There was no time to strap them in the two car seats in the back. I unlocked the passenger door, placed the twins on the floor in front of the seat.
“What are you doing?” a woman yelled, running toward me. “You can’t put those babies there like that!”
Bitch should’ve minded her own business. I grabbed my ruby red lipstick, removed the top and pepper-sprayed her ass real good.
Screaming, she covered her face, fell to her knees. “I can’t breathe. Help,” she whimpered, falling to the ground.
She rolled on her back, kicked like DJ when he threw that temper tantrum. I beat his behind real good. That was probably his first real whipping. I’d stared that brat in his eyes, told him if he told anyone I beat him I was coming back in the middle of the night and I’d take him deep into the woods and feed him to the bears.
The bitch on the ground better be glad I didn’t run over her ass. I inserted my prepaid parking ticket, zipped out the garage in my black sedan. I sped down South San Vincente Boulevard, hooked a right onto North La Cienega Boulevard. When the green light at Clifton Way turned yellow, I accelerated.
Whoop! Whoop!
“Fuck. Just my luck. Bambi, stay cool.” I only had two miles to go and my mission was interrupted twice. How was I going to explain to the cop why I had the babies on the floor? I inched my way from the Japanese barbecue joint to LMG Studio to make certain I was the one he was pulling over.
CHAPTER 29
Bambi
Whoop!
Yep, it was definitely me. I grabbed a fresh vibrant blue lipstick from my Ho-on-the-Go bag, parked the car, turned up the radio to drown out that cry baby, and got out the car.
“Miss, get back in the car,” he commanded.
Fuck that. I was not getting back in the car. Clenching my lipstick, I pleaded, “Officer, please don’t take me to jail. I’m a nurse. I just worked twenty-four hours straight. I only have a few hours to go home and rest before I have to get back to work and help save some more lives. I was listening to ‘Single Ladies’ on the radio when Beyoncé said, ‘Now put your hands up.’ I accidentally accelerated to the beat. You know she won a Grammy for ‘Single Ladies.’ Of course you do. I promise I’ll be careful. From now on I’ll slow down at the yellow light. I promise. Please don’t write me a ticket.” I mimicked James Brown. “Please, please, please, please…please.”
The officer started laughing, then threw his hands up. “Drive safe, miss,” he said, heading back to his car. “And don’t put on that lipstick while you’re driving.”
Soon as I got in the car, I started heaving, nearly vomiting in my lap. I’d done a lot of illegal things but I’d never been to jail. Prison terrified me. I would’ve uncapped my lipstick, pepper-sprayed him, and zapped his eyes out with my stun gun if I had to. I waited until he drove off, then continued driving along North La Cienega toward Interstate 10. I drove underneath the overpass, parked in the mini market lot next to Rita’s car.
Rita opened her rear passenger door. I got out of my car, secured the infant car seats in the backseat of her new SUV, then strapped in the twins. Didn’t want to take any chances with trusting Rita would secure them properly.
Handing Rita an envelope, I told her, “Here’s five grand, the directions to my house on East Seaside Walk in Long Beach, the garage door opener, and a key. Drive safe. Do not run any lights or break any speed limits.”
“These babies sure are beautiful. Their parents on vacation? Who they belong to? And how long do I have to babysit them? Hush, little baby,” she said to that crying sissy, and for the first time his ass shut up. Rita closed her door, lowered her driver’s window.
I stood outside her door. “You. For now, they belong to you,” I told her.
“And how long do I have to watch them?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Not sure like a week or not sure like a year?”
“Take them to the house. Make yourself at home but you are not allowed to leave the house with or without the boys. Not even for a second. Understood?”
Rita raised her brows. “What if the house is on fire or y’all have one of them things when the ground starts movin’?”
Shaking my head, I told her, “I’ll be at the house shortly. I have to go buy diapers and milk. What kind of milk should I get?”
“Get some of that kind in the can, not that powdered stuff.” She glanced over her shoulders, smiled at the babies. “I should’ve had boys. I would’ve been a better mother. Girls are complicated. What’s their names?”
“Luke and London. Don’t ask me which is which. Don’t know. Don’t care. I’ll see you in a few. Don’t stop on your way to the house, not even at a drive-thru. And don’t open the door at my house for anyone. I’ll bring you something to eat. Oh, and one more thing. Whatever you do, do not turn on any of the televisions.”
“Would’ve been easier to give me one of them house arrest anklets like Madea.”
“Don’t tempt me.” I got in my car, drove to the Beverly Wilshire on Wilshire Boulevard. I parked in the garage at the shopping center across the street. I grabbed my Ho-on-the-Go bag, went to the public restroom, and made a quick change in the handicapped stall. I removed my auburn lace wig, untangled my braids, dampened my hair and applied a small amount of conditioner. I finger styled my hair. Tossing the uniform and shoes in my bag, I squeezed into a pair of second skin black leather pants, snapped the four buttons above each ankle, put on a black satin top, and stepped into my open-toe stilettos.
I put my bag back in my car, headed across the street to CUT inside the Beverly Wilshire, and waited for Jada.
CHAPTER 30
Jada
“Let me go!” I gripped Honey’s wrists trying to remove her hands from my throat. She had the strength of a mule. I wanted to knee her in her stomach but I couldn’t breathe. She had my back against the wall. I muttered, “Let me go. I was kidding about calling…” I gasped, then continued, “Child Protective Services.”
Was karma more of a bitch than Honey? Did people actually reap what they sowed?
“Lying bitch, you did call them. I should kill you. Where are my boys?”
I saw why Grant was attracted to her. She had long wavy golden hair and her skin was gold like honey. She was gorgeous. But she was also deranged.
I tried moving my leg back to give a good kick to her ankle, shin, anywhere. Grant came to my rescue, I thought, until he grabbed me from the side, and yelled, “Honey, stop it! Let her go!” Suddenly we were surrounded by security officers and nurses.
“Grant, you’d better get your hands off me, now!”
“Yeah, let her ass go,” Honey said, shifting side to side with her fists in front her face.
“If you so ghetto bad, why you hiding behind your dead sister’s identity? Your real name isn’t Honey. It’s Lace St. Thomas, you murderer!”
Grant said, “Jada, that’s enough.”
Why hadn’t he grabbed his phony Honey? She was the one choking me. Security had to pry her fingers away from my neck. I bent over, started coughing. I prayed this hideous incident did not get to Darius.
“Come on, Ms. Thomas. Obviously this woman doesn’t know you,” the nurse said. “But you can’t assault every person you think stole your babies. Keep this up and we’ll have to admit you to the psychiatric ward. Let us handle finding the twins. You need to rest. And you”—the nurse looked at me—“are prohibited from coming to this hospital. Security, make sure her name is added to the Do Not Admit list.”
I lamented, “You can’t keep me from coming here. She started this. Plus my son is Darius Jones and his wife, my daughter-in-law, Fancy Taylor, is admitted here. She’s on the third floor.”
“Then you should’ve been on the third floor. You can’t come back here. If you do, you’re trespassing and security will detain you until the police arrive.” The nurse escorted Honey inside 9109.
“This is all your damn fault! You taking up for her, take this.” Wham! I slapped Gran
t’s face as hard as I could.
“Miss, you have to leave,” security said. “You’ve caused enough of a disturbance in this hospital. Please don’t make me do my job.”
“If you were doing your job, the babies wouldn’t be missing. Touch me and you’ll regret it,” I said, squinting.
Grant grabbed my bicep. “I’ll take care of her.” He ushered me to the elevator, then to the lobby. “What did you do with my boys?”
Smack! I hit him again. “Get your hand off me and don’t ever touch me again.” Something came over me in that moment and I wanted to rip off Grant’s clothes and have makeup sex in the lobby.
“Hit me again,” he said angrily, then repeated, “Hit me again.”
“Don’t you ever hold me for her again.” My pussy was getting hot. My whole body got hot. I started dripping with sweat.
“Here’s a hot flash for you. I’ll find my boys the legal way. And when I do, you’re going to jail. I guarantee it.” He got on the elevator.
I checked the time. I was twenty minutes late for lunch. I called Bambi.
“Hey, Jada. I got us a table. Are you here yet?”
“I have to take a rain check.” I was on the verge of crying. I couldn’t believe Grant would think I’d kidnap Honey’s babies. What would I do with two newborns?
Bambi asked, “You okay?”
“No, I’m not. Honey’s twins were kidnapped. The media is storming the hospital. I gotta go. I’ll talk with you later.”
A reporter shoved a microphone in my face. “Is it true, security said that you threatened to call Child Protective Services on Honey—or is her real name Lace St. Thomas?” he asked.
Security? Everybody wanted to be a superstar. My clothes stuck to my body, my hair to my head. “Honey Thomas can kiss my ass. Report that. All I know is she’d better not put her hands on me again or she’ll be the one missing,” I said, exiting the lobby.
CHAPTER 31
Honey
She’d be wise to return my sons before I was released from this hospital.
I choked Jada to let her know I was serious. She could have Grant. I wasn’t competing with her. And she definitely was out of her league with me. The fact that Grant was standing in my room showed me he was done with Jada.
The nurse helped me into my bed. “Ms. Thomas, you have to rest. For the safety of our employees and other patients and their families, I have to place you on visitor restriction until you leave.”
“And while I’m laying on my ass in this room by myself going crazy, are you going to find my babies?”
I was ready to rip off a head or two, hers included. Take out whoever had my babies, execution style if I had to. I wasn’t scared of nothing and no one. My upbringing made me tough. My mother, Rita, was a tyrant. She hated me. Why? I still wasn’t sure. Only reason I thought of was envy. It was a damn shame my mother believed I wanted to fuck her man. I was sixteen. I wasn’t thinking about his old rusty ass. He was the one fondling me. Finally had my own kids and someone kidnapped them. Was this payback for my killing Reynolds? Hadn’t I paid restitution by retiring my female escorts from the business and by giving them a million dollars each to start legitimate businesses?
“I’ll find them,” Grant said. “And I’ll be here at the hospital for you.”
I was too angry to cry. Tears of blood would stream down my face if I had. “You let all my people see me,” I told the nurse.
“We’ll see, Ms. Thomas,” the nurse said, propping my pillow behind my back.
“See my ass. Let me find out you denied visitation and your ass is next.”
Grant interrupted, “She didn’t mean that. It’s just that we have friends that have connections. We need to talk to them.”
What was up with all the we stuff?
“I’m not going to accept threats from you, Ms. Thomas. Your friends and family can visit you at your house. You can go home now if you’d like,” the nurse said. “I’ll see if the doctor will approve an early discharge.”
“Yes, please, and thank you,” I told her. She wouldn’t be so damn passive if it were her kids missing.
After she left my room, Grant said, “You sure you want to do that? I think you’re better off here. You’re over three thousand miles away from home and we have to find the boys. Where will we stay?”
“Stop, it, Grant. Just stop it. This is not about we, us, or what you think. What were you thinking when you ended our relationship over the phone? You weren’t man enough to tell me face to face. Now you show up in my life thinking you’re a part of it. Not.”
He shook his head. “I was stupid. Forgive me.”
“Well, I’m not stupid. Not anymore. Don’t think you’re back in my life because of the boys. Dear God, where are my babies? This is all your fault.”
My purpose for staying at the hospital changed within minutes. I could recover after I found my boys. I didn’t want to leave but I had to get out of this place. I went to the closet, saw my gown and two-inch heels from the premiere. The clothes I’d worn here were all I had at the hospital. Removing my hospital gown, replacing it with my other gown, I stepped into my shoes.
Grant laughed. “You can’t be serious.”
“Watch me.” I picked up my purse, took several steps toward the door, then stumbled. My maternity clothes were at the Beverly Wilshire. Valentino and our room key were at lockup.
Grant’s strong arms saved me from hitting the floor. In that moment, we connected. I felt his love, his energy. I became weak for him again. “Honey, our boys are safe,” he said, trying to reassure me.
I had to hold on to hope, to Grant, praying he was right. “You sure?” I asked, removing my shoes, then my gown. I put on a fresh hospital gown, got back in bed. The soreness of my body sunk into the mattress. “Hand me my purse.”
“Yes, I’m sure,” he said, giving me my clutch. “Jada wouldn’t harm them. When Sapphire gets back, I’ll get you some regular clothes.”
Hope turned to hate. “Are you saying you know for sure she has my babies? Are you involved in this?” I slammed my purse on the floor. The contents scattered at his feet, my lipstick and perfume slid across the floor. I’d forgotten I put an extra room key in my purse.
“Honey, no, baby.” Grant stuffed my cash, credit cards, driver’s license, and room key back in my purse, then cautiously put my clutch on the stand beside my bed. “That’s not what I’m saying at all. Are you saying you’re not going to let me be involved in their lives?”
“What I’m saying is I don’t want you involved in my life.” I detoured off my road back to vulnerability. Became cold and callous toward Grant. “You can have a relationship with…Dear God, where are my babies?”
Sapphire ran into the room. “Calm down. I heard you down the hall. Don’t worry. I’ll find them. There’s an Amber Alert on the freeways showing twin boys were abducted from the hospital. Every news reporter in town is in the lobby. I’ve requested the surveillance tapes from the hospital and the nearby intersections, and I’ve instructed the staff not to allow the media access to you. You don’t know anything so it’s best not to talk to them. That goes for you too, Grant. What Jada said to you, my dear, wasn’t nothing. The media will really portray you as unfit.”
This time I had to cry. I started repenting for my sins and silently praying to God for His forgiveness.
“Focus. Stay with me,” Sapphire said, sitting on the edge of my bed. “I had a chance to speak with Valentino before the cops put him in the car. He said he handed the babies to a redheaded nurse. And Jada was standing there when he did it.”
Grant said, “Jada came into the men’s restroom while I was in there. Maybe that was to keep me from witnessing the abduction. Then she followed me down here.”
I added, “She came into my room, threatened me, then left abruptly.”
“But she came back to your room,” Sapphire commented. “So how could she have the babies, if you were strangling her?”
“Jada is brillian
t and rich. She has an accomplice,” Grant said. “She wouldn’t do it. She’d have someone else do it.”
Sapphire said, “Well, Child Protective Services knows nothing about this situation. Let’s see. I wouldn’t rule out Valentino. Who else would have a motive? Aw, shit!” Sapphire leapt from my bedside.
“What?” I asked. “What?”
“I’m with you,” Grant said. “It could be an inside job.”
“Exactly. I have to request the police and border patrol set up a checkpoint into Mexico.”
“And LAX,” I said. “Grant, take this key, go to my room at the Beverly Wilshire, get all of our things, check out, then come back and get me. I’ll be ready by then. I have to be.”
Grant took the room key, hurried out of the room.
“I’ve already got LAX covered,” Sapphire said, standing in the door. “If the boys are taken out of the country, you may never see them again. Gotta go.”
CHAPTER 32
Rita
“Geeze!” The house was the biggest I’d ever seen my whole life. I took one baby inside. I left him in the car seat, sat the seat in the middle of the living room floor, then went and got his brother. I sat them facing one another. Had to make my acquaintance with the house before Bambi got here.
“She said this here was her dead parents’ house. The way it’s decorated and all, looks like they still live here.”
There were pictures on the living room wall of two people who looked like they could be her parents. I needed eyeglasses but refused to get them. I could see the things I wanted if I got close enough. I squinted. Didn’t understand why narrowing my eyes made me see a bit better but it did. They seemed happy. The man looked white. The woman, she looked light-skinned like Bambi. I got real close. Stared at the woman’s face.
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