“Well, I’ll call you tomorrow, alright,” I told her, getting ready to get off the phone.
“Ok, bye, Snow.” Angel and I ended our call. I sat and stared at the phone in my hand. I was about to be a father to the baby I conceived with Angel. Being a father was something I secretly always wanted. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get any sleep tonight, so I stood and made my way to Ciara’s dresser. Opening the top drawer, I stared at the contents inside.
Shaking my head, I took out the small packets of cocaine and pills. Walking over to the toilet, I emptied them into the bowl and flushed them. I had been clean for a couple of weeks, and I planned to stay that way.
As I watched the drugs disappear down the toilet bowl, I felt a sense of relief. It was almost as if I had gotten a fresh start; my life had reset. This was going to be the start of something beautiful. Or, so I thought.
Chapter Thirteen- Buddha
“Why the fuck are you still mad?” I asked Dior as she stomped past me in our bedroom. I had been getting the cold shoulder since last night when I got back from disposing of Ciara’s body. I had tried talking to Dior…nothing. I tried having sex with her because I was horny as fuck…nothing. As a matter of fact, she told me I was a sick fuck for wanting sex after what I’d just done.How was I a sick fuck?
I left her alone, thinking she would be in a better mood today, but it seemed as though she was even worse. After she was done brushing her teeth, she attempted to walk by me again, but I grabbed her wrist, forcing her to stop.
“What’s the problem?” I asked her, holding her wrist prisoner until she answered my question. Dior narrowed her eyes at me as though she was truly confused by what I asked.
“Really, Buddha?”
“Yes, really. I have no fucking idea why the fuck you’re upset,” I told her, waiting for her explanation.
“How could you do that to me?” I squinted my eyes at her, confused.
“What did I do, Dior?”
“Snow killed Ciara, and you call me over there asking me to make some bull-shit AI video to deceive her mother. Is that what you plan on doing to me one day?” I made a face because that was her issue.
“Firstly, you’re wrong. Snow didn’t kill Ciara; she pulled a gun on him, and when he was wrestling to get it away from her, she got shot accidentally. Secondly, how do you think her mother will feel when she can’t get in touch with her onlydaughter? The video would help. What happened to Ciara was a tragic mistake,” I explained, but I could tell Dior still wasn’t sold.
“If it was an accident like Snow said, why didn’t he just call the police and explain? I mean, I didn’t like Ciara, but she didn’t deserve that,” I released her wrist and walked away because now she was talking nonsense.
“Yeah, Dior, it makes perfect sense to contact the police. Don’t you think we’ve been under the police radar all our lives? We don’t ever deal with the police; we handle shit ourselves.” This conversation was beginning to annoy me, and I regretted asking why she was upset.
“What did you do with her body?” Dior asked, coming over to me, folding her arms as she waited for an answer. I sucked my teeth at her not bothering to answer her stupid ass question.
“What, you wanted to talk didn’t you? So I’m asking, Buddha, what did you do with Ciara’s body?” I turned to her; my expression grew dark as I glared angrily at her. Closing the distance between us, I got in her face.
“What do you think?”
Dior’s eyes grew misty, and she backed away from me while shaking her head. “Ciara was Snow’s wife for years. How can the two of you be so cruel as to give her an ending like that? I mean, she wasn’t my favorite person in the world, but she did not deserve that sort of treatment, Buddha.” Dior’s words were filled with emotion, but this was something she unfortunately had to get used to. This was my life, whether I liked it or not.
“What would you prefer? That Snow and I go to a funeral home and pick out a nice white casket? That we sit with Ciara’s family and plan a funeral service. That the police know everything about how Ciara was shot, and then my family willbe put under a microscope until they gather enough evidence to arrest every last one of us and we spend the rest of our lives in fucking prison! Is that what the fuck you want?
“This is my life, and you are my wife. I needed your fucking help, so I called you. This is my life, meaning this is your life! I suggest you put your fucking big girl panties on. If you don't have any, I’d be happy to buy you a fucking pair!” I didn’t even mean to get this upset, but I needed Dior to understand that my family was no ordinary family. The sooner she understood that, the better for everyone.
“Fuck you, Phillipe,” she said as tears ran out of her eyes. She turned and walked back into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Great, now I’m the bad guy. I shook my head as I got dressed. I could tell this was going to be one of those days. The best thing to do was to leave Dior alone for the rest of the day. Grabbing my keys for my Bugatti, I walked into the living room. Lotus immediately came up to me.
“Hey, let’s go spend the day with Uncle Snow.” I quickly changed my mind about driving. Instead, I grabbed Lotus’ leash so we could walk over. Maybe some space was what Dior and I needed.
*****
I rubbed my forehead aggressively as I tried calling Lorenzo for the fourth time. He knew he was supposed to be here. I specifically gave him the time we were leaving to meet with Ivan Petrov and a couple of other Russians.
“Anything?” Snow asked, walking into the kitchen of the main house. I looked up at him and sighed. I grabbed my chin thoughtfully. Something wasn’t right.
“This isn’t like Lorenzo. He wouldn’t just not show up,” I explained as Snow tucked his white shirt inside the waistband of his black pants. We were all dressed exactly the same; Snow, Tomasso, and I all wore white shirts and black dress pants. It’s something my father always told us to do when we were about to negotiate a very big deal.
“Well, when was the last time you spoke to him?” Snow asked.
“Earlier today. He told me he had a couple of runs to make and he would be right here when it was time to go. Lorenzo knew I needed him to be here; he wouldn’t do some shit like this. I have a bad feeling about this. I think we should postpone the deal,” I dropped my voice just in case our father was close enough to hear.
