Queen Bitch: Part 4 (Bitch Series) (22 page)

"Why should I believe you?"

"Because I know who did kill her. At the time, I thought
she saved my life and I wanted to protect her. Now I
know that she's just a manipulator."

"Kinda like yourself?"

"No...worse."

"When I came to your house that morning after learning
Nina was dead, you looked me in my eyes and lied to me
with a straight face. I believed you and you were lying
to me."

"I told you I didn't kill Nina and that was the truth. I
meant every word I said that morning. Nina was a loser.
She didn't love you. What the fuck! You're married now.
You're still hung up on that trick?"

"That's not the point. I trusted you as a friend and you deceived me."

"Oh please, Jamal, save the theatrics. We're talking
about my life. You think I was willing to go to jail for a
loser like Nina, who I didn't even have the pleasure of
killing? Your so-called fiancee set me up. She wanted to
kill me, and for what so she could live out some fantasy,
made up life with Nico. She was delusional and crazy.
Those are two very dangerous components."

"How do you justify the way you live your life?"

"The same way you justify yours. Don't judge me,
Jamal. That's not your right. You're a sinner just like me,
and don't forget it."

The room went quiet, as if Jamal was soaking in all
the words that we battled with. I knew I had blood
on my hands, but I never killed anybody that I didn't
feel deserved it. Was that my right to do? Well that was
something I would have to settle with God.

"What do you need from me, Precious?" Jamal finally
asked, breaking the silence. "I know you didn't come to
see me because you missed me," he said sarcastically.

"You're right. I know it doesn't matter to you, but you
are one of the very few people I respect, believe that."
Jamal put his head down and didn't say a word. "Back
to what I need from you: Have you ever been to an
apartment that Nina had in Queens?"

"Queens? Nina didn't have an apartment in Queens."

"Yes, she did. Obviously you didn't know about it, like
you didn't know about the apartment she kept on the
West Side."

"You mean the one she kept your ex-fugitive boyfriend,
Nico stashed in."

"Yeah, that one. Let's pause and backtrack for a moment
because the petty hostility isn't giving me what I need."

"Why should I help you get what you need anyway?"

"Don't you want the person who is responsible for
killing Nina to be brought to justice?"

"I find it hard to believe that you're doing all this to get
justice for Nina, especially since you've made it very clear
you're happy she's dead."

"You're right, it's not about Nina. Having her killer rot
behind bars is an added bonus for you and the ultimate
payback for me."

"I would like to see that happen, but again, I don't know
about any apartment in Queens that Nina lived at. Did you
run a search on her to check all previous addresses?"

"Yep, but no listings came up in Queens. Maybe the
apartment wasn't actually in her name. I don't know, but
I need that address," I said, tapping my fingernails on the
mahogany conference table.

"Precious, where have you been? Are you back with Nico?"

"Where the hell did that come from?"

"Last I heard, Detective Moore said you were missing. You
have a family, a daughter that was recently kidnapped, but
instead of being in LA, you're here in New York searching for
an address on Nina. Does this have something to do with Nico?
I know you and him go way back. The two of you have some
sort of twisted relationship that keeps you connected. I hope
you're not throwing your life away to be with him."

"Are you done with the multiple questions, because Jamal,
you don't have a clue to what you're talking about. Me
coming here to see you and this search on Nina's address
I'm doing, is all being done so I can be with my family again. Yeah, you right, Nico and I do share a deep connection.
Some people may describe it as twisted, but it ain't nobody's
fuckin' business. But best believe my family comes first."

"I think I might know."

"You don't know shit about me and Nico, Jamal."

"You're right, and I don't want to know. This is about Nina."

"Oh," I exhaled noisily, trying to calm down. "What do
you know?"

"I have a box of Nina's belongings that I never got rid
of." I gave Jamal a peculiar stare. "The same way I don't
understand your love for Nico, you don't understand my
love for Nina, and let's leave it at that," Jamal stated as if
reading my mind, and I couldn't argue with what he said.

"I get it. Now continue."

"Nina had an address book that she would always keep
with her. When she died, I went through it trying to find her
relatives to let them know what had happened to her. She
always told me she was estranged from her family, but of
course I felt they needed to know that she had died."

"Did you get in contact with any of them?"

"No. There were a lot of names in there but none of
them knew anything about Nina's family. A couple of
people mentioned a person by the name of Terrell. They
said it was her brother, who was dead. It was mindboggling to me because Nina never even told me she
had a brother who died. I apologize. I'm losing focus on
the point I was trying to make."

"That's okay, take your time." It seemed like for the first
time, at that moment I realized just how much pain Jamal
was in over Nina's death and all the lies she told him. I
never cared to understand or sympathize with his loss. Nina was less than zero in my eyes, but when I looked in
Jamal's eyes, she was so much more.

"The point is, if I'm not mistaken I never threw that
address book away. I believe it's in that box with some of
her other belongings. It could be a stretch but maybe the
Queens address is in there."

"Maybe so," I said, not wanting to get my hopes up too
high. "I don't have any other options so it can't hurt."

"When I get off work, I'll go home and get the address book."

I leaned back in my chair and gave Jamal this look. It
was this look I would get in my eyes ever since I was a
little girl. It meant, Don'tfuck wit' me!

"I know that look."

"I know you do. We did grow up together."

"How about I go get the address book now?"

"How about I think that's a plan?"

"I'm sure you do." Jamal smiled for the first time since
I got here. "If you like you can come with me. Maybe
meet me my wife."

"I'm sure she's lovely, but I'm not in the mood to pretend
like I'm happy to meet someone. No offense."

"None taken. I hope you find everything you're looking
for, Precious. It seems that in all the years that I've known
you, I've never seen you happy."

"In my world, happy is a baby word, Jamal. All I want
is for me and my family to stay alive. On that note, I need
to go and so do you."

"Here, meet me at this address in an hour and I'll give
you the book." Jamal jotted down the address on a piece
of paper and handed it to me.

"Thanks again."

"Don't thank me yet. I don't even know if you're going
to find what you're looking for."

"Even if the address isn't in there, thank you for trying
to help. You really didn't have to."

"Yes, I did. I want you to bring Nina's murderer down."

"You haven't even asked me who it is."

"I don't need for you to tell me. I have faith that you will
handle it."

"I always knew you were a genius, baby. See you
soon," I said, walking towards the door.

"Precious."

"Yeah?" I stopped and turned around before exiting.

"So you know, it does matter to me."

"I'm glad."

I left out of Atomic Records even more driven than
when I went in. I wanted to find the apartment location
in Nina's address book, but I wasn't going to give up
even if I didn't. I needed my life back, the one that always
seemed to be a few feet out of reach for me. I thought
about what Jamal said, how he had never seen me happy.
Long-term happiness did seem to elude me to the point
I had accepted that it wasn't supposed to be a part of my
life. I exploded into the world in the center of destruction,
and I had been fighting for my rightful place ever since.
Maybe the word `happy' could find a place in my world.
If I didn't feel I deserved it, my daughter damn sure did.
And Maya or nobody else would deprive her of that. That
meant I would have to do whatever needed to be done...
even if all eyes are on me.

"Supreme, I'm so happy Aaliyah is back home. This place
wasn't the same without her," I said, bouncing her on my lap.

"I know, she lights up the whole house."

I watched as Supreme stared adoringly at his daughter. I
knew he was thinking of Precious. He couldn't help it since
it looked like Precious spit Aaliyah out. "Why don't the three
of us go to the zoo today? It'll be fun." I didn't want to go
to no damn zoo but I had to break up all that reminiscing
Supreme was in the middle of.

"Sure, that would be fun. I know Aaliyah would love
seeing all those animals."

"Great! I'll go get her dressed and we can get ready
to go." I picked up Aaliyah and headed upstairs. When
I reached the mid point I heard the doorbell ringing. "Supreme, are you going to get that?"

"Yeah, but I wonder who it could be and why the front
gate security didn't let me know somebody was here,"
Supreme said, walking to the door.

I continued upstairs until the familiar voice made me
stop and head back down.

"Detective Moore. I should've known it was you. You
come to visit so often the security no longer feels the
need to announce your presence."

"I'm flattered. Can I..."

"Of course, come in."

"Thank you." I heard Supreme close the door as I reached
the bottom step. "Well look it here, it's Maya Owens. I see
you're stepping into that mother role with ease. That baby
gets cuter every time I see her."

"Hello, Detective Moore. As always, it's a pleasure to
see you," I mocked.

"Same here."

"Detective, we were on our way out, so what brings
you here today?" Supreme asked.

'11- ave some news that I wanted to share with both of you."

"Did you find out where Precious is?" Supreme couldn't
even control himself from wanting to know the whereabouts
of his beloved Precious. Even with the bitch dead, she was
still living in our house.

"No, but I know one place she is not."

"Where?" I wanted to stay out of the conversation but
my anxiousness got the best of me.

"With your brother, Mike Owens," Detective Moore
turned to me and said.

Supreme grabbed his arm and turned him back around. "What makes you so sure?"

"Because Mr. Owens perished in a fire a few weeks ago."

"What? What happened?" Supreme questioned, becoming
animated.

"It seems he had been staying at a house in Calabasas and
a horrific fire started, and not by accident," he added, cutting
his eyes in my direction. I kept swinging Aaliyah on my hip
as I didn't peep his shade.

"It was arson?"

"Yes, it was. The whole house was pretty much destroyed."

"Then how are you sure it was Mike that died in the fire?"

"It took a long time, but the medical examiner was able
to get a partial fingerprint, and of course they ran it threw
the system. With Mike having a criminal record his name
came up. His body was found in the basement. Whoever
set the fire shot him first."

"That motherfucker finally got his!" Supreme said,
slapping his hands together.

"Maya, you don't seem surprised by what happened to
your brother."

"Should I be? I'm sure with the life he lived he made a
lot of enemies."

"I can't believe that motherfucker was living right here
in California. What the fuck was he sticking around for?"

"Mr. Mills, that's interesting because I was trying to
figure out the same thing. I was hoping Maya here could
help me."

"How can I help? Like I told you, I haven't had any
contact with my brother."

"You did tell me that. Mr. Mills, you can rest a bit easier
knowing that the man who brought so much tragedy to your family is now dead."

"Damn, straight! But there goes another dead lead when
it comes to finding Precious. I'm glad he doesn't have her,
but I do want to know where she is."

"Was Mike staying in the house by himself." I asked.

"I'm sorry, Maya, what did you say?" Detective Moore
put his finger behind his ear and leaned forward.

"I said, was anybody else in the house with Mike?"

"Not that we know of. Again, the house was burned
pretty bad, but they didn't find any other bodies."

That can't be! Precious diedin thatfire too!Maybeher body was burned
so bad that there wasn't any sort of trace. But there would have to be
something left. Or maybe Detective Moore isplayinggames with me trying
to get me to tell on myself. Only the person who set the fire would know
that another body shoulda been found. Yeah, Detective Moore is definitely
trying to set me up. He's been suspicious of me from day one but can't get
anything to stick. He is counting on me to slip up and put the nail in my
own coffin. Nah, you gon'have to come better than that. &u sticking to
the story that only Mike died in the fire, than so am I.