The Prada Plan 2: Leah's Story, page 2
She gasped for air as she began to hyperventilate, but Indie continued to hold onto her. For the past half hour, she had been falling into despair and fear had taken over her, but Indie had caught her. He was her rock, and he was slowly soothing her nerves and bringing her back to sanity. His baritone was like therapy to her as she closed her eyes and let her tears fall.
Indie was glad that he was holding her from behind. If she were facing him, she would have seen the tears forming in his own eyes and the uncertainty that lingered in his heart. He loved his family more than anything, and seeing the love of his life so broken was crushing. He could feel the tension leaving YaYa’s body as she stopped fighting him.
“What am I going to do?” she asked.
Indie slid the phone into her hands and said, “You’re her mother, YaYa, but she’s my daughter too. They’re going to have to put me in the ground to stop me from finding her. I need you to trust me, ma. I’m going to handle this, but if you feel like you need to call the police, go ahead. Do what’s in your heart, I won’t be mad. But if you trust in me, ma, put down the phone. I’ll bring her home.”
YaYa’s mind spun as she contemplated her options. If she called the police, then she would feel peace of mind, but could they really help her? She had seen all of those news specials about children who had been abducted only to never be heard from again. There was a good possibility that even law enforcement would not be able to bring her baby home. Indie, on the other hand, had never let her down. She trusted him more than she had ever trusted anyone else in her life, and she knew that there was no one safer to put her faith in than him. She didn’t know shit about Houston, but she knew that Indie ran the city. Her daughter’s chances were better if she allowed Indie to hold court in the streets.
YaYa dropped the phone at her side and turned to face her man. “I’m scared,” she said as she stared at him through glistening, tear-filled eyes. “But I trust you. Please, Indie, bring our daughter back. If something happens to her, I don’t know what I would do.”
Indie kissed the top of her head and then put both of his hands on the sides of her face. “I have to go out for a minute, ma. Will you be okay here by yourself?” he asked, genuinely concerned.
She nodded as he released her. He raced up the stairs and disappeared into their bedroom and dressed quickly.
“What are you going to do?” she asked as he came back into view.
“I’m going to handle it, ma. Try not to worry yourself sick,” he said as he pecked her cheek quickly. He was trying to play it cool and keep it calm in front of YaYa. The last thing he wanted her to see was his panic, but if she could see inside of him, she would know his true fear. His insides were boiling, and his heart was beating so quickly that it felt as if he were having a heart attack. “I’m going to make everything okay,” he assured with opaque confidence.
She wanted to believe in him, but the feeling that gripped her when he walked out of the door was haunting. Chills of doubt crawled up her spine, and the little bit of hope that Indie had left her with quickly abandoned her as soon as she heard the lock click behind him. She hoped that she had made the right choice, because her entire existence depended on it. Even in her darkest hour she had never felt so lost. To be responsible for the protection of such an innocent life was a daunting task.
I’m her mother. I was supposed to keep her safe, she thought dismally as she allowed the blame to fall on her shoulders. Her spirit was heavy with burden as she closed her eyes and imagined her infant’s face in her mind.
Placing her hand against her chest, she gasped for air as she began to pray. Please, God, protect my baby. Just don’t let them hurt her.
This blow weakened her, but there was one thing that she knew for sure—if anything happened to her daughter, there would be hell to pay.
The cocaine-colored Maybach ripped through the streets of Houston leaving burnt rubber on the pavement as Indie raced to Mekhi’s house. He didn’t even waste time parking the car when he pulled up to his partner’s crib. He pulled his vehicle directly onto the grass all the way up to the front porch and then hopped out. His hand was fixed and ready on his waistline as he knocked the hinges off the front door. He could smell the aroma of the pungent weed smoke that was filtering out of the house as soon as the door opened.
Indie was viewing the world through a murder-filled haze, and when Mekhi opened the door, he immediately became the focus of Indie’s wrath. Mekhi’s smile of welcome was instantly replaced by confusion as Indie placed a pistol in the center of his forehead and grabbed Mekhi’s neck with his free hand. Indie didn’t give a fuck that they were on the same team. In the past there had been shade between them—a hood rivalry, a street beef—and Indie wasn’t playing games.
He had just acquired the townhome that he had put YaYa in. Only a select few people knew its location, and amongst those who knew, Mekhi aka Khi-P was the only nigga he had ever had beef with. It was loyalty or death, and he wasn’t one hundred percent sure that Khi-P was content with his current position in the game.
“Nigga, where the fuck is my shorty?” Indie asked through clenched teeth as he backed Khi-P into his own home. It wasn’t until he was fully inside that he noticed his young gunner, Chase, was present, along with his li’l cook-up crew, Trina, Miesha, and Sydney.
“Whoa, my dude! Fuck is up, my nigga?” Khi-P protested with wide eyes as his hands shot up in his own defense.
“You still got beef with me? Huh, Khi? After all the money I’ve helped you get. After putting you on, you come into my home…what? You ain’t seen me put my murder game down so you think it’s a game, nigga?” Indie stated.
“Indie…fam, let’s put the gun down and talk about this shit like brothers. I don’t know what the fuck you on, but I don’t appreciate the disrespect. We on the same team, fam. Where you coming from with this shit?” Khi-P asked, his eyebrows raised in concern from the fear of the unknown.
Nothing about Khi-P was soft. He didn’t have a sweet bone in his body, but real recognized real, and the look of passion in Indie’s eyes let him know that this was not the time for macho games. Safety off and hell-bent on revenge, Indie would not hesitate to pop a nigga. From one killer to another, Khi-P conceded respectfully.
“You on some foul shit right now,” he stated with displeasure. He made sure that his tone was diplomatic, but still stern. They were both men, and gun or no gun, Indie was out of order. They should never be a target in each other’s crosshairs.
“They came into my crib and took her! Right out of her bed. They got my li’l girl,” Indie stated coldly.
“Indie, fam, put your gun down. Khi has been here all night, baby. Ever since we left your spot after dinner. We’ve all been right here,” Chase reasoned. “This ain’t on him.”
Indie knew that Chase’s word was bond, and if Chase was willing to vouch for Khi-P, then Indie was indeed out of pocket. He withdrew his weapon and balled his fists as he paced back and forth. The stress and heart-ache was written all over his face, and everyone stared at him sympathetically as they silently searched for the right words to speak.
“I’m sorry, fam. I’m going crazy right now. They got my baby girl,” Indie stated sincerely.
Mekhi’s disgruntled disposition lightened when he understood the seriousness of the situation. Any other nigga who came at him would have encountered problems, but he knew when to stand down. He had to remind himself that they were shooters for the same squad just to get himself to calm down. The tension level was on high as they all observed Indie cautiously, but remained silent.
Khi-P held out his hand and the men embraced as Indie gained his composure.
“How is YaYa?” Trina asked, finally speaking up to break up the apprehension that had clouded the room.
“She’s out of her mind,” Indie stated. “I need y’all over there with her right now. Make sure she’s okay and keep her calm for me until I make it home.” Indie went into his pocket to retrieve a stack of money, and he peeled off a few stacks to hand to each girl.
“Don’t insult us. We’re family. We got you. We’ll make sure YaYa is okay,” Trina replied. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek before she and the girls exited.
When the three men were alone, Indie turned toward Chase and Khi-P.
“We ain’t got no beef like that out here. It’s all love in Houston ’cause we letting everybody eat. The only mu’fuckas I can think who even got the balls to pull some shit like this are those Tallahassee boys,” Chase stated seriously.
Indie immediately regretted sweeping them under the rug. He had not viewed them as a serious threat, but obviously they weren’t playing games.
“Then those are the niggas I need to see. Put your ears to the street to see who’s talking. It’s time to start lacing pockets. I need to speak to any and everybody who can give me any information,” Indie replied.
Leah’s stomach twisted in excruciating pain as she drove away from her homemade cemetery. Her hands shook uncontrollably and her bloody fingertips gripped the steering wheel in desperation as she thought about what she had just done. She couldn’t stop the devious smile that crept across her face. She didn’t want to be so cold, but she was too good at it. Ruining the lives of other people was like a narcotic for her. She was addicted to misery and chaos. An evil dwelled inside of her that she could not control. Every time she tried to lock it up, it only grew stronger.
As a little girl, the good parts in her outweighed the bad, but with every new sin that she committed, her soul rotted more and more. She no longer remembered what it was like to be a moral person, and after the heinous acts she had committed, it was way too late to turn back. Her blood-soaked car seat was a clear indication that she needed medical attention. She was bleeding from her womb and infection was an imminent threat, but she blocked the pain out as she pushed forward, determined, crazed over revenge.
The crying…the wailing…the screams of her dead baby tormented her, causing tears to flow from her disengaged eyes. It was as if the baby’s spirit was haunting her, providing a deafening soundtrack as she sped through the country roads. Her conscience was begging her to stop the madness, but she couldn’t. Leah was too far gone and hell bent on settling the score. She could not stop herself if she wanted to.
Waaa!
Waaa!
She turned up the radio to drown out the sounds, but they only grew louder. There was no erasing the bricks of burden that weighed heavily on her shoulders. She was haunted, and the shrill screams in her head were a constant reminder of the monster she had become. Her hands shook violently against the steering wheel as tears wrecked her. The thought of the things that had brought her to this point were sickening.
Mediocrity and rejection had plagued her since childhood. The people that she put her trust in were always the same ones who let her down. She had never been enough; she was always second choice. Her cold heart was no fault of her own.
People bring pain on themselves. YaYa made me do this to her. She made me the way that I am. Fuck her, Leah thought. The events she had set in motion were about to ruin Disaya, and she felt no inkling of remorse. YaYa had made her hurt in more than one way. Leah was intent on showing Ms. Morgan that karma was real.
As Leah drove, flashes of her past plagued her, and she was taken back to the place where her lunacy began…
Chapter Two
“Oww,” Leah complained, cringing in pain as the sharp bristles of the hairbrush pressed against her tender scalp. “Mommy, that hurts.”
“Girl, hush. I told you today is a big day. We’re going back to New York City. That’s where Mommy’s from. That’s where your daddy lives,” Natalie stated. Seven-year-old Leah could see the stars in her mother’s eyes, and an infectious smile spread across her young face.
Natalie had regaled Leah many times before with stories of her father and the magnificence that life with him in NYC had to offer. She had waited for this day to come, and finally her mother was taking her to meet him. Dressed in her best Sunday dress, Leah couldn’t stop her eager heart from racing. Usually, she would complain about the itchy stockings and extremely tight hair bows, but she wanted to look her best. From the very first day Leah was born, she had been groomed for this reunion.
“You have to be perfect, Leah. Everything has to be perfect. Your father only loves the pretty girls,” Natalie would say. “We can’t go back for him until you are flawless. Everything about you has to be just right, so that he will fall in love with you as soon as he sets his sights on you.” Her mother had drilled the ideal of becoming the perfect daughter into her for so long that Leah rarely made a mistake. From her appearance to her grades to her speech, she did everything without error.
Despite her youthful innocence, Leah was well aware of what her life was missing. Every little girl in Durham, North Carolina had a daddy to call her own. Sadness filled her when she saw fathers with their daughters on the playground. Envy ate away at her when she saw her classmates get dropped off at school by the big men who loved them so much. She yearned for the missing piece in her life. She wanted a father to take her fears away and make her the center of his world. She dreamed of meeting her daddy every night, and now her mother was finally granting all of her wishes.
“What is he like?” Leah asked excitedly as she turned to face her mother, only to receive a hard pop to the top of the head with the wooden hairbrush.
“Quit asking so many questions, Leah, and be still. I’ve told you about your daddy a million times. Turn around so I can finish. I don’t have all day to get you dressed. Mama got to look good for Daddy too,” Natalie stated with seduction in her tone. It had been eight long years since she had seen Leah’s father, and the thought of him still caused her southern lips to cream in anticipation.
Messing around with a taken man, she had known that she was simply a little girl playing adult games. At seventeen, her heart had been stolen by someone she could never truly have, but he made her feel so good that she didn’t care that she would never come first. When Natalie popped up pregnant, she thought that a baby would be the answer to all of her prayers, but when she was dropped off at the abortion clinic instead of accepted with loving arms, she decided to flee. Moving down South was the only way for her to have her baby in secrecy, but as she looked at Leah, she knew that it was time for the dark truth to come to light.
I’m not the same little girl who ran away all those years ago. I’m going back to get my man and embrace the life that I was supposed to lead. I’m supposed to be his number one…his only. I have his baby. He can’t turn me away, she thought with renewed determination.
It took the twosome all day to prepare themselves for the reunion, but when they finally dragged their heavy bags to the car, they were perfect from head to toe. Dressed in their Sunday best, they climbed into the car to make the thirteen-hour drive up North. The overwhelming smell of perfume and hair grease filled the interior of the vehicle as they prepared to make the uncomfortable trip. Despite the miles of road ahead of them, they felt closer to home than they ever had before. New York City was where they both wanted to be. It was where they belonged. The man that they loved the most was unknowingly waiting. Whether he was ready or not, they were coming to claim him.
Natalie drove the entire way. Too eager to stop, she pushed forward until she could see the skyline of Manhattan’s tall buildings. Eyes heavy from fatigue, she wanted nothing more than to drive to the nearest hotel, but she was too excited to delay the inevitable. The man she was searching for was one of predictability. He had been making the same moves on the same corners, frequenting the same spots for years. Being his young mistress in the past, she knew exactly where to find him.
An exhausted Leah looked up at her mother. The sandman was personally tugging at her eyelids as she struggled to keep them open.
“Are we there yet?” she asked with a big yawn. “Mommy, are we there? Is this where he lives?”
Natalie smiled and replied, “Yeah, this is NYC.”
Leah’s lazy smile was lopsided as her sleepy head rested against the seat. Natalie sighed. Knowing that Leah needed some rest, she reluctantly decided to stop at a motel. Seedy and in the worst part of Queens, the dilapidated neighborhood was no place for a single woman and child. She had used all of her finances to make the trip to the city, and luxury wasn’t an option.
She went inside and quickly put Leah to bed, but found that sleep was evasive for her. Her mind was spinning with thoughts of her former love, and like a HEMI engine, her heart raced, unyielding and unforgiving, as it took over her wild emotional state. Natalie couldn’t go to sleep—not before doing what she had come to town to do.
I’ve got to go find him, she thought restlessly. She peeked over at Leah, noticing her daughter’s contentment as her tiny chest rose and fell. I can just leave her here. She’ll never know I’m gone. By the time she wakes up, I’ll be back…and hopefully her daddy will be with me, Natalie thought as she rushed to the mirror to refresh her makeup. She smoothed out the baby hair that rested along the edges of her neat, long ponytail, and brushed the wrinkles out of her skin-tight red dress before creeping out of the room. At that moment, it didn’t matter to her that she was leaving a seven-year-old child alone.
Leah was just an accessory anyway, a pawn in a game of bait and hook. Natalie needed Leah to bait her daddy and convince him to make a home with them. With me is where he belongs, she thought as she drove off into the night.
Natalie walked into Jimmy’s Bar, and although eight years had passed, everything about the place was unchanged. From the old jukebox that sat in the corner to the busty bartender behind the counter, the atmosphere was exactly as she remembered it. Cigarette smoke painted seductive pictures in the air as Leah stood in the doorway, nervous energy consuming her. Her eyes scanned the patrons in the joint. It was Saturday night, ladies’ night, and all of the working girls were out on the prowl as they flirted with the men who frequented the spot.
