Wifey 4 Life (8 page)

“Fionna, how old are you?” I asked her, changing the subject.

“I’m twenty-one. Why?”

“What do you do besides work here?”

“I take classes at TCC in the evening.”

“Good. Stay in school and keep working, honey, because men will
come and go. And tomorrow is never promised. As long as you live by those two rules,
you will be all right.”

“You know what’s so funny?”

“No. What is it?”

“I grew up wanting to be just like Sunshine because she had everything
a woman could ever want. Her car was nice, and her apartment was laced with the
most expensive leather furniture. She even had all the top designers’ clothing in
her closet. When Chanel came out with a new handbag and the shoes to match, Sunshine
made sure she got it before anyone else got it. And what made her stick out in a
crowd was, she had a body to die for. She could’ve had any man she wanted, and she
knew it.

“But when the police came to my mama’s house that night and told
us they found her naked body shot up underneath the sheets of a bed that belonged
to some guy named Quincy, I was devastated. And from that very day, I looked at
her differently. She was no longer my idol. She reminded me of a prostitute, and
that wasn’t how I wanted to live my life. It was bad enough that she caught that
fed charge for stashing all Ricky’s drugs inside her new salon, but then to come
home from jail and get caught up in some more mess behind a guy my family had never
met blew our minds. We weren’t ready for that.”

“I’m sure y’all weren’t. But you’ve got to remember that our
lives are already planned. And all we’re supposed to do is walk down the path marked
for us.”

“Yeah, I heard my mama saying something like that before, but
I still think we can stop things from happening.”

“I believe that too.”

She smiled at me. “I don’t know why Sunshine said she didn’t
like you, because you seem cool to me.”

Just then a bell went off inside the merchant machine. She and
I both looked down and realized the machine was finally working, so she processed
my transaction and gave me a copy of the receipt. I moved to the side and allowed
her to take care of the other customers.

When my order came up, she signaled for me to come back up to
the counter area. She handed me a small white bag with my sandwich inside, and then
she handed me my sweet iced tea. Before I turned to leave, she leaned over the counter
and said, “Take care of yourself.”

I gave her a half-smile. “And you do the same,” I told her, and
then I left.

When I got back across the street, I headed back to Tony’s car.
He was sitting in the driver’s seat. I got inside the car and let out a loud sigh.

He looked at me. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Tony turned the key to start the car and drove out of the lot.

I turned my head to look out the passenger side window and
instantly thought back on everything Fionna had said about Sunshine. It was funny
how life threw curve balls at you when you least expected it. Fionna had admired
Sunshine all her life, but the day Sunshine no longer reigned supreme and was caught
with her pants down, Fionna saw her for what she truly was.

Tony merged back on the road and headed down Tidewater Drive
toward Princess Anne Road. The whole drive to his next destination was done in complete
silence. The traffic was somewhat congested, but Tony maneuvered his way through
it, and before I even realized it, we were sitting at a red light at the corner
of Tidewater Drive and St. Julian, right near the Huntersville subdivision.

While Tony proceeded to his destination, all sorts of thoughts
ran through my mind. I was starting to get anxious, and was ready to get out of
Virginia. Listening to the CD by The Game that he was playing only made me even
more uptight. Every lyric talked about murdering somebody, chopping up their bodies,
and sending their remains to their families. And Tony was bopping his head to the
beat.

I tried desperately to block it out and slip into another zone,
but it didn’t work. Thankfully, his cell started ringing, so he had to turn down
the volume to hear the caller.

“I’m right around the corner,” he said. “I’ll be there in a minute
. . . Ai’ght, I can do that.”

After ending the call, Tony pressed down on the accelerator.
I didn’t know where he was going, but wherever it was, I knew he was trying to beat
the time he had given that person. I sat there quietly thinking about how badly
I couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel, but to make that happen, I had to get
back to Tony’s apartment to pick up my rental.

After several turns Tony finally pulled over to the side of B
Avenue in front of this old, run-down house. It was the fifth house from the corner,
and it stood out among the rest of homes. As I looked at the house, it reminded
me of a stash house Ricky used to have. Old houses like this never attracted the
police because they looked abandoned. The only way a cop would run up in a spot
like this particular one was if someone ratted it out. Other than that, anyone who
managed to set up shop would make tons of dough without any interruptions.

I watched Tony park his car and turn off the ignition. He looked
over at me and said, “Come on. Let’s go.”

Caught off guard, I looked back at him. “Where are we going?”

“Inside my homeboy’s house.”

I turned my head to look at the house, and then I turned back
around to look at Tony. “You have got to be kidding!” I said. “I am not stepping
foot inside that house. It looks just like a crackhouse.”

“Kira, it ain’t no crackhouse.”

“Well, if it isn’t a crackhouse, then it’s got to be a stash
house, because I can’t see somebody living there.” I took another look at the house,
and then I looked back at Tony.

“Look, I don’t know what else to tell you, but I do know that
I’m gon’ be in there for a spell, so if you want to sit in the car and take the
chance of getting struck by one of these niggas’ stray bullets, then that’s on you.”
He then got out of the car and slammed the driver’s door.

I thought about what he said for a brief second and realized
that he might be right for a change. I was in the heart of Huntersville where niggas
would put a pistol up to their own brother’s head if they had to, so how would I
be able to escape that? The fear of losing my life came crashing down on me really
heavy. Not to mention, I couldn’t risk someone else recognizing me. That would definitely
be suicidal. So, without saying another word, I opened the passenger side door,
hopped out of the car, and closed the door behind me.

After we climbed all nine steps that connected to the front porch,
Tony rushed toward the front door.

A tall, slim, brown-skinned chick opened the door and stood in
the doorway waiting for Tony and me to enter the house. Once we were inside, she
closed the door behind us.

I stood there beside Tony and waited to see what he would do
next. She looked at him and greeted him. “What’s up?”

I thought she would’ve acknowledged me by saying hello or giving
me a nod, but she didn’t look my way. I purposely cleared my throat and said hello,
but she acted as if I didn’t exist.

After she locked the front door she told Tony to follow her.
Like the caboose on a train, I trotted behind them. The hallway wasn’t too long,
but it looked really creepy. We walked on old hardwood floors that felt worn-out
and very loose. I thought a couple of the boards were going to give out on us, so
I tried to tread lightly.

Finally we entered a back room, where two big black guys sat
at a round table counting a massive amount of money. They had to be high school
football players in their earlier years, because both of those guys reminded me
of the late, great Bernie Mac, except one had a bald head, and the other one had
long dreadlocks. From what I could see, they both wore dark-colored jeans, black
hoodies, and black Nike boots.

“Today looks like payday to me.” Tony commented.

Both men smiled at Tony but didn’t say a word. I thought it was
really weird that no one wanted to talk. I felt uncomfortable as I stood beside
Tony. I wanted him to take care of what he had to do, so we could leave.

“Kira, you can have a seat if you want to,” he told me.

I took a quick glimpse at the raggedy, old sofa he told me to
sit on and told him that I was fine standing up.

“You sure? Because I’m gon’ be here at least twenty minutes.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” I assured him, my feet glued to where I was
standing.

The chick who had opened the front door left the room. I heard
her walk back down the hallway and then head upstairs. Then Tony walked over to
the table and stood beside one of the guys.

I watched and waited for Tony to hand them something, but he
didn’t. Instead he held out his hand, and the baldheaded guy handed him a large
sum of cash. From what I could see, Tony must’ve been given at least five grand.
Every bill he had in his hand was either a fifty- or hundred-dollar bill. I couldn’t
see Tony’s expression because his back was to me, but I knew he must have been extremely
happy. During all the years I had known him, I knew he had never held that much
money in his hands at one time. I was sure he felt like he’d won the lottery.

As he stood at the table counting his money, I heard footsteps
coming down the stairs. I knew it was the chick coming back downstairs, so I didn’t
bother to turn around. I wanted to keep my eyes on Tony and these two overgrown
rejects posted up before me.

The footsteps grew louder, so I knew it would be only a matter
of seconds before she graced the room once again with her presence. I heard her
steps draw closer as she put one foot in front of the other, but then all of a sudden
she stopped.

I felt her presence behind me, but I didn’t know how close she
was. My curiosity went into overdrive as I wondered why she’d come to an abrupt
stop. I forced myself not to turn around, because I didn’t want to seem like I was
being nosy. But I couldn’t help myself. I had to find out what she was doing.

Just as I got up the nerve to turn around, I got a glimpse of
a black piece of fabric. I knew it wasn’t something attached to the wall because
I would have seen it when I first came into the house. So what was it? I turned
my head to the right to see what this black thing looming over me was.

Without any warning, everything around me turned pitch-black.
I realized my head had just been covered with a dark, cotton bag. I panicked and
tried to pull the bag off my head. “What the fuck is going on?” I screamed. “Take
this shit off me! Tony, help me!”

No one responded. The next thing I knew, I was struck in the
back of my head with some heavy object and knocked out cold.

I
was tired of being hit in my fucking head. It hadn’t been two
months since my cousin Nikki and Fatu’ had knocked me out and had me tied up in
a fucking warehouse. And now here I was again being held against my will. I couldn’t
see a damn thing, but I knew there were at least three people in the room with me.
My head was still covered with the same black bag, and my mouth was covered with
some kind of tape. They must have taped my mouth while I was unconscious so that,
when I regained consciousness, I wouldn’t blow up their spot by yelling and screaming.

I tried to move a little bit, because I wanted whoever was in
the room to know I was indeed conscious. I actually had to use the bathroom, and
I wanted to see if they would remove the cover from my head. I turned my head from
left to right so I could get their attention.

I didn’t know who was talking, but one of the guys said, “She’s
up.” His voice was a very deep baritone.

I noticed he had a Southern accent. He sounded like he was born
and raised in Virginia. I played his voice over and over in my mind to see if I
recognized it, but I kept coming up empty-handed. I tried moving my feet, but they
were taped too.

“Whatcha think we should do with her?” he asked.

“Just leave her ass where she’s at! It ain’t like she can get
up and go somewhere,” another male voice replied.

“Yeah, nigga, I guess your dumb ass is right!” the first guy
said, laughing.

The humor made me sick to my stomach, but I guess they were in
a position to laugh since their life wasn’t hanging in the balance. I would have
given away my life savings to be in their shoes right then. Having three against
one made me realize that the odds were against me. I couldn’t believe I was right
back where I’d started. I could never seem to get my life right. I could kick myself
for coming back to Virginia. I knew it was a bad idea to fly there, but, nah, I
listened to my uncle and came anyway.

I guess all the times I’d cheated death had caught up with me.
Sitting there waiting for the inevitable was something really scary. I had no idea
who was going to take my life, but I knew it would be sometime soon.

The urge to use the bathroom got more and more intense. I started
to say fuck it and urinate on myself, but the thought of humiliating myself before
I took my last breath made me decide against it. I continued to move my head back
and forth to see if I could get someone’s attention, and this time it finally worked.

The sack was pulled off my head and I was greeted by the big,
husky, baldhead guy. The light in the room suddenly blinded me. I closed my eyes
tightly to allow my eyes time to get readjusted. When I opened my eyes again, I
looked this guy straight in his eyes. I tried desperately to talk while I had my
mouth taped up, but all it sounded like was loud mumbling. A few seconds later,
he snatched off the tape.

“Ouch!” I screamed. The pain was agonizing. And the fucked- up
thing about it was, I couldn’t use my hands to massage my mouth because they were
tied behind my back. At that moment I remembered that I had a utility knife in the
side pocket of my purse. If only I could find my purse, I would be able to free
myself.