30. Mercy
MERCY
“Don’t fuckin summon me like I’m a weak bitch,” I said, barging into Pyrite’s office. The door slammed against the wall, but I didn’t give a damn. I was tired and wanted to go home and sleep, but no, I was standing in his office with three security guards blocking the door so I couldn’t leave.
“Yo, they weren’t playing when they said your temper was short,” he laughed and shook his head. “Look, I’m not the one you are pissed at, so keep the attitude.”
“Pyrite, I love you like a cousin, but right now, you’re treading on my last nerve,” I said as I crossed my arms over my chest and mugged him.
My temper had been short the last two days.
I missed Givens and Faylin and wanted to check on them, but I also needed the space.
Shai was still in the hospital, and I wanted to visit her to finish what I started.
“We need to talk,” he said, pointing to the chair across his desk. I shook my head and didn’t move. “Sit your ass down, Mercy.”
“Get fucked up talking to her like that,” Givens said, coming into the office.
My heart slammed into my chest at the sight of him.
He looked good, not that I expected anything else.
He wore his workout uniform and a pair of slides.
He looked me up and down and smirked. “I’on care if she mad at me, don’t disrespect her like that. ”
“Man, I ain’t worried about either of y’all,” Pyrite said, waving us off.
“I’m only doing this shit cuz I’m tired of getting reports of her ass crashing out in practice.
” Pyrite mugged me before shaking his head.
“You ain’t the one who’s supposed to be known for the short temper.
Fix that shit with this nigga so we can live in harmony again. ”
“There’s nothing to fix,” I denied.
“Stop fuckin’ lying,” Givens said, sitting in the chair across from Pyrite's desk. He stretched his long legs out before him and shook his head. “You think I cheated on you and got Shai pregnant.”
“Are you saying you didn’t?” I questioned, and he nodded. “Givens, don’t piss me off, I saw the video of her coming and going from your hotel. Even if you were drunk, you still fucked her and didn’t say shit to me until you had no other choice.”
“I wasn’t drunk, I was drugged.” He sat forward, rested his elbows on the top of his leg, and tinted his hands in front of his mouth. “Shai had me set up.”
“What?” my face twisted in confusion. I looked from him to Pryrite, who nodded.
“The waitress at the club spiked my drink for Shai.”
“Why?”
“That’s for you to ask her,” Givens nodded. I turned to see a woman walk into the room; she was a pretty girl. Short, no real curves, but her face made up for it. She looked scared as hell, and I almost felt sorry for her. “This is Melissa; she works as a waitress at The Stone Hotel.”
“How does she tie into all this?” I asked, even though I was forming my idea in my head. “And how does she know Shai?”
“Javien,” Pyrite answered. “She’s his connect when he’s in town.
Melissa here slips shit into women's cups, and Javien takes them back to his hotel, and well, you know the rest.” I nodded and grilled Melissa.
I hated people like her. She knew what she was doing, and if she thought for one second that shit was okay, then she had life all fucked up.
“I’m going to see him next,” I said, and Pyrite shook his head. “You can't stop me.”
“Let that go,” Givens said, and I turned my attention back to him. “Let it go, DeCorte. That shit will be handled accordingly. This is what you need to be paying attention to.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because Melissa has something to tell you.”
I turned to face Melissa, and her eyes bounced from me to Pyrite and Givens.
She licked her lips and nodded. "Um, Shai paid me to drug Givens, and then she took him back to the hotel and tried to have sex with him, but he wouldn’t cooperate.
He kept saying his dick only worked for you.
She tried all night before giving up. When she left his room, she came down to my room and had sex with Javien. ”
“So the baby she was carrying wasn’t Givens’?”
“No, it was Javien’s,” she answered, shaking her head. “She said she would say it was Givens’, so he would pay child support like he does with their other daughter. Javien said he didn’t want kids and told her to either get rid of it or pass it off as his.”
“And you were cool with this?” I asked as I walked over to Pyrite’s desk and grabbed a letter opener from his desk. “Like, this is what you, Javien, and Shai do? Y’all intentionally set up people for your pleasure? It doesn’t matter who you hurt, huh?”
“I need the money,” she said, shaking her head. “Javien won't help me if I don’t help him.”
“Help him with what?” I asked as I flipped the letter opener between my fingers and walked towards her. “He your nigga or something?”
“No,” she denied. “He’s my older brother.”
“He’s family?” I questioned, and she nodded. “That’s crazy. Your family ain’t shit, and mine be ready to go to war over each other.” I stepped around Melissa and locked eyes with Givens. “If you think I’m playing, ask Givens how we move.”
“They step hard for each other,” he said with a slight chuckle. “I love my in-laws.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” I dismissively said. I turned back to Melissa and sighed. “You know they say my cousin Cross is the worst of us all, but I’m pretty sure that’s not true. She’s the most blunt. Like, if she’s going to kill you, you know.”
“What about you, baby?” Givens asked, and I looked up at him and lifted my brow in question. “Are you the worst one?”
“No,” I laughed. “I’m not nearly as bad as the sisters.
” I shook my head. “But I do like to surprise people sometimes.” I quickly stuck the letter opener into Melissa’s neck and drug it from one ear to the other.
Melissa grabbed her neck, but it wouldn’t matter.
I knew what I was doing. She dropped to the ground, and I turned to Pyrite, who was still sitting at his desk with a bored look.
“I’ll have Ex send someone to clean this up. ”
“I already have it covered,” he said, shaking his head.
I nodded, then turned to leave.
“Where are you going?” Givens asked.
“To kill your baby mama,” I answered, then opened the door. The two guards from earlier were still there. I looked over my shoulder at Pyrite and waited. "You either tell them to move or have Nine scrub your security feed.”
“Let her through,” Pyrite called out, and I turned around to see them move.
“Thank you,” I called out as I left.
I went to the locker room and showered. Once I was done and dressed, I headed to my car. When I stepped off the elevator, Givens was leaned against my car with his hands in his pockets.
“Move,” I said, pressing my key fob.
“Not until we talk,” he said, shaking his head. I crossed my arms over my chest and rolled my eyes. “You can keep that attitude, DeCorte, because I get you're mad.”
“I’m not mad, Givens,” I replied. “I’m hurt. You lied for months. Even after I asked you what was wrong, you kept saying nothing, knowing you were lying.”
“And I’m wrong for that, but see where I was coming from,” he said, wiping his hands over his face. “I knew I didn’t fuck that bitch, wasn’t no way I did, but it looked like I did. I didn’t have any proof to say otherwise, and you wouldn’t have believed me if I told you the truth.”
“You don’t know that,” I said. “You didn’t give me the chance to know how I would act.”
“And I’m sorry,” he said, stepping into my space. “You hear me? I’m sorry as fuck for lying all these months because you didn’t deserve that.”
“You’re right,” I said, stepping back. “I didn’t deserve that, but that’s the hand I was dealt. I told you from jump not to play with me, and you did.”
“So that’s it?” he asked, and I nodded. “We finished? Even though I just gave you proof that I was faithful. Doesn’t that count for something?
” He ran his hand over his face and sighed.
“DeCorte, I love you, like legit am in love with your ass. What I feel for you don’t got shit to do with our daughter, either.
It’s me and how I feel. And you standing here telling me that it doesn’t matter?
Nah, I don’t believe that.” He stepped back into my space and pulled me to him.
“This is for life. We love each other. Stop with the bullshit.”
“I don’t have anything to say right now,” I said, looking up at him. “You fucked up, not me.”
“I didn’t do that shit on purpose!” He yelled. “I’m not perfect! Like, I know that shit, but I didn’t fuck up on purpose. I didn’t know what happened, Mercy! I was drugged; you heard her say that shit. Shai was on some fuck shit, and I was drugged.”
“I know that,” I said, nodding. “I heard all that in there, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that you lied afterward. No matter what, an omission of the truth is still a lie.”
Givens looked me up and down as he stepped back. He was hurt; that was obvious, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t change how I felt because of his feelings.
“So you saying we're over?” he asked, and I shrugged. He stared at me for a second as if trying to get his thoughts together, and then he started to laugh softly. “Nah, DeCorte.” He stepped into my space and tugged at the bottom of my shirt. “We ain’t through.” He quickly kissed me and stepped back.
“Go handle what you need to handle. I’ll see you later, baby. ”
“He walked away?” Legacy asked, and I nodded. After leaving the arena, I drove around the city for a little while to get my mind together, and I ended up at her house. “I’m confused.”
I lifted my head from the pillow and looked at her sitting at the bottom of the couch.
“Same,” I laughed, then laid back down. “Like, I know he’s a little off because he watched me slice Melissa’s neck without batting an eye, but for him to just tell me we aren’t over and walk away? What kind of nigga am I dealing with?”