Part 14 (1/2)
”Are you serious?”
”I wouldn't have said it if I wasn't.”
”Does this mean my promise ring is now an engagement ring?”
”No, we're gonna pick out a new ring that represents a new beginning for us. You hear that, mom. You're gonna gain a daughter-in-law and grandchild, hopefully all within the next year.”
I bent down and held my mother's hands. I didn't know if it was wishful thinking or really true but I swore I felt her squeeze my hand.
”I know you don't know me, but I really do love your son. Day by day he's saving me from myself. And I'm going to do everything I can to make him the happiest man in the world.”
”Come here,” I reached out my hand and pulled Dior close. ”You've already made me the happiest man in the world.”
”How's that, when I've been doing nothing but s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up.”
”You made me fall in love and I thank you for that.”
”Baby, you sure I can't come with you to your office. You never let me go with you when you work.”
”One thing at a time. I'll only be gone for a few hours and then we're gonna go out and celebrate our engagement so wear something extremely obscene tonight.”
”You're so silly but aren't all my clothes obscene?”
”Then put on something extra obscene. Bye s.e.xy, I'll see you later.” Dior blew me a kiss and I hated that I had to leave her but I needed to handle this meeting at my office which I didn't think would take long.
When I was coming out the Holland Tunnel I saw that Alexus was calling but when I answered she either hung up or the call dropped. I called her back but it went straight to voicemail. I decided to wait until I got to my office to call her again. When I pulled up to the parking lot everyone seemed to already be there so I wasted no time getting upstairs. When the elevator doors opened up everybody was huddled as if in crisis mode.
”What's all this about?” Each of them looked up at me simultaneously with the same bleak look in their eyes. ”Yo' why is everybody so quiet? We got another situation where it ain't cool to talk in here?”
”Everything is cool in here, we triple checked this m.u.t.h.e.rf.u.c.ker,” Brice a.s.sured me.
”Then why you all looking like somebody died?”
”We think something might've happened to Alexus.”
”That can't be she just called me.”
”You spoke to her?”
”No, I got a call from her but when I answered we got disconnected.”
”Did you try to call her back?”
”Yeah and it went straight to voicemail. Why do you think something foul happened?”
”Because when we went to her crib it had been ransacked. There was s.h.i.+t everywhere.”
”I knew I shoulda murked that b.i.t.c.h.”
”Yo, Lorenzo, what are you talkin' 'bout? Alexus is fam.”
”I'm telling you ain't nothin' happened to her. I always felt like she had something to do with that kidnapping s.h.i.+t.”
”We checked her out and she came back clean. I told you there were some Dominican dudes behind it but we lost our trace on them.”
”Them m.u.t.h.e.rf.u.c.kers were able to get too close without having some inside help.”
”Darnell, was their inside help. I'm telling you, Alexus is clean. Them Dominican n.i.g.g.as came back to get her a.s.s.”
”Why? They got the f.u.c.kin' money. They didn't need to come back for Alexus. That sheisty b.i.t.c.h was in on that s.h.i.+t from the jump! She done took her cut and broke the f.u.c.k out. But that's a'right we gon' find her a.s.s. It may take a year or two but she can't hide forever.
”So if she in on it, why did she call you?”
”Brice, that's all game. She been tryna plan her departure. She want us to believe some f.u.c.ked up s.h.i.+t happen to her so we be looking for a dead body and not a live one. Did you call her mother's crib in North Carolina?”
”Yes,” he nodded.
”And what did she say?”
”The number was disconnected.”
”All of us f.u.c.ked up big time wit' this bulls.h.i.+t.” I was angry as h.e.l.l. I was so busy chasing behind Dior and attending bulls.h.i.+t parties with her that I let my business slip. Now that trifling a.s.s Alexus had bounced with her cut of the money. But just like Darnell she would pay the consequences for her betrayal.
Dior I Hate That I Love You ”I guess you forgot that you told me you would be here three hours ago,” was how I greeted Lorenzo when he finally came home.
”Today was a f.u.c.ked up day,” he countered tossing his keys on the table.
”What happened?”
”Just bulls.h.i.+t. I got so many bulls.h.i.+t people in my life, I'm sick of all of them.”
”Why don't you fire them and hire some new people?”
”If it was only that easy.”
”What exactly do you do? I mean you say that you have your hands in a lot of different things but what sort of things?”
”What do you think?”
”I know you do some things with Phenomenon.”
”And what else?”
”Stop with the riddles, Lorenzo, can't you just answer the question.”
”I make money. That's what I do and I make a f.u.c.kin' lot of it. And because I make so much f.u.c.kin' money I'm constantly dealing wit' bulls.h.i.+t.
Real bulls.h.i.+t, not that dumb s.h.i.+t you get yourself involved in.”