Beautiful Liar (18 page)

“No, nothing like that. Actually, your book
is doing quite well. I’m calling to inform you that a package has
arrived here that you might want to come pick up.”

“A package?”

“Yes. It arrived this morning.”

“Could you tell me who sent it?”

“Hold on a minute, let me…sorry, it doesn’t
have a name or a return address on it.”

“Okay. Well, I’m not far away. Give me
fifteen minutes.”

“Great. Pick it up at the front desk, Tara
will be waiting for you.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Bye.”

Misty ended the call, smiling. She couldn’t
believe how happy she was since Tywan’s death. Cairo always went
out of his way to show her that she was loved. Usually, she would
be leery dealing with someone with a background such as Cairo’s.
But, his constant efforts made it totally clear that his mind
wasn’t on anything but pleasing her.

She still cried at night sometimes when she
thought of Tywan, but her very being told her that she now had a
second opportunity to be happy, and she knew that going for it was
a no-brainer.

Isness Publishing was a three-story building,
located on Peachtree. Traffic was heavy, as usual, but she lucked
up and found a parking spot not too far from the building.

She got out her car very cautiously. The
incident with the mystery woman had her on her p’s and q’s. Misty
realized that changing her cell number and residence had been a
very smart thing to do, because it had been peaceful ever since.
But she didn’t delude herself into thinking that was the remedy to
her problem. It just made her a harder target, in her mind.

Tara immediately noticed her when she walked
thought the doors, and greeted her enthusiastically. “Hi, Ms.
Reems! I have a package for you.”

Misty accepted it. “Thank you, Tara. You can
call me Misty.”

“Okay, Misty. I have a cousin named Misty,
too.”

“For real?”

“Yeah. She lives in North Caroline.”

“Okay. Your hair looks nice. Is that a new
color?”

“It is! You’re the only one who noticed
it.”

They made a small talk for another five
minutes, until Misty excused herself. She waited until she was in
the privacy of her car before she opened the packaged and read the
letter inside:

You can run, you can even hide.

But I will track you to the edge of the
world,

To make you feel what I feel inside.

A cold chill ran though her body as she
reached back in the package and pulled out a single photo. At the
mere sight of it, she screamed and started beating her fists on the
steering wheel.

Earlier since Terry had retired and given the
business to Cairo, Ray had been enjoying his new position as the
supervisor. He could tell the other workers envied him, but they
kept their feelings discreet, because they knew that it could
possibly cost them their jobs.

Ray put the video game on pause when the
office phone started ringing. “Jenkins Concrete.”

“Hey, what’s up?” Cairo asked.

“Nothing. On the last stage of Grand Theft
Auto. This is way harder than the last one.”

“I told you. But look, has anybody called for
me?”

“Anybody, like who?”

“You know, like Misty.”

“Nah, she hasn’t called. A few customers
called for you.”

“Okay, cool. If she calls back, tell her that
you don’t know where I’m at.”

“Shit, I don’t.”

“Cool. Bye.”

The line went dead, and Ray hung up, frowning
at the strange conversation. But the thought perished as soon as he
realized the game was waiting.

He was interrupted again five minutes later
when a worker knocked at the door. “What’s up, Ted?”

“There’s a woman up front asking for
you.”

“Who is she?”

“She wouldn’t say, but she asked for Cairo
first.”

Ray followed Ted to the front, and rushed to
Misty when he saw she was distraught. “What’s wrong?”

“Where’s Cairo? I need to talk to him!”

Cairo’s warning popped into his head. “He’s
not here right now. Did you call his cell?”

“Twice. He’s not answering. Please, tell me
nothing has happened to him!”

“Calm down!” he said, grabbing her by the
shoulders. “He’s okay. I just spoke to him.”

Misty’s mood switched to anger. “What is he
doing that he can’t answer his phone when I call?”

“I have no idea. Maybe he didn’t hear you
calling because his music was up.”

“That’s some bullshit, because Cairo don’t
play his music loud! Plus, he would’ve seen his missed calls when
he spoke to you.”

Ray was speechless.

“Call him from here!” she demanded.

Ray definitely wasn’t about to do that. Cairo
had made it crystal clear he didn’t want to be in contact with her
at that particular moment. He knew that Cairo would never forgive
him if he got him caught up.

“I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for
him not answering your calls.”

“Yeah, like maybe he’s doing something that
he doesn’t have any business doing.”

“You’re jumping the gun now. Cairo’s a
changed man. He loves you, and you know it. You’re all that man
talks about."

Misty suddenly felt childish. “You’re right.
I apologize for coming in here, making a scene.”

“It’s cool. We’ve forgotten about it already,
haven’t we, Ted?”

“What scene? It has been peaceful in here all
day.”

“See?” Ray said, turning back to her.
“Forgotten. Now, go on to the house. I guarantee he’ll be calling
you before you get there. Know what I’m talking about?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Let me walk you to your car.”

They turned to leave out of the door just as
Cairo’s car was pulling up. Misty walked outside to greet him but
halted when she saw Wendy getting out of the passenger side. They
hugged briefly before Wendy got into her car and pulled off.

Misty looked back at Ray, who seemed to be
just as shocked as she was, and charged the Bentley.

“
Who is it?”

“It’s me, Ra.”

Rasheeda let Vicky in while observing her
closely.

“What’s good, Ra?”

“Nothing. Feeding my face. What brings you
all the way here?”

“You’ll never believe the stunt lame-ass JJ
pulled on me.”

“What?”

Vicky sat down and recollected before she
spoke. “He knew that he wasn’t enough but a bunch of hot air. That
bitch-ass nigga backed out on us.”

“What?! What did he say?”

“You know how stupid he is. He started
accusing me of trying to set him up for immunity.”

“Hell nah!”

“I’m serious, Ra. You wouldn’t believe the
dumb shit that came out of his mouth.”

“Was he drunk?”

“He was drinking, but who knows if he was
drunk?”

“You know what? Fuck him, V! We both know he
has been faking the whole time anyway. He only jumps on people he
knows he can beat.”

Vicky started massaging her temples. “I’m so
frustrated right now; I don’t know what to do. I want that crab so
dead right now!”

“Don’t let JJ get to you like that. You
already know how he is.”

“I’m not talking about JJ. I’m talking about
Cairo.”

“Oh, yeah. That pig doesn’t deserve to eat
trash.”

“Just the thought of what he did to Tracey
makes me cry.”

“You too?” she asked, grabbing a large cup of
juice. “I dream about Tracey often, and I wake up crying.”

Vicky’s wheels started turning, causing her
to go into a trance-like daze.

“Hey, V, you okay?”

“Huh?” She focused her attention back on
Rasheeda.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. I just had a vision.”

“Of what?”

She sat up in her seat, excitedly. “You’re
right, fuck JJ! Me and you can do it by ourselves.”

“Do what?”

“This is perfect! Being that Cairo’s a freak,
I know it’ll be easy for me to lure him to a hotel somewhere. I
could tell him I want to squash the beef, only on the condition he
lets me fuck him one more time. While we’re in the room getting it
on, you can sneak in with an extra key and kill him.”

Rasheeda repeated Vicky’s last sentence in
her head three times before she realized what alarmed her. “Kill
him?”

“Yeah. All that other stuff that we’re doing
doesn’t matter. We have to take it to the next level.”

Rasheeda set the cup down and entwined her
fingers nervously. “I love Tracey with all my heart, and as bad as
I want to see Cairo pay for how he dogged her, I can no longer risk
my freedom trying. I’m thinking for two, now.”

“What the fuck you mean, ‘you’re thinking for
two, now’?” she asked, jumping out of her seat. “Are you trying to
say I’m slow or something?”

“No! Calm down and listen, V. Have a seat,
too.”

“I’d rather stand.”

“Well, stand then. The reason I said that I’m
thinking for two now, is because, I went for my checkup today and
found out I’m pregnant.”

Vicky started shaking her head in denial.
“That’s a lie! You know you can’t have babies.”

“That’s what I thought, too. Devin was so
excited when I told him.”

Seconds passed by without Vicky
responding.

“Say something, V.”

“Say what?”

“Say that you’re happy for me. You know how
long I’ve been wanting a baby.”

“I’m happy. But what about Tracey and her
baby? What about the promise we made to Kerisha? Have you
forgotten?”

“How can I? I love Tracey, but I’m not
willing to throw my life away over the assumption Cairo killed
her.”

“Oh! Now since you found out you’re pregnant,
it’s just an assumption?”

“Now that I’ve given it some thought, that’s
all it’s ever been. I’ve just been so emotionally tied up in this
thing that I haven’t been able to think clearly."

Vicky marched to the door. “Don’t worry about
it. Have your baby, and I’ll keep my promise to Kerisha.” She
slammed the door behind her with a ‘Me Against the World’
mentality.

Vicky was still crying by the time she got back
to Atlanta. She couldn’t figure out for the life of her the real
reason why Rasheeda and JJ suddenly turned their backs on her. She
didn’t want to believe they had allowed Cairo to pay them off,
because that would be the ultimate betrayal. They would never be
able to make it back from that.

It didn’t bother her that it was solely left
up to her to settle the score for Tracey and her baby. She didn’t
mind being their voice so they could be heard. And she definitely
didn’t mind being their hands so they could avenge their own
deaths.

Once she reached her destination, she dropped
Visine in her eyes to clear any traces she had been crying. She
couldn’t afford to alarm Teddy, because he was her ace in the
hole.

He came to the door wearing only a pair of
boxers and a wife beater. It was obvious from the look on his face
he was surprised to see her.

“Vicky? What storm blew you in?”

She shrugged. “I just happened to be in the
neighborhood and decided to come check you out.”

“I thought you was mad at me?”

“How long can a person be mad? Are you going
to let me in? Or do you have company?”

Teddy stepped aside and watched her figure as
she made her way over to the couch. “Not long, I guess. Especially
over some petty shit.”

“So what have you been up to lately?”

“Working to keep the club competitive. Other
than that, just thinking about you.”

“Why haven’t you called me then?”

“Because I thought you was done with me.”

“I can go for that. Come sit with me.” Teddy
done as he was told and she continued. “I need a favor, Teddy.”

“What kind of favor?”

“Just a lil’ loan so I can pay my light
bill.”

“Oh, that ain’t nothing. We can help each
other out.”

“What you need?” she asked, seductively
staring him straight in his eyes.

“A lil’ head to get this tension off me.”

“That’s cool.”

Teddy didn’t waste any time. He pulled off
his boxers and reclined back. “I’m ready.”

Vicky put him in her mouth and immediately
came back up. “Ugh! You have to take a shower first!”

“I just took one this morning.”

“I can’t tell. Just take another one, please.
You know how I am about body odor.”

He sighed and stood, “Okay. I’ll be right
back. You can watch TV or something.”

As soon as she heard the water come on, Vicky
went straight to Teddy’s bedroom closet and pulled up the carpet in
the corner of the room. She then removed a loose floor board and
was delighted that Teddy still liked varieties of guns. She picked
the one that suited her best and made a beeline to her car.

“
You mutha fucker!”
Misty screamed as
she slapped Cairo. “My best friend!? That’s how you do it?”

Cairo was flabbergasted. He glanced at
Wendy’s fleeing car and then to Ray. It wasn’t until Misty slapped
him once more that he focused back on her and tried to explain.
“Hold on, baby! It’s not what it looks like!”

“You bastard! I know it was too good to be
true!”

“No, it’s not. Just hear me out.”

She jerked out of his grasp. “No! Get away
from me! Is it because I haven’t slept with you?”

“No, baby! I don’t—”

“Cairo!”

Cairo turned his attention to Ray and saw him
motioning his head to the approaching customers. He got the point
and forced Misty into the passenger seat of his car.

“Get your fucking hands off of me; you
low-down, dirty bastard! It’s over! I don’t want to be around you
anymore!”

He shut the door and got in on the driver’s
side. “Nothing hap—”

She slapped him once more. “Was it worth
losing me? And what we built?”

She then leaned her head on the dashboard and
began sobbing. “I come to you for comfort because some crazy bitch
is trying to kill me, and I see my supposed-to-be best friend
getting out of your car! I can’t wait to see that bitch.”