Not My Mother's Footsteps (9 page)

It had been a week since Geno was shot and left for dead, he was doing much better and had been moved from ICU. He had recently found out that Butter was killed the same night he was shot. He still hadn’t heard anything about Phoenix; he assumed she was killed too, because he didn’t think it was possible for her to have made it out alive.

“What’s up fam?” he said to Terrell the moment he walked into the room, he hadn’t seen or heard from him since that day he told him who shot him.

“Can’t call it, glad to see ya ass in a better condition” Terrell said sitting in the chair that was in the room.

“Yea nigga’s thought they had my ass, but shit my ass made of steel” Geno said with a chuckle.

“Good shit” Terrell said laughing along with him.

“You check out Pac man?” Geno asked without hesitation as he set up in the bed.

“Yo Pac man dead my nigga, somebody smoked his ass before I could even get to the hood” Terrell said leaning up in the chair.

“Word?” Geno said. He was happy that nigga Pac man was dead, but at the same time a little pissed since he didn’t know who the other cat was that was with him. “Any word on who he was with, like who the job was for, cause we both know Pac man aint come after me on his own.

“I got my ear to the streets, but right now nigga’s aint talking. Not only that I’m dealing with a fucking thief in my own camp” Terrell said as his phone began to ring; it was Phoenix.

“Fuck you smiling like a lil fucking girl for?” Geno said laughing.

“Fuck you nigga, and mind your damn business” Terrell said as he simultaneously answered the phone. After telling Phoenix he would call her back after he finished handling something he went back to talking to Geno. “But like I was saying I got my ears to the streets but I am dealing with my own shit too.”

“Who the hell stealing from you fam?” Geno asked seriously, that’s one thing he didn’t play with and that was blood.

Terrell was shaking his head before answering because it was still real hard to believe, “fam, I believe it’s that nigga Renz.

“I hate to be one that says I told you so, but nigga you know I always told you it was something about that nigga that you shouldn’t trust. That nigga wants to be you so bad it’s sickening.” Geno said with a look of disgust.

“Shit I know,” was Terrell’s simple reply.

“How you gone handle that shit? Geno asked.

“Shit, I’m still tryna figure that one out, that’s why that nigga still breathing” Terrell said as soon as one of Geno’s nurses walked in.

“I’m sorry I don’t mean to interrupt, but sir it’s time for your therapy session” the nurse said with a smile.

“I’m about to get up out of here anyway, my girl at the crib waiting on me” Terrell said as he stood to his feet.

“That’s why your lil pretty ass all fucking smiles, some chick done finally got your ass” Geno said laughing. He and everybody else knew that a female had to be something if Terrell was calling her his girl.

‘Fuck you’ Terrell mouthed as he fist bumped Geno, he didn’t want to be disrespectful since the nurse was still there. “Imma holla at you” he said walking to the door.

“Aight, won’t be long for my ass be up out of here anyway. Geno said before Terrell left.

~

“Mariah, you and I need to hangout” Phoenix said as she lay across the bed in the guest room. Though she and Terrell were officially a couple she still slept in the guest bedroom and they hadn’t had sex; she just wasn’t ready for all that.

“How the hell we gonna hang out, if your ass up Terrell’s ass 24/7, his ass might as well be your best damn friend” Mariah voice blared on speaker phone with jealousy in her voice.

“Whoa seriously?” Phoenix asked with disbelief.

“I’m just saying Phoenix, I am supposed to be your best friend and I aint heard from your ass in forever. Lately all I hear is Terrell this, and Terrell that, like I’m happy for you and all, but you can’t forget your friends.” Mariah said feeling hurt because she was losing her best friend.

Just as she was saying that Phoenix heard Terrell clearing his throat ‘shit’ she thought to herself as she turned around and saw him standing there leaning on the wall; she didn’t hear him come in. “Mariah it’s not like that at all I promise,  and we will hang out” Phoenix said feeling horrible because she was dissing her best friend. “But Mariah let me call you back, I promise” Phoenix said sitting up on the bed.

“Whatever” Mariah said before hanging up in her ear.

“You in trouble” Terrell said joking with Phoenix.

Normally Phoenix would laugh, but she didn’t find it funny that her only friend was mad with her, because before anyone else there was always Mariah. “It’s not funny” Phoenix said burying her face in her hands.

“Why don’t you just go chill with her baby?” Terrell asked sitting on the bed next to her.

“Terrell, you know my situation about my car” Phoenix said never looking up.

“Shit, what you want to drive?” he asked handing her his sets of keys. Phoenix looked up when he said that, and her face read ‘are you serious?’ “Just don’t wreck my shit, or I will have to wreck your ass” he said with a smile.

“You gone let me drive your car for real?” Phoenix asked getting excited, not because he was going to let her drive his car (well just a little) but because she could hang out with Mariah.

“Nah for fake” Terrell said mocking her voice.

“Thank you” Phoenix said holding her hand out for whichever key he was going to give her.

He handed her the keys to his 2013 silver Audi tt coupe  “Now get the hell on” he said jokingly before kissing her lips and blowing in my mouth.

“Ewe, that’s nasty” Phoenix said lightly pushing him away.

“Yea well” he said with a smile as he got up. “Have fun though for real, and if you ever need something don’t hesitate to ask I aint no damn stranger.” He said seriously as he was digging in his pocket.

“I know” Phoenix said sounding like a little girl who had just gotten scolded by her daddy. She was really feeling Terrell and he seemed to be right for her, but for some reason she felt he was too good to be true.

“If you need me, just call me, I gotta make a few runs away” Terrell said kissing her as he dropped something beside her that she didn’t see right away.

“Okay, I will” she said as he was leaving the room. Phoenix stay sitting on the bed as she heard Terrell leave back out the house, and once he was gone, she called Mariah back. Mariah told Phoenix to meet her at her house, even though she was still a little mad, she really wanted to hang out with her best friend.

Phoenix stood to get ready, and when she did a whole lot of 100 dollar bills fell. “Terrell” she said out loud as if he was there. ‘Yea too good to be true’ she thought as she picked up her phone and dialed his number; as soon as she answered she said “thank you.”

“It’s nothing, have fun” he simply said before they disconnected the call.

Terrell cruised in his 2014 Porsche Cayenne headed to Second Street restaurant; he was meeting Polo and Old School there. It was time to get to the bottom of some shit with Renz, he hated the thought of having to take his best friend out, but at the end of the day no snakes were allowed in his circle. Pulling into Seconds streets parking lot, his phone began to ring it was Fluffy “Fuck!” he said out loud before answering. “Ion have time for this shit Fluffy” he said hopping out the car.

“What shit Terrell? Fluffy’s soft voice came through the phone

. “Man what you want?” he said climbing out the truck.

“I hear you got a little girlfriend, she know about me?” she asked putting extra emphasis on ‘little’.

Terrell knew that Bianca had to have been the one to tell Fluffy about Phoenix because they had ran into her one night at the movies. Not that Terrell gave a damn that she said anything it’s just he hated everybody in his business, but because Williamsburg was so small that’s how it was.

“What is there to know about you?” he asked knowing he would piss her off.

“Yea well you can play games if you want too, but either you tell her about me, or I will and you know if I tell her, it aint gonna be to pretty” she said with a laugh.

“You threating me?” Terrell asked stopping dead in his tracks, because everyone knew he didn’t take threats to well.

“Now come on baby, you know I don’t make threats, but I do make promises” Fluffy said laughing before hanging up the phone. Terrell knew he was going to have to deal with Fluffy, because she would not stop unless she was happy, but right now he had other shit to deal with.

“What’s up?” He spoke to the hostess as he walked into the restaurant. Spotting Polo and Old School he headed and walked to where they were. “What’s up?” he greeted as he sat down.

“Aint shit” they both said in unison.

“Terrell ya boy popping molly’s and shit,” Polo said, and it wasn’t that Terrell didn’t believe him; he just knew Polo always had a bad taste about Renz so he had to make sure it was true.

“Rell, that nigga gone out his mind, he was with Pac man a lot before he was killed. They said Pac man was going around saying they did a job together, which left two people dead” Old School said.

Terrell’s mind was on 1,000 but it seemed like it sped up when he heard that Renz and Pac man did a job together. ‘Could it really be the same job that left one of Geno’s girl dead, and him in the hospital? Could Renz be that fucked up that he stole from him, and tried to kill his blood?’ Terrell thought to himself.

“I know this shit hard to take in, but if that nigga really popping molly’s you know he capable of doing anything cause that drug will fuck ya whole head up” Polo said truthfully. All three of them knew what a molly could do to you, because they were dealing it at one point.

“Damn” was all Terrell could say as he thought about Renz his best friend, his brother from another mother, actually being his enemy now. They all continued to talk; Terrell still didn’t know how he wanted to approach the situation. He knew how he should approach it, but because of who it was, it was fucking him up.

~

It was a little after 10 when Terrell walked into the house, and as soon as he stepped inside his phone began to ring. “Hello?” it was his twin sister Chavon, she and his mother was the only two that he didn’t say “Yo” to.

“Are you busy?” she asked when he placed the phone on speaker as he walked upstairs.

“Nah, but hang on a sec” he said walking into his room, he didn’t want to wake Phoenix up, because she had just recently stopped with that jumping in her sleep shit. “Aight, what’s up?” he said when he walked into this room. He knew it was something because his sister never called him this late, hell she never called she mainly text.

“You fucking with that girl that live out here where I live?” Chavon asked, and he assumed she was asking to be looking out for him like she normally does.

“Yea and her name Phoenix” Terrell said as he slipped his shirt over his head.

“She’s a prostitute Scooter” Chavon said almost not wanting to tell him.

Terrell damn near choked on his own spit when she said that, he surely was not expecting that. “Hell nah” he said thinking Chavon had to have had her mixed up with someone else.

“Real shit Scooter, she used to hang around Butter, you know Geno’s Butter? And we all know if she was hanging around her it was for one reason” Chavon said matter factly.

‘You have got to be fucking kidding me’ Terrell thought, he really had taken a fucking blow. “Good looking Chavon” he told his sister before hanging up the phone.

‘Oh shit wait, the same fucking night Geno got shot, Butter was killed, was the night Phoenix called me all frantic.  Was Phoenix really one of Geno’s hoes? Terrell thought, as he rubbed his hands across his face. “Fuck man, this shit can’t be real” Terrell said as started rolling him a blunt. He wanted to call Geno right now, but he knew the hospital turned the room’s phone off after a certain time so he would have to wait until morning.  

Terrell lay back on his bed as he smoked the blunt, shit was starting to add up, but while it was adding up it was seriously pissing him off because he really liked Phoenix. “Fuck” he said out loud as he blew out the smoke, morning couldn’t come fast enough.

Phoenix opened her eyes and stretched, rolling over she looked at the clock it was a little before 7:00 am, she couldn’t understand why she was up so early but hey she was now. Climbing out of bed, she went to the bathroom and then headed downstairs. When she reached the bottom stairs, she could hear Terrell on the phone ‘damn does he ever sleep?’ she thought with a smile.

She never eased dropped on any of Terrell’s phone call’s but she stopped dead in her tracks when she heard him talking “Geno, yo what’s good fam?” she heard him saying she couldn’t hear what Geno was saying but she could have sworn her heart stopped beating. “You know a chick named Phoenix?” Terrell asked, but all Phoenix heard was her name. She wanted to run, but she couldn’t her legs felt like stones, ‘Had Terrell set her up? Was he in with Geno the entire time?” Phoenix thought to herself as she stood there shaking like a leaf.

Phoenix went to turn and run back up the stairs but she wasn’t fast enough because Terrell was right there the moment he got off the phone. “You got something you want to tell me?” he based; the kindness Phoenix normally heard in his voice was no longer there.

She could only shake her head repeatedly, hoping Terrell spared her, her life.

~

Geno had just gotten off the phone with Terrell, and he had asked him a few questions pertaining to Phoenix, and even though he had said it was for nothing he wasn’t stupid. “When I get the fuck out this hospital, I will be going to claim what the fuck is mine. If she thinks her ass will be living the luxury life, I got another thing for her, I own her ass’ Geno thought as he lay in bed furious he couldn’t get to Phoenix ass now. “And I was thinking she was dead, when I am done with her, she will wish she was dead.” Geno said out loud, wanting to get to Phoenix ass tonight.

~

Renz sat in his living smoking a blunt, he had just recently popped a molly and both his heart and mind were racing. He hated the fact that he had stolen from his best friend, and killed two people (he still didn’t know Geno was alive), all because he was trying to get to the top. Renz knew he was too far gone, and even if he wanted to he couldn’t stop ‘no use in stopping now, I might as well fight an take it all’ Renz thought as he inhaled the smoke from the blunt. He knew he was going to have to go to war with his best friend but he was willing to do that because “money is the root of all evil.”

~

Margaret, quickly walked through Nashville’s Greyhound bus station, she had gotten her ticket and was headed to the bus, so she could be on her way to her destination. Margaret had not too long ago gotten out of the Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville TN; she had been locked up since Phoenix was 17 years old, for abuse and a numerous of other charges. Phoenix had gotten on the stand and testified against her grandmother; Margaret was sentenced to six years in prison but had only served five because she had gotten out on good behavior. Every day that Margaret was behind bars, she hated Phoenix even more, and because of that she was on a hunt for her ass. Phoenix would pay for everything she did, and for also causing her so much trouble when she was younger.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, on behalf of Greyhound we thank you for choosing us for your traveling needs, we have a long 21 hour drive, but we will make it worth it and as comfortable as possible. So sit back and enjoy your ride, with our finally destination being Williamsburg Virginia” the bus driver said over the intercom before sitting down. ‘Yea It’s time for revenge, granddaughter or not’ Margaret thought as she got comfortable in her seat to enjoy the ride.

~

Everyone is after each other, no one trusts the next, who will survive and who won’t? But the most important question is, will Phoenix and Terrell make it out of the obstacles thrown their way, or will they crack under pressure. Phoenix has a chance to be different will she change or fall back into her old way’s and continue to fall into her mother’s footsteps?

To Be Continued……