Still Sheisty: Part 2 (Triple Crown Publications Presents) (2 page)

'Let me just get the fuck up out of here,'
he said to himself, quickly gathered up some of his belongings and broking out in a hurry. He wasn't sure if his anger would allow him to honor the fact that she was his baby's mother. Once the sound of Tucker's truck sped off, confirming that the coast was now clear, Loretta laid Lil' T in the bed and came back out of her room. She knocked gently on the bathroom door.

"Keisha is everything alright?" She whispered again.

Keisha wasn't alright, her life was over. She opened the door and fell into her mother's arms for comfort.

"He's gone and I don't think he's coming back." Keisha stuttered as she cried.

"What happened?"

"The tape, he saw the tape."

"No! Keisha, how? I thought you got rid of it."

"I did, I did. And there's no way possible, that could be the same tape. Somebody had to set me up. One of the girls at my bachelorette party, posing to be my friend, set this whole thing up and my stupid ass fell for it. Now he's gone and what am I gonna do, huh? How am I ever gonna get Tucker to forgive me?" She asked her mother, hoping and wishing she could give her all the right answers.

"Keisha, you know Tucker loves you, just give him some time. He'll come around so you guys can at least talk and try to work things out. In the meantime, you need to be strong and try to keep it together, not only for you, but for that baby boy in the next room. Don't make the same mistakes that I did. You know what you did was wrong, but we all make mistakes. I know you love him and he knows it too. Understand that that was a pretty big bomb you dropped on him, so he's gotta be devastated and full of hurt right now. You' re the mother of his son, a son that he loves more than anything in this world and nothing will ever change that. Just give it some time, he'll come around. You just have to pray for the best and prepare for the worst just in case he can't find it in his heart to forgive you. If he can't, then you just got to find a way to move on." Loretta said stroking her daughter's head while she cried in her arms.

Keisha listened to her mother's words, but at the same time she didn't feel like she could manage life without Tucker. She went and got her son from her mother's bed. Holding him close, she reminisced on how happy Tucker was when she told him she was pregnant. Their son, lil' man, was the bond that she and Tucker shared; a bond created out of love. A bond that because of her stupidity might be the only thing she has left of Tucker.

Before shutting her puffy red eyes and get some sleep, she made a promise to herself to find out which one of those bitches was responsible for causing this misery.

Epiphany's father had a terrible ringing in his left ear all
evening.
Old folks used to say that when you heard a ringing sound in your ear that was the sound of death bells and someone close to you was gonna die. Jay Wright didn't believe that ol' superstitious shit, but for some reason tonight's feeling just wasn't right. Those feeling were confirmed when he was awakened in the middle of the night by the doorbell. He jump up out of bed and rushed down the stairs to see who it was. It had to be some bad news 'cause nobody rang his bell that time of morning since he left the drug game three years ago. When he reached the door, he opened it slightly and peaked out to find two police officers, one black and one white, standing there. He assumed something might of happened to his brother Ramel, who took over his position when he retired from the game.

Before he could speak one of the officers addressed him.

"Good morning Sir, I'm officer Johnson and this is officer Riley we're sorry to bother you at this time of morning, but are you Jay Wright?"

Epiphany's dad hated the police, but he kept his composure because finding out their reason for being at his front door was more important.

"Yes officer, I am. What's going on?"

"Mr. Wright, I'm sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news, but your daughter Epiphany and a young man were found shot in her apartment around midnight. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Your daughter was severely wounded and rushed to the nearest hospital. We don't know the status of her condition but she was still alive when she was admitted to the hospital."

"AWW FUCK! FUCK HELL NAH ! NAH, NOT EPEE!" Jay Wright punched his fist through the wooden door. His wife awakened from her sound sleep when she heard his loud out-burst. She threw on her robe and came running down the stairs.

Hearing her husband yell out like that could only mean that something terrible had happened.

"Baby what is it? What's wrong? Oh my god, baby what happened?" She questioned with fear. Jay's face said it all. She knew something was terribly wrong and her gut instincts told her it was Epiphany. She started to cry. "Where is she Jay? What happened to Epee? Jay answer me. Please say she's alright!" She demanded frantically.

"Baby listen, we gotta go to the hospital. Epee's been hurt" he said grabbing her close trying to comfort her. He knew any second she was about to lose it.

"No, no, no, not my child. Where is she Jay? What happened? What fucking hospital, huh?" She cried out and tussled to break from his arm lock.

"Stop it Tiara, you gotta calm down. She's been shot. Now either you gon' sit here and go crazy, or go get your shit so we can go see about her," he said putting the situation in a better perspective. The police offered to take them to the hospital, but Jay refused. Before he could slam the door shut the officer handed him his card and informed him that he might have to answer some questions later. They wanted to know if he had any idea who might have wanted to harm his daughter or the young man that was with her.

"Yo, I'on know nothing right now, but whoever did this better hope you guys find 'em before I do. Now will that be all," Jay said fuming.

"Mr. Wright, I know your upset, but trust that we'll do the best that we can to find the shooter or shooters. I can only imagine how you must be feeling because if that was my little girl lying up in some hospital bed with a gun shot wound to the chest, badly beaten and barely holding on, I'd want to take matters into my own hands too. But you take it easy you hear" said the Uncle Tom officer Johnson. Both police officers turned to walk away. Once they reached the squad car Riley looked at his partner with a devilish smirk on his face.

"Hey Johnson, what was that about? You damn near told the man to take the law into his own hands."

"That's exactly what I did. I could tell you some stories about that man. Mr. J. 'Smooth Criminal' Wright aka
'The
Untouchable'
. He was big time, some years ago. The State and the Feds had him under investigation for years, but we could never get any hard evidence on that nigger to arrest or convict him, not even a petty crime. He knew the game well; too well.

So, I was just giving the brother a little rope to hang himself with, if you know what I mean. A little encouragement never hurt nobody. Besides, knowing that scum like him is behind bars would help a lot of us sleep better at night," he laughed.

"Maybe what happen to his daughter was someone settling the score, or having vendetta against him," said Riley.

"Yeah, could be, unless the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and she got herself caught up in her own mess. We'll just sit on this one, push it to the side, and let the animals do what they do best-
kill each other off
," said Smith.

Jay Wright wasted no time getting to the hospital, doing a 110mph on the Van Wyck Expressway. Under any other circum-stances, Epiphany's mom would have been car sick from that type of speed, but this time was different.

"Hurry, Jay, hurry," she hollered. They arrived at the Hospital in five minutes flat. Jay pulled up to the front of the emergency entrance. Both of them hopped out of car and rushed through the double door entrance of the emergency waiting room.

"Sir, excuse me you can't park there," said the flashlight security guard. Jay pushed pasted the guard. Right now, his only concern was his daughter and finding out her condition. Then, he wanted the bastards responsible for trying to kill her, even if he had to take shit back to the old school way of handling beef.

"Excuse me Miss, we're looking for our daughter, Epiphany Wright. She was shot and brought in by an ambulance a couple of hours ago. Can you tell me where we can find her please?" Tiara said to the lady behind the information desk. The lady punched Epiphany's name into the keyboard and directed them to the Intensive Care Unit. Once they reached the ICU, they still had to follow the same procedure again.

"Excuse me, I was told that we could find our daughter here.

Her name is Epiphany Wright, she's twenty-two years old and she was shot," said her father, this time getting even more impatient and hoping that she could assist them. Before the nurse could answer any questions the doctor walked up.

"Excuse me, I'm Doctor Frye, did I over hear you asking about a young woman that was shot? Are you her parents?"

"Yes we are, is she okay Doctor?" Tiara asked.

"Come with me please," the doctor said. "It's been a long morning." Doctor Frye let out a sigh as the three of them began walking down the corridor. "Your daughter was shot with a .38, which is a very powerful gun, in the chest. When she was brought in she had already lost an enormous amount of blood.

We had to rush her into surgery right away. Her heart rate was fading fast and we were without a doubt going to losing her. I had no choice but to authorize an emergency transfusion to get her heart to start pumping again. It was successful. She also has a ruptured lung that I was able to save. That's the good news. The bad news is the baby your daughter was carrying did not make it.

"BABY! Wait a minute, what baby?" Her mother was shocked.

"Yes, your daughter was in the very, very early stage of her first trimester. Unfortunately, she lost a lot blood so the oxygen supply to the baby was cut off. Your daughter apparently miscarried before she even got to the hospital." Tiara's jaw dropped. Jay Wright wrapped his arm around is wife but couldn't bear to look at her. "Also I noticed a lot of bruises on her body, which leads me to believe that whoever shot her had beaten her first. That could've been the initial cause of the miscarriage. Either way, the child would not have survived. As of now your daughter's condition is still critical, she's in a coma and due to her injuries she's on a respirator. Your daughter is definitely a fighter and I strongly believe she will pull through this. She's in room 202 right down here to your left."

On his way to the hotel he'd been staying at for the past week
or so, Tucker tried calling Malikai's cellphone several times, but
didn't get an answer.
He figured Malikai probably got caught up with Epiphany all over again. Even though Mali never told him, Tucker knew his boy was still sprung the fuck out over her con-ceited ass. But right now, he could've used some of his boy's advice. Malikai has been there for him from day one; before the money, cars and even Keisha. So, his feedback about what Tucker should do about the situation with Keisha, the videotape and the nigga she was fucking on it, was needed. There was no doubt that he still loved Keisha with all his heart, but at that moment he wished her dead. Mali would understand and never sugarcoat anything just to spare his best friend's feelings; he would give it to him raw and be honest about it. Once he got to his room he plopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling until he finally fell asleep. At about six in the morning, Tucker's cell phone and two-way started going off like crazy. He ignored the first few rings, assuming it was Keisha ready to plead her case, but after tossing and turning to the vibrating sound of his two-way and the constant ringing of his cell, he became annoyed and finally went to answer his phone. The caller id said Momma D.

'Maybe the nigga stayed at his Mother's house last night,'
he thought picked up the cell. He heard the unbearable sounds of a mother's cry. His heart ached instantly. Afraid of the possibilities, he hesitated for a moment.

"Momma D, what is it, what's wrong?"

"O lawd, lawd, lawd, my son is gone, he's dead Tucker.

Malikai is dead. The police came and wanted me to go identify his body. But I just can't. Tucker what I'ma do now--my only boy is gone--what I'ma do?" She asked.

Tucker was crushed.
'This can't be'
he thought. There was nothing he could say or do that would ease Mrs. McKenzie's pain.

"Momma D, get dress! I'm on my way to get you," was all he said before ending the call. In disbelief he called Mali's cell repeatedly and got the voicemail each time just like he did when he tried to reach him last night.

"Nah, Mali not you dawg." Tucker mumbled.

Malikai wasn't only a business partner to Tucker, he was like his own flesh and blood--the only nigga he could trust with his life, money, girl and his kid. Mali trusted him just the same. He was a genuine dude. Tucker knew this for a fact because he tested his loyalty on several occasions and Malikai passed every time with flying colors. He was alone in this world, for real now.

He got up out of the hotel bed, got dress and headed over to Momma D 's house. She opened the door wearing a wrinkled dress, mixed matched shoes and her wig was on crooked. She was an emotional wreck. Tucker didn't know what else to do beside wrap his arms tightly around Momma D to console her.

"Momma D, come on we gotta go do this, maybe it ain't him," Tucker said trying to be hopeful for the both of them.

"No Tucker, I...I can't go see my son lying dead on some cold metal table with his brains all over the place. I just can't and I won't. The police already showed me his picture anyway.

I know it's him. The streets done took my son from me; this cruel world done killed him. All I had left is gone. I just buried my husband two years ago and now I gotta bury my son. No, you go for me Tucker, you were like a brother to him and I can't see my boy looking like that, I just can't." Mrs. Delores had always been like a mother to Tucker, especially ever since his moms past away when he was eleven. She never treated him as anything less than a son and he depended on her for the motherly love she gave to him. She was such a sweet old lady, the type that would feed you a good hot meal if you were hungry and give you half of her last dollar if you needed it. Tucker had mad love and respect for her. He even gave her the nicknames Momma D and Mom Dukes-- both short for Delores, her first name. So, to see her suffering caused Tucker a great deal of pain. He planted a kiss on her forehead and headed for the morgue. On his way there, it was so ironic that Puffy's tribute to Biggie,
'I'll be missing you,'
was playing on the radio.