Spin it Like That (16 page)

It seemed to take Daddy forever, but he finally came and got Derrick's car started. He offered to pick us up something to eat, so after making sure I made it home safely, he drove off.

When I saw Mama's car in the driveway, I couldn't help but smile. I realized she was right: we had to keep on living.

“Mama,” I called, walking through the front door. I headed to the den, where I heard the television. “Mama.”

She still didn't answer, so I figured she was in the bathroom. I was just about to head toward the back of the house when I noticed Mama sitting in a chair in the corner.

“Hey,” I said, stepping into the room.

It took me a second to process that her mouth was covered with duct tape and her hands were tied behind her back.

“Mama,” I said, rushing over to her, but before I could make it, a man stepped out of nowhere and pointed a gun at her head.

I
just knew I had to be dreaming. I shook myself, praying that I would wake up to find that the last couple of months had been a dream, but when I felt myself being forced onto our sofa so I was facing Mama, I knew this was a nightmare come to life.

“You okay, Mama?” I asked.

“Shut up!” the man yelled.

I quickly did what he said, but I stared at Mama, silently communicating my question.

She nodded, which made me feel a little better.

We sat there in silence for the longest time in the dark, and I tried my best to make out the man's features. Something about him seemed really familiar, but I wasn't sure who he was.

It finally occurred to me that Daddy should be home any second, which kind of scared me. I didn't want this man hurting my parents.

When I finally heard Daddy's key in the lock, I breathed a sigh of relief. The guy hadn't bothered to tie me up, and I thought about running, but I figured he'd shoot me before I even made it to the door, so I called out instead.

“Daddy, help!” I yelled.

I guess something in my voice let him know I was serious. By the time he made it to the den, the man was standing over me with the gun pointed at my head. For some reason, I wasn't scared. Actually, the thought of seeing my brother again brought me some peace.

Daddy took in the scene pretty quickly and held up his hands.

“Man, you can take whatever you want. Just don't hurt my family,” he said, slowly making his way into the room.

The guy just gave this weird laugh and shook his head.

“Your family has been hurting me for years,” he said.

That was the most he had said since I had walked into the house, and it finally hit me where I knew the voice from.

“Ron?” I asked.

He quickly looked at me. Realizing his cover was blown, he walked over and switched on the light, then pulled off his black skull cap.

“Chubby?” Daddy said. “Man, what are you doing?”

“What does it look like I'm doing?” he said. “I'm sick and tired of your family messing things up for me.”

I looked back and forth from Ron to Daddy. “You know each other?” I asked.

Ron snorted. “I guess you can call it that.”

I looked at Mama and saw recognition in her eyes, too.

She tried to say something, but the tape was still covering her mouth.

Ron walked over and snatched it off, and Mama screamed in pain. Daddy took that chance to rush him, and he was able to tackle Ron to the ground and begin punching him. I had never seen Daddy so angry, and I watched in fascination for a few seconds before it occurred to me to call 911.

The operator had just taken my information when Ron managed to flip Daddy over and stand over him with the trigger cocked.

Without thinking, I threw down the phone and raced over. “Why are you doing this?” I yelled.

My question stopped him, and he turned to me. “Because once again the Richardson family is about to mess up my career.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“First your mother ruined my career years ago when she talked your daddy out of the deal I set up. Then your brother messed things up when he told you not to sign with DC. I thought I could just get rid of him and that would get you back in line, but no, you still decide you don't want to show up for sessions. Do you know how much money we've lost on you?”

I stared at him, my mouth wide open. “You killed my brother?” I asked softly.

“You're right I killed him, just like I'm about to kill your pathetic parents. You guys make me sick. Your father and I were going to be famous years ago, but your mother had to get pregnant. It's all your brother's fault that I didn't get my record deal.”

We all just stood there staring at him, but it was like he didn't see us. He was sweating, and his eyes were wide.

“I hate this family!” he screamed. “I want you all dead. Do you know I'm about to lose my job because of you? If I don't get Jasmine into the studio tonight, I won't have a job tomorrow. Do you know how long I've been working to build my career?” he asked, but none of us bothered to respond. “Do you?

“You know what? I'm just going to have to show you, because you guys think I'm playing with you.” He cocked the trigger again and began swinging the gun wildly. Daddy and I backed up, but Mama was still tied to the chair and couldn't move.

Ron swung to face her.

“I can't stand you. You knew I loved you, Pat, and you went ahead and married this fool anyway. You knew how I felt about you. Then you had the nerve to get pregnant by him and have him mess up my career. Now that your son is dead, have you been hurting the way you hurt me?”

Mama just looked at him as tears streamed down her face.

“What have you done?” she finally whispered.

“Yeah, it doesn't feel good, does it?” Ron said, smiling.

“Ron,” Mama said, and she looked at the floor like she was searching for the words.

“Patricia,” Daddy said in that warning tone he saved for the times when we'd better do what he said.

“No, baby. It's past time he knows,” she said.

“Pat, don't you see this man is crazy? That's the reason you didn't tell him then,” Daddy said.

A look of calm came over Mama's face. “It's time,” she said, just as we heard the police sirens.

“What are you guys talking about?” Ron said.

Mama took a deep breath. “Derrick was your son.”

Ron was still stunned as police led him away in handcuffs, but his shock didn't have anything on mine.

After the officers questioned us, we sat around in silence for what seemed like forever. It wasn't until the phone started beeping that I realized it was off the hook, so I replaced it and then turned to Mama.

“Were you ever planning on saying anything?” I asked quietly.

She just shook her head.

“So all this stuff about Daddy quitting the band to take care of you and Derrick, that wasn't true?”

I looked back and forth between my parents, and finally Daddy said, “It's true. I loved your mother long before she hooked up with Chubby. Around the time she found out she was pregnant, we realized Chubby was crazy, and she decided she didn't want to have anything to do with him. When he cheated me out of some money, I knew it was time to go. Your mother and I talked, and we agreed to get married and raise Derrick together. We didn't want any interference from Chubby—Ron.”

I didn't know what to say.

“Look,” Daddy said, “as far as I'm concerned, Derrick is my son. I was there from the minute he was born, and I've been there every step of the way. Just because he's not mine biologically doesn't mean anything to me.”

“Am I yours?” I asked quietly.

My parents just looked at me.

“What kind of stupid question is that?” Mama asked. “Of course he's your father.”

“How am I supposed to know what the truth is anymore?” I shouted. “You guys have been lying to us for years.”

“Speaking of lying,” Daddy said, “is there something you want to tell us?”

It took me a few seconds to figure out what he was talking about.

“I was going to tell you about the record deal,” I said, “but then Derrick was killed, and well, I just never got around to it.”

Daddy just took a deep breath and sighed. “How many albums is it for?”

“Five,” I said.

“Are you crazy?” he shouted. “Why would you sign that type of deal?”

“Because they were the only ones offering it,” I yelled right back.

Daddy ignored my tone. “What are the terms of the agreement?” he asked, running his hand down his face.

“I'm not sure,” I said.

“Where's the contract?”

I tried to remember, but I couldn't, so I shrugged.

“You need to call Henry,” Mama said softly.

“Don't worry about it,” I said. “I signed the deal, so I'll honor it.”

Mama ignored me. “Go call your brother,” she said.

Daddy left the room without saying another word.

Mama and I just sat in silence.

“We've made a real mess of things, huh?” she finally said.

I just nodded. Suddenly the events of the past few weeks got to me, and before I knew it, I was crying harder than I had ever cried in my life. Mama grabbed me and held on like she would never let me go, and I realized she was crying, too.

When Daddy came into the room, he took one look at us and grabbed us both.

“We're going to be okay,” he said, and I really believed him.

Once we finally settled down, Daddy said Uncle Henry wouldn't be able to come over until the next day, because he had some huge meeting that evening.

I slept in the bed with my parents again that night, and we stayed up talking about Derrick and trying to figure out what the future held.

The next morning when I woke up, the first thing I saw was the television broadcasting a picture of Ron being led to a courthouse.

Apparently, when I had called 911, our whole conversation had been recorded, so they had his confession of killing my brother on tape. The anchor also said that there was evidence that Ron had murdered Lenny the nightclub owner.

I just shook my head in amazement. I had never been so close to someone so evil.

I had just come out of the bathroom when the phone rang.

“Hello,” I said.

“You okay?” I couldn't help but smile at Kyle's concern.

“I'm fine,” I said. “Yesterday was crazy.”

“I'll be right over,” he said.

I started to protest, but I realized I really wanted to see him.

By the time Kyle arrived, reporters were standing around in our front yard and our phone was ringing off the hook. Mama and Daddy had decided to take the day off, and we were seriously thinking of unplugging the phone when it rang again. I glanced at the caller ID and saw T's number, and I answered more out of curiosity than anything.

“Hey,” he said. “I'm surprised you answered.”

“I'm surprised you called,” I said with an attitude.

“Look, I heard about what went down last night and about what Ron did to your brother. I just wanted you to know that I'm really sorry.”

“Why would you be sorry?” I asked.

“I feel like I'm partly to blame,” he said.

I looked around in confusion, and Kyle glanced at me, silently asking if everything was okay. I nodded.

“Why would you feel like you're to blame?” I asked slowly.

He paused for a minute. “Look, there's no easy way to say this,” he said. “The reason I started dating you is because DC asked me to get close to you—”

“What?” I said.

The alarm in my voice sent Kyle to my side.

“DC asked you to date me?”

“Yeah,” he said, “but once I got to know you, I really liked you.”

“So I was just a game to you?” I said, feeling hurt. “So the way we just clicked, that was just you messing with me?”

“Some of it was real, but most of it was because Loretta gave me some information about you,” he admitted.

“Loretta gave you information about me?” I repeated slowly.

“Yeah,” he said. “She met DC after that first show you were in, and he promised to help her get her modeling career off the ground if she helped him sign you.”

I sat down, stunned. I thought the day before had been full of surprises, but once again I found myself speechless.

“Look, I just wanted you to hear it from me. Loretta and I are going to kick it for a while. I didn't want you to be surprised if you saw pictures of us together.”

I laughed under my breath. “So are you just using her, too?”

“Nah,” he said quickly. “I've got nothing but love for her. I mean, she has her flaws, but she's a good person.”

“Yeah, she does have her flaws, with her
Finding Nemo
breasts,” I said, remembering the fish from the animated movie who had one fin smaller than the other. “You are really going to date a woman who has one breast bigger than the other? Those breast implants are jacked up.” I couldn't help but laugh as I remembered walking in on T and seeing Loretta's disproportionate breasts.

“DC's already taken care of that for her,” he said.

I hung up the phone and laughed so hard that I started crying. Kyle just stood there looking at me like I was crazy.

“You okay?” he finally asked.