Obsession 3 (18 page)

“Girl, what the hell happened to you?” Secret said as she let Kat into her house.

Lucky had dropped Secret off a couple hours after they'd left the trap house. He'd cut their training day short. He was amped up on ten and told Secret he had to go take care of some private business, set some things up. She figured he had to get his crew ready for the shipment. He told her that if it wasn't too late, he would shoot back through to her place tonight.

“I think I'm going to go pick up Dina from the babysitter's, go home, take something for these cramps, and knock out,” Secret had told Lucky. She put her hand across her lower abdomen for emphasis, even though her period wasn't expected until next week. She was done with Lucky and this whole drug thing. She had what she needed, and based on Detective Davis's excitement over the phone when she shared the details of Lucky's upcoming shipment, he now had what he needed as well. Secret had been feeding Detective Davis little appetizers here and there, keeping him in the loop of everything Lucky was showing her. Secret had relayed locations and everything to Detective Davis. Clearly this last bit of information was the main course.

“You did good, Secret,” Detective Davis had said before hanging up the phone.

“I did well, Detective,” Secret corrected him. She no longer had to fit in or speak improper English either.

Detective Davis chuckled and ended the call.

Secret had felt so relieved and at peace, too. No more training days and no more giving her body to Lucky. But now Kat had showed up at her door disturbing the peace.

“Your face . . .” Secret went to touch Kat's bruised eye. It wasn't a fresh bruise. Looked like it had been there a minute, but it looked painful all the same.

Kat flinched and pulled away. “Nothing, I'm good,” Kat said, walking into Secret's house. “Just got into it with some hating-ass bitch is all. Just some he said, she said shit.” Kat shot Secret a stern look. “Apparently some bitch is running around lying on me.” She was looking at Secret as if she was referring to her.

Secret closed the door behind her. “Well, it looks like y'all's fist did all the talking.”

Kat walked over to Dina who was in her swing. “How's auntie's babe?” she said to her niece.

Secret had just fed Dina milk and infant cereal. Once Miss Good started feeding Dina solids, Secret was forced to follow suit because Dina would still fuss like she was hungry after taking in just milk. Secret had really wanted to be a mother who followed the doctor's orders by the book, but Miss Good had thrown a monkey wrench in that.

“I haven't talked to you in a minute,” Secret said. “What's been going on with you?”

“Nothing too much. A little bit of this. A little bit of that.” Kat pushed the swing just a tad bit. “Oh, yeah, the twins want to see you. I figured we could all go out to eat or something.”

“That would be real nice,” Secret replied. She'd love to see her half twin brothers. “How are those knuckleheads doing anyhow?”

“Thuggin'. They ain't gon' be shit, just like they daddy.”

Secret cringed at hearing those words. The same had been said about Secret in reference to her mother. She knew that people didn't have to be a victim of their circumstances. She'd keep hope for her brothers that they wouldn't end up on the same path as their father, in and out of jail. “Well, y'all just let me know when and where and I'm game.”

The two women stood in the living room. Finally Kat spoke. “So, what have you been up to?” She looked at Dina. “Talk to your baby daddy?”

“Yeah.” Secret nodded.

“About what?” Kat went and sat down on the couch. Her legs were open and she rested an elbow on each knee. She was leaned in like she was interrogating Secret.

Secret shrugged. “You know, about Dina, and just stuff.”

“Stuff, huh?”

“Yeah, stuff.” Secret walked over and fixed Dina's head that was starting to tilt to the side. Secret stuffed a blanket on each side of Dina's head to keep her head from wobbling. “Why are you asking like that?”

“No reason. It's just that . . .” Kat's words trailed off.

“Finish.” Secret went and sat down next to Kat. “It's just that what?”

“I just want to make sure you are not getting caught up in no bullshit is all. I know how Lucky is. Trust me. I've been under that nigga's spell since I can remember. I get that he's your baby daddy and all. But that's where you need to draw the line.” Kat had spoken that last line more like she was giving Secret an order.

“Look, sis.” Secret took Kat's hand into hers. “I know you are just trying to look out for me, and I appreciate that. But you can best believe that Lucky is not and will never be a part of my life in that way again.”

Secret's pledge seemed to have relieved Kat to some degree. Kat exhaled and put her other hand on top of Secret's. “I hope that's the truth, Secret.” She searched Secret's eyes for confirmation.

The way Kat was coming at Secret made Secret feel a little strange. It was almost as if there was an underlying threat in Kat's words. To Secret it felt as if Kat was warning her not to mess with her man.

“Kat, is everything okay?”

Kat stood up and wiped her hands down her jeans. “Yeah, sure. Of course. Why wouldn't it be?”

“I don't know. You walk in here with a black eye, questioning me about Lucky.”

“Like I said, I'm just looking out for you. If protecting you from that piece of shit means I have to be all up in your business, then so be it. In all honesty, I wish to God he wasn't even your baby's daddy so that he wouldn't have no reason to come sniffing around over here in the first place.” Kat clenched her fists while looking at Dina. “It just breaks my heart that you had a baby by Lucky.” Kat shook her head as her eyes watered.

Secret felt so hurt and sad to watch her sister enveloped in such heartbreak. What made Secret feel even worse was that she could rid Kat of that heartache in a matter of seconds if she told her the truth. If she told her that Lucky wasn't actually Dina's biological father. Secret thought about it as she watched Kat wipe the tears at the rims of her eyes before they could even fall. She already hated the fact that she'd kept so many secrets from Kat as it was. What would be the harm in revealing this truth? So Secret decided she would share the fact that Lucky wasn't Dina's biological father. She wasn't, though, going to tell her who really was. There were just some secrets that had to go to the grave.

“Kat, there's something I want to tell you,” Secret said.

Kat sniffed. “What is it?”

“It's about—”

Secret's phone rang before she could finish her sentence. She looked down at the caller ID. She didn't recognize the number. She held her index finger up to Kat, telling her to hold on a minute.

“Hello,” Secret answered. “Hey, Shawndiece.” A huge smile covered Secret's face. “I'm so glad to hear from you.” Secret truly was glad to hear from her best friend. Not only because the last time they'd seen each other they'd had sort of a spat, but Shawndiece was the piece of the puzzle Secret had forgotten all about.

Shawndiece was part of Lucky's crew now. If he went down, nine times out of ten she was going to go down with him. Secret had to keep that from happening. She needed to find a way to talk Shawndiece out of the dope game, at least with Lucky.

Secret walked past Kat over to the dining room table. “I need to hook up with you. I really need to talk to you about something.” Secret sat down at the dining room table. “It's really important,” Secret said. “As soon as possible. Tonight if possible.” Secret paused for a moment. “Well, how about tomorrow? I have to work tomorrow. Let me check my schedule and then I'll get back with you. This number that showed up in my caller ID, is this your cell phone?” she asked. “Cool, then I'll call you back as soon as I check my schedule. All right,” Secret said, and then ended the call.

Secret let out a sigh of relief. She had three days to meet up with Shawndiece. Hopefully she could find a way to convince her to call it quits with her connection with Lucky. If not, she might be forced to tell her the truth: that Lucky was going down and that she didn't want her to be on the ship with him when it sank. But would she be able to trust her enough to tell her that?

Secret laid the phone down on the table prepared to finish her conversation with Kat. She stood up from the kitchen table and turned around only to find Kat gone and the door cracked open from where she'd left.

Looked as though that truth would have to wait.

 

 

“What y'all up to sitting on the porch cackling like y'all up to no good?” Secret asked Miss Good's granddaughters who were sitting on the porch steps staring at an iPhone. Sometimes the teenage girls would come over to their grandmother's house after school to visit. They only lived a couple blocks away.

“Just some ol' ghetto mess. These two chicks fighting,” the youngest granddaughter, who was about fourteen, said.

“What is it, a television show? Let me guess, one of those ghetto reality shows?” Secret stopped at the steps and put her hands on her hips.

“No, this is for real,” the older sixteen-year-old granddaughter replied. “There's this Internet site that be showing people fighting.”

Secret was curious. “Let me see that mess.” She sat down next to one of the girls and watched the video. All she could see was two chicks on the ground with a death grip on each other's weaves. It was all hair. There looked to be a group of dudes standing around laughing. The person recording the fight was commentating.

“That's right, slam that lying-ass bitch's head into the ground,” the cameraman cheered on as the girl on top began doing just as he'd said. “Bitches who run dey mouth get punched in dey mafuckin' mouth,” he spat.

Secret could only stand to watch about a few more seconds before she stood up. “So that's today's youth's entertainment?” She shook her head. “Guess it ain't no better than grown women watching other grown women do it on reality shows.”

The girls paid Secret no mind as they continued watching the fight. Secret shook her head again and walked up on the porch to go knock on the door.

“Oooooh,” she heard the older girl say. “Shawndiece got her good.”

“Yeah, but Kat punched her in the face.”

Secret was just about to hit the doorbell when she heard the two teenagers speak. She turned back around to face the girls. “What did y'all say?”

The younger girl replied, “I think Kat won. Shawndiece got in more licks, but Kat got them power punches.” The girl play boxed the air.

“Let me see that.” Secret stormed over and snatched the phone from the girls.

“Mmm, hmmm. Addictive ain't it?” the older girl said, then crossed her arms in an “I told you so” manner.

Secret watched the video. Still all she could see was lots of hair, but after hearing the two teenagers say the names of the girls, she looked closely for resemblance to her best friend and sister. Honestly, what were the odds? The women in the video continued to wrestle on the ground as Secret waited impatiently for their faces to be shown. Her eyes wandered and she caught the title of the video. It read Lying-Ass Bitches Get Stitches. Shawndiece vs. Cat.

Even though Kat was short for Katherine, Secret was sure that was just a typo by the person who uploaded the video. Secret watched a few seconds longer before someone finally separated the girls.

“These bitches ain't gon' do nothing but pull hair,” the guy who separated them said.

“Yeah, I ain't trying to waste my battery recording this shit,” the camera guy said. “But I bet that bitch won't lie again.”

Once the two women were separated each proceeded to try to fix their hair, and that's when their faces showed. Secret had a look of horror as she looked at the faces of her sister and best friend. The images were a little grainy, but it was them. She was certain.

Secret thought back to the day Kat had come over to her place with her face all bruised up. She was so agitated. She kept questioning Secret and fishing. The words Kat had spoken popped up in Secret's head.

“Apparently some bitch is running around lying on me.”

Then Secret remembered the look Kat had given her. It was almost as if Kat was insinuating that she was the one who had lied.

But what was it she could have lied about, and to who? Secret pondered. Then she recalled the conversation she'd had with Lucky when she was trying to persuade him to put her on.

Secret recalled the way Lucky had shot up off of the bed. He had been so angry that his nostrils were flaring. Having Shawndiece beat Kat down must have been his and Major Pain's way of teaching her to keep her mouth shut.

Clearly the lie Secret had told to Lucky about Kat hooking her up with Major Pain had been the cause of this brawl. That must have been Major Pain behind the camera, which explained his comment about her not lying on him anymore.