»Côte à côte et cœur à cœur, le temps révèle que nous sommes toujours amoureux pour toujours«
»Side by side and heart to heart, time reveals that we're still in love forever«
DeVanté
"Are you sure you're not able to bring her back?"
"I'm sure. I'm sorry, Mr. Degrate, but your fiancee has expired." The doctor told me after a few hours after the car accident that changed my life forever. He broke the news to me that Carmen, the love of my life, had passed away shortly after we both were rushed to the hospital. I don't understand how I ended up without a scratch, yet Carmen was the one who had to lose her life. I have a vivid memory of the crash, the exact moment she lost her life...
Hours Earlier...
"Oh shit!" I shouted, attempting to steer the car to another direction. While doing so, I accidentally drove into a ditch, flipping to car in the process. I had my eyes shut tight, but to my amazement, I was fine. I smiled at the miracle that I wasn't injured. "Damn, wasn't that shit cra–" I halted my sentence the second I saw Carmen with glass from the wind shield shot into her neck and face. Blood dripping onto her entire body, resembling a homicide scene.
"Oh fuck!" I screeched at the top of my lungs. I opened the car door and jetted to her side to pull her body out of the car. I had hope that there was still time to save her life.
"Carmen! Carmen, baby! Wake up for me, please! Don't leave me, not now!" I shook her gently, hot tears trickling down my cheeks. I couldn't breathe properly due to the fact that my airways were closing because of me breaking into tears. That didn't matter to me, the only thing that mattered at the moment was Carmen's ability to live. I carefully started to pick the pieces of glass out of her neck, thinking that this was going to help her somehow.
Thankfully, she started to cough, making my face light up. Her eyes fluttered opened, their usual twinkle now dim. I thought Carmen was going to make it out alive. Sadly, she knew that that wasn't going to be the outcome.
"De..." Carmen trailed on before coughing out large amounts of blood. "I'm not going to make it."
"Baby, don't say that! You're going to be okay, alright?! You're one of the strongest women I've ever met, you can get through this!."
"I'll always love you, Donald." Carmen whispered. Seconds later, her eyes slowly rolled to the back of her head. A single breath swept past her lips, letting me know that it was going to be her last. I instantly held her tighter than I already was.
"No!" I screamed in internal pain. As painful as this makes me feel, I still had hope that she'd live. I carefully placed Carmen's lifeless body on the ground, and went back to the car to search for my phone. Since I'm not skilled in this type of stuff, I figured the ambulance could at least do something.
"9-1-1, what's your emergency?" The dispatcher asked.
"Send somebody, quick! My fiance and I got into a car accident, and she—"
"Sir, are you alright?" The dispatch asked me before I could finish speaking.
"Yes, I'm fine! It's my fiancee, she's dying! Send someone please!" I pleaded, staring at Carmen in sadness.
"Do you know where you are?"
"No, I'm in a ditch!". I shouted, growing impatient and worried for Carmen's chances to live.
"Okay sir, I've tracked your location. Help is on the way, do not worry. Can you give me the name of you and the other person involved?"
"Carmen Brown, and my name is Donald Degrate!"
"Thank you, Mr. Degrate. The ambulance should be on their way." The dispatch said. With that, I hung up and tossed my phone to the side. I couldn't believe it, the love of my life is dying in my arms. The last thing I told her was that I was in love with her, and that I'd die if I lost her. In an instant, she was gone, right in front of my eyes. It's all my fault. If I had never taken her for granted the first time we were married, we'd never have to go on dates in order to make up for the years we've lost. If I had never abused her physically and mentally, she wouldn't have had to resent me for all those years. If I hadn't cheated, she wouldn't have to keep taking me back after I continually broke her heart. If I hadn't left her and our children for another woman, our kids wouldn't hate me, and neither would she. If I had just taken time to love her in the beginning, her life wouldn't have ended early. It's all because of me...
Diane
"Mommy, Mommy! Grandpa's calling!" My daughter, Cecelia, shouted, running towards me while I was watching TV. She must have noticed my phone was ringing in the kitchen while eating, and she wasted no time to bring it to me so I can't miss my call. She's like my little assistant by choice.
"Thank you, my little butterfly." I said sweetly before getting the phone from her grasp.
"You're most ever welcome, mommy." She saluted and went back to the kitchen to finish her snack.
"Hey, papa. How are you?" I smiled.
"Not so good, Diane. I'm not good at all." He said in a broken voice. He sounded as if he had just got done crying. Weird, but alright.
"Why, what happened?"
"Diane, I don't know how to tell you this gently. Are you sitting down right now?"
"Dad, you're really starting to scare me. What's going on?" I adjusted myself. "Are you and mom okay?"
"That's what I wanted to tell you." He started to say before his voice cracked severely. My heart began to race intensely at the curiosity about what he was going to say next. "Sh-she, just passed away." He choked out. I froze.
There was no way that my mother is gone. Absolutely no way. I just saw her about three days ago and she looked fine. He has to be joking.
"Daddy, stop playing with me. This isn't funny at all."
"Diane, I'm serious. Me and your mother just got into a car accident yesterday night. I'm fine, but she didn't make it. We're in the hospital. Please, tell the rest of the family for me since I don't know how to tell them all at once. I'll send you the hospital's address. The doctors tried to save her life in surgery, but it was too late. You know I'd never joke about your mother's life, I love her too much."
"Okay, daddy. I will, see you soon." I said with tears in my eyes.
"I love you, Diane. Remember that."
"I love you too." With that, I hung up. I did promise my dad to call the rest of the family, but I had to sit here and process this. How could she die so suddenly? Just last night? How did the car even crash? I know my mom was not the greatest driver, but then again, when her and my dad are together, he's always driving. And he's an amazing driver. So how? I can't wrap my head around this. All I could do is lay on the couch and cry myself to sleep...
"Diane, Diane wake up." I heard someone shake me lightly. The voice sounded oddly familiar. Almost like...
"Mom?!"
"That's right, love bug. It's me." She smiled at me. I didn't understand where I was. Was this a dream? Whatever it is, it made me envision my mother, and another woman on the left of her. She looks a bit like my mother, just older looking.
"B–but, how? Dad just told me you—"
"Passed? Yes, I have, unfortunately. I actually just made it here about two hours ago. Right, mommy?" My mother said, looking to the woman on her left. The woman ended up nodding 'yes' So this must be my grandmother who passed when my mother was a kid. She certainly is beautiful.
"Thank you, Diane." My grandmother smiled. I raised my eyebrows. She heard me?
"Yes, I can. See, in heaven, our minds are opened to each other. Not only can we communicate through telepathy, we can also greet our loved ones who were given a place here before us." She explained. Okay, that's low-key cool as hell.
"Aht, aht, aht. Diane, we can't use forbbiden words here. It's in the holy handbook." My mother scolded. Yeah, maybe it's not that cool.
"So, why am I here? I'm not deceased, am I?"
"No, of course not. We're supposed to be your heavenly guides. I was your mother's heavenly guide until she passed. Now, she's yours." My grandmother explained once more.
"Oh, that's kinda cool." I nodded.
"Everything is cool to you, girl." My mom playfully rolled her eyes, making me giggle a bit. She hasn't even been gone for twenty four hours, and I already miss her. Why, why did she have to go so soon? What even caused her crash?
"That's what we summoned you here for. You see, my death was never an accident. Someone intentionally caused the crash to harm me and your father. Someone evil. There's only one problem." My mother stated, nearly bringing herself to tears.
This got my attention. Someone wanted to have my mother dead? But who? She was the sweetest person to walk this Earth. And my dad... okay, he's not so innocent. Either way, who would want them dead?
"What is it?"
"The problem is, I'm not allowed to tell you who it is. I'm supposed to guide you to the answers, not straight deliver them to you. So, you'll have to find out with the help of your sibli–" She said, but what cut off by the sound of a harp playing.
"We're out of time, remember what I said, I love you baby."
"I love you too, mommy."
"Kim? Is that you? It's been so long, how have you bee–" Was the last thing I heard my mother say before I woke up to my daughter shaking me gently and calling my name.
"Mommy, mommy, mommy!'
"What's wrong, butterfly?"
"Nothing, I just heard you crying on the couch, and brought you a cookie." Cecelia handed me a cookie that was cut in half. I laughed a little at her thoughtfulness. "Sorry, I got hungry."
"It's alright, baby. Thank you for the cookie. Now, please go in your room for me, I have to call people for very important reasons."
"Why? I like important stuff." She slightly pouted.
"You'll understand when you're older." I simply said so I'd avoid any more questions from her.
"Okay, I understand, mommy." She smiled. With that, she skipped to her room with joy. Cecelia is too innocent for all of this. There is absolutely no way that I can tell her that grandma isn't here anymore. It'll break her little heart.
I sighed while unlocking my phone. Instead of doing a group chat or calling everyone individually, I'll do a group call. It'll be better for them to hear the news from straight from my mouth. All at the same time.
"Hello?" My Uncle Dalvin was the first to answer.
"What's going on?" Aunt Tionne questioned. Later came, The twins, Snow, Quincy, Julien, Uncle JoJo, Joel, Aunt Rozonda, Uncle K-Ci, Uncle Al, Uncle Rashad, and Aunt Cynthia.
"What happened, D? Why are you crying? Did Quincy do something with his dumb ass?" Snow asked very concerned.
"What did I even d–"
"No, it's not that. I actually have something to tell you all. Dad just told me this about an hour ago."
"Ooh, is he finally getting a hair cut?" My aunt Cynthia joked. Normally, I'd laugh. But this is something serious.
"Hey, Annie, where is your mother? I saw her last night when she went on a date with your father, but she didn't come back. Is she at his house?" Aunt Rozonda asked. That sentence broke my heart a little bit.
"Probably over there Woohoo-ing with each other and shit, per usual." Aunt Tionne said nonchalantly. It's now or never.
"She's gone." I blurted, my voice cracking the process.
"You mean to the store or something? Right?" Uncle JoJo asked.
"Probably, Carmen is always buying something for that big ass fridge of hers. K, remember when she chased you with a wooden spoon for sucking up all of her whipped cream?" Uncle Dalvin joked.
"Yeah, I remember that shit. Still ain't stop me, I stole all her ham and cheese hot pockets after that." Uncle K-Ci snickered. As much as I'd love to hear throwback stories from the nineties, I need to bring them to reality. Harsh reality.
"No. My daddy just called and said they got into a car accident last night and..." I trailed on. I didn't want to finish my sentence, but I had to. "...she didn't make it."
Everyone one the line was silent for what seemed like forever. I don't blame them, I was in shock too. That is, until Uncle Dalvin spoke up.
"Diane, you know I love you as my niece. But please, stop playing with your mother's life like this."
"Uncle Dal, I wish I was playing! She's gone..." I teared up. Everyone was silent, either sobbing in silence, or in denial. I decided to speak up once more.
"Dad sent me the address for the hospital. I'll send it to you all, alright? I love y'all." I said, with that, I ended the group call. As soon as I sent everyone the address, I was going to head off. Until I realized that I'd have to take Cecelia with me. There was no one to watch her for me. Shit, she'd have to find out one day...
Kiamora
"What do you want from me?!" I shouted at him. "I've done nothing but respect you and obey your every command. Now you want to murder me?"
"That's the thing, I don't want or need you anymore." He chuckled. "You're as useless as you've been in the beginning."
I began to cry quietly as I felt the tip of his gun pressed against the side of my head. I knew I should have installed those alarm systems Tracey told me about, or else I wouldn't be in this situation. This is it. My final moments at the hands of him.
"Any last words, Kia baby?"
"Fuck you!" With that, the gun went off.
Diane
I decided to leave Cecelia at my friend Alaine's house for a little bit. I just couldn't let my daughter see her grandmother like this, especially since they had a tight bond. I'd have to figure out when to tell her, just not now. As I continued to walk down the hospital hallway, I felt someone tap my shoulder unexpectedly, so I turned around.
"Excuse me, are you Diane Degrate?" A random, older looking woman asked me as I was looking for my mother's hospital room. I was suspicious as to how she knew my name.
"Yes, I am. Who are you?"
"That's not important. Do you know a man named Oscar Johnson? He's been asking about you and your mother, Carmen Brown. He wants to warn you about something." The woman explained. I almost didn't know who she was talking about until she said the name. Oscar Johnson was the name of the man who used to deliver us mail and babysit me and my siblings. He was so amazing, and secretly let me stay up past my bedtime. I always wondered what happened to him.
Even though I was running late, something told me to come and see him really quick. I was told by my mother that he saved her in a lot of fucked up situations. Him and Tupac, but that's a story for another day. The woman led me to room 32B, in which I saw an old man laying there looking lifeless. Yep, that's him. But he looked completely drained, and with a grey tint to his usually dark brown skin tone.
"Um, Mr. Johnson?" I said in a high whisper. He then turned his head slowly towards the door, and a small smile crept on his face once he saw me.
"Diane, Diane. Look at how you've grown." He whispered. Although, it sounded like that's as high as his voice could go. I stepped towards his hospital bed so I could get a better look at him. "I haven't seen you since you were about ten years old."
"Yeah, I remember. It was fun back then." I said. That made him laugh a bit, until he started to cough immediately after. I felt really bad for him, he looked as if he's hanging onto his life. I wonder how he ended up here?
"I've heard about your mother, and I'm so sorry I couldn't protect her this time."
"Wait, how did you find out? And what do you mean by 'protect her this time'"? I raised my eyebrows a bit.
"Word gets around in hospitals quicker than in the streets." He said. "And I mean I couldn't protect her, since I've been poisoned before I could save her." Mr. Johnson said before coughing once more. This time, it started to get even worse.
"Poisoned? Poisoned by who? Do you know who killed my mother?" I asked eagerly. My eyes were completely wide at this point.
"It was... It was—" He started to say, but before he could even get the name out, he flat lined. I looked at the woman who led me to his room, and noticed that she had a hat over her heart. I didn't want him to die, not just because he knows who killed my mother and tried to kill my father, but because I can't handle two deaths in one day. I grabbed the remote on his bed and rapidly pushed the little red button the read 'Nurse'. I heard the footsteps of the woman behind me, as she laid her hand on my shoulder.
"It's too late, Oscar's with the Lord now." She sighed.
A single tear dropped from my eye as I tried to process his sudden death. This shit is just too much. I wiped my tear away and slowly walked towards the door to see my mother. She was one floor above the exact room Mr. Johnson was staying in. I found that a bit creepy, but still walked in after softly knocking.
"Hello?" I said while slowly entering. Only my father, the twins, and my uncles were here. I guess not everyone got the chance to get here yet. Everyone turned around to look at me as awkwardness lingered in the air.
"Diane, thank goodness you made it!" My dad was the first to speak. I could tell by the way his eyes were puffy and red, that he had been crying for quite a while. We both held our arms out to give each other a warm hug. It had been about two months since we last physically saw each other, but we definitely do keep in touch. He was living his life, while I was living mine. It's not like we hated each other or anything, we just don't bond as much as we used to when I was little. But after what had just happened, we definitely need to cherish each other as long as we have each other.
"Dad, I have something to tell you." I said while nudging him to step out of the room with me really quick. He looked confusion, but still did so anyways.
"What's wrong, Diane? You look worried." I took a deep breath, and gathered everything that's about to come out of my mouth.
"Dad, you and Mom's car accident, wasn't an accident. Someone tried to kill the both of you." I said as quickly as possible. I took a look at my dad, and he looked as if he was replaying the words in his head over and over.
"I'm sorry, you said what?"
"Look, I know you might not believe me, but I'm sure it's true. I took a nap earlier today, and I envisioned mom, and my grandma. They both warned me that someone set you guys up. Then, before I got up here, Mr. Johnson told me he was sorry that couldn't protect mom. I almost got him to tell me who did it, but he died before I got the chance."
"Hold on, Mr. Johnson? As in the mailman? How would he—"
"That's what I was trying to figure out. It didn't make sense that it came from a dream, but now that he told me this, I'm starting to get suspicious." I said.
"You know what, your mother did tell me that she used to get messages from her mother while she slept. I guess you guys both are able to get those." My dad remembered. "But who would want us both dead? I haven't done anything to anyone in the past ten years, and your mother was the sweetest woman I know. She'd never tick someone off that bad."
He was right. Who would do such a thing? Maybe, I could look for clues in her house later on. My mother did keep damn near every note she ever received.
"Daddy, I need you to not tell a single soul that you know this. The police won't be able to do shit, and if we work quick enough, we could crack some codes." I whispered. He nodded his head in understanding, then we shook hands.
"But one more thing, meet me at Mom's house afterwards, we need to look for some things."
Few Hours Later
"You find anything yet?" I asked my dad, who happened to be looking at the same box for the past five minutes straight.
"Nah, nothing except that your mom was a little expressive as a kid when it came to notes." He giggles. I walked over to him to see what was so funny. If he doesn't take this serious, we'll never get shit done.
"Dad, we need to foc—" I paused as I read the note. I heard my father walk away and pick up another shoe box full of used paper. In this note, she's talking about some Senior making her uncomfortable. Due to it being 1985, she was fourteen, almost fifteen at the time, but she was a freshman.
I skimmed through some more, and saw one that looked a bit peculiar.
So someone kept sending her notes in what I assume was her still her freshman year. I skipped a couple more notes, and reach my mother's junior year of high school. This one seemed almost straight forward to the point where she was upset.
By this time, she knows who was doing all of this, but she doesn't name who. I'd assume it was someone else this time, but my mother mentions that the person was 21 and she was 17. Gross, a whole pedophile. Coincidentally, this was the year she met aunt Tionne, Rozonda, and Lisa. Well would you look at that, friendships can last after highschool. I skip some more for the last time, until I reach the end of her Senior year. As if I thought the last one was the most shocking...
The line that really caught my attention was the 'he looks like the type to kill due to rejection' part. Rejection? Who could this man be? At this point, I've already figured that it was the Senior, and I'm surprised he even stuck around that long. What I'm mad about, is the fact that my mother never said a name. So now it's up to me to ask everyone I knew who were old enough to remember my mom the 80's. Hm...
As soon as that thought wandered through my mind, a book suddenly fell from a bookshelf. As I took a closer look, it was a yearbook. It seemed that specific photos were circled in red ink. I picked up the book to take a closer look, and saw some people I've never seen in my life. However, that doesn't mean I won't search these people up to ask them. See, now I'm getting somewhere. I wonder if my mother and grandmother can hear my thoughts from up there?
Once again, another object fell. This time, it was a vinyl from the Pointer Sisters called 'Yes We Can Can'. I smirked to myself and picked up the record. Yeah, they definitely can hear me.
"Aunty Tionne, do you remember the 80's" I asked my aunt Tionne. I had just arrived from my mother's house to question her about who had beef with my mother back then. Though I do believe that someone could have done this solely based off of jealousy, but it's better to collect every piece of information you can. Damn, I'm really out here being Sherlock Holmes. I sent my dad to go see my aunt Rozonda for the same thing, it'll be quicker this way.
"Yes, a little bit. I remember high school, where I met your aunt Rozonda, your aunt Lisa, your mom..." She trailed on. I forgot how hard this must be for her to lose some of her closest friends. She was already crying, based on the puffiness of her eyes. "And, we were all super young. I actually remember that it was Lisa who was the one to greet your mother first, in the most annoying way possible. She kept saying: 'My name is Liggidy Liggidy Left Eye. This is T Boz, and this is Chilli, get it? Cause she's hot?'." We both giggled at the memory.
"Your mother was trying to study, but Lisa just wouldn't let up, and me and Rozonda had to practically yank her away. It was crazy."
"Did my mom have any enemies?" I asked bluntly. My aunt Tionne inhaled sharply.
"Unfortunately, yes, she did. Which confused me, since she was so sweet, and easy to talk to."
"Can you tell me who?"
"Now why would you want to know?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Uh, just a little curious, that's all." I laughed nervously.
"Well, if you must know, she was hated by this one girl named Tiffany. God, Tiffany was so rude to your mother for no reason..."
Tionne's Flashback, 1987
"So, what's on for after school?" I asked all three of my friends. They all shrugged.
"Oh, I know! Let's go to Bojangles, then catch a movie." Carmen exclaimed. We all nodded our heads in agreement. I could definitely go for some fries after classes. Especially since I skipped lunch. They really thought we wanted to eat those dry ass peas, and don't get me started on that curnled milk.
Suddenly, I heard three girls walk past us, laughing. Instead of dwelling on it, I just figured that they must have been laughing at someone else. That is, until I heard them say:
"Those broke bitches are always eating some fast food." A girl I recognized to be Tiffany Hallow, said. "Especially the one in the red, she's so ugly." They giggled some more.
I knew they were talking about Carmen, since she was the only one wearing red at the moment. I took a look at Carmen, and saw the hurt on her face. All she wanted to do was be nice to people. I fucking hate that bitch.
"Aye! Who the fuck are you talking about?!" I heard Lisa shout towards them. They turned around and laughed.
"What other broke bitches could there be?"
"Not us, since you wanna be whispering and shit. I'm glad you know better than to say that shit to our faces, stay in your motherfucking place." Lisa scoffed.
"Point, blank, period!" Rozonda yelled.
Tiffany, who obviously felt threatened, aggressively shoved Lisa to the ground. One thing lead after another, and we were all on the ground fighting. Tons of hair pulling, a bit of punching, and someone losing a band-aid. Let's just say, we didn't get Bojangles that day...
End of Flashback
"Woah, you guys got into a fight?" I exclaimed.
"Yep. You mess with one of us, you mess with us all. That lil' suspension was worth it." I saw my aunt Tionne smile.
"What ever happened to Tiffany?"
"She was shot and killed by her boyfriend's baby mother back in 91'. Her death was almost everywhere for the rest of the year. Shit was crazy, still hate her though. Not saying she deserved to die, but she wasn't really the most heavenly person." Aunt Tionne huffed.
So that lady is most definitely off the suspect list. The woman died before I was even born. I think I remember seeing her face in my mother's yearbook. Pulling it out from my purse, I flipped through pages and saw the exact photo of Tiffany. Damn, to be bullying someone, she sure wasn't the greatest sight to see.
"Hey." My aunt Tionne said abruptly. I quickly looked up in confusion. "How did you get our school yearbook?"
"Oh, I was looking in my mom's house, and this happened to drop right in front of me." I said. I technically didn't lie, that's actually exactly what happened.
"Let me see it for a second." She asked. I decided to hand it to her. Aunt Tionne does know this book more than me. For what seemed like hours of her looking through the yearbook, I heard her gasp. I snapped my head towards her.
"What's wrong, aunty?"
"This boy, he was a fucking piece of work. Your mom told us that he gave her a hard ass time during freshman year." Aunt Tionne said. The moment she said that, I was eager to know who it was. She had her finger over the guy's name. The moment I saw her uncover it, I had gotten flashbacks. I've seen this man before, and I most definitely recognized his name from my childhood. He was evil beyond compare. I can't believe my mind slipped. It was right in my face this whole time...
Rozonda
"Thanks for coming, De. Please, drive safe." I said in a bit of a whisper. He apparently came over to ask me about Carmen. I didn't know much of what he was talking about, but we did get to sit here and talk for a bit. That was pretty enjoyable.
"Thank you, and you're welcome. I'll see you soon." And with that, he was out the door. Here I was, all alone once again. Sometimes, I missed when someone was here to comfort me. To hold me. To love me. Ever since JoJo and I separated, I've been empty. I never understood why I couldn't truly let him go in the past, but now I've come to the conclusion. I'm still deeply in love with him. No matter how many dates I tried to go on, no matter how many times I tried to just stay friends with him, I was still in love with him. He made my heart pump everytime we were together, everytime we kissed, everytime we made love, everytime we slept in each other's arms. Jojo treated me like a goddess. It was when our son turned four, that everything started going downhill...
As I was reminiscing, I heard a soft knock at my door. 'Must be DeVanté, he probably left something here'. I thought to myself. I got up from the couch and checked through the peephole, it most definitely wasn't DeVanté. Instead, it was...
"Jojo? What are you doing here?" I asked with my eyebrows raised.
"I came to check on you after everything that happened. Can I come in?" He said. I was hesitant, but I stepped aside so he could enter. As he walked in, I noticed him taking a look at the pictures on the wall. I shut the door and twisted the lock.
"Nice place." Jojo said while looking at a photo of me and our son.
"Thanks." I responded awkwardly. We stood there for what seemed like hours of silence. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but he kept quiet instead.
"You know what, it's now or never." I said abruptly. Jojo looked at me in curiosity. I walked towards him, taking his hands in mine. "Jojo, I need to confess something I've been keeping in for over twenty years. I... I'm still in love with you, I always have been. It's something about you that pulls me closer to you. I miss our moments when we were in love with each other. I'll never forget the look on your face when I first told you I was pregnant. You showed that beautiful smile of yours while hugging me tightly. That's one of the moments where I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. But, after all your habits, we drifted. I know you've moved on to another woman and all, but I just wanted to get this off of my chest. If you no longer want to remain friends, I underst–" My sentence was cut short by his suddenly pressing his lips against mine. I don't know whether or not to be shocked, or excited. On one hand, he must have felt the same way, on the other, he's still married... to someone else...
"Jojo, stop. As much as I enjoyed that, we can't do it anymore. You're married, and I just don't feel right." I said, pushing him away.
"Rozonda, I have to confess something too." Jojo said. I tensed up a bit, since he has never called me by my full name before. Ever. "I'm still in love with you. And my life hasn't been the same without you. I know it looks like I've moved on and completely fell out of love with you, but the truth is, I was just really good at hiding it. You see, my wife and I are planning on divorcing. All I'm waiting for is for her to sign the papers. The only person I've told this was Carmen. She encouraged me to try and talk with you, since she knew I still have feelings for you. I don't know if this is the right time to do this, but it just feels like it."
"Jojo... I—" My sentence was cut short when he pressed him lips against mine once more. Only this time, I let him take over me. It was something about this moment that made me feel... free. As if a heavy weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I cannot tell if it was because I finally got to express how I felt after keeping it in for the past two decades, getting to hear that Jojo was still in love with me, or that I got to taste his lips after so long. I don't know what it is, but this seems like a blessing from up above to me...
Diane
"Dad! Dad! I figured out who could have done it!" I shouted over the phone.
"Who? And how did you find out so quick?"
"It doesn't matter how I found out, the only thing that matters is who did it. And I'm sure you've heard of this dude."
"Dude? You're telling me a man did it?" My dad asked, sounding more alert than he did when this conversation began.
"Nah, I'm saying a cockatoo did it." I said sarcastically.
"Stop being rude, you're starting to sound like your—" My dad paused, but then cleared his throat.
I already knew the last word was going to be mother. I'm not mad, I actually got that a lot as a kid. I took his silence as the signal to continue speaking.
"Sorry, I just got a bit overwhelmed."
"It's alright. Now, what were you saying?" He sighed
"Dad, do you remember any guys who used to try and get with mommy? Like, after you guys met?" I asked.
My dad kissed his teeth.
"Hell yeah, who didn't try to get your mother? Shit was aggravating after a while."
"Yeah, but do you remember any specific people?"
"Not rea—"
He cut his own sentence short.
"Dad, are you still there?"
"Yeah, I'm just thinking..."
"You know exactly who I'm talking about, don't you?" I asked.
"Yes, yes I do... But how could he? He's been dead for years now."
"Are you one hundred percent sure?"
"No." he sighed.
"Look, I'll call you tomorrow, I'm about to pick up Cecelia."
"Okay. Give her a kiss for me."
"I will. I love you, Dad."
"I love you too, Diane."
And with that, we both hung up.
"Mommy!" I heard Cecelia shout once I made it through the front door.
"Hey, baby! Did you have fun?"
"Yes! Aunty Alaine let me eat strawberry ice cream!" She shouted, showing her bright smile with missing teeth. Cecelia is too adorable for her own good.
"That's great! Go get your boots and your coat so we can get home, okay?"
"Okay!", And with that, she ran off. I stepped into my friend's kitchen and saw her sitting at the table with a worried look on her face.
"Hey, Alaine, what's wrong?" I asked while taking a seat. She seemed startled since she jumped a bit when I spoke. Something is definitely off with her.
"Oh, Diane! I didn't hear you come in. How did you get in here?"
"With the spare key, as I always do. Girl, are you okay? You seem jumpy as hell." I raised an eyebrow.
"Me? Jumpy? No, I'm good!" Alaine damn near yelped. Now I definitely knew she's hiding something.
"Alaine, cut the bullshit, okay? Whatever it is, you can tell me. I won't judge, and I'll be here for you whenever you need me." I reassured her. She took a deep breath and rubbed her forehead.
"Look, it's actually not about me. Earlier today, someone threw a rock into my bedroom window. I was of course pissed, until I read the note taped to the rock. It said, 'Tell me where she lives, or I'll kill you!'. I didn't know who 'she' was, but I wasn't going to give up personal information a random nigga that breaks my shit." Alaine started to get a little angry during that last sentence. Knowing her past, I don't blame her.
"Then, I went to go and check the mail, and there was this strange letter at my front door. I wanted to throw it away, but something told me to open it. And, when I did, it was addressed to you. I would tell you the rest, but I think you better see it first hand." Alaine handed me the neatly opened envelope that held nothing but a single sheet of paper. I took the paper out of the envelope and saw that it had but five mere words. As simple as that may sound, those words sent a chill to my spine:
We're coming for you, Diane
Y'all I'm not dead, just
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