No Justice No Peace (26 page)

I sat next to her and held her. “Don’t cry like that.  You make me feel like shit when you cry like that because of me.  I’ve been trying hard to do right by you but I’m not perfect.  Nobody’s perfect.” 

Anna didn’t say one word as I continued to hold her.  And when I heard the horn from the taxi, I asked her again to stay. She stood up and reached for her purse on my dresser.  She placed it on her shoulder, grab the few pieces of clothing she’d gotten from her place earlier and headed for the door.  By this time, I didn’t care if I’d made a fool of myself.  I knew she was the only woman who seemed to genuinely care for me and I wasn’t about to let her leave.  I hurried off the bed and grabbed her arm.

“If you walk out that door, I’m not coming after you,” I said. She snatched away and continued to make her way to it.  When she opened the front door, she turned to face me.

“Goodbye, Kiley.  I wish you well.”

I was feeling something I had never felt for a woman inside.  I ran up to the door and pounded it as she stood in front of it. “I said don’t go!  Please! Do…Don’t you know how much I love you!  Can’t you see it!  Can’t you feel it! Damn, baby, I tried!” 

Just then, Desmon walked out of his room.

“What is up?” he asked. “What’s all the noise?”

I ignored him and looked at Anna as my eyes watered. “Please,” I said, for the last time as a tear had found its way down my cheek. 

Desmon stood and waited for an answer with me.

She pointed her finger at me and spoke sternly. “No more bullshit from you, Kiley.  I don’t like how you’ve put me on the spot like this and if you ever lie to me again, I’m leaving your behind for good.”

“Deal,” I said, feeling relieved.  I pulled her to me, placing her head against my chest. Desmon yelled out at the taxi, “I don’t think she needs you!” As we moved away from the door, he closed it and stood in the foyer.

“I must say, Dad, that was one hell of a plea.” He laughed.  I was in no mood to joke around with him, as I still had Anna in my arms.

“Desmon, go back to your room.  Now ain’t the time or the place.”

He walked off to his room and closed the door behind him. 

Still feeing a bit uneasy about her decision to stay, Anna loosened my arms from around her and walked back into my room.  She got in bed with her clothes on and lay on her side. Allowing her some time to chill, I turned down the lights and went to the kitchen to get something to eat.  After I ate, I lay across the couch and chilled in the living room for the rest of the night.

MAMA’S BABY,

DADDY’S MAYBE

Chapter Fifteen

“It’s time to shake, rattle and roll”.  That’s what Rufus said after I told him about what had went down between Dominique and me.  I even told him about Jada’s husband Dwayne and Rufus insisted, as I did, that it was time for everybody to get taken care of. 

             Desmon hadn’t gone to school because he claimed his leg was hurt from me leaning on it.  I knew that was bullshit, but I wasn’t up for arguing with him this morning.  As for Anna, she was still asleep. I lie back on the couch and quietly spoke to Rufus because I didn’t want Anna or Desmon to hear what my plans were.

            “So, after we do this, you coming back home, right?”

            “I told you I was.  Ain’t gon be no need for me to keep hanging around here in the Lou, unless I’m ready to die.”

            “You know that fool Dominique got some niggas down here running a petty game for him. I knew that bastard was a playa hater the day I saw him.  I also had a feeling some shit was gon go down between y’all.”

            “I kind of had that feeling too.  I’ll get all his information for you and call you later on in the week with it.”

            “See, you need to think, Kiley.  You should’ve had that shit a long time ago.  If that nigga had taken you out at the racetrack, we would’ve been in the dark.  And you know how much I hate being in the dark when it comes to shit like that.”

            “You wouldn’t have been in the dark because Anna would have told you.”

            “Man, I’on trust no bitch to tell me nothing! How you know her ass ain’t five-o? After what happened to you before, you should be a bit more skeptical about your selection of bitches.  If she got a purse or something lying around there, go get it and give me her social security number so I can have her checked out.”

            “It ain’t even that serious.  You starting to sound more paranoid than me. Now, I’ll call you back with Dominique—

            “Too late.  I already got it.  See, why you been down there in the Lou playing house, I had your back. Dominique got a big mouth.  So big that I heard it all the way here in LA.  Rumor had it that even though you saved his ass from Candi, he was worried about you ratting him out. That’s why I came to the Lou.  I know where the nigga lives.  I know where his mama lives, and where every last one of his kids live.  If you wanna know the nigga net worth, I know that too.”

            I scratched my head, as Rufus’ tone was pissing me off. “Killer, you sound like you got problems with me or something.”

            “I got problems because you let them poot-butt rooty-too ass imitation gangstas in the Lous roll on you like that.  And, in front of yo bitch too?  Those niggas are weak, man.  Including Jada ole lousy ten thousand dollars per month making starving druggist ass fool.”

            I couldn’t help but laugh at how upset Rufus was. “I thought it was a starving artist, playa.”

            “That nigga a starving druggist.  He’ll be broke by the end of the year. If not, dead.”

            We both laughed.

            “Ain’t shit funny,” he said, laughing his damn self. “How much more time we got?”

            “Give me a month.  By then, every thing should have calmed down and nobody will suspect nothing.”

            “One month from today, I’m on my way to the Lou.  I’m not even gon let you know I’m there, but my presence will be known.  No later than two days after, I’ll see you back in LA.”

            “You gon throw me a party?”

            “The biggest one you’ve ever seen.”

            “See you in a month, Killer.”

            He hung up and shortly after called back.  “Did you forget something?” I asked.

            “Naw, you did.”

            “What?”

            “Nigga, get that pussy off your mind and go get that bitch purse.”

            “You need to hold it down on the bitches.  I told you how much I’m feeling Anna.”

            He snickered. “Are you telling me pussy comes before partna? Our motto has always been to never put pussy before partna.”

I hesitated, knowing how much I felt for Anna. “Rufus, you know you—

“I want you to think about something.  The night you met Anna was Dominique there?”

            I thought back to the first time I met her. “Yeah…yeah he was.  He was there with Candi.”

            “Okay, now rewind the tape again.  When we saw Dominique at the club, wasn’t Anna there that night as well?”

            “Yes.  Yes she was.”

            “Good.  Now, my last and final question…when you were getting the living shit beat out of you, who was there? Not only that, but at anytime, did that bitch pick up something and try to bust a muthafuckas head clean open for you?  I don’t know much about love, but if you
love
somebody you’d be willing to die for them too. In the situation you were in, the ho should’ve helped!”

            “Man, you grasping at straws.  She ain’t even like that.”

            “Jada would’ve helped.  Any time we went to blows, she was right there with us.  There wasn’t nobody who made it to you, unless they went through her.  I’on like that bitch either, but at least she had your back.”

            “That’s because she’s fucking ghetto.  Anna ain’t like that.  And for yo information, she did help me.”

            “And let me guess…she walked away from the whole damn thing with maybe a minor scratch on her face.”

            “Somebody did hit her,” I said, in Anna’s defense. 

            “What’s the SS number?”

            I’d already had Anna’s purse in my hand and searched through it. I called her SS number off quickly to Rufus and he laughed.

            “You my nigga,” he said, and then hung up.

            The house was still quiet, so I crept slowly to my room to check on Anna.  She was still in her jeans and shirt from yesterday and was knocked the hell out.  Desmon’s door was closed so I didn’t want to bother him.  Instead, I went into the kitchen and poured a bowl of milk and cereal.  I took it back into the living room and turned on the TV.  Seeing some rump shakers in a rap video, I sat back and watched. 

            When Anna came into the room, I was all into it.  She actually cleared her throat to get my attention.  I dropped my spoon in my bowl, placing it on the table.  I then picked up the remote and turned off the television.

            “Good morning,” I said.

            “I already said good morning, but you didn’t hear me.  It’s a bit early to be watching porn, don’t you think?” She sat in the chair and bent her legs up to her chest.

            “That wasn’t no porn.  That was a rap video.”

            “Call it whatever you’d like, but it looked like porn to me.”

            I left the situation alone. 

Anna looked down at the floor and I could tell she had something on her mind. I waited until she was ready to say what it was. Soon, she did.

“Is Jada prettier than me?” she asked.

“No,” I answered without hesitation.

“Than Ginger?”

“No.”

“So, she just has better sex with you than I do?”

I hesitated and then answered. “No.”

“I thought I asked you not to lie to me anyone.”

“Okay, then yes. Jada and me have good sex together.”

“Better than you and me?”

“You just asked that question.  I answered, and baby, it is what it is.  I’m not wanting you to be Jada, though.  I want you to be yourself.  I love you for who you are.”

She placed her feet on the floor and stood up.  She came over to where I was and lay on the couch while resting her head on my lap.  She looked up at me.

“When is the last time you told someone you loved them?”

“Five seconds ago.”

“I mean, before that.”

“Last night.”

She let out a sigh. “Before then.”

“Almost a week ago.”

“Who?”

“Desmon.”

“What about a female?”

“It’s been so long that I can’t remember.”

“So, you never told Ginger you loved her?”

“Never.  And that’s because I didn’t.  When I say those words, I mean them.”

Anna turned on her side, staring in front of her. “I’ve never said I love you to anyone before, other than to you and Antonio.  I truly mean it from the bottom of my heart and I hope you do as well.”

Again, I kept quiet.  I knew for damn sure that I didn’t say “I love you” to anybody unless I meant it. Thing is, though, I wasn’t going to spend my entire morning trying to convince Anna that I did. 

“Have you noticed I haven’t been to work since I’ve been here with you?”

“I didn’t even know—

“I got that job Ginger told me about at the nursing home.  I’m sure by now they’ve fired me.”

“Who cares,” I said. “I got plenty of money.”

“How do you get it?”

I didn’t answer, as our conversation was starting to sound all too familiar.  I had flashbacks from Candi’s and my conversations.

“What’s up with all the questions this morning?”

“I’ve just been thinking—a lot.  Thinking about how can you love me and you know so little about me.”

“I guess the same way you can love me and know so little about me.”

“I’m just trying to get to know you better.”

            When Desmon walked out of his room, he saved our conversation from going any further.  He limped into the living room like his leg was in dying pain. He stood up and rubbed up and down his leg.

            “Don’t come in here trying to make me feel sorry for you,” I said.  “You might wanna call and cuss Gabrielle out for not leaving here until damn near two in the morning.”

            “Her moms had to work late.  She couldn’t come get her until she got off work.”

            “Then, I suspect that all the overtime you put in must be why your leg hurt.”

            “You might have a point,” he said while nodding his head.

            “Both of you are crazy,” Anna said. “Have you talked to Antonio, Desmon?  I didn’t get a chance to talk to him yesterday.”

            “Yeah, he’s been over Michelle’s house since you told him not to go home.  I told that fool he might as well move in because he don’t never go home.”

            “Never,” Anna said. “I told him the same thing.”

            “What’s a young man to do when he’s in love?  Antonio’s been digging her since they were in third grade.”

            “He sure has.  And she’s a nice girl too.”

            Desmon cleared his throat, as if the statement Anna made wasn’t true.  When Anna pressed for more info, he pretended his leg was hurting from standing up and left the room.

            “You two have a lot in common,” she said.

            Before I could respond, the phone rang.  I didn’t get a chance to see who it was, before Anna grabbed it.  She didn’t recognize the name so she handed the phone to me.  It was Rufus.

            “Hello,” I said.

            “What did I tell you?” he yelled.

            My heart raced as Anna continued to lie on my lap. “About what?”

            “About your bitch, nigga!”

            “What about him,” I said, trying to play it off. I was so ready to break Anna’s fucking neck as she lay on my lap.

            “I told you to watch yo back, didn’t I?”

            I raised my voice. “Just get to the point!”

            Rufus laughed. “She all good. But, baby-girl used to be a BOOSTA! Way back when, she did two days in jail for shoplifting but for the most part she cool.  She also got a warrant out, though, for some unpaid tickets.  And lastly, my brotha, she did not finish high school.”

            “Straight,” I said. “That nigga got a good head on his shoulders, though.”

            “I do, don’t I.  Sometimes, dropouts like myself might have it like that.”

            “You the man,” I said. “You are no doubtfully the man. Thanks.”

            “Much love, Daddy O.  I’ll see ya in a bit.”

            Rufus hung up, and no doubt, I felt relieved about Anna.

            I had much to prepare for and little time to do it.  Since I had every intention of moving back to LA., I still had some unresolved issues with Ginger.  In addition, I wasn’t sure how I’d break the news to Desmon or Anna.  I wanted both of them to come with me, but I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be that easy.

            Anna was in the kitchen cleaning up, and Desmon had asked me to take him over to Michelle’s house where Antonio was.  I’d broke the bad news to him about his raggedy ass car and he had the nerve to ask me to buy him another one.  Even though I wanted to, there were so many other things I had to do with my money.