You're My Little Secret 3 (10 page)

“Whatever
Brooklyn, your solution to every problem we have is to run from it. I didn’t
leave you when I found out that you were still talking to Kevin’s punk ass, but
you want to leave me behind some bullshit. I’m getting tired of always begging
you to be with me. If this is where you want to be, then cool. Me and my son
are going home.”

“Bye,” she
said like it was a done deal. I picked DJ up and left out of the room.

“You leaving?”
David asked as I bypassed everyone in the living room.

“What it
look like?” I replied with an attitude. He got up and followed me to my
apartment. I’m happy that he did because I really needed someone to talk to.

****

The next
morning David and I were at work before the sun even came up. After having the
locks changed throughout the office, we called up the security company to have
all of the passwords changed on our computers. We also had the codes to the
alarm system reset. Anything that Scott knew would be of no use to him now. He
usually came in before anyone
else,
and
that’s our reason for getting it done so early. David wants to get rid of him
early just in case he decides to make a scene in front of the other employees.
Just like me, my brother is hurt that one of our closest friends would do me
wrong like that. And just like me, he wanted to know why.

“I hope
this dude don’t make me knock him out up in here. He can say one thing I don’t
like,
and that’s just what’s going down,” I
told David.

“You won’t
get any complaints from me. I still can’t believe he did some hoe shit like
that. I told you it had to be somebody close,” he replied.

We sat
around in silence for a while waiting for Scott to show up. David had the
office door locked so that he would know that his keys no longer work. He’s
playing a game on his computer while I’m texting back and forth with Brooklyn. I
took DJ to her at Bryce’s house
earlier,
and he refused to go back to sleep. He’s
hyped,
and she had to stay up and deal with him. I would have taken him with me, but I
don’t know how everything is going to play out. I can’t have my son in the line
of fire like that.

“Here
comes that white devil now,” David said making me laugh. I looked up just in
time to see Scott exit his white Camaro. He’d just gotten the car a few months
ago and would probably have to send it back since he’s about to be unemployed. He
walked up to the door and fumbled with his keys before trying to insert one
into the lock. When he saw that he couldn’t do it, he knocked on the side
window. David and I jumped up and walked over to the door at the same time.

“Damn, I’m
glad
y’all
are here early today. My damn
key is not working,” Scott commented. He had his lunch bag and was headed for
the break room until I stopped him.

“How long
have we known each other Scott?” I asked.

“We’ve
known each other since elementary.
Y’all
were the only ones who wanted to be friends with the white boy in the projects.
Nobody else wanted to be bothered with me,” he laughed.

“That’s
why I don’t understand why you felt the need to go behind my back and do me
dirty like you did. We looked out for you when your own family didn’t want to
be bothered with your ass,” I said getting madder as I spoke.

“What are
you talking about? I appreciate everything that
y’all
have done for me. I would never do you or David dirty.”

“So
you
running to Kennedi like a lil bitch is not
doing me dirty? You told her everything you knew about me and Brooklyn. And if
that wasn’t bad enough, you gave her the paperwork to back it up. You’re
already fired so do yourself a favor and just keep it real. She already told me
everything. I just don’t understand why you did it.”

“Despite
what you think everything is not always about you. Yeah, you threw me a few
crumbs, but so what. I damn near started this company with
y’all
, but it was like fuck me once it got off
the ground. It was supposed to be the three of us running shit when we planned
it. All of that changed once it actually happened,” he
complained with
fire in his eyes.

“You
should be happy that we hired your ass at all. You’re a fucking alcoholic. We held
you down even after your own family turned their backs on you. We would be some
damn fools to let you fuck up what we worked so hard to build,” David barked.

“Your ass
was in AA when we started this shit so don’t act like we owe you something. And
you didn’t help us plan a damn thing. David and I did all the ground
work,
and it was already done when you came in,”
I yelled.

“Yeah, you
would say that. I remember us talking about this long before we even went to
school for it,” he replied.

“You still
stuck on some shit that we talked about when we were in elementary. That was
long before you decided that you loved the bottle more than you loved your
money. Fuck outta here with that bullshit,” I roared.

“Man, it’s
whatever. Like you just said, I’m already
fired,
so there’s no need to keep talking about it. Fuck both of
y’all
and this job,” he hissed. David tried to pull
me back when I went to grab him, but I was too quick. After delivering two
vicious blows to his face, he went stumbling to the floor with blood gushing
from his nose. I
got
in two more good
licks
to
his face before David grabbed me.

“Let that
clown make it. It’s not even that serious,” David said while holding onto my
arm.

“Get the
fuck out of here before I knock your bitch ass out,” I yelled through clenched
teeth. Usually he would be popping off
at
the mouth, but he knew better than to test me right now.

We watched
as Scott got up from the floor holding his bloody nose. He got into his car and
sped out of the parking lot. Over ten years of friendship and this is what it
boiled down to. I don’t have any
regrets,
and I would do it all over again if I had to. I would rather have one hundred
enemies than one fake friend like him. Aside from all the drama with Brooklyn,
that’s one less problem that I have to worry about.

CANDACE

For the
past few
weeks,
David’s house has become
our hangout spot every Sunday. He and Dominic would get on the grill or Bryce
would boil seafood for everyone. I usually stayed the night and went home
Monday morning when he left for work. That was the plan for today until I
received a very disturbing call from Nadia’s mother, Cheryl, early this
morning. Cheryl had moved to Virginia a few years
ago,
and she hasn’t looked back since then. She’s been begging
Nadia to join her and the rest of their family, but she keeps refusing to go. I
was surprised when she called me, but that soon turned into shock. According to
her, Nadia was locked
up,
and she needed
my help to get her out. Working prevented her from coming down to do it
herself,
and I’m the closest thing to family
that Nadia has in New Orleans.
 
She wired
me the money and
David,
and I rushed to
the St. Tammany Parish Jail in Slidell to bail her out. I’ve never known her to
ever hang out in that
area,
so I had no
clue as to what was going on. I don’t know what has gotten into Nadia, but this
is not like her at all. I never asked Cheryl what she was charged with because
she’s already upset about everything. I’m thankful that David has taken the day
off from work to be here with me. I don’t know the first thing about talking to
a bail
bondsman,
so he did all of the
talking for me.

“It’s been
over two hours. I wonder what’s taking them so long to release her,” I
complained. We’re sitting in the waiting area where the prisoners are released
from, but Nadia still hasn’t come out.

“It’s a
long process. They have to do all kinds of paperwork and stuff before they
release somebody,” David informed me.

“I can’t
believe she’s in here in the first place.”

“Now that
was a shock to me too. Nadia has never been the type to get into anything. She
must have gotten mixed up in something with somebody else.”

“It’s like
she can’t catch a break. If I were
her,
I
would move to Virginia and be closer to my family. Maybe a fresh start is what
she needs,” I said. My poor friend has been going through a lot lately. She
hasn’t really been herself since she had her heart broken by Dominic. Because
of her insecurities, no other relationship seemed to work out after that. She
automatically assumed that every man was out to do her wrong.

“Here she
comes now,” David said as we both stood up. I looked towards the sliding glass
doors and spotted Nadia walking towards us. She looked awful. Her hair was all
over her
head,
and she seemed to have
aged overnight. It also looked like she’s lost some weight since I saw her at
the restaurant the last time.

“Hey,” she
said smiling weakly. “Thanks for coming to get me.”

“You’re
still my best
friend,
Nadia. You know I’m
always here whenever you need me,” I assured her while giving her a hug.

“I’m just
so embarrassed. My mama is mad at
me,
and
I don’t even know where my car is,” she cried.

“Where
were you when you got arrested?” David asked her.

“At a
strip mall not too far from here,” she replied. “But that was three weeks ago.”

My head
shot
up,
and my eyes widened in surprise
when she said that.

“You’ve
been in here for three weeks Nadia?” I asked her.

“Yeah,”
she nodded.

“Oh my God
Nadia! Why didn’t you call me? You know I would have been here the same day to
get you out,” I replied.

“I don’t
know Candace. I was just too ashamed. I haven’t been a very good friend to you
lately,” she admitted.

“Girl,
forget about all of that. We’ve always had each other’s backs. Even if we don’t
talk as much as we used to I
would
have
been here in a heartbeat had I known what was up.”

“Come on,
let’s go see if we can find out where your car is,” David suggested.

After
talking to a few people at the police station, we were no closer to finding her
car than we were before. David decided to go back to where she was arrested to
see if they knew anything. It only took us about ten minutes to get to the
strip mall that Nadia led us to. He told us to sit in the car while he went in
to speak with the manager of the place.

I wanted
to ask her what she did to get locked up, but I decided against it. I figured
that if she wanted to talk then she would come to me whenever she’s ready.

“The
manager said that the police towed your car a few days after you went to jail.
Most likely it’s been impounded,” David said when he got back
to
the car.

“So what
does that mean?” Nadia asked.

“The first
thing we need to do is go to the auto impound lot. He said they don’t have one
out
here,
so it’s probably at the general
one on North Claiborne. Do you have your keys?” David asked.

“Yeah,
they gave them back to me with my other belongings. But I don’t have any money
on me to pay for it. My phone is
dead,
and my debit card is at home,” she said sadly.

“Don’t
worry about that. Let’s just see if it’s there first,” David said.

After
stopping to get Nadia something to eat, we were on our way. It took us almost
an hour to get from where we were to where we needed to be. Since there was
nowhere to park, David stayed in the car while Nadia and I got out and talked
to someone. It didn’t take long for us to be switching places. After almost
going to jail for slapping the rude ass lady who was trying to help us, David
made me sit in the car while he went in with Nadia. I was pissed that we stood
there for almost ten
minutes,
and the
bitch never asked if we needed any help. When she did decide to help
us, her
attitude was ridiculous. She was
popping her gum and talking on her cell phone at the same time. Then when I
went off
on
her, she threatened to call
the police and have me arrested. We did find out that Nadia had to pay three
hundred dollars to get her car back. I
had given
her the money before I left to go back to the car. She promised to pay me back,
but I’m really not worried about it.

“Hey Ms.
Cheryl,” I said when I answered my phone for Nadia’s mother.

“
Hey,
Candace. Nadia’s phone is still going
straight to voicemail. Were you able to get her out?” She asked.

“
Yes,
ma’am, me and my boyfriend are at the
police impound trying to help her get her car back.”

“I can’t
believe she could be so damn stupid. And who the hell is Shannon Franklin?” She
asked.

“I know a
Shannon, but I don’t know her last name. Why?”

“That’s
who she got arrested with. I had somebody that I used to work with look it up
for me,” Nadia’s mother had been a police dispatcher for years when she lived
here. She knew just about everybody in all of the police precincts and she
still kept in contact with most of them. Even now that she lived somewhere
else,
she’s still in the same line of work.

“Well,
what did she get arrested for?”

“Check
fraud. Can you believe that shit? She was going around cashing counterfeit
checks. If she needed money all she had to do was call me. I’ve always helped
her out when money was tight,” she fussed.

“What!
Where in the hell did she get counterfeit checks from?”

“I don’t
know, probably from that no good ass nigga that she was messing with.”

“I didn’t
know that she was messing with anybody. I mean she told me that she had a
friend, but that was a while ago,” I admitted.

“She’s
been messing with some loser named Kyle. I called her phone one day and heard
him cursing her out like a dog in the background. Then she tried to cover for
his ass and said that it was his brother cursing out his girlfriend. I’m not
stupid,
and I specifically heard him saying her
name when he was going off,” she rambled.
 

After she
said Kyle’s name, everything that she said after that was a blur. I didn’t want
to believe that it was the same Kyle that I use to deal with, but it would make
perfect sense. I thought that Brooklyn being with Dominic is what was keeping
her away. Now it was a possibility that it was more than just that. I didn’t
want to just jump to
conclusions,
so I
asked a few questions just to be sure.

“Did she
tell you anything else about Kyle, Ms. Cheryl?” I asked.

“No, not
really, only that he lives with his younger brother and the brother’s
girlfriend,” she replied.

“Is his
brother’s name Kevin?”

“Yep, I
remember her saying that it was Kevin who was cursing that time and not Kyle,”
she confirmed.

“Wow,” was
my only reply. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that Nadia would
do something so conniving to me. I’ve always prided myself on being a good
friend, but obviously I was the only one. I could care less about Kyle. He
fucked anything with a pulse. I’m just hurt that my best friend fell for it.

“Well, I
won’t hold you any longer Candace. Tell my stupid daughter to give me a call,”
she said.
 
  

“Alright
Ms. Cheryl,” I said right before she hung up. I held my phone in my hand as I
stared off into space. I’d just given up my whole day to bail this bitch out of
jail. I even took three hundred dollars of my hard earned money to get her car
back for her. Now I know why she said that she
had
n’t
been a good friend to me lately. That also explains why she’s been hanging with
Shannon all of a sudden. She’s been sleeping with the enemy. I’m beyond pissed
and nothing she says can calm me down right now. As a matter of fact, I don’t
even want to talk. I pulled a hair tie from my purse and pulled my hair up into
a sloppy ponytail. I took off my earrings and got out of the car. The longer I
waited, the more infuriated I became. About twenty minutes later, I saw Nadia
and David walking back towards me. She was smiling, so I guess she got some
good news about her car.

“Candace
thank you so much. I promise I’ll pay you back every penny before the day is
over. I just have to go around the corner to pick up my car,” Nadia said
happily.

I didn’t
reply, but as soon as she got close enough to me, I grabbed her hair and
slung
her to the ground. She didn’t even hit
the pavement good enough before I pounced on her and started beating her ass.

“Oh shit!
Candace what’s wrong with you,” David said as he tried to pull me off of her.

“Get off
of me David!” I screamed as I banged her head on the concrete sidewalk. He
ignored me and picked me up off of her and wrapped his arms tightly around my
waist. Nadia sprang to her feet and used that as an opportunity to get a few
licks in. She hit me one good time before David let me go to defend myself. I
ran at her full
force,
and she was back
on the ground in a matter of seconds. I delivered blows to her face so fast
that she didn’t even have time to block them all.

“Alright
mama, that’s enough. What the hell is going on?” David said as he pulled me up
and stood in between us.

“You dirty
bitch. Why would you fuck with Kyle of all people? I’ve been nothing, but a
good friend to you and that’s how you do me?” I yelled out of breath.

“If you’re
so much of a good friend why would you hook your cousin up with my ex? I know
that you had something to do with Dominic and Brooklyn being together,” she
cried while holding the back of her bloody head.

“You must
really be crazy. I came to you and told you what was going on before it came
from anywhere else. Brooklyn and Dominic are grown. I can’t control what they
do.”

“Yeah
right, now you know how it feels to have someone you trust stab you in the
back. And don’t be mad because Kyle came to me. Obviously you weren’t enough
for him,” she screamed.

“Girl, I
don’t give two fucks about Kyle. I got a man. It’s just the principle of it
all. Trust and believe that you’re not the only one he’s fucking. And where was
that nigga when you were sitting in jail for three weeks dumb ass?” She stood
there looking at me with a stupid look on her face when I asked that. I know
firsthand how selfish Kyle can be. He doesn’t care about anybody but himself
and sometimes Kevin.

“Yeah,
that’s what I thought. He left your stupid ass in jail and is probably laying
up with the next bitch. You can keep that lil money I just gave you. Three
hundred dollars is a small price to pay for getting rid of a snake,” I yelled
as David pulled me to the car. We left her standing there looking stupid while
we sped away. David looked over at
me,
and I could tell that he wanted to say something.

“Say what
you have to say,” I demanded as I stared right back at him.

“You sure
you’re not mad about her being with ole boy?” David asked me as we drove home.