RedBone 2 (6 page)

Major shook his head in disagreement. “I know that’s your girl and all, and I kinda respect that shit, but in all honesty, things not looking too good for her. That’s why Judge and Grant on their way now.”

“Judge and Grant coming?” Audio asked in a shaky voice. He knew when they came to town it meant blood. They executed so many people and had so many people looking for them that only a select few had their number.

“And I said them coming here is unnecessary,” Slade said.

“Now, I liked Farah for you at first,” Killa said, “but the question wasn’t answered to the best of her ability just yet. What was she doing with our brother’s phone?”

“Farah had Knox’s phone?” Audio inquired. He missed so much that he was totally confused.

“She told y’all why she had it, but ain’t nobody listening,” Slade defended. “Have any of y’all thought that maybe Randy had something to do with this shit?” He looked at his brothers and his mother. “Willie even said that his own son might be involved. He was the same nigga who called in the fake ransom on Audio.”

“Wait, I had a ransom on my head?”

“And we taking that into consideration,” Killa responded, ignoring Audio. “It just seems funny that can’t nobody catch this Eleanor bitch.”

“Well, get out there with me and help her,” Slade said. “Instead all you want to do is play video games”—he looked at Killa—“while this nigga too busy surfing the Internet for his credit score.” He paused. “Farah not in charge of this bitch, and he’s not her brother. We are.”

“Man, how much longer are you gonna take up for that slut? She’s a fucking snake.” Killa laughed in his face. “And as far as her not knowing about Knox, leave me alone in a room with her. I’ll have her singing like a baby.”

Audio saw a brown rock-like thing fly past Killa’s face and land on his nose. Slade’s blow was accurate and blood splattered everywhere . . . on the white sheets, floor, and even walls. He was about to go for another punch, until Della covered his hand with hers. “You got that one over on your brother, but you won’t have another.”

Slade dropped his hand and placed his hands over his face. He finally realized what just happened. Farah got into his mind and twisted things around. In the end, he chose her over his brothers, and it wouldn’t happen again. “I’m sorry about that shit, man. I really am.”

Killa held his bloody mouth. “Whatever, nigga.”

“This is breaking my heart,” Della interrupted. “My boys are fighting each other, while my youngest son is in the hospital bed.” She looked at all of them. “Have we forgotten that just three weeks ago, he was fighting for his life?”

Audio’s eyebrows rose. “I been here for three weeks?”

“Yes, son. And you almost ain’t make it, but with God’s blessing, you have a doctor who gives a fuck,” Della told him honestly. “It’s about family now, and I don’t need y’all fighting. I got one son back, and I’m still working on the other. Now we gonna find out where Knox is, and I think the way we do that is by taking over Platinum Lofts and staying in Washington, DC.” She focused on her oldest son. “Slade, whether you like it or not, Judge and Grant are en route and they bringing a lot of your cousins with them, too. I suggest you stay out of their way and let ’em do their work.”

“We all can’t stay at Markee’s,” Major said.

“I spoke to Vivian, the property manager at Platinum Lofts,” Della continued. “We were able to rent a few apartments for a good price on a temporary basis. I guess because with all the missing people lately, folks are breaking their leases. I want us stationed at that building, and I want everybody to keep an eye on Farah Cotton at all times. Now ,I know you love the girl, and I’m not trying to get in the way of that. I just want you to understand that if she knows something she isn’t telling us, we intend on finding out. When I first came in town, she had something in her hands when I walked into the hallway. Something she was trying to hide from me. I want to find out what that thing was.”

There were so many emotions floating around that Audio felt selfish for wanting to ask his next question. But if he didn’t, he would worry. “So, what happened to Chloe?” He looked at his mother. “Is she okay?”

The expressions on their faces changed immediately. Truthfully she was hoping that he didn’t care about the girl so much. Now she could tell by looking into his eyes that she was wrong. Yet another Cotton woman had gotten her hands on one of her sons. “Chloe didn’t make it, son.” Della walked up to him. “And I’m so sorry I had to be the one to tell you that.”

Audio’s eyes widened, and he had to tell himself to breathe. “How is . . . how is her family?”

“From what I’ve seen, not too good.”

 

 

The sheets wrapped Farah’s body like a mummy. She felt comforted this way. Stiff. Motionless. She could smell something meaty cooking in the kitchen, and her stomach rolled. She was hungry; yet, she couldn’t eat. She was disgusted; yet, she wanted to feel. Her skin was irritated, and sores dotted her body from a constant bout with hives. She knew she resembled a monster even if she hadn’t seen her face in days.

Life was different now. One minute she and her family walked in to see Chloe in the hospital. She was bruised but alive. When they stepped out to get some food and returned, the doctor informed them that she lost oxygen to her brain and died. Farah, Shadow, and Mia tore the hospital up from top to bottom upon hearing the news. Even when threatened with prison, Shadow held the doctor up off of his feet and contemplated taking his life. It wasn’t until Elise arrived and placed her hand on his shoulder that he came back to his senses.

“Shadow, if you go back to prison, you staying for life. Now, if you really want to kill this man, we can do that, but understand that I’m pulling the trigger instead of you. I’m not about to lose another grandchild,” Elise told him.

When they went home, life for Farah was a mess. She missed Chloe running around the apartment singing, fussing, and violating her privacy. She missed her stealing her clothes and crawling into her bed on the nights she didn’t want to be alone. Losing Chloe punched her at the core. Repeatedly. With no letup.

She unwrapped the sheets from around her body and tried to sleep. Besides, when she slept, she didn’t have to think. She slammed her lids together until Mia walked into her room.

“It stinks like shit in here! Are you washing your ass at all anymore?” Mia asked.

“Thanks a lot for your encouragement, Mia.” She rolled over and faced the wall. “If you can get the fuck out of my room, you won’t have to worry about smelling it.”

“You gotta get up and eat, Farah.” Mia stood in the doorway defiantly.

The jeans that once hugged Mia’s flesh were now loose and falling off her hipbones. She’d lost over thirty pounds since they buried Chloe and looked like a totally different person. Who would’ve known that under the cellulite and excess blubber was a curvy woman with a banging shape? Although losing weight was not her plan, it was the only positive thing that came as a result of her sister’s death.

“You can’t sleep all day, and I’m not going to let you keep doing this to yourself anymore. You still have family who cares about you, Farah.”

Farah tried to suffocate herself by placing the pillow over her head. If Mia wanted to flop around DC like they never had a baby sister, that was on her. She preferred death. “Just leave me alone, Mia,” her muffled voice called out from the pillow. “All I want to do is go back to sleep.”

Before Mia could respond, Shadow hustled past her and yanked Farah out of the bed by her waist. Her fists and legs kicked wildly out in front of her, but he had her in a death grip. Once in the kitchen, he slammed her limp, stinky body into a chair at the table. Then he snatched a box of Cap’n Crunch off of the fridge and slapped it down in front of her, along with the milk and a bowl.

The smell of whatever meat was in the oven and the sweet cereal made her stomach churn.

He didn’t consider if she was hungry or not; instead, he stabbed spoonful after spoonful inside her gaunt face. He didn’t bother to wait for her to chew or not. He lost his baby sister and wasn’t about to lose Farah too because she gave up on life. He didn’t stop until she started crying and Crunch Berries leaped out of the sides of her mouth.

She cried hard and long. It was the first cry she participated in since the news that Chloe was dead. Seeing Farah’s condition, Mia cried too.

“Now, I know it’s fucked up,” Shadow said, holding back his own tears. He wiped her face with the sleeve of his red sweatshirt. “You know I do! But I’m not about to lose you too, man. It ain’t happening.” He slapped his chest. “We all we got now that Ma gone and Dad is locked up! You gotta pick yourself up today, Farah. We gave you three weeks, but we not doing it no more. We even let you stay home and not go to the funeral, and held Grandma back when she tried to kick down the door to drag you there. But I’m done with this shit.”

“I feel like this is all my fault,” Farah sobbed, wiping her nose with her hand.

“What the fuck you talking about?” Shadow inquired, pushing the cereal out of the way. “This ain’t nobody’s fault! Nobody knew that she was going to jump in the truck with Audio and get into an accident. Can’t nobody in here tell Chloe what to do, and we all knew that.”

“I can’t take this! I can’t take it.” She continued the pity party without any guests.

Shadow was fed up, and Mia wanted to slap her for the way she was performing. They missed Chloe too, but they also knew Farah was going about her grief in the wrong way.

“Listen, Chloe rode with a nigga she was feeling and paid for it with her life,” Shadow said. “That shit don’t have nothing to do with you, me, or Mia. Now, I need you to stop moping around the fucking house and wash your ass. You smell like one of them dirty bitches down the street.” He stood up in full rage mode. “I’m sick of all this weak-ass shit around here.” He pushed toward his room.

When the door slammed, Mia took a seat next to her sister. “One minute he acts like he loves me, and the next he goes crazy,” Farah said as she wiped her tears.

“Shadow is taking it hard too, Farah, but he does love you, and every night he walks into your room when you’re asleep just to make sure you’re still alive. We both are worrying about you, but it’s time to snap out of this shit and get your life together.” She paused. “You gotta do it for yourself and for Chloe.”

“I’m trying,” Farah said under her breath. “I just don’t know where to start.”

“You can start with a bath,” Mia suggested, and Farah laughed for the first time in weeks. “There go the smile I love from my sister.” She rubbed her hand softly and observed her face. “Have you looked into the mirror? You have scabs everywhere on your body.”

“I know. That’s why I don’t want to look.” She swallowed.

“Do you remember the nigga Jean Hershey?” Mia asked. “Who went to school with me? With the water head and big eyes?”

Farah frowned. “Mia, I didn’t go to school with you, so how would I know him?”

Mia rolled her eyes. “Anyway, he was on the news the other day,” Mia explained. “Apparently when the kid Amico went missing, he was on duty as a manager for the movie theater. Miraculously the surveillance tape showing what happened that day is missing.”

Farah was relieved that the tape couldn’t be found, because even though Chloe killed him instead of her, Farah was still her sister and would most likely be linked to the crime in some way. “That’s good for us, right?” Farah asked.

“I hope so, but I know this dude, Farah. He’s hiding something. Bet money he got that tape either because he was doing something he wasn’t supposed to at work, or he may be holding it for ransom.”

Farah raised her eyebrows. “You think he’s going to try to blackmail us?”

“I think if that was his plan, it would’ve been done already.”

As long as the tape was gone, Farah couldn’t care less what happened to it. Her mind was on other things. “Has Slade been by to check on me?”

“No.” She removed her hand. “But it seems like every country nigga from down South live in this building now. They stake out the front, and I’m not sure, but something tells me they’re looking at this door. Be careful when you leave out, Farah. Shit is serious.”

Farah’s head tightened. In her mind she would be seeing Chloe sooner than later if the Bakers had anything to do with it. “How you know they with Slade?”

“Because they been in and out of Markee’s apartment and got accents thicker than my thighs used to be.” Mia looked into her eyes. “Where is that picture? You got rid of it yet, Farah? Because, for all we know, they could be going through your car.”

“Yeah, I tossed it out,” she lied.

“Are you sure, Farah?”

“Yes.” She looked at her hands. “Mia, I miss him so much.”

“You don’t need to.” Mia frowned. “He been keeping time with different girls, and I’m only telling you so you can be prepared. They be young and dumb, but that’s what it’s been.”

Farah felt lightheaded as a vision of him kissing a random bitch flashed in her mind. “Shannon been over his place too?”

“I don’t think so,” Mia said. “But, to be honest, I think he’s just doing anything he can to keep his mind off of you. Or maybe he’s chosen his family instead of being in a relationship with you. To be honest, Farah, he can’t stay with you and stand by his family. He has to decide, and maybe he’s made his decision. To tell you the truth, Farah, I don’t know.”

“He over me, Mia. I know it.” She wanted to cry but held it down. “Were any of them prettier than me?”

Mia looked at her spotty face. She looked horrible, but the truth might send her back another month. “Now, who could be prettier than you, Farah Cotton?”

Farah trudged into the bathroom, walked up to the mirror, and placed her hands on the sink. For weeks she avoided mirrors on purpose, and now it was time to face her truth. Slowly her head rose, and when she saw the woman looking back at her, she crashed her fist into it. It had to be a mistake. This was the worst she ever looked. The mirror shattered under the weight of her blow as shards of glass sounded like bells falling into the porcelain sink. Not able to accept her new face, Farah plummeted to the floor and thrust herself into a crying fit.

With her knees against her chest, she rocked back and forth in a ball. “This can’t be my life. This can’t be my life.” Porphyria, the blood disease she had been cursed with all her life, was causing her nothing but extreme stress, and she wanted it done with.

Hearing the noise, Mia and Shadow bogarted into the bathroom to check on her. “What the fuck happened?” he asked, observing the condition of her bloody, broken mirror. “Why did you do that shit?”

“Look at my fucking face!” She was rocking so hard that they thought she would roll out the door. “Look at my nose! I’m . . . I’m a monster. He’ll never want me like this. He won’t have anything to do with me.”

“Farah, if you talking about Slade, things will be fine,” Mia responded, wishing she’d never told her about the bitches. “You just gotta—”

“I need blood,” she interrupted as she looked up at them with her red, swollen eyes. She looked so loony that they backed up for fear that she’d try to take blood. “I need blood so I can be pretty and stuff. It works so good for me.”

“Farah, you just got out of bed,” Shadow said, sitting on the toilet. “You don’t need to be killing nobody just because you
think
you need blood.”

“I don’t
think
I need it, I do,” she screamed so loud it echoed long after she closed her mouth. “Look at me. Look at my face! Y’all don’t have this disease the same way I do. You never did!”

“That’s ’cause we take the medicine,” Shadow said. “You don’t want to take yours because you think it doesn’t work.”

“I took it for years and nothing I did worked for me but blood,” Farah said, trying to get them to understand.

She had her first taste of blood almost six months ago, when her cousin Cosmo hooked her up with Grand Mike, a man who claimed he could cure her porphyria. With the hope of regaining her beauty, since her skin was badly damaged, she paid Grand Mike $1,600. In return for her money, he gave her vials of blood in a cooler. Farah drank the blood as prescribed and immediately felt better. She was no longer ill, and her skin cleared up miraculously.

Although Shadow, Mia, and Chloe felt she was feeling better because the blood had a placebo effect, Farah believed in its powers to heal.

“The medicine didn’t work because you overreact, Farah,” Shadow told her. “You have high anxiety. That’s what Dr. Martin was trying to tell you, but you never listened! Let’s call him to see what he can do for you.”

Farah wanted to kill him for that comment. “That man will never touch me again. And if you call him, I’ll run away and you’ll never see me again. Do you understand?”

“Farah, stop being so—”

“Do you understand?”

“Whatever the fuck,” he responded.

“I need blood,” Farah continued. “And I need it now.”

Silence.

Mia looked over to Shadow and saw he was beyond frustration. She said, “Farah, you have to contain your evil,” Mia said. “Niggas is swarming the building looking for Knox, who we all know is dead. Let us not forget that Shadow had to help Chloe kill Amico in her room. We are hot right now. You are hot right now! Slow down.”

When Chloe discovered that Farah drank blood and hid the vials in her closet, she destroyed them by the orders of her grandmother Elise. Farah was devastated when she learned her blood was gone, and hit Chloe for violating her privacy. Chloe was so overcome by grief for betraying her sister that she went out to get another victim, to take his blood. It didn’t take her long when she met Amico Glasser at a movie theater.

With the promise of sex, Chloe lured Amico to her house. When she had Amico in her bed, she flipped the light switch off to conceal what she was trying to do. In the darkness, she pricked him with a needle to draw his blood. Instead of lying down and taking it, Amico fought for his life. Had Shadow not come home early from prison and walked into the room to save her, Chloe would’ve died that night.

“What about the nigga who dropped the pictures?” Shadow added. “We still don’t know who that is.”

“Exactly!” Mia jumped in. “So the last thing you need to be doing is killing folks and drinking blood.”

“Not to mention you still haven’t found this dopehead bitch. There are plenty other things to be done, Farah. Killing unnecessary people for blood should not even be on the agenda.”