Ava Gray
Today, we were celebrating my parents’ thirty-fifth year wedding anniversary.
Momma didn’t want to go out and do anything extravagant.
Therefore, I cooked all of their favorite dishes for us to celebrate at their house.
Daddy thought he could sneak in to take a few samples but every time he tried, Aja kicked him out of the kitchen.
In the backyard, Aja and I went half on a bouncy house for the kids.
Speaking of kids, Ethan was supposed to have been on his way to join us along with Zoie.
Aja had old-school music playing in the living room for Momma and Daddy who were dancing and laughing.
It was too noisy to make a phone call, so I went to my old bedroom to see how far Ethan was.
“Hey, beautiful.” He picked up on the second ring.
“Hey. I just wanted to check in. The food is almost ready,” I told him.
“I’ll be there before y’all get seated at the table. Some shit came up, and now I’m on the way to pick up Zoie.”
“Is everything okay?”
He sighed deeply as if he didn’t want to answer my question or talk about whatever happened.
“I had a run-in with Carla. I had to set her ass straight, but it’s all good.”
I sat quietly, shaking my head. I didn’t want to get into an argument over the next bitch; I also didn’t want to get in the headspace of believing he was out running the streets, especially after we agreed to move forward.
“Nothing happened besides me choking her ass out. I’m telling you because I don’t want you to think I’m hiding anything from you.”
“No, I don’t think you’re trying to hide anything. I’ll see you when you get here.”
“I’m on the way.”
“Okay.” I smiled.
“I love you.”
“I love you too,” I told him.
After ending the call, I inhaled a deep breath and sat still for a few seconds before heading back to join everyone.
While Aja, Momma, and Daddy were dancing in the middle of the floor.
Ace was on his phone while throwing back a few shots.
Savannah and Dakota bounced around when they could’ve been outside with all that energy.
I took a seat beside my brother before picking up the glass he had just poured a shot into.
Real quick, I threw it back like a professional.
“Whoaa, nigga! What do you think you’re doing? All those glasses momma got in the china cabinet, and you wanna come and put your dick suckers on mine.”
“Ace, please. I’m the one who should be worried about catching something.” I poured another shot.
“Go get me another glass, man. I’m not about to share with you. Ain’t no tellin’ what you and bruh freaky frog asses been doing behind closed doors.”
“You’re full of shit.” I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, well, I just might be. You got me fuck up,” he mumbled.
On my way to the dining room, my phone vibrated in my hand.
I looked at the screen and rolled my eyes.
I wasn’t in the mood to deal with Rob and his nonsense.
I was spending time with my family and enjoying myself, and I wasn’t about to allow him to mess that up.
My phone stopped ringing, then ten seconds later, it started again. I huffed, shaking my head.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hey,”
“What do you want?” I cut to the chase.
“I need to talk to you real quick.”
“Rob, I don’t have—”
“It’s about Savannah and the custody hearing.” He cut me off. He had my full attention. “I’m not tryin’ to cause a scene or argue. I’m outside, I just want to talk to you and see my daughter real quick.”
Something in my heart told me not to take the bait. But in my mind, I felt he might’ve had a change of heart and wanted to let me know up front that he no longer wanted to go through with it.
“Now isn’t a good time, Rob.”
“Please.”
It was something about his tone that had me on the fence.
Against my better judgment, I agreed. To avoid a huge commotion, I discreetly told Savannah to come with me outside without telling her why.
I moved quietly because I knew my brother and sister would confront him.
I couldn’t have that go down on my parents’ special day.
When we stepped out onto the porch, he got out of his car and stood.
Savannah walked closely behind me while holding onto the tail of my shirt.
I glanced behind me to make sure no one else was coming out.
“Thank you,” he spoke, staring at me.
“I don’t have a lot of time.” I held Savannah’s hand.
“Savannah, can Daddy have a hug?” he asked.
She clung to me a little tighter, hiding half of her face. He should’ve already known how that would go. Savannah was never affectionate toward him because he never gave her that energy.
“What do you want to talk about?”
“I want you to come back home. I never wanted to file for full custody, but I needed to get your attention. I don’t care about the shit you've been doing since you left. Who you been fuckin on, I don’t care.
I need you, Ava. I need and want my family back.
I love you. To death.” His eyes pierced mine.
His glare made the hair on my neck stand up. Not in a good way, either.
“Rob, our marriage is over. There’s no turning back. And for you to pull some shit like that as a scare tactic speaks volumes. Yes, you’re her dad, but she barely knows you on that level because you barely took the time to create a bond with her.”
As soon as I said what I had to say, he took a step toward me.
There it was. That look in his eyes that I knew all too well.
That distorted look he got when he was ready to switch gears and go from arguing to putting his hands on me.
I took a step back and was about to have Savannah go back into the house.
“Let’s go for a drive.” His tone was so calm.
“Hell no.” I scoffed.
The entire time we stood in front of each other, he had his hands behind his back so casually. Once I said no, he moved his hands in front of him, showing me his gun.
“Get in the fuckin’ car, Ava. Both of y’all. And don’t think about getting loud because I don’t give a fuck. If anybody comes out here, they’re catching a bullet. Mommy, daddy, sister, brother. At this point, you know I’m with all the shit, so don’t try me.”
His eyes were so dark and glossy. He’d been drinking.
“Okay, I’ll go, but Savannah stays here.”
“Nah, bitch. We’re a family, so we’re riding out as one. Let's go.”
At that moment, I was scared as hell, not for myself but for my baby girl.
Rob was a complete lunatic, and I didn’t want her anywhere around him.
Hurriedly, I strapped Savannah in the back seat.
With his gun still trained on me, he waited for me to get in the car.
I knew it was stupid for me to walk out of the house unannounced.
But I also knew Aja had my location linked to her phone.
Right before Rob hopped behind the wheel, I called my sister and made sure I turned the volume down.
“You see how you got me acting? Holding your stupid ass up at gunpoint, just so we can have a conversation!” he yelled.
In the blink of an eye, his demeanor changed.
“I don’t know why you’re not understanding when I say that this shit is ’til death do us part! Bitch! The vows we took bonded us for life! You stupid as fuck if you think I’m going to willingly let you walk away from me to get with the next nigga. A white muthafucka at that!”
The more he talked and yelled, the harder his foot pressed against the gas. He was weaving in and out of traffic, barely missing red lights. My feet were planted firmly on the floor as if I had my own brake pad on my side.
“Why do you make me like this?” he continued to rant.
“I know I fucked up when I got Kelcy pregnant. I knew you wouldn’t be willing to come back home if she was still in the picture, so I took care of that.
You don’t have to worry about me taking care of another family. You and Savannah are all I need.”
I looked at him in horror as what he said registered in my head.
“What did you do?”
I was scared for him to answer my question, although I already knew what was coming.
“What the fuck you think I did?” He laughed.
The way he laughed, I’d never heard before. It was evil. He wasn’t himself because he didn’t even have this specific aura when he had his drunken fits. This time was strangely different. As if he was being controlled by the devil himself.
“I killed them for us. You wanna know how?” He continued to laugh.
His foot was still heavy on the gas.
“Yo, this shit is crazy! You bitches are crazy!” He banged on the steering wheel in a strange excitement.
“Here I am, trying to get your stupid ass to come back home while that bitch refused to leave. She wanted to be with me. She fuckin’ begged me to stay with her!
While I’m begging you to come back to me! ”
All the yelling and carrying on caused Savannah to start crying.
“She wasn’t trying to comply, so I had to put a bullet in her head. The kids were young, and it made no sense for them to grow up with no parents. Plus, a mother’s love means so much more. So, drowning a newborn and four-year-old made a lot of sense. They’re all together still.”
Listening to him, my eyes burned as hot tears rained down my cheeks.
“Answer this for me.” He grinned.
“Do you really love that white boy? Because I can’t see him coming to your rescue.” He chuckled. “You got this muthafucka around my daughter. Fuckin’ you on camera and in my muthafuckin’ club. You’re a fuckin’ whore, bitch!” He pressed the gun against my temple.
“Was it fun while it lasted?” He laughed. “I can’t believe this shit. My wife is a whole hoe out in these streets. Fuckin’ white men. Getting slutted out in public and having the muthafuckin’ balls to tell me to my face that you love another muthafucka.” He laughed hysterically.
“Rob, you need to calm down and stop speeding. You’re scaring Savannah.” My voice shook.
“She should be scared. Thanks to you,” he calmly said.
He reached into his armrest and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. Once he unscrewed the top, he put the bottle to his lips and chugged like he was drinking water. He placed the bottle between his legs and started rocking in his seat.
“I love you.” He roughly grabbed my face, turning it toward him. “I fuckin’ love you!”
“No, you don’t!” I cried.
“Yeah, you're right. Let me correct myself. I loved you! Stupid bitch.”
“Rob, slow the fuck down! You’re going to hit someone!” I held on to the dash.
He was seconds away from hitting another car in the rear as he changed lanes.
My heart felt like it was stuck in my ass; I was so scared.
Savannah was screaming, and I knew I needed to get her to calm down before she started to hyperventilate.
As I talked to Savannah, Rob chugged more liquor and increased his speed.
He was now going almost a hundred miles an hour.
“Stop this car and let us out, Rob!” I cried, pushing his shoulder. “Stop the fuckin car!”
“Fuck you! You thought I was playing with yo’ ass! I told your hoe ass I’ll have the last laugh, bitch! We ride together, we gon’ die together. I'd rather kill us all before I watch you run off and love someone else!”
“Slow down and stop this fuckin’ car!” I attacked him.
I held my hand against the horn to gain attention from other drivers and, hopefully, a state trooper. With his elbow, he hit me dead in the nose to get me off of him. My phone dropped to my feet, and I saw that Aja was still on the line.
“I hope your decisions were worth it, bitch!” He flew through a red light.
Suddenly, it sounded like the car exploded. My life flashed before my eyes as my body jerked forward from the hard impact. Instantly, my entire body went numb, and the world went black.