A Gangster's Dream 3

by Charmanie Saquea

  He placed his hand on her stomach that wasn’t even showing yet. He took pride in just knowing that he and the woman he loved had created a life together. He was happy as hell for Caiden when Summer was born, but actually knowing a baby is yours and being able to be around to for all the doctor’s visits and watching Dream transform was a feeling he couldn’t even describe.

  “Everything good, though? You straight? You need something?” Carmelo was firing off question after question.

  “Just in a little pain, but I’m good now that you’re here,” she told him.

  She was really feeling better and at ease now that Carmelo was there. He would never know how many times she’d cried out for him when she was locked away in that room. She had no doubts that he would come find her, it was just a matter of how long she would have to wait.

  As Carmelo was pulling up a chair to sit close to her bed, his phone started ringing. He looked down at his phone as Summer’s name popped up. He contemplated if he wanted to answer or not.

  “Go ahead and answer,” Dream said.

  “It’s Summer,” he told her.

  “Let me talk to her,” Dream said anxiously.

  Carmelo handed her phone so she could talk to Summer.

  “Hello?” Dream answered.

  Summer got quiet on the other end because she wasn’t used to any female except Dream answering his phone. Dream, she thought. “D—Dream?” Summer asked.

  “Hey, Sum,” Dream smiled.

  “Oh my gosh! I knew he would find you. Where are you? Are you okay? Are you on your way home? Did whoever had you hurt you?” Summer asked.

  “Summer, take a breather,” Dream chuckled a little. “I promise I will answer all your questions when the time is right.”

  “Oh yea. You’re right. I’m being so insensitive right now, but I just miss you so much,” Summer said sincerely.

  Dream was the closest thing she had to a mother and the thought of someone having her pained her heart. She didn’t know if she would ever see Dream again but she kept the faith that her dad would eventually find her.

  “I missed you too, Sum, I really did,” Dream sighed.

  “Okay, well, I hope wherever you are, you’re getting some rest. Love you,” Summer said.

  “Love you too, honey,” Dream told her before disconnecting the call.

  Dream gave Carmelo his phone back and laughed at the pout he was wearing on his face. He looked like a little kid who’d just got their feelings hurt.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked through light laughter.

  “I missed you, too,” he said as he continued to pout.

  “Aww, come here,” she said as she moved off her side and laid on her back.

  Carmelo leaned over the bed and Dream took ahold of his face and brought it down to hers, placing a soft kiss on his lips.

  “I missed you, too,” she told him after the kiss.

  Carmelo smiled a bright smile. Summer was better, he had his Dream back and now he was about to be a father for the second time. He finally felt as if things would be able to fall back into place.

  Chapter Nine

  “Carmelo, I am fine. Sit down somewhere,” Dream fussed.

  After spending a week in the hospital, Carmelo was finally able to bring Dream home. The timing couldn’t have been any better because Monica wasn’t there. He knew he would eventually have to tell her about Monica being there, but he figured now wasn’t the time for all that.

  “Remember, you’re on bed rest, Dream. So that means you’re not doing anything but resting…in this bed,” he told her sternly.

  “Alright, Carmelo Love. I’m pretty sure I know what bed rest is.”

  “Dreamy!” Summer yelled as she ran into the room.

  “The hell, Sum? You can’t be jumping on the bed like that,” Carmelo fussed.

  “And why not? I do it all the time,” Summer asked, confused.

  “Because Dream and my baby can’t be—”

  “Baby!” Summer yelled as she looked from her dad to Dream.

  “Well, now that the cat is out of the bag,” Dream laughed.

  “What, you’re pregnant? I’m going to be a big sister?” Summer asked.

  “Sounds about right.” Dream smiled.

  “Oh gosh, I would hug you but I don’t want him chewing my head off. Me and dad really did miss you though, Dream, seriously,” Summer told her.

  “Dad?” Dream asked. Now she was the one confused.

  “About that, Sum. When you went in for surgery, I heard you call me dad. How did you know?” Carmelo asked.

  “Surgery?” Dream exclaimed.

  “Well, when Alex was over to Nana’s house, I overheard the conversation. I didn’t want to say anything and cause any problems because she didn’t even know for sure if I was your daughter or Uncle Caiden’s,” Summer explained.

  Carmelo nodded his head in understanding. “Well, we don’t have to wonder anymore. When you had to have a blood transfusion, I went ahead and did the DNA test, so I know for a fact that you’re mines.”

  “Ahhhh!” Summer gushed as she jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly.

  She always knew in her heart that the two of them shared a bond that was way different from the one she shared with Caiden. It was hard to explain but she had always felt closer to Carmelo than Caiden.

  “Ahumph,” Dream cleared her throat. “I’m happy for you two, I really am. But there’s no way in hell you two are going to just skim over the fact that Summer needed surgery and a blood transfusion. So one of you better get to explaining, and I mean now,” Dream said.

  Before they could go any further, Carmelo’s phone started ringing. He looked down and sighed with relief when he saw Dream’s mother’s number pop up. Saved by the phone, he thought as he handed her the phone.

  “This conversation isn’t over,” she told him as she answered the phone. “Hey, mommy!”

  “Hey, mommy, my ass. Why haven’t I talked to you in what seems like forever? You done fell in love and forgot about your mother?” Dream’s mother fussed.

  “Never that, mommy. I’m surprised Carmelo didn’t tell you what was going on,” Dream said as she cut her eyes at him.

  “Dream, Carmelo was in no position to tell me anything when he was going through it. I was actually calling to check on him. I heard he was doing better now that Summer is out of the hospital.”

  “Yes, Carmelo is excellent now that Summer is out of the hospital. You should come over soon. I have some very exciting news for you,” Dream told her.

  “Okay, I can make that happen. Kiss my son-in-law for me,” her mom said before they ended their call.

  “Oh, you two definitely have some explaining to do.”

  “Okay, the day I was supposed to be going to prom, I tried calling you and you wouldn’t answer. My dad pulled up and while I was walking to the car, I was shot…a lot of times,” Summer explained.

  “Hold up,” she said as she threw her hands up. She looked to Carmelo for confirmation and he nodded his head. “Shot by who?”

  “Uhh…”

  “All that is already taken care of,” Carmelo assured them.

  “This is just too much for me. I can only imagine what you were going through,” Dream told Carmelo.

  “I’m good now that I have my girls back with me,” he said.

  For the remainder of the night, Dream lay in the bed with Summer on one side of her while Carmelo was on the other. They watched movies and cuddled together for the whole night. Carmelo really felt at ease and at peace now that he had Summer and Dream back home with him.

  <><><><>

  When Dream woke up the next morning, she was immediately hit with the aroma of food being cooked. She smiled to herself when she got up and realized that Carmelo wasn’t in the bed. She’d slept so peacefully last night. It was the best sleep she’d had since the kidnapping. Thinking her man had made breakfast for her, she made her way to the kitchen.

  She stood there staring at
some random woman in her kitchen acting as if she belonged there. Feeling another presence around, Monica turned and was shocked at who she saw standing there. She knew from the many pictures that Carmelo had up that she was Dream.

  “Who are you?” Dream asked, not trying to hide her attitude.

  “I’m Monica,” Monica said, introducing herself as she held her hand out.

  Dream looked at her hand then back up at her face, not bothering to shake it.

  “Monica, who?”

  Sensing the attitude, Monica smirked. She was wondering why in the hell Carmelo didn’t bother to call her and let her know that Dream was home.

  “Carmelo’s…friend,” Monica said.

  Dream took a deep breath and closed her eyes, counting to ten. She stepped up in Monica’s face, looking her straight in her eye.

  “Carmelo doesn’t have any friends. Especially not female ones. So I’m going to ask you again. Who are you?” Dream asked.

  “Look, sweetie, being insecure is not a good look for you. You should ask your man who I am,” Monica said.

  The tension was so thick and they were so locked in on each other that they never heard Carmelo and Summer come in the house.

  “Look, bitch,” Dream said, stepping closer so that their noses were almost touching.

  Dream felt arms wrap around her and then being pulled back. “Whoa, baby. Chill,” Carmelo said.

  Summer stood there in amazement. She wanted Dream to slap the shit out of Monica.

  “Chill?” Dream asked. “First of all, Carmelo, why is this bitch in my house? Matter of fact, don’t answer that. Send her on her fucking way,” she said as she looked him in his eyes, letting him know she was serious.

  Turning around, Carmelo faced Monica. “Look, Mo, I appreciate everything you’ve done for a nigga but I got it from here,” he said.

  Monica stepped back and looked as if he had just slapped her in the face. “Seriously, Melo?” she asked.

  “Yes, seriously. Do you need me to spell it out for you?” Dream asked from behind Carmelo.

  “Look, I was talking to Carmelo. The only thing you need to do is stay in your place and—”

  “Yo, Mo, chill. I don’t know what the fuck as gotten into you, but I’m not going to allow you to disrespect Dream in her house. I said thank you for everything. I’m going to put you up in a hotel until you’re ready to leave,” Carmelo said with bass in his voice.

  “You’re doing what?” Dream asked.

  “Summer, take your mom upstairs,” he said without even turning to look at Summer or Dream.

  Dream sucked her teeth as she made her way up the stairs with Summer right on her heels. Never taking his eyes off Monica, Carmelo tried to figure out what the hell was going on with her.

  “So that’s it? She’s home now so you don’t need me?” Monica asked.

  “Why you tripping? You knew about Dream since I came to LA months ago, before all this shit even went down. You knew I was going to bring her home. So again, why are you tripping?” Carmelo asked.

  Monica shook her head. She was feeling stupid for even bothering to get this close to Carmelo again. She was fine when they were cool from a distance but she had allowed him to get close to her and stir up old feelings.

  “You know what? Never mind. Let me go pack my bags. Don’t even bother with the hotel. I’m good and wouldn’t want to upset wifey,” she spat.

  Carmelo thought about going after her to see what the hell was wrong with her, but he was more worried about Dream. Monica wasn’t his problem right now. He knew he had some serious explaining to do to Dream and he knew that wasn’t going to be easy.

  He took a deep breath as he jogged up the stairs to go talk to Dream.

  “Yo, let me talk to your mom real quick,” Carmelo told Summer.

  When Summer was out of the room, Carmelo sat on the bed next to her.

  “I guess I should start explaining, huh?” he asked.

  “Whatever.” Dream shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal but she was dying to know who the hell Monica was and why she was a little too comfortable in her house.

  “So you don’t want to know? Aight, cool,” he said as he got up.

  “Carmelo, please don’t play with me.” Dream said.

  “I thought so. So here’s the deal. Monica is an old friend of mines. Yes, we used to go together, but that was way back in the day. She flew down here to be a friend while I was going through it. Nothing more, nothing less,” he told her.

  “Did you fuck her?” Dream asked.

  “What? Yo, do you really think I’m a heartless ass nigga like that to be fucking my ex while my girl is missing?” he yelled.

  “I’m just asking because a shoulder to lean on can turn into a dick to ride on.” Dream shrugged.

  “So you don’t trust me?” he asked.

  “Oh, I trust you. I just don’t trust her, or any female for that matter.”

  “You don’t have to worry about that shit. I know who I want and I already got her,” he said as he kissed her.

  “Good. Now how about you fix me something to eat? I don’t want shit she cooked,” Dream said.

  Carmelo chuckled and shook his head as he walked out of the room to fix his lady something to eat.

  Chapter Ten

  Dream still hadn’t spoken a word to Carmelo about what had happened to her. She was trying her hardest to push the memories that haunted her daily to the back of her mind. She walked around with a smile plastered on her face but everyone in the house knew that she was putting up a façade; for the most part they allowed it. Carmelo badly wanted to pick her brain about what had happened to her. He wanted- no, needed to know what was done to his Dream. It was the only way he could even began to fix it. He tried to wait till Dream was ready to talk but it didn’t look like she was ever going to be willing to offer up the information, so he decided to pick her brain about it.

  “Come here,” Carmelo said before pulling Dream down on the bed beside him.

  “Yes, Melo?”

  “Gimme kiss.”

  Dream forced a weak smile on her face before leaning forward and kissing Carmelo. For a minute, things felt normal between the two of them. That was, until Carmelo began to rub Dream’s bare thigh. She pushed him and jumped back.

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Nothing, I… I don’t know,” Dream lied.

  “I can’t touch you?”

  “It’s not that I don’t want you to touch me,” Dream said, on the verge of tears.

  Carmelo could tell that she was fighting to keep a breakdown at bay. It was inevitable, though. She had been through a traumatic experience and he knew that the only way she could even begin to move forward was if opened up and told him everything. If that included crying, screaming, and breaking shit, so be it.

  “So what is it?” he asked as he stood to his feet and walked over to where she stood with her arms wrapped around herself.

  Carmelo pulled her into him and wrapped his arms tightly around her. He kissed her head and slowly rocked side to side.

  “I’m so damaged. I feel filthy, worthless, like a whore. I don’t know why you still want to be with me. I’m just used.”

  “Dream…” Carmelo began, but was cut off by Dream pushing him away from her.

  “He raped me! Over… and over. I couldn’t take it. I just wanted to die, Melo. It got to the point where I just started laying there and taking it. I didn’t want him to keep beating me and kill our baby. I didn’t even really want to live, but I tried for our baby. I’m sorry. I should have done more to stop him. I should have fought harder, but… but…”

  By that time, Dream’s back was against the wall. She had taken steps away from Melo as she revealed the details of her kidnapping. She slid down the wall, pulled her knees into her chest, and cried.

  Carmelo’s brain and heart were telling him to console her, but anger took over and all he could see was red. He was still having a hard time comprehending that the nig
ga he considered to be his best friend was responsible for causing his girl so much turmoil. Never in a million years would Carmelo have thought he and Shaquille would be in the space that they were in. Yet, they were. There was no going back or forgiveness in the cards. The only thing on Melo’s agenda was murder.

  He took a few steps toward Dream and she put up her arms to stop him.

  “I don’t want pity. It’s just going to make me feel worse. Please, just give me a minute to myself.”

  Melo thought about what she was asking and decided it was probably best for the both of them to take some time to themselves.

  “I’ll give you space. Just know that you aren’t worthless, a whore, or any of that shit you called yourself. You’re my future wife, Dream. We going to get through this shit together. On God, I got you. Shaquille will pay for this. I assure you.”

  Dream looked up at him and thought about coming clean about who else was involved, but decided against it. There was enough on all of their plates. The last thing she wanted to do was add more.

  “I love you, Dream,” Melo said before walking out the room and closing the door behind him.

  Dream mouthed, I love you too and continued to rock back and forth.

  Melo headed straight to the living room where he kicked back on the couch and allowed everything Dream told him to sink in. It pained him that he was responsible for even bringing a sick nigga like Shaq in Dream’s life. There wasn’t a way for him to know what Shaq was capable of doing but he still felt like it was his fault. His one and only job was to protect Summer and Dream and he’d failed double. He ran his hand over his waves and down his face before he was distracted by the ringing of his phone. He grabbed it out of his pocket to see who it was.

  “Talk to me, Trip,” Melo said as he answered the phone.

  “Still no word on Caiden, boss. Whoever else he working with ain’t trying to get caught slipping at all. I do have information on that other nigga, though,” Trip informed Carmelo.

  “Oh yea?” Melo leaned forward and listened as Trip gave him the rundown of all the information he’d gathered on the nigga Maliek who was responsible for shooting Summer.

  Carmelo had heard enough and his mind was made up. When he got off the phone with Trip, he sent Summer a text letting her know to look after Dream while he stepped out. Murder was on the menu and Maliek was about to get served, and he didn’t even know it.