Money-Makin' Mamas (19 page)

Hours later, Mama pulled into the driveway. I followed. When she got out of her car, she walked up to me, as I got out of mine.

“It hurt me like hell to hear what that nigga said to you. To see him put his hands on you like that upset me. But I was glad that he kicked yo' ass, just so I wouldn't have to do it. Grown or not, you see now that you can still get your ass kicked, and being grown don't have shit to do with it. The next time you come to me talking about getting married, do your goddamn homework first. Be careful who you love and make sure that muthafucka loves you for real. I'm down with you finding the nigga of yo' dreams, but be smart about the shit. Don't come off as a dumb bitch who ain't been taught nothing. When you do that, you insult me. You disrespect me, and I don't appreciate that shit. Now, get in there and apologize to your sister for chasing dick, instead of being in her corner. Family first, Chyna, remember that shit. Yo' family comes first, because on any given day, we're the only muthafuckas who gon' be there for you.”

Mama walked off. I felt horrible for disappointing her. I had to stop telling myself that she didn't have my back, when in actuality she had it more than anybody. I hoped that Simone and Karrine started to realize the same thing too.

I could hear Mama and Chyna coming into the house, so I quickly minimized the message that could be seen on my computer screen that gave me chills:

My mind started racing a mile a minute. The first person who came to my mind was that crazy fool Blake, who had sent me another e-mail last week asking for me to respond. Since my last response about why I'd robbed him and cleaned out his bank account, I hadn't replied to any of his other messages. I wasn't sure how to handle this situation, and with me just getting out of jail for being a smart-ass, I didn't think this was the right time to bring this to Mama's attention.

Her Vegas trip had been cut way too short. She wasn't happy about it. Then, she had to drive all the way to St. Louis to see what was up with Chyna. She cussed and fussed about that. She and Karrine exchanged a few words, too, so to say the least, Mama was on edge. We had definitely been showing our asses. I had no regrets in speaking to the police officer the way I did. His ass deserved it. There was a way to ask questions, without pointing fingers and making threats. That shit didn't work for me, so a little jail time was what I got.

I followed Chyna's and Mama's voices to the kitchen where they stood talking. Chyna smiled when she saw me and reached out her arms.

“Come give me a hug, my little jailbird sister. I apologize for not bein' here for you, but I was involved in some other mess that I couldn't get out of. You forgive me, don't you?”

“Of course I do,” I said, hugging Chyna. “And ain't no need to apologize to me. That shit was all on me, as was what had happened at the club. You can't always be there for me when trouble ensues, but I do appreciate you, girl. Now, what kind of mess did you happen to get yourself into?”

“It's a long story, but right now, I need a cold shower and somethin' to eat. I need a long nap too, but I'll wait until later. We'll talk about my situation after my shower, okay?”

I told Chyna that was cool and she headed to her room. Mama stood listening to us then she opened the fridge. “Ain't shit in here to eat. I'm going to the grocery store. I'll be back in a bit. Have you talked to Karrine?”

“I did earlier. She said that she'll be home later.”

“Where is she?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “She didn't say.”

“See if you can get her on the phone. Tell her I'm cooking dinner and I want all of us to sit down and eat together. It's been hectic around here. We need to squash a lot of this shit that is going on and get our acts together.”

I couldn't agree with Mama more. There was a lot going on, way more than what we needed. After she left, I called Karrine, but she didn't answer her phone. I left a message for her to call back.

Chyna was in the bathroom, so I hurried back into my room to see if there were any more pop-up messages from my stalker. There were. This time, the bastard from the other side referred to me by my real name.

I didn't bother to reply, but I damn sure wanted to. If I responded, that would mean that he had control of this situation. I didn't want him to think that he did. I couldn't wait until tonight, just so I could get a feel from some of my regular clients who seemed infatuated with me. There was a possibility that it could be one of them, too, so I had to keep my eyes open and pay attention.

Then again, what if it was Mama trying to see what I would do in a situation like this? She pulled that shit on me with Honey, so why wouldn't she try something like this? I hoped like hell that it was her behind the messages, because this shit was real creepy. I surely wanted to call and ask her, but what if she wasn't behind this? That would worry her and keep her all up in my business. She already knew too much, and I figured that I could handle this little problem on my own. If things got out of hand, I would go to Chyna before I ever went to Mama.

Chyna came into my room, and when she shared with me what had happened today, my mouth was wide open the whole time. I couldn't believe it, and boy did me and my sisters know how to make a mess of things. I figured all along that Chyna had been seeing somebody, but this secretive bullshit that we had been doing, it didn't seem to pay off for none of us. First Reno, now Marc. They both deserved that shit, though. It was a pleasure to see Reno get what was coming to him.

I was too embarrassed when we got to that nigga's house. How could I allow a nigga like that to be my first? The times that I'd gone to his apartment it was always dark. His bedroom was always dim; I guessed to try to hide the filthiness. I could always smell something funky in the air, but what attracted me to Reno was his bad-boy attributes.

I had a thing for bad boys who stayed in trouble. That was my downfall. But after what Chyna had told me what had happened with her today, niggas were the last thing on my mind. If I didn't see them on my computer screen, then I wouldn't see them at all. At least for a long while anyway.

Either way, Chyna and I agreed that this secretive bullshit didn't pay off. But it wasn't like it was going to stop, because there I was keeping a secret about the e-mails I'd been getting. I truly wanted to handle this on my own, and for now, I didn't think it was necessary to involve Chyna. Deep down, she was probably going through hell after what had happened. I couldn't put more bullshit on her plate, and as a matter of fact, I wouldn't. Maybe the motherfucker would get sick of bothering me and leave me the fuck alone.

Until then, I was limiting my time away from home and my car was staying right in the driveway. If I needed something, I'd send Chyna or Karrine to get it for me. It had to be that way for now, until I figured out how to deal with my stalker.

Mama had fried some chicken, buttered some corn on the cob, and whipped some potatoes. Chyna made a chocolate cake, and we stood at the table, putting gobs of chocolate icing on the cake.

“That's too much,” Mama said, standing behind the counter, looking at us lick our fingers like we did when we were little girls.

“It's not too much to me,” I said. “And I don't mind cheating every now and then. All this week, I've had nothin' but veggies and shrimp. A little chocolate cake, sometimes, does a sexy body good.”

“This cake definitely will, no doubt,” Chyna said, laughing.

We were almost done with icing the cake. Mama brought the food over to the table, and after we took our seats, she inquired about Karrine again.

“She never called me back,” I said. “But I'm sure she will.”

Mama didn't respond. We held hands as she blessed the food. All of us threw down, and once dinner was over, Chyna said that she needed some rest, so she hit the sack. Mama said that she would be back later or tomorrow, and like always, she rarely told us where she was going. After she jetted, I was back in my room, reading the new message from my stalker:

My heart raced. For the first time in a long time, I was scared.

I paced the floor in Honey's guest bedroom, thinking about my situation. In no way did I want to seem like the daughter who didn't know how to follow the rules, or the sister who turned her back on the others. But I was sick of this shit. After seeing Mama kill Reno right before my eyes, I just couldn't do it anymore. She definitely didn't have to go there. This shit was starting to become too easy for her.

I understood the situation with Ray, but with Reno, Simone shouldn't have lied about being with him. She and Chyna should have moved in another direction at the club and left that motherfucker alone.

When the police came to the house to question us, Simone should have kept her mouth shut and Chyna should have been there. Mama should have been there too, but I was the one left to answer for what they had done. The police grilled the shit out of me. Then everybody acted as if it was my fault that Simone went to jail. Mama had the nerve to question me, but what in the fuck was I supposed to do? Simone was grown and needed to learn how to keep her mouth closed sometimes.

I was so mad right now. The only person I could turn to was Honey. I knew he and Mama were close, but I still spilled my guts to him. I told him everything I was feeling. I didn't give a damn if he shared any of it with Mama. He said that he wouldn't, and there was a part of me that believed him. Why? Because I was starting to trust him. My gut said no, but maybe it was lying to me. I didn't have anything to lose either way, so I took his word when he said he would keep his mouth shut. He told me to stay at his place for a couple of days to get my head straight. The days had come and gone, and I was no better off now than I was when I walked through his front door, telling him my problems. There wasn't a chance in hell that my problems would go away. I felt stuck in a situation that I wouldn't be able to depart from anytime soon, unless I ran away and never came back.

A part of me didn't want to do that because I would miss the hell out of Simone and Chyna. I would miss Mama too, but she just wasn't right. No matter how much I tried to convince myself that she was, I knew, deep down, that Mama's issues would wind up destroying all of us. She would never allow us to be free of her. We'd always have to play by her rules. I didn't want to play by her rules, and I was old enough to play by my own. And the more I thought about running away from it all, the better it started to sound.

I put on my jeans and a wife beater with no bra on, before leaving the room to go find Honey. As I stood outside of the door to his office, I could hear him talking to someone on speakerphone. I put my ear against the door and recognized the voice as being Mama's.

“You should have seen that fool,” she said, referring to Reno. “That was a long time coming, and I blame you for not handling that fool when you had a chance to.”

“I know I should have, but I was trying to give that nigga the benefit of the doubt. You know how I do it.”

“I do know, and you need to stop being so soft and having sympathy for these niggas who be stealing from us. If you add up all of the money that has been stolen from us over the years, it accounts for a lot. Too much, as a matter of fact, and I don't like that shit, Honey.”

“I feel you. I promise you that I will not allow another muthafucka to get down like that. I'm sorry that you had to deal with Reno, but I'm not sorry about that fool Marc. You and Chyna did what y'all had to do.”

“You damn right we did. She had to learn what kind of nigga he was for herself. That nigga broke my baby's heart, but she needed to handle that, not me.”

“Well, you kind of handled it when you went and told her what was up with him. I can't believe he asked her to marry him, and his ass was already married. Some niggas just don't have no shame in their game. I'm just glad Chyna saw the light.”

“Yeah, she saw the light when he punched her in her goddamn face. But go ahead and give a shout-out to her Mama who needs a little praises sometimes. Y'all muthafuckas be thinking I'm crazy, but I do all of this shit out of love. Now, where is that bitch Karrine at? I know she's been over there with you. I'm trying to keep my cool about this situation, Honey, but you know I don't like it one bit.”

“I know you don't, Mama, but Karrine just came here to chill. Ain't no fucking or anything like that been going on between us. All she came here to do was talk.”

“Talk? Talk about what? What a terrible mother I've been? How she's tired of me doing this and that? I'm sure you've heard it all, and to be quite frank, I'm sick of the bitch badmouthing me, especially after all that I do for her ass.”

“She don't be always badmouthing you, but I'll just say, as I've said plenty of times before, that she has some concerns with you. Karrine don't have the same blood running through her like Chyna and Simone do, so she's a little . . . different, if you know what I mean. Don't be so hard on her; but if she keeps on badmouthing you, as you say, what do you want me to do about it?”

“I want you to do what I would have you do to anybody else who badmouths your mama who makes you an extremely wealthy man. Kill the bitch, clean up the mess, and save the tears for another funeral.”

Honey had the audacity to laugh. I didn't see a goddamn thing funny. I took that shit personally. How dare Mama speak some ill shit like that?

I waited for her and Honey to end their call. Yet again, every time they spoke, I learned something new. What was all this money shit she was talking about, and how did Reno get involved in this? I had been out of the loop for too long. I stormed into Honey's office, demanding some answers.

“You need to tell me what is really goin' on with you and Mama right now, Honey. What's this I hear about money, Reno, Marc, and about you killing me?”

Honey moved from side to side in his swivel chair then put his hands behind his head. “If I tell you about all of this, I may have to kill you for real.” He laughed, but yet again, I didn't see shit funny.

“Don't say that shit to me, nigga. Tell me what the fuck is going on. After you do, then I guess we may have to let the chips fall where they may.”

I stood in front of Honey's desk as he began to tell me about his connection with Mama, and about her being the mastermind behind the massive drug dealing ring that he was running, per her request. I stood in shock as he told me about the numerous killings, the connection with Reno, and about what had happened earlier with Marc and Chyna.

“So you see, baby girl,” Honey said, “yo' mama has a lot on her plate. You need to chill with some of this stuff you be talking and think real hard about getting with the program. What you think is always about you, it ain't. And running won't solve any of your problems, so you need to get that shit out of yo' head. Just think about what I'm saying to you, all right? Think real hard and stop acting like a fucking brat.”

My faced was scrunched. I frowned and hissed at Honey. “Is that what you think I am? A brat? No, Honey, I'm the only sensible muthafucka in this family; that's who I am. I'm not down with none of this shit! You got me fucked up if you think I'm going to get with the program and keep my mouth shut. I'm not! I'm gon' run as far away from y'all as I can. So kiss my ass and have a wonderful fucking life kissing Mama's ass and being her goddamn puppet!”

I turned to walk away, and when Honey called my name, I snapped my head to the side. My eyes came in contact with the gun he held in his hand, aimed at me.

“Whatever Mama wants,” he said with a serious expression on his face, “she gets.”

Honey pulled the trigger. The bullet hit me somewhere. I couldn't feel where because my entire body was numb. I remembered crashing to the floor, and after my eyes fluttered a few times, my deep breaths slowed. Then, darkness was upon me.