The Dirty Divorce Part 3 (14 page)

Instead of me responding, I hung up on his ass. Devin had been doing business with our family for over ten years and we’d never had issues with him in the past. In the real world, that might’ve stood for something, but in this game…no one could be trusted. I wasn’t stupid. I’d placed every stack of cash in the money machine, and each time the amount came to ninety thousand. It was short by ten grand. When Renzo heard about this he was gonna be pissed.

“Devin gotta be involved with this shit,” I said to myself. “Ten stacks aren’t just gonna fucking disappear.”

Retracing my steps, I remembered both Carmen and Maria being sound asleep when I got home from meeting Devin and Rich was on his way out. He’d been right by my side since Mia passed away. After he left, I threw the bag of money on the bed, then jumped in the shower. I didn’t even start counting it until after I got out, and the bag hadn’t been disturbed. I didn’t know what was going on, but I wasn’t gonna be the one to pay for this mishap.

The more I sat in my robe throwing the money through the counter one more time, the more I thought about my life. My heart really wasn’t in this game anymore. However, no matter how much I struggled with getting out, I had so many of Renzo’s lose ends to tie up, it wasn’t gonna be that easy to just walk away, especially with Armondo being locked up, too. I wished I could just hand it all over to Rich and be done, but Renzo would never allow that. He still called questioning me about Carlos’ death almost every fucking day. That man wasn’t gonna rest until he found out who was responsible. A part of me wanted to tell him that Lisa was the one responsible so he could be at peace, but the plan was to let him know in due time. After I took care of her ass, then I would fill him in.

Glancing at the picture of Mia on the wall, I instantly got emotional. The memories of my daughter held both joy and pain. I remembered how colicky she was as an infant and I prayed for a full night’s sleep. I remembered how her diapers always drooped when she first learned to walk. I remembered her first birthday when she stuck her face in the cake. I remembered when I had to leave her for the first time. I remembered her little body sleeping next to me sometimes and how much comfort I got with her near me. I remembered how much I loved her.

It all happened so fast, I was still in shock that she was gone. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about my baby. There also wasn’t a day when I didn’t feel guilty about not spending enough time with her before she died. No matter how much I always said, ‘I’m a mother first’, my actions hadn’t reflected that over the past few months, and I felt bad. I loved my kids and all I ever wanted to do was give them a better life than I had. I hated that bitch Lisa with a passion, but now I could actually sympathize with her when she lost Juan. This was the worst pain I’d ever felt in my life. Anyone who’d ever said, a mother should never have to bury their child was absolutely right. This type of agonizing grief was way too much to bear. The more I thought about Mia, the more I got worried about Denie and tried calling her again, only to get her voicemail.

Hi this is Denie. Leave me a message and I’ll think about calling you back. Beep.

“Hey, Denie, it’s your mother. I’m so worried about you. Please, all I’m asking for is to know that you’re okay. I promise not to question you if that’s not what you want. Listen, I know you think you know Javier, but it’s not good that you’re with him right now. Denie, he’s using you to get to me and your father and I fear for your life. Please come home. Call me back.

At this point, I prayed that she was still alive. Since Javier knew in his heart that Rich had killed Jade, his plans were unknown. After dealing with Mia’s death, I hadn’t even had the energy to try and look for Denie, but I guess that’s what it was gonna boil down to if she didn’t eventually call us back. Surprisingly, Rich seemed to think that Denie was just being rebellious, but something told me it was much deeper than that.

Staring back at Mia’s portrait, I removed it from the wall before turning the dial to my safe. After placing the bag of money inside, I closed the door and put the picture back. Rich was standing in the doorway when I turned around, which scared the living shit out of me.

“Boy! You scared me. Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because I enjoy lookin’ at your ass?”

I wasn’t in the mood to flirt, but let some of my frustrations out instead. “I feel so damn overwhelmed right now.” Tears immediately started to flow.

“Awww, come here.”

As Rich held me, it felt so good to have him comfort me without sex. Our relationship had basically been built off of a one night stand, so I rarely got this side of him.

“This business is taking a toll on me. I don’t need the money. I just want to be a mother again. My life has always revolved around this business, so I’m at a point where I want out. I have no idea where Denie is and Mia is gone. I just feel like my life is spiraling out of control.”

“Well, if you want I can take care of the business and you can focus on the kids.”

“You know Lorenzo wouldn’t be happy about that. With Juan and the whole Feds thing, the business partners in Columbia and L.A. don’t want to do business with you. They don’t even know I still really have dealings with you.”

“So, what are you sayin’?”

“I’m saying they don’t wanna fuck with you, Rich.”

“Do you?” he questioned in a defensive tone.

“You’re here aren’t you? Don’t question my loyalty. Don’t forget how you betrayed me by covering up what Lisa did.”

“You left my daughter on my doorstep and now she hates me because of you.”

I shook my head. “Ah-ha, I knew it. That’s what I thought. You still blame me.”

“It is what it is. She hates me because I tried to protect her and have Lisa act as her mother.”

“My husband is dead because of that stupid bitch, who’s on borrowed time by the way. As soon as I find Denie, she’s next on my checklist.”

“I hate her, too, but Los is the reason why she got caught up on drugs. He chose to fuck her.”

“And you chose to fuck me. You might="0">

“Come on now Marisol, do you really think that me and Los would beef over you, especially back then? It was always money over bitches wit’ us. We’ve fucked tons of the same bitches. I didn’t kill Los over Lisa…”

“What did you just say?” I asked cutting him off.

“Me and Los never beefed over nobody and he would still be here if it wasn’t for a bitch.”

“No, hold up. You just said that you killed Carlos!”

Rich’s eyebrows wrinkled. “No the fuck I didn’t. You trippin’.”

“Don’t sit here and play stupid. I know what the fuck I heard.”

“Man, I ain’t got time for this bullshit.”

Before Rich could leave out the room, his phone rang. Taking it from his clip, his eyes increased tremendously only a few seconds after saying hello. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Rich ran his hand over his face just before hanging up.

“Lisa committed suicide today.”

Hell, I was shocked myself. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah, that was the Director at the hospital. The found her body about an hour ago. She cut her throat with a razor.”

“Damn, that bitch beat me to the punch.”

I couldn’t believe Rich had the nerve to look at me like my last comment was foul. I threw my hands in the air.

“What? Why you acting like I didn’t have any plans to take that bitch out. I wanted her ass to have a miserable death for what she did to Carlos,” I said. “Oh well, now I guess that’s one less body I gotta ask God to forgive me for.”

Again, Rich looked at me strangely. “Wow. I gotta go.”

“So, you about to shed a tear for that bitch?” When Rich didn’t reply, I became even more enraged. “Well, if that’s the case maybe you do need to leave. I can’t believe your daughter is missing and instead of you being concerned about that you’re over here acting like some weak-ass dude.” The bitch was definitely coming out.

“Marisol, fuck you!”

“Fuck you. I don’t need no bitch-ass niggas around me.”

When he started inching closer toward me I knew I’d struck a nerve.

“What you gonna do, hit me? I ain’t Lisa. If you put your hands on me, you leaving in a body bag, nigga.”

Rich let out a slight chuckle. “I’m out.”

Watching him storm out, I didn’t give a damn if Lisa was his ex-wife or not. That bitch deserved to die after all the shit she’d done. Hell, she’d done me vor by killing herself. Now, I didn’t have to get my hands dirty.

“I really wanna know if her ass is really gone though,” I said. “I need to hear that shit for myself.”

Grabbing my cell phone, I quickly dialed the hospital’s number.

“Thanks for calling Saint Elizabeth’s, how may I direct your call?” a woman asked.

“Yes, can you please transfer me to room 115?”

“Room 115 is no longer being occupied. May I ask whom I’m speaking with?”

“Marisol Sanchez. Lisa Sanchez is my sister-in-law. That was the last room I visited her in. I’m sorry, was her room changed?”

The woman paused for a few seconds. “I’m sorry Mrs. Sanchez, but Lisa passed earlier today. I thought someone notified her family already.”

I let out a slight whimper. “Oh my goodness. I can’t believe this.”

“Again, I’m so sorry that you had to find out this way, Mrs. Sanchez,” the woman spoke.

I began to sniff like I was crying. “Thanks for letting me know.”

Now, with Lisa now off my list, I could concentrate on Rich. That muthafucka had lost his mind if he thought he was gonna play me. I knew damn well I’d heard him say that he killed Carlos. I needed to get down to the bottom of this situation and knew just the person to get me the answers I needed.

Chapter 16
Rich

“Ahh shit! Ahh shit,” I said, pullin’ away from Lisa’s funeral.

Even though she looked so peaceful in the ugly-ass walnut coffin her mother picked out, I was glad that bitch was finally gone. Now, it was time for me to collect and I couldn’t have been happier. All the money I’d invested into Lisa over the years, who would’ve ever thought that her death would be the reason I got back on my feet. I hated playin’ the mournin’ ex-husband role all week, but it was going to be worth it once the check from her life insurance came.

When she first died, I was a little nervous that my payout wouldn’t be approved since her dumb-ass had committed suicide. However, after lookin’ over the paperwork from Lisa’s house, luckily the suicide clause in the policy was only for the first two years. Since we’d gotten that policy almost fifteen years ago, none of that suicide clause shit mattered anymore. I was about to be a wealthy man again, and it felt good. I even had my lawyer tryin’ to overturn all of Lisa’s asses back to me. She’d been so fucked up in the head after we got divorced, I’m sure my name was still on the majority of the shit anyway.

“Damn, I still can’t believe Marisol fell for that shit. She really thought I was upset about Lisa killin’ herself,” I said like someone was listenin’

Why would I get upset about somethin’ like that when Lisa had done me a favor, too? I’d stayed up countless nights tryin’ to think of a way to kill Lisa and get my money, so I considered this a blessin’. The only thing I was upset about was the way I’d slipped up and said I killed Los. Now, that shit was stupid.

How could I be so damn careless
?

Tryin’ to focus on somethin’ else, as soon as I was far enough away from Harmony Cemetery, I threw my tie in the backseat, then put my Jay-Z CD on blast. I was ready to be back on my boss shit.

The motivation for me is them telling me what I could not be, oh well,
Pharrell sang on the hook
.

I was back and it felt good. Wit’ my paper about to get a major upgrade, who knows, maybe I would give all this street shit up and go legit. Maybe buy a small apartment buildin’ in D.C. or somethin’. I could’ve seen myself as a landlord. Damn, my man Jay had me feelin’ motivated as shit off his Blueprint 3 CD. It was time for me to claim back everything I’d worked hard for startin’ wit’ my house. I decided to drive to my old residence the long way so I could enjoy the scenery and get my mind right. There was no need for Marisol or Trixie unless they were servin’ me in bed. It was time for me to get mine. I was determined to land back on top, and if I had to get Marisol out of the way to make that happen, so be it.

When I pulled up to the house almost thirty minutes later, there were a bunch of cars leadin’ up to the house. Wonderin’ what the fuck First Lady was up to, I hopped out of the car and made my way up to the front door. As soon as I walked inside, there were people all over my place. Most had plates in their hands, so I knew it must’ve been Lisa’s repass goin’ on, but I didn’t care. I thought everyone was gonna go back to Lisa’s father’s church for that shit. Why come here to eat somebody’s nasty collard greens, fried chicken and hard-ass bread? I was pissed.

“What the fuck are all y’all doin’ in my house?”

Within seconds, First Lady shot around the corner wit’ her huge black hat still in place. “I beg your pardon, Rich.”

“You heard me. Why the hell are all these people here? I didn’t approve this.”

From all the stares she got, I’m sure First Lady was embarrassed.

“I didn’t need your approval. We’re mourning my daughter's death, so please respect all these people and Lisa’s home,” she scolded.

“This ain’t Lisa’s home anymore This my shit and I want all of y’all to get the fuck out. I could barely get in the driveway because of all those damn cars outside!”

Everybody was takin’ me joke, so I had to go to extreme measures to show them I wasn’t bullshittin’. Not that I really had a pistol on me, but I did some fake shit just to scare Lisa’s timid-ass family.

Puttin’ my hand under my Armani suit like I was about to pull out a gun, I yelled, “Am I gonna have to lay all y’all down in here? How many times I gotta tell y’all to get the fuck out my shit!”