Authors: Sasha Campbell

Scandals (24 page)

BOOK: Scandals

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“I'm saying ... I hope you are through fooling wit that knucklehead.”

“Yeah ... I'm done.” Even if there wasn't anything on that video, I was through messing with Halo.

“That's whassup.” Trey lifted me over onto his lap and I wrapped my arms around his neck. We sat there kissing and rubbing. I had a feeling that everything was going to be all right between us. Trey must have felt it too because he was playing with my nipples and getting my coochie all wet. He had just slipped his hand underneath my dress when I heard Halo's loud voice coming from the television. I turned toward the screen and saw Deena, semi-conscious, being dragged into Halo's office along with Mannie. I didn't move until I watched the entire tape.

Halo had shot Mannie, and I now had proof.

Monica

The next two weeks went by and my head felt like it was in a cloud. I was so out of it that I failed my first exam, but my instructor was nice enough to allow me to retake it. The second time, I at least managed to get a passing grade. I still couldn't believe Anthony and that skinny bitch were trying to steal my babies away. It wasn't fair, and unless I could prove that I was a good mother, I was going to lose them.

“What are my chances?” I asked, staring across the desk at Bernard Robinson. The man was sharp and seemed to know his stuff. And I was truly thankful he was representing me.

“According to his petition, he's claiming child endangerment.”

“Child what?”

“He says you have men in and out of the house. And the girls are living in an unsafe environment.”

Was he serious? “Men? I was seriously involved with one man, your colleague, Tremayne.”

He appeared truly uncomfortable with his next question. “Has he been revealing himself to the girls?”

Oh God. This was so unreal. Before Tremayne dumped me, I bent the rule and allowed him to stay the night. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to lock the door, and the girls had barged into the room like they did every morning. We were making love with the covers off and they saw Tremayne's naked booty in the air. “This is crazy.”

“No ... I'm afraid this is serious. Your ex-husband's determined to show he can provide a stable home life. Stripping is only a part of the problem.”

This was all like a bad dream.

Bernard was quiet for moment before he asked, “Have you stopped dancing?”

I looked away. “Yes and no. I'm dancing this weekend. I'm sorry, but I can't afford not to unless he plans to give me more child support. There's barely enough money left for gas. Hell, I haven't even figured out yet how I'm gonna to pay for you.”

“You don't have to worry about that. Tremayne is covering my fees.”

“What?”

“It's covered,” he assured me.

I wanted to refuse, but I was in no position to do that. “Since I can barely make my monthly expenses each month, I am in no position to object.”

He gave me a puzzled look. “That's another thing. As much as your ex-husband's firm is worth, I would have expected your financial support to have been much more substantial.”

Shit, I would too.

Bernard lowered his pen then leaned across the desk. “I think we need to hire a private investigator to check into your husband's finances.”

“Is Tremayne paying for that too?” Hell, I had to know. Like I said, I couldn't afford it.

“Yes, I don't think we'll have a problem. Don't worry ... I plan to counter for all of your legal fees.” He discussed a whole lot of other legal terms that made no sense to me, which was probably why I got screwed in the divorce settlement.

“Just be straight with me. What are my chances?”

He glanced up from his notes and gave me a reassuring smile. “You have a good chance. We just have to show the judge your girls are being raised in a safe and loving environment.”

I nodded, feeling a little more hopeful, but I had a long ways to go before I would feel as sure as I should. “Thank you.” I rose and shook his hand then headed out to the lobby. I had to be in the hospital in an hour for clinical rotation.

I was walking through the reception area when I spotted Tremayne coming out of his office. I stopped, yet I wasn't sure what to say. Thanks goodness he spoke first.

“Hello, Monica.”

“Hello.” I couldn't help but stare.

“I trust Bernard is taking good care of you.”

“Yes. I don't have any complaints.”
Except that we aren't still together.
Saying he looked good was an understatement. He was wearing a blue pin-striped suit that looked designed just for him. I stared up into his beautiful chestnut-colored eyes and we both just stood there staring at each other, waiting for the other to say something. I figured it was now or never. “Tremayne, I'm ... I'm really sorry that I lied to you. I never meant to deceive you.”

He looked like he was considering my apology when a woman sauntered into the lobby, drawing his attention.

“Tre ... you ready to go?”

Tre? No, she didn't. She was beautiful with long hair like I used to have, light brown eyes and the prettiest complexion, and a big ghetto booty, but there was nothing ghetto about her. She had a professional demeanor, wearing a white sleeveless dress that complemented every curve and expensive peach pumps.

Tremayne drew his eyes away from her long enough to give me a sympathetic smile. “It was good seeing you, Monica.”

And on that note, he walked off and out the door with another woman, leaving me to pick my jaw up off the floor.

Robin

I had been hiding out at Trey's place when Monica called and asked if I'd mind watching the girls so she could work at the club. I was so happy to have an excuse to get out of the apartment. Don't get me wrong. I was in love with Trey and appreciated everything he was doing for me and Kyle, but I was starting to feel smothered with him hovering over the two of us. If I didn't get out of his cramped-ass apartment soon, I was going to lose my damn mind.

Ever since we took that video down to the police station, he'd been right up under me. He'd hardly been at the restaurant at all, and when he was, he spent more time on the phone, calling and checking up on us. Every time my cell phone rang I was ready to jump out of my skin for fear of who was calling. Halo was out there somewhere, watching and waiting for the right moment to break down the door and beat the crap out of my ass. My nerves were so on edge that every time Trey asked are you all right, I wanted to bite his head off. What the hell did he think? Hell no, I wasn't all right. I had some crazy muthafucka out looking for me.

I guess Trey saw how much I needed to get away because he finally agreed as long as he dropped me off and picked me up. I also had to give him the number to Monica's house so he could call me every hour on the hour and check on me. I was so relieved to get away that I gladly gave him the number.

The kids and I had a ball. We played with Liese's Wii games, which was more of a workout than swinging around on a pole all evening. Not that I even dreamed of going back to Scandalous until Halo was behind bars. We also made chocolate cupcakes and Kyle even helped. I loved Monica's kitchen. Hell, I loved her whole damn house. It was huge with plenty of room to disappear if she wanted.

After I stuck the cupcakes in the oven, I sent the kids upstairs to play while I turned the television on in the family room and took a seat on a huge wraparound couch. I'd been having a bad feeling all day that something was seriously wrong and hoped it was just nerves.

I wanted to see if there was any mention yet of Halo being arrested, so I turned on the ten o'clock news. I still couldn't figure out why it was taking so damn long, especially when everything they needed was right there on that damn tape. But according to the officer, they had been trying to build a case against Halo for years and they needed to make sure they did everything right. In the meantime my ass had to keep hiding out and looking over my shoulder.

I turned to Channel 12 News and leaned back against the couch just as the telephone rang. I glanced down at the caller ID, gave a playful roll of my eyes, then grinned.

“Hey, babe. How's it going?”

I wanted to say the same as it was the last time I talked to you, but I couldn't bring myself to do that. Trey cared about me, and that's more than I could say about any other muthafucka I'd dated. “We're good. We got cupcakes in the oven and the kids just went upstairs to play.”

“Make sure you save me one of those cupcakes,” he said in a low voice. He had this deep baritone sound that was like he was stroking my kitty, because every time I heard it I immediately got wet.

“Okay, I'll make sure to do that.”

There was a brief silence before he said, “You sure you don't want me to come over and sit with you?”

“No no no, I'm fine. Just hang out with your boys and have a good time.” He was supposed to be at some sports bar with his boys, instead he was worrying about me.

“Well, if you change your mind ...”

“I won't. I'm okay, Trey, really I am. This is gonna be over soon.”

“I don't like it, but I've gotta respect it.” He then went on to say something else, but my eyes were suddenly on the television screen. The news reporter was standing in front of a gas station on Temple Avenue that I knew quite well.

“Trey, I need to go and check on the kids. I'll call you later.” I hung up the phone without even waiting to for him to respond and turned up the volume on the television:

“Less than an hour ago, the body of a woman was found in a Dumpster behind this Exxon gas station. According to the police, her neck was slit and she'd been badly beaten. The identity is being withheld until her family has been notified.”

I suddenly had a terrible chill as the reporter zoomed in on a neighbor who said she got suspicious when she walked by and saw a white Toyota pull up to the Dumpster and several people climbed out. She waited until they were gone before she sent her brother over to look inside, and that's when they found the body.

I had a sick feeling, because if Halo had found me, that could have been my body in that Dumpster. Suddenly I wished Trey was there with me.

I flicked the channels trying to find out if there was anything about Halo, but everyone was talking about the woman's murder.

I had the kids get ready for bed and then we had cupcakes and milk and I read them a bedtime story. Liese and Arissa shared one twin bed and I put Kyle in the other. After I finished the book, I stuck the movie
Tangled
in the DVD and turned out the light. They were so worn out it would be just a matter of minutes before all three were sound asleep.

I stood by the door watching them and thinking how much my life had changed since Kyle had stepped into my life. I loved that little boy so much, and that was something I didn't even think was possible. He had me thinking of someday having a child of my own.

I went back down to the family room and turned to TVOne and caught
Hairshow
with Mo'Nique and dozed off. I wasn't sure how long I was sleep before I heard a crash followed by someone running down the hall.

I sprang from the couch, grabbed the poker near the fireplace, and ran behind the door. Then I thought about the kids and started to panic. They were upstairs.
Please don't let him go upstairs
, I kept saying to myself as I waited, my heart beating fast as the footsteps grew closer. As soon as I saw a shadow step into the room, I jumped out from behind the door and swung but missed. We both screamed at the same time.

“Are you crazy!” Monica shouted.

“Sorry, I heard a crash and thought someone was breaking in!” I explained through ragged breaths.

“That's what I have a security system for.” She placed her hand to her heart and stepped away from me and the poker.

I'd forgotten all about that. Monica had instructed me to set it after the kids had gone to bed. If someone had broken in, the alarm would have sounded.

“You scared the crap outta me. I was sound asleep.” Monica didn't realize how scared I really was since I hadn't bothered to tell her anything regarding Mannie's murder.

Monica gave me this sad look, then moved around the couch and took a seat. “Robin ... it's so sad! I can't believe what happened,” she said.

Something in her eyes made me scared. I don't know what, but it just told me that what she was about to say, I didn't really wanna know. I hadn't had that sick a feeling in my stomach since the day Deena told me she was leaving Ms. Ernestine's house and wasn't taking me with her.

I dropped the poker. “What happened?”

“The club was a zoo today. I think we spent more time in the dressing room taking about the murder than we did on stage. Everybody was talking about how they weren't surprised ... that she lived a shady life and prostituted on the side, so it was likely to have happened anyway.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I hated when someone starts talking about something as if you already know what going on. Well, guess what? I didn't have a clue what she was talking about. “Monica ... who got murdered?”

Her eyes got round as she suddenly realized I had no idea what she was talking about. “Did you watch the news tonight?”

I nodded and took a seat beside her. “They found a woman in a Dumpster behind a gas station.”

I watched her facial expressions, and when she ran her hand over her short curls and her nostrils flared, I knew something wasn't right. “It was Honey.”

“What?” There is no way I heard her right.

She gave me a long sad look and whispered, “That was Honey they found in that Dumpster.”

My head started to spin and then everything went black.

BOOK: Scandals

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