Last Bitch Standing (13 page)

As if an afterthought, Supreme slammed the door
shut and walked right over me leaving me right where I
was. I was gasping for air trying to figure out how I went
to passionately kissing my husband to laying on the floor
grateful to be alive. I watched as Supreme disappeared
into what appeared from where I was positioned to be the living room. While getting my bearings together I
thought about how quiet the house was and wondered
where Aaliyah was and would she remember me.

I got my strength together and headed in the
direction I saw Supreme go. He was sitting on the couch
having a drink. He had to know it was too early in the
morning for that shit but clearly he didn't give a fuck.
But after almost killing your wife, I supposed he would
need to drink something powerful. I too needed a drink, I
went over to the bar and poured myself a glass of water.

"Where's Aaliyah?"

"Did you really think you could come here and I
would just fuckin' greet you wit' open arms," he barked
ignoring my question. "Do you even know how much I
hate you!" he screamed throwing his half filled glass of
liquor as it shattered against the fireplace.

"Please hear me out. If you would listen to me, you'll
realize we've both been taken on a fuckin' rollercoaster
ride."I was trying to remain calm because one of us had
to if we were going to make any progress. If both of our
tempers were flaring the dark place we were already in
would only go deeper.

"What. .listen to your lies and try to dig yourself
out the hole you dug! Get the fuck outta here! I would
rather you tell me the truth so I can fuckin' hate you for
the rest of my life!"

"Oh you want to hate me... how `bout I want to hate
you too for not believing in our love and that I would
never abandon you and Aaliyah! Or how `bout I want to hate you for fuckin' Maya! But as much as I want to hate
you I can't because I fuckin' love you too much!"

"How do you know about me and Maya?" that was
the first question Supreme asked me in a normal tone
instead screaming and yelling.

"She told me."

"When did you talk to Maya?"

"When she had me chained up, held hostage in the
house with Mike."

"What?" Supreme stood up pacing back and forth
for a moment and raising his arms in confusion. "I don't
understand," he continued pressing his fingers against his
temples.

"Let me help clear it up for you. Maya played me for
months, hell it might've been years ...I don't know. What
I do know is after Mike got locked up for rapping me she
plotted with him to break him out of jail, have it appear
like Clip was the one behind everything so she could get
rid of me and have you and my life for herself."

"This don't even sound plausible. It sounds like
some outlandish made-for-TV movie. Is this the best
lie you could come up with to excuse you leaving your
family to run off with Nico!"

"Look at me!" Now screaming running up on
Supreme. "Look at me!" I screamed louder, grabbing
his arm turning him to face me. "Look at me!" I bolted
again, now at the top of my lungs pointing my fingers
towards my eyes, emphasizing my face. "I would never
leave you or Aaliyah for Nico or any other man! You look at me and tell me you don't believe me because I know
in your heart you do. That day I thought you died in my
arms I didn't want to live anymore."

"It didn't stop you from fuckin' Nico when you
thought my body was still cold."

I put my head down in shame for a moment because
I did regret Supreme ever found out about that. "I thought
you were dead. I know that doesn't change the pain you
feel for finding that out but I was completely lost without
you and I needed to feel connected to somebody."

"So the man who left you for dead and killed our
unborn child was the person who was able to do that for
you.

"Supreme, don't do this. There is nothing I could
ever say that would make my relationship with Nico
sound sane."

"Because it isn't sane! The shit is sick!"

"That could very well be true but it doesn't change
the fact that I chose you. Nico was never an option, it was
always you."

"What about the letter. You wrote that."

"Maya forced me to. She threatened to harm Aaliyah
if I didn't. If you only knew the torture I went through
behind that conniving bitch!"

"How was Maya able to pull all this shit off by
herself?"

"She had help. For one, Devon."

"Devon McNeil the bodyguard that worked for
me?"

"Yes that Devon."

"What! This is getting more bizarre by the minute."

"Well get ready for this ... it was Maya who killed
Mike."

"Her brother... Maya killed her own brother?"

"Yes, Mike wanted to let me live and help me get
Aaliyah and of course Maya couldn't let that happen.
She was using our daughter to get close to you. I forgive
you, Supreme. I need for you to know that. I forgive
you for unwillingly being a part of her manipulation and
ultimately giving into temptation by having sex with her."
He turned towards me and then looked away. "Devon
held me as Maya beat me unmercifully, leaving me for
dead before she burned the house down."

As if Supreme couldn't stand to hear anymore he
collapsed on the couch and buried his face in his hands.
But I refused to let up. If I wanted my husband back,
which I did, he needed to believe every word I was sayingI couldn't leave a doubt in his mind that my story was
nothing short of a hundred percent truth.

"When I was being held captive, Maya ripped off
the pink diamond necklace you gave me. I guarantee you
somewhere in this house with her belongings she has it.
That necklace represented a symbol to her that she ripped
us apart and that she won." Supreme lifted his head up
and stared at me and for the first time I could see regret
as his eyes watered up.

"How can you ever forgive me? I want to say sorry
but it sounds like such a baby word right now. I was sleeping with the enemy all that time. I let her take care
of our daughter." Misery flooded Supreme's face and
my heart broke for him. I knew I could forgive him but
the real question was would Supreme be able to forgive
himself.

Being with Arnez for the last few days gave me a different
view on my relationship with Supreme or lack thereof.
When Arnez was inside of me I could feel how much
he wanted me and desired my body. With Supreme it
always felt as if there was someplace he'd rather be or
better yet someone else he would rather be with. I wasn't
ignorant to the fact his preference was Precious but I had
convinced myself if I put it on him just right his wife
would eventually become an afterthought. With all the
time and energy I put into making Supreme mine I wasn't
ready to abandon my plan just yet. While Arnez was out,
I decided to call him and see if my absence had made
him miss me at all.

I rocked my leg back and forth sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for Supreme to answer the phone.

"Hello." When a female voice answered his phone I
instantly hit the end key. I waited a few seconds and called
right back thinking maybe I dialed the wrong number but
the same voice answered and I didn't want to believe it
was who it sounded like.

"Who is this?"

"Precious Mills. Who is this?" I was silent not
knowing what to say. "Is this Maya?" Precious asked
without hesitation. "Why don't you speak the fuck up? I
know that's yo' sorry ass on the other end of this phone.
Yeah, heffa I'm back and Supreme know everything!"

"You'll pay for this, Precious."

"Ho, I've already paid. The fact that I know you
was fucking my husband is payment enough. But we
good now. And trust, I got something for yo' sneaky ass.
Wherever you at, whatever you doing, enjoy this little bit
of freedom while you can, because baby girl your days
are up. Now get the fuck off my husbands' phone!"

The line went dead but I was still holding the phone
in an attempt to convince myself the conversation that
took place hadn't.

"The other day Precious was in the parking lot in
Philadelphia unloading her weapon on me and now she
was answering Supreme's phone, how the hell did that
happen? I laid up in the bed with Arnez for a few days
and my entire life has changed," I stated out loud in
bewilderment. I fell back on the bed, stunned by the turn
of events. What really had me confused was how Precious was able to find Supreme. He had done everything to
make sure Precious couldn't track him down but there
she was back on her throne. All I could do was scream at
the top of my lungs and punch the pillow on the bed as
if I was beating the shit out of Precious.

Knock ...knock ... knock

"Is everything alright in there?" I heard the cleaning
lady ask through the door.

"Sorry `bout that. Everything's fine. I accidentally
ripped a dress I was putting on and got upset," I lied.
Precious had my mind in another world that I forgot I was
in a hotel. This wasn't the time for me to lose my mind
if anything I needed to come up with a new game plan
and fast. My cover was officially now blown and I wasn't
sure what Precious' next move would be. Would she turn
me into the police for kidnapping and the murder of my
brother, Clip and a few other folks? If she did, would
they even believe her story. With Devon dead who could
corroborate the shit.

On the other hand, Precious wasn't exactly the fuck
with the police type. There was an excellent chance she
would decide to get that street justice, which meant I
would be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my
life. Either way the dice weren't rolling in my favor and
I was fucked. I had to come up with a way to get back
in the driver's seat. My brain was going in deep scheme
mode when I heard Arnez using his key to open the door. Normally I would welcome his company but I couldn't
think about dick right now. This was about life, death,
freedom or jail.

"I thought you would be dressed by the time I got
back," were the first words out of Arnez's mouth when
he saw me.

"I slept late."

"We need to be heading out, we have a busy day."

"When you say heading out are you talking about
leaving for good?"

"Yep. We have to stop in New York for a day then
head back to Philly. Things have gotten somewhat calmer
so it's time for business as usual."

"What are we going to New York for?"

"Business and pleasure."

"What sort of pleasure?"

"There's a party going on tonight that I need to
attend."

"I'm not in the mood for a party tonight. Would you
mind if I didn't go?"

"Of course I would mind. This wasn't a request. You
will be attending this party with me. I've already picked
out what I want you to wear."

"Arnez, I don't feel like going. You can go to the
party. I'll wait in the hotel room for you."

If it wasn't for the severe stinging on my cheek I
would've completely missed the smack that Arnez landed
on my face. That's how sudden and unexpected it was to
me.

"Don't you ever tell me what you won't do. Do you
not know who I am? But don't worry, you'll learn. As I
said, you have soldier potential. Nobody has taken the
time to teach you but I will."

"You hit me...I can't believe you hit me." I really
couldn't. Too many things didn't fuck me up in terms of
disbelief but this had. I didn't think Arnez was a softie
but woman beater went right over my head. He was
passionate but gentle as a lover. The few times we went
out he was a complete gentleman. He was not the man
I would pick out of a line up to be the type who would
snatch-a-ho-up on some bullshit but he was that man.
After he slapped me, I stared in his eyes and saw that he
was crazier than me and that was scary.

"Believe it. It's part of training camp. If you're a fast
learner I'll only have to do it a few more times. But you're
very young so you might be hard headed which means I'll
have to knock you around several times before I break
you in."

That fool said that shit like he was about to train
me and put me through something simple like a cooking
course. I could tolerate a bunch of bullshit from a nigga
I was feeling. I even got off on some excitement in a
relationship but a motherfucker beating my ass never
turned me on. Because a nigga that would beat your ass
is a nigga that would kill you and the bottom line was I
didn't want to die. Now instead of focusing my energy
on how to one-up Precious, I had to figure how to get the
fuck away from Arnez's crazy ass.

"I'm a fast learner. You won't have any more
problems from me. If you want me to go to the party
then I will."

"That's my girl. Now go shower and get dressed.
Like I said, we need to leave."

On the ride to New York, I was plotting on how I would
break free of Arnez. Luckily I was born and raised there
so I knew how to maneuver my way around with no
problem. But I had to be careful. I already had Precious
aiming at me, I didn't need to add a psycho like Arnez to
the list.