The Truth Behind The Lies (29 page)

“I was out with Tangie.”

“Oh, why didn’t you text me.”

“Do you have to know my every move? I’m sure I don’t know you’re every move.” She reeked of hostility. Where was this coming from? She branded me with her evil eye. What was I missing?

NINA

I crossed my hand under my breasts. There were a host of emotions swirling in me. Tangie told me to chill but I had less then ten percent chill in me. Bash was just standing in front of me like it was just another day. Huh yeah, just another day of him keeping shit from me like we weren’t even in a damn relationship.

“Bash what happened to my ex?” My courage was my bullhorn.

“Your ex? Which one?” His eyes did some weird shit.

I almost called him the ‘N’ word. I need to remove that word from my vocab. This motherfucker knows who I’m talking about. I rolled my eyes so damn hard and my hands flow to a perched position on my hips. I think I rolled my down neck and stumped my feet too.

“Ohhhh your asshole ex that vandalized your apartment.”

“Yes David Jenkins.”

“I don’t know. What happened?” His forehead wrinkled.

He was lying to me. He knew something. “Sebastian.”

“What?” His voice rose. Did he just snap at me?

“Did you get him arrested?” I can get loud too.

“He got himself arrested.”

“What does that mean?”

“Criminals eventually get caught.”

“Sebastian, what the fuck does that mean?”

“What do you want it to mean?”

Who is this man? “I was told he was arrested on a drug charge. I heard they raided his studio and found drugs, a lot of drugs.”

“JamRox.”

“Yes JamRox.”

“That place was a front for drug trafficking.”

Okay I heard him say that but David couldn’t have been a drug dealer. Could he?

“I know you were checking into him. I heard you on the phone talking to someone. So now he is in jail.”

“Why do you care about his future prison time?”

“I don’t care but I don’t think he’s a drug dealer.”

Bash chuckled the way he does when he thinks you’re so damn amusing. “Try not to think about it.”

“You’re being an asshole.”

“Am I? Nina open your inexperienced eyes.”

“I have never seen David high. I know what a druggie looks like. David doesn’t do drugs.”

“You and I both know you don’t have to use to sell.”

“David has a business. He owns a carwash and a cleaners.”

“The Feds or the DEA will confiscate all of his assets and properties.” He grinned. He seemed to love this. Why?

“Bash, if I found out you had anything to do with this--”

“What are you going to do?” He dared me with his wild eyes and his towering posture.

“I, I--” I didn’t recognize this Bash. Who is this? “How can you do this?”

“I didn’t do anything. Distribution of narcotics is illegal.”

“The cops had to plant something on him. He’s a music producer.”

“He’s a music producer okay right. Tell me Nina, what songs does he have out on the radio? Escalades don’t pay for themselves. Did he pay your condo’s mortgage because he has two women set up in apartments in the city?”

“What?”

“If you want all the information. I can give it to you. He owns Tom Tom’s. Have you heard of it?”

“The strip club?”

“Strip club, prostitution ring whatever. He had an entire life you knew nothing about. The DEA raided his recording studio. They found so much cocaine and various other drugs that there was no way possible me or anyone I know could plant that much blow. I don’t know anyone in the DEA. Your accusations are hurtful. You overhear a conversation and just believe the worse of me.”

“No, no, if you would have told me the truth from the beginning.”

“Really?”

“Yes, you let me think you were involved when you decided to keep things from me. We are in a relationship. If you were checking my ex-boyfriend out you should have said something to me.”

“Like you told me about David assaulting you in your garage. I saw the police report. I talked to the officers. They said you were really shaken up. What about all the verbal threats, harassing phone calls and spotting him outside your place after you started seeing me.”

Damn! He knows everything.

“I, I--” My mouth stopped working. It felt like I had just got slapped across my cheek with his big dick.

“Stop shitting on my secrets when you’ve been keeping secrets from me.”

Everything got really quiet. He was looking at me and I was looking at him. I wanted to look away but I couldn’t.

“I’m tired.” The only thing that I could think of. “I want to go to bed early.”

“Okay.”

Damn, he must be mad. He only said one word.

“Are you coming up?”

“Shortly, I’m going to work out.”

“Okay.” I headed for the stairs. Bash didn’t move. I placed my hand on the bannister.

“Nina, do you need me to bring you something later?”

“No thanks.”

“Ice cream or something.”

“Yes ice cream. Any flavor is good.”

“Okay.” I watched as he walked away from me. He was headed toward the back up the house. He was going to the basement to work out. I hoped.

I walked the stairs and saw that Eva was standing at the top of the stairs listening to the argument. What a sneaky bitch. I take that back. I shouldn’t lash out at her. She probably is protective of her father. She only has one parent. She probably thinks I’m the bitch that’s going to break his heart. I would never do that.

I want to believe what Bash says but I have a hard time with trust. Men have lied to me so many times in the past. If Bash got rid of David then I should be grateful. All that stuff he said seemed to be the truth.

Was I just David’s secret cover life? Was I his normal suburban girlfriend, the one with the real job? I could easily believe he had his side bitches set up in apartments. There was a time one of those hoes use to call me all the time. She was too damn comfortable. David never bought me around any of his friends. He gave me bullshit excuses. He did know a lot of hood shit but it didn’t seem like more than anyone else that grew up in the hood.

I ignored evil Eva as she watched me with heightened levels of disdain. I didn’t give her eye contact. When is she going back to London or wherever she came from? I just walked pass her and went into the bedroom. I closed to door. I’m all alone. I don’t like it.

I fell asleep briefly and was awakened by my cell phone. It was Tangie.

“Hey.”

“Hey girl you okay?”

“Yeah.” Why wouldn’t I be?

“I got something to tell you. Lord, girl these trifling brothers.”

“What?”

“Okay David.”

“What about him?”

“I told my guy Marcus what happened to him.”

“What he say?”

“He wasn’t surprised. He thought we knew David was a drug dealer.”

“Why, how the fuck would I know that?” Seriously?

“He said he just thought we wasn’t supposed to talk about it.”

“Marcus knew all along.”

“Yes girl and he didn’t even tell me. How long have I been with him? He said he don’t gossip about people. He said he thought you knew and you were cool with it. He talking about he ain’t hating on how dudes make they money.”

“I swear Tangie I didn’t know he was dealing.”

“I know you didn’t. Girl I didn’t either. He acted so prim and proper and he was smart.”

“Yeah he did until I broke up with him.”

“True.”

“If y’all would’ve still been together they might have arrested you too. They arrested eight people. I saw all their mugshots on the news. One was a woman, some light skin chick.”

“That’s messed up.”

“The news said it was the biggest drug bust in the last five years.”

Really and this ass of a hole had the nerve to ask me for gifts back when he was slinging dope Nino Brown style. I feel like such an idiot for accusing Bash.

“This is too much right here.”

“I know you glad you with Bash now.”

“Yeah.”

“I will call you tomorrow. I’m going to bed early tonight.”

“Bye girl.”

“Bye.” I ended the call. I can’t wait for this day to be over.

NINA

I waited over two hours for Bash to come upstairs to the bedroom. I wasn’t sure if he had left the house. My heart was worried that my behavior may have ended us. I had already stopped taking the pill. I don’t know why I thought about that as soon as I saw him.

“Hey.” I was first to say something.

“Hey.” He placed a bowl of ice cream on the bedside table.

“Thanks for the ice cream.” I had loss my appetite.

“Look Nina, I was a jerk earlier. I’m so sorry for the way I acted.”

“I don’t care about David. I hate him. He’s a bastard but I would never want anyone to go to jail for something they didn’t do. Tangie told me it was all over the news. Apparently I’m the stupid one that didn’t have a clue.”

“I should have said something to you about looking into your exes background. I just wanted you to be safe with me.”

“I should have told you about all the things he was up to.” I felt like such a bitch for keeping secrets. “I didn’t want you to think I was messy and couldn’t handle my business.”

“We need to be honest with each other.”

“We do. We can’t keep things from each other. I love you.” I said it. It kind of just dropped out my mouth all random.

“You love me?”

“Yes I do.” I got out of bed and walked into that hard chest of Bash’s. I wrapped my arms around him. “I want us to both to stop keeping secrets.”

“Fine, ask me anything?” Bash took a step back and crossed his arms over his pecs. “What do you want you know?”

“I want to know what happened to your wife.” Why did I just ask that after we just made up? My fucking mouth, I can’t take it back now.

“I don’t know exactly.”

“So she just disappeared?”

“Yes, I told you this before. She just vanished.”

“No one just vanishes.”

“No people vanish all the time. Is there something you have to say?”

“Maybe.”

“Well I think you should say it. You questioning me about my wife is starting to really piss me off.”

“So what’s that mean?” I didn’t like his threat.

“I think you shouldn’t piss me off.”

“Why not? What are you going to do, kill me?” I had one hand on my hip.

His eyes squinted into tiny slits. “Would I kill you?” He smiled like a serial killer. “You have your tough girl act on today and you have a question for me. Go ahead ask me. I dare you.” His eyes were burning into me. Not in that good way. He challenged me and I couldn’t back down from the challenge. I didn’t know how too. I was too stubborn.

“Sebastian, did you murder your wife?” I blurted it out with no buffer, no lube, no Vaseline.

“I know you’re smarter than this.” He was laughing at me, taunting me and that only made me angrier.

“Don’t talk down to me.”

“You have the nerve to ask me if I killed my wife.”

“It’s a fucking question. Answer the fucking question! Did you kill your wife?”

He chuckled. “Does it matter what I say? Will you believe me either way?”

“Bash, stop the games. Did you kill Caroline?”

Bash rushed over to me and was standing so close to me I fell down on the couch that was right beneath me. He leaned over to me and his face was right in my face. I was terrified he would hit me. I couldn’t help but to cower into the couch cushions.

“No! I didn’t kill Caroline!”

“Did you have someone kill her?”

My heart was beating so fast. I was staring in his eyes hoping for the ability to read the truth from this man, the man that I love. The time passed us. He was quiet for reasons I didn’t know. Was his silence an admission of guilt? I didn’t know but the silence made my stomach churn.

“Bash!” I let my anger fuel me. “Bash!”

“Nina I did not hire anyone to kill my wife.”

“You lied to me before. I don’t know what to believe.”

“Do you think I would be honest with you? Do you think I would say yes Nina I beat my wife to death. I crushed her skull into tiny pieces. I wrapped her body in plastic and dumped it in the Kankakee River. Do you really think I would say something like that to you? Is that what you want to hear?”

Pieces? Plastic? Kankakee River? Oh my.

“I want to hear the truth!” I couldn’t believe I managed to get those words out when I was scared to death. Maybe I wasn’t that scared. I don’t know why I did it but I slapped him. He was stunned and I was too. He just looked at me and slowly backed away. It was like he couldn’t believe it happened. I couldn’t believe I did it. I had never hit a man before. Why did I hit him? He never laid a hand on me.