You Can't Help Who You Love (14 page)

Carter

I couldn’t believe we had just run into my sister and Halee. I didn’t know whether she was pulling my leg or what. I just knew they knew it was me who did the shit. Then, this bitch was making shit even worse. Since I heard her on the phone earlier, I had been beating her at her own game. I had a trick for her ass. Instead of me smoking the laced blunts, I would switch hers with mine. That’s why she was in such a rush to leave; she was feening.

“Yo, you need to learn how to shut the fuck up sometimes; that was my baby, my blood sister, and I’ll beat your ass myself if you ever come out the mouth to either her or her friend again. Bring your ass on or get left!” I barked at her. She stood there looking dumb, like she was testing me. So, I walked out and jumped in my BMW. I lifted the laced blunt she left and took a pull of it. I wasn’t going crazy like I was before for it and that was good. So, I figured hitting it twice or three times wouldn’t hurt. I was looking around in the parking lot at my surroundings when my eyes landed on Miracle’s car my dad got her for graduation. I was sure they were gone by now, but it seemed like Lady Luck was on my side today. I sat there and watched them for a while. They started to drive off and I wanted to follow them. I wanted Halee and I was going to get her. After they were in Wal-Mart for almost a fucking hour, they got back in the car and I proceeded to follow them. They got on the expressway and I was right behind them like a car or two. I was glad I was in a car that I had put up for old time’s sake and I knew Miracle didn’t remember it, so that was also a plus.

I followed them until they pulled up into the driveway of someone’s condo. I pulled into the house next door from her that was up for sale and watched as they carried in some groceries. Micheala was blowing my phone up, so I decided to turn it off. That’ll teach her about calling my bluff. Finally, Halee came out alone and got into her car. I was happy all of this was panning out the way it was. I followed her, but this time, I wasn’t being discreet. She pulled into a store, I’m guessing for gas, and I took that as my opportunity. She walked in and, lucky for me again, the store was packed. I got out and flattened each of her tires, then got back in my car and pulled off. I waited two minutes, then pulled right back in exactly when she was coming out of the store.

“What the fuck!” she yelled, examining her car.

“Well damn, what’s up baby! Nice running into you. What bitch you pissed off?” I asked her, playing the role.

“I don’t know! Who the fuck would do this shit?!” she said, looking around.

“I don’t know. Look, since you my future and a friend of the family, I’ll give you a lift to your folks’ house and you can go from there since I was heading that way myself. Let’s just call a tow truck,” I told her. I was hoping she was fall for it and she did. Hook, line, and sinker!

“I’m going to beat Quis’ ass if he’s cheating on me. I had to be driving his car, when the fucking tired get slashed. That’s some pussy shit and when I find out who the fuck did it, I am going to beat their ass!” she fussed, fumbling with her phone.

“I told you, you were made for me, but you fell for his bullshit, now you going through it with his snake ass,” I said to her. I didn’t know it was his car, but fuck it. that made me feel even better. I didn’t hide my hate for Marquis because I didn’t fuck with him no more. He had what was mine and by the grace of God of whoever, she was now mine. “Look, I’m not trying to steal you knowing you have a man, but a nigga hungry. Wanna grab some lunch with me, for old time’s sake?” I asked her.

“I, uh, I guess we can as friends,” she said. She was looking like she wanted to second guess the shit, so I swung into the first restaurant I saw and that was Red Lobster. She looked over at me all crazy. “Nigga, let’s do fast food. I don’t have that much time,” she said with her face all screwed up.

“Man, chill! I’m craving some seafood and if I’m not mistaken, you like their food too!” I told her. She agreed and we hopped out and headed in.

“I’m going to the restroom, order me a nice, cold Sprite,” she told me, walking off. I told her ok and ran back outside to grab the sleeping pills I had in my car for when I couldn’t sleep at night.

“This will just have to do,” I said to myself. She was in the bathroom still when the waiter brought our drinks, so I took that as the chance to drop two in her cup. I sat there and watched as they dissolved. Now, she needed to hurry the fuck up and drink this shit, so we could be on our merry way. After waiting another five minutes, she came out looking flustered.

“Sorry about that. I was talking to Quis’ lying ass,” she told me. Not wanting to talk about the fuck nigga, I signaled the waiter over and gave her my order. I watched Halee as she sucked down her Sprite and smiled. “Why you smiling at me like that?” she asked after giving her order to the waiter.

“Nothing, you’re just still as beautiful as you was when we were younger,” I honestly told her. Our food had come and we wasted no time digging in. I didn’t know I was this hungry. I was just trying to spare time. We were making small talk and I was watching her. I eyed the nice ass bracelet that she was wearing. “That nigga icing you out like that?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Yeah, but after tonight, he can have this bitch right back,” she spat, taking it off and putting it in her pants pocket. I didn’t say a word, but I could tell they were taking affect because she was yawning like crazy.

“You aight?” I asked her.

“Yeah, just tired. Can we go now?” she asked me.

“Sure.” I waved the waiter over and gave her $200, told her to keep the rest, and we headed out. We weren’t on the road for ten minutes and Halee was out like a light. I tried talking to her, hell, I even squeezed her breast to see if she would wake up. When she didn’t, I went to a place where you could buy a storage bin and after I paid almost the last amount of my money left to get one, I drug her into the bin. I was sure to get one that was way in the back. I chose that one because I knew nobody would want to come all the way back there. After I locked her in there, I made a run to Wal-Mart and bought a chair, duct tape, and cable ties. Moving as fast as I could, I then went and purchased an enormous friendly snake. He was big as hell, so I’m sure he would scare her. He wouldn’t bite though.

I went back to the storage room and she was still knocked out, exactly how I left her. I brought the chair in and sat her up in it. Then, I wrapped her tight with some cable ties around the waist and tied her hands and feet together. Then, I duct taped her mouth. I looked over my handiwork and decided to double tie her mouth with more duct tape. I didn’t need her trying to talk. I walked back to my car and grabbed the snake and the blunt, along with a piece of paper and a pen. I lit the blunt after I sat the snake down. Leaning on the walls, I simple wrote ‘IF YOU DONT MAKE ANY MOVEMENT OR SAY A WORD, YOU WILL BE JUST FINE.’ I put a smiley face beside it with the words ‘you know who’ on there. I wasn’t putting my name on it. I know y’all thinking like “nigga, the bin still in your name.” WRONG. I had an ID I always carried since I was younger. To them, my name was Jason Calloway and I was 36. I used them to get into clubs and shit when I was younger. Hell, I’m glad I never threw them away. They’ve always served their purpose truthfully. I pecked Halee on the cheek before grabbing her phone and leaving.

“Yeah, everything can only get better from here,” I told myself, smiling. My father’s funeral was tomorrow and I was going to only be able to be at the gravesite, but from afar. I didn’t want it like that, but what other choice did I have?

Marquis

I don’t know where the hell Halee ran off at, but I did know that my car got towed to her house and the fucking tires was flat. I don’t kow what type of shit she was on, but when I found her ass, she was going to have a problem out of me. . It was almost time to go to De’Nardo’s funeral and her ass was missing in action. She didn’t even come over today. I thought about everything before she left and I know we didn’t get into it, so I’m trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. I don’t know why but in my heart, something wasn’t right, and I was going to get to the bottom of this.  I know she was seeing my texts and my calls. I knew that for a fact because every time I texted her, I would see the READ sign underneath the message. It was time to go to the funeral and I would see if she showed up with Miracle because I knew she was going to show up. She could tell me something because they were together yesterday, last I checked.

I got dressed and jumped into my car, heading to the church. I would’ve went to spend time with the family before the funeral, but I couldn’t be around people crying and shit; that shit did something to me and I couldn’t vibe with it. True enough, I was hurting about his death and now that Halee was pulling this stunt, a nigga wasn’t stable. I hated to say this, but I was ready for this shit to be over, so I could find my girl. My phone vibrated in my pocket, telling me I had a text. I didn’t have to pull out my phone because my messages always displayed on my Bluetooth radio. I saw the heart and knew it was Halee, so I slide the sidebar down to read the message.

<3: Marquis, I’m sorry but I don’t think this is going to work. We are too different and that’s basically a waste of time. Don’t come looking for me because I’m never returning and don’t worry because I’m fine.

Seeing that, I almost wrecked my car. I pulled over to call her and she didn’t answer; that was something else that told me something was off. She told me nearly every day that she could see a future for us, you know, with the picket fence and the kids and shit. We been talking to long for her to now all of a sudden go AWOL. I knew in my heart that she was for me and vice versa. I knew something fishy was going on and I was about to get to the bottom of it.

*****

The funeral was over and now it was time for the burial. I stood up and walked over to the casket. Myself, Dallas, Justin, and some more of the guys was carrying him outside. I couldn’t focus because my mind was on Halee; it was something because she didn’t even show up and we all knew she was like another daughter to Nardo.

“Yo, anyone seen my girl?” I asked the fellas.

“Nah, I was thinking that shit in my head. What’s going on Quis; what you did?” Justin asked me.

“Nigga, don’t question me; I haven’t done shit!” I barked at him. I wasn’t for the fuck shit right now. I walked over to Miracle, where she was standing alone crying. “I’m sorry sis, and we are going to get to the bottom of this shit tonight. You know we are going to be there for y’all, no matter what. But yo, where the hell is Halee?” I asked her.

“I don’t know; I haven’t seen her since she left. I been calling her but she hasn’t been answering. She left in good spirits and told me she was coming home to you. I feel like something is wrong and where the hell is Carter? What the fuck is going on here Quis and don’t lie to me? Please, I’m a big girl and I need the truth. I want to get to the bottom of this like everyone else.” She cried. I was about to tell her when my eyes fell on Carter. This nigga was trying to look inconspicuous, like we couldn’t tell it was his retarded ass. I raised my hand, making a gun sign. He turned and walked away. I directed my attention to Miracle and again, was about to tell her, but Dallas walked up, causing her to walk away.

“What’s up bro?” he asked me.

“Shit, trying to find my girl; some shit is up bruh and I feel it in my bones. I just saw Carter’s hoe ass and he walked away. I feel like he is the reason my girl is missing and I’m paying him and his bitch a visit tonight. He is going to die and I will be sure of that.”

“Count me in,” Justin said, walking up.

“Aight bet, I’m out. Catch up with y’all guys tonight,” I told them, walking to my car. The entire way home I thought of Halee. Then, as if a light bulb went off in my head, I thought about the tracker I had in her bracelet. She didn’t know it was there, but I did. I wasn’t trusting anyone like that. I wanted to see if she was for me like she always claimed to have been. She always proved me right. She stayed down, so now it’s my time to do the same. I gave it to her in the beginning of our relationship and now I was happy I had it installed in there. I stood there a little longer, watching as they lowered the casket in the ground. Everyone started walking away, except Miracle, Dallas, and Justin. I hugged each of them before walking off myself. I jumped in my car and flew home in a record of ten minutes, so I could locate her. I didn’t need help because I was computer smart and all that shit. I didn’t trust everyone, so I didn’t need a computer nerd. I could do shit on my own. I let out a deep breath, hoping that everything would fall through how I was planning.

Halee

Waking up being tied up was the scariest thing I have ever been through. My mind was jumbled as to where I was or who even put me here. Hell, how in the fuck did they get me here without me putting up some sort of fight? I tried my hardest to move but I couldn’t and that frustrated me. My eyes were locked in the corner of the room. Seeing that big ass snake made me want to scream, but I couldn’t. I had to remind myself not to panic because I most definitely was about to. Looking at the note stuck to the wall, my mind wandered when my eyes landed on ‘you know who’. 

“Mmmmm!MMM!” I mumbled, causing the snake to stir. It started to slowly move across the room towards me, causing me to have a panic attack. “No, God, please no,” I kept repeating in my head. This wasn’t the way I wanted to go out. I thought about Quis and my heart started hurting because I felt like I had lost the one who truly loved me, flaws and all. I looked straight at the wall while the snake curled himself around my feet. I didn’t look down because I know I probably would’ve passed out. He was wrapped so tightly around them that I couldn’t move. Still, I was calmly sitting there like I wasn’t bothered. Minutes turned into hours and I was over this shit. At this point, I didn’t care about the snake biting me because I felt like it would’ve done something by now and it haven’t. It just laid there and I thank God for that.

“HALEE!” I heard. I had to be tripping because ain’t no way I was hearing my name being called. “HALEE!” There it was again. All I could do was mumble under the duct tape.

“MMMMM! UMMMMM!” I continued to mumble. I didn’t give a fuck about this snake anymore. I was almost out. I knew this though, if I made it out of this alive, Carter’s blood was indeed going to be on my hand. I knew that it would strain Miracle and I’s relationship, hell, we may kill one another, but I couldn’t be in this position all because he was acting like a scorned bitch. Whatever happens was just going to happen. I valued my life and I didn’t appreciate it being tampered with. BOOM! BOOM!

“HALEE!” I knew I wasn’t tripping now. I knew that voice anywhere; it was Quis. The snake slowly moved upward around my calf muscles and I knew one thing, that Quis better hurry the hell up. BOOM! That final kick caused the door to fly off the hinges. “HALEE, what the fuck!” he yelled, with Dallas close behind him.

“Mmm, umm,” I mumbled. I was thanking God over and over in my head because I was thankful for him to have sent Quis at me.

“The fuck kind of snake is that?!” Dallas asked.

“I don’t know, but the bitch about to die now. HALEE, don’t move. I’m going to untie you from behind and when I do, you have to slowly untangle your legs from the snake. Ok, look at me. Don’t be scared, the end is near. Just please be calm because we don’t know what kind of snake it is. Don’t panic,” he told me, as he started untangling my hands. I held in my breath as he knelt down and started to undo my feet. I was glad this snake was almost to my lower knee because I was almost sure he would’ve struck our ass. My feet and hands were unbound. Now, I had to focus on unraveling this damn snake from my body. I slowly stood up and to my relief, the snake untangled himself without me doing much of nothing.

“That’s not a dangerous snake Q,” Dallas told him, staring at him.

“I see that now,” he said back to him before picking me up and hugging me.

“How did you find me? However it was, THANK YOU, thank you! I know who did this and I’m ready to make him feel it, but first, I have to make a stop,” I said to them.

“WHO?” they asked me in unison.

“CARTER!” I told them. The look they gave me told me that something was off with Carter.

“What the fuck! I’m going to fucking kill this nigga TONIGHT!” Quis barked.

“Not just yet baby, let’s plot. He don’t deserve to die a simple death. I want to hit him where it hurts,” I said, walking away from what could’ve been my casket.

“Wait, hold the fuck up! How in the hell did you get up with this fuck nigga for him to bring you all the way out here?” Quis stopped and asked me. Dallas kept walking and as soon as he made it to the car, I finally replied.

“As you know, I went to see Miracle yesterday-,” I tried explaining.

“Two days ago,” he said.

“TWO DAYS? I BEEN OUT HERE TWO DAYS?” I asked.

“Yeah, I could’ve came yesterday but I had to figure out where I put the equipment to track you down. If you was wondering how I found you, there is a tracker in your Tiffany and Co bracelet I bought you and don’t ask why. Let’s just be happy that you were found before he could do only God knows what with you. Now, continue,” he told me. I would let him have it for now.

“So, after we had girl talk and she told me some things, we went to find something to wear to the mall and we ran into Carter and some bird he was with. Then, we left and went to Wal-Mart, so Miracle could have food to eat. After we did that, I guess that he followed us because once I pulled in to the gas station and walked in, I saw that my tires were flat. I mean, they were sitting on FLATS baby. All four. While I was looking at them, he pulled up and offered to take me home because he was heading that way. I didn’t think anything of it and, like I told you, I don’t like him anymore, so I agreed. But then, this nigga wanted to eat and he chose Red Lobster. We eating and all that. I get tired and then I end up here,” I told him all in one breath.

“Halee, that nigga had to have drugged you, ma. Plus, where was he headed? That nigga haven’t been fucking with none of us since Nardo gave Justin the crown. So, he hasn’t been that way since all that went down. Though I want to be pissed, I’m just happy to find you alive; let’s get out of here,” he told me, grabbing my hand. I sent up a silent prayer to God thanking him for getting me out of that jam, but also for forgiving me for what I was going to do.