Honor Thy Thug (7 page)

The three of us stood there looking at one another.

I broke the silence. “See, I told you. I told you I wasn’t crazy. I told you I saw him at the restaurant.”

We stood staring at the one and only King Rick. Finally, he said, “Y’all gonna let me stand out here while the mosquitoes eat me up, or are you gonna let me in?”

“Only if you’re ready to put in some work, nigga. Just because you went on hiatus don’t mean shit changed around here.” Trae was smiling from ear to ear as he unlocked and opened the screen door. As soon as Rick stepped inside, they hugged as if they were long-lost brothers.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time. You know how I gets down. Just tell me when and where.” Rick told him.

“Ain’t this some shit! I don’t believe it.”

“Man, you got a lot of shit with you! I remember crying over your dead body. I mean, what the fuck?” Trae wanted to know.

“Shit, the government kills people off, will give you a mock funeral and a whole new identity. They do that shit all the time,” Rick said, and turned to me. “And you?” He hugged me and said, “You are still the finest chick I know.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be in a safe house or something? Not back to the same streets where you did your dirt?” I asked him. I had some reservations about Rick’s sudden reappearance.

“You watch too much television! For us low-life, real niggas, ain’t no such thing as a safe house. We on our own. Plus, I’m retired. I can go wherever I damn well please.”

“So what brings you here on my doorstep? I know it’s something. And don’t tell me you miss a nigga or that you are trying to get your ex-wife back,” Trae told him.

“This is my second time here. The first time I stopped by, y’all wasn’t home.”

“So what
are
you doing here? Are you trying to get back with your wife?” I wanted to know.

“Hell, no, she likes pussy more than I do. Plus, I have someone new and a baby on the way. But as fate would have it, just when I thought I was in a place that I was comfortable with, I got thrown a curve ball. Guess who I ran into right here on your doorstep? And I suggest you sit down, because if you don’t, this is going to knock you down.”

“Please, all the shit we’ve been through, I’m sure we can handle it,” I said as I looked at Trae and rolled my eyes.

“Trust me. This is more powerful than me running into
you in New York.” He looked me up and down as if he knew something no one else did.

“Oh, so now you’re gonna snitch me out? What if I didn’t want Trae to know? I see who your loyalty is with. So go ahead and share your ground-breaking news. I’m all ears!” Trae and I sat down on the sofa.

He looked over at Trae for approval. Trae nodded and then Rick continued. “I found Kyra, man. She was right there on your front doorstep.”

There was silence in the room as we wrapped our ears around what we were just told.

“What do you mean, you
found
Kyra on our doorstep?” Trae asked.

“Yeah, what does that mean? And if that’s the case, then where is she now?” This sounded like some bullshit to me. I know I said I could handle anything but this was not funny. Nor did I need for it not to be real. He was talking about my friend, my sister, my girl. He had to be fuckin’ with us. Maybe it’s like his funeral . . . all a lie. But at the same time, I hoped it wasn’t.

“She’s at the hospital. She’s blacking out, having severe headaches.”

I jumped up and went over to Rick. “Rick, don’t fuckin’ joke with me like this. You talking about
my
Kyra? First you, now Kyra? Rick, what kind of head games are you playing? Trae, I suggest you get your boy.”

“I told you, you weren’t going to be able to handle it. How do you think I feel? Can you imagine what went through my mind when I saw her sitting on your porch? I keep thinking that I am going to wake up and that it is all a dream. I thought I saw a ghost.”

Damn
. He did have a point. Just like the rest of us; we thought she was dead and that Marvin killed her. My mind was flooded with questions like, how? Who? What? When? But Marvin never did really say what happened. And we never knew anything about a funeral.

“Y’all wasn’t home, and I saw her sitting on the front porch. When she saw me, she fainted. I put her in my car, and when she kept saying her head was hurting, I took her to the hospital, and they kept her. I went through her things and found her nurse. I called her and she had been with her since she was first admitted to the hospital. She brought me up to speed on everything that happened with her. She lost her memory y’all. All of this time she was right near me, in Phoenix, Arizona. So for the last two days I’ve been staying at the hospital with her, but I had to come by and let y’all know what was happening. They may let her out tomorrow. I was going to put her up in a hotel, but I figured I better check with y’all first.” Rick was talking a mile a minute.

“Oh, my God.” I grabbed my chest, sat back down, and laid my head back on the couch. I tried to control my breathing as a million and one questions flooded my mind and rolled off of my tongue. “How is she? What is she saying? I gotta see her! Trae, please take me up there.” I stood up, not even waiting for Rick to answer my questions. Then I realized I didn’t even know what hospital she was in. “What hospital?”

“Baby, calm down. I’ll get you up there. But let me talk to Rick first.” He kissed me on the forehead, and then he turned to Rick. He had this no-nonsense look on his face. “Man, let’s go down in the basement.”

“Just like old times.” Rick chuckled.

“For real, Trae? Y’all gonna do this shit right now?” I was
standing there with my hands on my hips, ready to throw a tantrum.

“Just chill for a minute, Ma. Get yourself ready, and we’ll be right back. I gotta talk to Rick.”

And just like that, those rude niggas left me standing there. I knew Trae needed to talk to Rick, but damn. Just like Rick was his boy, Kyra was my girl. I could tell that Trae was glad to see him. Trae had saved his life one night when he was out terrorizing the streets being the dirty cop that he was. He had ended up becoming like family, and he treated Trae like a little brother. After that, Trae couldn’t get rid of him. Despite him being a cop and Trae being a street nigga, they became thick as thieves. Trae says that he was loyal and that was all that mattered.

But later for him; right now, I had bigger fish to fry. I couldn’t think about them right now. What was I going to tell Aisha?
Oh, my God
. How would I break the news to her? How is she going to react once I tell her that her mother is coming over? I had to call my girls, even though I was mad at them for not coming to see me. I bet their asses would come now. I went into the kitchen, grabbed the phone, and dialed Angel first.

“Oh, so you’re not mad at me anymore?” she sarcastically asked me.

“Is that the way you answer the phone?”

“I’m just sayin’.”

“Well, no, I’m no longer mad. It’s all good, because I have some news that will make your ass fly out here today. But you best believe I will address me being mad at another time. I’m not letting you off that easy.”

“Tasha, it’s not like I’m not there with you on purpose. I had to—”

I cut Angel short. “Angel, it’s all good. Just get Jaz on the phone.”

“Damn you, Tasha,” Angel mumbled, as she put me on hold.

I paced back and forth across the kitchen floor until I heard Jaz’s voice. But to my surprise, she was crying. “Jaz, what’s the matter?” I asked her.

“Shit’s so crazy for us right now. I feel so bad for him!” she cried.

“So bad for who?” Angel and I asked at the same time.

“Faheem. His son. They shot and killed him.” She started bawling.

I gasped not wanting to believe what I heard. It was fucked up because Faheem had just met his son a few short months ago.

“What happened? Who shot him? Where were they?” Angel asked before I could.

“Some drama his son’s mother got him caught up in. On top of that, he’s in the hospital with a broken leg, and the police beat him down and then arrested him. I’m at the hospital now.”

“Oh, my God. Can this conversation get any worse?” I asked. “We didn’t even get the chance to meet his son.”

“I know. He was adorable. We didn’t even get a chance to get used to him.” Jaz blew her nose. “What’s up? I gotta go and get myself together. As you can tell, I am a nervous wreck.”

“Nervous wreck? I am devastated.” And I was. “Why did this have to happen to him?” Faheem has such a big heart. I only saw good karma surrounding him. So why did this happen?

“I don’t know,” Jaz responded.

“Well, maybe what I have to say will cheer you up just a little bit. You ready for this? Kyra. She’s here, at the hospital.” When they didn’t say anything, I said, “She’s alive, y’all! She’s here in California.”

“Tasha, don’t play like that.” Angel said.

“Angel, don’t get on my nerves. Do you honestly think I would play about something like this? Rick is getting ready to take us up there.”

“Rick?” Angel screeched.

“You mean to tell me all of this time, she’s been with him?” I could hear the shock and disbelief of Jaz’s voice.

“No. He found her on my doorstep. It’s a long story. Anyway, y’all need to get up here as soon as y’all can. For real, I don’t think I can face this by myself. I understand y’all not coming here for me, but the both of you need to be here for Kyra, especially you, Angel. She is your cousin. Even if it is for only one day.”

Damn.
The federal government be on some bullshit. Giving niggas fake funerals and shit. Rick was full of surprises. I attended his memorial and even shed a few tears. Now this nigga shows up on my doorstep. He told me how he was working as a detective in Atlanta and fell for this chick named Nina, who could pass for Kyra’s sister. He said she was a true hustler and that they robbed some people, and now he was living with her in Tucson. She already had three kids and was five months pregnant with the fourth one, which was his. But now that Kyra was back in the picture, he admitted that his head was all fucked up.

We tried to kick it and catch up right quick about things that were going on in each of our lives. He was glad that I took Marvin out but pissed off because he wanted to dead the nigga himself. He said he was a pussy for leaving Kyra for dead. I told him those were my thoughts, too. Just for that and for causing
my wife so much grief, I took care of him. It was the principle of the matter. Rick told me how Marvin and his crew caught him slippin’, and because of that, he almost lost his life. I warned him not to tell Kyra about Marvin. I would do that myself when it came up and when the timing was right. I knew I would have to eventually face Kyra and Marvin’s daughter. Aisha came up to me at least every other day and asked out of the blue, “Where is my daddy?” Or “Has he called yet?” And I couldn’t say that it didn’t bother me.

“Please Lord, oh please Lord bring him back!” I heard myself scream as I rocked back and forth, squeezing myself tight and wishing that I could hold my son one last time. My eyes were swollen shut from all of the crying. I was in the chapel inside the hospital, hiding from everyone. It had only been a couple of hours since I identified my child’s body, and now the hospital wanted me to identify my brother Wali, but I couldn’t. I didn’t have the strength. So I gave them Mike’s number. I felt as if I was living in hell. My son and my brother? I was overwhelmed with grief. I couldn’t understand why my son was taken from me while he was so young. My only child. I began to cry again.

I got on my knees and prayed for an hour straight, asking God to turn back the hands of time so that I could do things differently. I prayed that Faheem would be okay and that he
could find it in his heart to forgive me instead of hating me and condemning me to hellfire. But no matter how long I prayed, I noticed that I didn’t feel at peace. I’m sure it was because of my guilt, my greed, and my lust. Calling them deadly sins is an understatement.

I had no business taking that package from Steele. We had no business robbing him in our own hotel. That was stupid. And two deaths was confirmation that my brothers and I hadn’t planned things out thoroughly. It only became personal to Steele because I would sleep with him on occasion. For me, it was convenience, but he obviously thought differently. And because of that, he felt that he could hurt me by kidnapping my son. Someone I loved more than life itself. When I ran into Faheem, I saw the hurt in his eyes that told me that I was the one who needed to die. When he choked me, I was wishing that he would have killed me. Now I wish I could stay in this chapel forever.

Well, well, well. Look at this bitch!
Lord forgive me for that thought in your house. My jaws tightened at the sight of Oni as Kaeerah and I entered the chapel. I thought it would be a good idea for myself and Kaeerah to say a prayer for her father and her brother. We had to thank God that Faheem was alive and that losing his son wouldn’t be too big of a burden that he couldn’t bear. I was also praying that they would release him and not charge him with some bullshit. After all, it was Oni and her brothers who caused all of this drama. But as I entered the chapel the hairs on my neck stood seeing Oni kneeling. I came in peace but now I felt
like warring. This bitch is the reason my husband is in pain both physically and mentally. I told Kareerah to take a seat.

“Mommy, there goes Miss Oni!” she yelled out, causing Oni to turn around.

“I see her,” I mumbled. Oni looked like hell, for lack of a better word. She looked as if she had aged ten years. The sadness on her face almost softened my heart. She had dark rings under her red eyes, and her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. Even her clothes were crumpled and dusty-looking. Her cream blouse was ruined from the makeup all down the front of the shirt and on the sleeve. She looked as if she hadn’t been home to change or bathe in days. If it had been any other day, I would have gloated that I was my usual fly self.

“Hi, Miss Oni,” Kaeerah called out cheerfully. Despite my hate for her, I raised my child better.