A Gangster's Girl (4 page)

“You never asked,” Vegas responded nonchalantly.

“So why haven't I ever met him? I mean, you always talk about him, but you never bring him around.

“You know I don't bring business to the house, Ceazia.”

I could tell by his tone that my many questions were starting to annoy Vegas, but that didn't stop me.

“So why did you have to meet at the strip club? Do you meet him there all the time?”

“No, I don't. I meet him wherever he's at when I call, C.”

“So why when I came in there you weren't with him? You were in the VIP room and he was out near the bar. If y'all were doing business, shouldn't y'all have been together?”

Running out of patience for my line of questioning, Vegas became angry. “Ceazia, if I was up to some shit, I would not have even brought y'all along. Damn, I was talking to Red about some shit that didn't involve Martinez, so we asked the nigga to step out. You don't know anything about the game, so please stop questioning me about how I run my shit.”

“He's got a point, C. Cut him a break. Like he said, he was just handling his business,” Tionna said from the back seat.

If I had been smart, I would have taken the advice of my friend and ended the conversation there, but I just couldn't. I needed more answers.

“Well, why didn't you tell me Mickie be up there doing shit like that? I'm sure you knew since you're so close to Cash.”

Vegas' nose flared and he took a deep breath. “C, you're getting on my fucking nerves with all these damn questions. I can't know that man's hustle. That'll be like him trying to tell me who to sell my shit to. Shit, Meikell is a grown ass woman. Maybe if you would mind your damn business y'all wouldn't be beefing now.”

I can't believe this nigga is actually bucking on me like this
. Vegas had truly violated.

He had touched a sensitive spot, and I reacted without thinking.

“Who the fuck you talking to?” I yelled at him.

The screeching of the truck's brakes was the last thing I heard before Vegas grabbed me by the back of my neck.

“Bitch! I don't put my fucking hands on you, and I expect the same respect from your ass!”

“Okay, Vegas, I think you made your point! Let her go,” Tionna begged while she pulled on his arm, trying to loosen his grip.

When he released his hold, I began to cry hysterically. I couldn't believe he put his hands on me. Needless to say, we didn't go out that night and the rest of the ride home was silent.

A few minutes later we arrived at Tionna's apartment. Still a bit shaken, I stepped out of the truck to give her a hug.

“I love you, girl. Keep your head up,” I told her before kissing her cheek.

“I love you, too, and you do the same. From the looks of things, we're gonna need a
Waiting to Exhale
party,” Tionna said with a small grin.

I gave her a slight smile in return as I climbed back into the truck. As we pulled off, I waved to her from the window and watched her disappear inside the house.

When I got home I received a call from Tionna. She briefed me on the events that occurred after we dropped her off. Evidently, her time away was not quite long enough. When Tionna entered her apartment, she immediately noticed that Tonya's things were cleared out and her room was vacant. However, Shawn was not gone. He met Tionna at the door, his eyes red and filled with tears.

“Could you please leave? Take all your clothes and just leave!” she shouted, and then stood looking at him coldly.

Shawn could see how angry she was, so he did as she asked. He grabbed what he could carry and made a quick exit. After he left, Tionna cleaned the house and threw out anything left behind that was affiliated with Shawn or Tonya. After all she had done for the
both
of them, she couldn't believe they would actually do something like that. She took her little sister in because she had no place else to go, and this was the repayment she got.

Not wanting to face all the hurt and betrayal that she was feeling, Tionna took two Vicodins and cried herself to sleep as she thought about all the events of the day. She just wanted the day to end. And what a day it had been.

It had been almost a year since the incident with Tonya and Shawn, and Tionna was gradually getting better. She was seeing our therapist and making good progress. Charlotte is the therapist we had all consulted at some point in our lives. She was a young, white girl who knew her shit. It's unfortunate, but divas need therapy too.

Tionna was looking great. She had gone shopping and purchased new clothes. She got her hair done and her nails and toes, too. She even sported a new style. It was sort of funky, with a video chick swing. It was like old times. I had really missed Tionna during her deep depression. I was glad that my girl was back in the swing of things. That situation had really taken a toll on all of us. One evening, we all gathered at her house to celebrate and have a girls' night out, which we referred to as therapy outside of therapy. We laughed and joked as we thought about old times. Meikell brought her friend Linda and Linda's daughter, Shykema. Immediately, everyone noticed how Shykema resembled Asia's twins. Asia's daughters are named Shameah and Shakeya, and they are beautiful. They have gray eyes, long legs, and French vanilla skin, just like their father. We found it quite peculiar that Linda's daughter, whose name is quite similar, had green eyes, long legs and caramel skin. The curiosity was killing us all, so someone had to say something. India, the feistiest of the twins, spoke up.

“Your daughter surely resembles my nieces,” she said in a sarcastic tone. She went on to tell Linda about her nieces and how her daughter's features were so similar.

“Oh, really?” Linda responded, “Well, Shykema's father named her. She looks
just
like him.

“Oh, that's interesting,” India interrupted.

“My nieces were also named by their father. So where is their father from?”

As Linda spoke, things fell into place and just as we all thought, Asia's twins and Shykema were sisters. Linda seemed undisturbed by the whole revelation. Asia, on the other hand, had the look of death on her face.

“Where were his standards?” Asia said, looking at Linda with disgust. “I mean, look at you and look at me. I'm a part of corporate America and you are just simply a disgrace to America.”

To everyone's surprise, Linda responded very calmly. “I understand you're upset, but you shouldn't be. My daughter is two years older than your twins are, and besides, I have no contact with her father whatsoever. We didn't have much of a relationship. I met him at the strip club one night and we ended up having sex. Unfortunately, the condom broke and I ended up with Shykema. He ended up leaving right after her birth. We had some major conflicts of interest, if you know what I mean.”

“No, I don't know what you mean. Why don't you elaborate?” Asia insisted.

“Not that it's any of your business, but I am no longer interested in men, so you really shouldn't worry.” Linda responded in the same calm manner as before.

We were glad Linda responded the way that she had, because anything else would have been detrimental to her health. We all exhaled as the tension slowly left the room, and we continued to drink and trip out as before.

Asia was not worried that her twins' father would get with Linda. She was just upset that she didn't have any idea about his other child. Even though she hadn't known the twins' father during the time he conceived this other child, it still made her mad. It shouldn't have, though, because now he was doing ten years in federal prison. Asia was getting all his money and had a man on the side.

Just as we were leaving to go out, there was a knock at the door, which was quite surprising since all of us were already there. Tionna opened the door and there stood Shawn, looking just as pitiful as the day he left. In his hand he held a folded piece of paper. He handed Tionna the paper and left without saying a word.

Caught off guard by Shawn's appearance, she was also anxious to know what was contained in the letter. Tionna quickly unfolded the paper and stood silently as she read. Her eyes scanned back and forth across the typed words.

“Nooooo! Oh God, no!” Tionna burst into tears.

As we crowded around and read over her shoulder, we all cried with her. We could not believe this was happening. Things were so perfect, and now this. How could this happen to someone we loved so dearly? It wasn't fair. Tionna had only been with Shawn. They weren't using protection because they supposedly had a monogamous relationship. She never worried about getting pregnant because her doctors said she would never have children.

The next day, Tionna headed for the health department. The parking lot was filled with cars as she pulled up. With her head down, she walked in and handed the letter to the receptionist then looked around for a place to sit. There were chairs lined up in rows. The place was noisy and crowded. There were babies crying, mothers yelling, and nurses calling names every five minutes. She found a chair in the corner away from everyone and took a seat. She was afraid to get too close to anyone or touch anything because everyone, even the children, looked as though they were infected with some deadly disease. Tionna cried just at the thought of looking as bad as the people who surrounded her.

After a few minutes, the nurse called out, “Tionna Davis, exam room three.”

Tionna walked into the exam room and the nurse advised her to get undressed. Once the nurse left the room, Tionna pulled off her clothes and put on the paper robe. A few minutes later, the doctor walked in. Exactly what Tionna did not want to happen did happen. The doctor was a man and he was gorgeous. Not exactly who she wanted to see as she was getting checked for HIV.

He explained that he would be doing an exam for STDs as well as taking blood to test for HIV. Tionna hated the pelvic exam. The feeling of that cold metal instrument was so uncomfortable. She tightened her muscles as the doctor inserted the cold speculum.

“Relax, honey,” the doctor said while patting her knee. “Take some deep breaths and spread your legs.” Ugh. She cringed at his words. Spreading her legs was what had gotten her in this mess in the first place.

She did what the doctor instructed and relaxed. It's funny how we women are always hollering about a big dick, but when they stick that speculum in us, we tighten our thighs and nearly jump off the table.

“All done,” the doctor announced three minutes later. “I didn't see any signs of an STD. You will be contacted, though, once the blood results are back. I think I should also explain that just because you received the letter does not mean you are definitely infected.”

Tionna sighed with relief. He actually made her feel a lot better. “Hey doc, if the test comes back negative, let's have dinner,” she said and giggled to herself as she disappeared behind the curtain to get dressed.

His response was only a smile.

Tionna drove home in a daze as she wondered what the results would be.

A couple of days later, Tionna received another knock at the door. This time it was two detectives. She knew the day would come when they would catch up with India and come knocking at her door in search of answers. Tionna often broke into cold sweats as she played over and over again in her mind the answers she would give to those questions regarding India and her involvement in the drug ring.

Nervously, she opened the door. As she looked the detectives in their faces, she wasn't sure what to say or what not to say.

“How can I assist you today, detectives?” Tionna asked, her voice shaking.

“Ms. Davis?” one of the detectives asked.

“Yes, I'm Ms. Davis.”

“May we come in?”

“Sure. How can I help you?”

To her surprise, they wanted to speak to her about her sister, Tonya. She hadn't heard from Tonya or even spoken her name since the day of the incident.

“When was the last time you saw Tonya?”

I haven't seen her for some time now,” Tionna answered.

“Do you know the names of some of Tonya's friends? What about some other family members who may have seen her?”

Tionna answered each question to the best of her ability while she waited patiently for a chance to ask her questions.

“What is this investigation about?” she asked once they allowed her the opportunity. She wondered if Tonya had gotten into trouble again or if she was missing or something. Before they could answer, there was another knock on the door. This time it was a social worker.

“This is Mrs. White from Virginia Beach's Department of Social Services,” one detective explained. “She will be speaking with you as well.”

Now Tionna was very confused and demanded some answers. “Exactly what the hell is going on?”

After suggesting that Tionna have a seat, the detective explained. “Tonya was recently murdered. We suspect Tonya's boyfriend and plan to charge him with the murder.”

“Ahhhhhhh!” Tionna screamed out in pain.

Over the wail of her cry, the detectives continued to tell her the story of Tonya's death. “Once Tonya's boyfriend found out Tonya had been unfaithful he was infuriated. He called her constantly, demanding answers. Your sister eventually changed her number and he was no longer able to reach her. Our reports show at that point he began to stalk her.”

“No!”

“There are numerous police reports filed by Tonya. There are reports about him following her from her friend's house, sitting outside the laundromat as she washed clothes, and even him sleeping in his car as she spent the night over her girlfriend's house. Things became more violent as Tonya's stomach grew and she became afraid for her life. She knew once her boyfriend found out she was pregnant by another man he would kill her.”

“Oh, God! Nooo!”

“She eventually filed a restraining order with the Virginia Beach Magistrate. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the harassment. We learned from witnesses that a man named Shawn picked Tonya up from her doctor's appointment and they headed to his house. After a few hours, Tonya decided to go for a walk. As she closed the door behind her and turned around, her boyfriend stood there staring her in the face. He grabbed her by the arm, put a 9 mm to her back and instructed her to get into his car. They drove off and approximately three hours later, her body was found.”

“Why?”

“He tied her to a park bench, molested her, and then shot her in the head. She did not die instantly. She died slowly as she struggled for her life.”

As Tionna listened to the gruesome details of her sister's death, she felt like someone had just stabbed her in her heart. Her little sister was dead. She couldn't help but think that if she hadn't told Tonya's boyfriend what had happened that night, Tonya might still be alive.

The reason for the social worker's presence was that she wanted to speak to Tionna about taking custody of the baby.

“We were able to save the baby, but there are a few problems,” Mrs. White said. “The father has disappeared and the baby may be infected with HIV.” This was when Tionna knew for sure that the baby was Shawn's. They must have continued sleeping together even after she'd caught them and kicked Tonya out.

“There are currently no traces of the virus in the baby,” Mrs. White continued, “but Tonya was diagnosed with the virus during her pregnancy. We would like to know if you would be willing to care for the child since you are the next of kin.”

With all the things that were going on, Tionna asked for time to think things over. This was entirely too much to digest at one time. Honoring her wishes, they agreed to leave her alone and give her time to think through her decision.

 

 

Tionna drifted into another deep depression. She was not eating, sleeping, bathing or talking. She just lay in bed and wept. It was as if her whole world caved in on her. After three days of showing no improvement, we decided it was time to have Tionna admitted to the hospital. She had lost five pounds during those few days. Her eyes had huge, dark rings around them, and her body was fragile. Her hair fell out strand by strand as we combed it. This was the worst we had ever seen Tionna.

When we arrived at the hospital emergency room, they asked her a series of questions regarding her health. She answered yes or no as they asked if she ever had a number of diseases. When they reached the question concerning HIV or AIDS, Tionna began to go crazy. She started yelling weird things, throwing things, and became very combative. Right when the doctors rushed in to control her, she began to have a seizure. They rushed her off through the double doors labeled TRAUMA and left us standing there in total disbelief.

We later found out Tionna had a nervous breakdown. The events in her life had finally taken a toll on her body. It was a struggle for her from the beginning. Her parents were absent during her entire life, and she had to take on adult responsibilities at a very young age. Then, the two people that she had invested so much love and time in betrayed her. A combination of those events, plus her fear of the possibility that she may have contracted HIV, her sister's death, and the guilt she felt for telling Tonya's boyfriend of her infidelity, was just too much for her body to handle. So, as a defense for the body, a nervous breakdown was triggered.

 

 

After a few weeks in the hospital, it was time for her to come home. We went to her home and cleaned it from top to bottom. We brought in fresh flowers, opened the windows, and made it bright and refreshing. We even purchased her a new bathroom and bedroom set. We turned her room and connecting bathroom into a tropical paradise. There were palm tree prints, plenty of plants, a relaxation fountain, and aromatherapy candles everywhere. It was beautiful. We felt that was just the atmosphere Tionna needed.