Trouble In Paradise (16 page)

Chapter 20

Joshua’s phone beeped, it was a text message.  He opened it, it read:
On the way home V
.  Joshua hit reply:
Me too I love you
. Send.  Joshua was putting his clothes back on when Victoria sent him a text message.  He had been working out all afternoon, took a shower and was about to dress when her text came through.  He was ready to work out on her.  He purchased a drawstring bag from the sports store to put his clothes in once he finished.  He tossed the bag over his shoulder and walked out.  Dantae had finished his workout thirty minutes ago and was talking to a girl he had been working out with.  The girl in the bodysuit Joshua had been staring at earlier had now changed into a summer dress that cut short around her big thighs and the V-neck top exposed her cleavage and wrapped around her neck with pink and white  pumps on.  She was gorgeous.
Who actually works out then puts on those shoes?
He wondered.  He had a feeling she was trying to be noticed; she was doing a good job.  She watched him watch her with a small smile on her face.  Her hair was up in a tight ponytail and it hung low to the center of her back.  Her smile widened and he walked over to her. 

“Hey you, how you doing?” he said.

“I’m doing ok now that you finally decided to speak.”  They laughed. 

“Well you know you could’ve spoken to me,” he said. 

“I’m Joshua Eubanks and you are?”

“Tracy Steele.”

“Nice to meet you do you work out here on a regular basis?”

“Yes, I am a member,” she blushed. 

“Am I making you blush like that?” 

She blushed again. 

“You are so cute,” she said.

“And you are so beautiful.” 

His phone beeped.  He looked down, it was Victoria. 
Home V
.  That snapped him back into reality.  He turned and looked at Dantae, he was all over her friend. 

“Yo D, we gotta go man.” 

Dantae looked up, “Ok ok let’s go.” 

Joshua turned back to Tracy,

“It was nice meeting you.” 

He held his hand out to shake hers; she put a business card in it.

“Call me,” she said. 

He looked her from head to toe, put the card in his poc
ket and headed to the car. 

****

              “I left my netbook in the car can you go get it for me?” Victoria asked. 

“Yeah,” Shay said. 

They were upstairs in the master bedroom of Joshua and Victoria’s condo.  Victoria needed to get online and do some research on clients she had been studying with Caroline and put together a report on ways to help a client in certain situations.  She hadn’t been able to completely focus on her work because of all of the drama going on in her personal life.  It was getting out of hand.  She had been in Chicago all of two weeks and everything had went from good to bad, real quick.  She had a feeling it wasn’t over.  Before she could get the thought out of mind she heard Shay scream,

“VICTORIA!!”

Victoria jumped up off the bed and ran to the steps.

“VICTORIA GET DOWN HERE!” Shay screamed. 

“What was it now?” Victoria said. 

When she got to the bottom of the steps she realized Shay wasn’t calling her from inside the house.  She ran outside, Shay was standing by the passenger door of Victoria’s Cadillac.  She walked over to her. 

Shay stared up at her blankly. 

“Your stalker has left her mark,” she said. 

Victoria’s mouth dropped as she read the words

“WATCH YOUR BACK” in red lipstick on the side of her new Cadillac. 

“I just know she didn’t,” Victoria said.  Victoria walked around to the back of the car studying every part of it.  There was nothing wrong with the back, she continued to walk around to the driver’s side and she gasped. 

“
I didn’t even look over there,” Shay said, “What is it?” 

“The word ‘MUTT
!’  I’m guessing this was supposed to go together. ‘WATCH YOUR BACK MUTT!’”

Shay walked to the driver’s side and cringed.  She looked at Victoria,

“What you want to do V?  We can get this chick.  She deserves to get dropped like a bad habit.  I’m down with you, what’s up, we can take this to the hood, this heifer don’t want it, I’m telling you V lets go.” 

Shay was riled up; she wa
s ready to fight.  Too much was too much. 

“I know y
ou not gone let her keep picking with you like you scared after you done whooped her once!  You need to put the smack down on her again.” 

Victoria looked at her. 

“What you want me to do, kill her?  I have already put her in the hospital and she still acting like this.  I mean this rat is a total psycho.”

She turned to walk in the house and Shay was on her heels. 

“Hey, she can be a psycho all she wants but she still can get slap back every time she comes incorrect.  This don’t make no since girl.  What type of person comes all this way to keep stuff going after she done been put in the hospital?  I’ll tell ya what kind, the kind that wants to get put back in the hospital again, and again after that!  I didn’t come all this way to get caught up in no senseless drama, I came for moral support but there is no way I’m about to sit around and let her harass you and do nothing about it.” 

By now they had walked back into the house, Shay was following behind Victoria ranting and raving about Danielle, they didn’t realize Danielle was already in the house.  She hadn’t gone anywhere; she wrote her note on Victoria’s car in her red lipstick then slid into the side entrance when Victoria went flying down the steps to marvel at her artwork.  She had Leon’s forty-five and it was about to get serious.  She was a
black woman gone mad.  She wasn’t psychotic she was mad, pissed off is what she was, and she was about to show them just how mad she could be.  Shay was still ranting and raving about slapping somebody back when Danielle stepped into view.

“What the…
?” Shay said and reached for her purse.

“OOO no I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Danielle said raising the forty-five so it could be seen. 

“This is some major bull,” Shay said. 

“I know right,” Danielle snickered. “An
d you were talking all that trash, my beef isn’t with you Shay but since you talk a lot I should shoot you anyway.” 

Shay swallowed hard.  She did not come all the way to Chicago to get
shot, or killed that’s for sure.  She didn’t know how she would get to her purse but she would have to get it, bullets flying between her and all.  She couldn’t go out just standing here and she had a 380 of her own in her purse that she had been to the gun range with, so she knew how to use it.  Victoria had weapons all in her closet but there was no way to get to them now.  She would be better off trying to go for her purse then the closet. 

“What do you want Danielle?” Victoria asked. 

Danielle looked at Victoria like she was dumb, deaf, and stupid.  “Do you really have to ask?”

“Well why don’t you take him
then, you want him so bad take him.   Oh wait, you can’t because he’s a grown man not a child and he doesn’t want to go with you.”

Danielle turned her aim from Shay to Victoria. 

“Trick, what you don’t know is I will shoot you, right between the eyes without blinking, so I suggest you stop bumping those pretty little gums and shut up.”

Victoria tried not to sweat bu
t she had to be real, the girl was crazy.

“Now I didn’t come over here to kill you but I will, b
ecause I hate you and even though I’m not supposed to have hatred in my heart, I hate you.  I just can’t shake how much I hate you so I’m expressing it this way.  I told you to watch your back and you didn’t even do that.  I don’t know what to tell you.  You’ve been warned.”

“Well what now rookie, get this
over with, you might think you’re intimidating but you’re not!” Victoria taunted. 

Danielle crossed the room in two strides and smacked her with the butt of the gun twice, Victoria hit the floor and Shay tried to make a run for her purse and felt the barrel of Danielle’s gun on the side of her face. 

“Didn’t I say my beef is not with you Shay, tisk tisk, now I’m going to have to shoot you.” 

“Danielle what are you doing?” 

Danielle turned to see who had addressed her and of course it was Joshua. “MMMM,” she said, “my man is home.

Hey baby, you’re just in time for the party!” she said.  “Is anybody with you?”

“No,” he said.

“Don’t play, I know Dantae’s with you so tell him to come on in,” she said getting serious. 

“He’s not with me; he dropped me off and went to the store.” 

Joshua looked at Victoria; she was sitting against the wall bleeding from her forehead.  Danielle
had the gun up to Shay’s head.  She pointed for Joshua to come in and take a seat.  Joshua knew what he would have to do; he would have to play the soft role.  He knew Danielle and she would only fight fire with fire. 

“Baby, he said looking at her, this isn’t you.  What are you doing?” 

She turned her nose up and frowned. 

“Oh please don’t try to play me, because I don’t ha
ve a problem shooting your mutt over here.” 

She turned the gun back to Victoria.  She had the hardest look in her eyes.  He had never seen it.  He didn’t know this Danielle and he had to keep it together or she would probably kill them all and turn the gun on herself.  She looked mad enough to do it. 

“What do you mean, I never said you weren’t, I just said we were moving on.  Look how long have we been in each other lives, of course you’re my baby, so what are you doing?”

Danielle felt confused.  She looked around. 

“Don’t act like you don’t know I’m in love with you and you just push me to the curve and moved here with this stray and what does she have that I don’t!” she yelled. 

Shay moved and Danielle slapped her with the gun.  Shay hit the floor.  Joshua stepped closer to Danielle.  If he could get her attention off of the girls at least they would be safe.  It worked.  Danielle focused on Joshua she held the gun up at him with unsteady hands. 

“Stop!” she yelled.  “Don’t come any closer I swear I will pull this trigger!”

Joshua stood still. 

“Please calm down,” he said in a pleading gesture.  “You didn’t have to bring it to this point Danielle.  I get it, you’re so in love with me that you have gone through extremes to get me, I’m honestly flattered, I never knew you loved me this way.  Put that gun down girl, how you gonna hold that up at your man, how do you expect to take me back with you if you shoot me?” 

She wondered if he was sincere.

“I love you, she said. I always have, and you know how much,” she said letting the gun fall just a little.  “Why did you make me go through all of this?  You know this is way past extreme for me, but what am I supposed to do when my whole life is threatened?” 

Joshua
tensed; he didn’t know the girl was that in love with him. 
They’re going to have to put her in a mental home
, he thought, because she will hurt someone or herself.  He just needed to do something or say something to get the gun out of her hands.  He said the first thing that came to mind,

“I love you girl.” 

At that moment Victoria tensed up and a single tear ran down her face.  Danielle looked over at her and smirked.

“Told you tr
ick,” she said making a disgusting looking face. 

Joshua didn’t want to look at Victoria because his face would break and he would probably run to her. 

“You love her, what do you mean you love this psycho?” Shay said. 

Joshua said something before Danielle could focus on the comment Shay had made.

“So you’re not going to tell me you love me?” he asked. 

“I love you,” she said, “with my entire heart and soul, b
aby you have no idea.” 

“Well put down that
gun and come to me, I want to hold you but I can’t with that gun in my face.”

Danielle
hesitated; she looked around the room again then started to put the gun down when Leon rounded the corner saying,

“Danielle what
is taking you so long girl I’m not about to be sitting in the car waiting for you and you . . . .”

Danielle jumped and turned
the gun toward Leon letting off a single shot.  BANG!  Victoria screamed and Joshua jumped at Danielle two more shots were let off.  BANG! BANG!  Someone screamed again and then it was quiet. 

“JOSHUA!” Victoria screamed.

Shay grabbed her purse and pulled her gun out.  Joshua had not responded. 

“JOSHUA!” she yelled again. 

They heard someone moan and Joshua rolled off of Danielle.  Danielle tried to jump up and make a run for the door and was knocked over the head with the butt of Shay’s gun.