Black Lies White Lies (18 page)

“I didn’t have to, someone else did it for me, but I’m going to take care of it.”

“Just be careful, Sabrina, you know his type.”

“It’s all under control so don’t worry.”

“Just bring the boys whenever. I’ll be here.”

Anthony was down in the workout room. I made sure that everything was going as scheduled. I had Kim drop the boys at Sandra’s, showered and made myself pretty. One more thing to do before I forgot. I went to Anthony’s closet and got his nine millimeter from the safe box and put it in my purse.

I sprayed myself with Dior and headed downstairs. Everything looked fabulous. The food smelled delicious. All I had to do was get my husband in the mood. “Anthony, can you come up here? I have something for you.”

“I’ll be right up, give me a minute.” I poured myself a glass of wine and checked with the chef to make sure everything was perfect. 

“Sabrina, what’s going on?” By the look on his face, the plan was working. “Sabrina, you haven’t changed since high school. Do you remember the night we first made love?”

“Yes, I do. That’s the plan tonight. But I need you in the shower.”

“Yeah, Baby, you know I was working out. I’m going upstairs right now and take care of this, so wait right here.”

“I’ll be right here. Just don’t make me wait too long.” He kissed my forehead and dashed up the steps.

I sat on the couch and thought over tomorrow’s events. I was not going to let this thug ass fool mess up nothing. He didn’t know who he was dealing with either. I was a queen, this was my castle, and Anthony was my king. This was about to end one way or the other.

Anthony came down looking as fresh as the day we’d met ten years ago, moving slower, but looking fabulous none the less. “You need to come over here, Baby, and give Big A some loving.” 

He kissed me, all tender. “What, is that all I get?”

“Wait until after dinner. I’ll show you. I might have been in a coma but some things are like riding a bike.” He laughed his big bear laugh. I loved the deepness of his voice.

We had a couple more glasses of wine and sat down eat. “Hey, Sabrina, let’s just have the chef take his assistants and leave, so we can get down to business. I’m looking at all I want to eat right now.”

“That sounds like a plan, I’ll be right back.” I sent everybody home and took care of my husband.

He took the chocolate syrup I had for the strawberries and poured it all over my body.  Then he licked if all off, from head to toe. It felt so incredible. I wanted to return the favor. I licked and sucked him until he begged me to stop. I laid on the dining room table, spread eagle, “Now come and get what’s yours.”

He slid inside me, moving with such rhythm I could almost feel him in my throat. He hit corners I’d forgotten I had. We were all over that dining room table. He was so deep in me, I knew a baby would come from this one. We climaxed and just lay there trying to catch our breaths. “Sabrina, it’s been too long. But this you can count on, you will never have to wait again. Ever.”

We kissed and Anthony laughed, “Baby, I need some water after all that. Do you need anything? A glass of wine? From now on, I’m at your service, Mrs. Long.”

Anthony slept through the night. I just slept off and on.

The next day Rae Shawn came to take Anthony to his sports therapist. He was going to see if they couldn’t do something more about his motor skills. Things were working out to my favor, he would be gone most of the day.

I showered and called Stevie to make sure we would be alone in the house. I didn’t need his buddies there when everything went down. He’d already left me three messages.

I put on low heels, so I could move fast, and something a little revealing to keep his attention. By the time I had driven the fifteen miles to his condo, I was sweating bullets. I was almost there when I decided to get a rental. My car was too flashy and would stand out. I turned off the Jackson exit and got a Chevy Impala at the rental place.

There was no guard on post when I pulled into the gated community. I parked my car about three condos down and walked. I had my hair under my silk scarf and my dark sunglasses on. The only car there was Stevie’s. Good.

I rang the doorbell and waited. “What up, Girl? Have a seat.” He was busy on the phone with someone. This might be all for nothing or just a test run. I sat down and waited while Stevie finished his conversation. Whoever he was on the phone with was pissed. He covered the phone, “Would you like something to drink?”

“Sure, give me some water.” I had to relax or he might think something’s not right.

“Girl, you’re looking fabulous but I have this business matter I have to take care of first.”

“Stevie, I don’t have all day. I have to get home.”

“You have as long as it takes. You’re on my time.” Not for long I thought.

“Just calm down,” he said into the phone. He covered the phone again, “I need you to go in the back for a few minutes. Just make yourself comfortable. I won’t be long at all.” I grabbed my glass and went to Stevie’s room.

I heard a knock and figured it must be some of his drug dealing friends. I was a fool to get mixed up with Stevie. I heard Stevie yelling. What the hell was going on I wondered. “Man, you trying to cheat me out of my money?” asked another voice, this time in Spanish. I really couldn’t understand, but I did know it was about drugs.

There was a loud crash of broken glass. I grabbed my purse and got under the bed, sliding all the way up towards the head board, wishing I was invisible. I heard footsteps going from room to room. They were tearing up everything. As they came into the bedroom I put my hand on the trigger of the gun just in case. They were trying to find something and they weren’t going to give up until they found it.

“Man, we better get the fuck out of here.” I knew that voice. It was Black, Stevie’s guy. This was a set up, but this was the life he lived.

Then I heard the Spanish guy, “You want to join your friend?”

“Nah man, we got it, let’s just go.”

Thank God. I was praying like never before and somebody was listening. I stayed put for another two hours before I finally climbed slowly out from under the bed. They had torn the place apart. It was the power of prayer that’d kept me alive. They’d cut up every pillow in the house and the mattress.

I didn’t want to go into the living room because I knew Stevie was dead. I was so shaken by the whole thing. I had to get myself together. When I got to the living room, there Stevie was, shot through the head, laying in the middle of his glass coffee table. I hated this for him, but I had to get the hell out of there. Karma is a bitch. I was going to kill, but it ended up being his so called best friend.

I took the glass with my water in it and grabbed a towel form the counter to open the door. I had to get as far away from this as I could. Outside I didn’t see a soul. I had to fight the urge to bolt to the rental. Just stay calm, Sabrina.

I got in the car and almost passed out when someone knocked on the window. I rolled down the window, “Yes?”

This old white lady was nosing around, “Is this your car, Girl? You left your lights on for a while. Do you think it’s going to start?” I didn’t say a word. I just turned the key and it started right up. I rolled up the window and pulled away.

My whole body was wet from sweat. You would have thought I’d gotten hosed down. I kept to the speed limit until I got to the freeway and then gunned it. I dropped the rental off, got in my car and headed back to Memphis. This was turning out to be my worst nightmare. If I got out of this, I wasn’t ever going to leave home again.

I got home about 4pm. Anthony was still out with Rae Shawn. I grabbed the bottle of tequila from the bar. I wanted to drink straight from the bottle, but poured it in a glass. I drank about four shots before I could finally got the edge off. I didn’t sit on the couch, I fell on it. What the hell did I just witness? I couldn’t go to the police. They would wonder how I knew. I would let some of his boys find him.

For the next couple of days, there was nothing on the news about it. Then on Friday it was the breaking news. It was all they talked about. But what caught my attention was when they said there were three men on the surveillance camera located on the property. I almost fainted. Even worse was when they said an unidentified woman was seen leaving the building. “If you have any information, please call the Memphis Police Department.”

Anthony was down in the weight room and then suddenly he was up the stairs looking at me crazy. “Sandra, tell me the woman on the news isn’t you.”

What could I do but tell the truth? The lies were what got me here in the first place. “Yes, Anthony, it was me. I told you I was going to take care of things with Stevie.”

“What the hell went down out there? You know someone is going to know it’s you on that camera.”

“Anthony, I didn’t kill Stevie.”

“So why were you at his house?”

“He was making threats about you and the kids. I couldn’t let him hurt my family.”

“You know the police will be here. It’s just a matter of time.”

“I know, but I’ll be able to tell them the truth if they ask.”

“Why was my gun missing when I went look for it? Did you take it there? And for what?”

“Anthony, I was ready to do what was needed to protect my family. I never seriously thought it through. But these guys came in and the rest is history.”

“I can respect what you were trying to do, but you should have let me take care of it. Stevie Watson was into some heavy dealing. As soon as they mention that you are Anthony Long’s wife, they’re going to come looking. They could kill all of us. You weren’t thinking, Sabrina.”

“I know all this. We just have to try and keep it out of the media.”

“Good luck with that. This type of shit they just eat up.”

“I’m truly sorry, Anthony. I should have thought about what I was doing from the start.”

“It’s too late for that now. We need to get a lawyer and quick. I’ll call my friend Richard. He’s an expert at criminal defense.”

“Do you think I’m going to be charged with something?”

“I don’t know, but this way we can be on the safe side.”

“Anthony is your therapy getting any better?”

“What the hell does that have to do with anything?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to ask.”

“This type of pressure I don’t need, but it is what it is.” Anthony left the room to call Richard.

I had put all our lives at risk. I truly was sorry. Had I known what Stevie was, I would have never bothered.

I just sat there at the table thinking what a mess. I needed a real friend. “Hey, Sandra.”

“What’s going on?”

“Just needed to talk to you.”

“Yeah, I saw that guy on the news. That was unfortunate. You know you live by the sword, you die by the sword.”

“That’s the same thing I thought. Things have a way of coming back on you. I just wished that I hadn’t gotten mixed up in this mess.”

“What’s Anthony saying about the whole thing?”

“He’s worried it’s going to get out that I was at his house.”

“You were at his house?”

“Yes, it’s a long story. One I don’t want to discuss over the phone.” Was this a good idea calling Sandra? “Hey. Anthony’s calling. I better let you go.”

“Ok. We’ll talk tomorrow. Just keep me informed or let us know if you need anything.” I knew she meant it.

Anthony’s lawyer came to the house later that evening. Anthony had already told him the story. “Sabrina, I hate to tell you, but you have gotten this family in a pickle. First, let me say this, you and Anthony are going to have to separate for a while. We need to do this quick and legal if you want to save what’s left of his career.

“The police will be here in a matter of days once they find out that it’s you on the camera. They are going to want you to testify against these guys. These are dangerous men. We’re going to have to get you out of Memphis for a while. I will make sure you have the best representation, but it can’t be me.

“This guy, Stevie Watson, was mixed up with the Mexican cartel. If they have any clue that you’ve witnessed any of this, you would already be dead.” This was more than I could take. I had to sit down. “Sabrina, the boys will stay here with Anthony for the duration of your separation.”

Anthony was incredulous. “Are you sure this is the only way it can be handled?”

“Yes, Anthony. This is extremely serious.”

~~~

Just like Richard had predicted, the police were at our door the next day. Anthony answered the door, “Can I help you?”

“You can, Mr. Long. Is your wife at home?”

“Why are you looking for my wife?”

“We need to come in, Mr. Long,” they flashed their badges. FBI. Anthony led them into the living room. I walked in to see them standing there. “Mrs. Long, we are here to help you.”

“Really? I don’t know what you are talking about and why you are here. I think I need to get my lawyer before we go any further,” Anthony answered.

“I don’t think that will be necessary. Your wife is not being charged with anything yet.”