The Glamorous Life (32 page)

L
ater that night, as Bambi was sleeping, Lynx and the baby came in.

Bambi woke up when she heard a baby crying.
What the hell is that?
she wondered, looking around for Snowball. The cat was asleep on the pillow next to her, not making a sound. Then she saw Lynx standing in the doorway, holding something.

“You want yo momma?” he said. “There she go right there.”

Lynx came up to the bed, and Bambi saw that he was holding a little chocolate bundle of joy.

“Ooh, let me see,” she said, extending her hands so Lynx could give her the baby. “Who baby you got?”

“Ours,” he said, sitting down next to her with a big smile on his face.

“Stop playing,” she said as she took the baby into her arms. When she did, the little baby girl stopped crying like she knew exactly who was holding her.

“You told me that the only thing that was holding us up from legally being able to spend our lives together was us having a baby,” Lynx said, running a finger over the baby’s fat little cheek. “So I went out and bought us a baby. Got the papers in the car.”

“For real? What do you mean you went out and bought us a baby?” she said as she cradled the newborn in her arm.

“Just what I said. Now, you gon’ marry me or not? You know we can’t have no illegitimate child, right?”

“Yes, I will marry you,” she said, and kissed Lynx full on the lips, still holding the baby in her arms.

T
he next morning they went to the justice of the peace and got married. Egypt and Ruby came to be the witnesses, and Lolly stood next to Tricia, who held her grandbaby.

“Bambi, this don’t seem right,” Ruby said. “You the biggest event planner in the city, and here we are having this little tiny wedding.”

“Girl, I’m not tripping on no damn wedding. I’m more concerned with the marriage. But don’t worry, girl,” Bambi said. “On our one-year anniversary, I’m going to have the biggest damn party Richmond has seen.”

CHAPTER 33

Burying the Hatchet

T
he next day Bambi had to take care of a few things. If she was going to be with Lynx, she needed a clean slate. She felt there was one thing hanging over her head: Douglas. She found out his address and wrote him a letter.

Dear Douglas,

I know I am probably the last person you want to hear from. However, I have to make things right with you. I want to apologize for carrying such a powerful grudge around for so many years. I was wrong for taking you for everything, including your heart. This is not about you forgiving me, but about me living with myself and making right with the situation. I am married now with a beautiful little girl, and I am trying so hard to live from within instead of from without and take the heaviness off my heart. I have contacted a real estate agent (enclosing her business card) and instructed her to sell the house that I used some of your money to buy. Once it is sold you will get half of the money from it. I feel that half the money is more than fair due to the fact that the appreciation of the property would put your part of the money at almost a tenfold return. Just look at it as interest. As far as the furniture, now that’s a different story. I thought long and hard about it, and I am enclosing a cashier’s check for ten grand for the living room furniture that you had sent over. I have truly buried the hatchet, and I understand that you should have never been held responsible for the games you played as a child. The reality is you scarred me, and I hope you will teach your children not to be bullies. However, as a grown woman, I do understand that kids will be kids. I am wishing you the absolute best things that life has to offer. And as for your heart being broke, I know I can’t replace the heartaches and pains you’ve experienced, but I can offer you one valuable piece of advice … to keep you from falling victim: Please don’t be so gullible.

Peace and Many Blessings,

The Black Beauty

Bambi signed her name on the check and enclosed it in the envelope, taking a deep breath before sealing it. For the first time in a long time she felt good about giving something back.

CHAPTER 34

If It Ain’t One Thing … It’s Another

L
ike all new parents, Bambi and Lynx never got to sleep in anymore. Finally, one night they took Baby Nya to Tricia’s so they could spend a little quality time together.

When they dropped off Nya, they could see Tricia was over-flowing with happiness. “Ma, what’s up?”

“They just gave me a date for my plastic surgery.”

“For real?”

Tricia nodded, wiping away tears of joy.

“Well, we’ll give you the money,” Lynx said.

“Thank you, but I only need half of it.”

“What you mean ‘half’?” Bambi asked. “Where you gonna get the other half from?”

“Don’t worry, I got my sources,” she said secretively.

“Let me find out you got your shovel back on your back, digging for gold?” Bambi asked.

“Nope. Let’s just say an old friend promised it to me. And I
can’t talk about it because the baby is sleeping. Now, get out of here before you wake up the baby,” she said as she opened up the door so they could leave.

On the way home Lynx and Bambi tried to figure out what Tricia was up to, but with Tricia there was no telling. Whatever it was, she seemed happy again.

The next morning, they lay in the bed with the rain hitting the roof of the house. Lynx had just pulled Bambi close to him for more passionate sex when there was a hard, loud banging on the door. Lynx knew the knock; it was one he had heard a few times before.

“Police! Open up! We have a warrant!”
he heard Columbo’s voice yell out.

“Wait a minute, I have to get my robe,” Bambi screamed out, to grab a little time. For a minute she thought that maybe they were there for her and had caught up with her from all the dirt she had done. But in her gut she knew that they were there for Lynx. Lynx whispered to her that it was Columbo on the other side of the door, and her worst fears were confirmed. She took her time getting to the door so Lynx could hide.

“What is this all about? Let me see your warrant,” she demanded when she finally opened the door.

Columbo smiled as he handed her the warrant. He was a middle-aged white man with a dirty blond crewcut. He was short and stocky.

“Your husband is going down for the murder of Jason ‘Smooth’ Carter,” Columbo said as if he were singing a song. His voice was high pitched, and his mouth full of chewing tobacco.

“What?”

“I’ve got a witness who identified him, and he can’t get out of this one, not this time.”

“Now, wait a minute. Lynx was with me that night. I remember seeing it on the news,” she said.

“Can you prove that?” Columbo asked. “In a court of law? I don’t think so. And even if you could, we have a warrant and he’s still going with us. Where is he?”

“He’s not here,” she said firmly. Columbo walked around like he owned the place. He had a rhino’s butt and limped a little when he walked. The police officers followed close behind, tearing up the house from top to bottom. They knew he wasn’t there, but they still ransacked the whole house hoping to find some drugs or guns to add to the charge.

Columbo was pissed because he didn’t find a thing after being so confident that Lynx had slipped up. On his way out of the door, he said, “Tell your husband, if I catch up with him you ain’t going to ever see his monkey ass again.”

Once the police left, Lynx came out of the coffee table that Douglas had sent from Korea. He had to come up with a plan. “Baby, I can’t turn myself in. You know that, right?”

“I know you can’t, but damn, what are we going to do?” She paced the floor, upset but wanting to be strong for Lynx.

“I’m going to have to go on the run, and I need to know that you are going to hold me down while I’m gone, and that you are down for whatever,” he said, taking her hands and gazing into her eyes.

“Come on, baby, you know that goes without saying—this is until death do us part,” Bambi said.

Lynx peeked out the window and saw an unmarked car up the street. They both knew he couldn’t leave the house—not then anyway.

“I need to find a way to get me out of here some kind of way.”

“We’ll come up with something,” she said.

The unmarked car kept watch on their house, so Bambi and Lynx had no choice but to play the waiting game. The next day, Bambi left to go over to her mother’s house to get the baby. While she was gone, Lynx was making a sandwich when he heard someone messing with the lock. He quickly hid in the coffee table before two plainclothes detectives entered the house and placed microphones and bugs throughout. Once they were done, they stood in the living room and went over a checklist of exactly where each bug was planted.

Lynx listened attentively. When Bambi came in the door, Lynx was standing in the middle of the floor, holding a big sign that said don’t say a word. they came in and bugged the house!

He sat down and wrote everything down to let her know what he was thinking and what was what. He told her they were going to use the bugs to their advantage.

She called Egypt. “Hey, girl, what you doing?”

“Nothing,” Egypt said.

“I’m going to come and get you so I can go furniture shopping. Call Ruby and see if she wants my old stuff, since she just moved into her new place.” Egypt had a feeling that something was wrong, but she played along. “Tell her that she has to come and get it tomorrow so I can get my stuff delivered right away.”

“Okay. Well, can’t you just pay the people extra to just drop it off at her house?”

“We’ll ask the salesman when we get there.”

She hung up the phone and winked at Lynx, who sat silently at the kitchen table.

The next day a furniture truck showed up, and Cook’em-up, dressed in a blue workman’s suit and a moving company hat, knocked on the door. Cook’em-up and a couple of other dudes brought the old furniture out and set it on the lawn in full view
of the undercover cops. They took the new furniture in the house and loaded the old furniture on the truck, including the coffee table with Lynx in it. Cook’em-up gave Bambi a clipboard to sign, and they were on their way.

Lynx didn’t get out of the coffee table until they stopped in Ashland.

“Man, I feel like some fucking sardines,” he said as he crawled out.

Cook’em-up looked at him nervously. “Man, I got to get you out of VA. It’s hot. I told you I was going to take care of everything, and I meant that. I done some homework, and come to find out that nigga Ronnie is the one that’s snitching.”

“Damn, I should have been took care of that shit.” Lynx jumped out the back of the truck. Cook’em-up followed him.

“It’s all good. I’m going to take care of him. I just need you to be ghost like yesterday.”

“Then I’m ghost like yesterday, my nigga.”