Page 48 of Always Been You

Terror

I woke up to my phone going crazy. It was that blurry hour between late and early, and my phone should not have been ringing unless it was about some serious money.

The city lights were the only source of light that cast shadows in the room.

My woman lay at my side, and she didn’t budge.

This dick was like NyQuil to her. The night I spent with her was amazing.

I was looking forward to pushing our boundaries further with her.

I knew for a fact she was endgame for me.

There was no reason to think or look for anything else.

I kissed her forehead, and my phone ringing again brought me out of my blissful state.

When I saw Chris’s name flash across my screen, I sat up with a start.

This was the call I had been waiting for.

“This shit betta be good, Chris. You are way the fuck overdue.”

“I think you’ll be happy.”

“We’ll see.” I licked my lips in anticipation. I could taste the revenge. This nigga Kole had been a ghost long enough. I know my family was getting antsy living like this.

“Some interesting things,” he started, giddy as hell, and continued. “Remember, I asked you about Marvin?”

“I told you, I’m looking for one nigga only. If you got something to say, talk about it and stop fucking wasting my time.” I shot and looked over my shoulder. Dyami was still sleeping.

“Okay, okay, Marvin Bates is the only link I found to Kole. Even though Kole is hardly traceable, Marvin is not. Marvin Bates is also known as Slash, the man who set up Brick to be killed is Kole’s father.”

That knocked the wind out of me momentarily. So, this was Slash’s son all along? How much did my baby mother really know? Was all this shit a setup for me all along? There had to be more to the story.

“It’s more to this shit,” I spoke more to myself than anyone else.

“It definitely is. This is where it gets crazy. Marvin Bates is super rich, of course. From what I could find, he has properties all over the world. However, one thing stood out when I reviewed his financials. He was depositing large lump sums of money into someone’s books in ADX.

The person receiving the funds happens to be your father.

Slash and your father are brothers. Which means—"

“I know what the fuck it means, and that don’t mean shit to me.

Where the fuck does this nigga lay his head at?

That’s what I’m paying you for. I could’ve gone to ancestry.com to figure all this shit out!

” This nigga was up here trying to play family reunion, and I was out for blood.

As far as I was concerned, he wasn’t family to me, and whatever connection that was with my father, I didn’t care about either.

That man hadn’t been a part of my life since the day I was born.

“I only found a home for Slash. Well, multiple, but I’m forwarding you his residential information. Find him, and I’m sure he will link you to Kole.”

I hung up the phone. I had heard enough.

I suppressed my burning questions and got up, ready for action.

The peaceful state I was in just moments ago was a far cry from what I felt now.

I ignored the nagging call to answer the unanswered, and I sprang into action.

We were leaving now. I moved through the room gathering our things and dressing as quickly as possible.

“What are you doing? Come back to bed,” Dyami’s voice cut through the silence.

“We’re leaving. Get dressed.”

“Leaving? It’s the middle of the morning.”

“I don’t have time to explain. Just get yo’ shit and let’s go.”

“Now wait a fucking minute nigga! It’s the middle of the morning.

You can’t just tell me to pop the fuck up and I’m not gone have any questions.

My little sister is here, and so is your son.

They are just kids, and it’s no fucking reason for us to be waking them up in the middle of the night unless we are in immediate danger.

So tell me what the fuck is going on,” she spat, flinging the covers off her naked body.

The sharp ass mouth ain’t take no time to wake up with her ass.

“You already knew what type of nigga I was and what I was into. I don’t see your ass complaining when you're driving that fucking car. I don’t see yo’ ass complaining when you getting all the shit you want.

” I was pissed, and I was taking it out on her.

That shit that was unloaded on me was heavy.

I couldn’t sit and think about it. I needed to move.

I ran my hand over my face, and as soon as I lifted my eyes, Dyami was in my face.

Her eyes were on fire. Her brown skin reddened a few hues. Here she go.

“You really got life fucked up. You let that Terror shit go to your head! You think your money means something to me? It fucking doesn’t.

I never asked you for anything. You begged to give me that shit.

As a matter of fact, you are right, let’s go home.

Once we get there, drop me and Trina back off at my house because you fucking crazy if you think you gone talk to me this way,” she stomped away from me and began putting her clothes on aggressively, looking stupid as hell.

Have you ever seen somebody trying to stay mad while they were trying to put on a tight ass dress?

“This nigga fucking lost his mind,” she mumbled under her breath. She shimmied the dress up her body, and the back zipper hung open. She put on one heel that was beside the bed and walked forcefully, rising up and down to the balcony while she retrieved her other one. She headed to the door.

“Wait a minute, where the fuck are you going like that?” I said, catching pace with her and grabbing her back zipper to help her. She slipped from my grasp.

“Fuck you, Marcos!”

“It can be that for right now, but yo’ ass not going out this door like that!” Wasn’t no way in hell I was letting her out of this room with her whole ass hanging out like that. Shit, I was pissed, but I was conscious enough to know that.

“For now?” She spun toward me and hiked her arched brow.

“No nigga it's forever. I promise I’m not wasting years with a man who doesn’t have his shit together again.

No matter how long I've known you before this shit ain’t it!

You won’t treat me like a dog, like I have to answer to your beck and call.

If you want us to work, then I need to know exactly what the fuck is going on.

A relationship works two ways. But you're a grown man, and if you don’t get that shit, I ain’t got time to teach you!

So have it your way. Zip this dress up and take a good look because once I walk out of this door, this will be the last time you ever see this ass! ”

Her words made my chest tighten. She turned her back to me and threw her hands on the door to allow me to zip her dress.

I didn’t move. Never had I given a fuck about losing a woman in my life.

But her? This was my one. I knew the money shit I brought up was too far.

She was right, she never asked me for shit.

I was man enough to admit when I was wrong.

“Look, I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. It’s just a lot of shit—” She turned around quickly and cut me off.

“It’s always a lot of shit! Either we're going to get through it together, or you're going to try to take it all on your own and push me away because that is exactly what you are doing. Being with someone is not taking on everything for them. It’s about us making things easier on each other. I’m committed to doing that.

It’s nothing that you will say that will make me run from you, so just let me know what is going on. ”

What she said made perfect sense. I just never trusted in this way before.

I handled things for myself and my family.

All I needed them to do was trust me to handle it.

I just never stopped to think about what she needed from me.

Yes, I had covered all her financial and physical needs, but I fell short in other aspects.

I had to stop making excuses for the shit I didn’t know how to do and start learning before I lost the best woman I ever had.

“Let’s talk,” I conceded and led her by hand to the bed.

I told her everything about the call that I had just received.

I let her in on the night everything went down with Kole.

I knew I had given her the skim details before, but this time I made sure to leave nothing out.

Honestly, that shit felt good as hell. I felt… lighter.

“Shit! That is a lot, but what about your father? I mean, Slash is your uncle, and Kole is your cousin.”

“Them niggas ain’t family to me. I don’t know them.

Just because some paperwork says one thing that don’t mean shit to me,” I said honestly.

My feelings weren’t exactly clear about how I felt about all these connections, but one thing I knew for sure.

Kole and Slash were dead. Thinking on what Slash told me to do made someone else pop into my mind, someone else who deserved vengeance as well.

“I get it. However, I think you should at least speak with your father. You never know what type of clarity that can bring to your life. I have a messed-up mom, and I didn’t know my dad at all.

Even with that being said, a child will always long for their parents, no matter how old they are.

That goes for MJ too.” I heard her sneak MJ in.

She hadn’t commented on him much, but she had a way of letting me know that she understood his longing for his mother.

I just couldn’t trust that bitch at all, especially with this new info coming out.

Kole had to be out of here before she even thought she would get MJ.

For all I know, she could’ve known all this from the beginning.

“I hear you,” was all I could muster.