Page 69 of Whatever It Takes
“I need you to tell me everything. From the first time he put his hands on you til the day he was killed. Everything. Don’t leave shit out, Blessing.”
I sighed and made myself a cup of coffee. After making sure it was perfect, I sat on the counter. “Seven didn’t immediately start hitting me. The abuse was verbal. He’d call me fat, tell me I looked disgusting in certain outfits, and would say everything to try to tear down my confidence. Things didn’t get physical til he found out I had a male partner in one of my classes.” I looked up at the ceiling, blinking away tears. “When he found out, he shoved me so hard that I hit my back on the edge of the dresser in my apartment. He apologized and gave me gifts. Like a dummy, I forgave him.” I continued spilling everything. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Chanel didn’t even know most of the shit that went on during my relationship. She didn’t know that Seven trapped me with a baby. She didn’t know that he beat me when I tried to terminate the pregnancy. By the time I was finished telling my story, Messiah had me in his arms, comforting me as I sobbed. I wasn’t crying because I was sad, I was crying because I felt the weight on my shoulders finally lifting.
“I’m sorry, Blessing. I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I was supposed to protect you. This shit should’ve never happened.” Messiah said, rubbing the back of my head.
“Where’d you take Symone?” I asked, lifting my head to look at him. When Kam finally pulled up, Messiah forced Symone to leave with us. When we came into the house, Symone stayed in the sprinter.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m putting an end to all this shit.”
The longer Isat at the table, the tighter my chest got. I had one job, one fucking job. My pops made me promise always to take care of my sisters, and I failed. My little sister was getting her ass beat by a nigga I brought around. She didn’t even trust me enough to handle the problem; she took matters into her own hands.
“You straight?” Dru asked, sipping from his cup.
I shrugged. “How can I be? I gave that nigga permission to marry her, not knowing he was beating her ass behind closed doors. She should’ve fuckin’ told me, and I should’ve fuckin’ noticed.”
“That shit ain’t on you dawg. She could’ve told you, but she didn’t. She did that shit and left loose ends that should’ve been tied up. Bless ain’t no killer though. That ain’t her.”
“Still. Journey and Blessing are my responsibility. I promised my parents that I would always protect them, and I didn’t. Ishould’ve nipped that shit in the bud when I first found out about them, but I let that shit rock.”
The pounding against a door interrupted our conversation. Muffled yells could be faintly heard behind the door.
“What you gone do with that crazy ass hoe? I’m tired of babysitting her ass. I’m ready to go home to my bitch.”
“Imma let her ass go after she gives me what I need. You and Chanel serious, huh?” I asked for more reasons than one.
“Hell yeah. I’m tryna sit her ass down real soon.” His eyes lit up as he spoke.
His words sent a pang in my chest. I shook that shit off and stood from the chair. “Let’s get this shit over with.”
I made my way towards the back and used my thumbprint to unlock the door. Symone scurried away from the door as it swung open. She sat down so fast that the bed scraped against the wood floors.
I pulled up a chair and sat across from her, resting my elbows on my knees. Dru stood behind me, blocking the door.
“You ready to talk?” I asked, surveying her battered face. Blessing did a number on her ass. One of her eyes was swollen shut, and her lip was split, covered in dried-up blood. There was a small knot on her forehead from the kick Chanel gave her.
“Fuck you, Messiah! My brother is going to kill every single one of you!” She hissed, clenching her fists at her side.
“Bitch fuck your brother. Whoever he is can die right along with you.” Dru spat.
“Fuck Adonis?” She snickered and shook her head. “Kidnapping me signed your death certificate.”
We both chuckled at the mention of Adonis. “Ain’t nobody scared of that washed-up nigga. Bitch I’m his fuckin’ boss.” I responded. “Now. This how this shit finna go. You gon’ tell me everything and then you gon’ do whatever the fuck I tell you.Or, you can die. I don’t usually kill bitches but I can make the exception for you.”
Her eyes went from me to Dru as she nervously chewed her bottom lip. She hesitated for a moment, then began to speak. “That bitch stole what was mine.”
“Aye, make that the first and last time you disrespect my sister in front of me.” I glared, daring her to try me.
She huffed and rolled her eyes. “Blessing stole the life that was supposed to be for me. Saint was supposed to be mine!” She slammed a hand against her chest. “I sat back and waited my turn. I played my part. Made sure my brother had a good ass lawyer so he could win his retrial. Things worked exactly how they were supposed to. Mariah was out of the picture!”
“So what, you and Mariah plotted against Blessing over a nigga? Got her fired from her job and embarrassed her on social media because of Moo. There’s too much dick in the world for y’all to be weird behind a nigga.” Anger surged through my body as I stared directly into her eyes.
“Shut the fuck up, Messiah!” She yelled. “Let me finish my fuckin’ story. Mariah didn’t love Moo. She loved his money. Mariah never had shit growing up, so she had no choice but to go where the money was.” She paused for a moment, then continued. “I knew she owed my brother money and didn’t have it, so I thought he would just kill her, but surprise, surprise, the bitch let him knock her up. Everything still worked out in my favor because she was out of Moo’s life.”
“Get to the fuckin’ point, bruh.”
“I am! Don’t interrupt me again!” She snapped. “Blessing was never supposed to continue fucking with Moo. All that shit Mariah did was supposed to scare her off, but she stayed.” She sniffled as her eyes began to water. “Moo played me. I waited my fucking turn, and he still chose her over me! He chose a bitch with a kid over me! That desperate ass bit?—”
