Trife Life To Lavish Part 2 Genesis & Genevieve...Am I My Brother's Keeper (28 page)

"I'ma need you to hand her over."

Renny looked up at Arnez who was now standing a
few feet away with his gun pointed at him. "Arnez, what the
fuck are you doing?"

"All I want you to do is hand Nichelle over and then
you can go about your business."

"She is my business."

"Not anymore. This is bigger than some ex-boyfriend/
girlfriend shit y'all have going on. This is business, Renny.
You understand that."

"Yo, this fuckin' obsession you have with her brother
has destroyed you. Let the shit go!"

"I can't do that. Genesis will be dealt with so I need
you to hand me over his sister," Arnez continued not letting
up on the solid grip he had on his gun. "You my favorite
cousin. . .1 love you, man, but I need you to get out the way
so I can handle my business."

"You would kill your own blood for that bullshit you
got going on wit' that nigga!"

"It's not personal," Arnez smiled and shrugged his
shoulders as if to lighten the mood.

"Fuck you then." Without warning, Renny reached in
the back of his pants for his gat and lit Arnez's ass up.
Without giving it a second thought, he lifted Nichelle off
the ground and laid her down gently in the back seat. Renny
drove off leaving his cousin for dead like he was a piece of
disposable trash.

Nichelle woke up and the first person she laid eyes on was
Renny. He was at Nichelle's bedside holding her hand.
"Where am I?"

"At my place. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay but my head hurts."

"Yeah, you have a little bump. The doctor said you
have a minor concussion and would be in some pain."

"I saw a doctor, did I go to the hospital?"

"No, I had the doctor come see you here. He gave you
a full check-up and left you some medication. You're gonna
be fine."

"Thank you for taking care of me."

"You don't have to thank me. If anything I should be
asking for your forgiveness."

"I do forgive you. You know what happened to Tierra
don't you?"

"Yes," Renny answered somberly.

"I hope before she died she knew that I forgave her too."

"Tierra knew how much you loved her."

"Before she died she asked me to take care of Elijah
for her."

"How do you feel about that?"

"The question is how would you feel? He is your son."

"Nichelle, you've been through so much and a great
deal of that is my fault. I don't want you to do anything
you're not comfortable with."

"Elijah deserves to have a mother that loves him.
Besides Tierra, I don't think another woman could love
him as much as I would."

"You're amazing. I know I don't deserve to have you
in my life but I can't let you go-I won't."

"You don't have to. If it wasn't for you Arnez would've
taken me and I'd be dead. Whatever happened in the
past, that's where it's gonna stay. But I do need you to do
something for me."

"Tell me. Whatever it is, I'll make it happen."

"Get in touch with my brother."

"Nichelle, I wasn't lying when I told you I didn't know
where Genesis was."

"I found him. I know exactly where he is. Call this
number, he'll get you in contact with my brother."

"T-Roc, I don't know how much more of this I can
take. We keep hitting one dead end after another. Veronica
is dead, so even if she knew something she can't tell us.
Delondo is going to pull through but I doubt he knows where Arnez has Nichelle. This shit is driving me crazy!"

"I know but times like this, it's important to remain
calm."

"Do you think Nichelle is still alive?"

"Honestly, I hope so but when you're dealing with a
deranged individual like Arnez it can go either way."

"You right and that's what's eating me up inside.
If I lose another person at the hands of Arnez, I don't
know what will become of me."

"Don't talk like that," T-Roc said putting his hand
on Genesis' shoulder. "We'll get through this." Both
men looked up when they heard a huffing Akil scurrying
through the door.

"Man, you a'ight." Genesis was used to seeing Akil
polished and unruffled. The haggard vibe he was giving
off had him concerned.

"I just a received a call. Nichelle's been found."

"Is she alive?" Genesis stood up and swallowed
hard. He was scared at what the answer might be.

"Yes, she is," Akil beamed, "and, Genesis, she's
asked to see you."

When Genesis, T-Roc and Akil drove up the townhouse on
the water front property there was an unspoken allegiance
between the men. They had all shared in the search for
Nichelle and now they celebrated in her survival.

"Are you going to knock on the door or what," T-Roc
said playfully, sensing Genesis' nervousness. But he didn't
have to because the door opened.

"I saw y'all pull up. Come on in, I'm Renny."

"I'm Genesis. This is T-Roc and Akil, who you spoke
with on the phone. Thank you for calling."

"Don't thank me. Nichelle was adamant that I got in
contact with you. All she's been saying is that she wants to
see her brother."

The biggest smile crossed Genesis' face and it spread
like it was contagious because the other men couldn't help
but smile too.

"She's upstairs, the second bedroom on the left."
Genesis followed Renny's directions and when he got to
the bedroom he paused for a second before going in.

Nichelle scooted her still aching body up straight in
the bed when she saw Genesis standing in the doorway. A
smile and tears hit her face at the same time. "My brother,
I've finally found my brother."

"Oh, Genevieve," Genesis sighed. I didn't know
if I would ever see you again. Is it okay that I call you
Genevieve?"

"You can call me whatever you like as long as you put
sister somewhere in there."

"How are you, did Arnez hurt you? I put it on
everything that he will pay for what he did to you."

"I'm fine and calm down. You don't have to worry.
Arnez will never hurt anybody again."

"Why, what happened?"

"He's dead."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"How did he die?"

"You promise you won't say anything?"

"Of course. One thing you don't ever have to worry
about, what's between us and what we share will always
remain between us."

"Renny saved my life and in the process he killed his
cousin.

"Renny and Arnez are cousins?"

"Yes."

"Renny must love you a lot to kill his cousin for you.
That should've been me saving your life."

"You have. When I lost our mother..."

"Our mother is dead?" Genesis asked cutting Nichelle
off.

"Yes. Arnez was responsible for that too. Right before
she died is when she told me about you."

"What? So all these years you never knew you had a
brother?"

"No. When I was little our mother accidentally killed
the man I thought was my father. We had to leave North
Carolina so she wouldn't go to jail. We changed our names
and got new identities. We cut off everybody from our past.
But before she died, she wanted me to know about you and
find you. She said you would protect me."

"This is all so much. But it makes sense and explains
why I could never locate you all."

"But with everything that was going on with me I
never gave up hope that I would find you. Then that night
at the party when you told me your name was Genesis
Taylor. I knew God answered prayers."

"I felt this connection to you and I couldn't figure out why and then it hit me. Once it did, there was nothing that
could shake me believing you were my sister. We have so
much time to make up for. I want you to move in with me."

"Genesis, stop it," Nichelle laughed.

"I'm serious. I want to spend every day and night
with you. Getting to know you, your favorite food, movie,
music ... everything."

"You're so sweet. You're going to be like the best
brother ever."

"Nichelle, don't cry."

"I'm trying not to," she sniffled. "But I've lost so
much but finding you makes up for all of it." Genesis
reached over and held his sister so tightly. He loved her.
He didn't know it was possible to love someone so much
that he barely even knew