TITAN (19 page)

“Shelia, can I call you sometime?”
Jordy asked, almost childlike.

“Of course, if you two ever come to
California. I
will see you again.”

Jordy sat by herself as they
announced rap album of the year. Titan won. She jumped out of her seat with the
rest of them and when he spoke, this time he looked directly at her.

He kept his speech short and sweet
and thanked a few of the same people. He was always stone faced and never
smiled. She felt the cameras on her again and this time she smiled up at him.

When the show was over Jessie
ushered her backstage and to the dressing room. It was filled with other
rappers, Late Night talk show hosts and what looked like groupies. He
recognized one of them as a girl who handed out awards.

Jordy immediately felt a tinge of
jealousy but decided to walk into this part of his life. This goes with it.

She let him have his fun,
surrounded by people who were worshiping him. She stood in the hallway and
waited patiently. She heard a voice whisper to her.

“So, you’re Tite’s new Mrs.? Huh?”
She looked up and recognized the face but couldn’t place it. “No, not his Mrs.
but his… Do I know you?”

“Let’s just say Phillip and I
are
old friends. Whew girl, you are way better looking than
the ex-Mrs. Preston, I guess I could have done
better,” he said, tracing her neckline.

“Get the fuck away from me now!”
she shouted. There was so much noise no one could hear her but him.

“Oh baby, don’t get excited. Tite
and I were thick as thieves, once. He likes to share. I won’t bite unless you
ask me to.”

That was it for Jordy.

She had to do something and fast.

If Tite saw this asshole making a
pass at her, he would kill him.

He reached for her again, groping
her roughly. She grabbed the closest thing she could find. An empty wine
bottle.

Just as he grabbed her, she whacked
him one good time in the head with it, making him scream out.  

She was so furious that, when he went
down, she started kicking him, mostly in the balls, screaming at him.

“Keep your filthy fucking hands off
me, you son of a bitch!”

By this time, Tite and the rest of
the party were out in the hallway.

When Tite saw who it was, his face
immediately hardened and he started to join Jordy. His crew, realizing it too,
held him back.  

Jordy was doing just fine, kicking
him repeatedly for a few seconds, cursing him.

“JORDY STOP!” Jeff screamed at her.
His screams fell on deaf ears. She kicked him one more time for good measure
and then suddenly seemed to notice everyone around her, staring at her,
horrified. She searched the crowd and saw Titan’s face, furious.

She got scared instantly and
started explaining.

“He was grabbing me, literally
touching me in places he shouldn’t have. He was telling me he was going to...
do stuff.  I had to stop him,” she said, hands up.

“MOTHERFUCKER. I WILL KILL YOU. I
WILL KILL YOU,” Tite said, in a definite tone.

It’s not me he is mad at. Who the
fuck is this guy?

Jeff seemed to read her mind.
“Lyle, his old manager.”

When she heard that, she looked
right at Tite, and kicked Lyle in the balls again. Tite stopped fighting his
crew and started to laugh hysterically. The crew did too.

Onyx was the first to speak. “Tite,
you have been dying to fuck this man up for years and your woman beat you to
it, not even knowing who he was!” They all started laughing hysterically as the
auditorium manager came to assess the situation.

Jordy piped up quickly, she did not
want Titan fingered for any of this.

“This bastard tried to assault me
and I fought back in self defense. I won.” she said, “I might be pressing
charges depending on how badly he reacts to taking an ass whooping from a
woman, let him know he will be hearing from my lawyer.

She walked over to Tite, she had no
idea if what she just said would hold up in court or if she would even be in
trouble, but she held up her hands and the crew couldn’t contain themselves.
They huddled around Jordy laughing and tugging at her arm, telling her she was
the shit.

Titan grabbed her and kissed her in
the middle of everyone.

“I don’t think you are ready for
public yet, babe.”

“Well, ready or not, here I come,”
she said, looking back and giving the asshole on the ground a smug smile.

He was cursing her, “You bitch, I
will sue you. I will
fucking
take everything.”

“Good luck with that. I am just a
college kid, just maxed out my Visa today,” she said, laughing at him.

“Lyle, we will all pour some out
tonight for your balls, may they rest in peace, motherfucker,” Tite added
happily as they made their way to the exit.

“Tite, hurry up and get me to the
car,” she said, quickly.

“Oh no, Jordy, not again.”

“Yep.”

“DAMN IT, JORDY.”

Jordy crumpled up the magazine and threw
it across the room.

“Jordy, don’t start,” Tite said,
warning her.

“Now I am the psycho witch,” she
said, with disgust in her voice.

“Yep, and now I am dating the
psycho witch,” he said smiling “Fuck 'em, really, Jordy,” Tite was still musing
over the thought that he had won album of the year and she had managed to steel
the spotlight from him their first night out as a couple. He had never in his
life expected Jordy to be so tough. She had come at him a few times when he had
deserved it but she had never hurt him or tried to. Seeing her like that only
made him more curious about her and it turned him on, if he was honest with
himself.

“Not good.”

“Well, at least my lawyers managed
to escape you getting arrested and sued for your college tuition.” he said,
seeing her make a face at him.

“I am just glad he
couldn’t
do a damn thing to you. We aren’t married. He can’t touch you.” She winked at
him.

“Who needs bodyguards with you
around, baby?” he said, taking a step toward her. They were in the kitchen, she
was attempting to cook him dinner for the second time this week.

“No, don’t come near me, I cannot
guarantee that the hulk won’t come out.”

“We can have angry at the press
sex,” he said, walking toward her, grabbing her and making her look at him.

“I am not in the mood,” she
snapped.

“REALLY you little bitch,” he said,
still amused.

“REALLY Tite, I have my noodles
going, and sauce, and I am not burning another dinner.”

He dragged her to the floor.

“I already ordered pizza.”

A knock on the door roused them
from their in-house kitchen entertainment.

“Who the hell?” Titan dressed
quickly and ordered Jordy to do the same. Jessie was at the door, smiling.

“Jessie, I was busy, what’s up?” he
said, surveying to make sure Jordy was dressed.

“Your new awards and I met the
pizza guy at the gate.”

“Those could have waited until
tomorrow.”

“No it couldn’t. THANKS JESSIE,”
Jordy piped behind him, grabbing the awards.

“This is awesome,” she said,
looking at the inscriptions.

She ran upstairs with them and
bypassed his trophy room to his music library. She had a custom built light
shelf made for specifically for them. It was the very last purchase she could
make with her credit cards. They meant more to her than they did to him. They
commemorated their relationship, their struggle and his success. It was awesome
and she was proud. She stood back staring at them. She closed her eyes and saw
him on stage. She wanted to see him again and again.

“I mean,
it’s
cool baby, but why in here?” he asked, behind her, surprising her.

“I have my reasons.” she said.

“Okay, nut case,” he said, walking
away. He felt a thwack on his back and looked down at his feet. She had thrown
a tape at him.

“Jordy, tsk tsk,” he said.

“Come back and finish what you
started in the kitchen.”

“I am not in the mood and quit
fucking up my library my NORMAL girlfriend
made for me,” he said in a bitchy tone, mocking hers earlier. He felt a spray
of tapes hit him in the back.

“Alright, you crazy bitch, now you
have done it.”

She smiled at him and ran.

They were watching T.V., finishing
their pizza, when a preview of E News came on and they saw Tony’s face.

Ex-boyfriend of Titan’s Witch
tells all
.

Jordy felt Tite tense under her.
She sat up and looked at him. “Calm, right? What the hell could he possibly
have to say to them, that I dumped him?”

“MOTHERFUCKER,” Tite said, fury
showing in his face.

“Let’s just hear it first.”

 The break for commercial was
the longest Jordy had ever felt in her life. She watched Tite carefully but he
had already turned to stone. He was Titan again, not Phillip; he was gone for
the night.

Jordy watched in horror as Tony
started to rip her apart on national television. “Jordy was heartless, she
would often ask me for money to pay her bills and withhold sex as a weapon. We
dated for a couple of years before I realized she had a drug problem. I have
even heard after our break up that she exchanged sex for drugs.”

The interview only went downhill
from there.

They interviewed Jenny, who admitted
to selling Jordy “large amounts of Xanax and other drugs.”

“I felt bad for her and knew she
had a pretty serious problem with them.”

Jenny kept smiling, on camera, and
talking out of key.

She loved the limelight.

The segment ended with, “Titans new
witch seems to be an out-of-control, drug addicted maniac. We
all
read
the story of the incident behind the awards. What exactly does Tite see in this
girl? We have tried to contact Titans’ camp for comment, yet have been unable
to reach him at this time. This is Joyce Warner, asking you, “Is the King of
Rap trapped?”

Jordy looked at Tite who was
staring at the TV with no emotion.

“Jesus CHRIST!” Jordy said, raging
at the T.V.

“Did you buy drugs from that
whore?”

“Yes.”

“Then, you are going to have to
live with this story,” he said, as if he was handing down a sentence.

“Tite, you can’t let this go
unanswered!  You can’t!
What will people think
?”

“You did buy drugs from her, it was
true. Had a
problem, that
was also true. Tony is a
fucking joke. I know that’s all bullshit. But this is your dirty laundry. Let
it air out. Unless you previously had a penis we should be okay for a while.”

“
What the fuck
?  Hell
no, I won’t deal with this!”

He caught her shoulder, warning
her. “Jordy, this is all part of it. Deal with it,” he said, firmly.

“I will
not
deal with this,
why
won’t you
let Jeff make a statement at least. My
God, Tite, you won’t defend ME?”

“It’s no use. You can’t change
peoples’ minds about you. Once they see the throat, they go for it. Tony did a
good job mudding you.”

Jordy couldn’t believe he was just
standing there. He wasn’t upset or even irrational, she was. She was so
furious.

“Well thanks, baby, for coming to
my rescue. Where are you going?”

“Jordy, this is part of it, you can
fume all you want, but your skeletons are out.”

“Tite, I had a slight overuse of
Xanax for a few months. I wasn’t a drug addict, and I didn’t ever ask that
piece of shit for a damn dime!”

“Jordy, I can’t help you,” he
walked out of the room, leaving her there, incredulous.

The next morning he woke up, she
wasn’t in bed, and he knew she hadn’t been there all night. She just had to
deal with it, like he did when any controversy circled him. He knew she would
be fine eventually. He had dealt with this for over a decade. It was not
something he was happy about. He was also miffed she had been buying drugs from
that girl, Jenny, behind his back while they were dating. But they had that
fight already. He just never bothered to ask where she got the pills from.

He looked everywhere for her in the
house but she was gone. He picked up his cell and saw 5 missed calls from
Jessie. He called him back.

“Tite, she is on the radio,
defending herself. Turn to 106.1!”

Tite hung up and went straight for
the stereo.

“Tony and I had a relationship, I
never asked him for anything, especially money. Out of respect for that time in
my life I refuse to comment on much else. But as far as withholding sex for
money and being addicted to drugs, I will address that. It’s all false. I was
prescribed medications to deal with a small amount of anxiety and I overdid it
a little, I put a stop to it and that’s that.”

The radio announcer wanted to
address Jenny’s claims next.

“Anyone who claims to know me well,
and is coming forward now, is doing it for attention. In the end, it’s all
about who I am dating. I will not be interviewing with anyone on my personal
current relationship now or ever. I was assaulted by the man people so
blatantly said I went into a rage to rough up. I was defending myself. End of
story. I have been pressured to keep quiet and stand by while I take this kind
of abuse by the media and I simply won’t let these issues go unaddressed.
Regardless of what people might think of me, it was important to me to at least
defend myself regarding the night at the awards and the issue of my temper, as
well as the drug abuse. It’s not true.”

“Well, you heard it here folks, The
Witch has spoken. This is 106.1 saying, be careful what you Witch for.”

Tite heard the front door open, saw
Jordy, and immediately flew at her.

“You
bitch
! I told you not
to do
anything
!” He grabbed her arms roughly and squeezed hard, making
her scream out.

“Don’t call me a bitch, Tite, not
like that. I had to defend myself, it’s not like you were running to my rescue.
You basically called me a drug addict last night and acted like you didn’t give
a shit, what did you expect me to do? Please stop, you are hurting me.”

 “You must have lost your mind
and your desire to be
in
this relationship. I told you not to do
anything, this is my
career
, and I call the shots in media.
Period
.” 
He said, still holding her arms, seeing the pain in her face.

“This is
my life
and I call
the shots on who says and does what to me.
Period
.” she screamed.

“Get out,” he said, resigned.

“What?”

“Get out of my house, take your
shit and go, I don’t want see you here anymore.”

“Tite, I don’t have a place to
live, I moved…”

“Get out”

“Oh my GOD, you can’t mean that!
You don’t mean that!”

“You did it, not me,” and with
that, he turned and walked away.

“Tite, you are kicking me out with
nothing? Nowhere to go?”

“Go do an interview on me, bitch,
they will pay you.”

“STOP CALLING ME A BITCH!” She
screamed at him this time and pushed him. His back to her, he turned and threw
her to the ground, roughly, making her scream out.

“That’s right Jordy, you are now
just another in a long line of whores that I have had to deal with. I won’t
forgive you and I am already forgetting you. Get the fuck out of my house. Be
gone when I get back.”

“Tite, you can’t mean that. You
don’t mean it.”

“Yes I do, Jordy. This was all a
mistake.”

“A mistake?” she absorbed the words
and her rage set in. “Well that figures, you stupid man, you think you’re the
only fucking man in the world that has treated me like this?”

Titan saw her demeanor change out
of the corner of his eye and his curiosity caused him to face her.

“You know why I faint, Tite? It’s
not because I am excited, it’s because I am terrified. Damaged goods. I have
baggage you will never understand. Your parents left you in juvie. Boo hoo, you
were lucky. My stepfather never left me alone. He would take turns swigging his
whiskey and slapping me in the face. He would rape my mother nightly and make
sure I could hear. He would kick me and punch me in the face until I was too
tired to fight back. This was just at age 10. He claimed he was toughening me
up for the real world. The Jordy you saw kicking the shit out of that asshole
at the awards was the Jordy you see now. I guess we all have dual
personalities. And
this
Jordy is saying ‘You’re fucking
A
right it’s over.’ I will never look at you the same again.
You
bastards
are
all
alike. I will always defend myself. ALWAYS. I know I came at you first, but I
would never hurt you. Throw you to the ground like you were dirt,” she got up
so quickly, it took Tite by surprise.

“Go,” she commanded, “I will be
out, go.” She turned and hauled ass up the stairs. He heard nothing else. She
wasn’t crying. She had not shed one tear.

This was not the woman he loved and
he had pushed her into becoming something else. He instantly regretted it and
almost went upstairs but that resolve in her voice, the look in her eye. It
almost scared him. It was if he was looking in a mirror.

He saw the side of himself in her
that she had taken away from him.

She was cold as ice.

He knew he could never repair it.
He had wanted her to get out when he said the words, now all he wanted was to
take the whole thing back.

He got in his car and left.

He was completely floored with what
she had just told him.

She had endured all that shit and
never told him a single word. Jesus, no wonder she didn’t want kids. It was the
same reason he didn’t want to get married.

Baggage.

They were both damaged.

He had held his temper close while
she had held hers at bay all this time. She had taught him how to enjoy life
again. Not take things so seriously. She had gotten rid of so much of his
anger, and it seemed he had just released hers.

This was bad, really bad.

He turned around.

He was too late.

She left her cell and her Cowboys
necklace on the bathroom sink where she had first told him she loved him.

His heart sank.

He knew how much she loved that
necklace.

“FUCK,” he said, grabbing her cell
phone, searching for a clue as to where she might have gone.

Nothing.

She had deleted it all except for
one picture.