Creepin' 3: A New Orleans Love Story Read online

  “That’s messed up,” Rainey replied.

  “It is messed up. And Dalvin’s mama is a pathetic old bitch. She keeps lying saying that she don’t know where he is, but I know she does. That nigga is better off dead to me anyway. Hopefully, my son can collect social security off of his ass once he’s gone,” Paige replied with a frown.

  “That was harsh, but I understand how you feel. I just stopped getting social security from my daddy. If I would have gone to college, I would still be getting it,” Rainey replied.

  “Why didn’t you go to college?” Paige asked

  “I’m sick of school. I got my GED, and I’m trying to find me a decent job. Maybe I’ll think about going back to school later, but I’m not feeling it right now.”

  “What happened to your job at Walmart?”

  “That heavy lifting was too much for me. I quit, but nobody else is hiring right now.”

  “I just started doing janitorial work for a private cleaning company. It doesn’t pay a whole lot, but the work is easy. We just clean up places like banks and law offices once they close. I’m moving into my own apartment next month, so I’m trying to get my money up. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll see if they need somebody else,” Paige offered.

  “Girl yes, me and my girl London have been job hunting for weeks. She’s trying to get her own place too. I’m just trying to keep some money in my pockets.”

  “London? Isn’t she your friend that Tank slept with?” Paige asked just to be sure.

  “Yeah, that’s her.”

  “No offense, but I’ll look out for you. Your girl is on her own. I’m not trying to be friends with none of Tank’s side bitches,” Paige spat bitterly.

  “She’s not one of his side bitches. She probably wishes she was, though. Once she gave it up, that was a wrap with her and Tank,” Rainey revealed.

  “That’s because he’s too hung up on Mia’s nasty ass.”

  “Maybe so, but let me know about the job thing. I’m about to get going. And let me know if you need help with anything for your son’s party.”

  “I’m glad you offered because I’ll need all the help I can get. Call me later,” Paige said before seeing Rainey off.

  She appreciated the info that Rainey gave her, but Paige didn’t trust her one bit. She and Mia were close at one time, but she didn’t have a problem dogging her out. Paige knew that if Rainey could talk about Mia the way that she did, then nobody else stood a chance, including her. Rainey was the prime example of keeping your enemies close, and that’s exactly what Paige intended to do.

  Chapter 6

  Cheryl was battling with herself on whether she should call Von or not. She’d talked to him a few times since the big fight happened at his house the day of Terri’s repast, but it was all about business. She’d been his and Tre’s business consultant for years, but Von told her that he wouldn’t need her assistance anymore. He’d even gone so far as to give her a check for the last bit of services that she’d assisted him with. That act alone let her know that they were through. Rainey and London were still cool, but London never went to Von’s house with her. Especially since it was finally made official that Tre and Mia were in a relationship. Cheryl felt bad for her daughter when Rainey broke the news to her. She tried to play it off, but she could see that her feelings were hurt. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Mia was also pregnant with Von’s first grandchild. Cheryl knew that if she and Von were to ever get back together Mia would be around more often than she would have liked her to be. After thinking about it for a while longer, Cheryl picked up the phone and dialed Von’s number. She waited with baited breath as she listened to the phone ringing.

  “Hey, do you have a minute to talk?” Cheryl asked once Von picked up the phone.

  “I was getting ready to make a run, but what’s up?” Von replied dryly.

  “I just wanted to see how you were doing. It’s been while since we’ve talked about anything other than business. I know a lot has happened in the past few months, but I don’t want that to come between what we have. Maybe we need to sit down and have a talk about us. It’s like we left everything up in the air with no closure.”

  “I thought I gave you closure when I told you that we need to cool off for a while,” Von responded.

  “That’s not closure Von. You said that we needed to take a break, but you never said for how long.”

  “I didn’t think that I needed to, but I was obviously wrong.”

  “Just keep it real with me. Don’t assume that I know if you haven’t come straight out and told me anything. You said we needed to cool off. I just figured you needed time to yourself,” Cheryl replied.

  “You’re right, I should have kept it one hundred with you, so let me tell you what’s up. Tanya and I have decided to work on being in an exclusive relationship. That means that I won’t be dealing with any other women besides her.”

  “I’m not stupid. I know what exclusive means,” Cheryl snapped.

  “Cool, so now that you know you don’t have any reason to call me or show up at my house unannounced. You’ve been paid for your services, so we shouldn’t have any more problems.”

  “What about all my stuff that I left at your house?”

  “It’s all packed up. I just didn’t have time to get it to you. I’ll get Tank to swing by and drop everything off to you this week.”

  “Wow, so it’s that serious that I can’t even come to pick up my things from your house? Obviously the years we’ve spent together meant more to me than they did to you,” Cheryl said on the verge of tears.

  London walked into the room, but her mother never even paid attention to her presence. Just from the look on her mother’s face, London knew that it had to be Von on the other end of the phone.

  “You act like we were in a real relationship. We chilled and fucked for a few years, but you weren’t the only one to get that privilege. You knew what the deal was from day one. Don’t try to make this out to be more than it actually was,” Von said angrily.

  “So all those years that you were telling me that you weren’t ready to be in a relationship was bullshit. It must have been seeing as how you decided to wife up your ex-bitch.”

  “Maybe I just didn’t want to be in a relationship with your ass. Did you ever think about that? And you already know that I’m not the arguing type. You can take that petty bullshit somewhere else. As soon as Tank is available he’ll drop your stuff off to you. And do us both a favor and lose my number. I’ve already lost yours,” Von said before he hung up.

  The tears had already started falling from Cheryl’s eyes before Von even finished talking. He was right about everything that he’d said, but Cheryl was still hurt. She thought sure that she would be the one to tie him down whenever he was ready to be in a relationship. Obviously she was wrong. She also knew that the fight between London and Mia was the final nail in the coffin in their relationship.

  “What’s wrong mama?” London asked while kneeling down in front of her.

  “Nothing, I’ll be okay,” Cheryl said wiping her teary eyes.

  “I know that was Von on the phone. What did he say?”

  “Something that he’s probably been wanting to say for a while. He’s in a relationship with that bitch Tanya. I can’t believe I allowed him to play me like that. All those years I put in with his ass, and he just throws me away like last night’s garbage. I told him that I wanted my stuff from his house, and he said that Tank will bring it whenever he gets time.”

  “That’s bullshit!” London yelled. “That’s your stuff. You should be able to get it whenever you want it.”

  “It’s not even anything that I really need. I only left a few outfits and some perfume over there. I have plenty of that here,” Cheryl replied.

  “It doesn’t matter mama. It’s still your stuff. Von is not your man and he don’t run shit over here. C’mon, we’re going over there to get what belongs to you,” London said pulling her mother up from the sofa.
<
br />   “London stop,” Cheryl said pulling away from her. “I was already embarrassed enough about the fight at the repast. I’m not trying to go through that again.”

  “You raised me to be a strong independent woman, but you’re not even following your own advice. You wouldn’t have ever taken this kind of treatment from a man a long time ago. What’s so special about Von that you’re letting him walk all over you like this?”

  Cheryl didn’t have an answer to the question that London asked her, but she knew that her daughter was right. She’d let her guard down a lot when it came to Von. She used to be the one to call the shots in her previous relationships, but Von wasn’t having that. He didn’t mind putting her in her place and he’d done so many times before. But still, London’s words were ringing in her ears loud and clear. She was done being nice to Von and everybody else for that matter.

  “Let’s go,” Cheryl said to her daughter.

  “Go where?” London asked just to be clear.

  “I’m going to Von’s house to get my shit,” Cheryl said seriously.

  “That’s what I’m talking about. Let me throw on my Nikes just in case we have to throw down,” London said as she ran to her room.

  Mia got her good the last time, but she wasn’t about to let her do it again. London knew that she was pregnant, but she really didn’t give a damn. She was ready for whatever and that included Lamia.

  ***

  Mia only had two weeks left before she started her first semester of college. She also had two more weeks left before she entered her fifth month of pregnancy. She had an appointment a week after school started to see what she was having, and everybody was excited, especially Von. He was all set and ready to get the baby’s room prepared. Moonie was ready to throw a baby shower just so that her family and friends would have something to talk about. She lived for compliments, and she was ready to show out for her first grandchild’s shower. Everybody else was going crazy about the baby, but Mia’s main focus was on school. She was kind of nervous about starting college, but she looked forward to it at the same time. She’d been reading over some of the information in her books, just to get familiar with what she was up against.

  “You want something to eat?” Tre asked Mia as they lounged around on the sofa.

  He was watching a movie while she read over some information in one of her Math books. Von had just finished cooking, and he and Tanya were about to head out for the night.

  “No, I’m good,” Mia replied as she enjoyed the foot massage that he was giving her.

  “I’m going to fix me a plate and you better not eat off of it,” Tre joked as he moved her feet from his lap and stood up.

  He didn’t get far on his way to the kitchen before the doorbell started to ring. Von yelled down the hall for them to see who was at the door, but Mia was already on her way to do it. She never asked who it was before opening the door and she was kicking herself for making such a stupid mistake. When she came face to face with Cheryl and London she couldn’t hide the frown on her face even if she wanted to. London and Cheryl’s eyes immediately traveled to Mia’s stomach and she was most definitely pregnant.

  “Who is that baby?” They heard Tre asking from inside of the house.

  Without uttering a word, Mia closed the door in their faces and yelled for Von.

  “No, that bitch didn’t,” London said while looking at her mother.

  “She’s a stupid ass lil girl,” Cheryl huffed while ringing the doorbell again.

  They heard voices on the other side of the door, but they couldn’t make out what was being said. Cheryl continued to ring the doorbell until Von answered a few minutes later. Tanya, Tre, and Mia were standing there with him looking like they were waiting for some drama to unfold.

  “Here, this is everything that you left over here. I double checked to make sure I had everything packed,” Von said shoving a taped up box in Cheryl’s hands.

  He had the box packed up nice and neat like he was waiting for her to come and get it. Cheryl was hoping that he was joking when he said that he had her things packed up, but the joke was on her.

  “What about the key to my house? I need that back too,” Cheryl said looking right at Tanya.

  “Oh, that’s in the trash. I made sure of that,” Tanya smirked.

  Tanya was never the catty type, but Cheryl made her act outside of her character sometimes.

  “Bitch was I talking to you?” Cheryl yelled angrily as tears formed in her eyes.

  Tanya tried walking outside to get at her, but Von pulled her arm.

  “Chill out,” he ordered while placing his arm around Tanya’s waist.

  “We’re a package deal, sweetie. When you talk to my man, you’re talking to me too. So like I just said, the key is in the trash right along with the relationship that you wanted,” Tanya taunted.

  “Alright, that’s enough,” Von intervened. “Everything is in the box, including your house key.”

  He wasn’t into the back and forth arguing. He told Cheryl what it was when he talked to her earlier. He had a feeling that she would show up eventually, but he didn’t think it would be the same day they talked.

  “Let’s go, mama. Fuck them!” London said while pulling Cheryl’s arm.

  She hated to see her mother get embarrassed by Von in front of his other woman, but it was all good. He would get his right along with his pathetic ass son. It was times like these that London wished that her uncles and cousins didn’t live all the way in Washington. Von and Tre would be in for the fight of their lives if they were still in New Orleans. Cheryl wanted to say more, but she decided against it. She followed London to her car and put her box in the back seat. She got in on the driver’s side and started the car, but London stopped her before she pulled off.

  “Pop the trunk mama,” London instructed her mother.

  Cheryl did as she was told and watched as her daughter retrieved something from the rear of her car. When London closed the trunk, Cheryl noticed the tire iron in her hand and wondered what she was about to do with it. That was until London walked up to Tanya’s BMW and smashed her back window out with her weapon. The alarm started going off immediately, and Cheryl was starting to panic. She was yelling for her daughter to get back into the car, but London had other plans. She walked over to Mia’s car and proceeded to do the same thing to her back window. When her alarm started going off, Cheryl got really scared. She had the car in drive ready to pull off whenever her daughter was done vandalizing her enemies’ cars. When London walked over to Von’s car, the front door of the house opened, and Tre was walking out soon after. Mia was standing in the door watching as London ran back to the car and got in. Cheryl wasted no time burning rubber before Tre even made it to the end of the driveway. She looked in her rearview mirror just as Von and Tanya came running out of the house to see what was going on.

  “I would have felt much better if I was able to get to Tank and Von’s cars too, but I’m satisfied,” London said as she and Cheryl cracked up laughing and gave each other a high five.

  Cheryl knew that she and Von were done, so she really didn’t care about leaving peacefully. What London did was childish, but it made her feel better about the situation. It hurt that Von chose Tanya over her, but she had to live with his decision. That still didn’t mean that she had to go away quietly, and she wasn’t.

  Chapter 7

  Mia’s first week of school flew right on by and she was getting the hang of everything. College life was so different from being in high school. Mia had become so accustomed to asking for bathroom breaks in high school that she found herself asking her professors before she left the classroom. After seeing how everyone else got up and left whenever they wanted to, Mia quickly got the picture. She had a lot of homework most days, and daily studying was a must. The courses were hard, but Mia was confident that she could pass them with no problems. Things between her and Tre were good as well besides an occasional argument here and there. Mia was still hell bent on
dealing with London and Cheryl for vandalizing her and Tanya’s cars, but Tre kept telling her not to worry about it. The damage was fixed the same day, but Mia was still pissed that it happened in the first place. She couldn’t do anything being that she was five months pregnant, but Nina promised her that she would handle it whenever she ran across one of them, and Mia couldn’t wait.

  “You never told me what you wanted to do for your birthday next week,” Tre said as he and Mia were getting dressed.

  Today was the day that he and Mia found out what they were having. He was excited but not more than Von. The appointment wasn’t until one that afternoon, but Von had been up and dressed since ten that morning. He and Lamar had been on the phone for most of the morning discussing it. Lamar was due to come home in two weeks, but because he had a job interview scheduled he wasn’t able to go to the appointment. Von promised to call him the minute they found out to fill him in on everything.

  “I don’t really want to do anything big. Maybe we can go out to eat or something. With me being in school and being pregnant, there really isn’t much that I can do,” Mia responded after a while.

  “I would hate for us not to do anything for your birthday. We can probably go somewhere just for the weekend or something,” Tre suggested.

  “I’m good baby. I really have a lot going on right now, so it’s not a big deal. I’m going home for a few days anyway,” Mia replied.

  “Home?” Tre repeated with a frown.

  Mia regretted even bringing it up because she knew it was about to turn into an argument. He had a problem every time she mentioned going back home. Mia never agreed to live at Von’s house, but Tre never wanted her to leave.

  “Yes, home,” Mia repeated. “And you can keep your negative comments to yourself.”

  “I didn’t say anything, I’m just trying to figure out why. What’s at Moonie’s house for you?”