“Murder!” I belted. Jaquon sat up now, looking at me.
“Yes.”
“Conspiring to murder who?” I asked with panic in my voice now.
“Your real father, Otis Hanks.”
I almost dropped the phone when he said it.
“Look, I don’t have time to explain. Meet me down at the police station. I’m leaving the house right now.”
“After I get dressed, Daddy, I’ll meet you there.”
With that Daddy hung up. I dropped the phone down on the base and jumped up to get dressed.
“What’s going on?” Jaquon asked.
“I don’t know. Something with my mother. I’m going to meet Daddy at the station.”
“Let me go with you.”
“No. You stay here. Daddy doesn’t know we are back together and I don’t want to make him more upset than he is already. I’ll call you when I know more.”
When I walked into the station, I was met by Daddy standing there with a weary look on his face. I ran up to him and embraced him. He was trembling and I could tell this situation was tearing him apart. Even though he and Mother were separated, he still loved her deeply.
“Daddy, sit down,” I told him.
“I never thought your mother would do something so vicious. Not this. Not murder.”
“How did you find out?”
“I was her one and only phone call. Can you believe it? She called me.”
That figures. Mother had no friends so who else was going to see about bailing her out at this point? Again this was her using Daddy to get what she wanted. I didn’t know whether to get mad or feel sorry for the pitiful, unhappy person she’d become. I knew Mother was cold and evil but not to the extent of murder.
When the cops led us into a room with a single table, chairs on either side and windows covered with bars, I thought about Law & Order and wondered if we were about to be interrogated. What I didn’t know was they were bringing Mother in through another door to talk with us. She was handcuffed and looked worse than I had ever seen her before. Daddy went to her, giving her a kiss on the forehead, but the cops commanded him to stay away from the prisoner.
My mother is a prisoner now, I thought.
“Are you all right?” Daddy asked.
She still was cold as usual.
Was she serious? She called him and now she acted like she didn’t care he was here. I controlled my anger and watched.
“Why haven’t you bailed me out of here yet?” she spat.
“I don’t have that type of money, Frances,” Daddy responded.
“But she does,” she said, looking at me. “Why haven’t you asked her? She will do anything for you.”
“Because it’s not my place. You got yourself into this situation, so you need to be the one to ask.”
Mama looked at me before turning her nose up. Unreal, she still had the audacity to think I was supposed to do whatever she wanted. Here she was, sitting here, facing murder charges and she acted like we owed her. What was this woman’s deal?
“Did you have him killed?” I asked point blank.
“My lawyer informed me not to discuss the case,” she said.
“I thought it was some juvenile delinquent and it was you.”
“Are you going to accuse me all day, or get me out of here? I’m tired. I’m hungry and I want to take me a nice hot bubble bath.”
“Who says I was getting you out?” I asked arrogantly.
“You will get me out of here. This is no place for a woman like me.”
“You mean a woman who had someone murdered,” I retorted. “They have a young man in custody who’s ready to testify against you, Mother. You acted like some mobster putting a hit out on somebody.”
“That young punk is lying on me.”
“Why would he? Out of all the people he could have blamed this crime on, Mother, he chose you specifically. He describes you from head to toe. Everybody knows you two don’t travel in the same circles. You had to have something to do with this.”
“Like I said, he’s lying.”
“He said you paid him ten thousand dollars.”
“Where’s the proof?” she asked matter-of-factly. “It’s my word against his. Who do you think a judge and jury will believe when they put someone like me against the word of a common thug?” Mother asked, glaring at me confidently. “Now either post my bail or get the hell away from me.”
I looked at Daddy, who appeared defeated. He knew there was no reason to get out such an ungrateful, sanctimonious witch.
“Baby girl, I’m with whatever you want to do,” he said sadly.
I pushed my chair from the table and said, “Find another sucker dumb enough to bail you out because I’m not doing it.”
Mother shook her head, smirking, and said, “You are just like him.”
“Like who?”
“Your Daddy always took from me too and you stand there thinking I’m going to beg for something that’s rightfully mine anyway.” Mother stood and said, “You think you are all that, flaunting your money in my face like it’s a bone and I’m some dog who you want to take a bite. I will die first before I beg you to help me. I’m glad he’s dead. I can’t wait to meet the young man who took him out so I can shake his hand. They need to give him a medal of honor for taking out a child rapist instead of trying to lock him up for life.”
Her words hurt because the Mr. Hanks I knew was nothing like the man who altered her life. And I wasn’t trying to make excuses for his actions, because they were horrendous, but how long could someone live in the past? Here she was playing the victim like I was supposed to step up and help her when she never bothered to love me. I never asked my mother for anything, knowing the outcome was going to be a tongue-lashing or a smack. The only thing I ever wanted from her was love. I would have tried to give Mother the world now if she only loved me but she was too busy keeping up a wall that was obviously crumbling. Life as she knew it was over if she was convicted of this crime but she was too atrocious to grasp the situation. She didn’t have to let what happened to her plague her continually but she chose to let it bombard her, leaving a trail of wounded hearts behind. And still she was too blind to see her imperfections.
I looked at my mother with a smile and said, “Have a nice life. I love you and I wish you all the best.”
I knew this would probably be the last time I saw my mother and I cried tears of sorrow as I walked out with Daddy. If felt like I was burying her. Not in the form of a coffin being covered up with soil but in the form of recapturing my own life. I had to get past the hurt she caused me in order to continue on a path of virtue. I chose today to not be like my mother. Through all this pain I could hear the saying, “Everything happens for a reason.” It hurts so bad while it’s happening but once the storm has cleared, a newfound understanding emerges, making you into a stronger person than you ever thought you could be.
Chapter 34
Derrick
I was experiencing déjà vu, sitting here, waiting for this technician to read me the results of this second paternity test. This time Kea and I were alone waiting for the result. No parents accompanied us and neither did Jaquon or Trinity. A little over a week had passed since we had our samples taken and Kea didn’t have much to say to me then. We were both in and out without much conversation. Now Kea sat again with very little to say to me and I wondered why she was giving me the cold shoulder. I knew she couldn’t still be mad about me punching Jaquon; he deserved it and I gave it, and now it was time to move past it.
These results we were about to receive were going to change our lives forever. I just hoped that change for me would include Kea being in my life. We were destined to be together and after today I had no doubt we would.
Then Trinity crossed my mind. Even though we said we were going to stop seeing one another, we hadn’t. Our friendship continued but that changed last night when I was at her home.
“Derrick, can I tell you something?” she ask
ed.
“Anything. You know we can tell each other anything.”
“You sure you won’t act all weird toward me when I say this,” she said, looking up at me.
“Are you serious? After all the crazy things I’ve brought your way. Give it to me,” I said, waving my fingers in the “come here” motion at her.
“Okay, Derrick. I’m just going to come out and say it. I think I have fallen in love with you.”
I was taken aback by her words. I sat there in silence as I stared at her like I was still waiting for her to tell me whatever she had to tell me. But she just stood there and I knew then I had heard her right. She was in love with me.
“Did you hear me?”
“Umm. Yes, I heard you.”
She sat up, saying, “I don’t expect you to feel the same way, because I know the situation. You are still in love with Kea. But all this time we’ve been spending with one another, the dinners, the talks, the movies, the lounging around and acting crazy, I’ve never been able to be myself with another man like I have been with you.”
I still said nothing. I looked at her, still astounded that she was admitting to loving me.
“I know your equation doesn’t include me but I felt like if I didn’t let you know how I felt, I would regret never telling you.”
“I’m . . . I’m glad you told me.”
“I hope this doesn’t change how we’ve been around each other. Love tends to make men back off and treat women like they have the plague.”
“I’m not going to do that. Not now anyway,” I said jokingly, thinking I did need to step back from Trinity for a while.
“I know you get your results tomorrow and in my heart I feel Kea and you are not related. With that I know I’m going to lose you but I had to try to see how you felt about me.”
“You know I care about you, Trinity.”
“But you don’t love me, not like you do Kea.”
“Yes. You and I, we have a different type of connection. It’s hard for me to explain. I think what we have is more like a friendship-type thing.”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to explain. I already got my answer from you,” she said with the same cool, calm demeanor she always had. She didn’t look hurt, or annoyed, or even mad about it. Any other woman would be up in the floor showing her behind by now but Trinity was stately. She truly was an amazing woman and I wondered again why I couldn’t have met her sooner.
When the technician came in with the results, I began to tremble a bit. This was it. This would determine my future. After some meet and greet and a little bit about what was going to be revealed, the doctor gave us the results. And they were that Kea and I were not related.
“Yes,” was all I could say as I looked over at Kea, who was smiling. Her reaction was calmer than mine was but I was so happy. One, I hadn’t slept with my sister, and two, this could result in Kea and me picking up where we left off.
The doctor went on to reveal Kea was in fact Mr. Hanks’s daughter but I was not his son. The news excited me but also made me question who my father was. Why did my mother tell this man I was his son if she knew there was a possibility that I wasn’t? I wasn’t familiar with my mom’s past like that. I knew relationships happened in life but I was finding it really hard to not see my mother as a woman who got around.
After getting the results in hand Kea and I left the center with the proof. She still seemed standoffish and I wondered why. This was the news we were hoping for, which should have brought elation to her.
“Kea, what’s wrong with you?” I finally asked once we were standing outside the building.
“What do you mean?”
“You, being quiet and acting like you still don’t want to have anything to do with me. Are you still mad I punched Jaquon?”
“Well it didn’t make me happy.”
“I understand that, but isn’t the news we just got enough to bring joy into your heart for me? This means you and I can continue where we left off,” I said.
“Derrick, I don’t know. A part of me thinks it’s too late. A lot has happened,” she said.
“It’s not too late. We still love each other. You do still love me don’t you?”
“Derrick, I think we need to move on with our lives and forget about what we did have.”
“Is this because of Jaquon? Please don’t tell me you are still in love with the dude.”
“I do love him,” she said confidently.
“But do you love me?” I asked.
“This is not easy for me,” she said with a cracking voice.
“It can be if you choose me,” I said, moving close to her. I grabbed her hands and pulled them to my chest. “Baby, I love you. Don’t do this to us.”
“Derrick . . . I . . .”
I kissed her hands. Then I leaned in and kissed Kea. At first she was hesitant but I didn’t back down. I kissed her until she relented.
Breaking our connection, I said, “Come with me.”
She shook her head without saying anything.
“Baby, please just come with me.”
“I have to be somewhere.”
“I won’t keep you long.”
I stared into her eyes until she nodded, and I felt a slight victory approaching. If she wanted to truly be with Jaquon, I knew she wouldn’t have agreed to come with me. This let me know she loved me more than even she knew.
I was happy she agreed to ride with me, leaving her ride at the medical facility. When we pulled up at my place, where both of us knew that maybe we had something, Kea dropped her head. I didn’t know if this was a result of sadness or happiness. It didn’t matter because I still had her with me. I got out of my ride and went around to open the door for her.
“I can’t believe you brought me here,” she said, getting out.
“We can’t go up to the balcony because it’s a wedding going on but we can still take in this spectacular view.”
The sun was going down and I couldn’t have timed it more perfectly. Leading her to the spot beneath a tree, we peered into the sky as the sun slowly submerged. We could hear the music playing in the background as another couple celebrated their coming together in marriage, which was the same place Kea’s sister Emory had her reception.
“Do you remember when we stood out here together?” I asked.
“Yes, I remember.”
“We knew what we wanted then even though things weren’t quite the way we wanted them to be. Now we’ve got our chance back.”
Kea looked at me longingly before turning her attention back to the beautiful sky. The sun was losing its battle with the day as the orange hue illuminated the horizon. There was something about this moment that made you feel blessed to be alive to witness God at work, in more ways than one.
After standing for what seemed like an eternity, I asked again, “Kea, do you still love me?”
Without turning her attention away from the sky she said, “Yes. I still love you, Derrick.”
Joy filled me as passion came in as a close second. I gently turned Kea’s face toward mine and planted my lips on to hers. Her lips were so soft. Each soft peck led to another one and another until I found myself pushing my body into Kea’s as she leaned against the massive tree. Our bodies became entangled as I yearned to be in her. If I didn’t have a fear of having the cops called on us for indecency I would have taken off my clothes and made love to Kea right under the tree.
Coming up for air, I said, “Please come home with me, Kea.” My eyes begged for her to agree but hers were questioning if this was the right thing to do.
“Please, baby, come with me,” I said again.
“It’s getting late,” she said.
“You know you want this. You know you want me. Come home with me.”
“Derrick, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Really you don’t have a choice because you are riding with me,” I said jokingly, causing her to laugh. “I asked because I’m a gentleman but you k
now I will drive you to my house.”
She smiled and said, “I knew I should have driven my car.”
“Too late now. So will you come with me?”
Chapter 35
Jaquon
I called Kea six times and she still didn’t answer her phone. I knew she had to have the results by now. I wondered why she hadn’t called me with the results, or come home with them for that matter.
I paced the floor in our place and hoped she wasn’t where I thought she was. What if the test proved they weren’t related? Would this mean she would now leave me for Derrick? I didn’t think I could handle that and I really didn’t think I could handle if she was with him right now.
I dialed her cell number again.
“You have reached Kea. Please leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as possible.”
“Kea, where are you? Why haven’t you called me? Baby, I’m worried about you. Give me a ring when you get this, okay?”
I hung up and began pacing again. My concentration was broken when someone knocked at the door. I rushed to it, swinging it open.
“Dag. Is there a fire or something? You look like you about to rush off somewhere,” Shelia said from across the hall.
“What do you want?” I asked, mad that it was her instead of Kea.
Holding out a cup she said, “Can I get some sugar?” trying to look at me seductively.
“Don’t you buy groceries? Why are you always borrowing from Kea?”
“I haven’t gone to the store yet.”
“Then I suggest you take your skank ass up the street and get you some sugar.”
“Who you calling a skank?”
“You,” I yelled.
“Well you weren’t calling me a skank when you were hitting this not even a month ago. I bet your boo don’t know I was one of the plenty you planted your seed in.”
I snapped. I mean I lost it. I stepped out of the apartment and wrapped my hands around Sheila’s throat. The cup in her hand fell to the concrete, shattering. I pushed her back into her apartment, which was easy because her door was open with some music coming from it. Once in her apartment, I slammed the door along with slamming her against the wall.
My Man's Best Friend II Page 19
