Thicker Than Water (20 page)

Ray thought he was gonna shit on himself. Neli sat on the couch with tears in her eyes, scared to death and relieved at the same time. She was waiting for this moment so she could get it over with, but she thought it would be Chauncey to come, it was his money after all, or so she thought.

“Penelope, what the fuck is he talking about? Get out of my house you fucking hoodlums and take her with you!” Ray yelled from the steps. E hit the man in the head with the butt of the gun and advised him to keep his mouth shut.

“I can’t fucking believe you!” Neli shouted at Ray. 

Ree looked at E as if he couldn’t believe this shit. He smacked Neli onto the ground and then got down on one knee to face her.

“Where the fuck is my money?”

She began crying profusely and explaining her rehearsed story.

“I swear I don’t have your money. It wasn’t me, it was Chris! It was Chris I swear!” She said, through cries. Ree picked her up by her neck and threw her back on the couch.

“Continue.”

Neli took a deep breath and continued her story, sounding innocent and genuinely scared, which wasn’t acting at all.

“When I went with him to the house, I didn’t really have to use the bathroom. He wanted to show me how much money he was getting. He was mad that I still had feelings for Chauncey and he told me he was getting money just like him and that it was no reason why I shouldn’t be with him.” 

Ree started at her with cold eyes not showing whether he believed her or not. She continued, even more distraught and childlike.

“Anyway, he showed me the money, he told me it was a half of a million dollars and he told me he was gonna take care of me. We made love on the money.” Ree cut her off quickly.
“I don’t want to hear about you making love on my money, I wanna know where the fuck it is.”

She began crying harder and Ree urged her to calm down and continue, which she did.

“The next day Chauncey called him while I was in the car, he yelled at him about bringing me there. He really belittled him and Chris knew I could here him through the phone, he was embarrassed. Chauncey told Chris to meet him at the pool hall and to drop me off, he was pretty upset. Anyway, later on that night Chris told me that Chauncey had demoted him and that it was no more love, so he asked me if he was to get the money for us to bounce, would I leave with him. I didn’t think he would ever get the money so I told him that I probably would. I didn’t think he would take it.”

Ree looked at her as if something wasn’t adding up.

“You knew that Chris had taken over a half a million to the house and then when he asked you if he could get the money would you be with him, you didn’t think he was talking about my money?”

She looked at Ree in his eyes, something she had learned to do from lying to Ray.

“To tell you the truth Ree I really thought that it was Chauncey’s money.  And the way that Chauncey has been treating me, I really thought he had it coming to him. I didn’t know it was yours, I swear. But I was not a part of it at all.” Ree turned to E knowing that he could validate some things.  Her story made sense, and Ree knew Neli was Tatum’s girl, plus she definitely seemed sincere and he knew Chris was a weak nigga probably willing to do anything for some pussy.

“Did Chauncey demote him?” Ree asked E, still looking at Neli for any signs that she was not being truthful.

E remembered Chauncey saying he was going to demote him and E had thought that maybe Chris would take that hard.  He nodded yes as a response to Ree’s question.  And then he added the final straw.

“Boss, Chaunc also told me that the lil nigga started tripping when he demoted him, talking about he aint gonna be able to eat, and shit like that.”

Ree looked at E and then back at Neli and then thought about how Chris was talking crazy at his party. Yeah, he was definitely prime suspect.

“So when was the last time you talked to him?” Ree asked.

“Last night,” she said innocently. 

“And you gonna give me a call when you hear from him again, right?” Ree asked peeling off some bills and rubbing her face where he smacked her. Neli took the money and gave a half smile.

“Absolutely.”

As soon as Chauncey got word of the hit put out on Chris he knew it was over for him. Ree had put a price on his head worth $100,000 and to the average street hustler, that was a nice amount of money just for some information, they could give a fuck about the next nigga’s life. Not to mention the fact that half of the street wolves of Newark would have done Chris in themselves just on the strength of Ree, that’s the way the game worked.

It didn’t take long for Chris to realize that there was a price on his head either, he had been staying with several different chicks, hiding out and getting high, trying to clear his mind. He felt as if he had reached a dead end and there was nowhere to go but down. He contemplated calling Neli but knew that it was risky. He decided to give it a little more time, but he hoped that no one had bothered her. Although the thought had crossed his mind of her being responsible for the missing money and product, he quickly dismissed it.

Neli was a good girl and she knew nothing about how to rob somebody, let alone what to do with that product after she got it. Nah, Chris figured that it was just a bad coincidence, maybe an inside job, or even maybe someone was trying to set him up. The more high he got, and zoned his mind became, the more he considered option number three. He started thinking that maybe niggas was jealous of him, maybe jealous of the way he would’ve came up if everything had gone smooth, so they had to set him up.
Yeah, that’s what happened.
Little did he know, trusting the wrong female had just cost him, and the price he had to pay would be with his life.

Chapter 14 – Pain

For the next week, things went on as usual. Ree and Tatum spent every waking moment together, she and her nieces had practically moved in. She hadn’t heard from her brother, and since Ree loved having her around, he didn’t mind the girls being there at all.

She cooked and did laundry and she tried to clean but Ree seemed to keep her off of her feet so much that she couldn’t. He catered to her as well, in the places that she had long been craving. He catered to her physical needs as well as emotional and spiritual. They spent mornings making love and showering together before classes and work and they spent evenings sharing stimulating conversation, feeding each other, and well, making more love.

Sasha and Chauncey were two on the ferris wheel of love as well, although he had seemed a little more withdrawn than Sasha would have liked. She spent the past days mailing out Engagement Party invitations that included a picture of her big ass ring on her tiny manicured finger, hanging out of the side of her brand new Audi that Chauncey had purchased her. She was living the good life, especially when he told her that she could start house hunting as soon as she finished with school. She knew what that meant, relocation! And relocation meant only one thing, Chauncey was about to give up the game.

As soon as Neli received her invitation she was green with envy. She had known about the engagement but the picture sent her over the top. She had to talk to Chauncey.

“Wait, listen. I…I, just wanted to call you and congratulate you on your engagement,” she stammered through tears. He remained silent wondering what the hell she was up to. She continued.

“And I was wondering if we can get together and have a drink to celebrate.” Chauncey looked at the phone as if this girl was crazy.

“Nah, I don’t think so,” he dismissed her, not as mean as usual but definitely not beat for her. Neli took a deep breath and continued.

“Well, that’s too bad. Because I was actually thinking about what you said to me the other day. You know about stop smiling in Sasha’s face acting like I’m her friend. You were right, I’m not her friend, and maybe I should stop pretending to be. So, I think I am going back to L.A. and starting over. Obviously we can’t be together, and that hurts me so much, I can’t stay here and see yall together.”

Chauncey listened unaffected and a little elated to hear that Neli was leaving.

“Well maybe that’s the best thing for you,” he said, unaware of her intentions.

“Mmm... hmm...,” she continued. “So I guess if you wont have a drink with me and see me off, well I guess I’ll just have to tell Sash everything. I mean, it’s not like I have anything to lose. She aint no friend of mine, right Chaunc?” She asked sarcastically.

“One last drink baby, and I promise, I swear, you won’t hear from me anymore, I’ll even show you my plane ticket.” Chauncey contemplated seriously but knew he had no choice. His life was finally getting right with Sasha and he couldn’t lose her, not now. She was all he had. He knew that Neli had nothing to lose, and she would tell Sasha. Shit, he had even fucked one of her friends from Cali who had videotaped them one night when they were all fucked up; he knew she could prove it. He finally agreed to meet her one last time and told her to bring her plane ticket so he could know for sure that she was going, for good. Then he told her to meet him at the Motor Lodge that night at 9, for the last and final drink that she’d ever get from him.

Sasha studied the pink stripe as if it would change if she stared hard enough.
Oh my god.
She thought to herself. The first thing she thought of was how they would have to push the wedding up because she was not having a baby out of wedlock. Then she thought of the home she would have to look for, neighborhood, schools, whether it would be a boy or a girl, and how Chauncey would definitely have to get out of the game like yesterday.

Overall she considered it a blessing like the many she was receiving from god. She was a little nervous, but she took it as a sign. She thought of what her family and friends would say, they couldn’t be too upset, both her and Chauncey had more than enough money and plus they were a happy couple about to tie the knot. A baby couldn’t have come at a better time.

She immediately called Chauncey and told him she had to talk to him tonight. He told her that he’d be home around 11, and that he had some things to handle. She thought to herself,
good let him handle it all now, because when I tell him this, there will be no more business to handle.

Next she dialed Tatum and told her the news.

“What you trying to say Sash, I’m gonna be a godmother!” Tatum was shocked. She was a little nervous, with Chauncey’s present situation and with them just getting back together, but Sasha assured her that Chauncey was giving up the game and she seemed so happy. So Tatum figured if Sasha was happy, then she was happy for her. She and Chauncey seemed to be doing everything that she could see herself doing with Ree. They were all really growing up.

Sasha hung up from Tatum and fell fast asleep with happy thoughts of her and Chauncey starting a family, she couldn’t wait to tell him.

Her thoughts were interrupted however by a text from Chauncey around 9:15 telling her to meet him at the Motor Lodge, Room 217,
what the fuck?

When Sasha pulled up to the Motor Lodge, she didn’t see Chauncey’s car, but as she drove around to the 200’s, she spotted his car. She dialed his number but it went straight to voicemail. So she got out of the car and made her way up the stairs to the room. Halfway up the stairs, a sharp pain went through her stomach. She nixed it out to the pregnancy, but she felt that it was more of a gut feeling.

She got closer in numbers and realized she was going in the right direction. Maybe he set up something romantic.
But why here baby?
She thought, looking around at the cheap motel. 203, 205. It seemed like the closer she got, the more her stomach hurt.
What the fuck?

Neli had text Sasha from Chauncey’s phone the minute he went to the bathroom for the first time, (apparently he had to drink before he came to meet her.) It was now 9:30, only 15 minutes later and he was in the shower getting clean to head back to Sasha.

Their session was quick, Chauncey trying to get it over with and Neli trying her hardest to enjoy him, knowing she would never have him again. She had showed him her plane ticket, and had every intention on leaving him and Sasha alone now, but now she was sure that they would be just that, alone.

She waited anxiously for Sasha to get there; she hoped she would come while he was still in the shower, naked with no excuses that could be made. She was prepared for a fight with Sasha, but that was the price she would have to pay to ensure that it was over with them. Finally, there was a knock at the door. Neli hopped up butt naked and ran to the door, she peeked out the peep hole and studied Sasha waiting patiently. Aw, she looked so unsuspecting. Show time!