“Shut your bitch ass up!” Dre yelled. “Let me hear you talk shit now!”
“Please don’t kill me. I’ll do whatever you need me to do,” Kareem responded.
“Now that’s what I want to hear. Did you kill my brother, Justice?” When Kareem didn’t respond, Dre got in his face again. “Muthafucka, I asked you a question. Did you kill my brother?”
“No, I didn’t!”
“Well, I suggest you tell me what happened. What about your mother? I don’t wanna have to hurt your family, but I will if I don’t get the information I need,” Dre informed.
“Leave my family out of this.”
“Then start talkin’! Where is Justice? Is he dead?” As soon as Kareem nodded his head, Dre’s excitement escalated. “Where is his body?”
“I don’t know, but I know someone who does,” Kareem snitched.
“I knew it. I knew y’all muthafuckas were involved. Who killed him? Who got rid of his body?” Dre pointed the gun at Kareem again to show him he meant business.
“My mother’s boyfriend. Cruze.” Kareem felt bad, but throwing Cruze under the bus seemed like the right thing to do.
“Call that muthafucka right now. I need to see him,” Dre responded. “I don’t even wanna know how shit went down. I just wanna know where my brother is.”
“But I don’t have his number. I…” When Kareem saw the seriousness in Dre’s face, he took the cell phone out of his pocket and quickly called his mother. He prayed she’d answer.
“Hey, Kareem,” Skye said when she answered the call. She sounded so excited to hear from him.
“Hey, Ma. How are things going?” Kareem, on the other hand sounded nervous.
“I actually can’t complain. I’m on my way to Payton’s doctor. She’s recovering well and Jordan is doing great. How are you? We miss you.”
“I miss you all, too. Hey Ma, is Cruze still in Georgia or did he come to Miami?”
“Can you believe he’s in Miami now? Why?”
“Just wondering. Hey, I’m coming back to Miami. Things with Le Le didn’t work out. I’ll tell you about it when I see you,” he informed her.
Skye smiled from ear to ear. Not only was Kareem moving back home, but it sounded like he was done with his girlfriend. I knew it wouldn’t last with that bitch.
“Can you text me Cruze’s number?”
“Yes, but why are you trying to reach Cruze? I thought you didn’t like him.”
Dre started waving the gun at Kareem telling him to cut his call short.
“I just need to talk to him about something, so text me the number as soon as we hang up please.”
“I hope you’re not planning on doing anything illegal with him Kareem,” Skye replied.
“No Ma, I just need to talk to him about something man to man. Since I don’t have a father in my life Cruze is the closest thing to that right now.”
“Yeah, alright. This still sounds a little fishy to me but I’ll text you his number. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Kareem said before ending the call. He tried his best to keep his voice from trembling.
While holding the gun on Kareem, Dre’s mind drifted. I wonder if the same person who killed Justice had something to do with Mercedes murder, too. It’s just ironic that they died around the same time, he thought.
When Kareem noticed Dre’s blank expression, he decided to it was time to make his move. He dove over and rustled for the gun. When the gun suddenly went off, Felicia ran back into the bathroom.
“Oh my God!” she screamed.
CHAPTER 21
Skye stood beside the table holding Payton’s hand as she was examined by the chiropractor. Payton whimpered, clenching Skye as the doctor held her tiny little leg up in the air feeling around the bones.
“Its okay baby girl, he just wants to look at your leg to make sure it’s all better,” Skye said, trying to reassure her daughter. She could see in Payton’s eyes that she was terrified and about to start screaming at any minute.
“I’m almost finished, Payton. You’re being such a big girl,” the doctor said in his thick Indian accent.
When Skye was able to get Payton to calm down, a few seconds later the exam was over. The doctor sat Payton up on the table, removed his rubber gloves, grabbed her file and wrote down some notes.
“Give this to the young lady at the desk on your way out. I need to see Payton back next week,” he said, passing Skye a billing invoice. “Payton’s first round of Physical therapy went well today. She’s healing a lot faster than expected. This is remarkable progress being that she just got her cast removed two days ago. I hope she isn’t afraid of water because her second round of therapy will be Aquatic. This type of therapy will reduce the stress placed on her joints while walking on her leg again. Also, this aspect of aquatic therapy is especially useful for healing fractured bones and increasing flexibility and strength back in her leg.”
“Payton loves the water. She’s been swimming since she was a baby. My kids had a personal swimming instructor for years,” Skye informed him.
“That’s great. Did they attend some type of program at the Miami city pool?” he questioned.
Skye immediately frowned and gave him the look of death. “City Pool? My kids have never been in a city swimming pool. I have a customized swimming pool at my Palm Island Estate. Thank you very much,” Skye said, putting on Payton’s shoes. She was pissed that the doctor had insulted her like she was some project chick.
“I didn’t mean to offend you, Mrs. Washington. I just assumed that…”
Skye cut him off, “You just assumed that my kids were some o’ poor black kids, huh? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but that’s far from the case. And by the way I asked you once before not to call me Mrs. Washington,” she said, picking up Payton and walking out of the room.
Skye was fuming as she approached the check out desk and handed Payton’s form to the pale skinny receptionist.
“Okay, Mrs. Washington, I see that the Dr. Chopra would like me to schedule Payton’s weekly physical therapy appointments for the remainder of the month. But I don’t see where we have your insurance information on file.”
“I can see none of you listen around here. You can call me Skye and no you aren’t gonna be able to find it because the insurance I applied for is still in underwriting.”
The receptionist looked up at Skye and turned up her nose then looked back at the computer screen.
“Well, today’s visit has to be paid before I can set up anymore appointments.”
“Not a problem. I’m going to pay with cash.”
“Today’s visit was $700.00,” the receptionist informed. It was almost as if she expected Skye not to have the money.
Skye threw her brand new Balenciaga purse on the counter, reached inside and pulled out a stack of money. She peeled off some of the bills.
“Here’s $4000.00. That should cover her bill for today and the next couple therapy sessions. Now schedule her appointments so I can get out of here and go shopping please,” Skye said.
The receptionist looked at Skye once more before counting the money and passing her a receipt. It felt good to be able to pay her daughter’s bill this time.
“What time do you prefer, morning or afternoon appointments, Mrs…I mean Skye?” Her entire attitude had changed.
“Mornings, please. I usually like to schedule my spa appointments in the afternoon,” Skye said, rubbing her new found status in the woman’s face.
The receptionist continued to look in the computer before printing off Payton’s monthly schedule and handed it to Skye. “Thanks, we’ll see you next week.”
Skye gave her a fake smile and headed out the door. However, before they could leave the building she was surprised to see Cruze walking toward them.
“What are you doing here?” Skye asked.
Payton instantly lit up when she saw Cruze. She smiled and reached out for him.