to contact her.
“Listen, the reason I brought you back here is because Eva has been placed with her father. He came and got her yesterday.”
Bianca immediately felt faint. “Are you people insane!” she asked, startling Stephanie. If anything she thought the young girl would be happy she could get on with her life. It was a surprise to her, as most family members and friends had no real desire to take on the role of caregiver to someone else’s child.
“He’s the one that probably killed her mother and you give him the baby. What kind of shit is that?” she demanded to know.
“My friend is dead because of him and she would have wanted me to raise Eva... And you all give the baby to him,” she angrily questioned, breaking down into tears. She had failed her friend and she was angry. She had done everything she thought she could to get Eva, but despite all of her efforts, the judicial system basically pissed on her.
“I understand you’re upset sweetie, but try to calm down. Please don’t forget that this is government,” she emphasized, before trying to explain.
“At the end of the day we still have to follow the law,” she explained. “Mr. Thomas is Eva’s father. He has the blood test to prove it. Not only that, but he came accompanied with a hotshot family attorney as well as income and bank statements showing that he is 100% able to provide for her.” Sighing she went on. “Now Bianca, I know you did your best. I don’t take that away from you, but the law is the law. She is going to be with her father. I appreciate you coming up here, but I have several dozen cases I need to get to. At this point, baby Eva has been permanently placed.”
Naomi stared at the caseworker in disgust and disappointment. She wanted to smack the uncaring smirk off her face. In her eyes Stephanie didn’t give a shit one way or another where Eva went. She was just a case number, and to Stephanie, now one less case that she had to deal with.
“You know what bitch, fuck you. You don’t give a shit about these kids. If something happens to Eva, her blood is on your hands,” she spat, before getting up and storming out. Stephanie remained seated. This was nothing new to her. She had no choice but to do her job and in the process, was unable to make everyone happy.
Bianca quickly left the building to avoid assaulting Stephanie. She once again went back to feeling like she had no purpose. Eva had given her a purpose. She had given her the motivation she needed to change her life. However, that was no more. The bad guys always won, and fast money allowed it. “Fuck a job,” she thought. It hadn’t helped her one bit. She was buying her a quarter of loud and a bottle and going back to doing what she did best; living life in the fast lane. With time, she knew her fate would ultimately be like Eve’s., and she was right. She would soon wound up missing after meeting up with a shady date. Sadly there weren’t too many that even cared.
Naomi
“So you say the nigga is a cop?” Mann asked her for what seemed like the fiftieth time.
“Yeah, I told you he was. He’s like a Captain or Lieutenant or some shit like that in the drug department,” Naomi replied annoyed. He was asking her the same questions over and over. She sat beside him, half Indian style, with one leg tucked under her and waited for Mann to finish rolling the blunt. He always took forever and would never show her how to roll because he said she would waste his weed.
“And she told you that,” he asked, raising his eyebrow, being careful to take his time to join the leafy flaps of the Backwoods. Lately he wasn’t sure if he could believe all that Naomi told him. She seemed hostile at times and he had determined that he was going to have to switch up his approach with her. The manipulation and drugs were no longer enough for Naomi’s feisty, jealous, dick-strung ass. Fear would soon be his new tactic.
“Yeah I told you that already before. She smacked her teeth. “On some real shit, I don’t know what that bitch is up to, but I do know that she ain’t right…She knows a whole lot…Noah used to tell her everything, and now all of a sudden she fucking with a top boy from Philly P. D’s Na
rcotics department.” She laid it on extra thick to further antagonize him.
Mann continued to lay on the rumpled sheets and let what she had said sink in.
“Here,” he said, before finally passing her the rolled blunt. He sat and stared at her.
“For some reason Naomi, I’m starting to feel like the information you’ve been giving me has been…how shall I say it…exaggerated.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“Exaggerated like the fuck I said,” he restated.
“So what you’re telling me is…You don’t think this bitch is up to something…Why? You think she miss goody two-shoes?”
Mann just stared at her, disgusted by how much she envied someone who was once one of her closest friends. He didn’t say a word. He knew it was the pot calling the kettle black, but then again he wasn’t too fond of himself either.
“You stupid as shit…This bitch is fucking a nigga from Narcotics and you don’t think that’s fishy, as much drugs as you moving and as much drugs as you and Noah have moved…You know she thinks you shot Noah,” she lied. She wasn’t slow to anything fast. She knew Mann was up to something and had something to do with Noah being injured.
“Your dumb ball headed ass so mesmerized by this shady bitch that you don’t know your left from your right…She don’t want ya ass, she—-”
Before she could utter another word Mann had sprung up and grabbed her by her neck. He applied enough pressure so that nothing more than a quick gag managed to escape from her. He forced her down and tightened his grip. He didn’t shake her, her just held her with all of his anger and might.
“Just shut the fuck up for once…You fucking fat bitch…Who the fuck you think you talking to with ya miserable ass?” he snarled into her ear. It came out in a whisper and frightened Naomi to the point where she wanted to scream out for help. However, she couldn’t. She couldn’t breath and Mann wasn’t letting go. He was strangling her. Her eyes teared up and started to bulge. She did her best to break his grip from her neck by using her free hands to pull at his. Several of her sky blue, acrylic nails broke in the process. She struggled to talk but the sounds she made were inaudible. His eyes appeared coal black and empty as he continued to stare into her eyes while he held her.
