Life After a Balla (20 page)

Walking back to the couch, Kareem reached for the remote so he could change the channel. When it wasn’t on the table he searched between the cushions, but still couldn’t find it. Getting down on his knees, he reached underneath the couch hoping the remote would turn up there. However when he felt something and pulled the object out, Kareem was shocked to find a man’s basketball shoe.

“What the fuck? Whose shoe is this?” he asked looking inside. “And it’s a size thirteen. This shit don’t belong to me.” Instantly, all kinds of crazy thoughts started going through his mind. “This shoe probably belongs to the nigga I saw leaving that day. Now that I think about it, Le Le has been acting different every since I moved in with her. I guess I’m in the way… fucking up her groove.”

Beyond pissed, Kareem stood up and threw the shoe across the room. But instead of confronting her he decided to look around the house to see if he could find anything else that belonged to the mystery man. His first stop was going to be the bedroom located at the end of the hall that Felicia always kept locked. She’d told him on numerous occasions that she kept the room locked because there was tons of junk inside from her old business and she wasn’t ready to clean it. Up until now, Kareem didn’t care to question her outlandish reason, but now he realized the explanation didn’t make sense.

Kareem went into the kitchen and grabbed a knife out of the drawer, then headed upstairs to the suspicious bedroom. With just a little bit of tampering with the doorknob, he managed to break the lock and was inside within seconds. Looking around he quickly realized that she’d lied to him. Just like the rest of the house, the room was completely spotless.

“Why the hell did Le Le tell me this room was packed with junk? What is this bitch hiding?” Kareem walked over and opened the closet door. When he saw several pairs of men’s shoes on the floor along with clothing neatly hanging in the closet, he went ballistic. “What the fuck is going on around here?”

Puzzled and angry, Kareem left but continued to search, marching straight to Felicia’s bedroom. Hearing the water coming from the bathroom confirmed her location which gave him ample time to snoop. After searching under the bed for a few minutes and coming up empty, he suddenly thought about Felicia’s sacred closet. Knowing that door was locked as well, Kareem performed the same bootleg locksmith job and made his way inside. He didn’t see anything suspicious at first until he slid a long white coat to the side and noticed a large cardboard box. Curious to see what was inside, Kareem didn’t waste anytime opening it up. Again, he didn’t think much of it after seeing a lot of paperwork, several books and a few photos. However, when he came across a piece of paper with
Breaking the Cycle Women’s Shelter
letterhead on it, his questioning kicked into high gear.

“What the hell is she doing with paper from the shelter we stayed at?” Kareem wondered.

Grabbing one of the pictures, he continued to flip through them until one with Felicia in a wedding gown, instantly caught his attention. His eyes instantly enlarged. Not only was Kareem unaware that Felicia was ever married, but the man standing beside her in a tuxedo was none other than Justice. His heart rate began to increase as he saw one picture after the other of the happy couple smiling. In each picture they seemed to be on some sort of vacation and obviously enjoying each other’s company. When Kareem came across a picture of Justice and the same man he’d seen leaving her house the week prior, it didn’t take long for him to finally start piecing everything together.

So, that was Justice’s car the guy was driving. No wonder Le Le has been asking me so many fucking questions. She wants to know what happened. She’s been setting me up this whole time
!

It was at that moment when Kareem looked at the white coat he’d pushed away from before and noticed the words,
Dr. Felicia Mitchell M.D
. engraved on the top right corner. Everything was all a lie.

Rage consumed Kareem’s body as he stormed out of her bedroom and towards the bathroom. Hearing his rapid footsteps, Felicia who was only acting as if she was in the shower immediately tried to end her phone call when he stormed inside. However, before she had a chance to react, Kareem quickly snatched her up by both arms.

“So, bitch you been playing me the entire time, huh? Did you think I wouldn’t find out what you were up to or who that nigga was?”

Startled, Felicia looked into Kareem’s crazed eyes. “Get off me! What the hell is wrong with you?”

Realizing that she never cared about him and it was all just a ploy to find her husband’s killer made Kareem go even crazier. At that moment, he pushed Felicia so hard it sent her body flying to the bathroom floor. Seconds later, he jumped on top of her landing several massive blows across her face. It all happened so fast, Felicia couldn’t do anything but put up her hands to try and block the constant punches.

“Why are you doing this to me?” she asked as blood trickled down her nose.

Without responding, Kareem put both of his hands around her neck and started applying pressure. Unable to breathe, Felicia became hysterical and started gasping for air and grabbing at his hands.

“I can’t believe I actually fell in love with your old ass. My mother was right about you!”

Just the thought of her betraying him caused Kareem to suddenly throw another punch. He then grabbed Felicia by the hair and pulled her badly beaten body over to the toilet.

“You shady bitch. Let’s see if you like using people after this,” Kareem said, lifting the seat with one hand while pushing her face inside the bowl with the other. Felicia desperately tried to keep from drowning, but she was no match against the strong hold he held on the back of her head.

“I should kill your ass for playing with my fucking emotions, Felicia Mitchell!”’

Hearing Kareem call her by her real name, Felicia finally realized he’d found out who she really was.

He continued to push her head back and forth in the toilet water until suddenly she heard a male voice say, “Get your fuckin’ hands off her nigga before I kill yo’ ass.”

Kareem instantly released his grip and turned around looking into the barrel of a gun. Dre had rushed over after hearing the entire incident over the phone. It was him Felicia was talking to when Kareem stormed in the bathroom.

Felicia coughed and cried uncontrollably.

Dre reached down and helped Felicia off the floor. “Are you okay?” he asked, still pointing the gun at Kareem.

“No…I’m…not,” she said, coughing in between words. “What…are we going to do now? He knows who we are.”

“Don’t worry about that. Just let me handle it. Here, hold this and keep it pointed on his ass,” Dre said, passing Felicia his Glock 17.

I shoulda took over a long time ago instead of wastin’ time waitin’ on Felicia’s ass to make somethin’ happen
, Dre thought. He walked over to Kareem and got in his face.

“Instead of beatin’ on woman why don’t you fight a man,” he said, pushing Kareem against the wall. “I guess you inherited beatin’ on women from your bitch ass father. I should crack your fuckin’ head open right now.”

Kareem looked at Dre wondering how he knew his father. But more or less he didn’t ever want to be like him.

“I was locked up wit’ your father and now I see you’re just as heartless as that nigga was,” Dre continued.

“Man, fuck you and him!” Kareem yelled.

Dre took the gun from Felicia’s hand and told her to leave.

“No, wait Dre, don’t do anything stupid,” Felicia cried.

“Felicia, I said leave!” Dre roared. “Now!”

As soon as she closed the bathroom door, Dre took the butt of the gun and pistol whipped Kareem across his face. Blood spattered everywhere and it wasn’t long before Kareem broke down crying.

“Shut your bitch ass up!” Dre yelled. “Let me hear you talk shit now!”

“Please don’t kill me. I’ll do whatever you need me to do,” Kareem responded.

“Now that’s what I want to hear. Did you kill my brother, Justice?” When Kareem didn’t respond, Dre got in his face again. “Muthafucka, I asked you a question. Did you kill my brother?”

“No, I didn’t!”

“Well, I suggest you tell me what happened. What about your mother? I don’t wanna have to hurt your family, but I will if I don’t get the information I need,” Dre informed.

“Leave my family out of this.”

“Then start talkin’! Where is Justice? Is he dead?” As soon as Kareem nodded his head, Dre’s excitement escalated. “Where is his body?”

“I don’t know, but I know someone who does,” Kareem snitched.

“I knew it. I knew y’all muthafuckas were involved. Who killed him? Who got rid of his body?” Dre pointed the gun at Kareem again to show him he meant business.

“My mother’s boyfriend. Cruze.” Kareem felt bad, but throwing Cruze under the bus seemed like the right thing to do.

“Call that muthafucka right now. I need to see him,” Dre responded. “I don’t even wanna know how shit went down. I just wanna know where my brother is.”

“But I don’t have his number. I…” When Kareem saw the seriousness in Dre’s face, he took the cell phone out of his pocket and quickly called his mother. He prayed she’d answer.

“Hey, Kareem,” Skye said when she answered the call. She sounded so excited to hear from him.

“Hey, Ma. How are things going?” Kareem, on the other hand sounded nervous.

“I actually can’t complain. I’m on my way to Payton’s doctor. She’s recovering well and Jordan is doing great. How are you? We miss you.”

“I miss you all, too. Hey Ma, is Cruze still in Georgia or did he come to Miami?”

“Can you believe he’s in Miami now? Why?”

“Just wondering. Hey, I’m coming back to Miami. Things with Le Le didn’t work out. I’ll tell you about it when I see you,” he informed her.

Skye smiled from ear to ear. Not only was Kareem moving back home, but it sounded like he was done with his girlfriend.
I knew it wouldn’t last with that bitch
.

“Can you text me Cruze’s number?”

“Yes, but why are you trying to reach Cruze? I thought you didn’t like him.”

Dre started waving the gun at Kareem telling him to cut his call short.

“I just need to talk to him about something, so text me the number as soon as we hang up please.”

“I hope you’re not planning on doing anything illegal with him Kareem,” Skye replied.

“No Ma, I just need to talk to him about something man to man. Since I don’t have a father in my life Cruze is the closest thing to that right now.”

“Yeah, alright. This still sounds a little fishy to me but I’ll text you his number. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Kareem said before ending the call. He tried his best to keep his voice from trembling.

While holding the gun on Kareem, Dre’s mind drifted.
I wonder if the same person who killed Justice had something to do with Mercedes murder, too. It’s just ironic that they died around the same time
, he thought.

When Kareem noticed Dre’s blank expression, he decided to it was time to make his move. He dove over and rustled for the gun. When the gun suddenly went off, Felicia ran back into the bathroom.

“Oh my God!” she screamed.

CHAPTER 21

Skye stood beside the table holding Payton’s hand as she was examined by the chiropractor. Payton whimpered, clenching Skye as the doctor held her tiny little leg up in the air feeling around the bones.

“Its okay baby girl, he just wants to look at your leg to make sure it’s all better,” Skye said, trying to reassure her daughter. She could see in Payton’s eyes that she was terrified and about to start screaming at any minute.

“I’m almost finished, Payton. You’re being such a big girl,” the doctor said in his thick Indian accent.

When Skye was able to get Payton to calm down, a few seconds later the exam was over. The doctor sat Payton up on the table, removed his rubber gloves, grabbed her file and wrote down some notes.

“Give this to the young lady at the desk on your way out. I need to see Payton back next week,” he said, passing Skye a billing invoice. “Payton’s first round of Physical therapy went well today. She’s healing a lot faster than expected. This is remarkable progress being that she just got her cast removed two days ago. I hope she isn’t afraid of water because her second round of therapy will be Aquatic. This type of therapy will reduce the stress placed on her joints while walking on her leg again. Also, this aspect of aquatic therapy is especially useful for healing fractured bones and increasing flexibility and strength back in her leg.”

“Payton loves the water. She’s been swimming since she was a baby. My kids had a personal swimming instructor for years,” Skye informed him.

“That’s great. Did they attend some type of program at the Miami city pool?” he questioned.

Skye immediately frowned and gave him the look of death. “City Pool? My kids have never been in a city swimming pool. I have a customized swimming pool at my Palm Island Estate. Thank you very much,” Skye said, putting on Payton’s shoes. She was pissed that the doctor had insulted her like she was some project chick.

“I didn’t mean to offend you, Mrs. Washington. I just assumed that…”

Skye cut him off, “You just assumed that my kids were some o’ poor black kids, huh? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but that’s far from the case. And by the way I asked you once before not to call me Mrs. Washington,” she said, picking up Payton and walking out of the room.

Skye was fuming as she approached the check out desk and handed Payton’s form to the pale skinny receptionist.

“Okay, Mrs. Washington, I see that the Dr. Chopra would like me to schedule Payton’s weekly physical therapy appointments for the remainder of the month. But I don’t see where we have your insurance information on file.”

“I can see none of you listen around here. You can call me Skye and no you aren’t gonna be able to find it because the insurance I applied for is still in underwriting.”