Life After a Balla (24 page)

Kareem chewed the food that was in his mouth before speaking again.“It’s cool. I apologize for putting my hands on you. I promised myself I would never hit a woman after seeing my father abuse my mother for years and I ended up acting just like him. And with that said, I’ll tell you whatever you wanna know Felicia.”

She anxiously sat up and put the food down thinking,
finally
!

“Do you think Justice really loved your mother?” she questioned.

Kareem shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, he told her he did all the time. He pursued her really hard and my mother didn’t know anything about you at first. When she did find out that Justice was married she ended the relationship immediately. And he wasn’t happy about it at all. He kept calling, but she wouldn’t take him back. He told her he didn’t love you, he loved her.”

Felicia felt like she’d been stabbed in the heart after hearing that Justice really loved Skye.

“Then somehow Justice teamed up with my dad, for money obviously and led him straight to where we lived. We’d been hiding from him for months. That dreadful night is forever etched in my mind,” Kareem said, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

“What happened? Is that the night Justice was killed?”

“Yes, I remember listening as my mother and Justice argued. She told him to leave and he got up and opened the door. Minutes later my dad walked in and immediately told my mom that Justice had sold us out for money. He was getting ready to try and beat her again, and that’s when I ran out of the room pointing a gun at him. I yelled for him to leave, but of course he didn’t.”

Felicia sat listening in shock. The more she listened, the more upset she became. She could tell Kareem was getting emotional as he continued with the story.

“My dad jumped and tried to grab the gun from me causing it to go off. A few seconds later Justice fell to the floor. He got hit by a stray bullet in his chest,” Kareem admitted. “So, you see, your husband’s death was an accident, in fact it was his own fault for being greedy. My dad used to say all the time that money will make you do crazy shit! I guess he was right about something for once. Felicia, my mother was just the victim. I swear I don’t know what Cruze did with the body. After that night we all vowed to never talk about it again.”

Felicia sat speechless. She’d finally gotten the truth about what really happened to Justice and it wasn’t at all what she expected. She wondered if Justice ever really loved her or if their entire marriage was all a lie and he’d just stayed for the financial benefits.

A single tear raced down her face and traveled into her mouth. She pressed her lips together to catch it. She had her answer and as much as it hurt, Felicia was glad to have closure. Now, it didn’t matter to her either way if they ever found the body.

Maybe you got what you deserved, Mr. Justice Mitchell
, she thought.

****

Dre pulled up at the small bar that Cruze told Kareem to meet him at. It took some time but he had finally remembered where he knew the name Cruze from. Sandino had showed him a picture and frequently talked about Cruze when they were locked up together. He used to say how they’d been friends since childhood and that he trusted him with his life.

“I bet Sandino feels stupid now. He probably never expected his good friend to steal his wife and family.”

Dre parked the car and went inside. Noticing how small and secluded the place was, he scanned the room and spotted Cruze sitting at a table in the corner.

“You Cruze, right?” Dre asked when he walked up.

Cruze looked Dre up and down. “Who wants to know?”

“Kareem wants to know, nigga,” Dre shot back.

“What the fuck is this shit about? Where’s Kareem?” Cruze yelled.

Dre looked around to see if the few people in the bar had heard the loud outburst. When he realized that they couldn’t hear over the music playing he responded. “He’s alive and in a safe place and he’ll stay that way as long as you cooperate. My brother was Justice, and I already know that you killed him. But what I don’t know is what the fuck you did wit’ his body. I need you to take me to him.”

Cruze glanced around the bar making sure no one heard him being accused of murder. “I don’t know what the fuck you talking about. I didn’t kill Justice and I’m not taking you anywhere.’

Dre leaned over in his face and pulled his shirt exposing his gun. “Well, if you don’t take me you can tell that bitch Skye to kiss her son goodbye!”

CHAPTER 25

Skye paced the floor of her bedroom worried sick because she hadn’t been able to get in touch with Kareem. After driving home from the lunch date with Cruze, she began calling to see if he wanted to talk, but still hadn’t gotten an answer. Despite whatever problems they had, Kareem never ignored Skye’s calls and always called her back if he was busy, so this only increased her concern. She’d even left a message for Cruze telling him to call her back, but hadn’t heard from him either. Skye’s motherly instinct told her that something was wrong.

“I think I’m gonna have to break down and call Cruze again,” Skye said. “I pray he’s not salty about me walking out on him at the restaurant. If so, he needs to get over that shit, because this is important.

She picked her phone up off the bed and dialed his number, but his time instead of ringing it went straight to voicemail. This made Skye even more anxious.

“Cruze, I’m worried about Kareem. I haven’t been able to get in touch with him since he called me, and I’m worried. I know he was supposed to call you and I’m wondering if you ever heard from him. Please call me back as soon as you get this,” she said, ending the call.

As Skye continued to pace the floor, part of her felt guilty for leaving her son in Georgia by himself
. What was I suppose to do? If he didn’t want to come I couldn’t make him
, she thought.

Feeling like a panic attack was approaching, Skye grabbed her purse and took out her Ativan. She hadn’t taken the pills in months, but with thoughts of not being able to get to her son who was six hundred miles away entered her mind, it felt like she needed to take the entire bottle in order to calm down.

Skye left her room and headed downstairs to get a glass of water. When she walked into the kitchen, she saw a note from Quinn taped to the refrigerator stating that he’d run out to pick up a few supplies for Sandino. Not really caring, Skye shrugged her shoulders, grabbed a bottle of Deer Park and popped two pills.

With the house so quiet she could hear Jordan having a conversation with Sandino in his room. Hearing the excitement in his voice, it hurt Skye’s feelings knowing he was trying to form a new relationship, especially since Jordan hadn’t been talking to her much since their little argument. Jordan had even started to help Quinn by taking on a lot of the responsibilities with Sandino. She’d even noticed him going into Sandino’s room almost every day.

As soon as Skye heard Jordan laughing, she decided to go eavesdrop at the door to hear what they were talking about. She stood listening to Jordan talk about his football team in Georgia and his new team in Miami and how he liked his new team better. She then peeked inside and could see Payton sitting on Jordan’s lap smiling at Sandino, who was enjoying every minute of the bonding. When Jordan passed him some of the pictures she’d taken at one of his championship games in Georgia, Sandino started grunting, trying to point to something on the picture. Jordan looked over at the picture to see what he was talking about.

“Dad, Kareem stayed in Georgia with his girlfriend. Hopefully he will come to visit soon. I never thought I would miss him but I do,” Jordan said.

Skye walked away thinking,
I miss him too Jordan, and I hope he’s alright
.

About an hour later, Skye was laying across her bed watching an episode of Law and Order on T.V. The medication had relaxed her a bit.

“Maybe Kareem made up with Le Le and they took a trip somewhere. She’d been trying to get him to go out of town and since I’m not around her old ass is probably working her magic on my poor innocent son. I hope he doesn’t come back married or saying that I’m gonna be a grandmother. My heart can’t take that shit right now,” Skye said out loud.

Her thoughts were suddenly shifted when she felt her phone vibrate against the nightstand. Thinking it might be Kareem, Skye got really excited. Jumping up, she quickly retrieved the phone and looked at the caller ID. When she saw that it was Toni Vaughn, her excitement instantly turned to disappointment.

“Oh my God, what is it now? Seems like every time she calls its bad news,” Skye said in frustration. She answered it anyway. “Hello.”

“Hello Skye, how are you?”

“I could be better.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”“So, what’s up, Toni?” Skye responded in a rushed tone.

“Well, I hope you’re sitting down. The DNA results came back and it looks as if the chances of Sandino being the father of Asia Jones’ baby is 99%.”

Skye shook her head. “Wow.”

“Now, I know you and Ms. Jones aren’t on the best of terms right now, but since you were once friends I hope you all can get along for the sake of the child.”

Skye took a deep breath. Just the mere mention of Asia’s name irritated her. She wanted to go off on Toni and tell her that she didn’t give a damn about Asia or the baby, but decided to hold her composure. Instead of responding, she just shook her head in disbelief and continued to listen.

“Also, I have more news. I just found out that Asia is locked up for child abandonment. Apparently she left her son alone in her hotel room. The baby is currently in the custody of Child Protective Services.”

Skye laughed out loud. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I knew that bitch couldn’t take care of a baby.”

“I’m not sure what Ms. Jones’ situation is in regards to her release, but since Sandino is the biological father he has the legal right to try and obtain custody of the child, especially now since he can prove that she’s an unfit mother. You and I both know that Sandino loves his kids more than anything and I don’t think he would treat this child any differently. He bragged to me all the time about how much of a good mother you were. I just think you need to put your personal feelings for Asia aside and think about the best interest of this child. Remember…you’re a mother also. I’m sure if something ever happened to you, God forbid, you would want your kids to be cared for by great parents in a good home. Besides this would be such good press for Sandino.”

Skye started stuttering. “So…what the fuck are you trying to say, Toni? Are you implying that I take care of Asia’s baby? Oh hell no…nope…not me... and Sandino damn sure can’t!”

“Skye, please calm down.”

“Hell no. I can’t believe you called me with that bullshit. Who gives a fuck about how good Sandino would look in the press. I don’t care about that! Besides, you telling me to get along with Asia is personal advice, not legal!”

“Skye, it’s obvious that I’ve upset you, so I’ll give you some time to think it over. I’ll call you later in the week.”

“Don’t even bother,” Skye said, hanging up in Toni’s face.

Rage took over Skye’s body all over again as all the bad things that happened to her at the hands of Sandino appeared in her mind. She turned around and ran back downstairs. When Skye hit the last few steps she tripped and tumbled down onto the floor. This pissed her off even more. Picking herself up, she stormed into Sandino’s room past Jordan and Payton. All she wanted to do was beat Sandino’s ass. It was almost as if Skye had an out of body experience as she started hitting Sandino in his face with several hard blows.

“Its official, you now have a third son, Sandino Jr.! For some crazy reason I thought it was a possibility that Asia could be making this shit up to try and get money. But I should’ve known two snakes would end up in the same fucking hole. I hate you, Sandino! It’s because of you that this family is broken! It’s because of you that Kareem didn’t want to come home. It’s because of you that he could possibly be missing!” she screamed with high-pitched intensity.

Jordan jumped up with Payton hanging onto him for dear life as Skye kept hitting Sandino with tears flowing down her face.

“Ma, stop it! All that stuff is in the past. I don’t know who you are anymore. How do you function carrying all that stuff around? All that hate… all that anger?”

Skye stopped and backed away crying uncontrollably. “You just don’t understand, Jordan. You haven’t been through what I have been through!”

“Ma, I been right there with you. I’ve seen it all. If I can forgive him, can’t you? We should’ve never come back here if you can’t forgive and move on. And what do you mean Kareem is missing?” Jordan questioned.

All of a sudden, Skye and Jordan saw Sandino struggling trying to say something. When he was finally able to get the words out he looked at Skye and said, “Sorryyyy, I love youuuu.”

He let out several loud grunts then started shaking and having convulsions as his eyes rolled back into his head. They could tell he was having another seizure.

“I told Quinn not to leave this house for a long time and the minute he does, look what the fuck happens,” Skye said to herself .

“Ma, look what you did. Are you trying to kill him?” Jordan yelled passing Payton to Skye and running to his father’s aide.

Sandino’s body started to slide down in his chair, making it easier for Jordan to get him to the floor. He pulled one of the plush decorative pillows from the bed and placed it under his head and shifted him onto his side. He’d watched Quinn do this numerous times to keep Sandino from choking.

“Do something, Ma!” Jordan held his father’s head as it shook uncontrollably and he foamed from the mouth.

Suddenly, the seizure stopped as quickly as it started. Skye just stood motionless watching. Moments later, Jordan panicked when he realized his father stopped breathing.