Authors: Michael Lewis
“So what do
you think?”
“Well the
most important thing is that he is alive and we love him. It doesn’t matter
what he looks like.” Zeke replied.
“Yeah that’s
the important thing.” I said.
Alton held
his head down sadly. I quickly grabbed both sides of his face. I kissed his
forehead first, then his cheeks, his nose, and finally his succulent, full,
beautiful lips. As I kissed him, Zeke grabbed a handheld mirror.
“You are
beautiful to me, Alton.” I said as Zeke handed me the mirror.
I slowly held
the mirror up to Alton’s face so he could see what he looked like.
“Thank you
God! Thank you God!” he exclaimed. Man y’all scared the mess out of me with all
that ‘it doesn’t matter what I look like’ crap. That’s stuff you say when you
don’t want somebody to feel so bad about being jacked up!”
“Daddy!”
Paige said after recognizing her father without the bandages.
When she held
her arms out to him, I saw so much love for his daughter in his eyes.
Alton was his
same handsome, beautiful self.
Eight
Alton Allen
Nadiah did
what I hoped she would never do, she pushed me to the point of hating her. When
I filed for my divorce I made it clear I didn’t want to waste time. I paid
extra to have things expedited. I’d already separated my money and she only had
access to what I gave her. Damned if I was going to be mistreated, almost
murdered, then turn around and pay for her legal representation to try and
clean me out. Had she not spent all her money on clothes and bullshit then she
would have had some money. That’s what she was supposed to be working for but
she spent that and the allowance I gave her in addition every month, all on
herself and Ingrid.
She stupidly
tried to pull the alimony card. Nadia had an MBA from Berkley so it wasn’t like
she couldn’t support herself. Getting alimony was a long shot. I also expected
her to try to get Paige since she was a ticket to child support payments. My
daughter wouldn’t be a pawn in Nadiah’s game against me. The pattern of her
reckless and irresponsible behavior was well documented. I also had all of my
hospital bills, discharge forms, and police reports to show her history of
violence as well.
Just like
clockwork, she showed up at my mother’s house to pick up Paige. My mother
called me and said Nadiah was there acting a “plum fool” so I rushed over to
see what was going on. She was standing outside my mother’s house screaming at
the top of her lungs that my mother had kidnapped her child in an obvious
attempt to embarrass my mother into giving her Paige. She should have known
better. When I got there my mom was about 2 seconds off Nadiah’s ass because
she doesn’t play.
Zeke and Jazz
met me at my mom’s house. When I got out of the car Nadiah rushed up to me. Not
knowing what she was about to do, I took a defense pose. Ingrid who’d been
sitting in the car, jumped out at that point.
“So you two
think you are going to double team me? Remember what happened last time. Nadiah
take your ass home. You know I don’t play when it comes to my mother.”
“Fuck you.
You think you can put me out of my house and divorce me and I’m gonna just sit
and take it?”
“I did, I
can, and you will take it. You don’t have any other choice.”
“Nadiah ran
to my mother’s door and started beating on it like a madwoman. Open up this
door bitch! I’ll break this door down if I have to.”
No one calls my
mother a bitch! Though my mother couldn’t stand Nadiah, she was always nice to
her because of me. Nadiah had no cause to insult her like that.
“Nadiah, you
need to leave before you get hurt.”
“You ain’t
gonna hurt shit. I don’t know what I saw in you in the first place, you wuss.”
“Okay, I’ll
be a wuss but you need to get the hell off my family’s property.”
All of a
sudden Nadiah kicked my right leg and started punching and clawing at me. All I
could think about was how I felt in that burning truck as my life flashed
before my eyes. Before I knew it, I’d grabbed her by the head, picked her up,
and started shaking her. Ingrid made a motion to come to her aid, but thought
twice about it. I threw her into the yard just as the police turned the corner.
The officer
walked up and asked what was going on. Nadiah lied and said that I’d punched
her in the face and that my mother was holding Paige hostage. While she was
telling her exaggerated lies, the officer calmly cuffed her not me.
“What are you
doing? What is this?”
“Ma’am, if
he’d punched you you’d have a mark somewhere. The witnesses said you attacked
him. He is the one whose face is all scratched up. You have been told
repeatedly to leave the premises. I am taking you in for trespassing,
disturbing the peace, and domestic abuse.”
“Alton don’t
let them take me, say something!”
“Officer
please drive fast as you can, pass go, and don’t stop!”
“Alton how
can you let this happen?”
“Nadiah go to
hell! I said as I turned and walked away.”
Ingrid shook
her head, got in her car, and drove off before the police had even left with
Nadiah. That gesture spoke volumes.
The next
morning was the court hearing for our divorce. They brought her to court in a
bright, orange jail-issued jumpsuit. Just looking at her almost made my case.
She hired Gail Milam, who has a reputation as one of Atlanta’s most vicious
divorce attorneys. I would have been concerned, but I hired Richard Moss,
Atlanta’s MOST vicious divorce attorney.
It was only
day one and I could see that Nadiah was going to try and play dirty. Her
attorney tried to paint a picture of Nadiah as a neglected wife and insinuate
that I’d been having an affair. My lawyer proved the opposite by introducing 2
love letters I found written to Ingrid.
The female
judge scolded her and her attorney about making a mockery of the judicial
process. She said they were trying to use her court to railroad an honest man.
All the evidence showed that Nadiah was nothing more than an adulterous snake
and a gold digger that made all women look bad. She called the lawyer’s case a
joke. She also blasted them for trying to paint Nadiah as neglected and
alienated in an attempt to play on the judge’s feminine sensitivity, and said
they should be ashamed of themselves.
After court I
went over to Zeke’s house.
“Hey cuz, how
was court?”
“They tried
to lie and the judge caught them and chewed both her and her lawyer’s asses
out. They looked so simple after being thoroughly embarrassed and exposed.”
“I would have
paid to see that. Good is always vindicated in the end. Jazz spoke to the
police today about your attack. He gave them the license plate number. They ran
the number and traced it to a car rental company. When they contacted the
rental office, guess who the car was rented to the day before?”
“Nadiah?”
“Close, it
was Ingrid and Nadiah was listed as an additional driver.”
“Now how dumb
was that?”
“Incredibly
dumb. They were still looking for Ingrid about 4 hours ago, so they may have
arrested her by now. I’ll check the website again.” Zeke said as he pecked away
on his laptop.
“They booked
her at 3:15 P.M. today. She is charged with attempted murder. Let me check
Nadiah too. Damn, they have her charged with attempted murder, arson, and
felony assault as of today. They added the charges to the domestic assault and
increased her bail. She was already in custody how convenient was that?”
“I don’t feel
the least bit sad. What if I’d died Zeke? Or what if I’d been burned and
disfigured in that fire? That’s all I keep thinking about. I was so scared in
that truck Zeke. I just kept thinking about my poor baby. I’m all she’s got.”
“I was scared
too. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you Alton. I tell you
I love you all the time Alton, but I mean it, I love you so much. I’ve never
been without you. I told you I felt an eerie feeling about you getting in that
truck.”
“We are
cousins, but as far as I’m concerned we are brothers. I love you too Zeke. You
don’t ever have to worry about me not listening to you again. Where is Jazz?”
“I don’t know.
He didn’t say where he was going.”
“Things are
okay with you two, huh?”
“He has been
touchy since he got arrested.”
“Arrested?”
“When he
chased Ingrid and Nadiah he got pulled over. Luckily it was after he got the
license number. That’s not the bad part though.”
“What
happened?”
“Jamal pulled
him over. He only did it because he is mad and wants me back.”
“That’s a
bitch move. He needs to let it go.”
“He charged
him with assaulting an officer, speeding, resisting arrest, which are all bogus
charges.”
“What is
wrong with him? He could lose his job.”
“He needs to
if that’s the kind of officer he is going to be.”
“Have you
talked to Rachel?”
“Yes, she is
on her way over here. She had to go move her things out of the house.”
“Elias isn’t
there is he?”
“The police
went with her.”
“Okay.”
About an hour
later, Rachel came over to Zeke’s.
“Rachel I’ve
been thinking about something and trying to figure out how to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“Are you sure
you’re done with Elias?”
“I am certain
after what he did to me. Things were heading downhill anyway. I filed for my
divorce last week. I don’t even want anything. Our money is separate, plus I
have some bonds and CD’s in a secret account. If he wants to pay me out of the
house fine, if not he can have it, I really don’t care. I just want to end that
marriage quickly so I can move on with my life.”
“I’ve filed
for my divorce as well. After catching her and Ingrid together in my own bed,
that image comes to mind every time I see her.”
“You caught
them?”
“Yes, the
night Elias attacked you. When I went home, I went in the room and they didn’t
even see me. I put them out buck naked at gunpoint and gave them five minutes
to get out. Nadiah thought she was gonna drive off in the $100,000 custom XLR I
bought. She hopped in and I took a sledgehammer to all of the windows and shot
the tires out. When they were still there after 25 minutes, I took the
sledgehammer to Ingrid’s car. She tried to back out with me standing on the
hood I guess my anger gave me superhero power because at the last second I
jumped up and caught on to a ceiling beam.”
“Oh my God.
It sounds like pure chaos went down.”
“So it’s just
me and Paige in that big house all alone. Rachel, I really want to be with you
if you still want me. I love you Rachel. You are my blessing, I know because
you make my spirit happy. These things happened for a reason.”
“Alton I
haven’t been able to think about anything but you. I love you too. I accept the
offer.”
When Rachel moved
in I felt like a kid on Christmas. After all those years of being in a loveless
marriage working and praying in vain to have my love reciprocated, I was
finally with someone who I knew genuinely cared about me and appreciated me.
When we look at each other our smiles show a happiness that is boundless. God
was listening all along.
Ezekiel
After finding
out what Jamal had done, I intended for him to set things straight and fast, so
I called him.
“Jamal we
need to talk.”
“Okay, I’ll
come thru when I get off work.”
The more I
thought about what he’d done to Jazz, the more upset I got. When he arrived I
felt like punching him in the face.
“What’s up?”
“You know
damn well what this is about. What you did to Jazz was wrong. Furthermore, he
was trying to catch someone who tried to kill my cousin. Luckily he got the
license number before you pulled your little bitch fit.”
“What are you
talking about?”
“Someone
threw a Molotov cocktail into Alton’s truck and Jazz went after them. That’s
what he was doing when you stopped him.”
“I’m sorry,
just doing my job.”
Your job is
to harass people and make up bogus charges?”
“Okay, I’ll
admit I can’t stand the thought of you being with someone else. You called me
by his name Zeke!”
“You have no
right to be salty. I never pressured you to say you loved me. You told that lie
on your own. Betraying me with my friend I can’t forgive. I deserved better
than that and damn it I’m mad about it. All that time with you was wasted!”
“Zeke I told
you I was sorry and I was drunk. What else do you want me to do? I did love you
Zeke and I still do. I messed up, but…”
“Jamal you
just don’t get it. Not once have you said ‘Zeke, I’m sorry I hurt you.’ You
always apologize and then say ‘but’. There is no ‘but’ after an apology. When
you say ‘but’ it makes the apology conditional. It means you are only sorry if
I accept your justification. When you say ‘but’ it’s an excuse. Obviously you
and I wanted different things and I am fine with that.”
“Like I said
I was doing my job. If you want me to get the charges against your little thug
boyfriend dropped you’re gonna do something for me.”
“Something
like what?”
“Let me hit
that one more time for old time sake and I’ll fix your little boyfriend’s
problem. It’s real simple.”
“Go straight
to hell Jamal. Get your trifling ass out of my house.”
“Not so
quick, I didn’t come over here to say ‘hi’ and leave.”
“You will
Ne-ver touch me again.”
“The last
time you were with me you called out his name. I’m gonna make you call my name
this time. You’re gonna scream it! What? You gonna call the police? I am the
fucking police. You know you still want me so stop playing.”