Hold U Down (25 page)

“I knew yo' ass was pregnant. Why you ain't tell me?”

“I'm sorry, baby. I wanted to, but I just couldn't tell you while all this shit was going on.”

“It's cool, ma. I understand.”

“Ooh, baby, I can't wait to get you home.” Unique grinned, kissing his lips softly.

“I know. Me too, but first let me go holla at Paul for a second.”

“Okay,” Unique replied, hating to let him go.

“Girl, I know you're happy.” Zoë happily gave Unique a hug.

“I sure am. I got my man back. Now hopefully we can get on with our life without any more drama creeping up.”

“Right, but I still can't get over the fact that Federal Agent Lansing was withholding all that evidence. He must have had some kind of a grudge against Bigg.”

“I guess so.”

“Come on. Let's get out of here,” Bigg said as he wrapped his arms around Unique's waist.

“Thank God! I'm hungry as hell,” she stated, rubbing her stomach.

“Shit, me too. A nigga hungry than a muthafucka. I'm ready to fuck up some food.”

“Still the same Bigg.” Zoë laughed.

“Ay, Zoë, you ready?' Legend asked, interrupting their repartee.

“Yeah. Bigg, once again, welcome home. And you, Miss Thang, I will be calling later,” Zoë said, giving them both another hug good-bye.

“A'ight, girl, talk to you later.”

“Ay, Legend,” Bigg called after him as he and Zoë walked away.

“What's up?”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” He smiled slightly.

“You ready to get up out of here, li'l momma?”

“Yes,” Unique replied gleefully.

As they walked out of the courthouse hand in hand, Bigg was swarmed by news reporters and cameras. News had already traveled that he had been acquitted of all charges.

“Mr. McClain, how does it feel to be vindicated?” one of the reporters asked.

“It feels good. Now that this is over, I can finally get on with my life and live peacefully with my fiancée and child. Now, if you'll excuse me, me and my girl have some catching up to do.”

“Mr. McClain!” the news reporters continued to shout.

Bigg wasn't trying to hear them. Smiling, he and Unique descended down the long flight of steps together, looking like the young couple in love that they were. Flashbulbs and microphones were steadily placed in Bigg's face, but he didn't care. He was a free man. The day couldn't have gotten any better. Not a cloud was in the sky. The sun was out and shining brighter than ever before. For once, life was good for Kaylin McClain.

Then, out of nowhere, a shot of nervousness ran through his veins. He didn't know what it was, but something wasn't right. Searching the crowd, he looked for any odd or peculiar faces. Not spotting anyone suspicious, he continued to walk with Unique only a few steps behind him when he noticed Kiara standing before him, holding a gun.

Bigg barely recognized her. She looked like a full-fledged basehead now. Her hair was nappy and matted together, and she looked as if she hadn't slept in days. Kiara was no longer the thick, five-foot-ten chick she used to be. Her shapely frame was now emaciated. Crazed with anger, tears streamed down her face as she held the gun in front of her.

For a minute Bigg thought the gun was aimed at him, but it wasn't. It was aimed at Unique, who was so happy that she didn't even notice Kiara standing there. A smile a mile wide was plastered on her face as she rubbed her stomach and followed Bigg. Not strapped with a gun himself, Bigg didn't know what to do. With no time to spare, he quickly turned and reached for Unique's hand.

“Baby, watch out!” he yelled.

Jolted by the sound of his booming voice, Unique looked in the same direction as Bigg and spotted Kiara standing with the gun. She didn't move. She was frozen stiff. Not a muscle in her body could move. A deafening silence seemed to fill her ears. People flew past Unique in search of cover, but she wasn't cognizant of any of that. At that moment, her entire life seemed to flash in front of her eyes.

Memories of her mother being sent away, meeting and making love to Bigg for the first time, and the news of her pregnancy all filled her mind. Staring into Kiara's eyes she mouth the word
why
as the first shot was fired.

Not willing to let it go down like that, Bigg was determined to protect Unique and their unborn child at all costs, including his life, as the bullet charged from Kiara's gun.

“Bigg, no!” Kiara screamed as he got in the way.

Fully charged with adrenaline, he grabbed Unique and shielded her with his body. Four more shots flew through the air, all hitting Bigg in the back.

“Bigg!” Unique screeched in sheer agony as her body fell to the hard cement.

For a minute, time stood still as everyone, including Unique, wondered if the worst was over. It seemed like it had all been a dream. A little dazed from the fall, she shook her head in an attempt to regain consciousness. Once reality set in that she was on the ground underneath the man of her dreams, Unique screamed out for help.

“Somebody help me!” she screamed at the top of her lungs as she tried to free her one hundred thirty pound frame from under Bigg. Without hesitation, Legend and Zoë ran over to help. Gently, Legend pulled Bigg's limp, bloody body off of her.

Paralyzed from the shock of her actions, Kiara stood still, clicking the gun, praying for more bullets to come out. Once she realized that there was no more ammunition left, words of venom began to spew from her mouth.

“No! He wasn't supposed to die! It was supposed to be you! You ruined everything, you stupid bitch! I hate you! I hate you!” she screamed as the officers quickly restrained her.

Ignoring her comments, Unique concentrated all of her energy on helping Bigg. There he was, the man she was set to marry, covered in blood. Bigg's weakened body lay in her arms, begging to be rescued and resuscitated. Unique couldn't believe her eyes. This all had to be a bad dream.

“Baby, get up! It's me, Unique! Please don't die! Please don't leave me!” Unique cried hysterically as blood gushed from Bigg's nose and mouth. Blood was all over Unique's hands and clothes as his body violently shook. “Don't you do this to me, Bigg! You can't leave me! You better not die!”

“Unique, don't move him,” Legend warned.

“Shut the fuck up, Legend! I'm not letting him go! I will never let him go! He needs me!”

With all of his might, Bigg fought his hardest to hold on. He could see Unique crying out to him, begging for him to live. This made him fight even more, but after a while his strength began to dwindle. Bigg's breathing was fading by the second, and his heart rate was decreasing. Slowly, without notice, his eyes began to close.

“No, Bigg, no! Don't you do it! You better not die on me! You promised you would never leave me! You promised!! Will somebody help me, please?”

“Unique, the ambulance is almost here. I can hear them down the street,” Zoë assured, stroking her arm.

“Okay, okay, thank you, God. I knew you wouldn't let me down. Everything is gonna be okay.” Unique closed her eyes and rocked back and forth as she held Bigg in her arms. She didn't even realize that she had smeared his blood all over her face. Smiling, she opened her eyes and said, “See, baby, I told you everything was gonna be fine.” Sniffling, Unique looked down at Bigg to only find that his breathing had stopped and his eyes were closed shut.

“Bigg . . . Bigg . . . no, baby!” She shook his body profusely in hopes of waking him up. “Bigg, wake up! Baby, don't do this to me! I need you!” Seeing that he wasn't waking up, Unique lost her mind. “Nooooo! You promised! You said you would never leave me! What about the baby? I can't do this without you! Baby, I need you! Come back! Somebody help meeeeeeee!”

A year and a half later, Unique sat silently staring at the headstone before her, wishing that it was all a dream. Ever since she was a little girl, she had feared this loss, but with family and friends around her, she knew she would make it through.

Life hadn't been the same since the courthouse shooting. A week after the shooting, the funeral took place. Unique could barely walk that day. She cried so much. Only a few people attended the funeral. Family and loved ones were the only people invited.

Zoë took care of all the arrangements. With Unique being in the state she was, she couldn't handle the heavy load. Everyone at the funeral took the loss hard. None harder than Unique, though. She cried so much that she became sick. At the burial she fainted twice. Unique was so weak that afterward she had to be admitted to the hospital. The doctors told her she was suffering from dehydration.

Unique hadn't eaten or slept in days. The doctor told her that if she didn't pull herself together quickly, she would lose her baby. At that point, Unique couldn't have cared less. She didn't know whether she was coming or going. Her whole life had been torn to shreds. If it weren't for Zoë and Patience's constant nagging, she would have never eaten or slept again.

Once she was released from the hospital, Unique headed right back to the place she felt most at home, Lake Charles Cemetery. Everyone around her thought she had lost her mind. Every day from then on she would spend all of her time at the gravesite, talking to the headstone. There wasn't any other place in the world she would have rather been. Unique absolutely hated going home.

Night after night she would wake in a cold sweat from dreaming of the shooting. That day still haunted her. After being arrested, Kiara confessed to killing Tone. The last Unique heard, she was trying to plead insanity. With schizophrenia running in their family, Kiara had a good chance of getting off, but everyone knew it was her jealousy toward Unique that drove her to do it.

The police never found NaSheed. Shortly after Bigg's first hearing, he fled the country. No one had heard from or seen him since, except for Unique.

Constantly, she wondered how her life had gotten so out of hand. All Unique ever wanted was to provide herself and her sister with a better life. Nobody was supposed to die or get hurt. Now here she was, the most hurt of them all.

Halfway into her pregnancy, Unique had had enough. She was tired of wondering why and feeling sorry for herself. There would be no more of her being sad and miserable. From then on, she decided, she would devote all of her time to getting her life together and raising her baby.

Just as predicted, on December 31, Unique welcomed a healthy baby girl into the world. She was named Zion. As late winter began to show signs of spring, sitting in the graveyard, Unique held her beautiful baby girl in her arms and introduced her to the spirit before her.

“I know it's been a while since I visited, but I wanted you to meet somebody. Her name is Zion. I had her on New Year's Eve, just like the doctors said. She looks just like you. She has your eyes and everything. Every time I look at her, I think of you,” Unique said as tears began to fall from her eyes.

“We miss you so much. It's been hard living without you, but I know that you are in a better place. I know this might sound crazy, but sometimes at night I think I see you. It's almost like I can feel you there with us. Wherever you are, I know you're watching out for us. It's real hard living without you, but I know in time everything will be okay.”

“Unique.”

“Huh?” she whispered as she wiped her eyes and turned around.

“We're going to miss our flight. We need to go.”

“Okay, here I come.” Sitting for a second, Unique tried her hardest to find the strength to say good-bye once again. “We'll be back to see you soon. I promise. I love you, and I promise to take real good care of our girl.” Wiping one last tear from her eye, she leaned forward and kissed the headstone, wishing the spirit good-bye.

 

 

The sun beamed from the sky as Unique stood in the cockpit of a fifty-foot sailboat. Dressed scantily in a long, platinum blonde wig, two-piece yellow bikini, and sarong, she guided the boat with absolute precision. Not one bump or wave was felt as the boat glided across the Mediterranean Sea. For the past three weeks, Unique had been living the high life in Saint Tropez.

All of her life she had heard of different celebrities and socialites who had visited the city, and now finally she was there. Removing her Fendi shades from her eyes, Unique glanced upon the clear blue sea. The view was absolutely breathtaking. Seagulls and other birds filled the sky. With all the turmoil Unique had been through in the past year and a half, she found something so fascinating to be rare, so she soaked up every minute of the feeling.

“Baby, you okay?” a voice said from behind.

“Of course. I'm with you.” She smiled as she turned around to greet her guest.

“You weren't thinking about Bigg, were you?”

“No. I haven't thought about him in months.”

“Good, 'cause for a minute there I thought you were still hung up on that nigga,” NaSheed said, approaching with his arms wide open.

Leaving the wheel, Unique grinned and walked into his welcoming arms.

While she was pregnant, NaSheed had reached out to her, expressing his condolences. At first Unique was caught off guard by the call, but after the initial shock of it all wore off, the conversation began to flow.

“You know I heard what happened, and I just wanted to let you know that if there's anything you need, I'm here for you,” he had told her.

“Thanks. I really need someone to lean on right now.” Unique sniffed.

“I told you I would be there for you when you need me.”

“I know. It's just been hard.”

“Well, I don't want to hold you. A nigga just wanted you to know I'm here if you need me.”

“Okay,” Unique replied, hanging up.

From then on, the two talked every day. NaSheed was so overcome with grief, because truly, Bigg was his boy. Over and over, he apologized for all the hell he had put them through. He said that back then, he took the sucker's way out, and if he could do things all over again, he would do it differently. He wouldn't have lied on Bigg and set him up. He said he would've been truthful about his situation and handled it like a man.

Unique had to do a lot of soul searching, but she eventually forgave him. Every time she and NaSheed talked, their conversations lasted for hours. Unique would sometimes find herself up until the crack of dawn, smiling and laughing at his silly jokes. NaSheed made her feel comfortable. She liked it. For the first time since her loss, Unique was able to open up.

One night while talking, NaSheed began to express his feelings for Unique. He said that from the moment he saw her at Plush, he caught feelings. He told her that it should've been his baby instead of Bigg's that she was carrying. At first, Unique didn't know how to take his revelations, but after a while, his come-ons became a welcomed gesture. It was time to move on. As much as NaSheed and Unique talked, you would've thought that he felt comfortable enough to tell her where he was hiding out, but he wasn't.

No matter how many times she pressed the subject, he wouldn't give in. Unique had to continuously tell him that the past was in the past and that today was a new day. She had no hard feelings toward NaSheed. When she forgave him, she meant it, and eventually he believed her. Then finally, after hours and months of talking on the telephone, Unique wore him down. NaSheed gave in and told her his whereabouts.

He was in St. Tropez, France. NaSheed was head over heels in love with Unique. He wanted nothing more than to build a future with her as his wife and to be a father to her baby. NaSheed promised Unique the sun, moon, and everything else underneath the stars if she would consider moving to France with him. Deciding that she needed a change, Unique agreed to come visit him on the condition that they take things slow.

“How many times do I have to tell you that Bigg is in the past? You are my future. There's nobody else I want besides you.”

“Now that's what a nigga wanna hear.” He playfully slapped her on the ass. “You're with me now. I don't want you thinking about that nigga no more.”

“Trust me, I wasn't. You want something to drink? I feel a toast coming on.”

“Yeah, do that shit, baby,” NaSheed replied as he took over steering.

With the robotics of a Stepford wife, Unique sauntered over to the bar and poured them both a glass of champagne. Looking over her shoulder, she gazed at NaSheed, who was staring at her, and winked her eye. Once his head was turned, Unique quietly placed her hand into the cup of her bikini top and pulled out two Rohypnol pills. She dropped both pills into his glass and stirred them around with her finger. The pills dissolved in a matter of seconds. Smiling at a job well done, Unique rejoined NaSheed at the wheel.

“Here you go, baby,” she said, handing him his drink.

“So, what you wanna toast to?”

“Umm, let me see . . . let's toast to . . . starting anew and repaying old debts.”

“Sounds good to me.” NaSheed nodded as they clinked glasses.

A hint of redemption danced in Unique's eyes as she watched him down the entire glass of champagne.

“That hit the spot. You mind getting me another?”

“No, baby. Sure thing.” Unique smirked as she took his glass. Before she even returned with his second drink, the drug began to kick in. NaSheed was leaning over the wheel, clutching his stomach and moaning.

“Baby, what's wrong?” Unique cooed.

“I don't feel good. I think I might have food poisoning.”

“Wow, that's odd. I don't a feel a thing.”

“Yo, I feel like I'ma pass out. Help me over to the couch.”

“Sure thing, sweetie.”

Taking her precious time, Unique walked over to NaSheed. She was in no rush to help him. For months she had been picturing this day. Unique was going to enjoy every last minute of it.

As the effect of the pills took over, NaSheed began to catch on to the fact that he had been set up. “You drugged me!”

“What was that, baby?”

“You heard me, bitch! You drugged me! You fuckin' put something in my drink,” NaSheed spat as saliva dripped from his bottom lip.

“Damn right I did, you stupid fuck!” Unique snapped.

“I swear to God I'ma kill you! I'm bury you right alongside that punk-ass nigga of yours.”

“See, that's where your plan is fucked up.” Unique forcefully grabbed NaSheed's face as he dropped to the floor.

“What you talkin' about?”

“Bigg . . . isn't . . . dead,” she whispered as another boat pulled up alongside theirs. “Baby, tell this nigga you ain't dead!” she yelled.

“You know this nigga always has been hard of hearing,” Bigg quipped as he joined their boat. Dressed in army fatigues and tennis shoes, he looked better than ever. When he walked, there was a slight limp in his stride, but Bigg was still the shit. “I don't think you stuttered. Did you stutter, baby?”

“No, I don't think I did.” Unique shook her head.

“This shit ain't real. They said you was dead. There was a funeral and everything,” NaSheed moaned, scooting back in horror as his worst nightmare came true.

“Sorry, sweetie. That funeral was for my mother,” Unique spat, bursting his bubble. A couple days after the courthouse shooting, Syleena had succumbed to brain cancer.

“NaSheed, NaSheed, NaSheed . . . I know you didn't think you was gonna cross me and get away with it. I trusted you, man. You were supposed to be my boy. That's fucked up how you did me, but it's cool, 'cause payback is a muthafucka,” Bigg confirmed, pulling out a chrome infrared Glock.

“Come on, Bigg, man. We boys. We supposed to be brothers. It ain't gotta go down like this, man,” NaSheed pleaded.

“Nigga, fuck you! You ain't my muthafuckin' brother. Ever since I've known you, you been out for self. Well, guess what, nigga? I ain't dead, but you for damn sure getting ready to be.”

“Come on, Bigg. We been friends for years. We can talk about this.”

“Nigga, what the fuck I just say? We ain't got shit to talk about.”

“So it's like that? It's like that, Bigg? Well, fuck you then, nigga. You gon' shoot me, shoot me.”

“A'ight, if that's how you want it.”

Total silence filled the air as Unique and Bigg looked upon NaSheed's lifeless body. Two bullets had been placed in his head. A steady stream of blood oozed from the back of NaSheed's head as his eyes stayed transfixed on Bigg.

“You a'ight?” Bigg asked Unique.

“Yeah, I'm fine. You?”

“Better than ever.” He smiled, taking her into his arms.

Letting her go, Bigg told Unique to gather the rest of her things so they could burn out.

“Yo, Legend, come help me get rid of this nigga.”

“A'ight,” Legend said as he turned off their boat's engine and joined Bigg.

“You got the body bag and weights?”

“Yeah, right here.” Legend pointed to a big black duffle bag.

Bigg placed his hands underneath NaSheed's arms, while Legend grabbed his feet, lifting him up. They placed his body in the all-black body bag. Once that was done, they began filling the bag with weights and heavy stones. After zipping the bag up and wrapping it with a metal chain, Bigg and Legend used all the strength they had to pull NaSheed's body over to the side of the boat and dump him over. They watched closely as the body sank to the bottom of the sea.