Page 5

Four

“You good, Tavi?” Angel’s voice was low, the sweetness that was always evident in her tone of voice was gone.

She never faked liking Chedda to his face, so all of their encounters made my anxiety shoot through the roof. Angel was a firecracker, she feared no one. She eyed the piece of steel sitting on my coffee table and rolled her eyes. I remember being turned on when Chedda used to pull his gun out and place it on the table. Now, when he did it, it made my nerves bad, wondering if he would use it on me if I didn’t comply.

“Yeah, I’m good.” I cleared my throat just as Chedda removed his fingers from the area he just pinched.

I wasn’t good, my feelings were shattered. Chedda just threatened my best friend’s life. I knew that he would make good on any threat that he dished out. I had to figure something out and fast. The last thing that I wanted to do was put Angel or my parents in a dangerous situation. I felt like this for years, and it was all my fault. Chedda made it seem like I could just walk away and stop doing the work that he offered. I knew deep down that he would never let me go since I agreed so willingly to it. I made him and myself a lot of money every month or every other month.

He just confirmed that when he said what he said regarding Angel.

“It doesn’t look like it, when is he leaving? I want to celebrate with you. I even brought you somethings.” Angel held the shopping bags up.

I couldn’t stop the giddy feeling bubbling inside of me. My girl knew how much I loved to shop and add to my never-ending collection of things I hadn’t even wore or used just yet.

“I leave when I get ready to, this my mutha fuckin’’ house…you forget?” Chedda sat up, pushing me off of his lap.

Chedda’s left leg bounced out of irritation as Angel slowly put down all of her shopping bags. I knew Angel, and this was like fuel to her never-ending fire.

“A thank you would be nice, you walk in here and acknowledge Natavi like you don’t see a real man that pays all of the bills in this bitch! When you see me, you speak and then take yo round ass to the room that you occupy,” Chedda retorted. He chuckled as his chest puffed out proudly.

“Oh yeah?” Angel smirked.

I dropped my head in defeat, this was about to go bad.

“The fuck? Is that a question?” Chedda turned to me and asked as I kept my gaze on Angel. I begged her with pleading eyes to not take what Chedda just said to heart…but she was going to anyway by the determined look in her eyes.

“Did I mention how fuckin’ high the electricity bill is around this bitch? You turned your room into a fuckin’ studio, plus you got shit running all day, every day, even when no one’s here!” Chedda added.

“You’ve been in my room?” Angel asked calmly.

“Duh! This my fuckin’ house!” Chedda gritted.

This would be Chedda’s first and last time bringing up how this was his house to Angel. She was here because it had always been our dream to live together outside of our parents’ home. I loved having her here, but the truth was, Angel’s spoiled ass didn’t have to be here. She was making good money already and had a room bigger than this condo back at her parents’ house to go back to.

Angel’s round cheeks dimpled as she flashed Chedda a sly, taunting smile. Her eyes sparkled with a knowing glare, as if she already held all the cards in her hand to win a game. Her lips parted as she tilted her head slightly, doing her signature hair flip before finally spoke. Each word was deliberate, sharp, and precise, aimed to pierce Chedda’s fragile ego that would have him exploding.

“Ohhh, bless your pathetic, broke heart,” she stated with her tone mocking fake sympathy.

“It must be a whole lot of work, you know…sitting on your ass while beautiful women like Tavi does all the hard work. What honest living are you even making these days besides fake pimping hoe? You can consider this a same-day notice from me. I’ll evict myself and leave in the next two hour?—”

“Angel, please!” I shouted, cutting her off.

I tried to stand to plead more with her but was stopped by Chedda’s hand. He gave me an icy look that chilled me to the bone before giving his attention to Angel. She stepped further into the living room; her smile never wavered as she glared at Chedda.

“Don’t fuckin’’ move,” he gritted out to me. His hand gripped my thigh so tight that his short sharp nails penetrated through my skin.

“Who the fuck you think you are, Angel? You ain’t hitting on shit but that messy ass blog page. It’s only booming because you stick your nose in celebrities business and expose it to the world. Millions of followers, and you here, living off of me.” Chedda chuckled, releasing my thigh to stand up.

“You done yet?” Angel raised her arched brow.

“Nah, I ain’t done, Miss Built-Like-A-Bag-of-Questions.” Chedda sneered, as he stroked his thick beard.

“It’s sad that yo ass is wide as all outdoors and you can’t sell a lick of it. I understand why you always mad, Big Mama. Nobody wants you, but…I’ll give it to you. You got a face of an angel and a body big as the Amazon itself. You’re miserable, probably can’t wipe ya ass properly with all that ass you got back there and?—”

“Well, I guess we all struggle from something, now don’t we. You can’t shame my weight and not add your wide ass momma to your weak ass lines. She’s bigger than me. Do you ever ask your dad does her ass stink when she’s throwing it back since her ass is wider than mine?”

“Bitch!” Chedda moved swiftly, snatching his gun off the table.

He pointed it in Angel’s direction, and all she did was laugh.

“I pinched a nerve like you be pinching all over Tavi’s body. Cock that bitch back because I’m not done with you yet, Trevonne Harris! See, men like you have fragile ego’s because what’s tucked in your pants is too small to shake after you take a piss. Natavi fell in love with you fresh out of high school and then you manipulated her. You and that small ass gun don’t pump any fear into my heart because if you were going to use it, you would have done it the moment you aimed it at me. If you want, you can put it down and fight. I might lose but I’ll be happy with fuckin’ up that pretty boy face of yours cause I guarantee something is going to land. You a straight bitch up and down, and it’s sad that your parents raised you this way. Today, I am now known as a top earning influencer. It’s not just Instagram, but it’s TikTok and YouTube as well! I get paid to post; what I make in a month now, will take you a year to accumulate. So, fuck you, and this small ass condo. I’ll grab my equipment and excuse myself.” Angel pushed pass us.

I could feel the anger in her hard footsteps that shook the floor with each step that she took. I quickly got to my feet and ran after her, not caring about Chedda standing there looking stupid and lost. My heart beat wild inside of my chest. I already knew before entering her room that anything that I tried to say to convince her to stay wouldn’t work.

Once Angel was set in her decisions, no one could deter her. She was stubborn and stood on all the principals and morals that she spoke upon. Although Angel was upset, the way she carried herself was always with grace. Her bedroom curated perfection, even amidst the chaos of her packing. Her king-sized canopy bed was the centerpiece of her room, draped in crisp white linen and plush pillows. White was Angel’s favorite color; she practically wore it every day.

With her back turned to me, she carefully unplugged all of her electronic devices.

“Angel, you know I don’t want you to leave me here.” I talked lowly above a whisper.

“I know, and I don’t want to leave you here either. Let’s just face it, my time was coming to an end here. You don’t have to stay; I’m making enough to take care of both of us…Plus…” She turned around to face me with a mischievous smirk on her face.

“I closed on a house near Arkville. With all the interviews that I have lined up, and this big ‘Me Too’ movement with those sick Decebal men, I’ll be making double the profit! Netflix has already offered me millions of dollars to turn it into a documentary.” Angel took in a deep breath after she finished her sentence.

“Let me not get too far ahead of myself. There has to be a conviction, some concrete evidence before Netflix makes a deal with me. It’s in the works, though.” She smiled.

“Wow, that-that’s wonderful…But umm…Angel, it’s not a secret how dangerous the Decebal men are. You need to stop doing these interviews and move on and find another celebrity to talk about. Impurity Decebal is a monster, I’m pretty sure his son is no different.” I warned her, feeling goosebumps spread across my skin.

“What do you know about Impurity?” Angel asked, causing my stomach to tighten.

“I worked with him before, he was a client of mine. His dick doesn’t work, and I think that’s what makes him evil-hearted. I’ve been to Arkville on his estate, and he runs a fuckin’ cult. I’ve-I’ve witnessed him unalive wo?—”

“Wait! This could be so dope! I could interview you! This will help take those sick bastards down! Oh, my goodness! Why didn’t you tell me any of this, Natavi! Do you need some sort of counseling after seeing such horrid things?” Angel was excited and also concerned for what I just said.

I sighed, shoulders dropping. I walked toward her bed and flopped down. Rocking back and forth, I rubbed up and down my arms to soothe my frazzled nerves.

“I’m still under some sort of oath, the paperwork I signed, Angel…I wasn’t supposed to even say what I just said to you. So no, I won’t do an interview, and you will not blog about anything that just came out of my mouth.” I pleaded with her.

My mind went back to the person that saved me from being trapped in the darkness of Impurity’s basement. In there, I was caged and forced to perform all kinds of different sex acts in front of him. He was determined to get his limp dick to working. All the nasty things that I’ve done around or with that man still haunts me.

Down to his pitch-black fingertips that looked like they were dipped in black ink while the rest of his body was a light toffee dusty brown. He was filthy, but very handsome and deranged wrapped in one. The man that saved me popped up in my dreams and nightmares. If anyone else laid eyes on him, they would most likely shake in fear. His pitch-black skin, the scars indenting and almost disfiguring his face would make them cringe.

He was as tall as a giant with black eyes that made him look dead. To society, he would be deemed as ugly, scary, with his demented look. In my eyes and in my dreams, he was my savior, and something told me that he needed saving as well. I wonder what his name is. I asked myself just as Angel broke me out of my thoughts.

“What is wrong with you, Natavi? I’m asking you questions and you’re zoning out!” Angel rolled her eyes hard at me.

She walked away from her desk and strutted over to her walk-in closet. I remained silent during the duration of her pulling her suitcases out. Once she rolled them to the middle of the bedroom floor and laid them down on the carpet to unzip them, I started back pleading with her.

“Angel, the Decebal men are not celebrities. They’re monsters! Typically, monsters hide under your bed and in your closet at night, right? A lot of people don’t believe they exist! Imagine someone exposing these monsters, then imagine what they would do to the person exposing them? That’s the Decebal men. You need to stop bringing attention to them before you get hurt. I know it’s exciting, shedding light on these crooked men. You’re gaining lots of attention and money from these interviews but you’re putting yourself in crossfires that can end badly for you. Please, just stop with that.” I switched arms, and started lightly stroking up my left arm.

“I can’t, and they won’t do anything to me either. The world is tuned in. If something was to happen to me?—”

“Angel!” I cut her off as I yelled then lowered my voice, not really knowing if Chedda was still here.

“You’re not getting it, I pray that you stop. I mean, why are they so important to you, anyway?” I asked, really wanting to know her fascination with the Decebal men.

Sure, Angel was spoiled and rich. If she wasn’t blogging, she would shop then grow tired of that. Angel didn’t like to be stagnant nor bored with life so maybe this was just keeping her busy, but it was the wrong family to try and look into.

“Because one of those bastards hurt my father. I don’t know what kind of ties my father had with them, but I know that he is a good man and didn’t deserve to spend weeks in the hospital with broken bones.” She gritted.

“You told me that he got into a motorcycle accident years ago!” My brows rose high.

“I lied because that’s what he lied and said all those years back! Early this year, I went to our family storage to grab some old equipment and saw my father’s old phone in there… There was text messages from Impurity threatening him! He threatened him before the accident and stopped after the accident, probably thinking that he died. The back of my father’s neck is still skinned, close to the bones—” She stopped talking as her eyes misted over.

“How did you know it was Impurity?” I asked stunned.

“Because my father said, I’m sorry Mr. Decebal, but I want to be free, live normal, and be happy. I don’t know what that was all about Natavi, but those bastards won’t hurt my father nor my family again!” Angel swiped her tears away with a set frown that covered her pretty face.

“You should talk to your father about it, I really think you should go about it a different way than what you’re doing now.”

“I tried to talk to him, he went off and told me to stop being nosy. I left it alone a year ago, but my mother told me that she thinks he’s up to no good because he’s away from home a lot lately…” She turned her body to fully look at me.

“I don’t want to talk about none of this anymore, okay? All I know is, I’m not afraid of them. I keep protection, and I’m smart with how I’m moving. I made it public knowledge, so by the time I help take them out and get the police to look further into all the missing women reports that I know for a fact is stemming from Arkville and those disgusting Decebal men, I won’t stop. No one will stop me,” Angel declared.

I took in a deep breath then slowly released it. Fear ignited throughout me as I tried to think the most positive thoughts that I could muster up about this entire situation. At this point, all I could do was pray hard for my best friend because once she was determined about something, there was no deterring her away from succeeding at whatever it was that she wanted. I decided to change the subject with a heavy heart.

“Where are you going? I really don’t want you to leave me here by myself.” I admitted, feeling depressed already.

“Then come with me! My mom and dad wouldn’t mind you sleeping in the room with me until I move into the new house. I want us to continue to live together but not under his roof. He got some nerves bringing up how he pay the bills here when he’s constantly shipping you off to the highest bidders. In my eyes, this is your house. You already know, Natavi, that a person don’t ever got to tell me more than once. I’m out of here; you either staying in this hell hole or leaving. You can help me run all of my blog pages.” She sat down next to me.

The comforting feeling of her arm embracing me as she pulled me close into her relaxed me.

“I can’t go with you right now, but I will soon.”