2BookBoxSet

by Nicety

  “I just feel like she’s put me through so much—“

  “And we together now. Don’t you feel the least bit guilty that her death might have been caused by our relationship?” Truth said stroking his head stressfully.

  “No. She had to be really sick in the head to kill herself over a nigga. I’m just being real.”

  Truth shook his head in disbelief from her words. He was taught that no matter how much dirt a person did in life you should always respect them in death. He didn’t want any bad karma and it seemed like that’s what Goddess was attracting to their newfound relationship. He pulled up in front of the house without even shutting the car off. Goddess looked over at the ignition waiting for him to turn the key but he never did. He just leaned back staring out of the front windshield.

  “Ugh. I think we may need to break for a few days.” Truth sighed rubbing his hand over his face.

  “What? You trying to break up with me? I don’t believe this shit.”

  “No, I didn’t say break up, I just said take a break from each other. We’ve been all up under each other nonstop and I’m just feeling like we need some space before it comes to that.” There was clearly exhaustion in his voice.

  The IPhone wedged inside of Goddess’ black and white fabric satchel was ringing off the hook with the oldies cut, As We Lay. The number was unrecognizable as she stared at it trying to figure out who it was. She dreaded answering it since she was in the middle of a heated conversation with Truth then turned to him throwing him a quick side eye as she hit the answer button.

  “Hello.”

  “Yes may I speak with Goddess Young please.”

  “Who is this?”

  “This is Jerome Fedlope of the Cook County Coroners Office. I was calling in regards to the body of Venus Young.”

  “Uh…yes.” She turned her head towards the passenger window watching as her breath made foggy spots upon it.

  “I have concluded that your grandmother’s death was a suicide. In this case, she took a lethal dose of painkillers coupled with the alcohol, which made a vicious cocktail that was indeed deadly. The detectives indicated that she had a prescription for these on the scene, so I don't suspect any foul play.”

  “Uh huh.” Goddess listened.

  “Seeing as though the medicine was prescribed to her, I’m going to assume she was informed about the affects of the drug when it’s mixed with alcohol. That’s why I’m ruling it a suicide. Do you have any other questions for me?”

  “Nope…nope.” She remained as vague as possible hoping Truth couldn’t hear what the man was saying.

  “Well, I’ll just need the name of the funeral home you’ll be using and I’ll have the body transported there along with the necessary paperwork.”

  “Um…can I get back to you on that? I haven’t exactly figured that out yet.” She replied nervously.

  “Oh. May I ask why not?”

  “Well, I’m not actually sitting on money, sir.”

  “Oh…of course. Forgive me. Well I tell you this. You may want to start going through some old papers of hers to see if she had a policy that may help you. But we will only hold the body for five days before we give it a nice Christian city burial. Especially since next week is Thanksgiving.”

  “Thank you, sir, for all your help. Goodbye.” Goddess quickly hung up the phone and tossed it back inside of her purse.

  “So who was that?” Truth asked giving her the short look.

  “Oh, it was just my boss, Cole. He needed to brief me on some procedures that I forgot. Anyway, so you need a break, huh?”

  Truth shook his head and licked his lips wondering if he was doing the right thing. “Yeah. So what kind of procedures did he need to talk to you about that couldn’t wait til tomorrow?”

  “Don’t get off the subject nigga. You wanna break, right? Then break on.” Goddess responded smiling a little inside at his jealousy cuteness.

  She exited the car slamming the door behind her and running into the house. There was much work for her to do and so little time to do it. Truth’s little game of separation had to be last on her list of shit to worry about. He sat in the car thinking he had made a bad mistake. The last thing he wanted to do was break up with her but it was clear to him that she needed to get her priorities in order. He figured he was her distraction and wanted to give her all of the space she needed to get it together before they moved on with their lives. It was better now than if they were together for years and she suffered the same hiccups Venus did while making him pay for them. He’d be damned if he went through that again.

  Goddess ran upstairs bursting through Venus’ room door looking around to see where she would start looking first. Ding Dong. The doorbell rang angering her as she headed toward the wooden bureau in the corner. She turned running down the stairs and to the door in frustration already knowing who it was and what he wanted.

  “Truth, you were right we need a break so let’s jus—“ She stopped in her tracks as the door swung wide open.

  “Hi, is Venus home?” The large man standing before her asked while puffing on his long brown cigar.

  “Uh, no. Who are you anyway?”

  “I’m your momma’s money train baby. I pay the bills in this house so you gots to be nice to me. Ya understand?” He replied slithering in, smiling from ear to ear.

  “Uh, hold on big boy. Okay couple of things. One, she’s not my mother she’s my grandmother. Two, I never invited you in so you may want to back it up back out the door and three she’s dead. She died a few days ago.”

  “Dead? What? Is this some bullshit?”

  “No it isn’t. Okay. She’s dead and there probably won’t be a funeral cause I’m thinking of having her cremated. So I don’t know what kind of arrangement you two had going on, but it’s over now. Okay, buddy?” Goddess shut him down sternly, showing him out the door.

  “Damn…dead huh? Shit, I wish I had smacked that ass before she kicked the bucket. That was some damn good pussy there.” The man said lowering his head in respect. “I don’t suppose you wanna…”

  “Ew! Get the fuck outta here!”

  “Shit. Can’t blame an old pimp for trying.” The man laughed as he pimped on down the walkway.

  “Oh, hey! You wouldn’t happen to have heard her say anything about having a policy, would ya?” Goddess said biting her lips for a small seductive affect.

  “Eh. Yeah right.” The man laughed getting into his Range Rover and speeding off.

  Chapter 16

  Luck Would Have It

  “Cole. I’m not feeling well and won’t be in today. Besides I need this time to get my grandmother’s funeral arrangements in order.” Goddess said faking a cough.

  “Is that right?”

  “Yes. I have to go to the doctor and get some medicine and then meet with the funeral home director.”

  “Alright Goddess, but I expect to see you in the morning.”

  “Yep, thanks.” She said anxiously hanging up the phone.

  Goddess was unable to sleep last night after tearing up Venus’ room looking for insurance papers and finding nothing. She was beyond pissed. Her hair was in disarray and her breath kicked like forty-year-old cow dung. She didn’t know if she simply didn’t have a policy or if she had hidden it extremely well. But after ransacking everything in sight, she could not for the life of her find any papers on a policy. She had given up, flipping through the yellow pages then picking up the phone.

  “Blake Lamb. How may I help you today?”

  “Yes, hi. I recently had a death, my grandmother, and I was wondering if you had an opening as soon as possible.” Goddess said grabbing her pen and a nearby piece of paper.

  “Ah. I’m sorry for you loss. We usually like for our customers to stop in and view our extensive packages. Uh, but do you know what you’re looking for?”

  “Yes. I need cremation. Immediately. How much would that be?”

  “Okay we
ll now that’s different. Cremation services are cheaper than regular services and prices vary depending on your needs. Why don’t you come in so we can discuss further?” The man continued to push to convince her to come in.

  “Ugh. Is this not something that can be handled over the phone? I hate funeral homes.” Goddess replied.

  “I totally understand that ma’am. But I’m afraid we’ll need you to fill out some paperwork and choose your packages in person. May we have the name of the person so we can request to have their remains?”

  “Venus Young and fine. I’ll be there sometime today.”

  “Stay blessed. We’ll see you when you get here.”

  Goddess tossed her cell on the table, annoyed that the process had to be done in person. She felt the guy was just trying to wheel her in so he could upsell her but what he didn’t know was not only did she have thick skin but also she was broke. In reality she had no idea how she was even going to pay for all of this without Truth’s help. He would never allow for her to cremate Venus without being able to see her again. In an effort to calm her brain for a while, she dragged herself into the kitchen to make some coffee. Standing at the counter watching the coffee brew, she could hear the faint sounds of a phone ringing, but it wasn’t hers.

  She raced back to the living room to find the noise sliding on her socks and almost busting her ass. The ringing appeared to be coming from the chair where Venus was last sitting. She stuffed her hand down on the side of the cushion seat digging around for the phone but came up short. The sound stopped but immediately started again as she peeked her head around to the back of chair finding it right behind the chair’s leg. She picked it up checking out the caller id, which read, I-Man.

  “Hello?” Goddess answered questioning.

  “Ms. V! Where the hell you been? I’ve been calling and been by the house and you haven’t returned my phone calls chick. What’s up you dodging me this month or what?” The female’s voice rang out from the other end.

  “Um…no. You don’t understand…”

  “No. What I don’t understand is if you shopped off all your damn money then you need to ask them niggas for it cause I ain’t going for that shit this month girl. Com’ on now. Com’ on!” The lady kept rambling on not allowing Goddess to get a word in edgewise. “I bet you gon’ be calling me to find out when that damn check is ready. I bet that.”

  “Hey! Please just be quiet for a second. I don’t know who this is but I need to tell you something. My name is Goddess and Venus was my grandmother. She’s dead.”

  “Oh…oh my. I’m so so sorry honey. What happened? I just talked to her not to long ago. How did this happen? Did her cancer run its course already?”

  “Who are you?” Goddess asked annoyed by her excessive talking.

  “Oh! My gosh, where are my manners? I’m Imani, your grandmother’s insurance girl. I work for Globe.”

  “Oh okay. Boy, am I sure glad you called. I could really use some help moola wise. I’m not quite sure how I’m going to be paying for the funeral.” Goddess choked up some sympathy in her voice.

  “Well child you ain’t gotta worry about that no more. Just tell the funeral home to call me and they will wait on your insurance money to get paid. So you are the last living next of kin then. Is that correct?” Imani asked.

  “Yes. Her daughter was my mother.”

  “I know this is a difficult time for you, but don’t you fret. Girlfriend, you about to get paid. So don’t worry about paying for the funeral arrangements at all. Now I’m sure the coroner released the body, so what’s the cause of death?”

  “Suicide.” Goddess retorted happily hearing Imani fumble through papers in the background.

  “What? Oh my gosh. Okay, well don’t panic sweetie but that does change a few things.” Imani shrieked.

  The phone went silent for a bit as Imani fiddled and rambled searching through her documents for a solution to the problem before reporting it to her. Goddess bit her nails, praying that she didn’t have a reason to panic. While she waited for her response she realized that she hadn’t gotten her early morning wake up call from Truth. On days that he didn’t spend the night, he would usually called to make sure she was awake for work but today he didn’t. She began to realize that he was serious about what he said yesterday so much so that he didn’t even want to talk to her. It pained her a bit but she knew she could use her charm to get him back into her. She wasn’t worried at all.

  “Okay, here’s the deal. You won’t be able to get the full policy for your grandmother because she wasn’t covered for suicide. It only covered her for her cancer or other accidental death.” Imani sighed, sucking her lips.

  Those words made her relive Spliff’s funeral all over again. She really wasn’t expecting anything major but she would have liked to have a decent amount of money so she wouldn’t have to struggle with her mediocre eleven dollars an hour at the bank.

  “But the good news is you will get something and then all of your mother’s check. How does that sound?” Imani continued.

  “That sounds great! So when will I be able to get these checks?” Goddess asked frantically.

  “Um, well I could try to get both checks to you by the beginning of next month providing everything pans out with the coroner. I will be contacting you with amounts shortly. Is this a good number to reach you?”

  Goddess gave Imani her number then ran to the sofa to plug Imani’s into her phone. She labeled the number “money” in order to remember who she was and to answer the phone quickly. The two ladies hung up the phone and Goddess ran back to the kitchen to retrieve her coffee with a little more pep in her step than before. She was happy that she had answered the phone having heard it days before but was uninterested in finding it actually hoping that the phone would soon die, never to ring again. She finished her coffee, called the funeral home to verify the insurance company’s payment method then headed to get dressed so she could head to the funeral home. The sooner she got Venus’ body burned the sooner she would be able to let her feelings of worry and concern burn as well.

  ****

  The next day at work, Goddess decided not to let anything get to her. She popped out of Venus’ truck already feeling like a million bucks as she sauntered inside of the bank past Cole like he wasn’t even holding the door for her. He locked the door back then followed closely behind her trying to catch up with her before she made her way towards the break room.

  “Hey. Why are you walking so fast?” Cole asked grabbing her arm to stop her.

  “No reason. I’m just ready to get the day started. I really hope you don’t plan on taking any cheap feels or kisses today. Fighting was not on my agenda for today.” Goddess replied as she flicked her dark hair around her shoulder letting it fall effortlessly to her back.

  “She knows.” Cole said staring blankly into her eyes.

  “Who knows what, Cole?”

  “Desire. She knows about us.” Cole said taking her hand in his.

  “What!” She yelled angrily as Cole shushed her. “What the fuck do you mean she knows about us?”

  “It’s okay baby. It’s fine.” He said attempting to kiss her hand.

  Goddess yanked away before he was able to. “Don’t you get it fool? There is no us. Ugh!” She snapped as she made her way into the break room.

  The break room seemed to be particularly filled this morning like everyone had carpooled in order to make it on time. All eyes were on her as she made her way across the room to the storage area and set her purse inside of her locker. She was on display and in the far right corner just under the TV bolted to the ceiling was a clearly highly pissed Desire. She hadn’t even known the girl long enough to have her as an enemy but it was apparent she had become just that. She placed her things inside the locker and hung her coat up on the rack then turned to the gawking crowd.

  “Desire, can I talk to you for a second?” She finally muscled up the strength to ask.


  Desire moseyed on over to her standing toe-to-toe and mean mugging seriously. “What?” She annunciated angrily.

  “Look, I just want to explain what happened. You ain’t gotta get all nasty and shit.” Goddess rolled her neck, placing her hand on her hip.

  The ladies were the same height but Goddess attempted to stand straighter so she could appear to be looking down on her. Her poor excuse to intimidate Desire didn’t work, as she didn’t budge an inch. She placed both of her hands on her hips then licked her lips not even wanting to blink away from Goddess.

  “I don’t give a shit what you have to say. You’re new here and already you’re digging your dirty kitty nails into my scratch post.” Desire snarled.

  “Listen, Mary didn’t see what she thought she saw. I was pushing him away and he kept trying to kiss me. I don’t want his ass.” Goddess snapped.

  “Yeah. I bet you don’t. You better watch your ass, bitch.” Desire snapped back as she bumped hard into Goddess’ shoulder and walked off.

  “Eh. Am I supposed to be fucking shaking? Wait a minute, aren’t you married?” Goddess asked, laughing.

  “Excuse me? Don’t be all up in my business worried about me ho. I handles mine. Just make sure you keep your hands to yourself and out of my moneybag. Okay, bitch?”

  Desire batted her silk eyelashes and left the room. The other girls were all standing around pretending to be talking amongst themselves when in actuality they were all up in the conversation. Mary was sitting at one of the tables eating a sausage egg McMuffin courtesy of McDonald’s. She took a sip of her orange juice while she looked up into Goddess’ accusing eyes then looked away faking as if to mind her own business.

  “Too late for that, don’t you think?” Goddess said slamming her hand on the table in front of Mary.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mary replied nonchalantly getting up from the table.