Lies of a Real Housewife (7 page)

conversation we were having one day. I considered myself to be a true friend.

“Look Phaedra you might be an intelligent, and successful super

lawyer and all that, but that
man has money too. Sometimes men like submissive and dependent women. They need to reinforce their power and domi-

nance,” I said to her, straight up.  

Just because she had money and a name did not give her the right to

handle a grown man any kind of wa
y. Especially a man with his own money

plus having his own name. It doesn’t work like that.

Eventually, she began to realize that my input was invaluable when

it came to love and relationships. I was amazed by the fact that my friend, an accomplished at
torney, would call me for advice. I received a sense of validation from giving Phaedra advice because it made me feel needed. To top it off, I was usually right. Then it slowly dawned on me that because one had

money, did not guarantee that one would have happiness.

From the NFL player, Phaedra moved on to dating a popular Atlanta

radio personality. He was DJ Nabs of Atlanta’s popular show, ‘In the Lab with DJ Nabs’. She stalked this man. Please believe that! I promise you she

did.

She would call him back to back, constantly trying to control him

and his every move. She was a very demanding individual. I would ride with her by his house several times. She would just drive by to see if he was home. Then she would check out whose car was in his driveway, and if his lights were on, and peeped in to see if the TV in his room was playing. These ac-

tions would amount to stalking.

One night, it had to be during the summer of 2000, or around that

time, I know it was warm outside, Phaedra and I rode over to his house. She had been calling him several times throughout that day and the evening. He hadn’t responded or returned any of her calls. It was so obvious that he was avoiding her. So we drove by his house, only to find his car in the driveway.

She immediately jumped out of the car, and started peeping through his car

window.

I felt like a fool, acting like a damn private investigator right along

with her. But she was my friend, and I was down. Phaedra had good instincts because she was Phaedra Parks, the smart one. The big time lawyer noticed an umbrella in the back seat of his ca
r. Of course, it was not just any old umbrella, she would later point out that it was decorative, with fancy carvings on

the handle. No doubt, belonging to a woman.

I sat in the car and laughed like hell as she repeatedly kicked and

banged on DJ Nabs’ d
oor. He refused to answer the door. It was at that moment when the realization hit me. Just because you are an attorney does not mean that everybody will kiss your ass. This was truly funny to me because I knew there had to be something else we could be doing. Besides, she didn’t even like DJ Nabs! It was no secret that her relationship with him was for the benefit of her clients, which would in turn lead to profit for her business. DJ Nabs would be sure to keep her clients’ songs in constant rotation. And that

was cool, but right now she was just doing too much.

“Let’s go get some money, Phae,” I suggested with a smile written

on my face. “You’re tripping girl, and hard! It ain’t that serious boo!”

She moved on, albeit with questionable choices. Even with all the

various male conquests Phaedra had, I could not for the life of me understand where or how Apollo fit into her plans. Apollo was soon to become Phaedra’s husband, but what was important here was that he was soon to be my future partner-in-crime!

Chapter Three

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy…” Proverbs 27:6 (NIV)

Our criminal activities began blossoming in 2000. It had been over

a year of us feeling each other out. Phaedra was now comfortable enough to bring me into her illegal activities. She had gathered a lot of information about me—where I lived, where my mother and grandmother lived. She was familiar with all my hangout spots. I never perceived this as threatening because I was getting to know her better, as well. I knew where she lived, where

she worked, and most, if not all, the people moving in her circle.

At first glance, Phaedra seemed completely concerned about my

well
-being. In retrospect, I can see how she brainwashed me. She told me that she wanted me to be her business partner because she liked the way I carried myself. Plus, the fact that I could hold an intelligent conversation would be a key in the success of Phaedra Parks Empire. She would tell me that I was the only person capable of handling things in her absence. This business partnership was perfect. I was a hustler. I needed the money. I had three children, and

all three were fatherless.

It seemed as if all my children were the results of a girl who was

lost. I was trapped, looking for love in all the wrong places. Aleea, my first child was born in 1992. I was fifteen years old. Her father was sixteen years of age. He signed over all of his parental right
s. We were just two kids having

sex, and had no idea what being a parent meant.

Lekwaun was born in 1996 when I was nineteen years old. His fa-

ther, a drug dealer, lived in and out of prison for most of his life. It was a

quick romance and I thought it was real love, but turned out to be just lust.

Leontae was born in 1998. I was twenty-one years old. His father

wanted to have unprotected sex but didn’t want the child. I refused to have an abortion. He refused to be a part of the child’s life. I was utterly confused and thought that if I had sex with a man, he would somehow care or love me in return. Being molested at five years old caused untold devastation. It took twenty-seven years for me to fully comprehend the difference between sex,

lust, and love.

At that particular moment in time, all I wanted to know was what I had to do to get put on. I asked, “How do I benefit from our partnership, and how quickly can I get started?” Phaedra loved my ‘go get them’ attitude. Everybody did!

I was eager to get on board because I was struggling with financial hardship. There were limited options and I wanted my children to
have the best of everything. I was a hustler and I didn’t ask for handouts because I despised rejection. So no, I wasn’t going to beg their fathers to be a part of my children’s life. I wasn’t going to hunt them down and fight them in court for twenty-five to the hundred dollars a week given in child support cases. That money was nothing! I would take care of them myself. You know the saying, “Mama’s baby, daddy’s maybe…”

It seemed like the perfect setup. I couldn’t see how I would lose. I’d

be making thousands of dollars working for my friend. She was one of the area’s best attorneys who knew, and was the law as far as I was concerned. It was a no-brainer — the perfect opportunity. I was anxious to show and prove what an asset I could be to the team. In return, I would get my just rewards,

of course.

Phaedra made a promise to me that I would make thousands of dol-

lars. She told me that my kids would have a better life, and that I would never have to look back. The only thing I had to do was follow directions, and keep my mouth shut if ever I was questioned by the authorities. She knew about

my past, and my troubled childhood.

She was aware that I was not afraid of anything. She also knew I had

been to jail before. I knew what time it was, and was conscious of the inner workings of the system. Therefore Phaedra did not have to worry about me implicating her. I recognized when I should stay quiet. Being involved with the penal system in the past had left me thoroughly briefed.

When I was twelve years old, I was arrested for shoplifting. It oc-

curred at the Main Place Mall in Buffalo, NY. The store was on the second level of the mall near the escalators. I took a white shirt, a navy blue and white polka dot skirt then left the store. I thought for sure that I had gotten

away scot-free.

The skirt and the shirt were in my bag, and a hundred and fifty dol-

lars was
inside my pants pocket. Then as I rode the escalator down, I noticed the security guard at the bottom of the escalator. He was eagerly waiting, looking up at me. I turned around to run back up, and I spotted his partner. “Sh**!” I breathed under my breath. I was caught red-handed.

The total of the outfit was fifty-five dollars. My mother was so mad, I had the money, I just wanted to see if I could get away with the crime, but didn’t. I got caught and they took me to the station and called my mother to pick
me up. She couldn’t understand why I would take the chance of shoplifting when I had money. I blew her wig back when I told her it was the thrill

that I got out of doing it.

Before I met Phaedra I had been hustling and I have had several ar-

rests for p
etty crimes. Including shoplifting, theft by receiving, giving false information, driving on suspended license, to plainly put it, I was a petty

hustler and thief until I got on board with Phaedra.

She made a promise to me that if I ever got into any trouble, she