Still thicker than water (36 page)

How could I have missed that?

It was the one part of the plan that she had not went over, probably because she hadn’t expected him to request one. As far as she was concerned, she and Ree had been an item, and he had to know that there was no one else.

She didn’t worry about Rodney saying anything to anyone; she knew that his fear of losing his job and his fear of Ree would keep him hushed. Plus, if he were to say anything, he would have done so by now. She had repeated their raw sex escapades thrice since the first time.

There was a possibility that the child would have come out looking nothing like Ree, but that was a common situation, and she’d assumed that after nine months of him catering to her, seeing her belly grow, sonogram pictures, baby names, and showers, he’d be too excited to question the paternity. But now she was not so sure.

No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t get Tatum out of her mind. The way she looked, her demeanor, her confidence, everything about her proved exactly why Ree was in love with her.

Trinity knew that she could not compete with her on any level, until now.

Oh my god, this is it. Once he starts to see me showing and with my pregnant glow, he’ll have no choice but to send that bitch back to the States where she belongs.

Dreams of family moments with Ree thrilled and excited Trinity. The only thing she knew that she had to do, was to use these nine months to convince Ree to change his mind about the blood test.

Once she did that, she knew she would be in the clear.

She briefly thought of the rumors she’d heard of Ree, how deadly and cold he could be, but she tried to place those thoughts far in the back of her mind.

But still, when all of her other thoughts were used up; she couldn’t help but to wonder…

What if he finds out the truth?

“
The lawyer said the investigation is procedural…he thinks we can have Aubrey home in no time.”

“
We?” Chauncey asked, his jaw flinching in anger as he threw his fork down into his spaghetti.

Sasha had come back to his house that night, telling Mike that Aubrey couldn’t sleep without seeing her. But really she couldn’t sleep without seeing Aubrey…or Chauncey. Sasha had made them dinner, and now they were sitting there eating, while Aubrey was enthralled in her cartoons.

Sasha looked down into her lap, not wanting to look at Chauncey.

“
Believe it or not Chaunc, Mike cares about Bri-Bri too. He wants her home.”

“
And what do you want, Sasha?” Chauncey questioned, sounding annoyed and becoming angry. “Home with him? Or home with me? Because if it’s honestly…honestly him…then you gotta let me know, ma.”

His voice was filled with a sincerity that Sasha felt she had to match, or she would cheapen the mood.

Chauncey had broken her heart, indeed. But he had managed to keep a firm hold on it that Sasha could not deny. So she figured, why try to.

“
I want…” She paused and blinked away tears, her slender, manicured hands shaking lightly. “I want a home with you, not him…but I don’t want you to break my heart…again.”

“
Never,” Chauncey responded quickly, looking her dead in the eyes.

He reached over and grabbed her hand, and she sighed and shook her head.

Was she ready to do this? Was she ready to forgive him?

‘
My princess,” Aubrey whined, interrupting the deep moment.

Sasha faced her.

“
Baby girl, mommy packed your princess. She’s upstairs.”

Aubrey calmed briefly and then pouted, as if remembering something.

“
My Pinky.”

Sasha rolled her eyes, thinking of the scraggily pink teddy bear that she had been meaning to get rid of.

“
Bri-Bri, do you really need that tonight? Can't mommy bring it tomorrow?”

Aubrey poked out her lip and scrunched her face up in sadness, and Sasha frowned. She knew her baby had been through a lot and she wanted to make her happy. Chauncey was an even bigger sucker for what he referred to as ‘the face’.

“
I’ll go,” he volunteered, standing up.

Sasha jumped up and put her hand to his chest.

“
Whoa, not so fast buddy. I’ll go.”

She knew Chauncey, and the last thing she wanted was him going to her home, and he and Mike getting into it, and Chauncey blowing up her spot and telling Mike that she was leaving him.

If she would decide to leave Mike, she would have the decency to tell him, and deep down inside, she knew she would leave soon.

She reached for her purse, fishing for her keys when her cell phone began to ring.

She answered on the third ring.

“
Hey Jayde, I’ll call you back, I’m on my way to the house.”

Sasha waved bye and blew a kiss to Aubrey, as Chauncey assured her that her mommy would be right back, with Pinky.

“
Where are you?” Jayde asked, sounding a little concerned.

“
Oh, I was at Chauncey’s,” Sasha told her, reaching her car and jumping behind the wheel. It was dark and quiet on Chauncey’s street.

“
Well, you’ll have to drive and talk because I have something interesting to tell you.”

As Sasha pulled off and listened to Jayde, her confusion grew by the second. Most of what Jayde was saying didn’t make sense.

“
So wait,” Sasha asked mystified, finally pulling onto her street after Jayde’s long tirade. “There is no Amanda Bernstein…is that what you’re telling me?”

Jayde sighed.

“
Well, there
is
an Amanda Bernstein…but she died two years ago in a car crash.”

Sasha furrowed her eyebrows as Jayde continued.

“
There is a woman who was caught using the name as an alias on several occasions, her name is Liz Preston.”

Sasha was stunned.

“
And you know what, Mike did say that before we moved down here, he hadn’t seen Amanda since she was younger,” Sasha recalled, as if it were making sense to her. She couldn’t believe that they had left her baby with a stranger. “She was playing us like she was Amanda the whole time I bet!”

Jayde stammered in deliberation.

“
But even still, you think Mike wouldn’t recognize his own cousin, I mean, even if it had been years?”

Sasha shrugged as if Jayde could see her.

“
I don’t know, but I’m gonna let him know what’s going on. I’ll call you back.”

Sasha was sitting in front of her house, and Jayde’s line had started going in and out.

“
O-k…le – know – im – al – record – sh – be- safe.”

“
Huh? Girl, let me call you back, your phone is breaking up.”

“
Hello. Sasha? Hello. Can you hear me?”

Jayde moved closer to her bedroom window and spoke again.

“
Sasha, I said let me know what he says because this girl has a crazy criminal record, and I want to make sure you guys will be safe!”

“
Hello!” Jayde repeated.

“
Hello!”

But Sasha had already ended the call.

“
Mike!” She screamed, busting in the house. “Mike!”

All of the lights were off, besides the one illuminating from the kitchen.

Sasha’s chest heaved in anger and in confusion, and she wanted them to get to the bottom of what was going on.

“
Mike!” She called again, walking toward the kitchen, a small feeling of fear coming over her.

Where is he?

All of her nervous feelings of Mike’s whereabouts vanished when she noticed his huge 35 millimeter camera sitting on the counter, the back opened as if the film had been taken out.

He’s here.

She breathed a sigh of relief and knew that meant one thing, that he was in his small studio in his mini shed out back.

Under normal circumstances she was not allowed back there, but these were excruciating circumstances.

She placed her purse down on the counter and stormed toward the deck, sliding the glass doors open and making her way to the shed.

“
Mike,” she called, as she knocked. “Mike.”

She softly pushed the door open and squinted through the darkness. She knew there was a hand built light switch in there because Mike had bragged about it when he had first installed it.

“
Where is that switch? Where is it?” Sasha asked out loud, feeling around for it.

Finally, her fingertips lightly touched something that felt familiar, like a switch. She clicked it up, and the sight before her instantly frightened her into stillness.

“
No…,” she whispered, not believing it. She continued to stare on and became more and more horrified as she took in the scene. “Oh god no, please…don’t let this be happening.”

Sasha looked straight ahead and tears welled in her eyes, the sight being so terrifying.

There were pictures, everywhere.

Pictures plastered all around, completely covering the walls and the ceilings… even the floor.

Pictures of Sasha, doing everything… everywhere.

The most intimate and private moments of her life, robbed.

Pictures of her eating…sleeping…cooking…playing with Aubrey. Pictures of her showering…masturbating late nights…pictures of her jogging…even some pictures of her at Tatum’s in Jersey before Christmas…pictures of her coming and leaving the jail while visiting Chauncey…pictures of her…

“
Oh my god.”

Sasha’s eyes fell on the pictures of her and Chauncey making love, on his counter, at his home, even the time in Sasha and Mike’s bed.

She closed her eyes and reopened them as if it were a dream.

There were even pictures of Sasha from when she lived in New Jersey, way before she was with Mike, back when she was still with Chauncey.

Pictures of her at the hospital. Some pictures of just her mouth, just her eyes, pictures of her at her desk, talking on the phone. Pictures of her at her old Elizabeth apartment, pictures of her at Kim’s funeral…pictures, pictures, pictures.

“
Oh my god,” she could barely whisper.

She felt a presence behind her.

“
You like?”

Sasha turned abruptly and found Mike standing there, a sinister smile on his face. Sasha held onto the wooden table to maintain her balance as she shook her head at him.

“
What the fuck is going on, Mike?” She asked, her voice trembling. “What the hell is all of this?”

He stretched his neck out to each side, enjoying the sound of the bones cracking, and he stepped closer to her.

“
Oh, this is nothing. This…is you. It’s you, babe…aren’t you beautiful?”

He looked around at all of the pictures, as if he was seeing them for the first time, and his eyes twinkled. Sasha swallowed hard, and began inching closer to the door.

“
You’re a real sick fuck, huh Mike?” She couldn’t help but ask. “You’ve been stalking me?”

He snapped his neck in her direction and his eyes turned ice blue cold.

“
Me? Sick?” He shook his head. “No…not me. You see, Sasha. I’m not the one who had the perfect man, the perfect life…but had to ruin it for some lowlife street thug.”

He reached over and gently picked up a picture of Sasha sucking Chauncey’s dick at his home not long ago.

“
I loved you, Sasha! I loved you since the very beginning, before I had you. I would have taken care of you!” He screamed, his face reddening.

Sasha’s eyes were wide as saucers and her breathing quickened. The way that he was referring to his love for her in the past tense caused the goose bumps on Sasha’s arms to rise.

“
I love you too, Mike,” she proclaimed sweetly, with fear in her voice. As she continued to inch toward the door, he inched closer to her and further inside the shed.

“
You love me?” He asked sarcastically. “I… bet… you… do.”

He pulled out a recorder out of his pocket and pressed play, staring at her blankly.

“
I bet you love me so much, that you can’t even stand to be with me anymore,” he said as Sasha’s voice came into play.

‘
I want a home with you, not him’,
she admitted on the tape, which was less than thirty minutes ago at Chauncey’s.

Sasha shook her head, truly terrified.
Who was this man?
She didn’t even know him.