Secrets of a Kept Chick, Part 2

by Ambria Davis

  “You can’t put all that shit on me, Kay. I never forced you to do anything that you ain’t wanna do. I never forced your dick inside of me, never forced you not to wear a condom, and I never forced you to nut in me. I never forced you to take me on trips nor did I force your money out of your pockets. You did all of that shit on your own, nigga. You’re just as much to blame as I am. She was yo’ bitch, not mine. I wasn’t supposed to give a fuck about her, you was!” she replied, following me.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did all that, and you was cool wit’ it. Now I gotta pay for the mistake I made from fucking with a bitch like you. Hell if you ain’t had no loyalty to the two bitches who had your back through whatever, why would I think you’d have my back?” I said, walking into the kitchen. “You been hating on Mimi since before I came into the picture. Just admit it: you wanted to be her. You’ve always wanted to be her.”

  She didn’t say anything. She just stood there looking at me. I knew what I said might have pushed a few buttons, but I was tired of playing the nice guy. I wanted the bitch to just leave me the fuck alone.

  Shaking my head, I grabbed my keys to go for a drive. I desperately needed to clear my mind and get away from here before I ended up killing this bitch.

  “Kaylin, where are you going?” She started running behind me, but I kept on walking.

  I walked over to my kids and gave them all a kiss on their cheeks. “I’ll be back later y’all,” I said to them. They all looked like they wanted to cry, especially Kayson and Kaylon, but they kept it in. I headed over to my car and got in while Stacy was still walking over to me.

  “Kaylin, where are you going?” she asked, beating on the window.

  Still ignoring her, I started the car and drove off. I had one destination in mind, and it wasn’t Louisiana. I was going to see Mimi for the very last time. I was headed to Atlanta, and even though I knew it was a stupid decision, my heart was telling me otherwise.

  Chapter 3

  Troy

  I just sat there, staring into space as the doctor started explaining what I could and couldn’t do or eat for the next two weeks. My body was there physically, but my mind was not. My mind was still on the fact that Kaylin’s bitch Star had caught me slipping. I couldn’t believe she shot me. It was a good thing that Kayla wasn’t shot when that shit happened to me, because I would’ve been devastated. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself, knowing that she was hurt just because she was with me. So, to keep her out of harm’s way, I sent her back to Louisiana with Jayden’s mother. She didn’t want to go, but I promised her that I would see her soon. I wondered where that ho Star was at though. The news said that they couldn’t find her. I wondered if she was somewhere dead, because I knew for a fact that I shot her ass two times. So, why didn’t the police find her body? That evil bitch probably survived and got away. Shit, now that was something else that I had to add to my list of things to worry about.

  Tomorrow was the day that we’d be laying Mimi to rest. It was kind of a bittersweet moment for me. I’d accepted the fact that she was gone and not coming back, but what I couldn’t accept was not being able to bury her body. I still couldn’t believe that no one knew where her body was. How they could lose a whole body like that was crazy. I still hadn’t been able to speak with Detective Webber, but I would after the funeral tomorrow. I wasn’t letting this shit go. I’d sue the state of Georgia if I had to. Somebody would give me an explanation, instead of giving me the runaround all day.

  That reminded me, I hadn’t been able to tell Mark and Jayden about what had been going on this past week. So many things had been happening that I never got a chance to, but I would today. I didn’t want them to be clueless when they got to the funeral tomorrow and found out that it would be a closed casket. I knew everyone would be expecting an open casket service. People would want to see Amina’s beautiful face tomorrow for one last time, but that wouldn’t be happening. They’d be seeing an empty-ass casket.

  I was so happy that I was going home today. I couldn’t wait to get home to my bed. I didn’t think I could spend another day in the hospital. I barely got any rest, because of the people coming back and forth. Staying in the hospital and that disinfectant smell started to get to me. I hated being cooped up in one spot for too long.

  “Ma’am, do you hear me?” Dr. McKenley asked, snapping me from my thoughts.

  “Yes, sir, I hear you,” I lied right through my teeth. I ain’t heard a word he said since he’d been in here, and I wasn’t trying to. I was too busy worrying about everything that had happened.

  “You have to follow up with your doctor in about a week.”

  “Okay, I’ll make an appointment when I leave from here.”

  “Make sure to take it easy. You don’t want to do too much at one time. It could cause you to come back and see me.”

  “Trust me, I’m not a fan of hospitals, so I won’t be coming back here to see you no time soon,” I said to him. He smiled, showing a perfect set of white teeth. I suddenly realized that Dr. McKenley was a good-looking brother. He was about six feet tall, and 200 pounds of solid muscle. That banging body, caramel complexion, and dazzling smile were the truth.

  “Okay. I’ll send the nurse in shortly with your discharge papers and your prescriptions.” He removed his gloves from his hands and threw them into the trash.

  “Okay, thank you,” I said sincerely. He’d taken good care of me since I’d been in here.

  “Welcome. Take care of yourself.”

  “I will.”

  I sat there thinking about my life. I remembered when I was younger and life wasn’t so rough. Minus all of the things I went through with my family and past lovers, I’d have loved to be a child just one more time. Unfortunately, things like that can’t happen, so I made the best of my life as it was now.

  My phone started ringing as I sat there waiting for the nurse to come with my discharge papers and medicine so I could get out of there. Since I didn’t want to be bothered, I let the call roll to voicemail. I’d call whoever it was back later. I needed a little peace right now.

  Grabbing the remote, I searched for something to watch when my phone started to ring again. Grabbing my phone, I fished it out of my purse. Looking at caller ID, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. “I know this nigga ain’t calling me now,” I groaned, rolling my eyes. “Hello.” I answered the phone with as much attitude as I could muster.

  “Hey, ma, it’s me,” he replied softly.

  “I know who this is. What do you want, Weedy?”

  “Damn. Oh, so now I can’t call to check up on you?” he asked, sounding hurt.

  “Nah, because I called you three weeks ago, and you just now decided to return my call. How come you ain’t called me back then when I called ya ass?”

  “What you mean? Ma, you didn’t call me three weeks ago.”

  “Wanna bet? Oh, but then one of ya little females answered when I called, so I’m guessing she never told you that I called you.”

  “What are you talking about, ma?”

  “Like I said, I called you three weeks ago, but one of your females answered giving me a hard time. Talking ’bout she was ya woman and whatnot.”

  “Man, come on, are you serious?”

  “Does it sound like I’m playing, Weedy? Now, what do you want?”

  “You, ma. I want you. You thought about what we talked about?”

  “Weedy, not right now. I’ve been through so much shit the past couple of weeks, I ain’t had a chance to collect my thoughts.”

  “What’s up? What’s going on?”

  “Nothing.” I felt some type of way. His ass wasn’t nowhere to be found when I needed his ass, but now he wanted to be concerned. He needed to leave me the hell alone right now.

  “Come on, ma, don’t be like that.”

  I tried sitting up so that I could give his ass a piece of my mind, but the pain in my shoulder prevented me from doing so. “Ugh,” I screamed as the shooting pain raced
across my chest.

  “What’s wrong, ma?”

  “Weedy, leave me alone and go play with ya females, because I don’t have time for your games.”

  “Troy, go ’head with all that there. You know I don’t have no damn females. So stop trippin’.”

  “Shit, you could’ve fooled me, with that chick answering your phone and all.” I hoped he didn’t think that he was running game on me, because he wasn’t. Weedy was a man ho, and he wasn’t going to change for nobody. He was one of those types of dudes who needed a whole team of females. Ever since I’d known him, he never had just one woman. There was always a sidepiece lurking somewhere.

  “Chill out and tell me what’s going on with you, ma,” he said, trying desperately to get me to talk to him. I had to admit that I did miss him a little. He was a crappy-ass boyfriend, but a great friend.

  Sighing, I removed the phone from my ear. I needed a shoulder to lean on for the moment, because if I kept all this shit inside of me, I may have ended up exploding.

  “Troy, you still there?”

  “Yeah, I’m still here, Weedy.”

  “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong, ma?”

  I thought about it and figured I had nothing to lose. Without giving it any more thought, I decided to give him a shorter version. “Three weeks ago, my best friend was shot and killed. Then someone broke in the shop and damaged the place. And, to top that off, I have some unknown stalker stalking me, and I got shot a week ago.”

  “My God, Troy, why didn’t you call me?”

  “I did, Weedy, but you wasn’t there. You’re never there when I really need you to be. It’s always the same thing with you.”

  “Ma, don’t do this, please,” he begged, because he knew what I was about to say.

  “How you gonna try to be there for me now, but when I needed you the most, you wasn’t there? What about all them times I had to fight your hoes? Where were you then, huh? With another ho. And what about that time I got in a car accident because of one of your stalking-ass bitches? Where were you when I miscarried our babies, Weedy? Whenever I needed you the most you wasn’t there,” I yelled with tears flowing down my face.

  He didn’t answer. Hell, he couldn’t. I’d been holding this shit in for a while now. I needed to get that out. I actually felt a bit better now that I’d gotten that off my chest. It’d been years since I experienced a breakdown talking to him.

  “I can’t go through that no more, Weedy. You’ve cut me too deep already. I can’t look past that.” I sobbed, wiping the tears that had fallen from my face. “I just can’t.”

  “Ma, come on. That’s the past; this is the present. I’m not the same dude I was before. I’ve changed. Let me prove that to you, Troy. Let me be there for you in your time of need.” He said it like he really meant it, but then I had to remind myself that this was Weedy we were talking about.

  “Weedy—” I started to say something, but I was interrupted by Jayden and Mark walking through the door. “Let me call you right back,” I said and hung up without waiting for him to answer. I quickly tried to wipe my eyes before they could see me, but I was a little too slow.

  “What’s wrong, ma?” Mark asked, walking over to the bed. “Why are you crying?”

  “I’m just emotional with the funeral being tomorrow, that’s all,” I said, trying to play it off.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m positive,” I snapped as a nurse entered the room, pushing a wheelchair with my discharge papers in the seat.

  “Hello, Miss Miller, I’m here with your discharge papers.”

  “Okay.”

  “Umm, is everything okay?” she asked, looking from me to Mark, then to Jayden. I guessed the look on Mark’s face, along with the fact that my eyes were red and puffy, gave her the impression that something was wrong.

  “Everything is fine. I’m just ready to get out of here,” I said, cracking a half smile.

  “Okay. I need you to sign here.” She pointed to the bottom of the page. Something about the sexy look she gave Mark made me heated.

  “I need a pen,” I said with attitude.

  “Sure.” She handed me a pen. I jacked the pen out of her hand and hurriedly signed my name at the bottom. I wanted to get this bitch out of my nigga’s face and get home ASAP.

  Ten minutes and three signatures later, they finally wheeled me out of the hospital. The minute I got outside, I desperately sucked in some much-needed fresh air. Staying in the hospital was something that I never wished to do again. Mark and I stayed by the entrance, while Jayden went to get the car from the parking lot. I decided to use this time to apologize for snapping on him earlier.

  “Mark, I’m sorry for snapping on you in the room earlier. It’s just that I’ve been through a lot,” I said softly, rubbing the hand that he had sitting on my shoulder.

  “It’s cool, ma, I’m not even trippin’. Just remember that I’ve been by ya side this whole time. If something is wrong, you can tell me.”

  “I really appreciate you for that. Not a lot of dudes would stick by a woman’s side when they need them,” I mused, referring to Weedy. I couldn’t believe I almost fell for his shit yet again.

  “Ma, I’m sure you’ve realized that I’m not like most men. I’m a different breed,” he said, just as Jayden pulled up with the car.

  “Yes, I’ve noticed that,” I replied, smiling. “Thank you.”

  “No need to thank me, baby. You’re my girl, so I’m going to do what I’m supposed to.” He opened the back seat door for me and helped me to get in. He then jumped in on the other side, and we were on our way.

  “Y’all niggas got me playing taxi and shit. Where to?” Jayden asked, laughing from the front seat, making us laugh also.

  “To my house,” I replied, laughing.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he replied, trying to fake an accent, and I couldn’t help but chuckle some more.

  He pulled out of the hospital parking lot, straight into the morning’s traffic. I knew it was going to take some time for us to make it to my house, so I used that time to think. I had lots of things to do. I needed to stop by Mimi’s house to get a few things, and I needed to call Candy down at the salon. Yes, we were still doing business. Mimi always said that, no matter what, the shop should be open. Tomorrow it would be closed for the funeral. I also needed to find out where Kaylin and Stacy were. Once Mimi’s funeral was over, I’d give that my full attention. I was going to find them no matter what it cost me.

  Pulling my phone from out of my purse, I sent Weedy a text.

  Me: I need a favor. I set the phone on my lap as I waited for a reply.

  Weedy: What’s up?

  Me: I need you to look for Kaylin for me. I’ve been having a little trouble locating him. I know he’s not here and I’d bet my last dollar that he’s headed that way.

  Weedy: I’ll look into that for you. Are you okay?

  Me: Thank you. I’m okay, Weedy. I just need some time to think about this. I’ll give you an answer after all of this is over.

  Weedy: Okay, ma, I understand. I’ll give you some time to think about it.

  Me: Thanks.

  I tossed my phone down in my lap and decided to use the rest of the drive home to prepare myself mentally for the talk we’d have once we made it home. I had no idea where to begin, but I knew they wouldn’t be too happy after I told them everything that’d been going on. I just hoped they didn’t flip out, because I couldn’t deal with all that right now. I was just going to have to take it slow, and give them a little piece at a time.

  Chapter 4

  Mimi

  I sat there in the dark for the seventh day in a row. I couldn’t eat, sleep; I barely could breathe. My mind was clouded, and my heart was broken in two. It took me a week to finally accept the fact that Kaylin was the one who shot me. I couldn’t believe it. Hell, I didn’t want to. I thought that when I called his phone and it was disconnected, it was because of other reasons, not because he was in hid
ing. Now I had to face the fact that Kaylin shot me, left me for dead, and now he was on the run with my kids.

  I still didn’t understand why he would shoot me though. I remembered bits and pieces, like Kaylin and me fighting, but I didn’t know why. That part was still unclear to me. Whatever happened prior to me being shot must have been serious if Kaylin felt he had to shoot me. Hell, I needed some answers, and the only one I could think to call was Troy. I had a major problem though: I couldn’t seem to recall her number. I racked my brain, but I couldn’t remember a damn thing, and that shit was frustrating as hell.

  I needed to get out of here as soon as possible. I couldn’t do shit locked up in this hospital like a prisoner. I needed to get home. I needed to see my kids. I needed answers, answers that this fake-ass detective couldn’t give me. It was time to come up with a plan. I was leaving this hospital today.

  I sat there waiting on Nurse Margie to come. For the past few weeks, we’d gotten close. She’d been my day nurse since I’d been in here. She’d been helpful. Any- and everything that I needed, she made sure that I got it. She’d been doing a little research on what happened the day that I was shot and, so far, she hadn’t come up with anything. It’s like they never even put the shit in the papers, or on the news. You’d think the shit had never even happened. I wondered what the hell was going on out there. I got shot four times, and it didn’t even make the news.

  Pushing the call button for the nurse, I decided that this time was the best time. Since Detective Webber was gone on a little break, I needed to make a break for it. If there was a perfect time to try to leave, now would be it. Throwing the cover back, I sat up on the side of the bed, waiting on Margie. It was taking her so long that I started to think she wasn’t coming.