8 | Tragedy strikes Again
Rikki had decided to pop one of the Valium that her therapist had prescribed for her. The argument that she’d had with Karamel shortly after leaving her session had her in a mood. Rather than give in to calling her lover and be the first to kiss ass when she had done nothing wrong, Rikki figured that she’d take some meds and conk out for the night. She drank the remainder of her Chamomile tea and slid on her pink pajama shorts with a tank and crawled into bed. She made sure to turn her television on VH1 and set the timer for the full four hours. With her sleep patterns it wasn’t uncommon for her to fall asleep and wake back up a few times. When that happened, she didn’t like for her room to be dark, so she always made sure that she was covered for an extended period of time.
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She hadn’t expected for the Valium to work so quickly, but no sooner than she brought her covers above her shoulders and turned sideways on her pillow, Rikki was dozing. As she’d always done, she had placed her cell phone underneath her pillow and set it to vibrate. She knew that she was more likely to feel the phone than hear it if it rang late at night.
Unfortunately, with the assistance of her medication, it would be hours before she would know that her cell had been buzzing for the past few hours.
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The next morning, Rikki opened her eyes and it took damn near ten minutes for her to gain full focus. She knew immediately that the pills were the cause. She’d never been much for sedatives because she wasn’t too fond of being so incapacitated. But the sense of calm that she felt made her realize that she’d been missing out. Thank God for Leslie, she thought as she prepared to embrace the day. She reached under her pillow to grab her cell, then turned over onto her back to check for any calls or text messages that she might have missed.
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When she saw the flickering blue light in the top corner of her Samsung Galaxy, she pressed the button to bring the screen to life. There before her were sixteen missed calls, eight voicemails and seven text messages—all from Karamel. She snatched herself up to a sitting position and any little bit of fatigue that was lingering had completely dissipated.
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Rikki placed her Bluetooth over her ear and immediately jumped into panic mode dialing Karamel. Something had to be wrong and she was terrified at the thought. Her heart raced a million miles a minute. She threw her covers off and climbed out of bed so that she could pace freely as she talked. While she waited for Karamel to pick up the line Rikki accessed one of the text messages and right when she saw, “They killed my baby!” Karamel’s drained voice came across the line.
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“What does this message mean, Karamel?!” Rikki’s voice blared through the phone. “Who is ‘they’ and what do you—”
The calmness in Karamel’s voice was eerie as she recited, “It’s A.J. They killed my baby, Rikki. These dirty bum ass niggas . . . they killed my baby.”
“Wait, wh-wh-what do you mean?” Rikki stuttered.
“I was at Highland Hospital all night begging to see my baby, Rikki. And when they finally let me see the pictures . . . I broke,” she whispered. “I broke. My baby, Rikki. My baby is gone. My muthafuckin’ baby is . . . gone.”
When Karamel’s tears began to pour and her sobs ricocheted through the earpiece, Rikki’s heart broke for her lover. “I’m so sorry, baby. I’ll get dressed and come right over. Give me a few minutes to throw on some sweats and splash some water on my face and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Half an hour later, Rikki was taking the stairs two at a time to Karamel’s apartment, where the door was already open.
As soon as she stepped inside, she heard, “Rikki!” coming from across the room. It was Karamel’s five-year-old twins, Cory and Cody screaming her name in unison and running toward her. Their smiles were so bright that Rikki couldn’t help but smile in return even with the gloom blanketing the room. After she bent down and pulled both boys into a hug, Rikki proceeded to speak to a few people that were scattered around the living room and in the kitchen.
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“My brother is gone, Rikki,” Cody stated. “Mama is sad too. She keeps cryin’ and sayin’ that her baby is gone.”
“I know, baby. Where is your mommy now?”
“She’s in her bedroom,” Cory revealed.
“Okay, I’m gonna go see her, okay? I’ll come back in a little bit and maybe take you and your brother to the park. Then maybe y’all can spend the night at my house. Would you like that?”
“Yeah. And we can play video games?”
“Absolutely, little man.”
“Daddy’s coming for us later, Cody.” Cory was the bossy one of the two and always had a rebuttal for everything. “We can’t go to your house, Rikki,” he alerted her before walking off.
“Okay,” she said, looking at Cody. “Maybe when you come back from your dad’s house, we can hang out. Is that good?”
“Yeah,” he replied in a sad tone.
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Rikki loved Karamel’s kids. They were the cutest little dark brown boys she’d ever seen and they were identical with the exception of Cody’s lingering chicken pox mark just under his left eye. He also preferred a brohawk, where his brother liked his hair cut low. Cody was also the one who hung up under Rikki whenever she came around, so she had a soft spot for the little guy. Rikki bent down and kissed Cody on his cheek. “I’ll be back after I see your mama.”
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As Rikki made her way into Karamel’s room, she braced herself. It was déjà vu. Rikki knew that the moment she entered Karamel’s space that her pain would transfer onto her and it made her nervous as hell. It seemed death was just everywhere, but it was always so different when it hit close and it was the second time for Rikki in a little bit of time—Serenity’s son, and now Karamel’s. It was just too much. Before she opened Karamel’s bedroom door she made a mental note to call Leslie to see if she could get in for an impromptu session. She was gonna need it.
9 | All Fall Down
“Hey baby,” Rikki greeted walking into the dark room. She saw Karamel sat at the edge of her bed, rocking and staring at nowhere in particular.
“Hey,” she whispered. “Thanks for coming.”
“Of course,” Rikki said, sitting next to her and rubbing her back. “Where else would I be?”
“I tried calling you for hours last night and early this morning, and you didn’t answer.”
“I was sleep, babe. I feel so bad. Had taken a sleeping pill and didn’t realize how powerful it was. It had me out in seconds. I didn’t think . . . that I’d be hearing from you since our last conversation.”
“I know. I understand.” Her tone was so calm that Rikki already knew that she’d more than likely been given something to help numb her. But the pain was still so evident. Karamel was normally laughing and joking around. Her cheekbones always lifted high when she was in joke mode, but right then they were sunken and her face looked as though she hadn’t seen a smile in days. Her insides were dead; Rikki knew the look.
“What can I do for you? Do you need anything to eat? Want me to run you some bath water? Anything?”
“We were just at your friend Serenity’s house not too long ago for the same shit, Rikki.” She paused to dab at her eyes with the shirt she was holding, which Rikki recognized as one of A.J.’s polo shirts. “It smells just like him,” she acknowledged against closed lids. “They out here killing our babies, Rikki.”
Rikki remained quiet. Karamel and Serenity’s situations were vastly different. Serenity’s son was a baby and innocent. A.J. was neither a baby, nor innocent. She knew, just like everyone else, that A.J. had a very prominent role in street life. At only sixteen, he was feared on the streets and had been in several altercations—one of which had gotten his mother’s car shot up with more than eighteen bullet holes. In fact, it was why Rikki only came to Karamel’s when it was necessary and during the day. Karamel had tried with him several times, but the countless trips to juvenile hall, proved that he had no plans on changing. Rikki was devastated by the loss because regardless of everything, A.J.’s death was yet another senseless death.
“Right. Serenity just went through it.” Rikki sighed out loud. “But let’s deal with this right now. What are the funeral plans for A.J., and all of that? Did you need my help or does the family have it?”
“My sisters are taking care of all of that. I can’t.”
“I understand,” Rikki remarked. “Do you need anything from me?” she repeated. “I can go get your favorite sweet tea from Panera. I know the twins are leaving with their dad, so if you want I can take you back to my house so you can rest in the Jacuzzi tub. I just want you to have some peace of mind for now. I know . . . I know it’s easier said than done, but I just wanna help where I can.”
“I appreciate that, Sweets,” she said, reaching out for Rikki’s hand. “I really do. It might be good to go rest at your house. There’s pictures and all that here to remind me of my baby. His pictures when he was little and all that. I won’t be any good staying here with the memories.”
“I understand.” Rikki smirked realizing that she’d already said that. She was beginning to sound like a recorder, but it was the only response she could find to fit the moment. She was trying her best to steer clear of the topic at all so that Karamel wouldn’t have to relive any of it—from the phone call alerting her of her son’s death, to seeing his deceased body on images. Knowing protocol, Rikki already knew that Karamel was denied seeing A.J. in person and that in and of itself had to be devastating. She shuddered as a quick flash of her holding onto Audrey’s bloody form, shot through her mind, and immediately related to why the hospital didn’t allow it. She’d be all fucked up having to see him in that way.
“Rikki . . .” she heard Karamel say, after a lengthy silence.
“Yes?”
“I do need something from you.”
“Anything sweetheart. What is it?”
“I know who killed my baby.”
“That’s good,” Rikki responded with relief. That was a rarity in the hood. “So they’ve been arrested? Did the police tell you that? It happened fast!”
“No. The police didn’t tell me. I said that I know.”
“Oh. Okay.” Confusion was evident with Rikki. If she knows, then why hasn’t she alerted the police? “Babe, I’m confused,” she admitted.
“I’m sure the police know too. But they didn’t say that. So it probably means that they don’t plan to do shit about it. But I want to.”
Rikki’s heart skipped several beats causing her to inhale deeply. “Okay . . .”
“I need them dead—both of them.”
Rikki stood from her position, in stunned silence. Her mind raced feverishly. She felt light on her feet and quickly took a seat on the bed again. “What . . . uh . . . what do you mean?”
For the first time since Rikki had arrived, Karamel turned to look her in the eyes. “I think you know what I mean, Rikki. I know what you and your cousins do. I overheard your conversation after Serenity’s son was killed. I heard enough to know that y’all ‘help’ people—and I need your help.”
Fuck. Hell no!
Rikki saw a constellation of stars dancing in front of her eyes as she tried to decipher what was happening.
“Aw, man, Karamel,” Rikki said, the color completely flushed from her face. It was like she’d been gut-punched. “I don’t . . . uh . . . know what—”
“You don’t know what? There shouldn’t even be hesitation on your part. None at all. I would think that you would first thank me for keeping the secret and then go right into telling me how it’s as good as done since it’s my son. What’s the hesitation?”
All traces of the wounded mother were gone as Karamel challenged Rikki on her resistance. She wanted action and she wasn’t taking no for an answer. Rikki saw it in her face and heard it in her voice.
“I just—”
“Rikki, the fact that you’re hesitating right now is pissing me off. However you felt about my son, this is about me, about you . . . us. The only thing I need to hear from you right now is that you’ll handle it. I want both of those niggas gone. They don’t deserve to live and I want their mothers, their grandmothers and anybody else who gave an ounce of a fuck about them, to feel my pain.”
She stared into Rikki’s eyes not blinking, her shoulders straight and her stance ready for combat.
“Karamel . . .” Rikki stated, trying to maintain reason.
Karamel shrugged. “It’s either yes or no, Rikki. It’s either you and your cousins get exposed or you do what I ask.”
“Oh no, no, hell no. Hold the fuck up,” Rikki shot. “You’re threatening my family now?”
“I don’t want to. They have good lives. They lost their mother at young ass ages and went on to be productive women. I don’t want to take that from them—but I will.”
“Hmph. Just wow. You’re a real ass piece of work.”
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Karamel shrugged her shoulders. “I’m guessing that you don’t want me to go with you now.” She returned to her previous position as if she hadn’t just shaken Rikki’s entire world to its core. “. . . So, I’ll stay here and wait for you to think it over and get back to me.” She turned to look at a stunned Rikki again. “Okay? Take all the time you need because a little time needs to die down anyway so that niggas don’t know that it’s retaliation from my end. But I’m sure you know the drill. I’ll be here when you’re ready for the details.”
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With that, Karamel smiled, inhaled and then released a sigh that was laced with relief. Clearly, it was something she’d been waiting to say. She hadn’t called Rikki in a panic all night because she wanted her comfort. Not at all. She wanted Rikki for what she felt Rikki could do for her. The only thing now was that Rikki was the one in a state of shock, and it was her world that had in a matter of minutes been turned upside down. There was a part of her that wanted to snatch Karamel up and beat her until she had no pulse; but there was an even larger part of her that needed to get out and into the air herself because she was fighting to breathe.
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All Rikki knew was that life, as she’d known it, had just taken a turn for the worse and not just that, Angel and Angelique were affected as well—that could never be…