“Okay,” Tootie replied seemingly satisfied with Mia’s answer.
“Mia I’m sorry. I didn’t plan for this to happen,” Moonie spoke up.
“You didn’t do anything to prevent it from happening either. I just need to get away from here for a few days. I’ll be by Von if you need to reach me,” Mia said right before she walked out and slammed the door shut behind her.
***
Mia knew that Von and Tre were home because both cars were parked out front in the driveway. When she walked into the house it seemed like a different story. There were no lights on and it was eerily quiet. She dropped her bags by the front door and walked through the house in search of some kind of life. She was hoping that Von didn’t have company, but she didn’t see any other cars parked out front.
“Von,” Mia called out softly as she entered the dimly lit sitting area. Aside from the glow of the muted TV there was no other light coming from the room.
“Come in, baby,” Von said just above a whisper.
When Mia’s eyes landed on him she instantly knew that something was wrong. Von loved his Heinekens, but he was sipping from a half empty bottle of Crown at the moment. His glass was filled to the rim and he looked like he’d had more than just that one.
“Hey, are you alright?” Mia asked taking a seat next to him.
“Not really, but I will be,” he replied with a forced smile.
“What happened?”
“Your jackass God brother is what happened. He went to see his probation officer this morning and got violated for having dirty urine. His dumb ass was still smoking knowing that he was on papers,” Von said making her heart rate speed up.
Mia and Tre were no longer together, but she would be lying if she said she didn’t love him anymore. He made her mad more times than she could count, but she didn’t want anything to happen to him.
“So, he’s going back to jail?” Mia asked.
“No, thank God for that. Since this was his first and only violation she’s putting him in a thirty day rehab program,” he informed her.
“She?” Mia questioned. “I thought he had a male officer.”
“That asshole got fired and he has a woman on his case now. She’s seems to be on her job unlike the other one.”
“But him not going to jail is a good thing right?”
Von let out a deep sigh before answering her question. “I’m happy that he’s not going back to jail, but that’s really not the point. He knew that he shouldn’t have been smoking, but he did it anyway. I just don’t understand that boy. No matter what I do for him he still won’t do right. Sometimes I just want to knock him on his ass. Then the guilt from me being gone and leaving him with Terri for eight years calms me down. I know he went through a lot back then, so I’m trying to be patient with him. He didn’t have control over anything when he was younger, but he’s old enough to know better now.”
“I hate what’s happening to him, but thirty days in rehab is better than two years in jail,” Mia rationalized.
“That’s true,” Von nodded in agreement. “And why do you look so sad?”
Mia blew out a breath of frustration. “I don’t even know where to start. Well, for one, Moonie is pregnant again.”
“Awe shit! Here, you need a sip of this too,” Von said handing Mia his ice-filled glass of brown liquor. She took a huge gulp and started gagging and hitting her chest to stop the burning.
“I said a sip,” Von laughed and pried the glass from her hand. After Mia’s brief coughing spell she sat back and resumed their conversation.
“I just can’t believe that she would do something so stupid. She doesn’t even be bothered with my sisters and brothers and now she’s having another one. I felt bad for talking to her the way I did, but I was mad. As much as I don’t want to admit it I know I’ll probably be helping her out with this baby too. It’s not the baby’s fault that Moonie is the way that she is.”
“It is messed up, but you do need to apologize if you disrespected her. She’s still your mama no matter how mad she makes you. And honestly, she’s not as bad as some of these other women out here. Moonie started having kids at a young age, so she really didn’t know how to be a mother. She means well, but she goes about things the wrong way. You had a better upbringing than Tank did when he lived with his mama.”
“I know I have to apologize to her and I will. I just needed to get away for a while. Is it alright if I go to school from here for a few days?’ Mia asked.
“You know you don’t even have to ask. You can keep me company while Tank is gone.”
“When does he have to go?”
“He has to turn himself in at seven o’clock Monday morning,” Von replied while shaking his head.
“I don’t have to be at school until eight thirty, so I can go with you if you want me to,” Mia offered.
“I’m sure he’ll probably want Rainey and Duke to be there too.”
“Yeah, about that Rainey situation,” Mia spoke up.
“What about it?” Von inquired.
“I know that we kissed and made up, but I’m just not feeling her like that no more. I only did it because it meant so much to you. Rainey is not right and I can’t fake like it’s all good when I know it’s not. She’s all sweet and innocent around you, but she’s a totally different person at school. She talks about me to her little friends, but she wants to be my bestie when we come over here on the weekends,” Mia revealed.
“What do you mean she talks about you?” Von asked.
“Just what I said, but everything she says always comes back to me. The same people that she talks to about me are the same ones that come back and tell me what she says.”
“Rainey is just a little jealous hearted, but she got that from her daddy. As much as I loved that nigga that was the one thing that I couldn’t get with. He hated when the next man was doing better than him. Sad to say that was one of the reasons why he lost his life. Trying to make a quick come up to have more than everybody else. He learned the hard way that everything that glitters ain’t gold. Them young boys sold him a dream and took his life and his money in a matter of minutes,” Von said solemnly.
“I don’t ever want to put you in a bad position and that’s why I always play nice when she comes over here. Once we leave this house all bets are off. She can get it just like any other chick on the streets. That’s exactly how I see her now.”
“I wish y’all would get it together, but I can’t speak on what I don’t know. I only talked to you about it that last time because she asked me to.”
“That was nothing but her guilty conscience,” Mia frowned.
“Oh well,” Von signed while standing to his feet. “I’m not cooking shit this weekend, so let’s go order us something to eat.”
Mia got up and followed her Godfather out of the room and into the kitchen. She looked down the hall and fought the urge to go to Tre’s bedroom. She wanted to talk to him, but she decided against it. Although she felt bad about what he was going through, Tre was no longer her problem. She would be with him when he had to turn himself in, but that was as far as anything between them would go.
C hapter 7
Being alone in the car with Tre was not something that Mia thought would happen, but it did. Lamar and Nina went to jail the night before for disturbing the peace and Von rushed to the prison early Monday morning to bail them out. As a result, Mia ended up being the one to bring Tre to turn himself in. The facility was only twenty minutes away and the ride was silent until they pulled up to the front gate. They had to wait to be buzzed in, so Tre used that as an opportunity to talk to Mia. She flinched when he grabbed her hand, but she turned to face him anyway.
“I know you’re tired of hearing me say this, but I really am sorry about how things ended with us,” he said looking into Mia’s eyes. He could tell that she wasn’t trying to have the conversation again, but he couldn’t help how he was feeling.
“We’re good Tre. I’m sorry abou
t how things ended too. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be,” Mia replied.
“I don’t agree with that Mia. The strongest relationships have survived way more than the things that we’ve gone through. Maybe we just need some time apart, but I really feel like you’re my soul mate. We didn’t get together under the best circumstances, but that didn’t stop me from falling in love with you. I’m just tired of disappointing everybody that I love. All Von ever asked of me was to stay out of trouble, and I couldn’t even do that. Honestly, I’m happy that this happened to me. I needed a wake-up call, and this was just the thing to get my mind right. Just do me a favor and check up on Terri every once in a while when you can.”
“I’ll make sure she’s good,” Mia promised.
“Make sure you come up here on Sunday’s to visit me too,” Tre requested.
“Okay,” Mia agreed.
She really didn’t know what to say, so she remained quiet until a guard came out and opened the gate for her to drive through. When she pulled up to the front of the facility an older black man was standing out front holding a clipboard. Tre opened the door to get out, but closed it and abruptly pulled Mia close to him. She never had time to protest before he smashed his lips against hers and stuck his tongue in her mouth. Mia was shocked, but that didn’t stop her from returning the kiss. It had been a while since they were that close to each other and months since they last kissed.
“I love you,” Tre said once they pulled away from each other. He grabbed his bag from the back seat and headed over to the man who awaited his arrival.
“Your girlfriend?” The man asked referring to Mia who was backing out and heading back to the front gate.
“It’s complicated,” Tre shrugged with a small smile.
“Okay, well I’m Mr. Warren and I’m the counselor and admitting supervisor here at United Treatment Faculties. I’ll show you to your room and then I’ll give you a tour of the place. We’ll go over the rules and everything else that you need to know after we get you tested.”
“What am I getting tested for? I’m here because my urine was dirty, so they know I have drugs in my system,” Tre remarked.
“Although we do drug testing weekly, that’s not the kind of test that I’m talking about. We do HIV and STD testing on all new residents,” he informed him.
“Are you serious?” Tre asked in disbelief. He thought he was done with all of that after Mia dragged him to the clinic before their trip to Miami.
Mr. Warren chuckled, “I’m very serious actually. This is a co-ed facility, so we have to be careful. We don’t allow our residents to engage in intimacy, but it has happened in the past. It might still be happening now for all we know. We have to protect ourselves here just in case something happens.”
“Damn,” Tre mumbled shocked by his revelation. He followed Mr. Warren into the nicely decorated area that he would be calling home for the next thirty days.
***
“How is Tank Doing Mia?” Brandis asked as they took a seat in the seating area at school during their lunch break. Tre had been at the rehab facility for two weeks, and Mia hadn’t mentioned him once since he left.
“He’s doing okay I guess. Terri and Von went to see him Sunday, and they say he’s in good spirits,” Mia answered.
“I thought you were going to see him too.”
“I was, but I’m not trying to give him false hope about us getting back together. I talked to him a few times, but that’s about it.”
Brandis nodded her head in understanding, but she didn’t reply. Mia was heartbroken when Tre cheated on her with London, so she understood her keeping her guard up. Duke thought she was being too hard on his boy, but he kept his comments to himself. He felt that Tre was really sorry about what he’d done, and Mia was taking things a bit too far.
“I did promise Von that I would go up there with him next week for Thanksgiving, though,” Mia spoke up again.
“Girl yes, I’m so happy that this is our last day for a whole week. I might sleep my entire Thanksgiving break away,” Brandis laughed.
“What’s up Mia? Where your girl at?” Travis, one of Mia’s classmates, inquired cutting into their girl talk. He walked up to them with two other dudes, but Mia didn’t know their names.
“My girl is right here,” Mia said pointing to Brandis. “If you’re talking about somebody else then I have no idea.”
“I’m talking about Rainey. Tell her me and my boys are trying to see what that mouth do. I thought she was a good girl. I didn’t now she got down like that,” Travis said excitedly. Although Travis was a known shit talker, Mia was curious as to what he meant.
“What are you talking about Travis?” Mia asked him.
“I’m talking about the video that Brandon is showing everybody with your girl swallowing a nigga whole,” he laughed along with his entourage.
He didn’t have to say any more because Mia had already figured it out. Brandon was Ro’s first cousin, so she knew what the deal was. She hoped Rainey wasn’t dumb enough to let Ro record her, but the way Travis was talking it must have been the truth. When the other two men started saying the same thing she was really starting to believe it.
“That nigga Ro ain’t nothing nice,” Travis yelled while giving dap to one of the other dudes who he was talking to. “Your God brother is a fool with it too Mia.”
“Which God brother?” Brandis spoke up for the first time since they walked up. Mia had more than one God brother and she needed to be sure that her man wasn’t the one they were referring to.
“I’m talking about the red dude with all the tattoos. The one you used to be with all the time Mia,” Travis replied.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that he was talking about Tre. Now Mia’s curiosity was really peaked. She needed to know what the hell they were talking about.
“Forget Rainey, I want to know who that other bitch was. She was fine as hell,” one of Travis’s friends yelled.
“Where is the video?” Mia questioned. “Y’all might be lying for all I know.”
“Man, I put that on my mama,” Travis swore. “That nigga Brandon was showing it to everybody. I’m trying to get him to send it to my phone.”
Right when he finished talking Mia saw Rainey walking over to where they were seated. She looked scared out of her mind, but Mia didn’t know why. People were pointing at her like she was a science experiment, but she didn’t seem to care.
“There go my baby right there,” Travis said walking up to her. He tried to put his arm around her shoulder, but she pushed him away in disgust.
“Mia, can I talk to you for a minute?” Rainey pleaded sounding almost desperate.
“So it’s like that Rainey?” Travis asked interrupting before Mia could reply. “I’m trying to book you for my next party. We got money if that’s what you need.”
“Fuck you Travis!” Rainey yelled as the tears sprang to her eyes.
“That’s what me and my boys are trying to do. And tell your friend she can come along too. Y’all are some bad bitches. No gag reflex or nothing. That’s what I’m talking about,” he yelled.
“Mia, I swear it’s not what you think,” Rainey said wiping the falling tears from her eyes. “I didn’t know…”
“Girl stop lying,” Travis yelled cutting her off. “You did your thing with that nigga Ro, and now you want to act funny with me and my boys. I’m offering you money when you probably did that nigga for free.”
By now a crowd of people had formed to watch the scene that Travis was creating and that made him go harder. When he pulled out his phone and asked Rainey to make a video with him, Mia decided to intervene.
“Alright Travis, that’s enough,” Mia said standing to her feet. “You’re going too far now.”
“If you saw that video you wouldn’t be taking up for her. You probably wouldn’t even be hanging with her nasty ass at all. You shouldn’t want anybody to think you get down like that. I hate to break the news to you, but your girl i
s a hoe,” he yelled making the crowd of people erupt in laughter.
That must have been Rainey’s breaking point. Instead of trying to defend herself she hurriedly ran away while Travis continued to throw insults to her departing back. Mia wanted to go after her, but something about the entire situation just didn’t feel right. She asked Tre months ago if he had slept with Rainey and he swore to her that he didn’t. That was proving to be another lie since the act had obviously been caught on tape. Mia didn’t know why, but she just had to see that video. Right before the lunch bell rang she pulled Travis to the side and gave him her phone number. If he was able to get Brandon to send him the video, she wanted it sent to her phone as well. Rainey and so many other people were dumber than she thought. They should know that you can’t do anything these days without the possibility of being recorded. In Mia’s opinion, if the police were being recorded then nobody else stood a chance.
***
After school Mia and Brandis went straight to Von’s house to relax. As soon as they opened the front door they were greeted with a bunch of boxes scattered on the floor. Thanksgiving was a few days away, but Von was already pulling out his Christmas decorations. That was his favorite holiday, and he always went all out on the inside and outside of his house.
“Don’t stop in here unless y’all are willing to help,” Von joked when he saw them standing around looking at everything.
“Well, that’s my cue to leave. I hate helping you decorate. You’re too much of a perfectionist,” Mia replied.
“I don’t want your help anyway. You and Tank never could follow directions,” Von laughed. “Have you been calling your mama like I told you to?”
“Yes sir,” Mia replied. “I talked to her this morning when I was on my way to school.”
Mia was still staying at Von’s house, but she was going back home during her Thanksgiving break. She missed her sisters and brothers and surprisingly she missed Moonie too. She apologized to her for the way she talked to her a few weeks ago, and they were back on the right track. The only thing that kept her at Von’s house so long was the fact that Dalvin practically lived with them now. She picked her siblings up every morning for school just so she could see them while she was away. Tootie told her that Dalvin had been there just about every day since he found out that Moonie was pregnant. Mia never knew if he was there or not because she was usually at school and work all day. She didn’t have anything against Dalvin, but that wasn’t who she wanted Moonie to be with.
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