Secretly #2
Prissy wasn’t trying to hear that shit. The birthday party was happening for one reason and one reason only, to keep her threat to Hussein. If he wouldn’t leave that bitch alone, she was going to make sure that bitch left him alone.
“I’m excited to meet the boys. I guess I owe you a thank you, Prissy. So, thank you.”
“You’re not about to be anybody’s stepmother. You need a ring for that.” Tina hollered.
She was laughing alone because Nisha was offended. Even Prissy was bothered by the statement. Tina hadn’t noticed either girl’s reaction as she jumped up needed to pee. “I’ll be right back.”
“It’s like she doesn’t even have to try and be a bitch.
It’s just in her,” Nisha said to Prissy.
“We could be sitting here heaving a great time, like we were, and she will say the most outlandish shit. Clearly, I’m not going to be a stepmom because you can’t marry dead men.
Does she even care that he’s gone?” Nisha dapped her eyes before her watery eyes could spill over onto her cheeks.
“No,” Prissy answered honestly. “He snitched. That’s all that matters to her now.” She glanced down the hallway. “I’ve never seen her drink like this, though. So maybe she is hurting. I don’t know what the fuck is going on anymore.”
Tina returned from the bathroom with an ice cream sandwich. She pressed play on the remote. They watched two more episodes before Nisha said good night. Tina wasn’t ready for the night to end and asked Prissy to stay.
Prissy drove home because she promised herself that no matter how much of a good time was being had, she’d never again forget that she is not a Turner. She needed those walls up so that when it was time to give Tina up, she could do it without hesitation.
As Tina was “closing downstairs”, her phone rang. Only numbers floated across the top of the screen, but she knew who it was.
“What the fuck do you want, Domonique?”
“To talk.”
“Well, talk.”
“No. I need to look you in your eyes. I’m out front,” she admitted.
“Out front of whose house? Mine?” Tina snatched the front door open, pissed to see her old friend. “Bitch you’re lucky I don’t kill you.”
“Like you killed Cassidy?” Domonique stared Tina in her eyes, wanting to see the truth that Tina would never own out loud.
“Killed Cassidy?” Tina’s face scrunched, mouth open because it was hard to find the words. Pain hit her in the chest the way it had when she found out Boom was dead.
“Did you do it or not?” Domonique asked, wiping tears from her eyes.
“Why would I hurt your baby, Dom?” Tina shut the front door as she stepped onto the porch. “Anything we’ve ever had going on has never touched these kids. Promises we all made to each other way back then.”
“I know.” Dom put her hands on her head, looking into the darkness of the street. “Fuck, man.”
“I’m sorry.” Tina rubbed the grieving mother’s back. “Wait, why’d you think it was me? I’ve spoken to you more recently than I’ve spoken to anyone in your family. And that was what? A decade ago?”
“Longer than that,” Dom agreed. “When we all decided to take our families and go our separate ways.”
“Exactly, so what the fuck? Why you knocking at my door?”
“Calls to Hussein were all up and through her phone. A few text to him, too but the last person my baby was seen with was Prissy. Hussein’s fiancé according to social media. No one has seen or heard from her sense. None of this shit is making sense, Tina. I’m ‘bout to lose my shit, forreal.”
“I can assure you that if Cassidy missing has anything to do with anyone in my camp, I’ll take care of them, personally.
Prissy would only even know Cassidy because of Hussein.
So, let me go down to the jail and talk to him.
I’ll reach out once I hear what he has to say, even if it’s some shit neither of us want to hear.
“Thank you.” Dom hugged her.
“You’re welcome.” Tina stepped away. “I’ll do what I can to help and then it’s right back to fuck you and the rest of them bitches.” She spat with her lips twisted up.
“Respect.” Domonique nodded with understanding, leaving the porch.
“And Dom,” Tina called out, “If you ever show up to my house unannounced again, I will lay you down like some exaggerated edges.”
Tina went into the house, shutting her door gently.
It’d been a long time since the families separated.
She never second guessed the split because she never ran into any of them again.
It was as if they were never meant to be friends, never meant to be in business together.
Tina hadn’t lost a wink of sleep. Tonight, she might.
CELLBLOCK G |7:03 A.M.
“Aye, thanks again, Dink. Tell your people I owe them a solid for getting my girl’s number for me.” Hussein dialed the numbers from the piece of paper that Dink held in front of him.
“He gon’ love to hear that. Said she was mean as shit.” Dink laughed.
“She is.” Hussein pulled the phone away from his ear. “The fuck?” He hung it up and tried to dial out again. Still nothing. “Shit ain’t working.”
“Let me try from my account,” Dink offered.
Like Hussein, he had to hang up and dial again. “That shit weird as fuck.” He put the phone back on the receiver. “Shit ain’t ringing or nothing. Motherfucker just going blank.”
“Turner! You got a visitor.”
Hussein walked to me the masculine female CO. She was at the bottom of the list for guards he preferred. Stud bitches always had the smoke for him. He never gave her a reason to try him. He was ready to go home and making enemies wasn’t the way to do it.
“You know who it is?”
“Nigga, how the fuck should I know? We don’t run in the same circles, motherfucker.”
It was his fault for asking. The only way to get along with her ass was to not say shit to her.
When she brung him out to visiting, he saw his TT. Tina sat there in her finest like she was doing dinner with a big money client. Hussein didn’t show his irritation, instead he put a smile on his face. If she was going to act like she didn’t remember the last thing he said to her, so would he.
“What’s up, TT?”
Tina rolled her eyes. “How you doing, Hussein?”
“I’m cooling.” He shrugged. “Considering.”
“You strong, you can handle it.”
“I wasn’t talking bout the cell.” Hussein laughed. “I was talking about you. I’m cool considering how hard you tryna make this shit for me,” he clarified.
“The problem is that I’ve made things too easy for you. I love you dearly, nephew, but like Boom and your nuisance cousin, Toya, I think you’ve forgotten who’s in charge. Shit don’t start fucking up until y’all try to do your own thing. If everyone would just trust me, we’d be good.”
“And how am I supposed to trust you. You got my lawyer working harder for you than me. You tryna force this fucking wedding on me when I’ve made it clear who I want to be with. And I ain’t got the proof but I know you’re doing everything to make sure I can’t contact her.”
“You trusted me until you met her. So, the way I see it, she’s the problem. If you want me to see her any differently, you gon have to show me. Right now, I just see you making dumb decision after dumb decision. Why the fuck would you hit a cop.”
“I had to,’ Hussein argued. “If I didn’t, they would’ve booked my ass and searched my truck.
I think my shit clean, but I can’t be sure.
I had to hold them off until Prissy got there to take my truck to prevent the search.
” Tina’s eyes softened. “Yeah, TT, I know what the fuck I’m doing out here.
I know you think you know what’s best, but I’m a grown man. I can make my own decisions.”
“But can you make your own good decisions? Shit that I don’t have to clean up behind your stupid ass,” Tina spoke through a clenched jaw.
“I think you getting old, auntie. You done damn sure had to clean up after the other two, hell so have I, but you ain’t never had to clean up no shit behind me.
I do shit for you,” Hussein corrected. “Because I love you. I don’t want to beef with you, but you gon’ have to back up, TT. Let me do me.”
“You’ve always handled your shit, Hussein.
You have been the warrior for this family but please don’t ever get it mistaken that I’m the protector of this shit here.
You might be the dangerous one over there on your mama’s side, but not over this way.
I lie, cheat, steal and kill for a motherfucker Turner and I don’t hold no anger behind it, because that’s who I am.
I don’t love shit but my family, but you little bastards are ungrateful!
” she yelled and the entire visitor’s room turned in their direction.
“It feel like that when you not getting your way, but like I said, you ain’t ever had to clean up behind me.”
“You know, I’ve done fixed so much shit behind Boom and Toya that I can’t remember anything I’ve had to fix for you. So, you might be right.”
“Thank you.” Hussein nodded.
“Until last night, of course.” Tina smirked.
“You gon’ tell me what happened or you not done gloating, yet?” Hussein folded his arms across his chest.
“An old friend came to visit me. Bitch was asking me questions about some shit I know nothing about. In fact, I was so clueless that I didn’t know how my name got in it.
So, I asked Domonique what would make her think I knew anything about where Cassidy was and if she was dead or alive.
And guess what she said?” Hussein visibly sighed.
“Imagine my motherfucking surprise when that bitch showed up unannounced to my doorstep after not speaking for over a decade. For you to be fighting me on marrying her, the two of you sure got some shit going on behind my motherfucking back.”
It was only recently that Hussein started telling Tina the truth.
Hence, why they were at odds currently. He’d been telling lies since he got away with the first one.
With her finding things out on the fly, he never had time to prepare the lie for shit he thought he got away with.
At this point it was a skill to have an explanation that made sense.
“It wasn’t even like that.”