Trife Life To Lavish Part 2 Genesis & Genevieve...Am I My Brother's Keeper (5 page)

Maya sat quietly with a childlike expression on her
face. With her make-up free face and hair loosely pulled
back in a high school cheerleader ponytail, it was easy to
understand how her father could be swindled by her lies.
Convincing was an understatement for Maya's deception.
From day one she played the victim with Quentin and it
had worked brilliantly. He truly believed that Maya had
simply been a puppet for Mike, Devon and Supreme,
when in all actuality she was the puppet master.

"It means so much to me that you're in my corner.
I promise you, that if I do get out of this hell hole, I will
do everything possible to be the daughter you deserve and
make you proud of me."

"You will get out and when you do, we will put this
nightmare behind you once and for all."

Nichelle was lost in her own world and hadn't noticed the cab had come to a stop. It wasn't until simultaneously
her cell started ringing and the cab driver was asking for his
money that she realized they had arrived at the boutique in
Soho.

"Just a minute," she said to the cab driver before
answering her phone. "Hello."

"I need to see you." Nichelle's heart dropped when
she heard the familiar voice.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for
your call?"

"Miss, I need my money!" the driver spewed, speaking
in broken English.

"I'm sorry." Nichelle rummaged through her purse,
trying to locate her wallet while firmly holding on to her
phone. She didn't want to take any chances of accidentally
disconnecting from her call. She quickly paid the cab driver
and got out.

"Where are you?"

"In Soho, where are you?" There was a long awkward silence. "Renny, after all this time you decide to call
me but you can't tell me where you're at?"

"I'm in New York. Can I see you?"

"How long have you been here?"

"I can answer all your questions when I see you. So
can I see you?"

"When?"

"How about now, I'm not too far from Soho."

"I have a fitting I have to do right now. It'll probably
take a couple of hours."

"A fitting... that's right, how can I forget you're a mod el now" From the monotone of Renny's voice, Nichelle
couldn't tell if he was mocking or acknowledging what her
new career was.

"Can you wait until I'm done, or..."

"I can wait," Renny said, quickly cutting her off. "I'll
call you back in a couple of hours and we can decide where
to meet."

"Okay, I'll talk to you then." Nichelle kept the
phone to her mouth for a few seconds longer not wanting the call to end. It seemed like an eternity since she
had contact with Renny and hanging up the phone made
her afraid that it would be another eternity before she
would hear his voice again.

"Genesis, come in," Mrs. Washington said, as he
stepped inside their home. Each time he did so, he would
have flashbacks to the first time Talisa brought him over to
meet her parents. It seemed like life couldn't get any more
perfect than it was at that time.

"How have you been?"

"As well as can be expected but having Amir here
always makes it better."

"Where is the little fella?"

"He's not so little anymore. But he's outside in the
back with Jeffrey. That little boy sure brings out the kid in
him. It gives him an excuse to act completely childish," she
laughed.

"I know what you mean. I catch myself acting the
same way with Amir."

"Yeah, I can't wait to tell Talisa how when we were
at the park the other day, Amir grabbed this boy's..." Mrs.
Washington's voice trailed off after catching herself. "I
apologize. Sometimes I find myself speaking of Talisa as if
she's still alive."

"There's no need to apologize."

"Do you know when the doorbell rings I often believe
I'll open the door and she'll be standing there, greeting
me with her jubilant, wide smile. Nobody had a smile like
Talisa's. She could make the gloomiest day bright with her
smile."

"I know, you're right."

"Amir has her smile. He has her warmth and loving
spirit too." Genesis could see the tears swelling up in Mrs.
Washington's eyes and this was the very reason he hated
having to see them. Talisa's presence was on full wattage
the moment you stepped inside their home. All the work
it took for Genesis to suppress his pain from losing Talisa
was brought right back to the surface when having to face
her mother and father.

"Daddy," Genesis heard Amir scream out, bringing
some closure to an uncomfortable moment. Amir ran
towards his father and Genesis lifted him up, desperately
needing the positive energy that consumed him every time
he held his son.

"How are you, Mr. Washington?"

"Well," he said, with a slight nod.

"Amir, don't you want that ice cream sundae I promised
you.

"Yes grandpa!"

"Your grandmother is going to take you to the kitchen
to get it."

"That's right, now follow me. First one to the kitchen
gets a cherry on top." Genesis put Amir down and watched
as he tried to beat his grandmother to the kitchen. He
was so full of life and unaware of what he'd lost. Genesis
couldn't help but think that maybe it was better that way.
He would never want his son to feel the heartache that each
of them harbored every day.

"Have you come any closer to finding out who
murdered my daughter?" Mr. Washington asked, once his
wife and grandson were completely out of view.

"No, I'm still working on it."

"I don't believe you're working hard enough."

"Excuse me?"

"It's been how long now, and still nothing! Or do you
have so many enemies that you can't decide which one
gunned down your wife in cold blood."

"I understand your anger but never question if
I'm doing everything necessary to make sure the person
responsible for Talisa's death is punished."

"I just know as time passes we can forget about lost
loved ones, especially when we replace them with new
ones.

"No one will ever replace Talisa. And I promise
whoever murdered her will pay the ultimate price."

"I'm counting on that. My daughter deserves justice
and you better make sure she gets it. If not, you'll have to
answer to me."

Nichelle didn't have time to relish in the fabulous outfits
she was being fitted for because the only thing on her mind,
better yet person on her mind was Renny. There were a ton
of questions she wanted to ask him and the sooner they
hooked up the quicker it would happen.

"How much longer do you think we'll be?" She looked
at the time and the two hour mark had passed. Although
Renny hadn't called yet she believed he would and wanted
to make sure she was available when he did.

"You have one more outfit to try on and then we're
done."

"Cool."

"Were there any outfits that you wanted to keep for
yourself?" the perky, extra petite red head inquired.

"No, I'm good but thanks."

"Really? Most of the models that come through here,
we have to check their bags before they leave. Never have
we had someone turn down free clothes."

"The clothes are cute but this stuff isn't really my
style," Nichelle explained, sizing up what appeared to be
alien nation inspired threads that were strictly meant to
appear on runways and magazine ads, not the streets.

"I totally get it but let me know if you change your
mind." Just then Nichelle heard her cell ringing.

"Hold on a minute. I need to get that call!"

"Sure." Nichelle couldn't free herself fast enough.

"Hello."

"Are you finished?" Nichelle let out a deep sigh
realizing it wasn't Renny on the other end of the phone. It
was Akil. "Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, ignore the heavy breathing. I'm trying to
fight off this headache I feel coming on."

"Maybe it's a hunger headache. How `bout I pick you
up and take you to dinner..." there was complete stillness
on the phone. "Nichelle, are you there?"

"Hold on one second, someone's beeping in..., hello."

"Did I catch you at a bad time?" Nichelle couldn't
help as a smile spread across her face from hearing Renny's
voice.

"No."

"Good, so are you done handling your business?"

"I will be done in about fifteen more minutes."

"Can you meet me at Blue Ribbon in say, thirty minutes?"

"Where's Blue Ribbon?"

"In Soho. I think the address is 97 Sullivan Street."

"Okay, I'll see you there." Nichelle clicked back over
to the other line and Akil was still waiting. "Sorry about that."

"No problem, so are we on for dinner?"

"I would but this headache is starting to really creep
up on me. I'ma go home and take a couple Excedrin PM
and sleep this off."

"Yeah, you do that. I'll call you tomorrow. Feel better."

"Thanks." Nichelle didn't like lying to Akil but there
was a part of her life that she kept hidden from him, which
included Renny. He knew that she was a young girl from
the hood that he pulled out of oblivion. She had confided
in him that her mother had died but he was unaware of
the circumstances surrounding her death. Nor did he know
about her trying to find out what happened to her best
friend Tierra and her brother Genesis. Those were secrets
Nichelle planned not to ever share with him.