Wifey 4 Life (26 page)

Read Wifey 4 Life Online

Authors: Kiki Swinson

Tags: #Fiction - General, #African American - Urban Life, #Fiction, #Literature & Fiction, #Genre Fiction

BOOK: Wifey 4 Life
7.53Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

I stopped in my tracks and asked him what was wrong.

“Do you realize our fingerprints are all over Jeff ’s van, and
he’s lying underneath the underpass dead?”

Suddenly, once again, I was back at square one. “So whatcha
think we should do?”

“I don’t know, but we’re gonna have to do something, because
not only are our fingerprints in there, but Tony’s blood is too. So when the homicide
detectives dust the van for prints and take the blood samples from the rug, we could
get charged with murder, and we’ll never see daylight again.”

“How can I go to jail and I ain’t killed nobody?”

“The police don’t know that.”

“You can tell ’em I didn’t have shit to do with none of this
stuff !” I screeched.

“Kira, you’re just as guilty as I am. You were there for Tony’s
murder too.”

“So what? You started all of this bullshit! I didn’t ask to
be kidnapped and tortured to death.”

He took a step toward me and gave me a sinister look. “So whatcha
think . . . I’m just gon’ take all the heat just like that?”

Looking directly into my uncle’s eyes, I could see how serious
he was. He wasn’t about to compromise, even though he was the one who had started
all this shit. I now realized I had fucked up by helping this ungrateful motherfucker
escape. I had tried to end the deadly cycle of my family members getting killed
because of something I was involved in, but now I saw that this was something I
couldn’t control.

Without even blinking, I stuck my right hand inside my pocket,
eased out Jeff ’s gun, and aimed it at my uncle’s stomach. “You’re gonna have to!”
I said in a menacing tone, pulling the trigger twice.

He collapsed to the ground with his eyes wide open, bleeding
all over the sidewalk. I stepped across him and walked back in the direction of
Virginia Beach Boulevard.

When I reached the intersection, I noticed how congested it was.
Police vehicles were everywhere. I saw two vans from the Office of the Chief Medical
Examiner and three forensic teams. And one officer stood in the intersection and
directed the traffic in both directions. I lifted my head up as high as I could
and walked by him like my shit didn’t stink.

My mission was to find the nearest pay phone. After walking two
blocks, I found one. I immediately made an international collect call to Donovan’s
cell phone. Boy, was I happy to hear his voice when he answered on the first ring.

“Yes, I’ll accept the charges,” he said. And then when the operator
cleared the line for him to speak, he said, “Baby, where are you? I’ve been calling
your phone all night, and it kept going straight to voice mail.”

I took a deep breath and exhaled. “Listen, baby, I know you
were worried, and as soon as I see you, I’m going to tell you everything that happened
to me.”

“Tell me now,” he insisted.

“Donovan, please just let me get back home first.”

“OK, baby. Come on home.”

“I am.”

After we hung up with one another, I jumped in a taxi and headed
straight to the hotel to pick up my belongings, and then I had the driver drop me
off at the Norfolk International Airport. I was leaving this country and never coming
back.

Discussion Questions:

1. Kira seems to find herself in precarious situations. Do you
think that she deserves all the drama that comes into her life?

2. If you were Kira would you have gone to your cousin’s funeral
after she tried to have you murdered? Why or why not?

3. It seems as though each time Kira tries to turn her life around,
someone from her past lulls her right back to where she started from. Do you feel
that sometimes it’s best to let go of the past, even if that includes letting go
of family and friends? If so, please explain.

4. After Kira gets away from her kidnappers she has a brief moment
where she could have just walked away. If you were in her shoes, would you have
turned the other cheek and took the high road, or would you have sought out revenge?

5. When you found out that the person behind Kira’s kidnapping
was her uncle were you shocked?

6. Kira has a change of heart and decides to work with her uncle
against Walt and his killing crew. Would you have been so forgiving?

7. Did you believe Uncle Lanier’s depiction of events surrounding
Kira’s mother and Walt?

8. There was a lot of bloodshed on the night of Kira’s
kidnapping. Do you think that the police will do a full forensic investigation,
perhaps finding evidence that could ultimately make Kira a suspect in numerous
homicides? Or do you think that trace evidence is really only used for television
ratings and never in the hood?

9. Kira is racing back to Anguilla and her fiancé Donovan. Do
you think that Kira might be moving too fast with this man?

10. Considering Kira’s past track record with men, do you think
that she finally will live happily ever after with Donovan?

Other books

On Keeping Women by Hortense Calisher
For King & Country by Robert Asprin, Linda Evans, James Baen
The Price of Discovery by Leslie Dicken
Innocent Murderer by Suzanne F. Kingsmill
Bone Rattler by Eliot Pattison
From Pharaoh's Hand by Cynthia Green