Page 44 of Whatever It Takes
I grabbed the hookah hose and inhaled the blueberry mint flavor. “You wouldn’t have to miss us if you weren’t defending a weird bitch.”
Taryn snickered. “Yeah, Symone. That shit rubbed me the wrong way. Don’t make me regret bringing you around.”
I’d forgive Symone, but part of me still felt like I couldn’t trust her. Maybe the recent events had me on edge, or maybe it was my intuition. Either way, I decided to keep an eye on her. The rest of lunch went smoothly. Although the food was tasty, Icouldn’t really enjoy it. My thoughts were scattered, and I just wanted all this chaos to end so I could return to my normal life. I couldn’t handle anything else happening.
“Oh my fucking…” I gritted my teeth as I approached my car. My front window had a fucking brick through it. I bitterly chuckled, shaking my head. The universe had to be playing a sick-ass joke on me.
“Now who the fuck did this shit!” Chanel yelled, waving her arms in the air.
“That strange ass bitch probably followed you here!” Taryn said, walking around the car to examine the damage.
I pulled my phone out to call Messiah, but was quickly distracted by another message from the unknown number.
(578)333-8859: Next time it’ll be your house.
My blood ran cold. I couldn’t keep avoiding the situation, or it would blow up in my face. Instead of calling Messiah, I had Chanel drop me off at home. Once I made it inside, I called my insurance to file a claim. They sent a tow truck to pick it up and let me choose a rental until the windshield is replaced.
Today drained me.I recorded the podcast episode with Stats & Soul, and everything went smoothly, but I just wish Blessing was there with me to speak her truth, too. While filming, the producer came in and showed us Mariah’s live stream of Blessing getting fired from her job. That shit made my blood boil. Teagan, my lawyer, advised me not to say anything and to let Mariah dig herself into a deeper hole, but nobody was about to keep playing with my lady. Then she had the nerve to follow Blessing and damage her car. Blessing wasn’t sure if it was Mariah who did it, but that shit was right up her alley.
After filming, I joined the team for practice. The plan was to slowly get me back on the field. My doctor approved me for light drills, but I still needed to avoid tackling. It felt good to put that uniform on, even though it most likely wouldn’t play in a game for a few more weeks.
Now, I was on my way to my mother’s house to talk to her about my father. I wasn’t sure how she’d react, but I didn’t want to keep this information from her. He’d been missing for 17 years. My sister never even got to meet him. While I’m happy we finally have an update on where he might be, I’m worried about how this might affect our family.
I shut my car off and reached in the backseat to grab the roses I’d bought for the ladies in my life. Ever since I’d first started making money, I’d always made sure to get my mother, sister, and granny flowers every week. There wasn’t a time when their vases were ever empty. I used my key to let myself in. I could hear the TV playing in the living room, so I knew that’s where my mom had to be.
As soon as I entered the room, she glanced over her shoulder at me. “Oh, hey, handsome. I wasn’t expecting to see you today.” She stood from the couch and made her way over to me, pulling me into a hug. Her head stopped right at my chest. She’d been the same height all my life. My mom was a tiny little thing, just like my grandma.
“Hey, pretty lady. I needed to talk to you about something.” I said, setting the flowers down on the coffee table before taking a seat on the couch.
“Blessing is pregnant, ain’t she? Your grandma was dreaming about fish last night.” My mom sighed, sitting down next to me.
I chuckled, shaking my head. “No, crazy. We’re safe. Where’s Ren?”
“She’s in her room doing homework. How’s Blessing? I cannot believe Mariah is going on a rampage like this. I warned you about that girl. Next time, listen to me. Got all my friends looking at me crazy, thinking I’ve been enabling your behavior. I had to let them know my son hasn’t done anything wrong and that girl is a bitter ex.”
“I’m sorry, ma. I didn’t want anybody dragged into this mess. Blessing’s straight. I’m going over there once I leave here. I bought her some gifts to lift her spirits. I hate that I’m the cause of all this disruption in her life. She’s been through enough; she doesn’t deserve all this extra shit.”
“Moo, gifts don’t always fix everything. Money doesn’t move women like Blessing. She has her own money. You’re going to have to come harder than that.”
“Well, help me out, Ma. What should I do?”
She shrugged, “I don’t know. Take her on a little road trip or something. You have a bye week coming soon. Use that time to show her you care. I’m sure she’ll love it. Oh, take her to the cabins in Willow Creek.”
I nodded, pulling my phone out to write the idea down in my notepad. “Thanks, ma, I think I’ll look into that. Now… I want to talk to you about Pops. Just listen, okay? And please don’t get upset with me.” She sighed and nodded for me to continue, “I reached out to a private investigator to look into Pops’ disappearance. It took a minute to find anything, but she’s come up with two possibilities. Around the time he went missing, there was a serial killer targeting truck drivers. Pops’ route matched his profile. Remains were recently found, and I can do a DNA test to see if any of the remains match.” I watched her eyes fill with tears. “The other possibility is a man in Georgia who was admitted into a mental hospital under the name John Doe. He wandered there by train. They think he had an accident that caused him to lose his memory. He ended up there around the same time Pops went missing. We can go there and see if it’s him. Whatever you want to do. It’s up to you, Ma. I’m sorry I went behind your back and did this, but I needed to know something.” By the time I was finished explaining, she’d broken down into full-blown sobs. I pulled her into me, rubbing her back.
“You know.. I had a dream about your father a few weeks ago. I can feel it in my heart that he’s still alive. That has to be him in that mental hospital. I know it is. Oh God. I’m going to get my husband back.” She mumbled, placing her hand over her heart. I prayed that it was him. It had to be. Nothing would hurt me more than getting my mother’s hopes up for nothing.
We agreed to make the trip to Georgia on Friday. I went and spoke to my grandma before heading up to Serenity’s room to check on her. I knocked on the door before peaking my head inside. She was lying in her bed, scrolling through her phone. “You good?” I asked, looking at her. Her face looked kind of pale, and her eyes were watery.
She sniffed and nodded. “I’m fine, Moo. Thanks for the flowers. You can leave now.” She rolled her eyes and turned away from me.
Instead of pushing further, I left. She clearly wanted to be alone, and I respect her boundaries. After I said goodbye to my mother, I headed to Blessing’s house. I hadn’t seen her since she left my house yesterday, and I was missing her something crazy. An incoming call from Dru appeared on my dashboard. I pressed the green icon to answer the call.
“Wassup nigga?” I answered.
“Shit. You good? How was the podcast?”
“It was straight. They paid me some good ass money to come on there too. I think I’m just gonna give it all to Bless, though.”
