Honestly #2
Onisha still had more power than her, but Prissy now had a leg to stand on. Onisha’s suspension meant that she wasn’t even an officer right now. She’d have to play ball.
“We got a tip into the Turners. Tina was the original target, but she wasn’t easy to touch as you can imagine.
There was an attempt at building a relationship with an undercover in real estate.
Tina was looking into buying a building.
She went cold on him. We realized that we had to be more strategic.
We already knew that Senior was too loyal to her.
Her daughter hates her but can’t stay sober long enough to cooperate.
We’d have to get to Tina through the nephews. ”
“And Hussein was too smart,” Prissy concluded.
“Boom was far from stupid.” Nisha laughed.
“We chose him because of his animosity. He took hits from Tina, Senior and Hussein. He was the most likely one to turn. So, he’s who we went for.
They sent me in and from the moment he looked my way, I knew I bit off more than I could chew.
” She smiled to herself for a second. “I started getting in trouble with work because I wasn’t giving them anything. I just couldn’t.”
“How do we go from that to Hussein getting arrested today?” Prissy tried to get the facts.
“I’m getting there.” Onisha sighed. “My husband reached a point where he could no longer handle me working undercover. We hardly saw one another and when we did, it was always quick. I texted as much as I could, but phone calls were rare. When we found out I was pregnant, that’s when everything took a turn for the worse. ”
“What happened?” Prissy asked.
“He asked me was our baby his, and I told him the truth.” Onisha wiped the tears falling from her eyes.
“We both knew anyway. I hadn’t slept with Darnell in months.
He just wanted me to say it out loud. I wanted Boom so bad that I didn’t care what I lost. He left me and told my partner everything.
And my partner hung me out to dry.” She clasped her hands together.
“Damn,” Prissy felt for Nisha.
After all, her partner had hung her out to dry, too. Hussein didn’t care about her once he got to know Jakia. At least Nisha’s partner had good reason. Hussein just had a hard dick.
“When you can’t trust the person that you have to be out in the field with, the relationship changes.
My partner always been a do-right. Everything was by the book.
It was a trait that I admired before it was the thing that cost me my career.
” She paused. “He reported it to our boss, and I was removed off the case. Everything I turned in was centered around Hussein. I was building a case to flip him. That’s why he got arrested.
” She shrugged, clasping her hands together. “It was all they had.”
“Suspension doesn’t mean fired, or does it?” Prissy asked.
“I’m pregnant with my C.I.’s baby.” Onisha sighed like she did every time that she had to say it out loud.
“I could give this baby my last name, but when this investigation is over, it will all come out just the same. I don’t want to do that anyway.
My daughter is a Turner. She won’t get to meet him, but she will get to carry his name.
The name ain’t shit but her daddy was everything.
Even if I make it out of all of this, the respect it took me a decade to earn as a detective will be gone.
” She downed the rest of her water. “I’m not sure I want to work my way back up. ”
Prissy could relate to Onisha’s career stresses.
If her relationship with Teddy were to be put on blast, she’d lose her respect in her field as well.
She made it passed the stages of catty women in scrubs.
Her peers saw how talented she was, they respected her skill and the dedication she put into her patients.
If they found out that Dr. Johnson’s dick had been in her mouth, they’d suddenly become blind to all of her hard work that they witnessed themselves.
DONTRAE’S TOWNHOUSE | 2:12 P.M.
Jakia nervously knocked at Dontrae’s door. She dropped Khyell off at Henni’s house. Though Khy was familiar with Dontrae, she didn’t need him repeating that he’d been there with her. The less he was able to tell Tina, the better.
Dontrae opened the door and Carmell all but jumped out of her arms. Lip poked out, he cried for his father to pick him up. Eyes tightly shut, crying too, Dontrae rubbed his son’s back until he settled.
“Hey, daddy man. I missed you,” Dontrae spoke lowly in Carmell’s ear.
Guilt rumbled the lower parts of Jakia’s stomach. Carmell couldn’t speak for himself. It was clear that he missed his father. Keyona made sure he knew who his dad was. She just forgot to tell everyone else.
Dontrae nodded his head for Jakia to follow him inside. Immediately she was hit with Keyona’s perfume. Carmell lifted his head from his father’s shoulder and looked around wildly. There was no way to tell, but they both assumed he was looking around for his mother.
“I spray her perfume on random shit every day before I leave. I don’t know why, honestly. I guess I like torturing myself. I come in the house after a long day, and it feels like she was here and I just missed her.”
“We do what we have to do to get to tomorrow,” Jakia shared.
“You thirsty? Hungry?”
“Nah, I’m ard.”
“Cool.” Dontrae led the way into the blueish-gray painted room.
So many of her questions were answered on just the walk to the living room. What was missing from Keyona’s apartment was in Dontrae’s townhouse.
“Y’all were moving in together?” She lifted Key’s brown cow throw from the large sectional.
She took a long inhale, taking a seat on the couch.
“We were almost done,” he told her.
Jakia couldn’t hold back her smile. Your people pass on and you think you’ll never share good times with them again. Sitting in the center of the plans Keyona made, it felt good.
“So, she didn’t plan to go out like that?” Jakia caught herself crying. She pressed her pointer finger against her eyelid.
“Was it a goal? Nah. At the same time though, she wasn’t taking no for an answer. To be with Boom, she had to be with Tina, too. She was forced to be a different person to survive the Turners. She had her mind made up that she was done with the cage. Said she felt free with me.”
“You don’t know what you’re doing for me right now. I thought she abandoned me.” Jakia wiped her eyes dry.
“Key woulda never.” He shook his head before he downed his bottled water. “She loved you.”
“You know, Key didn’t tell me anything about you. Knowing that she felt free to be who she wanted to be with you, I know she loved you, too,” Jakia said with confidence.
Dontrae was allowing her to see another side of her sister. Her vulnerability was showing itself in his words. How he saw her. Nothing would make her miss her sister less. She was supposed to be on this side of the dirt. It did knock a little pain off to know that Keyona found her person.
Not only that, it confirmed that Hussein was her person; if for nothing more than the way she could be vulnerable with him.
It amplified her hesitancy just the same.
She wanted to tell him everything, her dreams, her failures, the shit that kept her up at night.
A sour taste filled her mouth as she realized she’d never be able to because he’d take it all back to Tina.
It’d be the two of them against the world, only if Tina wasn’t a part of that world.
BALTIMORE BOOKINGS | 2:12 P.M.
The younger officer stared at Hussein who was looking through him. He was in his head. Even in his death, Hussein defended Boom. Tina cancelled his funeral and he was the only one with the balls to tell her she was fucked up.
Replaying moments between him and Boom, he was trying to find the one that did it. The one that made him say fuck the family, fuck Keyona and fuck him.
A few weeks ago, Hussein beat Boom’s ass at the end of one of his dog fights. The entire crowd wasn’t around but there were a few stragglers that witnessed it. Though they watched Boom get his ass whipped, they weren’t bold enough to spread the word. Still, the damage was done.
Hussein remembered the way Boom looked at him that night. Blood in his mouth, he pointed his gun in his face. It wasn’t the first time. Boom’s emotions always got the better of him. No one could stop him from flying off the handle except Sabrina Turner.
Hussein assumed that’s why he never pulled the trigger on him. Boom loved Hussein’s mother too much.
A few months prior, Hussein had beat his ass for joyriding in a car from the junk yard. Those cars were specifically brought in to be destroyed. He took it on a ride, got pulled over and almost got the client jammed up. Hussein wished it didn’t have to be him, but who else was going to do it?
Boom did stupid shit and somebody had to hold him accountable. Tina and Senior would’ve done worse. Now, Hussein was sitting in an interrogation room for disciplining his big cousin. He wondered what other info he gave the police.
“Bet you’re wondering how we know that, huh?” Holt broke the silence.
“I’m wondering why y’all still talking to me. I want my lawyer,” Hussein said, calmly.
“We’re just talking, no need to get lawyers involved.” Sam reasoned. “How about this, you tell us why you did it, and we’ll tell you who placed you at the scene.”
“Whoever placed me at the scene can say it in front of a jury of twelve.” Hussein smirked knowing a dead man couldn’t take the stand.
“We’re not fucking playing with you!” Holt slammed his hand on the table in front of Hussein.
“Finally, we agree on something. I’m not playing with you bitches either. I want my lawyer.”
“Motherfucker!” Holt screamed in his face, his pale skin beginning to redden with frustration.
“Take a break, Holt!” Sam stood from his seat pointing to the door. When the door shut behind him, he tried to reason with Hussein.
ONISHA’S APARTMENT | 2:12 P.M.
“Did Boom know you were pregnant?” Prissy asked Nisha.