by Nicety
In the Meantime…
Mika
Today was the day. My palms were shaky and sweaty. My forehead was balmy. I wasn’t even the least bit ready but it was now or never. This was something that needed to be done. I couldn’t hide from it even if I tried. It was my reality, a destiny that was unwillingly pressed upon me. There was no turning back now. I placed my hand on the door flinging it open and away from me as if it disgusted me as I walked inside.
“Hi, ma’am. I’m glad to see you. Please step right this way,” the well-dressed African American man greeted me as if he had been waiting on me forever.
I said nothing as I followed him down a long well lit corridor. He seemed to walk with a sort of debonair, a flair as if it was his mating call. He was drenched in a confident finesse that only he could possess. But once we got to a brightly lit room filled with bereavement wreaths and a funeral like chair set up, nothing about him mattered to me anymore.
My bottom lip drooped just a tad as my feet lazily carried me into the room. It was beautiful. On a cherry oak wooden table in the front of the room in between the wreaths sat the most stunning white cloth. On top of it rested one of the most beautiful golden urns I had ever laid eyes on. There was no doubt in my mind that the inside of that gorgeous pottery held the remains of my son.
“Ma’am, we here at Davis Funeral Home would like to extend our sincerest condolences for your loss in this time of bereavement. While we always put the wants of the family first, we also think about the needs of the family as well. That’s why we set up this room for you. You have the comfort in knowing that there isn’t a bunch of family members around to heighten your level of grieving but only you so that you may say goodbye to your loved one in a proper fashion. We here at Davis Funeral Home believe that saying goodbye before you take your loved one home to be memorialized, aids in the acceptance process of being able to move on and cope with their essence still being in the home with you,” he spoke like he was reading a scripture from a verse in the bible.
It damn near made me burst out in tears, not that they weren’t already streaming down my plumped cheeks. Seeing all of this just made it that much more real to me that I would never be able to hold my baby again. Never in a million years did I think I would lose my son this way. Never. I thanked the man, shaking his hand as he turned and left the room. They had gone above and beyond the call of duty for me, to help me move on from the passing of Keylan and I was more than grateful. I fought it to the bitter end but in the end, I knew that this was indeed something that I needed.
“Baby, momma’s so sorry that she failed you. I should’ve been there for you, protecting you,” I cried wiping the wetness from my face only for more tears to fill the dry area once more. “You shouldn’t have gone through any hurt or pain. I should’ve been the one taking all of that for you baby. Momma’s so, so sorry she failed you. But momma’s got something planned to make you smile down on me in heaven.”
Taking out a tissue from my oversized satchel, I placed the purse down on the table next the urn. Blowing my nose and wiping my tears I felt as if I would break down. My knees felt weak and my tongue suffered swelling. I was virtually inconsolable but glad that no one was there to try to do so. I didn’t want to be calmed down, told that it was going to be okay and that he would’ve wanted me to move on because none of that was true in my eyes. I just wanted my time to cry over my only son’s death. My phone buzzing jolted me up out of my thoughts.
Ox: We got a new lead on David’s whereabouts. The goons are closing in really soon on that nigga. Where are you? Hit me back.
Reading Ox’s text message from the notification tray of my phone snapped me back into my reality. Closing in? About fucking time. I didn’t want no one else to deal with that bitch but me. I didn’t want anyone else gaining the satisfaction of ending his sorry wretched life. No one had a deeper connection to this shit than I had. While he didn’t wield the knife he might as well had. My son’s life was one that we shared and made together, so rightfully I should be the one to take David’s life.
“What do you have planned?”
Like a moth to a flame, I knew he would come. Something inside of me told me that I was never alone even when I thought I was. My eyes shot up to the blank wall in front of me allowing his voice to enter one ear lobe and regurgitate out of the other. It was almost as if he were bound to me and I him, in a way that even I couldn’t imagine. Dropping my tissue and phone into my purse, my body shifted slowly turning around to face him.
“I knew you’d come,” it was all I could muster.
“You know me too well then.” David’s beady eyes stalked me, watching my every move.
“You have no right to be here,” I confirmed breathlessly as I moved slightly further from the table.
“I can go wherever I want to go. You of all people know me better than that, baby.” He smiled a Cheshire cat smile focusing his attention on the urn. “Is that our son?”
“No. It’s my son. Your son is dead to you.” My eyebrow rose. “Oh how soon do we forget?”
He looked like shit. The hair on his head and the beard on his face were scruffy as hell, almost matted like. His skin looked as if he had aged thirty years in a short time span. But that was no different from any other day he was lost from being on a drug binge. He wore black jeans, a black long sleeved shirt and a black skullcap. Typical of a fugitive on the run but in his case, he was a dead man walking.
“Mika, you need to know that what happened that night when I had Keylan—“
“Uh un. You sorry motherfucka. You don’t even get to say my son’s name like that. You don’t get to say it like you actually gave a flying fuck about him at all.” Waving my hand in the air, I turned my head away from him.
“Hmm, I see getting some different dick ran through your ass got you growing some balls down there huh?” David’s snide comment made me cringe. “Listen, I didn’t come here for small talk.”
“So why are we talking then?”
Taking one of the wreaths off of the tripod, I launched it his way aiming for his face. David ducked causing it to miss his head by inches. He rushed towards me as I quickly dug inside of my purse for my nine millimeter. Before I could get my hands on it, he slapped the entire purse out of my hand sending it and all of its contents crashing to the floor behind us. By now, our bodies damn near pressed against one another. He was so close to me that I could hear the whistling of his nose hairs as he breathed.
“What the fuck you thought you was gonna do? Huh?” David grabbed me by my cheeks, turning my head then licking my skin with his disgusting dripping tongue.
“Argh,” I cringed shoving him up off of me. “Stay the fuck away from me.”
“And if I don’t?” David asked marching back up to invade my space once more.
“I swear I will make your ass wish you were never born.”
“Hmm, you know, none of this would’ve ever happened if you hadn’t have gone and fucked that nigga Ox behind my damn back, Mika.”
“Oh and like you were a saint sleeping with every drugged up bitch that worshipped your ashy ankles and nasty ass corns. That shit is irrelevant as hell right now you stupid bitch,” I growled kneeing him in the dick.
The kick didn’t appear to faze him much. It was like his dick was resilient to pain. He reached back towards the ceiling coming back down slapping me across the cheek and I kicked him so hard in the shin he stumbled backwards. My fist met with his stomach and shoulders before his foot tripped me behind my ankles causing me to smash to the floor. Chairs went flying into the walls, crashing into each other. I wanted to kill him. The only words that recited over and over again in my head were fight until your last breath. That’s exactly what I had intended to do.
“Ma’am, is everything okay in there?” The funeral director from earlier called out from down the hall as his colossal sized footsteps clicked echoes through it.
I stared deep into the eyes of the man who had something to do
with killing our son. A slow grin spread across his face revealing an angry happiness that I had never seen before but it didn’t scare me. Nothing about this punk ass bastard scared me anymore. I wasn’t backing down for shit, no matter if I would win or lose. David winked as he proceeded to back out of the room.
“I promise you, you miserable drug addict, you will die by my hand.” The look in my eyes spoke before my lips did.
“Oh yeah, how about sooner than later then? Meet me Friday night at the old football field behind Curie High School at midnight. And come alone baby. You know I’ll know.” David kissed the air before darting to the second door in the room conveying some last words before he did. “You know, I’m always watching.”
Just as the funeral director came in to see me disheveled on the floor with the beautiful scene he had set up completely destroyed, David dipped out the second side door. He walked past the first door winking his eye at me before disappearing down the hallway. I peeled myself off the floor scooping up the contents of my purse back into the bag before the funeral director caught wind of the gun and bullets.
“What the heck happened in here?” The funeral director asked holding his hand out to help me up off the floor.
“Oh, uh… I fell. I must’ve passed out while trying to pray for my son’s soul,” I lied, unzipping the secret pocket in my purse peeling back ten of the fifty hundred dollar bills Ox had given me for whatever I needed. “Take this. It should cover the damages.”
Sliding Kaylen’s urn into my bag, I knew the man would be confused for days if not months about what really went on in that bereavement room. He might never find out. But it was worth it to have almost gotten David’s ass in that room especially since that motherfucka thought I would never have fought his back. I showed his differently. He knew I was playing now. I headed towards the door with my face sore as ever. It was a small price to pay for nearly getting what I wanted and tomorrow night I would undoubtedly get exactly that. His life.
Wednesday Night
Violet
My armpits were dripping with a nervous sweat. I tried to get them to dry by casually raising my arms so as not to cause the wet patterns on my t-shirt. If I sweated this shit out, I was going to have to soak it in the sink for a few hours before I put it back on again. Having used the rest of the money that I had left over from what I stole from Vega’s car that day to pay for a few weeks stay at a hole in the wall motel, I was damn near dirt broke. I just needed a place to hide out and stay under the radar.
I wasn’t looking my best, actually I was downright looking like shit compared to what he was used to. But my skin was flawless and I made it work with the little bit of makeup, eyeliner, mascara, and glitter eye shadow that I had stolen from the Dollar Tree. I couldn’t look too busted when he saw me again if I was expecting for him to give in and run away with me.
It was all a dream. I had to admit that I didn’t think he would actually show up to meet me. I thought it might’ve been a trick to get me to one place so the cops could just jump out and snatch my dumb ass up, hauling me off to jail. Shit, how could they lock a bitch like me up anyway? I was way too damn pretty for jail. The fuck did I look like ending up in a place like that? Naw, I’m too smart for that shit.
“So,” Vega stroked a flyaway piece of hair from out of my eye carefully tucking it behind my ear. "If we're going to start a new life together, Violet, I've just gotta know the truth."
I couldn't hear anything past his soothingly deep voice and dreamy alluring eyes. Vega wanted to talk about other shit, serious shit, when all I could think about was us living happily ever after. I couldn't stop thinking about us being married with 2.5 kids playing around the yard as he mowed the lawn. I was bred to be a housewife and was more than ready to play my part.
Running my fingers across his head, my pussy tingled yearning for his touch again. There was nothing that I wanted more than for him to kiss, suck, and lick that power tongue all over my skin just like he used to do. He was a beast with that shit. The more I sat with my legs pressed tightly together, the hornier I became.
"You just gonna keep quiet?" Vega asked again waking me up out of my daze keeping one eye on me yet the other one on my thighs.
"What do you want me to say, Vega? I've already told you what I have to say. I don't have anything else." I licked my lips refusing to be taking out of the good mood I was in.
"Violet, you want us to move forward with our relationship on a clean slate don't you?" Vega asked batting my creeping hand away from the bulge in his pants.
"Well, yeah. Of course I do. But—"
"Then you'll tell me everything that you've done. I need to know Violet. It's important for me to build trust in someone that I call my wife." Vega gave off a sort of concerned look and tone.
"Ugh. I swear you’re blowing my high with this shit right now. I swear to you, baby. Come on. Don't you think if I had done all of that I would be in jail right now? Humph. Can't we just fuck already Vega? Damn. I've been missing that dick for an awfully long time."
I sat back in my seat pouting, crossing my arms with my lip poked out like a small child unable to receive what I wanted. After everything I had been through, all I wanted was for him to hold me, caress me, and touch me like he used to. I needed to be held and told that everything was going to be okay. He looked at me as if he didn’t recognize who I used to be to him and what he felt for me. There was a certain tension in the air between us that went undeclared. Our connection was gone.
“That don’t sound like the truth, Violet. Already we’re starting off on the wrong foot,” Vega spat leaning on the driver’s side door looking out with his hand covering his mouth.
“What is it that you’re exactly looking for me to say, Vega?” I paused shaking my head trying to get off of the crazy shit he was on. “Look, you said you wanted to be with me so are we gone fuck or not?”
My neck popped all around, sassy as ever. I didn’t give a fuck that he had an attitude with me for not talking to him about what I had done. He didn’t need to know any of that shit. If we were gonna start fresh with each other, it would be while leaving all that other shit in the past. I didn’t even want to think about none of the shit that happened. I couldn’t allow it to hurt me anymore than it already had. The only way for that to happen was for me to leave it where it was, in the past.
“Man, I’m not even feeling none of that shit at all right now Violet.” Vega’s voice was meek and truly uninterested.
Turning my head away from him, my eyes caught wind of the traffic in the distance. The lights were so sparkly, so mesmerizing. For a minute they hypnotized me. They totally locked me into a deep captivating trance. That’s when it dawned on me why he was asking so man questions about what I had done to Adrial. That son of a bitch thought he was slick.
I’m sure he thought I was dumb enough to fall for it and truthfully I was almost there. He wanted me to break down and confide in him the confidential information of my deepest inner thoughts and truths. Vega thought it would be so simple and sweet for him to get out of me that yes, I murdered Adrial though unintentional and yes, I tried to murder Angel as well. But as my heart rapidly turned as cold as an iceberg, I was glad that I hadn’t.
“Wait, baby. Something just hit me… How do you know Adrial?” I asked in a subtle whisper keeping my focus on the traffic.
“I, uh, oh. Like I said before on the phone, he was an old college buddy of mine,” Vega stuttered. “He was my best friend.”
“And, you knew the entire time you and I have been together that he and I dated?” Tiny sweat droplets formed on my forehead.
“No, Violet. It wasn’t until recently that I found out that he was dating you before me. When he told me that a crazy bitch had fucked up his life before we started kicking it hard, he never mentioned a name. I didn’t know that he was talking about you.”
“Tuh, a likely story.” My eyes rolled.
“No it’s true. I didn’t find out until he kidnapped you
and—“
Vega paused as my eyes darted over to his. He knew he had fucked up. He knew that he was wrong, wrong for leaving me there when he knew I needed him the most. A million thoughts spun in my mind but the one of him standing in that cold disgusting basement where I was held captive struck me hard. I didn’t see him there but knowing that he knew I was there, helpless and alone, and he didn’t decide to save me or at the very least call for help troubled me. How could he leave me there like that?
“You said trust you,” I began in a low tone. “You said you would never hurt me, Vega. Weren’t those the words that you said to me?”
“I haven’t hurt you, Violet. You hurt m—“
“You lied,” my delicate lips interrupted returning my attention back to the distant traffic. “To me.”
This was nothing more than just another twisted game that men played. Yet another man, yet another liar. I couldn’t even believe that I was back here in this position once again. All of the old hurt feelings that were sealed away inside of my heart, left there by so many other men, came rushing back to me at once, plaguing my mind.
“So with that being said, Vega how’s the wife?” I queried just as cool as the late night’s breeze.
“She’s… She’s… In critical condition right now.” As he dug his chin into his chest, I could see the pain he was in written all over his face.
“And the baby?” One of my eyebrows rose.
“Oh the baby is—“ Vega’s head begins a slow turn towards me.
I winked his way knowing that it had just dawned on him that yes, I already knew about your wife and her pregnant belly. Unlike me, he usually spoke before he thought and now he had finally told it all. He had finally given me the truth I begged him for in the beginning. Had he told me the truth from the get-go, I just might have stayed with him and been cool about it. But because he decided to string me along and lie in the process, he nor his wife would get no respect from me.
