Nina's Got a Secret (21 page)

Val figured that she had Sharrard by the balls if she was pregnant. One DNA test would definitely set her up financially for life. But she'd have to escape Tyrone's wrath long enough to give birth. All of this hiding would take money; money she didn't have.

Val came to one conclusion: she needed Nina's help. Nina had already siphoned money from Larry's account and participated in a threesome with one of his clients; therefore, getting her to commit to this investment shouldn't be hard. Nina was going to pay, whether she wanted to or not.

B
ACK IN
M
ONTEREY
, N
INA PREPARED
P
RECIOUS
for her big McDonald's audition in San Francisco. She spent hours helping the child study her lines the day before. On Tuesday, she had a stylist come to the house to fix her daughter's hair while she drove around the city in search of the perfect outfit for Precious.

While driving to the audition, Nina's phone started to ring. Nina looked down and saw that the call came from a restricted number. She started to let it ring, but she was waiting on a call from another talent scout. Since she didn't know the scout's phone number she felt compelled to answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey, what are you doing? I need to talk to you.”

“I can't talk, Val; I'm taking Precious to an audition.”

“Where?'

“Why do you want to know?”

“Because I wanna know!”

Nina hesitated before she answered. “She has an audition today for a McDonald's commercial.”

“That's great! Let me speak to her.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanna wish her well! Now give her the damn phone,” Val ordered.

Nina gave Precious the phone.

“Who is this, Mommy?”

“It's Aunt Val. She wants to say something to you.”

Precious smiled as she grabbed the phone. “Hey, Aunt Val! I'm going to do a commercial for McDonald's. Mommy said they'll probably give me a free hamburger.”

“They probably will, baby. I want you to do your best, but don't feel bad if you don't get it.”

“Okay.”

“I'm gonna see you soon.”

“Are you coming out here again, Aunt Val?”

“Yeah, Aunt Val is going to move to California real soon.”

“Are you going to live in our house?”

“I don't know about that, but I'll be livin' in Monterey around you. So, I'll get to see you a lot more.”

“Mommy, Aunt Val says she's coming to live around us!”

Nina snatched the phone from the child. “What is she talkin' about?”

“You heard the child. I'm comin' to live in California.”

“How? You don't have a job or a place to stay. You ain't living in my house.”

“I didn't ask to live in your house. And no, I don't have a job, but none of that matters.”

“Why not?”

“Because I got you . . . my friend; you're gonna sponsor me while I'm out there.”

“Bullshit!”

“Yeah, bitch, you're gonna sponsor me or else.”

“Or else what? You're gonna tell Larry what you know? I don't
even care. Larry and I will be married one year by this time next month. The worst that can happen is that he finds out what happened and divorces me. I'll still walk away with over a hundred grand.”

“Not if he finds out that you fucked his client.”

“You don't have any proof. Sharrard ain't gonna confess, he can't stand you right now anyway. That means it's your word against mine.”

“That's what you think.”

“What does that mean?”

“That means I believe Tyrone found out what happened that night. Whoever told him will probably confirm my story.”

Nina became silent. She tried to recall the events of that evening. The house was empty that night Sharrard came over. Larry was sound asleep so there was no way anyone could have known what happened.

“My, my, my. Nina Dennison is suddenly quiet. Well, let's see if you can stay quiet long enough to hear what I need you to do. I need you to help me get an apartment somewhere out there, and I need you to make this happen within the next week. I'll be in touch with you in about three days. You'd better have some answers, or I swear to you, I'm gonna call Larry.”

Val hung up the phone. Nina threw the phone on the passenger seat and cursed out loud.

“What's wrong, Mommy?” Precious asked.

“Nothing, baby. Mama just has a few things on her mind. Don't worry about me. All I need you to do is focus on your lines.”

T
HEY ARRIVED AT THE TINY STUDIO
where the audition was held shortly before noon. Precious walked into the room like a seasoned veteran and nailed the audition. Her performance was nearly flawless.
She did so well that the director started discussing future commercial opportunities right there on the spot.

“Can I have a hamburger now?” she innocently asked.

The director immediately sent an intern to the McDonald's located a mile away to retrieve a Happy Meal for the child.

When the intern returned with the meal, he gestured for Precious to follow him into a small kitchen area. The young man walked into the room first, but he stopped and turned around when he noticed that Precious had stopped at the door.

“What's wrong?” the intern asked.

“My daddy said that men are supposed to hold the door open for women.”

Everyone in the room started to laugh, including the intern. One of the female producers walked by and said to Nina, “Your husband has taught her well. I wish my daughter's father would have done the same with our child.”

Nina gave a brief smile and then watched Precious from afar as she ate the hamburger. Larry had really been a positive influence on both of their lives. Nina tried to pretend she didn't care about Larry, but anyone who paid close enough attention could see that he'd slowly begun to win her over.

On the way home, Nina contemplated her discussion with Val. She decided at that moment that enough was enough. Tyrone and Val would never back off. She had to get rid of them. She had to silence them both once and for all.

The wineglass was filled to the rim with Chardonnay when Nina finished pouring. She took up residence on her favorite living room loveseat as she pondered her options for hours. She finally came up with a plan that would forever get rid of Val and Tyrone. She decided to kill them both and make it look like an accident, or even better, self-defense.

Nina's hand trembled as she made the phone call. Her stomach rumbled and her mouth failed to produce saliva. It was time to put her plan into motion. The hunted had now become the hunter.

“Hello?”

“Val, this is Nina. I took care of the arrangements.”

“I'm listening.”

“I reached out to someone I met out here. She manages a small apartment complex in the city of Seaside, about ten minutes from here. It's not that fancy, but she gave me a good deal on the apartment.”

“When can I move in?”

“She told me she can't hold the apartment for that long, so you're going to have to move in within the next week or so.”

“Good. Tell her to fax the lease to me. There's a copy store a few blocks away from here that lets you receive faxed documents. Hold on while I get the number.”

“She can't fax it.”

“Why not?”

“Because she said she needed you to be here to sign the lease before the move-in date. They can't start getting the apartment cleaned until you sign a lease. Besides, she's going to need a copy of your driver's license.”

“I don't have a way to get there in a few days, so you need to talk to her again.”

“I've made arrangements for you to fly into Monterey on Friday night. Your ticket has already been purchased. She's expecting you to come into her office on Saturday morning to sign the lease.”

“That's too soon. I still need to make arrangements for my furniture.”

“I've already arranged to take care of that. Didn't you say that you like my furniture?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I have an account at that store where I bought most of my stuff. I'm willing to put up to three thousand dollars' worth of furniture on that card. That should be enough to get you a bedroom set and a sofa or something. You can take care of the rest once you get here.”

Val didn't reply right away. She held the phone and pondered what she was hearing. Nina was being very accommodating. Was she that scared of Larry finding out her secret or was it because she was up to something?

“All right,” Val said in a low tone. “I need to figure out a way to get away from Tyrone's crazy ass. Under no circumstances do I want him to know. If he calls you asking about me, you need to tell him you don't know . . . if you know what's good for you.”

“Of course, I'm going to pretend I don't know. Why would I deliberately try to piss you off? I'm doing this because I want all of this shit to be over and done with. The sooner I get you off my back, the sooner I can move on with my life.'

“I'm going to stick to my word and back off, but I can't promise you Tyrone will. He's on a mission.”

“I'll take care of Tyrone so that he's no longer a problem for you or me. I've already made plans to have him dealt with.”

Val became quiet once again. There was something in Nina's tone that she didn't like. “You said this Friday?”

“Yeah, this Friday; your flight is scheduled to leave at six o'clock on Southwest Airlines. You should land here somewhere around eight o'clock that night. I promised to take Precious to a movie, so I may not be finished in time to come and get you from the airport. Just catch a cab and come over. You can let yourself in the house. The code hasn't changed.”

Nina hung up the phone and smirked.
Yeah, bitch, I have something for you. Now I just need to take care of your man.

She waited an hour and then implemented part two of her plan.

“Hello,” Tyrone said in a deep voice. He was wrapping up a brief nap that followed his argument with Val.

“Can you talk?”

“Who is this?”

“This is Nina. I need to tell you something, but I need you to be alone before I get into it.”

Tyrone stood up and walked over to the door. He opened and peeked into the other room to see if Val was there. When he didn't see her in there, he looked in the bathroom and saw that it was also empty.

“Yeah, she's gone. Wuz up?”

“I need to talk to you about what happened between us.”

“What about it?”

“Well, there are two things I want to tell you. The first is that . . .”

“Spit it out, shit! A nigga ain't got all day!”

“Well, Tyrone, I hate to admit it, but I've been thinkin' about you.”

Tyrone let loose a cocky smile, grabbed the crotch of his pants, and started squeezing and rubbing his penis.

“Shit, girl, that ain't nothin' to be ashamed of. You ain't the first and won't be the last person to be thinkin' 'bout this dick after getting a piece.”

Nina looked upward and rolled her eyes as she forced herself to listen to his bragging.

“I gotta admit, Tee, I did enjoy our encounter . . . even though I didn't want to enjoy the feeling. Since you left, I can't stop thinking about how you made me feel on that pool table. I guess that's an indication of how much my body needed that.”

“Umm hmm. I knew you were likin' this pipe. What's on your mind? You want some mo' of this dick, don't ya?”

“Yes.”

“I can't hear you. Ask me to come and give you some more of this dick.”

Nina rolled her eyes once again before she replied, “Tee, I want you.”

“‘Nah, that ain't good enough. Have you ever seen the movie
Jerry Maguire
?”

“Yes.”

“Then you remember that scene when he started shouting
‘Show me the money!
'”