A Street Girl Named Desire: A Novel (34 page)

Desire and Tiah got to Junior's Restaurant in Brooklyn at about four thirty that evening. They walked to the rear of the restaurant and spotted the Camera Man.

“You got the money?” he asked.

Desire nodded. Tiah looked in her purse and pulled out an envelope.

“You got the tape?” Desire asked.

He reached inside his overcoat and tossed them a large, folded manila envelope. Desire attempted to grab the envelope, but the Camera Man grabbed her.

“That there is like opening Pandora's box. You sure you know what you're doing? You ain't fuckin' with no busboy You make enemies with a person like Whip, and you got an enemy for life. If you fuck this up, and it gets back to me, you fucking with my life.”

Annette Burwell sat inside the sauna of an upscale salon and spa located in SoHo, when Tiah and Nika walked in.

“So what is it you do again?” asked Tiah, in the most pretentious voice she could conjure.

“Well,” said Nika, “I'm the choir director of the VRC Mass Choir.”

“Oh, yes, I've heard of you,” Tiah said. “Your choir sings at all those celebrity weddings.”

Annette lifted her towel off her head and peeked at the two women.

“So at whose wedding are you guys scheduled next?” asked Tiah.

The older woman blushed and said, “Well, I'm not at liberty to discuss my clients' business.”

“Aw, come on, this is just between us two. I won't say anything.”

Annette immediately pulled the towel back over her head to feign disinterest.

“Well, let's see,” Mrs. Avery said as she lowered her voice. “I have Donald and his new bride in September; Russell and Kimora plan to renew their vows in October; and you won't believe this one…”

Annette snatched the towel off her head and introduced herself.

Hundreds of cameras and media personalities from MTV were on hand to cover one of the biggest prewedding extravaganzas in the history of the sporting and entertainment world.

Never one to miss out on a dollar, Whip negotiated a deal with a television network to make the events leading up to the wedding and the ceremony itself into a reality show. The contract entailed exclusive, unlimited filming rights. They hinted to Whip that the more cinematic drama involved in the show, the higher the ratings. This suited Whip Daniels just fine, as he had something
in store for the bitch of a bride who had been complaining about her deal with his record company.

The guests were having a good time at the gala. It was difficult for the waitstaff to get them seated for their five-course meal. When everyone was finally in their proper place, Whip stood and tapped his champagne glass. The room grew quiet and attentive as the guests turned their attention toward the long table where the bride, groom and their parents sat.

“At this moment, I'd like to propose a toast to the lovely bride and groom. I hold these two people dear in my heart. They are the most loving and perfect couple that I have ever had the privilege to meet. They are truly meant to be.” Whip hugged his wife, who stood next to him. “May their marriage have the same love and happiness that I've enjoyed for eighteen years now.”

Everyone in the audience melted as he and his wife kissed each other tenderly. Whip pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped a crocodile tear from his eye.

“I'm also happy to announce that I and the staff at Central Booking Records have put together a video collage for the couple, from their climb to prominence to their journey into marital bliss. Of course, none of this could have been possible or more interesting without the help of their parents, who provided us with some never-before-seen and magnificent footage of when they both were preschoolers.”

Carvelas's company was providing the technical support for the event. They were busy rigging up the lighting and sound systems. Carvelas himself was inside the technical booth, working feverishly to ensure that every wire, switch, and computer feed was operating properly.

After dinner, everyone anticipated the grand finale as the choir made their way to the stage. Above them hung a giant fifty-foot television monitor. Nika raised her hands slowly. The heavenly voices from the sopranos led, followed by the altos and tenors. The gospel hymns blended perfectly, and suddenly a powerful lead voice filtered through the speakers. As the unseen vocalist continued to sing, everyone clapped and nodded their pleasure at the divine angel's voice. A spotlight suddenly came on as the lead singer walked onto the stage. She wore a gown that resembled a Buddhist monks, with a hood that hung completely over her face. She stopped directly in front of the bride and groom's table just as she completed the song. The crowd gave her a standing ovation. There was an eerie silence before the vocalist raised the microphone to her mouth and sang in a capella, “
God, don't like ugly, He's gonna make you pay, for what you have done to me, can't you see
…” In unison, the rest of the choir joined in the song. One by one, they walked off the stage, leaving behind the robed singer, who began to preach.

“Matthew 5:39 states, for your greatest enemies turn thy cheek. That was my grandmother Hattie Mae's favorite passage. But my favorite passage in the Bible is Romans 12:19, which states, ‘Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me. Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.’” That was Car-velas's cue.

The mammoth television monitor came on, to the start of Annette's music video. “
In life, the dirt you dish out to others has a funny way of coming back to you … It's called KARMA!
”

Carvelas hit another switch and the video was replaced with a
picture of Desire. The words underneath the photo read: “But when you mess with me, it's called
you done fucked up!
”

Desire lifted the hood off her head. Whip and Sterling stared at her in horror. However, their eyes were stolen away by the images on the large monitor before them. Whip's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as he stared at himself on the screen in his underwear with a bedsheet tied around his neck. He was jumping on the bed yelling, “I'm Batman, I'm Batman.”

“Turn it off,” Whip screamed as he pointed at the screen.

The homemade movie continued. “Robin, where are you? Robin I want you to go in my bat hole!” Sterling Rivers came out of the bathroom wearing a supertight pair of red hot pants and high heels. “I think I can fill that order, Batman.” They chased each other around the room, giggling and groping each other.

Sterling sat in his seat, defeated. His fiancée began crying and hitting him. Several cameramen took close up shots as reporters closed in for the inside scoop.

O
ne year later, life was just beginning to get back to normal when Desire started receiving threatening phone calls. At first Desire and her mother paid them no mind, until two New York City detectives showed up at their door.

“What is this about?” Desire asked, worried that some long-forgotten part of her past had come back to haunt her.

One of the detectives, a tall, gruff-looking man, responded, “I'm Detective McCarthy and this is my partner, Detective Byrnes. Mrs. Evans, have you come in contact with one Lucious Jackson?”

Desire froze at the mention of the name.

Seeing the fear in her daughter's eyes, Mrs. Avery asked, “Desire, what's wrong? Who's Lucious Jackson?”

Detective Byrnes interrupted, “Ms. Evans, we understand you were a victim of Mr. Jackson on an attempted murder charge several years ago. You may know him by his street name— Lyfe?”

Hearing his name sent chills down Desire's spine. He was the one person that she ever feared because he got into her mind. Desire looked into the detective's eyes and nodded slowly.

“Mr. Jackson was paroled two weeks ago,” Detective McCarthy said. He was silent for a moment before he continued. “Three days ago his codefendant who had signed a statement implicating him in your case was found murdered. We found evidence at the scene implicating Mr. Jackson and got a warrant for his arrest. We went to his last known address and found a picture of you with the words ‘d
IE
b
ITCH
’ written across it.”

Desire's heart started beating wildly. She knew what Lyfe was capable of.

“We also found a piece of paper in one of his coat pockets with your telephone number and address written on it. We can't locate him, but what we can do is take you downtown where you can fill out an order of protection.”

“That won't stop him,” Desire said, resigned to her fate.

“That's the best we can do.”

“I'll have to think about it, detectives. I'm not sure what I'm going to do.”

“Look, here are our cards,” Detective Byrnes said, holding out the cards. Desire simply stood there, while her mother reached out and took them. “Call us if you hear anything.”

Desire and her mother called the detectives daily to find out if Lyfe had been apprehended, but each time were told that there wasn't any progress on the case. After several weeks, Desire's anxiety faded and life once again returned to normal.

One evening, on her way home from a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, Desire called Tiah on her cell phone. “Where you at, Tiah? You were supposed to meet me at the meeting so we could look at my new apartment in Brooklyn.”

“I know,” said Tiah, but I got caught in rush-hour traffic. I'm ten minutes away. Get dressed so that when I get there we can bounce.”

Desire sucked her teeth and teased her sister. “Now you rushing me?”

“Naw, I'm just tired, so meet me in front of your building in ten minutes, aiight?”

Desire smiled and said, “Aiight.”

Inside her mother's building, Desire got off the elevator and fished through her purse for her keys. When she got to the apartment door she noticed it was ajar. Her first reaction was to run back to the elevator to get help, but all she could think of was her mother in the apartment. She slowly opened the door, peeked in, and called out to her mother. She eased slowly into the apartment, paused, and listened for any signs of movement. Hearing none, she proceeded to her mother's bedroom and opened the door. When she looked around the bedroom she noticed her mother's pocketbook and keys lying on the dresser. She suddenly heard the toilet flush.

Desire closed her eyes in relief. She walked out the bedroom, stood by the bathroom door and shouted, “Ma, why you didn't
answer me when I called out? You scared me to death!” Desire tapped on the door and repeated, “Ma, you hear me?”

The toilet flushed again.

Fearing something wasn't right, she opened the door. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw her mother gagged and bound sitting on the toilet. Desire froze as she stared in her mother's terror-filled eyes. Nika mumbled through the masking tape that secured her mouth, snapping Desire out of her momentary paralysis. Desire's hands trembled as she removed the gag from her mother's mouth.

Nika took in a deep breath of air as she gasped, “He was here, Desire, and he said he's coming back for you.”