Thicker Than Water (27 page)

“Okaaay, when are you coming back?”

He paused and looked at her seriously. His mind was racing; he had so many different emotions running through him at one time. He wanted to kill Chris, he wanted to love Tatum, he wanted to get his money, leave the country, he didn’t want to lose the empire he built, he couldn’t believe this was all happening. And it was happening fast. It was only a matter of time before the Feds would come there and he knew it, he had to go.

“Tatum I’m not coming back, and I want you to come with me.”

She opened her mouth and gasped. She looked at him not knowing what to say but her eyes told him that she had a lot of unanswered questions, ones that he didn’t have time to answer. He continued.

“Tatum, we have to leave now.”

She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at him in disbelief.

“Now! Are you crazy? I don’t get to think about this? You’re asking me to leave the country and I don’t get any say so? What about my nieces, my brother, my house, school, Sasha? I can’t just walk out now.”

“Tatum!” He raised his voice. “We don’t have time for that, baby. Bring them, you don’t have to pack, I’ll buy all of you new stuff. They have school everywhere. Sasha’s grown baby, she’ll be fine.”

“Ree I can’t just take my brother’s kids and move, that’s kidnapping. I would have to tell him-” He cut her off again.

“You can’t tell him shit! Tatum your brother’s a fucking rat. That nigga snitched on me Tatum and I gotta go, do you understand? Are you coming with me?” He asked knowing he was asking her a lot, and something inside told him it was impossible.

Everything she said was correct, especially that whole kidnapping shit and he definitely didn’t need anymore heat. Tatum’s heart beat out of her chest, she sat on her steps to catch her balance.
Why Chris? Why do you always have to ruin everything for me?

Before she could answer, the keys dangled in her door and Tatum jumped up and so did her heart, right into her throat. Chris walked in the doorway and stood shocked as he came face to face with Ree for the first time since the night of his party.

If his face could talk it would tell them that he had just pissed on himself. He tried to run back out the door but Ree grabbed him and punched him hard, causing blood to spew out of his mouth and fly on the wall. Tatum screamed for Ree to stop, but he ignored her and continued pounding Chris. Then he reached in his waist and pulled out a .38 and put it to his face as Chris stayed crumpled on the ground with fear in his eyes.

Ree’s face was blank without emotion but his eyes were black as coal, with a look that scared Tatum. He leaned down to Chris’ ear.

“You know you gonna die right?” He whispered to him.

“No. Ree please no.” Tatum whimpered.

The tears were streaming down her face as her worst fear was coming true. Ree couldn’t hear her though, the adrenaline ran through his body and he got that feeling that he got every time he had a gun in his hand. He controlled Chris’ destiny.

Tatum shook her head in disbelief and put her face in her hands, not believing this was happening. From all the commotion no one noticed that Chanel and Tangee had made their way down the stairs.

“Daddy! Ree!” Chanel screamed at the sight of Ree holding a gun to their father’s face. Tatum looked up at them and felt so helpless. She couldn’t protect them from this life, now they would end up like her, parentless. She looked at Ree with serious eyes. Hurt eyes. He looked at the little girls and then looked at Tatum. He became overwhelmed with emotion.
“I will never forgive you if you do this.” She whispered. Her face told him she meant it as she continued. “I will never forgive you if you do this to them.”

He looked back at the little girls scared faces and then back to Tatum. He slowly drew his gun away from Chris not exactly sure why, and stuck it back in his waist. He stared at Tatum as a wave of relief came over her. He spoke to her.

“You never answered my question.”

She closed her eyes and fought back tears. These months with him were the happiest of her life. She knew this was true love, she knew she may never find that love again. She also knew that it was over.

“I can’t.”

He gave a half nod and bowed his head in defeat and he slowly walked over to her and softly placed his lips against hers. He used his thumb to brush her hair from her face and kissed her gently keeping his eyes open careful not to miss a moment. She trembled as she cried, wishing it didn’t have to be this way. She cried harder as her throat filled with hoarse moans of pain.

“Sssh,” he whispered.

Ree looked at her a moment longer saying everything he felt without speaking a word, and then walked out of the door, unable to look at the girls or her anymore.

The minute her door shut Tatum collapsed and began weeping uncontrollably. She broke down and cried and cried. She looked at her hurt brother and her scared nieces but for once she didn’t think of anyone else’s pain but her own.

One Year Later…

“Well, you better come visit me soon,” Tatum ordered jokingly, while sitting on her balcony of her new two bedroom apartment.

It was a beautiful June afternoon and she was sitting there with her legs kicked up, watching Chanel and Tangee play in the grass.

Tatum had only seen Aubrey once when she was born in March. She was a gorgeous girl. She was a shade lighter than Tatum’s color, not as dark as Chauncey, but not a caramel complexion like her mother. She had a face just like Chauncey’s but she was a little Sasha all day. She was only three months but was already a spoiled brat!

The girls ended their conversation as Chanel ran up the stairs with the mail.

“Look Auntie, I got the mail for you.” Tatum smiled and gave her a kiss on the forehead. She was so happy that she had them, and when the adoption was final, she was going to take them back to Disneyworld.
Disneyworld.
She thought. It seemed like she couldn’t get through a thought without thinking of him.

Even though Tatum had stayed and let Ree leave, because of her brother and because of her nieces, her brother still ended up dead a month later and she now had custody of her nieces. Sasha had moved to Atlanta, she was left alone, and there wasn’t a day that passed that she didn’t wish she would have gone with him. Sasha had urged Tatum to come with her to Atlanta, but it wasn’t necessary. She didn’t need a relocation, she needed him. She thumbed through her mail, phone bill, light bill, rent, postcard.
Postcard?

She studied the beautiful card with a picture of a beach and a hotel on the water.
Greetings from Jamaica…Paradise Breezes Resort Welcomes You…

Although the card wasn’t postmarked out of Jamaica, it was actually postmarked out of San Francisco; she knew exactly who it was from. He was telling her where he was without telling her where he was. It must’ve been the resort his father had given to him.

She wondered how he was doing, what he was doing as she took a long sigh and fought back the urge to cry. She continued flipping through the mail and saw a letter from Greystone Psychiatric Hospital in Parsipanny.
Damn.

After Neli had been released from the hospital and was recovered from the beating Chauncey had given her, she had went home with Ray and it wasn’t but a month later where she tried to slit her wrists. She had been at Greystone ever since. Tatum opened the letter and looked out at the girls one more time before she began reading.

Hey Tatum,

I know you probably think I’m crazy, everyone does. But I’m not. I just got so tired Tay. I mean, have you ever been so tired and so fucked up that you felt like you just wanted to sleep and never wake up. Have you ever felt so alone and then looked in the mirror and realized that you probably hate yourself even more than everyone else does?

“I don’t hate you Neli,” Tatum said aloud. She continued reading.

Well that’s what I felt like. I’m writing this letter to get everything off of my chest. After you read this you will most likely want to kill me, but that’s fine. You would only be doing me a favor. I don’t know how to put this, I hate that I did these things to all of you. You were always like a sister to me, and you are the one who introduced me to everybody and was there for me when I had no one. I guess I’ll just say it. I’m responsible for everything Tay. I pursued Chauncey, I threatened him when he wouldn’t keep fucking with me, I set up Sasha when those guys broke in her house, I got with Chris just to use him to get back with Chauncey, I had Ree’s money stolen and then I lied and told him Chris did it, and worse than anything Tay, I had Bennie kill Kim because she just knew too much. I set up the whole scene for her to strip for his dudes but I told Lizette it was cancelled. I told Bennie that Kim was cool with Chauncey and that she would fuck up everything. I told him to kill her.

Tatum’s stomach turned as she read the letter and a single tear rolled down her cheek. She didn’t even know what to do. She had no one to talk to, no one to vent to, she felt powerless.

Tatum I’m so sorry and I don’t expect you to forgive me, especially when I can never forgive myself.

Tatum dropped the letter and dropped her head as she concentrated on her breathing. Neli had ruined so many lives and the worst part was that it was too late to change anything. Their lives were all ruined forever.

Sasha sat on the cold steel looking at the thick glass waiting for the big heavy doors to open. Aubrey had begun fussing again and Sasha was having second thoughts about bringing her up here. But Chauncey was right; he should at least have a chance to see his daughter.

The alarm sounded and the doors opened as a row of inmates walked out single filed. Sasha spotted Chauncey and lightly waved. He walked up to the other side of the glass and picked up the phone as he stared at his daughter.

He chuckled lightly even though he knew she didn’t mean it as a joke. The other inmates looked at Sasha careful not to let Chauncey see, but were all thinking the same thing.
Damn that nigga lucky.

“So you came all the way up here to see me?” He asked, still trying to rekindle their burnt out romance as always.

“Yeah, and to pick up my dress,” she mumbled, she was still intimidated by his reactions even though they were no longer together.

He looked puzzled.

“You came all the way up here to get a dress?” He asked laughing, realizing that his Sasha still hadn’t changed. She swallowed hard.

“My wedding dress Chauncey, I had it made.”

She
had
changed. Chauncey looked at her left hand and fourth finger and noticed that where his huge rock once lay was a little band with a diamond chip on it. He smirked trying to mask his hurt.

Her words cut him deep, but he maintained composure. If it was one thing that jail had taught him, it was to separate himself from the outside world and to cut off emotion, if he didn’t he would go crazy. The visit continued mostly with Chauncey asking her questions that she didn’t answer. Before the alarm sounded, he tried his luck again.

Chauncey chewed on the inside of his cheek as the alarm sounded. The guard urged him to hang up as they held eye contact. He got up and mouthed one last question to Sasha, and although she couldn’t hear him, she knew exactly what it was.
You still love me?
She looked at him and realized she always would and she nodded and mouthed back
Yes.
That was all he needed to keep his hope alive as he walked through those heavy doors and out of her sight.

Chanel and Tangee sat playing with little Aubrey as Sasha finished up the letter. Tatum had watched Sasha’s face turn bright red and she even watched her cry and it took a full hour to calm her down. Afterwards they sat in silence on Tatum’s couch.

Sasha had told Tatum all about the visit with Chauncey but had left out the part that when she left she cried for twenty minutes in her car. The truth was that she didn’t love Mike the way she loved Chauncey, she wasn’t sure if she loved Mike at all. But she was sure that the love she had for Chauncey wasn’t safe, and with a child to look after, she needed safety and security. Tatum told Sasha in return about the post card but hadn’t asked for her opinion yet.