Creepin' 3: A New Orleans Love Story

by Chenell Parker

  “I hope you’re right,” Tre answered.

  “I know I’m right. Stop acting like I’m new to this shit,” Lamar snapped.

  “Did Mia tell you that Rainey came over here and talked to her?” Von asked his son while changing the subject at the same time.

  “Yeah, she told me,” Tre responded with an uncaring shrug.

  “Why you looking like that? You don’t want her and Mia to be cool no more?” Von asked.

  “Honestly, no, I don’t. I don’t really trust Rainey, and I would prefer if she stayed her distance. But if Mia is good with being cool with her again then I’ll be cool with it too. I just don’t think it’ll ever get back to the way it was before,” Tre admitted.

  “Maybe not, but I’m happy that they at least had a chance to talk,” Von replied.

  “Whatever happened with the dude who beat her up? They caught him already right?” Lamar asked.

  “Yeah they caught him after Rainey ratted on everybody,” Von laughed.

  When London got arrested for prostitution, she started singing like a bird. She started working with the prosecutors to bring down the entire prostitution ring in exchange for getting no jail time. The men who she was working for got busted along with the women who were working for them. A few weeks later, Cheryl called and begged Von to assist her with selling her house. She was leaving New Orleans and moving back to Washington with her family. She was scared to death to live in Louisiana after what London had done. Von didn’t want to have anything to do with her, but he did put her in touch with a real estate agent that he knew. He didn’t know if she sold the house or not, and he really didn’t care. He was just happy that Rainey had gotten out of the situation alive without being caught up. Rainey was doing better and was set to start school soon. She had found a decent paying job as a receptionist at a law firm that would allow her to take her college courses at night.

  “It’s a good thing that Cheryl moved her ass out of town. Somebody would have killed London’s ass if she was still here,” Lamar said.

  “I’m happy that she moved too so I don’t have to deal with her crazy ass no more,” Von replied.

  “Tanya ain’t playing that shit with you no more,” Lamar laughed.

  “She don’t have anything to worry about. We’re good over there. You worry about Nina’s crazy ass trying to kill you in your sleep,” Von said as he and Tre fell out laughing.

  Mia and Treasure were out shopping with Moonie, so Tre spent most of the day at home with Von and Lamar laughing and watching sports. He hadn’t done that in a long time, and it felt good just to chill for a while.

  ***

  “It’s a boy!” The ultrasound tech yelled excitedly.

  “Yes!” Tre yelled just as excited.

  “Yes my ass,” Von fussed while holding his granddaughter. “That should be it for y’all after this one. You got a girl, and now you’re having a boy.”

  “This is it. I’m getting on something else besides birth control pills,” Mia swore.

  “Obviously the pills aren’t working, or you’re not taking them like you’re supposed to. Treasure is seven months old, and you’re five months pregnant. You barely made it past your six-week checkup. Your babies are going to be the same age for a month,” Moonie said.

  “How?” Tre asked.

  “What do you mean how? This baby will be born in November and Treasure doesn’t turn one until Christmas Day. So next year when he turns one in November Treasure will still be one until the following month,’ Moonie answered.

  “Damn, I never even thought about that,” Tre laughed.

  “That shit ain’t funny Tank. Y’all need to chill out with all these babies. At least let Mimi finish school before y’all think about having any more,” Von suggested.

  “I don’t want any more. A boy and a girl is good enough,” Mia answered.

  “You can’t make a decision like that without me,” Tre argued.

  “I can when it’s my body,” Mia replied.

  The ultrasound tech laughed as they went back and forth with each other. She printed up some pictures and helped Mia wipe the gel from her stomach before leaving the room. Mia got dressed and got her appointment from the front desk before they left to go get something to eat.

  “Lamar said you need to get your tubes tied after this,” Von laughed as he repeated what his friend said on the phone.

  “Tell him to meet us at the restaurant and bring Nina,” Mia replied.

  “We could have gone to the store and put some food on the grill instead of spending all that money at a restaurant,” Tre suggested.

  “That sounds good too,” Mia agreed.

  “I need to go pick up my babies first, and I’ll be over there,” Moonie said.

  “And call Jabari and Tiara too. I’m going home and take a nap,” Mia yawned.

  Von and Tre dropped Mia off at home to take a nap while they took Treasure and went to the store. Tre called Duke and Brandis to come over, and they agreed to bring drinks and ice. It took about three hours before the food on the grill, and all of the sides were ready. Moonie and her entire family were there as well as Lamar, Nina, Duke, and Brandis. Von asked Tanya to bake a cake at the last minute, and she had just walked into the yard.

  “The only person missing is Rainey,” Von commented while he and Tre were bringing the grilled food inside.

  “You’re probably the only person who’s missing her,” Tre replied sarcastically making his father laugh.

  Everyone sat around the yard for the rest of the day eating and enjoying each other’s company. Tre could honestly say that he was happy for the first time in a long time. He no longer had a mother, but Von made up for whatever he was missing. Tre hadn’t heard from his brother and sister since he put them out of his car a while ago, and he was fine with that too. Mia and his daughter filled the void for that too. He had a son coming in four more months, and everything else was irrelevant. Tae hadn’t heard from the detectives concerning Ricky’s murder anymore, and they still didn’t have any leads or suspects. And although he knew that Von was missing Rainey being in their presence Tre didn’t feel the same way. As far as he was concerned the most important people in his life were the ones who he was with right now. They were his family, and nothing, or no one would ever change that.

  Epilogue

  (4 years later)

  “Get it Treasure,” Von laughed and cheered as his granddaughter showed off her moves on the dance floor.

  Treasure was holding both of his hands rocking to the music that the DJ was playing at Von and Tanya’s wedding reception. The hall was packed to maximum capacity with all of their family and friends. Von never thought that he’d see the day that he would want to marry anybody, but Tanya made him rethink his decision. They had chemistry that dated back for years, and he couldn’t deny how much he loved her even if he wanted to.

  “Paw-Paw you have to spin me around like Lil Tre is doing Tiny,” Treasure said referring to Tanya.

  When she was younger Treasure couldn’t say Tanya’s name, so she started calling her Tiny instead. After a while, the name stuck and her little brother started calling her the same thing.

  “I see you, Lil Tre,” Von smiled at his handsome grandson, who was an exact replica of him and Tre, dancing with his new bride.

  Treasure was almost five years old, and Lil Tre would soon be turning four. Thankfully, Mia and Tre hadn’t had any more since then, but they probably would eventually since she had graduated from college. Even after having two small children at home, Von was pleased that Mia was still able to obtain her Bachelor of Accounting Degree. She did a six-month internship with the IRS and was offered a permanent full-time position. Her pay was fifty thousand to start, and she could double that depending on how long she stayed with the company.

  “Paw-Paw I’m getting married too,” Lil Tre said while smiling back at him.

  “No, you’re not,” Mia said as she and Tre danced right next to them.

  “
Don’t do that Mia. Don’t have my son acting like a mama’s boy,” Tre fussed.

  “He is a mama’s boy. That’s my baby,” Mia replied.

  Tre just shook his head and followed her back to their table once the song went off. Von and Tanya had been dancing all night, and the kids were right there with them.

  “Treasure and Lil Tre are going to be tired as hell when they get home tonight,” Brandis said when Mia sat down.

  “Good, they can take a bath and go straight to bed,” Mia replied.

  “They told Mitch that they were coming home with us,” Moonie laughed.

  “No Moonie, they’ve been coming to your house every day this week. You can’t even enjoy your husband for Treasure and Lil Tre,” Mia replied.

  “It’s okay Mia. Tootie is so excited about driving. She don’t mind picking them up and dropping them off all day,” Moonie laughed.

  After years of back and forth and several ups and downs, Mitch and Moonie had finally made things official two years ago and got married. They didn’t do anything fancy, and their honeymoon included a cruise to the Bahamas with all four of the kids. Still, Moonie was happy, and Mitch was too. She had moved up to a supervisor’s position at the post office, but she still hadn’t gone back to school like she wanted to. It wasn’t out of the question, but work and her family consumed most of her time.

  “She told me that you and Mitch were buying her a car soon,” Mia said referring to Tootie.

  “That all depends on her report card,” Moonie replied.

  “Moonie when are we going to hook up to talk about my wedding?” Brandis interrupted.

  “Girl, you and Duke, aren’t getting married anytime soon. You have a lot of time to plan for that,” Moonie replied.

  “I told you that we were thinking about moving up the date. We’re thinking about doing it next year instead of the year after,” Brandis noted.

  “Brandis you and Duke have been engaged for two years. Y’all change the date of the wedding every month,” Tre said waving her off.

  “At least she got a ring,” Nina snapped while cutting her eyes at Lamar.

  Nina had been hinting at marriage for years, but Lamar wasn’t having it. Damn near all of her friends and family were engaged or married while she was still shacking up.

  “You can start your shit if you want to,” Lamar said as more of a warning than a statement.

  “I’m just saying, what are you afraid of?” Nina asked.

  “You,” Lamar replied making everybody laugh.

  “You see, that’s the shit that I’m talking about,” Nina yelled. “You not gon’ be satisfied until we be having a shotgun wedding.”

  “Do you know what a shotgun wedding is Nina? That’s when a pregnant woman is forced to get married,” Brandis said answering her own question.

  “That’s y’all definition of it. My definition is me holding a shotgun to this nigga’s head until he say “I do”, she replied seriously.

  “And you wonder why a nigga don’t want to marry your crazy ass. I’ll die single before I let you force me to get married,” Lamar argued.

  “You keep talking and you will,” Nina threatened.

  Mia looked up and saw Rainey and her new boyfriend on the dance floor talking to Tanya and Von. She and Rainey were cordial to each other, but she wouldn’t consider it a friendship. It was kind of forced, but Von was happy as long as they were being nice to one another. She had been doing well as far as Mia knew. She had a job and a steady boyfriend, which was something that she never had before. Mia and Rainey saw each other at certain functions, but that wasn’t unless Von gave it. Other than that they spoke to each other in passing and kept it moving.

  “Alright, that’s enough arguing for the night. Von is calling everybody up to take pictures,” Mia said to Lamar and Nina.

  Everybody got up from the table and stood where the photographer told them to stand. They took lots of pictures before Von and Tanya cut the cake and started seeing some of their guests off. Mia and Tre were standing with the photographer looking through his camera at some of the pictures that they wanted copies of. When Mia got to the pictures with all of their close friends and family together, she smiled for several different reasons. Over the years, they had all been through a lot of ups and downs, but they all managed to come out stronger than before. They were far from perfect, but they were a family nonetheless.