“Damn, Miles, you told her that shit?” Rain said, but I’m sure Miles didn’t hear her.
By that time a small crowd had joined us to watch the show. There’s nothing more entertaining than black folks fightin’ in public.
“Let me go, Miles,” Lakeda said and suddenly found the strength to break away from Miles. Probably that line about loving another woman gave her strength. “I didn’t have her killed. I wish I did and I’m glad that bitch is dead, but I didn’t get anybody to kill her.”
“You knew I was going to meet her that day. You knew where I was meeting her!” Miles grabbed her again and Lakeda struggled to get free.
“Let me go!”
“Tell me what you did!” Miles yelled and slapped the shit outta her. I grabbed Miles and held him before he could slap her again. Rain rushed to Lakeda’s side and held her. Miles began to cry to again. “Just tell me what you did.”
“Okay, people. Show’s over,” I said and walked Miles away from the crowd. Rain followed with Lakeda. Once we were far enough from the slowly dispersing crowd I stopped, but I kept my hands on Miles just in case he decided to go at her again.
“Where did you go after you left that night?” I asked Lakeda.
“All right.” Lakeda pushed Rain off her. “All right.” Lakeda was breathing hard and took a second to compose herself. “I drove around for awhile and then went back to the club looking for her. I was gonna make her leave you alone.”
“Was she there?”
“No.”
“What did you do then?”
“I had a few drinks and I came home,” Lakeda said, and then the look on her face changed.
“What?” I asked.
“What did you do!” Miles demanded to know.
“I talked to Jeff Ritchie.”
“What did you tell him?” I asked.
“I needed somebody to talk to. So I told him about the affair. Told him that you said you loved her.”
“But I told you that I would never leave you and the kids, Lakeda. I told you that.”
“I know what you told me, Miles. But I was mad that night; Mad enough to kill you, not her, Miles, you. That’s why I left.”
“What did you tell Jeff Ritchie?” I asked.
“I told him that Miles said he was meeting her at that restaurant. I told him that I was going to be there, too.”
“What did he say?”
“He said that I should go home and be with my husband. That he knew how these things were, and when you realized what you had, and what you had to lose that you would come to your senses and leave her alone.”
“Let me go,” Miles said calmly and I did what he asked. He walked up to Lakeda and slowly reached for her hand.
“I didn’t have her killed, Miles.” Now its Lakeda who began to shed tears.
“I know. Don’t cry, Lakeda. It wasn’t your fault. This is all my fault. I should never have let that happen. Never did that to you.”
“I didn’t deserve that, Miles. Do you know how hard it was for me to hear you say ‘I love you’ to another woman?”
“Yes, and I’m sorry that I hurt you, I swear, nothing like that will ever happen again. I only hope that you can forgive me.”
“I don’t know, Miles. I’m trying, you know that, but it’s going to take time for me to get past this.”
“Please, Lakeda, just say that you forgive me.”
“I forgive you, Miles, but I meant what I said. It just gonna take some time.”
Miles put his arms around Lakeda and hugged her. Slowly, Lakeda put her arms around him. “Let’s go back inside and see about Pops.”
“That’s right,” Rain said, and we all started walking back toward the building, but I knew it wasn’t over.
Once we were back inside, Miles saw Jeff Ritchie going back in the visitor’s area and he took-off running. Rain went running after him. “Miles!”
I looked at Lakeda before I started to run. She smiled at me and kept walking at the same pace. I knew then there was more to this then she had said.
Miles ran up to Jeff Ritchie and hit him in the face and the two men began wrestling until me and Rain got there to separate them. “You killed her, didn’t you?” Miles said as I dragged him away from Jeff Ritchie. “You fuckin’ bastard, you killed her.”
“What are you talking about, Miles? And lower your voice,” Jeff Ritchie said as hospital staff began to take notice of us.
“Let’s take this outside,” I suggested.
“No, Nick, let me go, I’m all right.”
Since he appeared to be calm enough, I let Miles go.
He walked up to Jeff Ritchie and got in his face. “I know what you did,” Miles said quietly. “I know you had Zakiya killed. It couldn’t have been anybody but you. The family protector; the man who makes things right.”
Lakeda finally caught up to us and Miles turned and looked at her. “Lakeda told you everything. She told you who Zakiya was and where she was gonna be, and you sent two men to kill her.”
“I’m sorry, Miles,” Jeff Ritchie said. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
“Like what? Wasn’t supposed to be like what? I wasn’t supposed to find out, is that it?”
Jeff Ritchie shook his head. “I only did what had to be done.”
Miles nodded his head and backed away from him slowly. “Yeah, me too.” He turned and walked away from the area. Rain started to go after him. “Leave me alone, Rain.”
“Where you goin’?”
“I need some air,” Miles said and kept walking.
Rain stopped and watched as her brother left the building.
Jeff Ritchie looked at me like he wanted to do something. “Come on with it,” I said softly.
“Me and you will settle this another time,” Jeff Ritchie said to me. Then he went and sat down.
Rain walked up and stood by me. “Something ain’t right about this.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll tell you later,” Rain said. “I’m goin’ to check on Pops. Why don’t you go check on Miles and then go on and get outta here. And call me tomorrow.”
“I will,” I said and started to leave when I saw Miles coming toward us.
Miles walked by Rain and I calmly. “You okay?” Rain asked as he passed.
“I’m fine, Rain, you go check on Pops,” Miles said and went back in the visitors area. Miles walked up to Jeff Ritchie and stood over him. When Jeff Ritchie looked up, Miles took the gun out of his pocket and pointed it at him.
“Miles, no!” Rain yelled and we rushed at him.
“She was having my baby!” Miles yelled and put three shots in Jeff Ritchie’s chest and one to the head.
Miles let the gun drop to the floor and sat down in the chair next to Jeff Ritchie. Lakeda sat down next to him. She took his hand in hers and tears rolled down her cheeks. Doctors and nurses flooded into the room and tried to save Jeff Ritchie, but he was dead.
Miles didn’t offer any resistance when the police and hospital security arrived on the scene. Miles stood up and put his hands behind his back.
I stood there with Rain, watching as they took Miles away. Then she turned to me. “Something ain’t right about this.”
“What?”
“Come on.” Rain took me by the hand and we walked toward the intensive care unit. She told the attendant that I was her husband and they let me go in with her.
We went in JR’s room and Rain sat down next to him. She took his hand. “The police just took Miles to jail for killing Jeff Ritchie.”
“What?” JR said in barely a whisper. “Why?”
“Lakeda found out that Miles was having an affair. She said she told Jeff Ritchie and he sent the men that killed the woman.”
JR closed his eyes and turned away from Rain.
“But something ain’t right about her story. Lakeda wouldn’t talk to Jeff Ritchie about Miles having an affair. But she would talk you. Lakeda came to see you that night. That’s what happened, ain’t it, Daddy?”
JR didn’t answer, didn’t open his eyes; he just gripped Rain’s hand a little tighter.
“Jeff Ritchie would never do anything like that. He wouldn’t send men to kill her, not unless you told him to.”
Rain let go of her father’s hand and stood up.