Vanya
VANYA
“YOU SURE YOU want to be here?”
I watched my brother as he looked around at the people that were part of our extended family. He went and raised a lot of hell with them yesterday and from the way he was grinning when he got back and the way Xerxes seemed at peace, they’d obviously bonded over mayhem.
Ahmad requested a trade because he was tired of losing in New York and wanted to establish himself back in the south. He said if he was going to lose, he’d at least do it somewhere that didn’t drain his pockets. To their credit, the organization seemed to be pulling out all the stops to get him the pieces he needed in order to succeed. Ahmad played the two, according to Xerxes, which meant they needed him to be happy to win.
Xerxes had already gotten floor seats and a suite for the corporation. We supported our people no matter what they did. The Charlotte Copperheads were making big moves to ensure they had a chance at a ring. They’d gotten Ahmad who was a veteran but at almost thirty-three was still doing it better than the rookies coming in and had the first pick of the draft. Nobody expected a miracle, but with a few more good trades and the current players elevating their game, they might actually make a run. I hated that he’d started the beginning of his stay here running into this situation but when I voiced that he just smiled and said he had over twenty years of making up to do and didn’t mind pulling his weight.
We’d been hanging out far more since I was showing him homes and just like Xerxes, he wanted me to pick one that I thought was sufficient. I didn’t want to be cliché, but the home that I thought he would like best was one that had an indoor basketball court and a sport court. I knew he wouldn’t want to play all the time, but even in retirement I didn’t think he would stray far from what he loved. He’d told me that he felt like basketball kept him connected to our parents and that he played for the love of the game and to honor them.
I felt so awkward around Ahmad because the idea of not being good enough weighed heavily on my mind. But when I just relaxed with him the way I did with Vanya or Navi I didn’t feel so out of place. Xerxes said he wasn’t going to micromanage my relationship with my brother because he knew he was a good man. He would only step in if Ahmad would’ve been a danger to me but if that had been the case, I knew he would’ve killed him before I ever got the chance to meet him.
Ahmad had warned me that there were fans that might come up and paparazzi might pop up out of nowhere. I suggested we bring Navi along and he was all over that. Despite how he obviously liked her, he had no issue with being respectful and giving her space. When we toured homes or had lunch, I tried to ensure she was in the conversation. Was it ridiculous that I was now the one playing matchmaker when I had given Frankie so much shit last year for doing the same thing? Yes, but this was going to be my moment of hypocrisy. Besides, Ahmad already knew about Fight Club and had been vetted so in my mind it was just one step out of the way.
“I’m good. Xerxes wouldn’t let me be here if it was a problem.” I was nervous despite meaning every word I’d just said. There was something about this that I needed to do. Facing off with these people for the last time seemed to be the last step to purge them out of my system. I hadn’t worn anything bright or anything floral today. I’d kept it dark but I had my hair out as a final fuck you.
“No offense, sis, but I saw how your man gets down. You sure you good?”
“I’m Tony and Valencia’s daughter, right?” He’d spoken so much about our mother’s gentle spirt but how she would fight when necessary. And that our father had the same thirst for knowledge that I displayed. Being connected to people who gave me life was a security that I didn’t realize I was lacking.
He smirked at me and looked like he was extremely proud of my confidence. “You damn right.”
For my husband to not have lived in Charlotte, he had many people and items at his disposal. We were back in Uptown at the building the Consortium owned, but we were currently underground. I didn’t even know you could build underground in Uptown, but I had to reset my mind when it came to the men that were in my life now.
We were standing in front of a room that had the Persian words for prince scrawled on the front of it. My lessons were slow going as I preferred to learn more organically than by learning things on the computer so I knew phrases but not how to string words together well. I knew I would eventually get it and I felt happy that I could read the words successfully.
It was like a logo almost on the large metal door and Xerxes pressed his finger to the keypad and the door opened. The three of us walked into what seemed to be a holding room and Xerxes led us through it and into a large concrete space.
And we weren’t alone.
Sitting strapped to what looked like three medical beds were my ex and my kidnappers. I switched the thought of them in my brain the more I talked to Ahmad. Xerxes still had people investigating but I didn’t need anyone to tell me that they were responsible for what happened to our parents. I wanted to get to know this information as quickly as possible, which was the only reason I was here. They had tubes connected to the medical beds and looked far too comfortable for what I expected them to be suffering. I looked at my husband who could only smile like he could read my thoughts.
“Trust me, mon amour.”
“Are you alright, Vanya?” Maman and baba were standing off to one side and she looked more than ready to handle whatever was going to happen tonight. Her long black hair was in a tight braided bun and she wore an all black one piece suit. To someone who didn’t know her, she looked like she was going to work out, but the gun that was holstered beneath her arm said otherwise.
“I am. Why do you ask?” Her eyes were filled with worried as she seemed to scan me cautiously. Her hands were on each side of my face as she checked me over.
“Xerxes said he’d been feeling bad off and on. I wanted to make sure he didn’t make you sick. I know men can be ridiculous when they are under the weather.”
“You aren’t worried about me, maman ?”
She clucked her tongue in annoyance and shook her head as she embraced me quickly before doing the same for Xerxes and Ahmad. They’d been introduced to him earlier in the week and were happy to have another son. “Why? There is nothing I can do for someone who is already ill and refuses any type of treatment. I would prefer to keep my daughter healthy since she’s the one who actually listens.”
“It is a battle you will not win, son. Let her fret over our daughter while you protect your wife.”
Xerxes and his father hugged before he turned to stare at me. “I will never break a promise to you, eshgham . Let me know if you need a minute. But for now, I need to get to work.”
I nodded in understanding knowing I would see that shade fall down on his humanity while he did what he needed to. We shared a kiss and he gave me a wink before he turned around.
I didn’t need to see his face to see how his features had changed. “Why am I here?”
“What is the meaning of all of this?”
“I can’t wait until I sue you. Everything you think you own will be ours.”
I quietly watched my brother, our brothers, and our family surrounding my husband as he went to work.
The three sacks of skin were all righteously indignant as they continued to spout their bullshit. I hated that how I’d grown up exposed the layers of society and uncovered how many people only found joy in the torment of others. I knew that Xerxes was going to do something drastic on my behalf and I was happy I was about to witness it.
“Are you all done? I am not here to entertain your foolish zhoughts and questions. Zhere will be no suing, zhere will be no vengeance for any of you. Your names will fade into zhe wind like dust. Do you tink a man like me, who could get you here wizout anyone coming to your rescue, would be afraid of somezing as mundane as litigation ?” Xerxes’ sarcastic laugh started out slowly before it grew louder and the rest of the men in the Consortium joined in. I had to admit it seemed really stupid for them to think they were going to get out of this situation.
“Do you know who we are?” That came from the family patriarch who was sitting on the bed in the middle. Maman was standing next to me holding my hand and Ahmad had his arm wrapped over my shoulder.
“Why do they always ask this? As though somehow they think they are important enough to escape the wrath waiting for them. If they were, they wouldn’t be here in the first place.” Midas was glaring at the trio with as much disgust as Xerxes. I knew from Nevaeh that he was overly protective of all the women in the family and that I’d added myself to that list when I married his cousin.
“All this over Vanya? I’m trying to understand what the hell any of you see in her to put your freedom on the line for her.” Johnathan was strapped into the bed still talking shit, which was shocking to me.
Xerxes chuckled, the kind that allowed him a minute to intake the air that would feed his oxygen just enough so that he didn’t snap. I knew Xerxes like me was probably wondering why this man wasn’t tired of getting his ass beat. I knew at least four people in this room had put hands on him but I guess when you’d been taking licks your whole life; you got numb to it.
Xerxes stifled a manic laugh and flicked the tip of his nose multiple times before he spoke. “You sound jealous as a bitch. Which fits.” He’d asked me to braid his hair off his face and I’d done so without hesitation. Xerxes said he loved it and the way he showed his thanks was a testament to how pleased he was. Yacouba handed him a blunt and Xerxes took it like they’d done this move a million times.
“Thugs, all of you. Are you smoking the devil’s lettuce and trying to speak on righteousness?”
Mr. Kennedy, cause he sure as hell wasn’t my father, was still speaking like he was coming from a place of moral superiority. I could hear laughter around us and Xerxes told me that he’d given them a sanitized version of what happened but of course they knew Jada’s favorite new term of brusband . He reminded me that he was proud of me and that there was no shame in what had happened. That I was the strongest woman he knew even compared to his mother, which was high praise. I didn’t mind if he spoke about what they did, everyone here was our family and I knew they wouldn’t judge me.
I watched Xerxes as he stood in front of Mr. Kennedy, cataloguing his features or sizing him up for the kill. He disrespectfully blew smoke into his face and watched him struggle to breathe. I was sure he was trying to figure out a way to erase this man and the way he’d made me feel my whole life.
Mr. Kennedy’s hair was thinning, his build flabby but you could see the man had once been in shape. He had the same weathered look of many southern men who had spent their entire lives hating others instead of choosing love. His face was red, skin looked like leather and I knew he only had consistent clients because of his church affiliations and the ability to offer cheap prices because he could take advantage of Johnathan. His wife spoke up stealing Xerxes’ attention from her husband, which was the last thing she should want to do.
“This girl has been nothing but trouble since we got her. We should’ve left her where she was at. We are good people just trying to make a living and she’s brought nothing but bad things to our lives since we met her!” She turned her watery blue eyes toward me and I could see her hatred from here. “After all we’ve done for you! Don’t you know us? We are pillars of the community. Whatever lies she’s told you—”
“Lies? My wife does not lie. It is one zhing I love about her. She is brutally honest. And do I know who you are? Such a loaded question. You, zhe same weird ass bitch zhat knew her husband had an unnatural desire toward her adoptive daughter. I’m just trying to understand zhe ho who zhinks she has some type of moral superiority over me because I’m smoking weed to keep from choking her ass out when she harms kids.” The smoothness was lost in his voice and it became deeper and more gruff.
“God forgives us of all our sins, all we have to do is ask for forgiveness.”
I almost lost it right there, as his ass said that shit like there was nothing wrong with it. As though he didn’t seem bothered by this weird as predilection he had. The murmurs got louder and I had to tune them out. I didn’t want to miss any bit of information Xerxes was going to extract from them before they died.
“You mean to say you whisper astaghfurallah (I seek forgiveness from God) each time you lusted over her? No, you do not seek forgiveness from God. You seek to ease your own guilt because you are too weak to control yourself. If you wanted forgiveness from God, you would’ve asked someone to end your miserable life a long time ago.”
I could see it now as he shed the veneer of the well polished prince. It was hard to describe how his body stayed the same but everything about him was different. Darker. Deadlier.
Mr. Kennedy could sense it too, because he looked as though he was panicking. “You can’t find forgiveness in death. I can beat this! But I need to be alive to do better.” He was trying to buck against the restraints but it didn’t do him any good.
“I’m disappointed, Shahzadeh , I don’t see your famous scimitar hanging from your waist.” Midas was egging him on and I knew it was a way for him to stay focused and not mess up whatever his plan was.
“I had to hear my wife talk about zhe way he scared her and zhen zhe way zhis piece of shit would allow zheir father to watch him sleep with his own wife. Did it not strike you as odd when your adoptive father wanted to watch you with your wife like you were some type of live action porn? Did it not spark even zhe smallest bit of protection wizin you to ensure zhat she was not made to feel so small?” Xerxes tone was still low but I could hear the malice that dripped from each word as he questioned Johnathan.
“The fuck?”
Ahmad was pissed and I squeezed his hand because it was all I could do. He looked down at me with a small smile but I could see the anger blazing in his eyes. When he walked closer to Xerxes I didn’t think twice about it until he used the swiftness I was sure made him famous to get to the hospital bed. Worse yet, no one stopped him as he had one hand around Jonathan’s neck and his free hand twisting his wrist in an unnatural angle. The snap of bones made my stomach turn but I clenched my teeth and my abs to stop from throwing up.
“Do not worry. I asked her if she was alright wiz you all hearing and she was. Because my Vanya is strong. Zhe flames of zhe hell you all tried to use to kill her spirit dance around her head like a fiery crown. Zhe weight of your disgusting behavior should’ve never been on her shoulders. But now she is more zhan able to hold her head up proudly, like a queen.”
He completely ignored a screaming Johnathan and I knew why so much of their anger was focused on him. We were supposed to be bonded together. We had been mutually tormented in that house. We’d both been abused. But out of everyone, he should’ve tried to help me. But he was happy to feed me to the beast in order to buy himself more time. But like all good tokens, they always get spent.
“Doesn’t hurt that you got her a multi-million dollar tiara to wear round this bitch either.”
“A million dollars? You all spent a million dollars on Vanya!?” Mrs. Kennedy was looking angrier than before and now I wish I’d have worn the tiara he’d given me just to rub it in her face.
Xerxes was back focused on her as my brother continued to twist Johnathan’s now broken wrist around compounding the fractures. “You really are jealous of her aren’t you? Something about the way you speak about there rubs me the wrong way. You sound as though you hate the child you willfully took in. Like you view her as competition, which is disgusting.”
“I didn’t want her. Red hair is a bad omen. A sign of wickedness. And I was right. She brought wickedness into my home.” Mrs. Kennedy was shaking her head like this was all my fault. As though her actions hadn’t been what brought her to this moment.
“So why adopt her? Why keep her? Plenty of people turn children back in.” Another pull of his blunt as he waited for the answer to his question.
“Because they are good people.” Even in pain, he was defending these people and it was clear he was in a cult brainwashed. Even if he wasn’t about to die, there would’ve been no way to save him.
“He is not worth saving.” Maman whispered that softly mirroring my thoughts.
Xerxes turned back to Johnathan with a snarl on his face. “You think zhat? Why would she force you to marry a woman zhat she says is so terrible then? No, zhat is not love. Zhat is control. Zhey wanted to show everyone how perfect they could make the children of people they thought were less than them. And they failed spectacularly. At least with you. My Vanya is the perfection but that credit is due only to herself. You all have nothing to do with that.”
“Vanya, please—” His words were stopped short as Xerxes’ ashed his blunt in his eye.
“You are never to speak her name. You are never to look in her direction again. If you think to I will scoop your eyeballs out with a melon baller and pour salt into your sockets.” Maman spoke that promise boldly and Mr. Kennedy’s screams tapered off into a whimper as he clamped his mouth shut.
“I am ready to get zhis done wiz. Shoaib, Quentin, can you bring what we need, please?” Xerxes almost looked bored with being in the same room as everyone. I wasn’t sure if it was because he’d been smoking or that he was trying to be calm for me.
Shoaib and Quentin came back in the room with platters of food some of which smelled noxious. I gagged slightly and maman glanced at me wit h a giggle. They sa t the platters down, one in front of each Kennedy before they moved back toward where Xerxes was standing.
“What is this?” Mrs. Kennedy was the only one of them still lucid enough to speak. She was looking at the food as though it were poisoned and I couldn’t blame her — I was suspicious too.
Xerxes took a heavy breath and I knew it irritated his soul to speak to this woman at all. “Your last supper. At least zhe first of your last suppers.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Xerxes strolled casually toward Mrs. Kennedy, and she tried to shrink back into the hospital bed. “It means that you all are connected to each other. In a disgusting but far more humane version of the human centipede.”
“Oh, this is the madness coming out to play.” I could hear the joy in Yacouba’s voice and I could only feel privileged at being able to see the way his mind worked play out.
“You will remain chained, as you are, and given food and drink. Zhis is the start of your food. We don’t eat it but I’m sure you recognize chitlins. Zhe rest of the food is what zhey serve in prisons,” Xerxes waved his arm around the room. “Zhis is your prison where you will serve out your life sentence. Given zhe crimes you’ve committed, I zhink I’ve been nice to give you a bed to rest in.”
“And if we don’t eat it? Then what? You just leave us here? To just waste away? Like prisoners?” Mr. Kennedy tried to sound outraged, but the pain in his voice made it impossible. I could only smile seeing his face tight with pain and the burn marks over his eye.
“Zhat would be too good for you. I’m sure you told Vanya Zhat her only way to salvation was suffering. By living a life of piety and going wizout. I’m so glad that as soon as she was free of all of you that she realized how wrong that was. Starving would be too civilized a punishment for you all. Too gentle a death. Zhe woman zhat you zhink so little of means everyzing in this world to me. No one can hurt her and get away with it. These tubes have a purpose. The ones in your arms are to ensure you stay hydrated. Zhey are taped down too zhoroughly for you to remove. Zhe metal cuffs have been fashioned so zhat you can’t access zhem. You will be placed in a crouching position until you clean your plates whenever zhey are brought to you. If you don’t eat, you will be force fed. Zhe tubes in your asses aren’t for your enjoyment. You will be administered a colonic weekly and zhe waste collected from zhose and your cazeters, consolidated with liquid and added into your IVs.”
“Hell yeah!” Ori’s started to clap in approval nodding his head like Xerxes had made a good play on the field and even Ahmad was smiling at his creativity. Xerxes had a wicked smile on his face as he calmly detailed the demise of the people who’d stolen me.
“That’s some sick shit. I wish I would’ve thought of it.” Jahmir was rubbing his face thoughtfully as though he truly regretted not having thought of it.
“Priest, I’m sure you would have. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty and I’m sure zhe madness languishing in your church basement has brought you months of joy. I do not have zhe patience of you to craft my implements of revenge while teaching my wife to woodwork. Zheir demise needs to be slow and painful. I want you all to starve and try to stay strong before you give in and eat. Zhen worry daily about controlling your bowels. Trying to keep zhem in line enough so that you don’t release but it’s inevitable when we flood your colon wiz water. Zhe same fear that you inflicted upon my wife will be visited upon all of you. Zhe bacteria will slowly begin to destroy your body, causing even more gastric issues but you won’t be able to stop the primal urge you have for sustenance. It’ll be a beautiful feedback loop of torture until each of you finally takes your last breath. You were parasites in her life codependent on your mutual desire to keep her under your zhumbs. Zhat codependency and zhat desire will now be zhe death of you.”
“We have a congregation that will look for us. We run a real estate business that has employees that are counting on us.”
“Dinna we blow ‘at shyte up yesterday with all yoor other worldly possessions? I ken we watched it fall so what congregation do yoo mean?” Liam was questioning him like the man was going to answer. I didn’t watch the news so things having been blown up around town hadn’t reached me.
“Your abrupt drop from zhe public eye will only raise questions about your character, which will have people looking into your background. It will take a few missed payments before people truly get concerned and then zhey will discover your connection to the church that was blown up.” Did he just say he blew up a church ? “Every asset you had has been destroyed. The money that was in your investments? Gone. Not zhat zhere was money zhere to speak of. Business really has been bad since you all lost Vanya.”
“This is some diabolically brilliant shit, Xerxes.” Yacouba had finished smoking and was grinning his approval as the Kennedys sat in shock. His grin revealed the flash of the diamond fangs in his mouth.
“Zhey are so codependent the human centipede seemed the most appropriate punishment but zhat wouldn’t work. I knew people as weak as zhis wouldn’t have strong stomachs. Zhey would probably vomit at zhe first taste of shit on zheir tongue and zhen someone wouldn’t feel the pain I wanted. Zhis way, wiz it being injected intravenously, zhey have to feel zhe same helplessness my love felt. To wonder which bite will be zhe one zhat will send zhem to hell. As zhe filz invades zheir system zhey will rot from zhe inside out. I could zhink of no better way for zhem to die zhan zhis: slowly and agonizing.”
“You have destroyed our church. Our business is nothing. Our home was burned to the ground. Before that you had us questioned so thoroughly by our case worker that all potential placements were halted.” Mrs. Kennedy was sobbing more for herself than for the people she’d harmed over the years. I realized that Xerxes had been working behind the scenes to set up their downfall for weeks.
“About zhat, why did you target my wife and her family?” Xerxes’ hands went behind his back and I needed this information so badly.
“What?” Their faces ranged from looks of guilt to confusion.
“My wife and her family. Why did you target her?” He kept saying that word like it was accurate: target. As though there was something he knew that we didn’t. The suspense in the room increased and I looked and saw Ahmad’s face twisted angrily.
“She’s an orphan, how would we know? She was found wandering around the city and we took her in. You’re doing this to good people. That girl has been nothing but trouble. A jezebel spirit!”
Ahmad was on Mr. Kennedy beating his ass and again, nobody moved to stop him. I guess he wanted the revenge Xerxes spoke of to come true because, after a few hits, he calmed himself down and backed up. My eyes wandered to where Navi was standing and she wore a look of wonder on her face.
“See, I don’t believe zhat. Not based on zhe way you treated her. I have zhis zheory. Jonazan here? His mama probably was exactly what you said she was. A junkie zhat was doing anyzing for some change and she wound up with him. She was still worthy of protection and being treated like a human. But it is clear zhat my wife and my brother-in-law weren’t abandoned. See, her brother here, her actual brother, remembers when she was born.”
“And I remember that night all too well. I had just learned to read and our mother let me read Vanya’s bedtime story to her that night. I woke up hearing my mother screaming about the door and the windows and the kids. I’ve read the fire reports, they’d somehow gotten barricaded in their room and couldn’t get out. I’d heard her scream and gone to look for her before I got too scared to stay.” His nostrils flared as he took a deep breath and continued. “In the confusion I ran to the front porch and the neighbors had already called for help. It was too late to save them but my father was found under a sheet with his body wrapped around our mother. The smoke inhalation got them before they could get out.”
I wiped at my face because that was the first time I’d heard the details of what they’d gone through.
“What are you talking about? She doesn’t have any family just like I don’t. Nobody wanted Vanya. We’re her only family.” I wasn’t sure if Johnathan was delirious or delusional but he kept spouting out lies like they were the truth.
“You’re her abuser you sick piece of shit. I wish I had gotten into town sooner so I could’ve been one of the people chronically whooping your ass. But it’s okay. I took my frustrations out when I blew your shit up yesterday and broke your wrist today.”
My tears ebbed slightly hearing the confidence back in Ahmad’s voice and now I wanted the details of what they’d blown up.
“Tell me, Johnathan, has your dick been malfunctioning lately?” Maman was smiling as she held out her hand and a little bundle of something in a plastic bag was in her palm.
“It was you! What did you do to me?” Johnathan’s face was tight with anger and maman just grinned harder. “You said her parents didn’t want her. Because she looked cursed. That we saved her.” Johnathan really looked confused as to why their story wasn’t adding up.
“You think the mayonasian that wanted to tell you what to do with your dick was gonna be honest with you? You wanted so badly to believe the lie that you ignored the truth as it slapped you in the face. You ain’t a man. You ain’t even a bitch because bitches at least get some type of clout for what they do. You just bowed down to supremacy, Uncle Ruckus, muthafucka. I can’t wait until you’re dead so that I can rubberize your head and use it like a fucking basketball.”
“Aye, this nigga is rowdy as hell I like him.” Yacouba was rubbing his hands at the thought of playing a game of pickup with my brother and my brusband’s head had just made his day.
“You will never get into heaven—”
“And you zhink you will? According to zhem your brown skin keeps you from God’s glory, but zhat’s zhe religion you choose to follow. One that tells you your very existence is enough to damn you to hell. How weak do you have to be to be so self-loazing?” Xerxes’ disgust was clear and I felt like there was very little holding him back.
“Everyone that you used to help you will die. Your death is a given
“How is it fair that I die when I’m a victim.”
“You were a victim. But once you started to abuse my wife, my sympathy with you died. When you made fun of her looks and stole her money. When you used her body for pleasure wizout providing her any and zhen degraded her. To telling her that she was worthless and trying to damage her self-esteem. That is something that can never earn you a spot on my good side. She conquered zhe nightmare of her marriage with you all on her own. And what lingers I will use my considerable wealth to get her whatever she needs to continue to heal. But what I won’t do is allow you to continue to breaze. You are a weak man who has let zhese two control him his entire life. Down to what you say and how you feel. What man lets anozer dictate how he sleeps wiz his wife on his wedding night?”
“She’s proof. She’s proof I can be cured. I never touched her. I deserve a second chance.”
“It’s not proof of shit. Because despite never doing zhe wrong thing in your eyes, you killed her parents and made her brother an orphan because your ass was obsessed. No one could understand how someone got the drop on the Zhorntons but zhey didn’t look hard enough. Because of his business, zhey assumed it was because of Tony’s enemies. No one ever zhought it was about his kid.”
“I really want to put a bullet in their heads.” Ahmad was breathing hard and I hated that meeting me meant he was reliving pain that probably kept him traumatized for years. I hope he wouldn’t regret having found me when it was all said and done.
Xerxes patted my brother on the shoulder playfully his grin so broad his dimple was showing. “I understand. But right now, you need to focus on your sister. Zhey’re going to be here, like zhe leeches zhey are literally feeding off of one anozer until it kills zhem. But don’t worry, I have plenty more people you can choke out to make yourself feel better.”