“The other one,” Shelly said, turning to look at me. “He fucked me to give his wife the baby. He lied to me, said he loved me, but he doesn’t, he can’t if he treats me like this.”
“Who is that?” I asked her even though I had a feeling I knew who she was talking about. I just needed to hear her say the name. “Huh, Shelly, who are you talking about?”
“Grant,” she spat out his name, as if saying it hurt her stomach. “He said he loved me, but I knew it was a lie. Each time I get pregnant, he says the same thing, this baby will change it all but it never does.” She shook her head and gave me a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “We have three kids at home, three.” She held up three fingers, then dropped her hand. “And this one he wants to give to his wife. He said it’s to shut her up, but what about me?” Her eyes filled with tears. “We have been together for years. I was there before her, before the engagement that he made me come to, and even the wedding.”
I heard Luther laugh, but I didn’t care. He got up from the table, patted me on the shoulder, and went to the door that was closed, turned the handle, and went inside. He made sure to close the door behind him. The anger that had been on her face was now gone, and tears filled her eyes.
“You were the server,” I said once I realized where I’d seen her, and she nodded.
“At the engagement party and the wedding. I’ve been here the entire time. Loving him, carrying his children, and now he wants to give my baby to her. To his wife.”
“To Yale,” I said.
“To Yale,” she repeated. “But I’m the one who has given him everything. The family he always wanted, the happiness she could never provide. She’s a broken woman.” Shelly shook her head and wiped her hands down her face. “She’s dumb to think he’d ever love her, but hell, I guess I’m a fucking idiot.” She shrugged. “I know what he’s doing while she’s living her life unaware. I’m the bigger fool.”
“And this baby?” I pointed to her stomach. “He wants you to give it to her. How?”
“Adoption,” she laughed. “He wants to surprise his wife with his child and say he adopted her. That way, he doesn’t look like a deadbeat, and he will take care of all his children.” Her attentionreturned to the closed door, and she sighed. “We fought. I knew not to push him, but I couldn’t stop myself. He beat my ass, but I got him good.”
“You sure?” I asked, and she nodded.
“Yeah, I made my mark.” She turned and gave me her back. “I’ll stand here, look out the window, and not move as you stitch me up.”
“You really need to see an OB,” I sighed and shook my head. “If not for you, for the baby.”
“I don’t care if this baby makes it or not,” she said, looking straight ahead. “I hate him and this baby.” She laughed humorlessly. I picked up the suture kit that Luther dropped on the table before he went into the other room and got to work. I knew this shit hurt, but Shelly didn’t flinch or make a sound. Her physical pain didn’t compare to the mental pain she was dealing with. “Hell, I hate Yale too, and she didn’t do anything but drive a car that hit an already dead woman.”
“Wait, what?” I stopped stitching her up and looked up. “What did you say?”
“That wreck Yale had all those years ago was a setup by the Kilmores to make Yale think she killed the person in the other car,” Shelly replied.
I stepped around her to make sure I was hearing her correctly. “How the fuck do you know that?”
“Because I’ve been around the entire time.” She turned her dark, haunted eyes to me, and I knew without a doubt from the blank look in them that she wasn’t lying. “I’ve loved him most of my life and helped him plan it. Yale was supposed to take the fall for her death, and I was supposed to have the life that he gave her instead of me.”
“For whose death and why the fuck did they want Yale to take the fall?” I asked. Even though we knew that there was someone in the car that Yale hit, we never found out who.Quincy swore up and down that the Franklins had it covered up so their involvement wouldn’t come out. I never asked the right questions; hell, I didn’t ask shit. I jumped into action to protect Yale, but now I saw that I’d fallen into a trap and dragged Yale further into it. “Huh, Shelly, why?”
The door opened, and Luther walked out of the room with a fucked-up Grant. He locked eyes with me and smirked. Shelly’s answer didn’t even matter anymore. This bitch ass nigga wasn’t the square I thought he was. Another thing I fucked up.
Time was up, though, fuck chess and checkers; we were about to play life or death, and I didn’t have any plans to lose.
**
“She could be bitter,” Pyrite said, shaking his head. “Don’t get me wrong, Grant ass legit needs to die for this shit, but you don’t know the full story.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said, shaking my head as I sat across from him. Yale was sleeping in my room, and she was a light sleeper, so I was being mindful of her. “That nigga gotta go and right fucking now.”
“Move smart, Amethyst,” Pyrite said, and I shook my head.
“With all due respect, big bro, I ain’t listening to shit you saying right now,” I said, then grunted. “You told me to move smart years ago, and you see how that shit worked out?”
“I said move smarterafteryou moved recklessly the first time,” he said, then laughed. “You agreed to work with Luther to protect Yale.”
“Because she was out there because of my failure.”
“You thought it was a failure,” he replied. “Shelly could be telling you the truth, and now it’s your job to figure out why they set her up.”
“Nigga, you just said she could be on some bitter shit,” I sighed as I wiped my hands over my face. “Look, this shit is about to bea wrap, and I know y’all ain’t trying to step like that right now. This one is on me.”
