“You knew this entire time?” I asked King in a small voice because that’s all I could manage with bile in my throat. I dry heaved. I had exchanged fluids with my momma.
Before King answered I turned to Ellis, our eyes connected. I needed answers.
“Why would you marry me? Why force me to stay?”
He shook his head at me. “I didn’t even know she was your mother until the day of the wedding. I stopped when I found out. It lasted until she told me about your secret phone calls and visits to him.” he spat out. “She wanted me, you didn’t. Not while your King was in the picture.”
“What secret calls and visits? There were never any visits or phone calls,” I sputtered. “My momma?” I felt like I needed to walk away before I lost my mind. “All you people are fucking crazy.” I made a move to leave the kitchen. King grabbed my shoulders.
Again, he shoved the gun at me. I looked at it in his hands, so shiny and black.
I felt numb. I wanted to shoot Ellis. I had dreamt of killing him. I had spent four years with him beating my ass, ridiculing and humiliating me.
His parents had degraded me so badly when he told them I was the reason they didn’t have grandkids and it was not even my fault. He knew that and on top of it he was fucking my momma.
I took the gun. It was heavy in my hand. I was almost mesmerized by the feel of it. Ellis was talking but I couldn’t hear him, only the blood rushing into my ears. Without even aiming for any spot in particular, I pointed the gun at him. I felt nothing when I pulled the trigger, nothing happened. I pulled the trigger again, nothing happened. Again, and still nothing. I yelled. I reared back to throw the gun at him. King took it from my hand. I turned to find a satisfying smirk on his face. I knew then he had only been testing me. “You fucking asshole” I shoved him with all my might but, he barely budged.
Before I could stop myself, I slapped him. King stepped back out of my reach, so I couldn’t do it again. He raised his hand to his bleeding lip, brought it down to observe the blood.
“You hit me.” He smiled. “Seems like you’re feeling more like your old self. Good.” He laughed as if my fucked-up life and heartache was a joke.
My mouth opened then shut, then opened again. “The moment I start trying to trust you again I find you’re still the same old King. I fucking hate you for these mind games you play.”
His nostrils flared. I could feel his anger, like a brush against my skin. He raised his hand. I flinched because I knew he was tempted to snatch me up, he dropped his hand quickly.
“I told you not to say that ever again, “he hissed through clenched teeth. “But I know you don’t hate me,” he said. His frown turned into a smug smile. “You’re upset. But did you think I would really let you kill him, so he could rent space in your head for the rest of our lives?” He cooked his head and stared at me lovingly. “I just needed you to be willing to do it.”
I just stared at him wide-eyed.
He was certifiable.
“You’re too fucking smug for you own fucking good.”
In the same moment I was considering slapping King again Ellis decided to make a run for it. Out of my peripheral I saw him stand. The chair fell, his large frame barreled towards the door. King moved so fast it seemed as if the gun he’d pulled from his back materialized from thin air. For a minute my heart stopped beating.
The gun didn’t explode like I thought it would, just made a pew, pew sound. Before Ellis made it halfway to the door, he was hit with two bullets directly to the chest. I’m almost positive he was dead before he hit the floor.
I tried to stay calm as my eyes met his slumped form. He wasn’t moving and he was bleeding so profusely that a bloody puddle quickly formed around him. My stomach dropped. Ellis was dead? I didn’t feel bad, just shocked.
In the next moment my momma walked in the kitchen. She dropped the cup she’d been holding and freaked out. “What did you do?” Momma’s bottom lip quivered, her shoulders jerked as she broke out in sobs. She shoved King out of her path and headed straight for Ellis. “Why?” she cried, leaning over him. “You weren’t supposed to hurt him. You told me if I got him here, you wouldn’t hurt him,” she roared hysterically. She got down on the floor on her hands and knees. She lifted Ellis’ head into her lap, cradled him lovingly and started rocking him. I felt cold, like I was trapped in a frozen wasteland.
It was surreal watching it all unfold. Was I still asleep? Was this my hell? I felt as if everything was unreal
“What are you doing? Get up!” I yelled at Momma. She went silent. She snatched her head up in my direction.
“This is your fault.” Her contempt for me rolled off her in waves.
Astonished, I pointed to myself. “My fault? How Mother? I didn’t shoot his ass.” The fact that I’d tried didn’t really matter at this point.
“It’s your fault. Because of you that fucking maniac ruins everything.”
I turned to King. The self-satisfied look was back on his face, but he simply shrugged.
“Tell her,” she yelled at him.
“Because of you he killed my husband, and now the only person I ever loved.” she said before King even got a chance to open his mouth
“James? He left you. That’s what you told me.”
King laughed and drummed his fingers on the table. He was acting so casual about the fact that he’d just killed somebody. I couldn’t wrap my mind around that.
Momma glared at him.
“Your mother is so dramatic.” He shook his head ruefully. “I didn’t kill him. We argued. He fell down the stairs and broke his neck. She didn’t care. She’s been enjoying the fruits of his death and fucking your husband for the past three years with nary a fucking tear. Now it’s, ‘Blah, Blah, Blah.’ She’s heartbroken and it’s everybody else’s fault.” King rolled his eyes.
“She only acts as if she cares now because her little fuck toy is dead.”
“We have five minutes until my crew comes to clean this mess up,” he said waving his hand in the direction of Ellis. Momma was staring down at his body, stroking his hair like she’d lost her mind. “I’ll tell you what led up to my father’s death. Do with it what you may.” He took a deep breath like he planned to tell me everything in five minutes or less.
“Your mother,” He pointed to her. “Tried to bargain your pussy to my father.” He pointed at himself, “so he’d stayed and take care of her. Why do you think she took Spellman away from you? She wanted you here. James got an upgrade and she got to continue living in the lap of luxury. Haven’t you ever asked yourself why James would leave his house, his cars and his bank account for her if he had simply left?”
I hadn’t. My head started pounding.
“I’m confused. Make this shit make sense.” I turned to King. “She said you told her that I was the reason for James leaving. She’s the reason I had to move in with Ellis.”
King’s head snapped in her direction. He answered me but glared at Momma
“Why would I do that? Why would I make it easy for him to have what’s mine? I suspect Mommy Dearest just wanted you gone.” he said.
“You’re damn right I did,” Momma yelled. “I was free from your limp dick daddy, from her whiny ass. I finally had everything. The money, the house, the cars. Then you fucked it up.” She glared hard at King, while pointing at him. “I now understand why your father used to call you the fuck up. You pushed her and Ellis together when you went to prison. I lost him. He wouldn’t even talk to me for a year. Not until I told him about the phone calls and visits.”