Trickin', page 30
“Whatever,” Shayna laughed back.
“And stop worryin’ about Quiana. She gon’ be all right,” Ra’Keeyah assured.
“Okay,” Shayna responded, hopeful.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” Ra’Keeyah asked, standing up from the bed.
Shayna nodded her head yes. She stood up from the bed as well and walked Ra’Keeyah to the door. “I love you, girl,” Shayna said hugging Ra’Keeyah as tight as she could.
“Dang, you hugged me like you ain’t gon’ see me no more,” Ra’Keeyah joked.
“You silly,” Shayna laughed.
“Love you too, girl,” Ra’Keeyah said, opening up the door. She walked out into the hallway and pushed the DOWN button on the elevator. Shayna waved good-bye as the doors opened.
“Get a pregnancy test,” Shayna yelled as Ra’Keeyah stepped on the elevator.
“Yeah, right,” Ra’Keeyah laughed as the doors closed shut. “Folks better leave my hips and ass alone. Shit, I look good,” she said to her reflection in the stainless steel elevator walls.
Shayna walked back into her room and looked around. She had made a huge mess and decided to clean it up. She’d been in the room for two days, and it looked like she’d been there for two weeks. After she got everything nice and tidy, she grabbed the complimentary notepad and pen from the drawer; then she sat down at the desk and began writing. After she finished, she went down to the front desk, asked for a stamped envelope, and filled it out. She put her note in the envelope, sealed it, and walked it outside to the mailbox that stood in front of the hotel. After accomplishing that, she went back to her room, where she showered, changed clothes, applied some makeup, and fixed her hair.
“Now I look like the old Shayna,” she said, smiling at her reflection. Pleased with her makeover, Shayna reached into her purse, grabbed a bottle of pills, and opened them up. She was in pain and wanted it to go away. She poured half the pills in her hand before reaching over and grabbing her glass of St. Claire Green Tea Vodka that sat on the nightstand. She tossed the pills in her mouth and washed them down with her drink. Afterward, Shayna lay down in the bed and thought long and hard about her life, the good and the bad, before crying herself to sleep.
Chapter Thirty-seven
Ra’Keeyah pulled up in the driveway and got out. She hit the alarm to the truck before making her way up the walk. She yawned as she stuck her key in the lock. She was tired, and all she wanted to do was go straight to bed. Deep down she hoped Brick wasn’t home so she could go straight to sleep without any interruptions. She opened the door and typed the code into the alarm before making her way upstairs. She walked into the bedroom and immediately knew something was wrong by the look on Brick’s face.
“Hey, baby,” she spoke, just in case it was her he was mad at.
Brick didn’t speak back. Instead he mugged her like she was the scum of the earth.
“What’s the matter wit’ you?” Ra’Keeyah asked, trying to remember if she’d done anything wrong. Coming up blank, she started taking off her shoes.
“You might wanna leave them on,” Brick said.
“What I do now?” Ra’Keeyah grimaced.
“Here. Somebody left this on the doorstep,” he said throwing a nicely wrapped gift box at her.
Ra’Keeyah tried to catch the box, but it hit the floor, causing its contents to spill out. She bent down and picked up one of the pictures. Her heart jumped into her throat when she noticed it was a picture of her, Shayna, and Quiana stripping for Calvin and his friends on her birthday. Ra’Keeyah was speechless. She’d been caught.
That dirty bitch, Ra’Keeyah thought. She knew exactly who placed those pictures on Brick’s doorstep. She planned on handling that at a later time. Right now, she had to try to save her relationship.
“Cat gotcha’ tongue?” Brick asked.
“Brick, let me explain,” Ra’Keeyah said, trying to come up with a quick lie, but her mind wasn’t working fast enough.
“I’m waitin’,” he frowned.
“I’m sorry,” was all Ra’Keeyah could think to say, hoping that would be enough.
“You sorry is all you could come up wit’?” Brick asked.
“I don’t know what else to tell you.”
“Tell me why a mutha’fucka put a gift wrapped box of pictures of my girl strippin’ for a bunch of white men on my front porch? That’s what I want you to tell me,” Brick snapped.
“Brick, I don’t know why she would play me like that. Maybe ’cuz her life is fucked up, she want mines to be fucked up too,” Ra’Keeyah said.
“She who?” Brick grimaced.
“Quiana.” Her mind quickly flashed back to when Quiana had held Peighton’s camera for her, and then conveniently forgot to give it back. She also remembered her mom mentioning she saw Quiana at Walgreens the day after the photos were taken. Ra’Keeyah couldn’t prove it but she knew Quiana was behind these pictures popping up.
“Why would Quiana do some ill shit like that to you? I thought she was yo’ girl?”
“We ain’t never been girls. I just dealt wit’ her on the strength of Shayna,” Ra’Keeyah replied.
“I can’t tell. Y’all mutha’fuckas all hugged up and shit in them pictures. Anyways, y’all relationship is irrelevant to me. Only thing I wanna know about is why my girl been hidin’ the fact that she’s a stripper?” Brick stated.
“Brick, I’m not now, nor have I ever been a stripper. I was a dancer,” Ra’Keeyah said.
“Man, miss me wit’ that shit!” Brick marched over and picked the pictures up off the floor. “Here you go givin’ a mutha’fucka a lap dance, here go one of you shakin’ yo’ ass, here go one of some mutha’fuckas puttin’ money in a G-string that I’ve never seen you in befo’e,” Brick argued as he tossed the pictures at her like a Frisbee. “So if you ain’t no stripper, what the fuck are you? A ho? They the same thing!”
“Hell, naw, I ain’t no ho,” Ra’Keeyah snapped, getting offended that Brick would think of her as such.
“I can’t believe you been playin’ me all this time. How long you been strippin’, Ra’Keeyah?” Brick asked, outdone.
Ra’Keeyah was nervous as hell. She didn’t want to lose Brick, not over this. She didn’t know whether to tell the truth or make something up, but lying had gotten her nowhere in the past. So for the first time in a long time, Ra’Keeyah decided to woman up and lay all her cards out on the table; well, maybe not all but half the deck for the man she loved. She had high hopes of them getting past this and moving on with their lives.
“I’ve been doin’ it since March or April. I’m not really sure,” Ra’Keeyah answered truthfully.
“And how long have you known that I despise strippers?”
Ra’Keeyah rolled her eyes into the top of her head, wondering what Brick was getting at by asking all these irrelevant questions. “For a minute, I guess,” she answered.
“Since the very first fuckin’ time I brought you to my house is the correct answer,” Brick barked, making Ra’Keeyah jump. “You didn’t even take my feelin’s into consideration.”
“Yes, I did, Brick. That’s why I stopped dancin’.”
“What made you go out and do some nasty shit like that in the first place?” he asked, disgusted.
“I did it because I needed the money, that’s why! My mom was over there strugglin’, tryin’a take care of me and Jaylen, plus maintain the house. So I thought if I made my own money it would take some of the stress off of her.” The thought of her mom working her fingers to the bones just to provide for her and Jaylen brought tears to her eyes.
“A fuckin’ stripper, though? You coulda’ done somethin’ otha’ than that,” Brick shook his head in disbelief.
“Like what? Get a job at Burger King or McDonald’s? I tried that already,” she lied, hoping it would help her with the case she was trying to plead.
“Wow, Ra’Keeyah a fuckin’ stripper, though?” he repeated. Every time he thought about his girl being a stripper, it brought back memories of the childhood he’d tried to forget.
“ Look, Brick, I did it. I’m not proud of it. But I can’t go back and change it. If I could I would.”
“So when did you stop? Or should I ask have you stopped?”
“I haven’t did it since my birthday,” Ra’Keeyah lied again, being her birthday pictures was his only proof.
“Wow,” Brick said, shaking his head.
“I don’t know what else to say.”
“Did you fuck any of these cats?” Brick asked, not knowing if he really wanted to know the answer to that question.
“No, Brick. I didn’t fuck any of ’em. I danced for ’em, that’s all,” Ra’Keeyah replied quickly, hoping that would help him forgive her for deceiving him.
Brick was silent for a brief moment as if he was trying to collect his thoughts. The wait was killing Ra’Keeyah. She wished he would just hurry up and say what he needed to say and get it over with.
“The fucked up thing about the whole situation is, I asked you was you a stripper and you told me no. You lied to me,” Brick finally said.
“I only lied to you ’cuz I liked you and wanted to be wit’ you, and I know that woulda’ never happened if I’d told you the truth. And you know it,” Ra’Keeyah said honestly.
“You right, but you shoulda’ let me make that decision on my own insteada’ lettin’ me find out by somebody leavin’ a fuckin’ present on my doorstep,” he argued.
“Yeah, it was fucked up how you found out about it. I shoulda’ been woman enough to tell you outta my own mouth. Again, I’m sorry.”
Brick stared at Ra’Keeyah and couldn’t believe the one girl he fell in love with turned out to be something he hated most. He took into consideration her reasoning behind shaking her ass for cash and wanted to wrap his arms around her and tell her he understood, but he couldn’t. No reason was good enough back when his biological mother was doing it, and no reason was good enough now.
“So where do we go from here?” Ra’Keeyah finally had enough nerve to ask.
Brick closed his eyes and shook his head. “I don’t know about you, but I’m about to go to bed. Before you leave, get all yo’ shit, put my keys on the dresser, oh, and my ring, and lock up behind you.”
Ra’Keeyah was stunned. She couldn’t believe it was over between her and Brick—just like that. Just this morning they were the perfect couple. How did it take a turn for the worse so quickly?
“Where am I gon’ go?”
“I don’t know,” Brick said while getting dressed for bed.
“Brick, I know I fucked up, but please don’t leave me over something so dumb,” Ra’Keeyah pleaded.
“Oh, I ain’t leavin’, you are,” he said, as he climbed in his big, comfortable bed.
“Brick, I know I fucked up, and I’m sorry,” she replied sincerely, as tears streamed down her face.
Brick turned his back toward Ra’Keeyah. It was eating him up to see her cry.
“Bye, Ra’Keeyah. I’m done talkin’. Get yo’ shit and go on.”
“I don’t have nowhere to go,” she said.
“Take some of the money you made strippin’ and go get you a hotel room,” he said harshly.
Ra’Keeyah realized there was no getting through to Brick. She changed into a pair of sweatpants, a thick sweatshirt, and threw on her Ugg boots, and began packing her things. She didn’t know where she was going or how she was going to get there. She grabbed her duffle bag and only threw a couple items in it. She figured that Brick was mad right now, so she would leave for the night, and hopefully, they would talk things out in the morning.
Brick lay in the bed pretending to be asleep. He listened as Ra’Keeyah gathered her things. He wanted to get up, tell her to stop packing, and come to bed, but his pride wouldn’t let him. He loved Ra’Keeyah with all his heart, but she’d hurt him, just like his mother had done. If he could cut all ties with the woman who gave birth to him, cutting ties with Ra’Keeyah would be a walk in the park . . . he hoped.
After Ra’Keeyah had finished packing her clothes, she grabbed her cell phone and her savings out of the shoe box and stuck it in the inside pocket of her duffle bag. Then she walked over and stood by the bed. She removed the house key and the truck key from her key ring and laid them on the nightstand before taking off the big rock and laying it next to the keys. Taking off the ring hurt more than anything. She then reached over and touched Brick’s arm.
“I’m gone,” she said.
Brick didn’t respond. He continued to lay there and play possum.
Ra’Keeyah shook her head and headed downstairs. She put on her warm winter coat along with her hat and gloves and bundled up real good. Then she looked around the living room, threw her duffle bag on her shoulders, and walked out the door with no destination in mind, locking it behind her.
When Brick heard the front door close, it felt like his heart had just been ripped out of his chest. He rolled over and got out of bed. He looked down at the nightstand where his keys and the ring he’d bought for his future wife lay. He picked the ring up, walked over to his dresser, and put it back in the box it came in before climbing back into bed. He grabbed the pillow Ra’Keeyah slept on, put it up to his nose before hugging it tight, and for the first time in years, he cried.
The wind was tearing through Ra’Keeyah’s coat as she maneuvered through the bitter predawn chilled air. It was after four in the morning, and she had nowhere to go. She couldn’t go to her mother’s house, not wanting to hear “I tried to tell you.” She even thought about going to the hotel to crash in the room with Shayna, but it was way too far to walk. So she decided to head to the only other place she would be welcomed at. Ra’Keeyah picked up her pace and headed over to Pauline’s. Ra’Keeyah had been so upset that it never dawned on her to use her cell phone to call a taxi. She was relieved to have made it to Pauline’s front door after a thirty-minute walk in the cold weather. Her nose was runny, her hands and feet were numb, and they felt like they might be frostbitten. As soon as she was about to ring the doorbell, Pauline opened the door.
“I’ve been waitin’ on you,” Pauline smiled and welcomed Ra’Keeyah in with open arms.
Chapter Thirty-eight
It was late in the afternoon when Ra’Keeyah finally woke up. She grabbed her cell phone off the nightstand and checked it for missed calls from Brick. When she saw there were none, she laid the phone back down and climbed out of bed. She looked around Pauline’s guest bedroom and shook her head. Ra’Keeyah couldn’t wait to call Shayna and tell her what had gone down between her and Brick and to see if she had any advice on how to get her man back. But first, she had to shower and get dressed. She grabbed her outfit out of her duffle bag and headed out into the hallway where she heard Pauline in the kitchen rattling pots and pans as she headed into the bathroom.
“Man, I feel a lot better,” Ra’Keeyah said walking out of the bathroom fully dressed. Now she headed toward the kitchen, hoping Pauline had cooked something because she was starving.
“Good afternoon,” Pauline smiled when Ra’Keeyah walked in.
“Good afternoon,” Ra’Keeyah spoke back before taking a seat at the table.
“You missed breakfast. You want some lunch?” Pauline asked.
“Yes, please. I’m so hungry I feel sick in my stomach.”
Pauline began preparing Ra’Keeyah a plate of leftovers from Christmas dinner before placing it in the microwave.
“Thanks for lettin’ me stay here last night,” Ra’Keeyah said.
“No problem. Brice called me and told me you’d probably come over here, being I don’t live too far away from him,” Pauline said, taking the plate out of the microwave and setting it down in front of Ra’Keeyah.
“This was the closest place. It was too cold to walk anywhere else,” Ra’Keeyah admitted before sticking a piece of turkey in her mouth.
“Why didn’t you just catch a cab?” Pauline asked.
“I don’t know. I guess I wasn’t thinkin’ at the time. Usin’ my phone was the last thing on my mind.”
“Ra’Keeyah, I usually don’t get in my son’s business,” Pauline started.
Those are the exact words mothers say right before they get into their kids’ business, Ra’Keeyah thought.
“I know whatever y’all argued about last night really must of hurt him, ’cuz I could hear it in his voice when he called me. And whatever it is y’all goin’ through, all I can do is hope and pray that y’all can work it out.”
“He didn’t tell you why he put me out in the middle of the night, in a blizzard?” Ra’Keeyah asked, finishing off her sweet potatoes.
“Nope, and I didn’t ask. Only thing he told me was to watch out for you ’cuz you left walkin’. He was worried about you walkin’ alone that time of mornin’.”
I couldn’t tell, or else he woulda’ gave me a ride, Ra’Keeyah wanted to say.
“Whatever y’all’s disagreement was about, I’m quite sure it’s resolvable,” she smiled.
“I don’t think so, Miss Pauline. Brick was pretty mad.”
“You know, Brice has had that same feisty attitude since he was a little boy. And once he calms down and thinks about what he did, he’ll be ready to talk,” Pauline smiled.
“I sure hope so. ’Cuz I really love your son, Miss Pauline,” Ra’Keeyah said, finishing off her plate of food.
“I know you do, and he loves you too.”
“Can I ask you a question, Miss Pauline?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Why don’t you ever call Brick by his nickname like everyone else?”
“Well, baby, because Brice’s nickname represent somethin’ I’m against now. I don’t approve of what Brice does. But he’s grown and I have no control over it. But I do have control over what name I call him. I’ve never called him Brick, and I never will. His momma named him Brice, and that’s what I’m gon’ call him,” Pauline explained.
“I was just wonderin’,” Ra’Keeyah smiled.
“No problem.”
“No disrespect to your cookin’, Miss Pauline, but I’m startin’ to feel sick. I think I ate too fast,” Ra’Keeyah said, grabbing her stomach.
“And stop worryin’ about Quiana. She gon’ be all right,” Ra’Keeyah assured.
“Okay,” Shayna responded, hopeful.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” Ra’Keeyah asked, standing up from the bed.
Shayna nodded her head yes. She stood up from the bed as well and walked Ra’Keeyah to the door. “I love you, girl,” Shayna said hugging Ra’Keeyah as tight as she could.
“Dang, you hugged me like you ain’t gon’ see me no more,” Ra’Keeyah joked.
“You silly,” Shayna laughed.
“Love you too, girl,” Ra’Keeyah said, opening up the door. She walked out into the hallway and pushed the DOWN button on the elevator. Shayna waved good-bye as the doors opened.
“Get a pregnancy test,” Shayna yelled as Ra’Keeyah stepped on the elevator.
“Yeah, right,” Ra’Keeyah laughed as the doors closed shut. “Folks better leave my hips and ass alone. Shit, I look good,” she said to her reflection in the stainless steel elevator walls.
Shayna walked back into her room and looked around. She had made a huge mess and decided to clean it up. She’d been in the room for two days, and it looked like she’d been there for two weeks. After she got everything nice and tidy, she grabbed the complimentary notepad and pen from the drawer; then she sat down at the desk and began writing. After she finished, she went down to the front desk, asked for a stamped envelope, and filled it out. She put her note in the envelope, sealed it, and walked it outside to the mailbox that stood in front of the hotel. After accomplishing that, she went back to her room, where she showered, changed clothes, applied some makeup, and fixed her hair.
“Now I look like the old Shayna,” she said, smiling at her reflection. Pleased with her makeover, Shayna reached into her purse, grabbed a bottle of pills, and opened them up. She was in pain and wanted it to go away. She poured half the pills in her hand before reaching over and grabbing her glass of St. Claire Green Tea Vodka that sat on the nightstand. She tossed the pills in her mouth and washed them down with her drink. Afterward, Shayna lay down in the bed and thought long and hard about her life, the good and the bad, before crying herself to sleep.
Chapter Thirty-seven
Ra’Keeyah pulled up in the driveway and got out. She hit the alarm to the truck before making her way up the walk. She yawned as she stuck her key in the lock. She was tired, and all she wanted to do was go straight to bed. Deep down she hoped Brick wasn’t home so she could go straight to sleep without any interruptions. She opened the door and typed the code into the alarm before making her way upstairs. She walked into the bedroom and immediately knew something was wrong by the look on Brick’s face.
“Hey, baby,” she spoke, just in case it was her he was mad at.
Brick didn’t speak back. Instead he mugged her like she was the scum of the earth.
“What’s the matter wit’ you?” Ra’Keeyah asked, trying to remember if she’d done anything wrong. Coming up blank, she started taking off her shoes.
“You might wanna leave them on,” Brick said.
“What I do now?” Ra’Keeyah grimaced.
“Here. Somebody left this on the doorstep,” he said throwing a nicely wrapped gift box at her.
Ra’Keeyah tried to catch the box, but it hit the floor, causing its contents to spill out. She bent down and picked up one of the pictures. Her heart jumped into her throat when she noticed it was a picture of her, Shayna, and Quiana stripping for Calvin and his friends on her birthday. Ra’Keeyah was speechless. She’d been caught.
That dirty bitch, Ra’Keeyah thought. She knew exactly who placed those pictures on Brick’s doorstep. She planned on handling that at a later time. Right now, she had to try to save her relationship.
“Cat gotcha’ tongue?” Brick asked.
“Brick, let me explain,” Ra’Keeyah said, trying to come up with a quick lie, but her mind wasn’t working fast enough.
“I’m waitin’,” he frowned.
“I’m sorry,” was all Ra’Keeyah could think to say, hoping that would be enough.
“You sorry is all you could come up wit’?” Brick asked.
“I don’t know what else to tell you.”
“Tell me why a mutha’fucka put a gift wrapped box of pictures of my girl strippin’ for a bunch of white men on my front porch? That’s what I want you to tell me,” Brick snapped.
“Brick, I don’t know why she would play me like that. Maybe ’cuz her life is fucked up, she want mines to be fucked up too,” Ra’Keeyah said.
“She who?” Brick grimaced.
“Quiana.” Her mind quickly flashed back to when Quiana had held Peighton’s camera for her, and then conveniently forgot to give it back. She also remembered her mom mentioning she saw Quiana at Walgreens the day after the photos were taken. Ra’Keeyah couldn’t prove it but she knew Quiana was behind these pictures popping up.
“Why would Quiana do some ill shit like that to you? I thought she was yo’ girl?”
“We ain’t never been girls. I just dealt wit’ her on the strength of Shayna,” Ra’Keeyah replied.
“I can’t tell. Y’all mutha’fuckas all hugged up and shit in them pictures. Anyways, y’all relationship is irrelevant to me. Only thing I wanna know about is why my girl been hidin’ the fact that she’s a stripper?” Brick stated.
“Brick, I’m not now, nor have I ever been a stripper. I was a dancer,” Ra’Keeyah said.
“Man, miss me wit’ that shit!” Brick marched over and picked the pictures up off the floor. “Here you go givin’ a mutha’fucka a lap dance, here go one of you shakin’ yo’ ass, here go one of some mutha’fuckas puttin’ money in a G-string that I’ve never seen you in befo’e,” Brick argued as he tossed the pictures at her like a Frisbee. “So if you ain’t no stripper, what the fuck are you? A ho? They the same thing!”
“Hell, naw, I ain’t no ho,” Ra’Keeyah snapped, getting offended that Brick would think of her as such.
“I can’t believe you been playin’ me all this time. How long you been strippin’, Ra’Keeyah?” Brick asked, outdone.
Ra’Keeyah was nervous as hell. She didn’t want to lose Brick, not over this. She didn’t know whether to tell the truth or make something up, but lying had gotten her nowhere in the past. So for the first time in a long time, Ra’Keeyah decided to woman up and lay all her cards out on the table; well, maybe not all but half the deck for the man she loved. She had high hopes of them getting past this and moving on with their lives.
“I’ve been doin’ it since March or April. I’m not really sure,” Ra’Keeyah answered truthfully.
“And how long have you known that I despise strippers?”
Ra’Keeyah rolled her eyes into the top of her head, wondering what Brick was getting at by asking all these irrelevant questions. “For a minute, I guess,” she answered.
“Since the very first fuckin’ time I brought you to my house is the correct answer,” Brick barked, making Ra’Keeyah jump. “You didn’t even take my feelin’s into consideration.”
“Yes, I did, Brick. That’s why I stopped dancin’.”
“What made you go out and do some nasty shit like that in the first place?” he asked, disgusted.
“I did it because I needed the money, that’s why! My mom was over there strugglin’, tryin’a take care of me and Jaylen, plus maintain the house. So I thought if I made my own money it would take some of the stress off of her.” The thought of her mom working her fingers to the bones just to provide for her and Jaylen brought tears to her eyes.
“A fuckin’ stripper, though? You coulda’ done somethin’ otha’ than that,” Brick shook his head in disbelief.
“Like what? Get a job at Burger King or McDonald’s? I tried that already,” she lied, hoping it would help her with the case she was trying to plead.
“Wow, Ra’Keeyah a fuckin’ stripper, though?” he repeated. Every time he thought about his girl being a stripper, it brought back memories of the childhood he’d tried to forget.
“ Look, Brick, I did it. I’m not proud of it. But I can’t go back and change it. If I could I would.”
“So when did you stop? Or should I ask have you stopped?”
“I haven’t did it since my birthday,” Ra’Keeyah lied again, being her birthday pictures was his only proof.
“Wow,” Brick said, shaking his head.
“I don’t know what else to say.”
“Did you fuck any of these cats?” Brick asked, not knowing if he really wanted to know the answer to that question.
“No, Brick. I didn’t fuck any of ’em. I danced for ’em, that’s all,” Ra’Keeyah replied quickly, hoping that would help him forgive her for deceiving him.
Brick was silent for a brief moment as if he was trying to collect his thoughts. The wait was killing Ra’Keeyah. She wished he would just hurry up and say what he needed to say and get it over with.
“The fucked up thing about the whole situation is, I asked you was you a stripper and you told me no. You lied to me,” Brick finally said.
“I only lied to you ’cuz I liked you and wanted to be wit’ you, and I know that woulda’ never happened if I’d told you the truth. And you know it,” Ra’Keeyah said honestly.
“You right, but you shoulda’ let me make that decision on my own insteada’ lettin’ me find out by somebody leavin’ a fuckin’ present on my doorstep,” he argued.
“Yeah, it was fucked up how you found out about it. I shoulda’ been woman enough to tell you outta my own mouth. Again, I’m sorry.”
Brick stared at Ra’Keeyah and couldn’t believe the one girl he fell in love with turned out to be something he hated most. He took into consideration her reasoning behind shaking her ass for cash and wanted to wrap his arms around her and tell her he understood, but he couldn’t. No reason was good enough back when his biological mother was doing it, and no reason was good enough now.
“So where do we go from here?” Ra’Keeyah finally had enough nerve to ask.
Brick closed his eyes and shook his head. “I don’t know about you, but I’m about to go to bed. Before you leave, get all yo’ shit, put my keys on the dresser, oh, and my ring, and lock up behind you.”
Ra’Keeyah was stunned. She couldn’t believe it was over between her and Brick—just like that. Just this morning they were the perfect couple. How did it take a turn for the worse so quickly?
“Where am I gon’ go?”
“I don’t know,” Brick said while getting dressed for bed.
“Brick, I know I fucked up, but please don’t leave me over something so dumb,” Ra’Keeyah pleaded.
“Oh, I ain’t leavin’, you are,” he said, as he climbed in his big, comfortable bed.
“Brick, I know I fucked up, and I’m sorry,” she replied sincerely, as tears streamed down her face.
Brick turned his back toward Ra’Keeyah. It was eating him up to see her cry.
“Bye, Ra’Keeyah. I’m done talkin’. Get yo’ shit and go on.”
“I don’t have nowhere to go,” she said.
“Take some of the money you made strippin’ and go get you a hotel room,” he said harshly.
Ra’Keeyah realized there was no getting through to Brick. She changed into a pair of sweatpants, a thick sweatshirt, and threw on her Ugg boots, and began packing her things. She didn’t know where she was going or how she was going to get there. She grabbed her duffle bag and only threw a couple items in it. She figured that Brick was mad right now, so she would leave for the night, and hopefully, they would talk things out in the morning.
Brick lay in the bed pretending to be asleep. He listened as Ra’Keeyah gathered her things. He wanted to get up, tell her to stop packing, and come to bed, but his pride wouldn’t let him. He loved Ra’Keeyah with all his heart, but she’d hurt him, just like his mother had done. If he could cut all ties with the woman who gave birth to him, cutting ties with Ra’Keeyah would be a walk in the park . . . he hoped.
After Ra’Keeyah had finished packing her clothes, she grabbed her cell phone and her savings out of the shoe box and stuck it in the inside pocket of her duffle bag. Then she walked over and stood by the bed. She removed the house key and the truck key from her key ring and laid them on the nightstand before taking off the big rock and laying it next to the keys. Taking off the ring hurt more than anything. She then reached over and touched Brick’s arm.
“I’m gone,” she said.
Brick didn’t respond. He continued to lay there and play possum.
Ra’Keeyah shook her head and headed downstairs. She put on her warm winter coat along with her hat and gloves and bundled up real good. Then she looked around the living room, threw her duffle bag on her shoulders, and walked out the door with no destination in mind, locking it behind her.
When Brick heard the front door close, it felt like his heart had just been ripped out of his chest. He rolled over and got out of bed. He looked down at the nightstand where his keys and the ring he’d bought for his future wife lay. He picked the ring up, walked over to his dresser, and put it back in the box it came in before climbing back into bed. He grabbed the pillow Ra’Keeyah slept on, put it up to his nose before hugging it tight, and for the first time in years, he cried.
The wind was tearing through Ra’Keeyah’s coat as she maneuvered through the bitter predawn chilled air. It was after four in the morning, and she had nowhere to go. She couldn’t go to her mother’s house, not wanting to hear “I tried to tell you.” She even thought about going to the hotel to crash in the room with Shayna, but it was way too far to walk. So she decided to head to the only other place she would be welcomed at. Ra’Keeyah picked up her pace and headed over to Pauline’s. Ra’Keeyah had been so upset that it never dawned on her to use her cell phone to call a taxi. She was relieved to have made it to Pauline’s front door after a thirty-minute walk in the cold weather. Her nose was runny, her hands and feet were numb, and they felt like they might be frostbitten. As soon as she was about to ring the doorbell, Pauline opened the door.
“I’ve been waitin’ on you,” Pauline smiled and welcomed Ra’Keeyah in with open arms.
Chapter Thirty-eight
It was late in the afternoon when Ra’Keeyah finally woke up. She grabbed her cell phone off the nightstand and checked it for missed calls from Brick. When she saw there were none, she laid the phone back down and climbed out of bed. She looked around Pauline’s guest bedroom and shook her head. Ra’Keeyah couldn’t wait to call Shayna and tell her what had gone down between her and Brick and to see if she had any advice on how to get her man back. But first, she had to shower and get dressed. She grabbed her outfit out of her duffle bag and headed out into the hallway where she heard Pauline in the kitchen rattling pots and pans as she headed into the bathroom.
“Man, I feel a lot better,” Ra’Keeyah said walking out of the bathroom fully dressed. Now she headed toward the kitchen, hoping Pauline had cooked something because she was starving.
“Good afternoon,” Pauline smiled when Ra’Keeyah walked in.
“Good afternoon,” Ra’Keeyah spoke back before taking a seat at the table.
“You missed breakfast. You want some lunch?” Pauline asked.
“Yes, please. I’m so hungry I feel sick in my stomach.”
Pauline began preparing Ra’Keeyah a plate of leftovers from Christmas dinner before placing it in the microwave.
“Thanks for lettin’ me stay here last night,” Ra’Keeyah said.
“No problem. Brice called me and told me you’d probably come over here, being I don’t live too far away from him,” Pauline said, taking the plate out of the microwave and setting it down in front of Ra’Keeyah.
“This was the closest place. It was too cold to walk anywhere else,” Ra’Keeyah admitted before sticking a piece of turkey in her mouth.
“Why didn’t you just catch a cab?” Pauline asked.
“I don’t know. I guess I wasn’t thinkin’ at the time. Usin’ my phone was the last thing on my mind.”
“Ra’Keeyah, I usually don’t get in my son’s business,” Pauline started.
Those are the exact words mothers say right before they get into their kids’ business, Ra’Keeyah thought.
“I know whatever y’all argued about last night really must of hurt him, ’cuz I could hear it in his voice when he called me. And whatever it is y’all goin’ through, all I can do is hope and pray that y’all can work it out.”
“He didn’t tell you why he put me out in the middle of the night, in a blizzard?” Ra’Keeyah asked, finishing off her sweet potatoes.
“Nope, and I didn’t ask. Only thing he told me was to watch out for you ’cuz you left walkin’. He was worried about you walkin’ alone that time of mornin’.”
I couldn’t tell, or else he woulda’ gave me a ride, Ra’Keeyah wanted to say.
“Whatever y’all’s disagreement was about, I’m quite sure it’s resolvable,” she smiled.
“I don’t think so, Miss Pauline. Brick was pretty mad.”
“You know, Brice has had that same feisty attitude since he was a little boy. And once he calms down and thinks about what he did, he’ll be ready to talk,” Pauline smiled.
“I sure hope so. ’Cuz I really love your son, Miss Pauline,” Ra’Keeyah said, finishing off her plate of food.
“I know you do, and he loves you too.”
“Can I ask you a question, Miss Pauline?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Why don’t you ever call Brick by his nickname like everyone else?”
“Well, baby, because Brice’s nickname represent somethin’ I’m against now. I don’t approve of what Brice does. But he’s grown and I have no control over it. But I do have control over what name I call him. I’ve never called him Brick, and I never will. His momma named him Brice, and that’s what I’m gon’ call him,” Pauline explained.
“I was just wonderin’,” Ra’Keeyah smiled.
“No problem.”
“No disrespect to your cookin’, Miss Pauline, but I’m startin’ to feel sick. I think I ate too fast,” Ra’Keeyah said, grabbing her stomach.
