I needed to hear the truth, even if I had to hear her say I told you so. I started from the beginning and told her everything about Savannah and me, including the shit she pulled in California and the shit I pulled with her mother in Washington. My mama didn’t open her mouth until I was done.
“Boy, you must really love this girl even to allow her to do half of that to you. You didn’t even take that much from Tasha, and y’all had years under your belts. Not only has she done everything and everyone around her dirty, but she also did it to her own flesh and blood, my flesh and blood. O Heavenly Father, protect my grandbaby.” She started reciting protection scriptures before she started back talking to me. “I told you, the Lord always opens my eyes when it comes to people like that. You should have told me this a long time ago, and I would have never opened my house to the devil’s helper. I would have told you to cut this off a long time ago, Andre. This ain’t healthy. You don’t need a woman like that in your life. You need to do your time, get out, and worry about these babies you’ve brought into this world with these heathens. God will never put more on you than you can bear, Andre, and you know that. You know the Word, I made sure of it. If it doesn’t fit right in your soul, baby, you have to let it go. You have to let it go.”
I knew my mama was right, but even her words didn’t do anything to coat the anger I was feeling. I kept thinking about all the time and energy I had wasted on Savannah and all the betrayal and games she gave in return. I loved that girl with everything in me, but my love meant shit to her, and she proved it over and over again. I didn’t understand what she felt like she was gaining by constantly playing with me. It would be easier for her just to say commitment was too much, and she’d rather us go our separate ways than to keep doing the same shit over again. My daddy used to tell me when I was younger that a person would only do to you what you allowed them to, and I’ve allowed her to do way too much. I couldn’t be a victim on Savannah’s list of destruction any more. It was time somebody taught her a lesson she’d never forget, and I felt the need to be the teacher.
I started thanking my mama for her words of wisdom so I could end our phone call, but she wasn’t done asking questions.
“Do you think this letter that came in the mail for you had something to do with Savannah? You said she plays a lot of games.”
“What letter, Mama?” I had no clue what she was talking about.
“You got a letter the other day, and, yes, I opened it because it came from the courts. It’s a paternity establishment action. The state of California is petitioning Tennessee to establish paternity under their laws. You have to get genetic testing or something like that. I asked one of the doctors that I work with what all of it meant and he said a DNA test was needed to prove you were the father of a baby born or being born in California, and the mother is seeking child support. Don’t tell me you got another baby on the way, Andre!”
“Hell no, Mama, I didn’t touch anybody while I was in California. I was too busy hunting Savannah down to see my daughter. Does it give a woman’s name or anything in the letter?”
She put me on hold as she retrieved the letter. When she got back on the phone, she read it to me, but all it said was, “The State of California vs. Andre Burns.”
I felt like Mama and had to ask myself what the hell was Savannah trying to pull now? If she had filed while she was in California, how did she expect to get child support for a child she gave up custody of? I had a way to get to the bottom of it all—that’s if he’d answer his phone. I told my mama I’d call her back later, then called the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to speak to Will. He seemed shocked that I had called him and even more shocked that it wasn’t about Savannah.
“Can you look into that for me, please? I hate to call you only when I need something, but you’re the go-to man and my Cali connect.”
We both laughed, and then he asked me how Savannah was doing. I wanted to tell him the truth, but I knew he was her friend.
“She’s fine. Hanging in there like she always does. When was the last time the two of y’all spoke?”
“We haven’t, and I don’t think I plan to speak to her ever again. She must have been high the other day, and it temporally fixed her brain because she called me like three or more times in a row, but I wasn’t in the mood and forwarded her to voice. I almost choked on my diet soda when I heard Savannah’s evil ass on my answering machine apologize for everything she’s done and admitting to being a bad friend. It even sounded like she was crying a little, but I couldn’t tell if she was acting or if it were the real thing. I meant to call her back to see if I could tell if the apology was sincere, but there is just too much drama around her all the time. I’m tired of her using me to help her sort out her wrongdoings against people, and to be honest, I’m scared if I piss her off, I’ll end up in jail, unemployed, or laid up somewhere battling AIDS.”
“I can’t blame you, and I can’t be mad at you. I didn’t want to say it at first, but Savannah ain’t changed. Same bullshit, just a different day.” I was trying to show him that I understood where he was coming from, and then he threw me off.
“I thought you were calling to tell me Melinda and Stephanie had started working together and had gotten Savannah. I was about to feel guilty for not picking up a phone and warning her.” He laughed, but when he didn’t hear me join in, he hurried up and started shooting off questions. “Wait, you did know that Melinda got released from jail, right? I sent you a letter in Washington from our victim program. Don’t tell me you never got it?”
“I didn’t get a letter, and if Savannah did, she didn’t mention it. I found out ole girl was out because the funeral made the news, but what does Stephanie have to do with it?”
I didn’t know if Savannah had gotten the letter or not. Knowing her, she probably didn’t even forward the mail to Atlanta. I didn’t understand where Stephanie fell into this.
“Stephanie came out for Big Ant’s funeral and sat with me. She didn’t tell y’all?”
“Why would she tell us?”
“Um, because she’s Savannah’s best friend?”
“No, she was her best friend, if that’s what you want to call their relationship.”
Will did not know about Stephanie and Savannah’s falling out, and it was strange that Stephanie didn’t let Will know.
“You said y’all spent time at the funeral together, and I thought y’all only knew each other because of Savannah introducing the two of you. Wouldn’t her name have come up between y’all?”
“Yeah, she brought up Savannah, but not negatively. Hell, I was the one talking shit about her, and Stephanie just sat there listening. The only thing that was strange to me was that Stephanie begged me to introduce her to Melinda so she could give her condolences. About a month later, I saw the two together having lunch at a Mexican restaurant not too far from my courthouse on Olvera Street here in L.A. I could see it in both of their eyes that they had been out there eating and plotting. I tried to think positively and said Savannah might have had a change of heart and had Stephanie do the apologizing for her or maybe Stephanie was feeling guilty about her part in everything, but the way them hoes was huddled up, I threw my shades on and kept it pushing. When I got back to my office, I looked into Stephanie and saw she had new utility services in her name. I didn’t know she moved back to Cali, nor did she mention it at the funeral.”
I didn’t know she had moved back to California either. Shit was getting weirder by the minute. Will was a sheriff, but he wasn’t a trained investigator, and surely not one trained by the Bureau of Investigation. I needed Ryan to help me figure this shit out. Ryan didn’t know that I had talked to Mike or what he had told me, so I could still use him to do some work for me until I confronted his ass.
“Yeah, that shit right there sounds suspect. Keep an eye on that if you can for me too, and I’ll be in touch. Call me back on this number if you find out anything about that paternity shit,” I asked, and that’s when he gave me somethin
g else to think about.
“I will, but this shit is getting a lot stranger. You do know that Stephanie is about eight or nine months pregnant by that married firefighter, right? Or so that’s what she told me when I was rubbing on her stomach. Maybe she filed the petition on you to fuck with Savannah’s head. If you are a part of the reason she and Savannah fell off, it sounds like an attempt to get some revenge. I just hope her dumb ass remembers who she is playing with. Savannah has dedicated her entire adult life to doing whatever she wants and hurting whoever she wants.”
I wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but there was no way Stephanie’s baby was really mines. It did make sense for her to file the paperwork, though, to fuck with Savannah. I’d get the test done as soon as I was released just to nip that bullshit in the bud. After all the shit Savannah had put that girl through, that was a good way to get her back. I just hate that she had involved me.
I called Ryan and told him what Will had told me about Melinda and Stephanie, and in return, he told me about the telephone calls Savannah had been getting. Talking to him about Savannah’s protection had me feeling torn. I hadn’t called the Amir guy yet to get confirmation that she had cheated, nor had I talked to Ryan about crossing lines with her, but here I was again, ready to play toy soldier for her. Half of me was saying fuck her and let Melinda give her what she deserved. And the other half of me was saying protect your wife. That torn feeling had me the same way with Ryan. I wanted to work with him to get the issue resolved, but the other half of me wanted to question him and find out what the fuck was really going on between him and Savannah.
“Savannah’s accuracy is unbelievable for a first-time shooter. The only person I’ve ever known to handle a gun they’ve never used before is you. Although her attitude hasn’t completely evolved, I do see small progress in different areas. When I told her your number had changed, I was expecting to hear her cuss both of us out. Instead, she said she would await your call and took her anger out at the range. Her emotions don’t affect the accuracy of her shot. I know someone else like that.”
As I kept talking to Ryan, I couldn’t feel a negative vibe from him, and that made me feel like something wasn’t right again. I felt like I was still on the phone with my boy—the nigga that helped me stash over a million dollars, the nigga who drove way to Atlanta to spy on Savannah for me, the same nigga I had watching Tasha for me, and the same cat that not once—but twice—broke the bureau’s confidentiality to inform me that I was going to jail. Savannah’s pussy was good, but not good enough to break a bond that strong. Giving some more thought to it, Ryan was too devoted to his job to marry the woman he’d been seeing since ninth grade. He wouldn’t even allow her to use the title that they were dating because he didn’t want to let her down when he had to put work first. What was there about Savannah that would make him change his ways? The answer to that was... nothing. He knew everything about her, including her holike ways, and he had even tried to convince me that I could do better. It was time for me to start thinking like the investigator I was trained to be. I needed to stop acting like a paranoid inmate and ask what questions I needed to ask to get to the bottom of this.
“Ryan, we’ll come back to this in a minute. I need to talk to you about some real shit, and I don’t need you lying to me to protect anybody. If we both wouldn’t have broken the oath we were sworn in by, I’d ask you to swear.” He cleared his throat to prepare for his time to talk or answer questions, then waited on me to talk. “What’s going on between you and Savannah? I asked why you returned to Atlanta, and you gave me a run-around conversation, never answering my question.”
“That’s because I didn’t want to lie to you. I never have, and I never will. Nothing is going on between Savannah and me. I’m here because I’m doing a favor for a friend. I’ve returned because that’s what real friends do. We step up to the plate when we know other people can’t handle the job or have already failed at the job.”
His answer was professional yet personal, and I respected him for taking my question seriously. “So you felt I made a wrong decision by hiring Mike to protect Savannah, or did you feel you could just do a better job?”
“I knew you made the wrong decision when you hired Mike, and we both know I could do a better job.”
I wanted to laugh at his answer but didn’t want to break the professionalism in our conversation.
“With knowing Mike wasn’t sufficient enough to protect Savannah, you allowed him to take watch for a little over thirty days. What I need to know is, why the change of heart? What was the breaking point for your return?”
I know Mike told me he packed up and left her alone, but I needed to make sure that her being alone was the only reason for his return. It seemed like Ryan was waiting for me to ask that question because his answer was 100 percent personal.
“I can hear the severity in your voice, but I have to speak candidly. That bitch-ass nigga tried to rape her. That’s why I came back. I wanted to tell you, but Savannah was in fear you’d kill him. She didn’t know it, but I gave her ass a lie detector test by pulse. I pretended to hold her hand in comfort while she told me the story. She passed with flying colors. The nigga had tried to get her twice while he was drunk. The last time, she busted his dick open with some crutches, stole his guns, and put his ass out. I guess all the training I’ve been giving her is working. I followed up on her claim and was informed he was a patient in a nearby hospital and was being treated for an almost severed penis.”
I could hear Ryan holding back a laugh from the time he said Savannah had busted his meat open. I was glad he did because he had just told me some heartbreaking shit that had me ready to kill a nigga. My best friend since school days had tried to rape my fiancée while I was paying him to protect her. Look at the danger I had put her in. Maybe hate for me sending him to protect her caused her to fuck that other nigga. No, I wasn’t going to help give her an excuse for what she had done, but on the same token, look at who I got that information from. It was the same nigga who tried to fuck her and had lied to me about it when I asked for the truth. My mind started running around in circles, going over the same thoughts twice.
“Do you know anything about a cat named Amir?”
Ryan repeated the name a few times, then went quiet for a minute. “Naw, that name doesn’t ring a bell. If I’m not mistaken, when you had me monitor around the birth of your daughter, I believe that name came up. Why, what’s up?”
“When I called Mike to find out why he left, he told me he found out Savannah had been fucking some Jamaican guy in Atlanta named Amir. Can you look into it for me? I don’t know how much weight it holds, but he gave me dude’s telephone number.” I gave Ryan the number.
“No problem, I’ll look into it first thing in the morning. Something about the name and the fact he’s Jamaican does sound familiar.”
I debated it as he spoke but felt Ryan should know what brought along the line of questioning.
“Mike played me, Ryan. He told me he thought you and Savannah had or was about to start fucking. He said she had you wrapped around her finger. I couldn’t have my boy trying to fuck my fiancée or whatever she is to me. That’s why I had to ask you what was up. My bad for doubting you.”
“What do you mean, whatever she is to you? If you no longer see her as your fiancée, why am I here? Don’t let that time get to you.”
“It ain’t the time. It’s the case.” I had to laugh at my own words. “She’s become a case, and when it come to our relationship, there’s no respect. You’re there until I make a definitive decision. I just can’t keep dealing with all the secrets and lies.”
I guess it was time for confessions and apologies because Ryan went next.
“Naw, Dre, it’s not your bad for doubting me. It’s my bad for not telling you everything.”
“There’s more?”
“Yeah, a different case I’ve been working for years. I didn’t know how to tell you that Mike’s been off and on fu
cking Tasha for years. When you told me you suspected it, I thought you knew what I knew, but then I realized you didn’t and never corrected you for letting it go. When you had me keep an eye on her, she was meeting him at motels like once a week. That didn’t mean they were fucking, but then the nigga got cocky one day I caught him coming out and rubbed his shit and put it in my face. I don’t know her scent, but that’s who he went into the motel with. He said it was a random ho he had in the room, but I knew the truth. He told Savannah he was fucking her too to get her to agree to fuck him. Savannah didn’t tell me he told her this at first, and I could tell when she did, that there’s more she’s hiding when it comes to Mike. He might have confessed to Savannah some other shit he’s done to you behind your back. My bad, Dre.”
I didn’t know what to say, but the truth was always best. “When I get out of this bitch, I’m going to kill him.”
Chapter Ten
The Line between Love and Hate just Got Thinner
It was two days before they’d open up the gates and let me out. Where was all the happiness and excitement I was supposed to be feeling? I felt cheated because instead of coming home to crawl in some pussy, I had to get out and clean up bullshit. Will hadn’t heard shit about the case yet, which made me think Stephanie had generated the letter herself. It didn’t matter either way it went, because I called Mrs. Jefferson and had her get with the lab I had my DNA test on Sade at. She had them forward that information to California a week ago, so if the shit were real, I should be receiving a Maury letter soon.
“When it comes to baby no-name, Andre... You are not the father.”
Ryan had confirmed there really was an Amir at the number Mike had given me, but he still didn’t know if Savannah had been intimate with him recently. As he suspected, it was the dude from her past, and he found proof they had a bad falling out before my daughter was born. When Ryan followed up on Melinda for me, he found out she had been released on house arrest. He had tracked her bracelet back to her home address, which meant she was where she was supposed to be. Phone records indicated multiple calls between her and Stephanie, and some involved the other two women Savannah had revenge on. Seeing jail calls were recorded, even though they swear they aren’t, he said he would try to get records that provide there was a plot against Savannah in the works.
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