by Shontaiye
Shaleea quickly talked to Heaven, who was merely bored and just calling to check up on her. After exchanging “I love you’s,” she hung up and used the bathroom.
As she made her way back out to her seat she noticed Naomi was gone. She figured she had stepped out for a minute. She surely hadn’t come into the bathroom. After waiting for 15 minutes, Shaleea realized she had been ditched. Naomi hadn’t ordered any food because the waiter continuously returned to her table asking her if she was ready to order.
After attempting to call Naomi several times and being sent to voicemail, Shaleea determined she wasn’t dealing with her anymore. She understood people went through things, but truthfully her and Naomi’s relationship hadn’t really been the same since their argument. Naomi was distant and often asked a lot of questions, usually pertaining to Noah. It was as if she was trying too hard to be the concerned friend. If that was the case, and she was truly concerned she should’ve been asking how she had been holding up and doing. She’d lost her baby, almost lost Noah, and found out he had fathered a child outside of the relationship. Half the time her attention seemed to be elsewhere and Shaleea found herself repeating things.
Shaleea wasn’t sure what was up with Naomi, but she didn’t have time for it. She was getting her life together and if it meant ridding herself of what she felt was another negative, toxic individual, then so be it.
She decided to order her meal “to-go” with the waiter, and tipped him since she had been occupying his table for some time. As she placed her takeout bag in the passenger seat of her truck, she thought about how life had changed. She honestly couldn’t say yet whether she appreciated the change. She had loved her life at one point. Things were different; very different. She just wasn’t sure if different always meant better.
FIFTEEN
Mann
Mann walked over to the couch and glanced down at Naomi as she lay sleep, the front of her body nestled into the sofa. He scrunched his face up how one would if they smelled something foul. He used his foot to nudge her. Today was the day. He wanted her out and away from him for good.
“Naomi!” She immediately woke up. She was a light sleeper. “Yo, get up. I gotta roll. It’s 11am and ya ass been sleep all morning. I got shit to do and you gotta leave too.”
She sat up and wiped at her eyes. She was groggy and her head was pounding. She was several hours late for work but didn’t seem to care as she slowly peeled herself away from the couch.
“Make sure you take all your shit with you,” Mann stated firmly.
“Mann if this is still about last night…I’m sorry,” she stammered.
When she had stormed out of the restaurant, Mann told her he was done with her. That of course was after he grabbed her by her hair and yelled at her for not listening. He had long ago peeped Naomi’s deception and had followed her to the restaurant where she met Shaleea. He knew it was coming. There wasn’t enough slaps and punches that could make Naomi fully cooperate when it pertained to Shaleea. He watched her from the parking lot as she walked to her car and drove off, all the while still claiming to be in the restaurant. She was painfully jealous of her and it turned him off. She was no longer of any use to him and he did his best to not keep useless people around him. He had always been an opportunist and would be on to the next one.
“Yo just shut up and get out,” he said as he grabbed his keys from the kitchen counter.
“You gonna call me?” she asked, while putting on her shoes.
“Naa. And don’t bother to call me either. I’m good.”
“Baby please…why you doing this,” she asked. She walked over to him and pathetically dropped to her knees. She tugged at his jeans. She tried to unbuckle them so she could give him a good reason to let her stay. She figured that might change his mind. It didn’t. She was a mess sitting in front of him. Her weave was wild and she hadn’t even brushed her teeth yet. On top of that, she had lost a considerable amount of weight and had loose skin that she showed to the world with her tight unflattering clothing. In a matter of months, she had let herself go and no longer cared about her appearance. She was a far cry from the spunky Naomi he had met through Shaleea.
He had found out through the streets that she was copping her own weed way out in South Philly. It wasn’t hard, as he supplied a vast majority of the lower level dealers and had driven through the hood plenty of times with her by his side. It also didn’t help that she name-dropped to get better prices. Her copping her own shit solidified that she was “out there.” She would never get the high she was craving since she didn’t know Crack is what she actually desired. What that did tell him is that she was sneaky and could not be trusted.
Lately, out of convenience and for his own selfish reasons, he had been still fucking her. However, when she insisted on staying the night, he would make her crash on the couch, unlike before when he would allow her to share his bed. Today he would pass. He could get head any day from any bad ass hoodrat. He rocked the flyest shit and drove the flyest whip. He was good.
“Yo move, and get off me,” he said, snatching his crotch back from her abruptly. He was done playing games, and if she knew what was good for her, she would leave willingly, or run the risk of being thrown out. He didn’t care about making a scene in the lily-white neighborhood. He had purchased the house for his grandmother and since she was gone, gave no fucks about pissing off the neighbors.
Naomi stood up shamefully and decided to leave. She knew Mann wouldn’t hesitate to hit her. She had been his punching bag for over a month now. He had abandonment, anger, and “mommy” issues. He needed some serious help. However, she couldn’t talk. She had low self-esteem and more recently suffered from depression. She hadn’t been officially diagnosed, but knew it had to be those two things. Why else would she knowingly allow Mann to use, as well as physically and emotionally abuse her?
“I’ll leave. But at the end of the day, it’s your loss.” She grabbed her purse and headed towards the door, but not before doing her best to smooth down her hair.
“Oh and by the way,” she smirked. “You best hope I don’t tell Shaleea what ya sick, sorry obsessed ass has planned for her. I heard you several nights ago while you were up unable to sleep… whispering to yaself about what you were gonna do…fucking self-medicated freak,” Naomi spat, referring to his obsessive use of pills, weed, alcohol and pain relievers to function through the day, as well as sleep through the night.
“Oh and I’ll also let her know you’ve been following her.”
She had seen him do it. The first night he ran out to Sonix, she went right behind him. Several other times she followed Mann and he always wound up on the side of a street, or in a parking lot tracking Shaleea. She found it disturbing, but because of her own self-esteem issues, she stayed.
She knew he was borderline obsessed with Shaleea, even after doing her best to taint her image with exaggerations and lies. It wasn’t working the way she wanted it to. Mann was still obsessed and was becoming more and more violent. Less concerned about being with Shaleea and having her as a companion, Mann was now angry and bitter from her rejection.
“You’re a wierdo and you need help,” she continued to rant. “You’re so busy trying to fill a void in ya life with someone who doesn’t want ya ass…You’re too blind to see what you have in front of you.”
Mann just stared at her and Naomi then knew she had struck a nerve. Fury was forming within him. He knew what his issues were. They were like ghosts, haunting him. He didn’t want to face them, instead choosing to drown them in drugs. There was truly something wrong in his brain; a real psychological issue. Whatever it was, it had been suppressed until recently. She knew nothing, and her rambling and insults were like adding a lit match to a can of gasoline.
Instead of responding, Mann walked off towards his bedroom. Just like he expected, Naomi shut the front door and followed right behind him.
“Oh you aint got shit to say now? Cat gotcha tongue. You silent all of a sudden
,” she asked loudly, while snapping her neck back and forth like the typical ghetto girl.
Mann reached in his pocket and replied, “Nah, but you are now.” He flicked open his switch blade that he religiously kept tucked in his pocket and shoved it into Naomi’s neck. He grabbed her by her back, pulled her into him and violently twisted the knife. Looking into her eyes, he snatched the sharp bloody blade from her throat and released her with a push. She fell on the bed, eyes wide with terror.
To him, her problem was that she never stopped fucking talking. That would shut her up for good.
He smiled. “What did you say you were gonna tell her?”
Naomi immediately reached for her neck, before collapsing on the bed. Blood spewed out of the gaping gash that was as long as her thumb. She did her best to hold it but she was going into shock. She knew it was bad and could feel several of her fingers sink into the wound as she struggled to contain the blood loss.
“Help me,” she struggled to mouth before she began to choke on her own blood. She clenched her teeth and attempted to find air that was now escaping her body. Her bright red blood continued to flow out and soon formed a circular pattern around her head. A few minutes later, she was dead.
Mann looked at her and grinned. She was a grimey hoe anyway. She deserved it. Scenes like the one before him no longer affected him. He had killed before and would kill again. He was no longer in the right mental state. Naomi was right, he did need counseling. She had told him that on many occasions, mainly after he beat her. He was always a cannon but now he was loose one. He hadn’t been the same since his grandmother died. He also still struggled with guilt over the death of his cousin. At first he tried to reason with himself that Zeke had been a man and that men made their own decisions. Ultimately he knew Zeke was dead because he influenced him and asked him to step outside of his usual crime preference. He hadn’t been ready, and no amount of coaching and pep-talks would have helped.
Mann looked back over to Naomi. Her eyes were now closed and her hands were still loosely wrapped around her neck. He closed the door and walked out of the room. He would wrap her up and move her later. He didn’t want her soon to be rotting corpse, stinking up his house. In the meantime, there was still money to be made and business to tend to.
SIXTEEN
Noah
“I’m not dissolving shit,” Noah stated firmly. “Shit is fine the way it is. I don’t see why you wanna fuck it up. You wanna be petty so I’m gonna be petty.” He knew he was being childish, but he didn’t care. Shaleea was trying to force him out of her life and she was taking it too far.
“What do you not understand?” Shaleea asked, from the opposite end of the phone. “We are no longer together and I feel it’s in our best interest to discontinue or business relationship.”
Noah cut her off. “No! It’s in your best interest,” he said raising his voice. He looked over to his daughter, who was sleeping soundly on the couch and decided to walk out of the room so he wouldn’t wake her.
“The laundromats bring in $40,000 a month. What sense does it make to buy one another out?” he asked angrily. “I’m not giving you shit and I’m not taking your money either…Fuck you think this is? You wanna profit off me. Use my money and go layup with the next nigga. Fuck that!”
Shaleea sighed in aggravation. She knew it was pointless even calling him. She had only did it at the suggestion of her lawyer.
“First of all, don’t insult me. I worked hard to build those laundromats from the ground up. You did nothing but finance them. While I was hiring people and handling money, so they could be profitable, you sat on your ass! So you can miss me with the bullshit…. Furthermore, any MAN I decide to purse a relationship with, will have his own…And let’s be clear…I emphasize MAN because, he definitely will be that. Not some two-timing fuck-boy.”
“Yo whatever Shaleea,” Noah said shaking his head. She had struck a nerve. “Is that all you called me for? To talk nonsense,” he asked.
“You can brush the topic off all you want Noah, but at the end of the day we are gonna have to discuss it…Any other time you wanna fuckin talk and blow me up with texts.”
“Whatever Shaleea. Don’t toot your horn shorty.”
“I guess I’m just making shit up…Bottom line is; it’s not going to work. At some point I’m going to be in a serious, committed relationship and us working together is going to be a conflict.”
Noah paused. She was talking stupid again. “You can knock off the dumb talk,” he said referring to the future relationship she spoke of. “And you, out of all people…If that is the case, and you wanna be a whore…you gon let dick come between ya business, and what you worked hard to build?”
Shaleea shook her head sadly. She couldn’t believe he just said that. “Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black? I guess I’ll see you in court Noah,” she said, before hanging up the phone. She was done talking to a self-absorbed, hypocritical idiot.
Noah looked down at his phone and realized she was right. However, it didn’t dispute the fact that he was still pissed with her. He walked back into his spacious living room to check on Eva. She was still fast asleep with her mouth slightly open. He smiled sadly. He loved his daughter and told himself every day, rather forced himself to believe, that she was a good thing that had happened to him.
He looked around his junky living room and decided that he would need to call someone to help him out. The house was a wreck and he barely knew how to cook for himself. Eva was now sitting up on her own, so he had tons of stuffed animals and books strewn around where they weren’t supposed to be. He was a mess and he knew it. He missed his woman.
Shaleea
Shaleea sat in her truck outside of Dunkin Donuts and waited to go in. She had just gotten off the phone with Noah and was mentally reflecting on how things went. She let out an exaggerated sigh and peered out the window. If she could wish things back to the way they were, she would.
She decided to go ahead in and grab the Hazelnut coffee she had come for. Before hopping out, she checked her driver side rearview mirror. She was parked on the street and wanted to make sure it was safe for her to exit. It was clear, but she noticed a familiar car parked several spaces behind her. It was a white, late-model BMW. She was sure she had seen the car several times around her parked. Normally seeing a car one too many times wouldn’t have aroused her suspicions. However, it was the frequency of the sightings as well as the locations.
She was sure that was the same BMW parked in the parking lot of her new condo in Jersey. She remembered it because it had Pennsylvania tags and most of the cars that filled the parking spaces were from New Jersey. She decided to go ahead and exit her car. She wanted to take a quick glance and see if she could make out the driver of the vehicle. After all, it could be a coincidence. Many people like herself, lived in New Jersey but commuted daily to Philadelphia for work.
Shaleea grabbed her signature black and white Chanel purse and got out. She looked to her right and then her left, where the car was sitting. She wanted to act as though she was just checking to make sure the street was clear. The BMW was tinted, however, it wasn’t dark enough that she couldn’t make out a figure. Whoever it was had a large build, but she couldn’t tell if it was a man or women. Shrugging it off, she crossed the street and went into the store.
As soon as she walked in, her phone rang. She quickly unzipped her purse and grabbed it. She didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Hi Shaleea.”
Shaleea instantly recognized the voice. The woman on the line had been born and raised in Louisiana, and had a deep, distinct southern drawl that she would always remember. It was Naomi’s mom.
“Hey Miss Cora, how are you?” Shaleea asked with a smile. She had always adored Naomi’s mom. She was super funny and was one of the nicest people one could meet.
“Hey baby. I am doing well. I hope you’re doing fine yaself…Listen sugar, I don’t want to take
up too much of you time. I know you’re busy, but have you talked to Naomi lately?” she asked. Shaleea sensed the worry in her voice but Cora did her best to hide it.
“Not today but a few days ago. I tried to call her but she didn’t pick up…Is everything ok with her?” Shaleea asked. She wanted to go into detail about what happened, but didn’t.
Miss Cora paused and decided to go ahead and lay it all out.
“I don’t know sweetie…Naomi’s been acting strange lately. She hasn’t been to work in several days and I can’t get up with her. Her phone is going to voicemail…She hadn’t been coming around as much since she started dating that new guy, but last time I saw her…. something was off…she didn’t look the same…. Like she was stressed and worried.”
“I observed the same thing Miss Cora, but I do my best not to pry. When I did mention it to her, she got defensive and that’s when she stopped answering the phone…Do you know the guy’s name she was dating?”
“Yeah…she called him Manny…Mann, something like that.”
Shaleea’s stomach immediately formed a knot. It all made sense to her now. Her random, and frequent questions about Noah, her distance and standoffishness. It was all so clear. Naomi had no idea who she was fucking with…Or maybe she did.
Shaleea glanced back outside and something immediately clicked. The BMW was now gone, but she now knew exactly who it belonged to. It was the same car Mann drove off in the night he cornered her in the laundromat months ago. She couldn’t believe that she had been so wrapped up that she overlooked critical details of her surroundings. She was usually extremely observant. She immediately thought of her daughter and all the days she’d seen the car while she was with her. He also now knew where she lived. Shaleea grew warm with fear but breathed deep so she could maintain her calm. She was done running.
