“I can only hope it’s just an empty threat. If you can’t think of anybody it may just be someone who’s messing with you. Haters are running rampart these days. I for one am getting tired as hell of them,” I sighed as I took a glass of wine from our one flight attendant.
I felt Seantay grab my hand. “We’re in this together sis. I believe in voodoo and black magic. That’s what Reba calls her cooch, but it goes deeper than that.” She grinned at my look of confusion.
“Huh?” I asked.
She shrugged her shoulders. “Never mind, look, I’m just saying that if someone is really set on revenge, it’s no limit to what they’ll do. If Kristie is hell bent on making you suffer and she believes in what she’s doing, it could possibly be real. It’s just a good thing our grandmother is intuitive about that kind of thing. I remember hearing her talk about that stuff when we were kids. Mother always told me that it was all make believe and Grandmother Gwendolyn is a little delusional. I think Tameah is the delusional one.” Seantay rolled her eyes and grabbed a glass of wine herself.
“You have to talk to mother one day Tay,” Renell spoke up as she read something from a file. She removed her glasses, closed her eyes and sighed.
“Yeah, I guess,” Seantay said and grabbed the file from Renell’s hand. “All you do is work. It’s Christmas.”
Renell snatched the file back and put it in her briefcase. “I know it’s Christmas, but…”
“But what?” I asked noticing the look of worry on her face.
“I don’t know. I got something strange in the mail. It was in a pile on the kitchen counter. I guess Ricky had brought it in a couple days ago. I just saw it today.” She pulled an envelope out of her briefcase and passed it to me.
Seantay leaned over my shoulder as I opened it and pulled out a Christmas card. “What’s so strange about it? It’s just a Christmas card.” She said.
Renell cleared her throat. “Open it.”
I opened the card and noticed that there was no signature, but there was a folded slip of paper in the crease. Before I picked up the paper, I gave Renell a look. She nodded her approval and I opened it. It was a typed note that read.
Someone very close to you is not telling you the truth about their past. Be careful and pay attention to what’s going on around you. I’m only telling you this because despite everything, I still love you. Please take this seriously.
Loving you always
“Uh, who is that from?” Tay asked as she took the envelope from me.
“I don’t know,” Renell said with a dazed look on her cinnamon brown face. “It’s postmarked from Missouri and I don’t know anyone like that in Missouri.”
“Maybe it’s just some crazed lunatic who’s seen you on television,” I said dismissing it. “We’re public figures and sometimes crazy people fixate on us. It’s nothing Nell, so don’t let it get to you.”
“You’re probably right,” she nodded, but didn’t look or sound convinced.
Tay put the card in the envelope and gave it back to Renell. “You think it’s more to it don’t you?” She asked.
Nell looked away and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know what to think. All I know is that I don’t want to think what I’m thinking right now.”
Was she making nothing into something? I mean, there weren’t many people she was close to, so we didn’t have much to go on. If it was something to the note why was the person not revealing the culprit while remaining anonymous?
“What are you thinking?” I asked seeing the anxiety in my sister’s gray eyes.
Chapter 3
Renell
Forcing a smile on my face, I decided to change the subject. Although I had brought it up I wish I hadn’t. “It’s probably nothing like you said. Forget it. No matter the reason for this trip, we’re going to make the best of it. Besides, it’s Christmas and the holidays are about family.”
Seandra and Seantay both gave me skeptical looks, but I ignored them and kept that silly smile plastered on my face.
“If you say so,” Seandra said flipping through a copy of Vogue magazine. “We just don’t need the mommy to be stressing about anything.”
I nodded in agreement. “I know and I’m okay.”
“I hope this wine puts me to sleep,” Seantay sighed and leaned her head back. “I just want to feel numb.”
Deep down inside I was feeling uneasy. My recent thrust into the media’s limelight may have caused a complete stranger to send that card. I didn’t want Ricky to worry, so I didn’t tell him about it before I left. He wanted to come along, but I told him that it was an extended Beauvois Diva’s Vacation. I also apologized for skipping out on our plans to spend the holidays with his family. He gave me a sweet kiss and reassured me that it would be okay. We had decided to visit his family when I returned to announce my pregnancy. I knew he was going to have a hard time holding it in. The good news we were so happy to share seemed to be over shadowed by a dark cloud.
As I pondered about who could’ve sent the card and why, Tay and Seandra seemed to be lost in their own troubles. I sighed as I thought about the chaos that had been surrounding us as they sipped on glass after glass of wine. I was ecstatic about being pregnant, but I kind of wished I could have some wine too. Maybe then I could relax a little.
I thought about my parents splitting and Tay’s questionable paternity. Then the near death experiences that had plagued my parents and sisters crossed my mind. It all seemed so…spooky that we’d all been plagued by such awful experiences. My parents hadn’t really been in a plane crash, but we had experienced the grief as if they had because they were supposed to be on that flight. Thank God they’d gotten another one. Tay had almost lost her life in a car accident and Seandra had been threatened at gun point by Jermaine’s crazy girlfriend. I had come close to losing all of my loved ones, but I’d been blessed to still have them.
Then there were the circumstances surrounding Maurice’s murder that made me and Seandra’s worlds spin out of control. The two of us were questioned and literally bullied by the Fulton County Police. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Ricky was literally framed by Maurice’s crazy, obsessed lover/assistant Janice and arrested for the murder. With a little detective work along with Seandra, Janice was finally in police custody for the crime of passion. She’d been charged with first degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, perjury, and tampering with evidence at a crime scene. I hoped she’d never ever see the light of day again. Bitch.
Wondering what was going to happen next made me extremely stressed, which I knew wasn’t good while I was pregnant. I knew that was the reason I had miscarried the first time. The first pregnancy definitely wasn’t planned. On one of those passionate, lust filled nights the condom had broken and I never told Ricky about it. When he was released from jail and we made love that night on the sex swing, I purposely asked him not to use a condom. I wanted to make up for the loss that I’d experienced. It probably wasn’t a healthy decision, but it was the only decision I was capable of making at the time. Ricky had proposed and we were going to be a family. I was supposed to be happy, but I had a feeling that someone was about to wreck even more havoc on our lives than we’d already experienced.
* * *
Jarvis had been our grandparents’ driver since I was a teenager. He was there to pick us up from the private landing strip right on time. After giving us all hugs, Jarvis put our luggage in the trunk of the black Lincoln. The heat of the car was inviting and I finally relaxed as we headed to the Garden District, which was the name of the gorgeous, affluent neighborhood our grandparents lived in.
Their beautiful, white Victorian mansion was hidden behind huge, old live oak trees covered in moss. The scene was tranquil and reminded me of childhood summers. I could remember sipping lemonade outside under the shade of those trees. The neighborhood was considered a historic part of New Orleans and was a tourist attraction. I for one loved visiting my grandparents, but this trip would be different.
/> “How was your flight?” Jarvis asked as he kept his eyes on the road. “I see that Sean went ahead and got the private jet he’d been talking about for years.”
Seantay spoke up. “It was fine. I’m a little drunk actually.”
We all laughed.
“Sounds like it was a great flight,” he chuckled.
For the rest of the ride the car was filled with the sound of classic New Orleans jazz. I loved the wail of the horns, especially the saxophone. There was just something sexy about a man who could play a sax. It seemed like the words sax and sex were one in the same.
When we pulled up into the driveway of the immaculate grounds of the estate, I was ready to get out of the car and stretch my tired legs. Just as I stepped out my phone vibrated inside my clutch bag. I reached inside and fished it out before the caller could hang up. When I checked the screen I saw Ricky’s number, so I answered.
“Hey sweetie, I meant to call you when the plane landed, but I was enjoying the scenery,” I explained.
“Oh no, you’re fine honey. I was just checking on my babies,” he said with a smile in his voice.
I couldn’t hold back my smile. “We’re fine, just missing you already.”
“I miss you too baby. Mom and dad said hi,” he said right after a chorus of hellos.
“Tell them hi and we’ve decided to only stay until New Year’s Eve,” I explained. He didn’t know the reason we were in New Orleans and I wanted him to enjoy his time with his family stress free.
He laughed too. “That’s perfect baby. Call me later on okay.”
“I will,” I said as I followed my sisters to the entrance of our grandparents’ enchanting home.
“Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Once we made it inside of the house the smell of a delicious holiday feast was the first thing I noticed. My stomach started growling immediately and I was ready for some down home cooking. It was the kind of food that stuck to your bones and made you sleepy. Nothing like the stuff we’d grown up eating. I loved visiting my grandparents during the summers when we were younger. It was like heaven to eat delectable treats and have plenty of freedom to roam around outside. Grandmother Gwendolyn didn’t confine us inside like our mother did.
Just as I thought of her, she came down the stairs to greet us with hugs. I couldn’t help but notice her regally elegant beauty. She was in her late sixties, but looked to be in her early fifties instead. Her family had sailed to the US from Haiti in the early 1900s and her beautiful dark, mocha skin was free of wrinkles. That was further proof that black didn’t crack. She’d told us that all of the time when we were growing up. Seantay would curiously ask her why our grandfather’s skin was so light then. Grandmother would laugh and tell us about his Creole heritage.
Her attraction to lighter men explained her choice in a husband. She’d always joke about Grandfather Samuel being the cream to her coffee. They had five children and our father was the only one who turned out as light as his father. His two sisters Clarisse and Doreen were both mahogany brown and his brothers Bradley and Carlton were a deep bronze complexion.
“I’m glad you all could make it,” she smiled and led us into the kitchen. “I hope you’re hungry.”
I knew that I was and my stomach rumbled some more as my eyes swept over the holiday spread. There was everything from deep fried turkey and green bean casserole to honey baked ham and desserts. I took in the sight of cheesecake, pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, sweet potato pie, apple fritters and pineapple crumb cake. “Oh my God,” I muttered. “This is a pregnant woman’s dream.”
Grandpa Sam’s rumbling laughter filled the room behind us and I turned around with a huge grin on my face. Our grandfather was the jolliest man I’d ever known. His gray eyes were surrounded by laugh lines and he was still as handsome in his early seventies as he was in his early days.
“Look at my pretty little grandbabies,” he said pulling all three of us into his burly body for a bear hug. Gramps wasn’t a tall man, but he made up for it in brute strength. He was a gentle teddy bear though and I could bet my life that he’d cooked all of the food and grandmother had baked the goodies. That was how it was when they owned their restaurant before it closed.
“Hey Gramps,” Seantay said pulling away first with a huge smile on her face. “I love you old man, but I love your food just as much.” She kissed his cheek and rushed off to fix her plate.
“Are you eating for two?” He asked her with a smile on his face.
She rolled her eyes and laughed. “Heck no, you got the wrong granddaughter. Ask the one with the eyes like yours.”
His smile got even larger. “Yeah, Gwen told me. Congratulations baby girl.”
“Thank you,” I beamed as he covered my abdomen with his large hand.
“That’s a boy in there,” he said like he knew that for sure.
“Please don’t say that around Ricky.”
Gramps turned his attention to Seandra. “I hear that somebody’s been messing around with your spirit over some man Lucy.” That was his nickname for her. He wanted to name her after his mother Lucille, but of course our selfish mother refused. “Don’t worry. Your grandma and her friends will fix it. I remember when that…”
Grandmother waved him off. “Don’t you start with those long, boring stories Sammy. The girls didn’t come here to hear about your heyday. I wish your father would’ve come, but I understand that he’s doing some charity stuff this year for the holidays. He’s always giving back.”
“Or trying to stay distracted,” Tay chimed in. “I’m sure he told you about my…how shall I put this, uhhh…status as his biological daughter.”
Grandmother nodded and walked over to Seantay. She put her hand on her shoulder. “That’s nonsense. You are definitely the daughter of Sean Rene Beauvois without a doubt. You’re just like your father in every way and I’m not just saying that because I love you and your biology doesn’t matter. I’m saying that because I know that you’re from my bloodline.”
Seantay smiled up at her and Grandma leaned over to kiss her cheek. “Thanks Gran, I love you too.”
I was glad that we hadn’t got right into the subject at hand, which was the supposed curse on Seandra. She hadn’t even gone near the food and was just sitting at the table with a distant look in her eyes.
“I’m really sleepy,” she moaned.
“I’m sure your grandmother has a remedy for that too,” Grandfather said as he leaned back in the dining chair.
Just like he had said, she returned to the room with a pill and glass of water. “Take this. It will help you sleep,” she said and walked off again. When she came back she had a bottle in her hand. She dipped her finger in the bottle and drew a cross on Seandra’s forehead. I recognized that as her praying oil. She was a very religious woman who strongly believed in God. She was silent for a few seconds, but I could tell that she was praying because her head was bowed. When she was finished she said, “That will take away the bad dreams for now. Go upstairs and get some rest. I will be up to wake you in a few hours because you need to eat.”
“Okay,” Seandra said before taking the pill and draining the glass of water. She looked back at us before making her way upstairs to one of the guest rooms.
My heart went out to her. She was dealing with the unknown and that was literally the scariest threat known to man. According to our grandmother, the forces that Kristie was messing with were very real and extremely dangerous. I could only pray that it was all just some crazy way that Kristie was trying to scare Seandra and there was really nothing to it. Then I thought about the snake dreams and grandmother’s knowledge of my pregnancy. I had to admit that the situation was rather peculiar and frightening.
Chapter 4
Seantay
I sat outside under the veranda with the built in fire place and sipped on hot chocolate although it was still chilly out. As I zipped my coat all the way up to my chin my phone rang. It was Raheem again, so I sent hi
m to the voicemail and wrapped my gloved hands around the warm mug. Samara and Reba had been calling me too, but I was ignoring all calls from Miami. I didn’t want to talk to anybody. All I wanted was to be left the hell alone. I had no idea why I hadn’t just turned my phone off. Maybe I wanted to know that Rah was trying so hard to redeem himself, despite the fact that his attempts were futile. After what I’d witnessed, I was done with his ass. Fuck love and everything it stood for.
The familiar chime of my cell let me know that I had a message. I sighed as I put the mug down on the small, round table in front of me. It was a message from Samara with a video attachment.
Please watch this video. It will explain what really happened at the club last night. Call me.
-- Mara
What the hell could some video do other than show further evidence of my soon to be ex boyfriend’s infidelity? The curiosity inside of me couldn’t fight it any longer, so I pressed play. Samara was recording Cree, but I could see Raheem standing at the bar in the background. I wasn’t paying Cree any attention. Instead my focus was on Rah.
The bartender passed him his drink and he paid him. Just like he said, he took a couple sips and then the broad who was sitting on his lap walked up. Raheem didn’t notice her at first because he was having a conversation with the bartender. Suddenly the chick not so accidentally knocked Rah’s drink in his lap. Some words were exchanged between them and he walked off, I assumed to clean the drink off his pants in the restroom. In the meantime old girl had ordered another drink for him. I watched attentively as she looked around and then quickly moved her hand over the top of the glass. I couldn’t really see what she was doing, so I rewinded the video and zoomed in closer after pressing play.
Black Magic: Book 3 of The Black Butterfly Series Page 2
