13. Capri
CHAPTER 13
CAPRI
The stomach virus that I had kicked my ass for three days. I didn’t have an appetite and when I wasn’t shitting, I was throwing up. I felt like shit and was weak, but I was sure that my body still appreciated that I didn’t smoke weed or drink alcohol for four days. Finally, I felt better. The fact that I was in the bathroom every twenty minutes kept me from leaving the house while I was sick. As soon as I felt better, I was ready to get back to business. I slept most of my time at home but the times that I was awake, I laid in bed or on the couch and thought about Caprice and the life that she was robbed of. Me being sick was the only thing that stopped me from fucking with Sintonio’s trucks, but I was back on my best bullshit. Since I felt better, I was going to continue my reign of terror on his bitch ass.
If Sintonio was smart, the lot where he kept his trucks had cameras. Since I didn’t know whether the area was under surveillance or not, I paid a crackhead $400 to go on the lot and vandalize Sintonio’s trucks. For $400, he gave zero fucks about possibly being recorded. He spray painted each one of Sintonio’s trucks, but that wasn’t good enough. He also slashed all of the tires and removed the alternators and batteries from each vehicle. Paint jobs, new tires, new batteries, and new alternators on four trucks would be quite the headache especially after the man’s house had just burned to the ground.
There wasn’t much I enjoyed these days, but making Sintonio’s bitch ass suffer was the highlight of my life. For at least a day or two, Sintonio’s trucks wouldn’t be moving which would cost him money. I wasn’t done yet. I wanted to torture him a bit more before I took his life. If I was a different kind of person, I would have gone through with the plan to hurt someone close to him. If it wasn’t Lisa, it could have been his mother or father, but I decided against that. I was filled with rage, hatred, and bitterness, but I still couldn’t bring myself to do certain things. I wanted to strip Sintonio of everything he loved, but me taking innocent lives wouldn’t suffice. He was the only one that pulled the trigger, so he was the only one that would suffer.
After Cleo did what I asked him to do to Sintonio’s trucks, I went home and took a shower. As I turned the water off, I noticed that my dick was harder than steel and standing at attention. I. needed a release, and I wasn’t in the mood to jack off. Calling Lisa crossed my mind as I walked to my bar with a towel wrapped around my waist. What the fuck was I doing with shorty? Was it really just no strings attached sex? It threw me for a loop when Sage spoke about having a crush on her, and I felt something stir in my gut that felt like envy. Why should I care if he wanted to get at her? I chuckled at the remembrance of his brows hiking when I paid for her food and drinks. Of course, I didn’t go into details, but I let Sage know that I was cordial with Lisa. He didn’t ask any questions but even if he did, I wouldn’t have given answers.
After tossing back a shot, I poured another and trekked into my bedroom to get dressed for bed. Afterwards, I sat in the living room and rolled a blunt. Halfway through, the desire to call Lisa was so intense that my dick was painfully erect. Fuck it. If she came she did and if she didn’t, that’s what it was. Getting pussy wasn’t something that had ever been hard for me. I stalled as I pulled from the blunt a few more times. I was either going to change my mind or get higher and call her with ease. Whenever I went out, I didn’t have the desire to be friendly and hold conversations with people. Despite the fact that I was handsome, well known, and looked like I had a little something, I wasn’t sure I had it like that to be able to simply snap my fingers and have a woman follow me home. I would have to speak at least a few words to her and most days, I didn’t even feel like doing that. Lisa and I understood one another, however, so calling her was the easier way to go about things. Being that my dumb ass had never cheated on Robin, it wasn’t like I had a roster lined up. I would have to get over my disdain for conversation and add a few more women to my call log because only having one option was nasty work.
My desire to release was strong, so I stopped second guessing myself and called Lisa. When she answered, I could tell that she was in a car. “Hello?” she asked hesitantly.
I hesitated as well. Fuck was I doing? She repeated herself, and I cleared my throat. “It’s Capri,” I grumbled as I snatched my glass of cognac off the coffee table.
“Hi, Capri. How are you?” The skepticism was still there. I was sure that Lisa was just as unsure about our dealings as I was.
“I’m better. Much better. And I’m in the mood for company. If you don’t want to come by that’s fine.”
Silence. If she didn’t come, I’d throw some clothes on, go out and find a bad bitch, and take her to a hotel. “Um, I’m out getting food. I can be there in about thirty minutes.”
“See you then.”
I ended the call and put her number in the Cash App search to see if she would pop up. She did, and I sent her $200. I wasn’t sure why I was an asshole to almost everybody except Lisa. I’d never trust another bitch, and I damn sure wasn’t looking to fall in love. Despite having a shitty father that didn’t know how to treat his kids or the mother of his kids, I’d always been respectful towards women. In relationships, I didn’t cheat. I wasn’t verbally abusive, and I’d never put my hands on a female. But since Robin crossed me the way that she did, all of that nice guy shit was out the window. With everyone except for Lisa it seemed…
A commercial came on that Caprice used to love and just that fast, my mood soured. I could hear her singing along with the jingle, and my chest tightened. I missed that little girl so much it was insane. “Fuckkk,” I groaned as I scrubbed a hand down my face. I’d never felt a pain so intense. I’d take physical pain over the anguish that I was enduring any day.
I searched the house for another cigar. I was going to keep drinking and smoking and when Lisa arrived, I was going to fuck her until I passed out. Drinking, smoking, fucking. None of those things took the pain away but they certainly numbed and distracted me enough so that I could get by. I choked back a sob as I rolled the blunt. Caprice was supposed to be here. My baby was supposed to be around.
I numbed myself as best I could while waiting on Lisa to arrive. By the time she pressed my doorbell, a nigga was pretty much seeing double, and that was how I wanted it. I didn’t care how much I drunk, I never turned into a super sloppy, belligerent drunk, but it took everything in me to keep my composure and not do something stupid. I concentrated hard not to slur my words and mumble when I spoke, and I took time when walking to ensure I didn’t stumble. The moment I opened the door for Lisa, her scent greeted me before she did. The aroma made my dick brick up immediately. Her hair was slicked back into a ponytail, and she wore black sweatpants, a black tank top, and a black coat with slides on her feet and no socks. When my gaze left her feet and landed back on her face, she gave me a sheepish grin. “I didn’t think I’d be getting out of the car. I was just running to get food.”
“You’re good, baby.” As soon as the term of endearment left my mouth, I winced. Drunk or not and even if I didn’t mean it like that, I checked myself for doing too much.
Lisa breezed past me as if she didn’t hear me call her baby.
“You want a drink?”
“I’ll take a little bit. I have work in the morning.”
I nodded my understanding and walked off to pour her the equivalent of two shots of Henny. I poured myself a shot, so Lisa didn’t have to drink alone. There was no need to beat around the bush because we both knew what she came to do. Standing in front of her as she sat on the couch, I extended my hand towards her and pulled her up. Lisa had some good pussy. I knew that to be fact, but that night was a complete blur. A nigga was so high and drunk, I was basically out of my body. The moment I came, I passed out.
When I woke up the next morning, Lisa was gone. My head was pounding, and I knew something had to give. There had to be a better way to deal with what I was going through. After drinking some Gatorade and putting something on my stomach, I stood outside of Caprice’s room door. When grieving no two days were the same. Sometimes, going in her room made me feel closer to her and some days that shit snatched the air from my lungs. I’d never get rid of all of her things, but it was time to pack some of her things up and give them to Robin. I hated that bitch, but she loved Caprice. My love for Caprice was the only reason I was considering showing her mother any kind of compassion. I smelled my baby’s clothes and smiled as I held her toys. After I packed one large box, I taped it up and took it out to my car. I was going to drop it off at Robin’s mother’s house.
My phone vibrated, and I saw that Bianca was calling. No matter how badly I wanted to, she was one of the few people that I refused to ignore. Even when I didn’t feel like talking, I didn’t want to make Bianca worry, so I was trying to be better about answering and letting her know I was good.
“Yo.”
“Hey, brother. How you feeling today?”
“Like I do most days,” I answered honestly.
“Understandable. Well, Jaylen has been asking about you. I’ve been stalling him out as long as I could, but he’s getting kind of antsy now. I’m afraid he’s going to explode soon. I’m sorry.”
I blew out a small breath. Jaylen was my twelve-year-old autistic nephew, and we were pretty close. Jaylen thrived on routines, and I generally saw him on a pretty regular basis prior to losing Caprice. Jaylen was smart as hell and while in some way, I knew he understood that I was sad about Caprice, I was sure his mind couldn’t grasp why I’d been so different and distant for months now.
“No need to apologize. I’m the one that’s sorry. I’ll pick him up from school today.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Okay. I’ll cook one of your favorite meals tonight and maybe you can eat with us,” there was a hint of hopefulness in her tone.
“Sure thing.”
I knew everyone missed the old me. Hell, I missed the old me, but it wasn’t as simple as just putting myself back together again. If I could snap my fingers and magically be better, I’d do it in a heartbeat. After dropping the box off at Robin’s mom’s house, I went into the office to get some work done before it was time to pick Jaylen up from school. I was trying to refrain from smoking since I was going to be spending some time with my nephew, and I was even more irritable than usual. Bianca had suggested that I talk to a therapist, and my response was a snort. I didn’t have anything against anyone that chose to go to therapy, but I didn’t see me doing that shit.
The way Jaylen’s face lit up when he saw me made my heart swell. His genuine happiness to see me made me feel good and sad at the same time. Any time Caprice laid eyes on me, she would have the same spark in her eyes. “What’s going on man? How was school today?” I extended my fist towards him because Jaylen liked to fist bump.
“School was good. Ma ma said you haven’t been feeling good, and that’s why I can’t see you. You feel better?”
“Yeah man, I feel better,” I lied as I reached out and rubbed his head making him smile.
He sat back and put his seatbelt on. “You feel better. I’m gonna tell ma ma you feel better.”
“She knows. I’m eating dinner with you all tonight. Is that cool?”
“Yeah that’s cool.” Jaylen’s smile grew even brighter, and I made a promise to myself that no matter how down I was feeling, I would always make time for him. His father nor either of his grandfathers were in his life. I was the only male role model he had aside from Bianca’s boyfriend, and I’d known Jaylen his entire life. He’d only known his mom’s boyfriend for a year. I knew my presence and consistency in his life was important.
When I saw that Bianca was calling I almost ignored it just because I chalked it up to her being overly protective, but I decided to answer. She was a mother, and she had a right to be overprotective. “This is your mom calling,” I informed Jaylen before answering the call. “What’s up, Sis?”
“Hey. You got Jaylen?”
“Yeap, he’s right here. I’m going to take him to pick out some new cars, and then we’ll be on our way to the house.”
“Am I connected to the blue tooth? If so, can you take me off for a minute?”
“Sure.” I wondered what Bianca wanted to say to me that she didn’t want Jaylen to hear. “You’re off.”
“Has Robin contacted you about the police contacting her?”
My brows immediately furrowed. “No. Why would the police be contacting her?”
“I saw on the news that some guy, Sintonio, apparently, went to the police station and confessed to killing Caprice. There’s no way they aired it on the news and didn’t contact her parents.”
I was stumped. I guess I had tortured the nigga to the point that he’d rather be in jail than out on the streets to keep running into me. Disappointment coursed through my veins that I wouldn’t be able to watch him take his last breath, but at least he hadn’t gotten away with what he did. The fuck nigga would rather be locked up than be dead I assumed. The police probably had been in contact with Robin, and she didn’t even share the information with me. I was regretting the fact that I gave in and took her some of Caprice’s things.
“Fuckin’ bitch,” I mumbled.
“That’s a bad word, Uncle Capri. Don’t say that,” Jaylen chastised me. I had mumbled, but his nosey ass had Super Sonic hearing.
“My bad man.”
I just kept thinking about the fact that Sintonio had confessed to Caprice’s murder, and the punk ass nigga went to jail to remain safe. Wasn’t that some shit.