A Big Girl's Revenge

by Ms. Michel Moore

  After the longtime neighbor called 911 on his cell phone for an ambulance as well as the police, he stepped outside on the roadside to flag them around to the rear gatehouse. Sandy, gasping for air, was left on the floor, holding her throat. Another few seconds of Mr. Jackson choking her, she would’ve been dead and reunited with her deceased mother.

  Keisha, still astonished at what she’d heard her father and Sandy claim, was close to blacking out herself. The news that Sandy wasn’t just the family chef but her sister was overpowering to her very being.

  “Is it true, Sandy?” Keisha asked, cradling her in her arms in utter shock and denial over the revelations made. “Please tell me if what he and you said is true. Are you my sister? Did he really rape your mother? Did he?”

  Finding the energy to lick her dry lips, Sandy spoke barely louder than a tiny whisper. “I wanted to tell you for so long, Keisha, but Mrs. Jackson and that monster lying over there thought it would be more than you could stand.”

  “My mother knew about this?” Keisha questioned, hearing an ambulance in the far distance. “And she stayed with him after all of that? How could she? Why was she that stupid?”

  “Don’t judge her, baby. How have you stayed with Rico? Look, Keisha, she turned a blind eye to a lot of things he did because he had her self-esteem so low, she thought that treatment was what she deserved.” Sandy coughed in between her words, still holding her very sore neck. “Your father—I mean our father ain’t shit! I hope he bleeds out and dies over there for all of our sakes! God forgive me, but he doesn’t deserve to live.”

  Throughout the confusion, she knew Sandy was not wrong. Keisha knew that was the same way Rico had treated her and she had accepted it. Maybe that’s why she chose to stay with a man that cruel and heartless. He was just like her father—a self-serving tyrant.

  “Sandy, I believe he raped your mother, and I’m not condoning it at all. But I want you to know, if you are my sister, I’m happy. I’ve always loved you like we were family anyways. I mean it. So it is what it is. We can both deal with that later. But, Sandy, can you please tell me what hospital my mother is in? That’s where I want to be right now. I know she needs me.”

  Sandy knew there was more to the story—much more. And since she was dead in the middle of confessing the dark family secrets, she felt it was time to let all the skeletons out the closet.

  “No problem, Keisha. You’re right. You do need to be at Mrs. Jackson’s side. But I just have to tell you one last thing Mrs. Jackson turned a blind eye to. She, I mean we, have been all deceiving you. It’s more to the story than what I just told you.”

  Not knowing what in the hell Sandy could say next, Keisha braced herself as the ambulance sirens got closer. “I know, Sandy. I heard you. My mother has AIDS. It doesn’t matter to me, not one bit. I still love her, and as soon as we can, we can both go to her side.”

  “No, Keisha, it’s about that pedophile animal laying over there.” She motioned toward a hardly conscious Mr. Jackson—their father. “He is a monster. He has no soul. He is as black-hearted as they come.”

  “Sandy, oh my God, what is it?” Keisha was running out of patience.

  Sandy took a deep breath. “Not only did he rape my mother; he raped me also when I was just twelve years old.”

  “What!” Keisha screamed out as the EMS technicians came bolting through the doorway with her neighbor leading the way. “He did what? Noooooo, are you serious? Naw, Sandy, why? Oh my fucking God!”

  Sandy knew she’d gone too far to go on without revealing the entire truth to Keisha. In spite of the strangers in the room, she felt it was best to get it all out in the open once and for all. Mr. Jackson had to be exposed and the air cleared. Still whispering, Sandy bravely confessed the unthinkable.

  “He raped me when I was only twelve, and I got pregnant.”

  “Pregnant!” Keisha couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “What? Are you serious right now?” She was stunned at the monster her father truly was.

  “Yes, Keisha, pregnant. He forced himself on me more than once, and I got pregnant.”

  “Oh my God, no! Sandy, no! So my father made you have an abortion?” Keisha’s eyes grew wide, awaiting her response. “He made you kill your own baby? How could he be so mean? I can’t believe him or any of this.”

  “No, Keisha, I had the baby.”

  “What? You did? You had a baby?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “Oh my God—what?” Keisha cried for her newfound sister’s pain for having a baby and not being able to raise him or her. “Where is the baby? Do you know? Was it a boy or a girl that you had to put up for adoption?”

  “Yeah, I know where the baby is and has been. That asshole and Mrs. Jackson took the baby from me.”

  “They did?”

  “Yeah, they took my baby and raised her as their own.”

  “Huh?” Keisha fought to make sense of what she was hearing. “What—as their own? I’m confused now more than ever. What does that mean?”

  Sandy took another deep breath. She knew the fallout from what she was about to expose next would be crucial, to say the least. “Keisha, all of what I’ve been telling you is hard. Trust me. I swear I didn’t want the truth to come out like this.”

  “Just say it, Sandy! What are you talking about?”

  “Okay, Keisha, try to stay calm. The truth is, not only are you my sister, but you’re also my daughter. I’m your real mother—your birth mother. You are my child.”

  “My mother? What in the hell are you saying? No, it couldn’t be! I’m confused! What? My mother! Why you say that? It’s not true! My mother! Naw, Sandy, stop all this lying. First you said you were my sister; now you saying you my mother too! How could that be?”

  Seeing Keisha’s bewildered facial expression and all her barrage of questions, Sandy remorsefully continued. “Look, baby, I know it’s a lot to take in right now, but let’s just thank God I got here and came inside when I did, or you might’ve been the next in our twisted generation to have his baby! He’s a monster, Keisha, and I hope he dies for the damage he’s caused to all of us and every female he’s ever come in contact with over the years!”

  With the police now entering the small gatehouse, Keisha was completely overcome with confusion over what Sandy had confessed. She felt the room spinning. Her heart was broken, and Keisha’s soul felt shattered.

  To make matters worse, the jaw-dropping announcement from the EMS technicians that her father was dead sent chills throughout her entire body. Overcome with numb emotion, it was too much to bear. Not wanting to face the tragic reality of what her life truly had become, she buried her face in her hands. Keisha grew increasingly short of breath as her head felt as if it was going to explode. Seconds later, the once-carefree good girl blacked out.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Months later . . .

  “It’s really funny how life is, isn’t it?” Sandy, after getting the results of a paternity test, smiled. She and an extremely skinny, thin-haired Keisha walked out the courthouse. Hand in hand, deemed the two sole heirs to their father’s small fortune, all was well with them financially. They could travel anywhere, eat anything they desired, and shop until they dropped.

  Still, there was a dark cloud that hung over their heads, one that all the money in the world couldn’t give you back if God saw fit—and that was good health. Having gone to a doctor, Keisha had a complete physical as well as an intensive mental evaluation done. Every test that could be administered was. Sandy, a worried sister and mother, was eager to finally be able to openly take care of her child the way a mom should.

  After it was all said and done, the truth was revealed. The diagnosis was sad but all too clear. It was discovered Keisha’s blind devotion to Rico and many other people in her life was a chemical chromosome imbalance. The doctors easily attributed that illness due courtesy of their father’s incestuous actions and Keisha’s conception. With that medical news, on the top of another, Sandy
and Keisha still tried their best to remain upbeat and optimistic.

  Tragically, her mother, Mrs. Jackson succumbed to death a week later from AIDS she contracted from her husband. If it wasn’t for Sandy, Keisha would’ve been crazy with grief and denial when, ironically, she found out she, like her parents, was infected with the wicked disease.

  “You’re so right. A year ago, I was half out my mind, just straight acting a fool, but now things are finally starting to look up. Despite my health issues, I’m just glad to be done with Rico once and for all. Why I let him do all the things he did to me and why I stayed, I don’t know. It all seems like a bad dream, one I couldn’t wake up from until that terrible day.”

  It was nearing the anniversary of Mr. Jackson’s untimely death on the gatehouse floor. After finally regaining consciousness, Keisha had been immediately handcuffed and arrested. She was brought up on manslaughter charges for her father’s death. A long, drawn-out criminal trial could have taken place, but it didn’t.

  Fortunately, her nosey reporter neighbor, in exchange for an exclusive story, testified that he’d been at the doorway listening. He testified to the jurors and judge that he’d overheard Commissioner Jackson and Keisha that early morning. He informed them that not only had the deceased victim threatened to physically attack both females, but that he also heard him confess to several other unimaginable crimes.

  When the jury took into consideration all the corrupt actions that were discovered, they were appalled. The prosecutor fought to keep most of the family’s ugly secrets and skeletons out of the trial, but Keisha and Sandy weren’t having it. They, along with Keisha’s defense attorney, wanted the entire world to know what a house of horrors Mr. Jackson was the head of. That, coupled with all the various allegations of the commissioner’s promiscuous behavior and other inappropriate affairs at the job, were brought to the forefront. If he weren’t deceased, he could have been charged with several other crimes stemming from people finally brave enough to speak up.

  The neighbor felt as if he’d hit the mother lode of all stories. With the deal he’d made with Keisha, he would stay busy for months. He was elated to write several heart-wrenching articles that were award-worthy. In no time flat, Keisha Jackson, accused murderer, soon had the people on her side. That was all she needed to tip the scales of justice. Once a loser, she was now a winner. If only temporarily.

  * * *

  Life was life. It never proved to be easy. There would always be storms, and although she beat the case, her storm wasn’t totally over. Her blessing of being acquitted and avoiding a life sentence seemed pointless. Keisha couldn’t feel free to live in the celebration with what was now looming over her head.

  Originally, Keisha and Sandy couldn’t figure out how she contracted the deadly disease. However, after discovering Kim, now also sick, depressed and shunned by her family after them finding out about her scandalous affair with Mr. Jackson, it made sense. Her being HIV positive, all the puzzle pieces started to fit together. It didn’t take a rocket scientist.

  It seems that Robin was not only sleeping with her infected boss, but she had also been secretly banging his loyal driver and bodyguard, Calvin, as well. When Robin found out what she was facing, she lost her mind. She couldn’t cope with the disease and the stigma of having it. In a matter of weeks, she committed suicide by jumping off the high-rise office building where she once worked.

  Calvin, on the other hand, tried to be a standup guy. He knew he had messed up his life and wanted to take full responsibly. Not only did he bravely confess to his wife, who divorced him, but to the stripper, Ocean, who was his new mistress.

  Sandy was blessed and knew it. She was relieved she’d stopped having sexual relations with Calvin long before he hooked up with Robin or the infamous Ocean. Her wise decision saved her life from being in the deadly twisted triangle of filth Calvin had created.

  From there, connecting the dots of the deadly disease didn’t take much effort from Sandy or Keisha. It was simple. Ocean, of course, was still fucking Rico. That was a no-brainer. To make matters worse, come to find out, she was pregnant. After the devastating news Calvin told her about probably being infected with HIV, she wasted no time giving that toss-up baby back to God. Still dancing at several Detroit strip clubs, possibly exposing tricks to HIV, she refused to be tested, saying she ain’t wanna know.

  Her son, Rico’s son as well, had no great interest to visit his father, who was left completely paralyzed from the cab hitting him. Day after day, barely eighty-nine pounds, he lay in the dark room of the hospice, praying for death to take him away from the internal pain of full-blown AIDS. Yet, as they say, God don’t like ugly, so Rico Campbell, who treated Keisha no better than shit on a stick, amazingly kept breathing and suffering.

  Keisha knew Rico transmitted the disease to her, and she, in turn, possibly infected A.J., who, exactly like Ocean, turned down every opportunity to be tested. Keisha knew nine outta ten times he took the virus directly back down South with him. So, what started up North in Detroit was going to cause plenty of people down the way unwanted grief, tears, and denial.

  After sitting back and thinking, Keisha easily accepted the fact that she definitely transmitted the virus to Swazy, Rico’s road dawg. Swazy, who was no angel by far and a willing participant in all the scandalous bullshit exploits, passed it on to his newborn. With an immune system that couldn’t withstand the serious rage of the disease, the baby only lived six days with the curse. Sadly, Swazy’s girl died in complications from childbirth. Thank God she never found out her man wasn’t about shit.

  It wasn’t a good six months later that Keisha discovered she’d given Sam the awful gift of death. Going on with his daily life, he had no idea what was wrong when he started feeling out of sorts. He just chalked it up to catching a cold and prayed that Allah would heal him. Sam naively transmitted it to both of his wives. When it was discovered, he shamefully moved his family back to his country so they could die in their own motherland.

  Keisha’s boss and his wife never did find out the source of the deadly linked chain that struck both of them with HIV. Since they lived a swingers’ lifestyle, there was no telling how many people in the city and places that they traveled to that they spread the disease. The possibilities of the reach was unreal.

  Mr. Jackson’s continued legacy of unprotected sex was a seemingly vicious, never-ending cycle. Generations to come would be affected by one wicked man.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Calvin

  “Baby, your cell phone is going off. And at this time of morning, I don’t even need to ask who it is. Does that man ever give you a break?”

  Calvin’s wife turned over, pulling the blanket over her head. Since the two of them had been married, it was as if she never had a full eight hours of sleep. Her husband was loyal to his job. And he was extra loyal to his employer. When Commissioner Jackson called, Calvin jumped. This time was no different.

  It was a little shy of six a.m. when his cell rang. However, unbeknownst to her, this time it was not her husband’s boss interrupting their sleep, but Robin. Even if the devoted wife did happen to answer and it was Robin on the other end, she would pay no major attention to it. She would chalk it up to Commissioner Jackson having his private secretary do his summoning of her spouse.

  Without bothering to look at his screen, Calvin just snatched up his phone. Yawning twice, he headed to the bathroom. After placing it on the sink, he turned to hit the hot water knob on the shower. He then jumped into the warm, steamy mist. As he got done, he reached for a towel. While drying off, Calvin’s cell rang once more. When he looked, all he could do was shake his head.

  “Yo, why in the hell you calling me this time of morning? Have you lost your damn mind?”

  “Oh my God! Oh my God! Calvin you have to get over here to the house. Please hurry up!”

  “Robin, first of all, calm the fuck down. Secondly, what you mean, get over to the house this early? What’s happening?”<
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  Robin started to stumble over her words as she nursed a busted lip. “It’s Keisha. She just came over and started going crazy. She was trying to kill me. I swear for God I’ma press charges on the little tramp!”

  Calvin was completely dressed and on his way out to the car when he finally got the entire truth from Robin. He was at a total loss for words. He knew she was sleeping with the commissioner. That was no big surprise to anyone, probably even his wife. But having a threesome with him in Sandy’s bed of all places was far over the top—even for Robin’s constantly conniving ass.

  Driving toward the house, he dialed his boss’s number a few times but got no reply. With no traffic out that time of morning, he arrived quicker than normal. As he drove onto the property, he was stopped by a marked police car with its lights still flashing. Not knowing what exactly to make out of all the commotion, Calvin knew by the looks of things it was nothing nice.

  After showing the proper credentials, he was let onto the inner edge of the property and questioned by a detective. As he was giving him a statement, he glanced over to see Keisha being led out in handcuffs. Making eye contact with Sandy, who was trailing close behind, he knew that his boss certainly was dead.

  As the days went by, the news of Mrs. Jackson’s death filled half of the newscasts. The other half was occupied with Keisha’s murder of her father. With all of that attention to their personal lives, Calvin soon discovered that Commissioner Jackson had AIDS. He knew that nine out of ten times that meant Robin had been infected. And of course, since he was sneaking behind his boss, having sex with her, he was at risk. Finally getting his nerve up, he got tested. He encouraged Robin, as well as the little hotbox he was screwing, a dancer named Ocean, to get tested as well.