Big and Aimee: Beautiful Chaos (9 page)

Tara didn’t have an ounce of sympathy for Aimee’s loss. She figured if Big was trying to take Zaria from her, then it was karma that had taken Jovelyn from Aimee.

While sitting there in her thoughts, an idea popped into Tara’s head. She wrote down the address to the church where Jovelyn’s funeral would take place. Tara didn’t have a plan right away, but she knew she wanted to make her presence known.

“I think I may pay my respect to Mommy as well.”

Chapter Sixteen

Aimee sat in the first pew of the church feeling empty. It was finally the day of her mother’s funeral, and she wished she could be at home instead of there. She sat next to Russell and Asia as the pastor delivered the eulogy. Some of Jovelyn’s family had come from the Philippines, and her coworkers were in attendance. Aimee was surprised to see that the entire DeMao clan was present. She knew Big would be there, but she hadn’t expected all of his brothers to come also. Aimee was also glad to see Paris and Camara present. She really needed the support of her friends. There was one person who was missing and that was Dillon. Aimee wondered why he wasn’t there to support her and Asia.

When it came time to view Jovelyn’s body, Aimee froze in fear. Her last image of her mother had been at the morgue and she was scared that she may look the same way. Asia grabbed her hand as she stood up, but Aimee didn’t stand with her. Aimee looked at Asia with a worried look on her face.

“Come on, Aimee. You will regret not seeing her one last time,” Asia urged.

Aimee nodded, knowing that Asia was right. Aimee stood and walked slowly to the casket. Jovelyn lay there with a peaceful look on her face dressed in white. Jovelyn’s makeup had been applied so skillfully that Aimee couldn’t even tell that her face had been bruised. Asia reached a trembling hand out to rub her mother’s face lovingly. Aimee watched as tears fell freely from Asia’s eyes. Aimee looked back and saw her father sitting on the pew as he wiped his eyes. She could tell that he was trying to be strong, but it was killing him to have to bury his wife. After a few minutes of viewing their mother, the twins finally walked back to their seat.

The funeral lasted for an hour and a half and then everyone was dismissed to go to the cemetery. Unbeknownst to everybody, Tara was sitting inside of her car with her cousin, Meka, watching everyone leave the church.

“I can’t believe you talked me into coming here with you. You should be ashamed of yourself,” Meka chastised Tara.

Tara looked at her and rolled her eyes. “But you came, bitch, so shame on you too!”

Meka waved her hand dismissively and looked in her phone. Before she arrived, Tara had planned to go inside the church for the funeral, but she quickly decided against it. She didn’t want to act a fool in the Lord’s house, so she decided to follow everyone to the cemetery.

****

Aimee and Asia rode in the limo with their father. The ride to the cemetery was fairly quiet. Neither of them were in the mood to talk. Instead, Russell reached out and grabbed Aimee and Asia’s hands.

“Your daddy is here for y’all,” he said looking, back and forth between them.

Aimee and Asia nodded and squeezed his hands. After a while, they finally arrived at the cemetery and got out of the limo. All of the attendees gathered around the casket. Big walked over to Aimee and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned in to his body and relished the feel of his strong stature.

“You good?” he whispered to her.

Aimee shrugged, not really having an answer to his question. The pastor said his final prayer, and the casket was lowered into the ground. Aimee watched as Jovelyn’s body was welcomed to its permanent residence. Aimee knew her heart would never beat the same with her mother gone. She wanted to believe that she would be okay, but she didn’t know if that would be possible. Paris and Camara walked over to Aimee and hugged her tight.

“You know that we’re here for you. Don’t worry about work. Take as much time as you need to get yourself together,” Paris told her.

“Yeah, we’re just one call away, okay?” Camara added.

“Thanks, y’all. I really appreciate it.”

“Come on, y’all let’s, go,” Big spoke.

Everyone walked back to their cars so they could attend the repast. This time, instead of riding in the limo, Aimee opted to ride with Big. While walking, Big saw Tara get out of her car and start walking toward them.
What the fuck? I know this bitch ain’t show up here,
he ranted to himself. He was so consumed with anger that he didn’t hear Aimee calling his name.

“Big.”

Big looked down at her. “What’s up?” he asked and diverted his attention to Tara who was approaching.

“Can I stay with you tonight? I…” Aimee’s words trailed off when she saw Tara walk up.

“Well, well, well you had to lay mommy to rest, huh?” Tara asked in a condescending tone.

“This bitch,” Camara said under her breath.

Asia was quiet as she walked over to Aimee. If Tara was there to start trouble at their mother’s burial, then she would have no problem whooping her ass.

“Aye, why are you here? Get the fuck on before you get your ass whooped out here,” Big warned her.

Tara shot him a smug look and rested her hands on her hips. Meka had finally gotten out of the car and walked over to Tara. She really didn’t want to be there because she found it to be disrespectful for Tara to start some mess at a funeral. But she didn’t want to see her cousin get jumped.

“So why did you talk Big into filing for custody? I know it was your bitch ass,” Tara spat at Aimee.

Without warning, Aimee and Asia ran up on Tara and started throwing punches at her. Immediately, Tara fell to the ground and shielded her face. Meka began to pull Asia’s hair, but Asia turned her punches on her. All of the attendees looked on in horror, not believing that they were fighting at a cemetery. Big and Keece reluctantly tried to break it up. Dinero was amused as he took his phone out and began to record the fight.

“Man, you ain't got no class, bro,” Case said and shook his head.

Dinero laughed, not caring. “Man, fuck that. I've been waiting on Tara to get her ass whooped. I gotta record this moment. Aye, y’all let them whoop her ass,” he egged them on.

Camara had seen enough and whipped out her taser. She ran over to Tara who was still on the floor and tased her.

“Arrgghhh!” Tara screamed as the electric volts fried her insides.

Camara then went over and tased Meka since she wanted to jump in and help. Meka’s body fell hard on the ground as she shook from the shock. Aimee and Asia stepped back and looked at their handiwork. It had been a while since they’d fought, and they were definitely pleased that they still had it.

“I’m calling the police on you,” Meka threatened Camara as she sat on the ground.

Camara smacked her lips. “Bitch, my best friend is a lawyer and my man is caked up. I’ll post bail in less than an hour, hoe.”

Camara tried to run up on Meka, but was stopped by Kiyan. Russell walked over, obviously furious that this kind of behavior was had been displayed at his wife’s burial site. “What the hell is going on?” he asked Aimee and Asia.

Aimee shook her head. “I’ll tell you at another time, Dad. Not right now.”

“Well, you better get this shit together. Sitting up here fighting after your mother’s funeral,” he snapped.

Russell shook his head and walked away. He wasn’t satisfied with Aimee’s answer and couldn’t wait to get to the bottom of the matter. For now he had to go to the repast.

Keece tried to help Tara up to her feet, but she snatched her arm away.

“Get your fuckin’ hands off of me!” she yelled and spat at his feet.

“I know this bitch didn’t just spit at my fucking husband! I’m about to give you another ass whooping!” Paris yelled as she ran up on Tara.

Keece caught her just in time before she could hit Tara. “Baby, calm down. Forget that bitch,” he said as Paris struggled to break free from his hold.

“What the fuck is your problem? Why would you come here on that bullshit?” Big bellowed, fed up with Tara’s shit.

“Fuck you!” she screamed with tears in her eyes. Her lip was busted and both of her eyes were swollen.

Tara walked off upset that Aimee and Asia had jumped her. She couldn’t believe that Big had allowed her to get beat up when she was the mother of his child. Meka got up from the ground and ran to catch up with Tara.

Aimee turned around angrily and looked at Big. “I am so tired of that bitch! You need to get her in check before I kill her ass!” she roared in his face.

“I don’t have no control over her crazy ass! What the fuck?”

“Big, she had me out here fighting after right after I buried my
mama
!”

“Aimee, what the fuck do you want me to do about it? You act like I asked her to show up and act a fuckin’ fool!” Big yelled.

“Whatever. I’m riding with somebody else,” Aimee shot then walked away.

Asia ran off trying to catch up with Aimee. Dinero and Case walked over to Big who held an angry glare on his face.

Dinero rested his hand on his shoulder. “I hate to say this, but the only way to get rid of Tara is to pop her ass.”

Case laughed. “Bro, how you gon’ tell him some shit like that? That’s Zaria’s mother,” he said to Dinero.

“Man, Zaria is better off without Tara. She sets a terrible example of how a woman should carry herself,” Dinero said as he shook his head.

Big released a sigh and walked to his car. He needed to come up with some kind of resolution because not only was Tara ruining his relationship with his daughter, she was also trying to interfere with his relationship with Aimee. Big was literally at his wits end and didn’t know which way to turn.

Fuck my life.

****

Aimee sat with her back against the headboard as she watched her favorite movie,
Flowers in The Attic
. It had been two days since her mother had been laid to rest, and Aimee wasn’t feeling any better. Every minute of the day her thoughts were consumed with memories of Jovelyn. Although she wasn’t feeling the best, her crying spells had somewhat ceased. She went from crying all day to crying once in the morning and maybe at night.

Aimee hadn't spoken to Big since the day of the funeral. After she’d cooled off, she realized that maybe she had taken her anger out on him. She knew he had no control over Tara, but she had grown tired of that bitch’s actions. Aimee loved Big wholeheartedly, but at times she questioned if she would be able to deal with Tara if she and Big were to take their relationship to the next level. Aimee now completely understood why he hadn’t wanted her to meet Zaria in the first place. She had no idea the level of ignorance Tara possessed. Something had to give because Aimee refused to fight and be disrespected by Tara any longer.

Her ringing cell phone pulled Aimee from her thoughts. She looked at the ID screen and didn’t recognize the number. Something told her to answer anyway.

“Hello?”

“You have a collect call from inmate, Dillon
.
If you accept the call, press one.”

Aimee hurried and pressed the number one on her key pad. She waited a couple seconds before the call connected. “Dillon, what the hell?”

“Man, my probation officer locked me up. I’m pissed off!”

“Well, why did she do that?”

“Because I missed my last visit with her,” he huffed.

Aimee smacked her lips. “Well, Negro, she does have grounds to arrest you for that,” she said sarcastically.

“I know, but damn, I wasn’t expecting to be here. I definitely didn’t plan on missing your mom’s funeral either.” He spoke in an apologetic tone.

“Yeah, I was a little salty at you for not showing up. I didn’t know you were locked up. I hope she doesn’t keep you too long.”

“Shit me and you both. But how are you and Asia doing? I was worried about y’all.”

Aimee took a deep breath. “Asia is acting like everything is okay, but I know better than that. I’m okay at the moment, but I know I’ll be crying again soon.”

“Y’all gon’ get through this. I know it seems impossible, but y’all will. Look, I gotta go right now. I’ll call you when I'm released.”

“Okay. Bye,” she said then hung up.

Aimee hung up feeling a little sad for Dillon. She knew he hadn’t anticipated getting booked, but he should’ve known that missing a visit with his probation officer would give him a high chance of going to jail.

Aimee went through her call log and noticed her father’s name. She made a mental note to call him soon. Russell had been calling her for the last two days and she knew it wasn’t so he could check on her. He wanted answers as to why she and Asia had gotten into a fight with Tara at the cemetery, but Aimee didn’t have the patience to tell him why. She figured she would tell him at another time because that day wouldn’t be it.

Aimee got back to watching her movie. In the midst of the movie, she heard her front door open and shut. She hopped up and ran to see who it was. She was surprised to see Big with some takeout from Jake’s. He was looking handsome as usual dressed fresh to death.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as she walked over to him.

“I brought you a sandwich. Come and eat,” he said and took the sandwich out of the bag.

Aimee smiled on the inside as she approached her breakfast nook. Sometimes when she and Big would go days without talking, he would always break the ice with food. Even though they weren’t on good terms, Aimee was still happy that he had come to see her. She knew that when she started her crying episode later that night that, she would need to him to hold her. She sat and unwrapped the sandwich. She looked over at Big who opted to stand at the counter and eat his food.