Jordan Belcher - Status

“Tyesha, I’m here to save you.”

I turned. Ladykiller was walking towards me holding his crotch.

“Don’t come near me!” I screamed with my back against the door. Kylie was still rattling the knob. I tried the knob myself while keeping my eyes on Ladykiller.

He got within ten feet of me when I saw Gideon appear in the doorway behind him. He shot Ladykiller in the back, twisting him around, fired again and he collapsed to the floor. Bleeding badly, Ladykiller pushed himself against the hallway wall. He stared down at the blood weeping out of his stomach, when Gideon put the gun to his head.

“So you’re in love with her too, huh?” Gideon asked him.

“No,” Ladykiller wheezed out.

“Why are you here then, nigga?”

“I came to save her.” Ladykiller looked at me, letting out fast pants of breath. “She’s my big sister.”

My brow furrowed at his claim. The first thing that popped in my head was that he was lying. How could that be? Was he that delusional?

Gideon chuckled. “You hear that, Tyesha? He thinks he’s your brother?”

“I am,” he said. “Your father, Leeland Fenty, is my father. He got my mother pregnant, and your mother wanted nothing to do with him when she found out I was born…” He swallowed his own blood. “I just wanted to meet you, Tyesha… to be your friend. I wanted to meet my niece. But your mother wanted me to stay away from you.”

My mouth dropped in shock. I could see the striking resemblance now between Ladykiller and my father. Their dark brown eyes were unmistakably the same. No wonder I had an uneasy feeling the first time I saw him. All my life my mother had kept to herself about the true reason surrounding why she left my father. All I knew was that he was a cheater, but I knew deep down there was something more she was hiding from me.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Gideon said. “I guess I wasn’t the only man that loved you, Tyesha.” He stepped back and aimed down at Ladykiller with precision. “But I am now.”

“No!” I screamed. Without thinking, I charged toward Gideon. He swung the gun at me as I plunged into him.

We broke the wood railing and fell together, smacking the hardwood below. The fall banged us both up—me a lot more. I could barely move and my vision was blurry but I saw Gideon already crawling over the broken pieces of the railing toward the gun.

Then the front door opened and let in blinding light.

“Hello?” the woman who stuck her head in asked. “Tyesha?”

Gideon paused, but only for a moment. He crawled faster toward the weapon but the woman at the door quickly picked it up and pointed it at him.

“Don’t move, motherfucker,” she said to him. “Tyesha, I’m Rita Gibson. Are you okay?”

Tyesha816:Thank you to everybody who showed me support in finding my daughter! She’s HOME!— with Rita RealSpit Gibson, Ladykiller, and 4 others.

September 1 st, 8:00 a.m.

Momma bounced back and forth from the stove to the sink, preparing another one of her famous meals. I was leaning against the doorway of the kitchen, occasionally glancing up at her between reading the comments on my phone from the status update I made this morning. It took me over a week to make another post. I didn’t want anything to do with The Site. I was too busy spending time with my daughter. But I had missed the interaction with my internet family—the ones that supported me, anyway—and I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold out for long.

Quita Wheeler: I had faith that you would find her!

Diedra Murberry: I’m glad she’s home. I hurt every day she was gone.

Atlanta Baby:Give that pretty girl a hug for me!

Project Life (Patrick Henson): Now I know why white people keep they kids on leashes. I just bought one for my son.

Tyesha816:@Project Life. I think I might head to Target tonight! Lol!

Lataya GrindGirl: God is good all the time!

Renae MyPerogative Watson:The whole time she was gone I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t imagine how you felt. Thank you for posting that she’s home. Now I might be able to get some rest.

God’s Angel: ^^same here.

Rita RealSpit Gibson: We all have trials and tribulations in our life that are hard to face alone. We all need support, even if it’s from people we barely know or don’t know at all.

Tyesha816:@Rita RealSpit Gibson. Me and my daughter wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for your concern and courage. I can’t thank you and @Ladykiller enough.

Rita RealSpit Gibson: I don’t know if it was so much as courage or instincts. Would I have pulled the trigger if he made a move? I’m glad we didn’t have to find out.

It wasn’t just Ladykiller and Rita RealSpit Gibson that showed up at Gideon’s house to help me. There were four others that found the house right before the police showed up—Christina “MsFineGirl” Irving, Joanne Dunley and Stuart Bradshaw, and Marley “Fedbound” Dubois. I personally thanked them all on their profile pages.

“So who’s the special guest?” my mother asked me, as I took my eyes away from my phone.

“You’ll see. He’s in the dining room at the table, ready to eat.”

“He?” Momma’s lips formed an “O,” and her eyebrows lifted in excitement. She whispered, “You brought over a new man?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Any man has to be better than that Rodrick. I’m glad you finally saw the light.”

“Momma, who I brought over isn’t somebody I’m dating.”

“No need to explain,” she said, cutting me off. She shoved the bowl of salad into my hands. “You’re friends, I get it. He’s probably hungry. Let him get started on that while I finish up the beef. He does eat beef, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

We waited in the dining room with eager smiles on our faces—me, Kylie, and Landon Roby, aka Ladykiller. Well, Ladykiller’s smile seemed a bit more nervous than eager. He was at the head of the table in a wheelchair.

He whispered to me, “I don’t know if this is a good idea?”

“Why?”

“Last time I was here, she kicked me off of her property.”

“That was then. This is now. I think she was just trying to protect me from knowing—”

Glass shattering startled us. Momma had dropped the plate of croissants right when she entered the dining room. Her face was full of shock and disbelief.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Uncle La’killer is here,” Kylie chirped.

It looked like Momma was angry. I swallowed and said, “I invited Landon over for dinner.”

“Only family eats at my house on Sundays,” she said in a dark tone. “You know that, Tyesha. I didn’t let Rodrick eat here and I’m not letting him eat here either. Show him to the door.”

“Momma, he is fam—”

“No, he’s not!” she yelled. “He’s not a part of this family. He’s a mistake.”

“How could you say that? He’s my brother.”

She shook her head violently. “No! If he didn’t come out of me, he’s NOT your brother!”

“Really?” I raised my voice. “I had gotten over the fact that you didn’t accept Rodrick. But I’m seeing now that you won’t accept anybody, if it’s not within your perfect little lie you choose to live in. Momma, I’m not perfect, daddy wasn’t perfect, and neither are you.”

“Don’t talk to me like that!”

“I remember when Kylie was born. You refused to come to the hospital to see her just because I had her out of wedlock.”