Pretty Kings II Read online

  This was a complete nightmare. I shook my head and lowered it. He wasn’t going anywhere and I knew it now for sure. If I called the cops I would be the white woman who fucked a black man and yelled rape. I could also be arrested. But if I didn’t say anything he would take up too much time and I wouldn’t be able to call Camp. I was conflicted.

  “What did your mother say over me?” I asked him.

  “She invoked the LOA Captain Debas spirit. He was a good person who stood for family. Essentially she is saying that we are going to be together, forever, until we both die. And if I should die before you, your soul will quickly follow mine.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  DENIM

  My vacation was over early but it seemed like it took us forever to get back home. I still can’t believe that my stupid, irresponsible-ass mother let Jasmine swallow a pen top because she wasn’t watching her.

  All she said was, “You gotta come home now!”

  Had it not been for Bambi going to make sure she was okay I would be a nervous wreck. They were able to get the top out of her throat right after she choked, luckily for her. Bambi asked me did I want her to pick Jasmine up but I said I would be back the next day so she was fine there.

  I was sitting outside in the car with my husband. From the passenger seat, under the night sky, I glanced over at the house I bought for my mother in the suburbs of Maryland. The funny thing is I didn’t even have a house of my own. For some reason the eight of us (The Kennedy Klan) felt more comfortable living together even though I wasn’t sure how long that would last.

  Unlike my sisters I wanted to be alone with my husband. I wanted to see how it would be to have our own spot. But when I brought it up to Bradley he said that instead of moving away from the family he would rather buy a bigger mansion. A place so large that we wouldn’t have to see the others unless we wanted to.

  I was sitting in the passenger seat looking at my mother’s house, and I wanted nothing more than to go inside and choke the shit out of her for almost killing my daughter. I knew myself though. Once I started the violent streak there was no stopping me.

  “Baby, I don’t want you to go in there and let them set you off,” Bradley said placing a soft hand on my thigh. “You have to be smart when you dealing with your people. You know how it is.”

  “That’s easy for you to say.”

  “What you talking ‘bout?”

  “You don’t have to deal with them like I do. They’re my selfish ass family and they’re my problem.”

  “That’s because you make it that way.”

  “I’m serious, Bradley. It’s like I do everything I can for my mother and she can’t do anything right for me. I’m sick of this shit. I mean look at the house she living in.” I looked at the five hundred thousand dollar brick home. “I bought that for her but does she appreciate it? Fuck no.”

  “If you tired of being used then stop it. I mean what else do you want me to say? I agree with you, but I also hear this all the time. One minute you tired of your mother but the next minute she needs you and you drop everything and go. Stop letting her use you, baby.”

  I exhaled and looked down at his hand. “But she’s my mother,” I said in a whisper. “And I love her.”

  He removed his hand and leaned back into the driver’s seat. The leather groaned. “Denim, I don’t know why you feel just because she’s your mother that you have to eat her shit. You my wife and —”

  “You don’t have to deal with this,” I finished his sentence. I looked over at him. “I know that’s true. I just want my mother to realize how much I love her and I want her to start appreciating me.”

  “She’s not going to appreciate you unless you give her a reason to. You have to set your bottom lines and stick by them, babes.” He rubbed my face with the back of his hand. “I wish I could take this pressure off you, Denim. Tell me what I can do.”

  I looked over at my husband. When he said he loved me I believed him. I felt it whenever he was in the room. I often spent days wondering why he loved me so much. I don’t think he really knew. Whenever I asked him he said he wasn’t sure, but something told me we were together in a past life and reunited in this one.

  “Just you being here with me is all I need, baby.” I squeezed his hand. “I don’t know who I would be if you weren’t in my life. It’s like our souls are connected.”

  “I hear you talking that fly shit,” he joked.

  “I’m serious. All I need is you.”

  He looked over at the house and I followed his gaze. “Denim, you know I’m not going anywhere. Not even a death threat could keep me away. Trust me. But look, before we go inside I wanna say something. Don’t let Grainger or your mother get you out of character.”

  “Bradley, I’m not trying to—”

  “You hear me?” he yelled interrupting me.

  He looked into my eyes and I had to admit I’m a tough bitch but I loved when he was in control. I felt safe.

  “I hear you,” I said submitting.

  He exhaled again. “Good.” He rubbed my thigh again. “Well let’s get this shit over with so we can enjoy the rest of our night.”

  We got out of the car and I dragged my feet to the house. I used my key and entered, my husband was right behind me. The moment the door opened the smell of funk hit my face. When I looked down I was disgusted. There were large green trash bags lined up against the wall, lint on the plush gray carpet and dirty clothes everywhere my eyes could land. How could my mother and sister treat a luxury home like a dumpster?

  “What the fuck is up with your moms?” Bradley asked. “I thought our maid came over here once a week to clean up their spot too.”

  “I guess she hasn’t been able to get in.”

  All I could do was shake my head. If she wanted to live in the projects, I could grant her wish and send her back.

  I walked toward the back of the house and Grainger was bending the corner holding my daughter’s hand. Grainger’s hair was sectioned in tiny black twists and I could tell she was trying to dread her hair like mine. Anything to be like me I guess. The white t-shirt she was wearing was stained with brown spots and she was sporting a pair of holey, dark blue sweatpants. She looked a hot ass mess. I guess she was still fucking with that heroin after all.

  I quickly grabbed my daughter and gave her to Bradley. He picked her up and hugged her before placing her back down. Jasmine babbled like she normally does since she is autistic. Although recently we took her to a new doctor who changed her meds and we noticed a slight difference in her behavior, she still wasn’t interacting with me like I wanted. The new doctor said we should see an even greater change soon. I hoped he was right.

  I focused back on Grainger. “Where ma at?” I looked behind her.

  She placed her hands on her hips before folding her arms over her chest. “She not here. And it’s about time you got here to pick up Jasmine. I had something to do you know. It ain’t like you paying me to babysit.”

  I frowned. I told my mother I didn’t want my daughter being alone with Grainger. I didn’t trust her. Why should I? She was angry that I was with Bradley, her ex-boyfriend, and she resented our marriage. God only knew what she would do to my baby.

  “For your information I didn’t want to watch her either. It’s not my fault ma got up with one of her boyfriends.”

  Every time she opened her mouth I could see her fucked up teeth, I guess from all of the years of doing dope.

  “Why the fuck would she leave?” I said to no one in particular. “I told her I was on my way. And why did she leave Jasmine by herself. She’s only five and she’s autistic. What the fuck was on her mind?”

  “You know how ma is when she gets a new dick. She jumps on it.”

  “Watch your language in front of my daughter,” Bradley told her. “If my mouth looked like yours I wouldn’t say much.”

  She gave him a long, evil look. In that moment I could tell she hated him for what he took away from her and the lif
e he provided for me. But Bradley was never meant for her and although it was wrong we were happily in love.

  Still he hit her where it hurt the most when he brought up her mouth. She was self-conscious about her missing teeth and he knew it.

  “My bad, Bradley,” she said sarcastically. She tried to pull her top lip down as she spoke to hide her teeth. “I forgot how you feel about your precious little baby.”

  “Grainger, why you so ignorant?” I asked. “If you hate me so much why are you living in the house that I bought? Go out in the world and do you. Trust me, nobody here will stop you.”

  “This ma’s house. Not yours.”

  “Bitch, my name is on this mortgage. And I allowed you to stay here with her if you took care of her.” I looked around at the filth. “Yet the house is a mess and my daughter almost died.”

  Grainger laughed. “You are so fucking dry, Denim. You always coming at me about that retarded ass baby of yours. Can’t nobody fuck up that kid more than it’s fucked up already.”

  By the time I went to grab her and snatch some sense into her I saw a blur roll past the side of my face. It was Bradley’s fist and it landed directly on my sister’s mouth. Grainger dropped to the floor and I could tell she didn’t have control of her lower mouth because her tongue rolled around outside her mouth.

  Oh my God! I think Bradley just cracked her jaw.

  CHAPTER NINE

  RACE

  I stood in front of my floor length mirror wearing my yellow lace bra and panty set. I was watching Ramirez and Carey kiss in the bed. First he was asking me how I felt about her and the next minute he was team Carey again. I was confused. We’d just finished fucking before I got the call that Scarlett had the baby. I was about to tell him about his nephew being born but he was occupied.

  As I was sliding into my jeans Carey said, “Race, please come back to bed. We were just getting started.”

  I grinned. “I can’t fuck with it now. My sister just called and said she had her baby.”

  “Oh snap, Scarlett had the kid?” Ramirez said finally coming up for air. “I know Camp gonna be flipping.”

  “Yep.” I nodded.

  “Want me to roll with you?”

  I appreciated him asking but Scarlett was firm about not bringing the fellas.

  “I got it, baby. I’ll hit you later.”

  I didn’t know what was going on with her but I had plans to find out. I kissed both of them, grabbed my purse and my gun and walked out.

  ****

  When I made it to the hospital parking lot and got out of my Porsche I saw Denim and Jasmine rushing toward the entrance. She was in a hurry and I didn’t understand why. Scarlett already had the baby so what was going on? Her energy put me on edge because I knew something was up.

  I walked up to her right before she made it to Scarlett’s room and said, “You cool?”

  “It’s a long story, Race.” She turned around to continue walking down the hall. “I’ll rap to you about it later.”

  I snatched her by the arm and pulled her back around. “Bitch, tell me what’s going on now. How you gonna do that shit to me? You know how bad my nerves are. What’s up with you?”

  “Let’s just say Grainger is in another room in this hospital because Bradley broke her jaw.”

  I released her arm and my mouth hung open. She walked ahead of me and I looked at her as I shook my head. I didn’t know Bradley to have a violent side. He seemed to be all Denim and no hate. I guess I was wrong.

  Although I can’t justify no nigga hitting no bitch, I know what kind of mouth Grainger is working with. I almost bust her in the teeth a few times myself when I heard the slick shit she said behind Denim’s back.

  When the three of us made it to Scarlett’s hospital room I saw Ngozi and Bambi inside. I hugged Scarlett and read her face like it was a newspaper. It didn’t take me long to realize what was going on. This nigga was unwanted and she didn’t know how to get rid of him. I guess that’s where we came in.

  I walked up to him and said, “We appreciate you coming out, Ngozi, and being there for her while she had the baby, but we got her from here.”

  “I’m good,” he said in a heavy African accent. “I don’t mind staying.”

  Let me be clear on a few things. I never fucked with this dude. In my opinion he mooched off of Scarlett and took advantage of the fact that she was lonely and pregnant. But what could I say when I was bedding a husband and a mistress every night?

  “She’s right,” Bambi said coming in on his right, as Denim caught the left and I stood tall in his face. “You can leave. Family is in the building now.”

  When he acted like he was about to get fly with Bambi I stabbed the barrel of my gun in his crotch.

  “I know you not about to say nothing you gonna regret,” I warned him. “It would be a wrong move. For you and any future children you desire to have.”

  He looked at me, Bambi, Denim and then Scarlett. He walked out without saying a word. The fact that he said nothing made me worry but I knew we could deal with him later if he got out of hand.

  I walked over to the bed. “How you feeling?” I asked Scarlett holding her pale hand inside of mine.

  “Not good at all.”

  “What the fuck is up with dude?” Denim asked as Jasmine stuffed the edge of Scarlett’s bed sheet in her mouth before Bambi took it out. “Why Ngozi acting all weird and shit?”

  “I’m not feeling him no more and I don’t know what to say to him,” Scarlett replied. She seemed frustrated.

  “Tell him it’s over,” I said. “It ain’t rocket science.”

  She sighed. “It’s not that easy.”

  “Why isn’t it?” Bambi asked sitting on the edge of the bed while touching her leg. “You had fun with him and now you want him the fuck out of your life. It’s not hard to me. Plus you got a baby now. The last thing you need is to be keeping time with some creepy ass African.”

  “I don’t trust him,” she said in a soft voice. “I got a feeling he’s going to try and hurt me.”

  “Then I’ll have him killed,” Bambi said plainly.

  “I’m on it,” I responded ready to place the death order with Sarge.

  “No,” Scarlett yelled. “I mean…please don’t do that. Not yet anyway.”

  “Do you got love for this dude or not?” I asked.

  “I don’t have love for him but…I mean…I’m so confused…”

  “Then tell us what you want us to do.” I said. “Because what we not about to do is sit around and let somebody scare you a darker shade of red. You got too much power behind you to be afraid of any man, beast or thing. And I know you know that.”

  “She’s right,” Bambi responded. “One word and he’ll be ground beef.”

  She smiled. “I love you guys. Always ready to kill somebody.”

  “We know you love us,” Bambi said. “Which is why we want to keep you around a little while longer.” She paused. “Now what’s up with Camp? Why he not here to see his baby?”

  “I wanted Ngozi out first,” she said. “He was chilling in here like Master was his son.”

  “Wait, you named the baby Master?” Bambi asked excitedly. “That shit’s dope!”

  Scarlett smiled. “Thank you. I figured Camp would like it too.” She paused and looked down at the bed then back at Bambi. “You mind calling him for me, Bambi? I think he’ll like hearing it better from you.”

  “Why don’t you call your own husband?” She asked playfully. “You know that man gonna be excited when he learns he has a son. He’ll want to hear it from you not his sister-in-law.”

  “Let’s keep it real. You know he’s not feeling me right now.”

  She shook her head. “These niggas are gonna be the death of us.” Bambi stood up and grabbed her phone out of her purse. “But of course I’ll call him for you.”

  While Bambi got on the phone with Camp, Scarlett looked over at Denim. “I know you just got back from vacation so I appreciate you c
oming over. Where’s Bradley at?”

  Denim sighed. “I’ve already told Race so I guess I’ll tell y’all too. Bradley hit Grainger and broke her jaw.”

  “Oh my God,” Scarlett said covering her mouth. “Why?”

  “You know how my sister is. She said some fly shit out her mouth about Jasmine and he reacted in her defense. So he’s gonna stay away from the house because he got a feeling Grainger gonna snitch.”

  “By snitch do you mean go to the police?” Scarlett asked with raised eyebrows.

  “For her sake I hope she doesn’t,” I responded. “It would be un-good.”

  “Grainger is my sister but I wouldn’t even stand in the way of that order,” Denim replied. “Not when it comes to my husband. I’ll just put flowers over her early grave.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  BAMBI

  I stood next to the bed looking at Scarlett as she held her beautiful baby lovingly in her arms. Denim was sitting on the bed smiling, while Race was making baby noises as she rubbed Master’s cheek. I was probably the only one not with this shit. It didn’t feel right that Scarlett had another baby.

  I never told Scarlett to her face because I didn’t think she could handle it, but I never wanted her to go through with the pregnancy. One of the reasons I tolerated Ngozi for as long as I did was because secretly I hoped he would cause her to have a miscarriage. Maybe beat it out of her or something. Then we could kill him.

  I know it’s cruel but Scarlett having a baby is dangerous. Real dangerous. And I was scared of what might happen if she was left to care for Master alone. I have a good reason for feeling that way.

  One day Scarlett was left alone to watch Denim’s daughter when she needed an emergency babysitter. Usually when she needed someone to watch Jasmine either Race or I would do it. When we weren’t available she would go to her mother. But Denim couldn’t get any of us that day so she begged Scarlett, who everyone knew didn’t like children. That was a major mistake.