Chapter 14
One Month Later…
Today was the day of the final dress fitting.
My mom, Harvey’s mom, Mrs. Linda, Aunt Eva, Lena, Aunt Shantè, Olivia, Raquel, Mayani, Megan, and I sat on the couch in the bridal shop, sipping champagne, and waiting for Paige to come out.
We had been tossing back the champagne since we got here, and it’s sad to say, we were a little too lit.
Laughs and a good time had been the vibe, and I had to admit, I was enjoying myself.
I had to hear how good it was to see me smiling and laughing so much that I started to stop doing the shit altogether. However, I couldn’t and wouldn’t ruin the moment. It kind of felt good to do something other than boss people around and be pissed off about my father.
These last few months had flown by, and it was only a week and a half before I would say goodbye to my sister, my best and only friend. It made me sad, but I truly wanted her to be happy, so I’d been on my best behavior. Messiah and I partaking in extra-curricular activities certainly helped.
The shit with him had grown into something I wasn’t expecting.
I swear, I didn’t want to like this man, but he had been taking my body to new heights and touching a heart I didn’t know I had.
Every time I tried to pull away, he pulled me closer by doing things that I’d never allowed any man to do for and to me.
Like taking me on dates and buying me flowers.
I hated it and loved it at the same time.
I knew if I continued to fuck with him, I was going to start feeling unfamiliar shit. If I had to be honest with myself, sadly, I wanted to feel it. Lorenzo used to court us all the time, so I knew what being dated felt like, but to have a love interest do it felt different.
Too different.
“Alright, ladies! Y’all ready to see this dress?” Paige yelled from the dressing room.
“Yes, girl! Come on out!” Aunt Eva exclaimed.
The curtain opened, and everyone paused. The ivory Vera Wang gown had a puffy bottom, a corset top littered with rhinestones and glitter, with her back completely exposed.
“Oh, my stars… Paige,” my mom said, tears falling down her cheeks. Paige smiled and walked to the stage in front of the mirror. “You look so beautiful, my daughter.”
“Yes! Just gorgeous,” Aunt Eva countered.
“That body is tea! You better show out, cousin!” Lena exclaimed, tapping her finger and thumb together rapidly.
“Listen, me and Meg want first dibs on the bouquet!” Mayani exclaimed.
“Facts! I’m trying to marry me a baller!”
“Thank y’all.” She beamed, and I sat watching her, at a loss for words. She looked beautiful, even without the glamorous make-up and fancy hairdo. She looked at me through the mirror and smiled.
“You don’t have any words for the dress, sissy?” I tore my eyes away from her, trying to discreetly clear the wetness from my eyes.
I walked up to the stage, taking her hand. “You look stunning, sis,” I told her.
“Thank you.”
“Priscilla and Joe would be so proud,” my mom said, joining us on the stage.
“I’m sure they would. Now it’s time for you all to try on your dresses,” Paige said, quickly shifting the topic away from her parents.
“I can’t,” I said, looking down at my phone, seeing the text from Messiah. He said he had something special to show me, and I hated that I was anxious to see what it was.
“Oooh! Not you ditching me for dick,” Paige whispered, rolling her eyes.
“I am not!”
I really wasn’t, though. I was putting restrictions on our little rendezvous. He had been fucking me every which way from Sunday for a month straight. Although I enjoyed every last moment of it, I had to slow this situation down some.
“You’re seeing someone?” Sabrina queried.
“Sort of… not really.”
“Mama ‘Brina, Arieana is on her way down the aisle next the way her and Messiah been going at it.”
“Bitch, shut up,” I said, mushing her.
“Ayyyye! Talk to her, P! We’ve been following her and his ass all over the city. He done took her to an art show, a play, and to Traverse City for a weekend getaway. Not to mention, how many times he’s been to her house,” Mayani revealed.
“Wooow. Just tell all of my fucking business, why don’t you?”
She shrugged. “I’m just saying.”
“Arie, baby, that’s great news. I need to meet him.”
“No, Mommy. He may not even be around much longer.”
“Girl, please. He’s going to be my family. He’s going to always be around.” Paige waved me off.
“It doesn’t mean we’re going to be together,” I defended.
“We see the glow, Arieana. We love that for you. There is nothing wrong with liking someone and being in a relationship. Love is a beautiful thing. If you guys have the chemistry, don’t stop it from manifesting into something beautiful.
You never know… this man might change your life for the better,” Aunt Eva chimed in.
I rolled my eyes, feeling uncomfortable. Putting on a fake smile, I turned to the ladies, waiting for me to respond to my aunt. “This day isn’t about me. Keep the energy on the bride-to-be while I go check on some things. I’ll see you later, sis.”
I kissed Paige and my mother, said goodbye to the ladies, and then headed out to my car just as Uncle Lamont was calling.
I cringed, hating that I had been spinning him since our last meeting.
I had yet to tell him that I wasn’t going to go through with the hit.
I just felt as if the street shit was pointless now.
My uncle was pushing sixty years of age.
Where in the black community did men his age continue being a product of the streets?
He had more money than he knew what to do with, and I felt like his greed was going to be his downfall.
I loved my uncle dearly and would be devastated if something happened to him, so it was time for him to let the streets go and enjoy the rest of his life while he had it.
“Hello?” I answered as I pulled out of the parking lot.
“Come see me… now.”
“I have an app?—”
“Now, Arieana. I’ll be at the house.” He hung up as I slammed my palm on the steering wheel. As I made a left to go Downtown, instead of a right to go to West Bloomfield, my phone rang again with Messiah’s number flashing on the screen.
“Hey,” I answered.
“What’s up, Juicy? Where you at?”
“I’m sorry. I have one quick stop to make, then I’ll be on my way.”
“It’s three now. They close at six. You think you’ll be here before then?”
“I should be. Or you could just tell me the surprise if I happen to be late?”
“It’s not something to tell. You gotta see it, shorty.”
“Fine. Give me an hour tops.”
“One hour, or I’m coming to find you.”
I tittered. “Like you got the ups on me.”
“Don’t I always find you?”
“You can’t use Paige anymore. She doesn’t even know where I am.”
“She was never my source, mamas. Just get here so I won’t have to pull up. Peace.” He hung up as I shook my head.
Thirty minutes later, I pulled into my uncle’s driveway and got out.
His security guards, Leonard and Ronnell, nodded to me as I entered his home.
I could hear the Isley Brothers crooning through the speakers toward the back of the house, so I headed in that direction.
Finding him in his office smoking a cigar, I walked over to his sound system, turning down the music.
He looked up at me with a slight frown, then sat up in his seat. “What the fuck is up, Amour?”
“Nothing… I’m not going to go through with the hit. It’s becoming too risky to keep putting my life in danger. My club is doing extremely well, and I’m moving into real estate. I really don’t need the murder-for-hire business anymore.”
He looked at me and scoffed. “You know, I can understand why Paige wants out. I mean, she never really wanted in all the way in the first place. She wanted to avenge her parents’ deaths, and she did.
The only reason she continued was because of you.
Now that she has what she’s been yearning for, she doesn’t need to continue this.
You, however, don’t have shit to lose, Arieana.
“Ya moms is secured for the rest of her life, you don’t have children, you hate men, and the only real thing you’ll lose is your club?—”
“And my fucking life, Lamont. What the fuck are you saying?”
“I’m saying, since when do you give a fuck about risk? You were bred for this shit. Now, all of a sudden, you give a fuck? What? You falling in love too?”
“This doesn’t have shit to do with a man. This is about you, and how you’re using me to kill a nigga you stole from! You’re just as equipped to get the job done as I am. Why don’t you take the risk since obviously, you ain’t got shit to lose either!”
“I don’t have intel with the AA anymore.
I can’t find out his location, but you still have access.
I need you, Arie. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t.
After this, you can be free from it all and live your life however you see fit.
But I need you to do this one favor for me, niece.
If you don’t take him out, his people are going to come for me once they figure out that I was the one to put that play down.
“They already got to Jerrod. I don’t know how much he told them before he died, but since it’s been a few weeks since he left, I’m assuming he didn’t give them much. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t lurking. I need you, Amour.”
I crossed my arms and let out a frustrated breath.
“If I do this, you’re done. No more street shit, Unc.
Sell those damn pills and get out of the game.
You’re getting old. Lena’s about to graduate from college, and Aunt Eva voices her concerns about you almost every other day to my moms. Leave the streets to the young niggas. Your time is up.”
“I’ll think?—”
“No! It’s either you will or I won’t. Make your choice.”
“Fuck it. A’ight. I’ll leave the shit alone.”
“Give me a couple of weeks. I need to check in with the AA, get access, and then start my investigation. You need to lay low on selling those pills right now until the job is done.”
“I got you, baby girl. Thank you.”