Jackie D. - Life After A Balla

“You didn’t answer my question,” Kareem replied still staring at her.

“Kareem, you’re a really sweet guy, but the only man I have ever loved since I was in high school has been Justice. I just have so many unanswered questions regarding his disappearance and possible death.” Felicia lowered her head.

Kareem chewed the food that was in his mouth before speaking again.“It’s cool. I apologize for putting my hands on you. I promised myself I would never hit a woman after seeing my father abuse my mother for years and I ended up acting just like him. And with that said, I’ll tell you whatever you wanna know Felicia.”

She anxiously sat up and put the food down thinking, finally !

“Do you think Justice really loved your mother?” she questioned.

Kareem shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, he told her he did all the time. He pursued her really hard and my mother didn’t know anything about you at first. When she did find out that Justice was married she ended the relationship immediately. And he wasn’t happy about it at all. He kept calling, but she wouldn’t take him back. He told her he didn’t love you, he loved her.”

Felicia felt like she’d been stabbed in the heart after hearing that Justice really loved Skye.

“Then somehow Justice teamed up with my dad, for money obviously and led him straight to where we lived. We’d been hiding from him for months. That dreadful night is forever etched in my mind,” Kareem said, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

“What happened? Is that the night Justice was killed?”

“Yes, I remember listening as my mother and Justice argued. She told him to leave and he got up and opened the door. Minutes later my dad walked in and immediately told my mom that Justice had sold us out for money. He was getting ready to try and beat her again, and that’s when I ran out of the room pointing a gun at him. I yelled for him to leave, but of course he didn’t.”

Felicia sat listening in shock. The more she listened, the more upset she became. She could tell Kareem was getting emotional as he continued with the story.

“My dad jumped and tried to grab the gun from me causing it to go off. A few seconds later Justice fell to the floor. He got hit by a stray bullet in his chest,” Kareem admitted. “So, you see, your husband’s death was an accident, in fact it was his own fault for being greedy. My dad used to say all the time that money will make you do crazy shit! I guess he was right about something for once. Felicia, my mother was just the victim. I swear I don’t know what Cruze did with the body. After that night we all vowed to never talk about it again.”

Felicia sat speechless. She’d finally gotten the truth about what really happened to Justice and it wasn’t at all what she expected. She wondered if Justice ever really loved her or if their entire marriage was all a lie and he’d just stayed for the financial benefits.

A single tear raced down her face and traveled into her mouth. She pressed her lips together to catch it. She had her answer and as much as it hurt, Felicia was glad to have closure. Now, it didn’t matter to her either way if they ever found the body.

Maybe you got what you deserved, Mr. Justice Mitchell , she thought.

Dre pulled up at the small bar that Cruze told Kareem to meet him at. It took some time but he had finally remembered where he knew the name Cruze from. Sandino had showed him a picture and frequently talked about Cruze when they were locked up together. He used to say how they’d been friends since childhood and that he trusted him with his life.

“I bet Sandino feels stupid now. He probably never expected his good friend to steal his wife and family.”

Dre parked the car and went inside. Noticing how small and secluded the place was, he scanned the room and spotted Cruze sitting at a table in the corner.

“You Cruze, right?” Dre asked when he walked up.

Cruze looked Dre up and down. “Who wants to know?”

“Kareem wants to know, nigga,” Dre shot back.

“What the fuck is this shit about? Where’s Kareem?” Cruze yelled.

Dre looked around to see if the few people in the bar had heard the loud outburst. When he realized that they couldn’t hear over the music playing he responded. “He’s alive and in a safe place and he’ll stay that way as long as you cooperate. My brother was Justice, and I already know that you killed him. But what I don’t know is what the fuck you did wit’ his body. I need you to take me to him.”

Cruze glanced around the bar making sure no one heard him being accused of murder. “I don’t know what the fuck you talking about. I didn’t kill Justice and I’m not taking you anywhere.’

Dre leaned over in his face and pulled his shirt exposing his gun. “Well, if you don’t take me you can tell that bitch Skye to kiss her son goodbye!”

Skye paced the floor of her bedroom worried sick because she hadn’t been able to get in touch with Kareem. After driving home from the lunch date with Cruze, she began calling to see if he wanted to talk, but still hadn’t gotten an answer. Despite whatever problems they had, Kareem never ignored Skye’s calls and always called her back if he was busy, so this only increased her concern. She’d even left a message for Cruze telling him to call her back, but hadn’t heard from him either. Skye’s motherly instinct told her that something was wrong.

“I think I’m gonna have to break down and call Cruze again,” Skye said. “I pray he’s not salty about me walking out on him at the restaurant. If so, he needs to get over that shit, because this is important.

She picked her phone up off the bed and dialed his number, but his time instead of ringing it went straight to voicemail. This made Skye even more anxious.

“Cruze, I’m worried about Kareem. I haven’t been able to get in touch with him since he called me, and I’m worried. I know he was supposed to call you and I’m wondering if you ever heard from him. Please call me back as soon as you get this,” she said, ending the call.

As Skye continued to pace the floor, part of her felt guilty for leaving her son in Georgia by himself . What was I suppose to do? If he didn’t want to come I couldn’t make him , she thought.

Feeling like a panic attack was approaching, Skye grabbed her purse and took out her Ativan. She hadn’t taken the pills in months, but with thoughts of not being able to get to her son who was six hundred miles away entered her mind, it felt like she needed to take the entire bottle in order to calm down.

Skye left her room and headed downstairs to get a glass of water. When she walked into the kitchen, she saw a note from Quinn taped to the refrigerator stating that he’d run out to pick up a few supplies for Sandino. Not really caring, Skye shrugged her shoulders, grabbed a bottle of Deer Park and popped two pills.

With the house so quiet she could hear Jordan having a conversation with Sandino in his room. Hearing the excitement in his voice, it hurt Skye’s feelings knowing he was trying to form a new relationship, especially since Jordan hadn’t been talking to her much since their little argument. Jordan had even started to help Quinn by taking on a lot of the responsibilities with Sandino. She’d even noticed him going into Sandino’s room almost every day.

As soon as Skye heard Jordan laughing, she decided to go eavesdrop at the door to hear what they were talking about. She stood listening to Jordan talk about his football team in Georgia and his new team in Miami and how he liked his new team better. She then peeked inside and could see Payton sitting on Jordan’s lap smiling at Sandino, who was enjoying every minute of the bonding. When Jordan passed him some of the pictures she’d taken at one of his championship games in Georgia, Sandino started grunting, trying to point to something on the picture. Jordan looked over at the picture to see what he was talking about.