'Til Death (22 page)

              "Yo son, what’s good," I greeted. Everybody looked at me and Tosh.

              "Y’all came here together?" Ciara interrogated looking at us quizzically.

              "Yea," Tosh answered.

              "I thought you were going to Miami." Ciara pointed out.

              "I was, but my parents are out of town, so," Tosh explained. Ciara nodded her head and they looked at Lo. Tosh walked over and hugged Culprit.

              "I’m thirsty. You guys want to walk with me?" Lo asked Ciara and Tosh. They both nodded, and the women left the room.

              "They about to talk about us." Boan broke the silence first.

              "So, you and Tosh, huh?" Culprit asked.

I sat down and shook my head. "Naw. Not really."

              "You were talking all that shit." Boan said, while laughing.

              "Guess I had a change of heart." Actually, I know I did.

Tosh

              Last night I filled the girls in about me and Avery; well, the lack thereof, anyway. Then I was on my way to lunch with one of the people from my cases. I had to get to know her better to decide what was best for the young child; my opinion mattered in the court. They had not gone to trial, yet so I had an ample amount of time to interview the young woman. I met up with her downtown at a small restaurant. I looked at my file; the young woman’s name was Camille Adams. I’d seen her before, and she was a beautiful young woman. She attended Wayne State, in the nursing program. She had a nice steady income also. Camille walked into the restaurant and the waiter pointed at my table. She walked over, and she looked nervous.

              "Sorry if I’m late," Camille acknowledge, while sitting down.

              "Oh no, you're fine," I reassured her. We made small talk, and I was just getting to know her. I instantly took a liking to her. She told me everything. She didn’t want to hide anything from me, and I liked that. She told me about her father having an affair on her mother, and that was how her younger brother came about. Camille said that it had changed her relationship with her father, and how she was distant from her brother. Camille and her father were just beginning to renew their relationship when he died from a sudden heart attack. Camille even told me she had a previous abortion because the young man she was dealing with asked her to. I wanted her to meet my other friends.

              "The only problem I have is getting a good lawyer,"

              "I can help you with that. I want you to meet a friend of mine. I’m going to call her to join us, and my other best friend is also a lawyer." I told her. I called Ciara. Ciara didn’t live that far, and she told me she was on her way. We chatted until Ciara made her grand entrance. I saw Ciara walk into the place and I waved her over.

              "I was coming from downtown. I just enrolled Heaven in Cass." Ciara announced while walking over.

              "Our old playing grounds." I couldn't help smile thinking about the memories. I introduced Camille and Ciara, and they immediately hit it off.

              "My younger brother Dakota just got accepted to Cass Tech." Camille responded.

              "Good. I’ll tell my daughter to be on the lookout for him." Ciara told her.

              "All you need to meet now is Lo, our lawyer friend who I was telling you about earlier."

              "I’ll be honored," Camille retorted while smiling. It looked like we got a new girl in our clique.

Culprit

              Two weeks had passed, and I was finally getting out of the damn hospital. I was waiting on Lo to come and get me. I would be staying with her, of course, and I didn’t have any complaints. We talked, and we were willing to work on us. I loved her to death and I wanted to marry her. She held me down while I was in the hospital, and every time I woke up, she was the first person I saw. She was my spine when I couldn’t stand up, and I needed that. My door opened, and I thought it was Lo. I was wrong.

              "Officer Smith, or Kevin, how can I help you?" I asked Officer Pain-In-My-Ass.

              ''Culprit, you looking better." Kevin, didn’t sound like he meant that.

              "I feel better."

              "That’s good to hear. So, who shot you?" I looked at him. I knew who shot me, but I planned on handling that myself.

              "I don’t know. They shot me in my back first, and when I did see the dude, he had on a ski-mask."

              "So you don’t have any enemies that come to mind?" He leaned against the wall, looking at me like he knew I was lying.

              "I mean, it is a coincidence that I get shot right after our little fight at the ball, don’t you think?" I said, smirking at him.

              "What are you implying?"

              "I’m not
implying
anything Officer Smith. I’m just stating
facts
."

              "Facts?" Kevin repeated while standing straight.

              "Yes, facts. Like, it’s a fact that I beat you in everything. I even got the woman that you proposed to, but yet I’m trash, I’m nothing. Funny, you shouldn't underestimate the underdog, wouldn’t you say?"

              "Well if we are stating facts, then let’s get one thing clear, shall we? While you were in here dying, I was fucking the woman I proposed to; that me and you both know so well. What’s her name? Lo, right? Yea, Lo. While you were in here full of bullets, she was at my place, full of my dick. That is fact, and yes Culprit, you should not underestimate the fucking underdog." Officer Smith turned around and walked out. I was heated. He had to be lying. I sat there looking stupid as hell. I was in there dying, and that bitch was fucking Officer Smith. I heard the door open, and I looked up. It was Lo.

              "Hey, you ready to go?" Lo asked me, smiling.

              "Did you fuck Officer Smith?" I asked.

Lo looked startled. "Wh . . . what?" Lo whispered.

              "While I was in here, did you fuck him?"

              "Culprit, I . . ." Lo begin to stammer.

              "It’s a yes or no answer," I said. She didn’t say anything. Tears started running down her face, and I shook my head.

              "Man, get the fuck out, I’ll find my own way home."

              "Culprit I’m sorry. It was a mistake."

              "Man, get the fuck outta here with that bullshit Lorean. I don’t want to hear it." I barked at her, clencing my chest because the vibration hurt my wounds.

              "After all the shit you put me through in the past, really?" Lo tried to reason.

              "You wasn’t fucking dying doe. Nobody shot yo ass up. I was in here practically on my fucking deathbed, and you trying to justify what you did,"I felt tears coming down my face. She had hurt me for real this time, and I wasn’t going back.

              "Lorean, I don’t want to see you, talk to you, and be around you; none of that shit. As of this moment, right now, you're dead to me, and that’s real fucking talk. Out of all the people that fucked me over, including my parents, I never thought you would be on the list too," I said.

Lo turned around and walked out of the hospital. Everything had just changed.

Boan

              I was with Avery, and we were meeting with this building contractor about a place that I wanted for my restaurant. We pulled up, and the door to the building was already opened. Av said that he had worked with the contractor before, and said they were about business. I got out and walked into the building. I was expecting a man, but she was far from that. The chick was bad. She had a peanut butter complexion with some long-ass hair. Her body was fit and right, and that ass was glorious. I wanted to yell out, “Goddamn!” She looked me up and down, and I did the same to her.

              "Hello, you must be Barren," she said, while extending her hand. I took her soft, delicate hand in mine and noticed that she didn’t have a ring on.

              "Yes. You can call me Boan. And you are?"

              "Ashley Jamison." She licked her lips and gave me a quick once over.

              "The oh-so-great building contractor," Av said, while walking in. Av walked over to her and hugged her.

              "How you been?" Av asked her.

              "Good, I’m happy you called. I’ve been looking forward to this," Ashley said. We chatted about what I wanted, and she said that she had great ideas for the construction. I couldn’t stop looking at her. Ashley looked at my left hand and saw my wedding ring. We exchanged numbers and parted ways.

              "Yo Av, you use to mess with her?" I asked him.

              "No, but trust me, it cross my mind, but I don’t mix business with pleasure. But she is bad."

              "Hell yea." I agreed remembering her body.

              "Don’t forget you married my dude," Av said. I only nodded my head, because Ashley made me want to forget. Av dropped me off at my crib. I walked up to the driveway and saw Heaven sitting on the porch with some young nigga.

              "Aye," I said. I walked up to them and he stood up.

              "Who are you?" I asked, while looking at him. He had a basketball in his hand and his arms and chest were covered in tatts.

              "Umm," he stumbled in speech, while looking back and forth between me and Heaven.

              "How old are you and where you live at?" I asked. He looked at Heaven.

I snapped my fingers at him. "Up here, little nigga,"

              "Boan," Heaven groaned.

              "Heaven, go in the house and tell your mom to get ready for the festival. I’m going to walk our new friend home." I put my arm over the young boy’s shoulders and we began to walk.

              "You gone answer any of my questions?"

              "Yes sir. My name is King, and I live two houses down, where that basketball rim is." He rushed out.

              "Age?"

              "Fifteen."

              "School?"

              "Cass Tech."

              "Let me walk you home. Don't want you to get hurt out here." I turned him away from my house and gave him a little shove. I walked him to his house. I knocked on his door, and his dad answered. To my surprise, I recognized his father.

              "Luke?" I asked.

              "Boan, my mans, what’s up. I didn’t know you were the new neighbors. How is your wife?"

              "Wait, you’re Boan? As in Boan and Culprit, and your wife is Ciara?" King asked.

              "Yea, anyway, your son here was trying to flirt with my step daughter." I gave his son a hard tap on the back.

              "That little rumor about Ciara having a hidden kid is true." Luke commented. Luke was the first man I ever worked for and he was my only father figure. I had mad respect for him. He was a drug-dealing legend, and he had shown me and Culprit the ropes.

              "Yea, I’m happy you stay over here. We got to catch up,"

He nodded his head, and we exchanged numbers. I walked back to my house and went in. I looked at Heaven and smiled at her. She just shook her head at me. I walked upstairs, and Ciara was looking in the mirror. Her ass and breast were filling out, but you couldn’t tell she was pregnant yet. The doctor had given her some prenatal vitamins to take. Ciara had on a purple sun dress. I walked up behind her and looked at her in the mirror.

              "Don’t rush me Boan, I’m getting ready," Ciara snapped. She stood straight up. I pulled her against me and wrapped my arms around her waist. I placed my hands on her stomach and rubbed my growing baby.

              "I love you," I whispered in her ear and kissed her neck.

              "I love you more babes," She turned around and kissed me on my lips. She wiped my lips because she had left lip gloss on them.

              "Boan, if something ever happened to me, I want you to take care of Heaven," Ciara said, looking at me.