Trife Life To Lavish (A King Production Presents...) (16 page)

Tierra understood that Ms. Martin meant well,
but she wasn't trying to hear it. Her daddy was a
hustler of the streets, every man she ever dealt with
was a hustler on the streets, and she too hustled the
streets. To dismiss all of that would be like dismissing
herself and the people she loved and respected.
Risking your life was one of the downsides of being in
the game, but the upsides were so much more-fast
money, designer clothes, bad ass cribs and cars. You
could never get that breaking your back everyday
working a nine to five.

Tierra was devastated by the deaths of Radric,
Simone, and even Carmelo, but when you play the
game, you know that you can also die from the game.

The next day, Nichelle left the hospital and
went to stay at her mother's place. She wasn't ready
to go back to the home she shared with Carmelo.
Part of her still hadn't accepted that he was dead.
She kept replaying the last kiss they shared, the last
words he spoke, and how it felt the last time he
wrapped his arms around her.

"Nichelle, are you sure you don't want me to
spend the night with you? Your mother's at work,
and I hate for you to be alone."

"I appreciate the offer, Tierra, but I'll be fine.
I'm not gonna be doing nothing but staying in bed
and cry all night anyway."

"That's okay, I can stay and cry with you."

"I guess God knew what he was doing by
keeping you around, because I don't know what
I would do if he took you away from me too."
Nichelle's eyes filled with tears as the loneliness of
losing the love of her life engulfed her.

"You don't have to worry, God don't want no
part of me. I'm much too scandalous for what He
got going on up there," Tierra said, pointing her
finger up. "He gon' keep me right here on Earth so
I can continue to create havoc for the rest of the
crazy people like me. Plus, He knows I have to
protect you. You're one of the good ones."

"I always thought Carmelo would be here to
protect me. It's like I can't breathe." Nichelle held her
pillow tightly to her chest and soaked it with tears.

Tierra wanted to console her friend, but there
wasn't anything she could do. She knew Nichelle
would have to deal with the pain of losing Carmelo
in her own way, and in her own time. All she
could do was be there for her through the process.
"Would you like for me to get you anything before
I leave, Nichelle?"

"No," she said, choking back her tears. "Have
you had a chance to talk to Simone's mother?"

"Yeah. Of course she's taking it hard. Then
poor lil' Anthony, he's only a baby, but he can tell
something ain't right. When I was there, he was
looking around as if he was waiting for his mother
to walk through the door. That shit tore me up."

"I know. My heart breaks for that little boy,
having to grow up without his mother."

"And then that piece of shit daddy he got. Do
you know that nigga was talking shit about Simone
in front of lil' Anthony and her mother?"

"Saying what?"

"That if Simone hadn't been fucking wit' a
known drug dealer like Marley, she wouldn't of
been shot dead."

"That nigga got some nerve!"

"Yeah, especially since he do the same dirt.
He a jealous nigga, because Marley was a major player in the game, and he was and will always
be a low level pusher. That shit ate him up that
Simone had upgraded to a real boss."

"I guess we finally found out who her mystery boo
was. Too bad it had to be under these circumstances,"
Nichelle said, tossing her pillow on the floor. "The cops
still don't have any idea who's responsible?"

"No, and with all the unsolved murders in
New York, I doubt they ever will or care to."

"How did the cops even know to come there?"

"From what I was told, somebody that lived
on Simone's block heard gunshots and called the
police. But of course, nobody saw nothing or
actually witnessed the murders."

"Do you think it was a robbery? And why
was Carmelo in the car with Radric?" Nichelle
wondered.

"Maybe they were doing business together. I
don't know."

"I have so many questions and not enough
answers. Four people shot dead, and don't nobody
know shit. Welcome to Queens!"

The day of Carmelo's funeral finally arrived,
and Nichelle dreaded going. She still hadn't gone
back to their condo, but felt it was time to do so. But first, she needed to go and watch Carmelo be
put to rest. That was going to take all her strength,
and she was relieved that Tierra was going with
her. She wanted her mother to escort her too, but
like always, she had to work.

"Tierra, I know Carmelo wasn't a friend of
yours, in fact you didn't even like him, so thank
you so much for going with me. I could never
handle this by myself."

"And you shouldn't have to. Yeah, Carmelo
and I weren't friends, but you and I are. I want to be
here for you." Tierra gently grabbed Nichelle's hand
and held it until they got out of the car to go inside
the church where the funeral was being held.

When they entered the church, it was jammed
packed. Nichelle recognized a few familiar faces
from around the way, but mostly everyone else
seemed to be strangers. Carmelo had kept Nichelle
so isolated from his business and never talked much
about his family, that it wasn't until this moment
Nichelle realized how much she didn't know about
his life. Tierra found a seat for them near the back of
the church, as the service had already started, and
they didn't want to attract attention to themselves.

After the reverend finished giving a beautiful
sermon, a young girl, who looked to be no more
than eleven, stood up and sang a song. Midway
through, the little girl broke down and cried and
ran to a woman wearing a black sable fur coat.

"I hate funerals," Tierra grumbled, trying
not to tear up over how distraught the young girl
seemed to be.

The reverend then stood back up and said a
few more words before everybody stood up to go
pay their last respects.

"At least Carmelo was able to have an open
casket," Nichelle said as she stood up to go view
his body. "Will you walk with me?" She looked
over at Tierra who was still sitting down.

"Of course."

When Nichelle got to the casket, she paused
for a moment prior to going forward. She wanted
to gain her composure before seeing Carmelo's
dead body. When she stood over him, he looked
so peaceful, as if he was sleeping. She kissed her
two fingers and placed them on top of Carmelo's
lips. "I'll never stop loving you, baby. My heart
will always belong to you." A single tear rolled
down her face. She headed towards the exit door,
knowing that was the last time she would ever see
or touch the man she loved more than anything in
this world again.

"Tierra, wait up," they heard someone call
out as they were walking to Nichelle's car. They
both turned around to see who it was.

"Renny, hey, I'm surprised to see you here."

"Yeah, I wanted to pay my respects."

"You knew Carmelo?" Nichelle asked softly.

"I had met him recently through Marley. We
were all doing some business together."

"I guess that means you knew Radric too."

"Yes, he was one of my closest friends."

"I'm so sorry for you loss."

"I'm sorry for yours too. You were Carmelo's
girlfriend, right? I think I saw you a couple of times
with him."

"Yes."

"I know how difficult it must be to lose a
loved one. I'll keep you in my prayers."

"Thank you, I truly appreciate that," Nichelle
muttered, not wanting to shed more tears.

"Tierra," Renny said, turning his attention to
her. "I was surprised I didn't see you at Radric's
funeral yesterday."

"I don't like funerals. The only reason I came
to this one was to support Nichelle."

"I'm sure you'll be going to Simone's though,
right?"

"Of course, she was a very close friend of mine."

"I'm not going to hold you ladies up anymore,
but Nichelle," Renny reached out and took her
hand. "Please take care of yourself."

"I'll try."

"Come on, Nichelle, we need to go." Tierra
pulled Nichelle's arm away, thinking Renny was
holding on to her hand way too long.

Renny stood and watched Tierra and Nichelle get in the car. He could tell how vulnerable Nichelle
was, and that this would be the time to make his
move. But, he also reasoned that he would have to
be very careful with his approach. She was a young
lady in a great deal of pain, so being too aggressive
would push her away. He wasn't worried though.
He was a master at manipulation, and he would
figure out a way to win Nichelle over.

Nichelle stood with the key in the lock for
a minute before opening the door. Part of her felt
like she was doing too much in one day. First the
funeral, now walking into the home she shared
with Carmelo. I can do this, she thought to herself and
opened the door.

When she set foot in the entrance, she was
flooded with memories. She thought about how
Carmelo let her pick out all the furniture and
decorate the place how she wanted. She looked
over at the glass fireplace, and thought about the
numerous times they made love in front of it.

Instead of being sad, Nichelle actually felt a
sense of happiness being back in the place where
they shared so many wonderful memories. She
walked over to her favorite picture of the two of
them. It was from their trip to the Bahamas. It was the very first time Nichelle had ever been out of the
State of New York. Until that day, she didn't even
know water that blue or sand so white existed.
Staring at that photo, for the first time since his
death, Nichelle was able to smile. But then, just as
quickly thinking about his death turned her smile
into a frown.

"I hated saying goodbye to Carmelo, but I'm glad
that funeral is over with. Being in that church with all
those strangers and unable to grieve the way I wanted
to, made me feel like I was about to suffocate."

"I know what you mean. I'm dreading going
to Simone's funeral. It's depressing. I want to
remember all the good times we shared together,
not that she's gone. I don't believe Simone would
want us mourning for her. If anything, she would
want us to party."

"Yeah, Simone always loved a good party."

"How do you feel being back here?" Tierra
asked, quickly changing the subject, not wanting to
dwell on how hard she was taking Simone's death.

"A lot better than I thought I would. Nothing
is going to bring Carmelo back, but being here lets
me feel his presence, if that makes any sense."

"I'm not the sentimental type, but it actually
makes a lot of sense. Does that mean you're going
to continue to live here even though he's gone?"

"Wow that is something to think about. I
know I can't afford to pay any of the bills. Hell, even if I could, I wouldn't know how or who to
pay the bills to."