Chapter 16
Freedom Price
The Aftermath
Ithink the last time I heard my sister cry this hard was a few years back when we lost our little sister, Nivea.
The cries that Dionne had been letting out all day were gut wrenching, to the point that I even shed a few tears with her.
Everyone knew how much Dionne loved Bagel.
She treated that dog like her fuckin child.
She was sick in the head over Bagel, and as much shit as we used to talk about her, telling her that she did too much with him, it was always from a place of love, and jokes.
I thought that the way she loved and took care of Bagel was beautiful.
Me, and Tommie weren’t big fans of dogs, but Dionne has always loved animals.
Tommie was afraid of dogs, and whenever we would come over to Dionne’s place in the past, Tommie would call her beforehand, trying to convince her to put Bagel up, but Dionne wouldn’t do it because she wasn’t the kind of dog mom to put her dog in a cage, or to lock him up in a room.
We were all at Dionne’s condo right now, just being here for her.
I was sitting on the couch, and Dionne was laying on her side, and she had her head in my lap, and she was having a moment, crying.
Blake was here too, who was on the other end of the couch, with Dionne’s feet in her lap.
Tommie was here, but she was outside on the balcony.
She stepped away for a second because her daughter Tru, called her.
Our mom was in the kitchen, and she was cooking something.
Something that everyone but Dionne would eat because this girl wouldn’t eat anything.
I took my eyes off the TV screen, so that I could look down at my sister.
She was wearing a cream, cotton material sweatsuit.
The hoodie was over her head, so you couldn’t see her face as she was crying.
Her arm was in my lap, with her head buried into it, covering her face.
You could hear her as she was crying, feel her body as it was shaking, and it made me so sad because I knew that there wasn’t anything that I could do to make her feel better.
Some sicko had taken her fuckin dog, killed him, and then sent her proof.
That was traumatic as hell. The police opened a case, so that they could find out who the dude was that had come and taken her dog, but so far, no one knew who he was.
It’s only been one day, but I pray for my sisters peace of mind that we were able to find out who did this.
My phone buzzed on the arm of the couch, and I picked it up, seeing that it was my husband calling. I answered, putting the phone to my ear. With my other hand, I placed it on my sisters back, rubbing it up, and down, keeping her calm.
“Hey bae,” I answered for June.
You could hear how drained my voice sounded.
It was nearing five in the evening, and I’ve been here with my sister since eight this morning.
I’ve watched her go through every feeling imaginable today.
At one point, she got so angry that she started breaking shit.
She got upset with Tommie, so the two of them started arguing, and damn near started fighting.
Dionne showed her ass today, but she was spiraling, and heartbroken, so I wasn’t going to judge her for how she was reacting.
“Bae, Tank on the phone. We on three-way,” June’s deep voice came through, letting me know.
“Free, what’s good? I had to reach out to you because I been calling Dionne, but her phone still going straight to voicemail.
I’m on my way over there. The shit that I had to handle at the shop took longer, and I feel bad as hell about it.
What she doing? Did she eat anything yet?
” Tank asked, firing off question after question, and you could hear the worry all in his voice.
Tank has been here for Dionne since this happened yesterday, but he left out today around noon, needing to handle stuff at his shops.
When all of this went down yesterday, Dionne called him first, and Tank was able to reach out to us from Dionne’s phone, telling us what happened.
My sister wasn’t the easiest to deal with when she was going through something.
She was good at pushing people away, and shutting down, but you could tell that Tank wasn’t fazed by any of that shit because here he was, heading back over here, about to get some more of it.
“She still crying, and no, she won’t eat. My mom is in the kitchen, almost finished cooking, but she not going to eat it. I know she’s not,” I let him know.
“Give the phone to her. Let me talk to her,” he said.
“Here Dionne. It’s Tank,” I reached down with the phone in my hand.
The hand that she wasn’t lying on, she picked it up, and pushed it out of the way, all the while crying, and telling me that she didn’t want to talk on the phone.
It’s been a full twenty- four hours that she had been crying, so this girl didn’t have a voice.
You could hardly recognize her voice as she spoke to me.
“She not taking the phone. Just talk to her when you get here,” I let him know.
“Put me on speaker,” he said, and I did just that, lowering the phone, so that Dionne would be able to hear him.
“Bae, I’m on my way back over there. I hope you not mad at me for leaving. I had to do some shit at the store, and it went over,” Tank’s deep voice was soft, as he talked to my sister. You could just hear her continuing in her cries. She wasn’t responding to anything that he was saying.
“We going to find whoever that nigga was on that video, and whatever you tell me you want me to do to him, Ima do it. I know how much Bagel meant to you, bae. Every time that you talked about him to me, you were always smiling. It’s fucked up that they did that shit, and I’m so sorry that you gotta deal with this kind of pain.
I can’t bring him back, but it gotta be some other shit that you’ll allow me to do to fix it.
You want another puppy? I’ll go get you one,” my heart melted listening to Tank talk to my sister.
I could hear a man that really didn’t know what to do, but he was trying to find a way. His words sounded sincere. I glanced over at Blake, and she had that same smile on her face as I did, as she witnessed what Tank was saying to my sister.
“I… I don’t want… a new dog. I want… the one I had,” Dionne responded back to him through her cries.
“Okay, but bae, that ain’t realistic right now.
Maybe, I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry for even making that an option.
I can’t get you a new dog right now because you’re still freshly mourning the loss of Bagel.
I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes, okay?
” he asked her, and of course she didn’t respond.
I took the phone off speaker, and I placed it back to my ear.
“I had to mute the phone nigga and turn the volume down on your ass. Soft ass, hoe ass nigga,” June talked shit to Tank, and it took everything in me to keep my laugh to myself because I didn’t want Dionne to think that I was on the phone laughing at her.
Now, I gotta get cursed out in the same manner that she’d done Tommie.
Tank laughed though, and I’m sure he was getting ready to say something ignorant right back to my husband.
“Fuck you! That’s my baby. I know you ain’t talking. I’ve seen you with Free in action. You tender like a motha fucka,” Tank called him out, and that’s when I laughed because it was true.
“Tender like some fuckin steak, you hear me! That’s some real shit though, Tank.
I’m older now, and much wiser, so to me, the way that a nigga shows up for his girl and extends his hand to make sure that she is okay, is the kind of behavior that I respect.
Ya’ll shit fresh, but you all in, ten toes, and I respect that.
I know how Dionne was about that dog, man.
She came to the crib one time with Bagel, and I told her to take his ass out back because I didn’t want him to piss on the carpet, and man, she cursed me the fuck out.
Told me how she had Bagel trained, and I didn’t have to worry about him pissing on my raggedy ass carpet.
I say all that to say that you going to have to handle that shit.
Don’t let a nigga kill your girl dog, and you don’t stand in the paint over it.
Fuck a nigga day up about that shit that he did to her puppy because when it’s my turn, and my wife even shed a tear, I be ready to kill anyone, or anything,” June told him, and as if they could see me, I nodded my head, knowing that it was true.
My husband didn’t play about me. June lost all common sense when it came to me, and I loved that kind of protection for me.
“You already know that I’m on it,” Tank said to June, and I believed him.
From there, Tank let me know that he would be here soon, and then he hung up. Now, it was just me, and June on the phone.
“When you coming home? I miss you,” his words made me smile.
“When ma finish cooking, I’m going to eat, and then I’ll leave. Did you eat already?” I wanted to know.
“Yeah, but I’m not turning down whatever your mama cooked, so pack me a plate to go,” he said, and I laughed.
“Okay. What is Liberty doing?” I inquired.
“Right here, playing with her toys. Ima get her ready for bed soon,” that made me happy because I wouldn’t have to do it when I got home.
“Okay. I’ll text you when I’m on the way. I love you,” I cooed.
“I love you more,” and just like that, I hung the phone back up and sat it down on the arm of the chair.
Blake picked Dionne’s feet up from her lap, and she stood up, telling me that she was going to go to the back to use the bathroom. When she left out, Tommie came back in the living room, and she had her phone in her hands.
“What’s going on with Tru?” I asked.