Page 87 of Heart of a Savage
I headed in the direction of my smiling sister and leaned over in her ear. “Come take a walk with me.”
She nodded and told Harvey she’d be right back as she followed me out of the ballroom into an empty room. I closed the door and turned to her solemnly.
“I have to break up with Messiah,” I blurted.
She frowned. “Why? What happened?”
“First, I’m not trying to ruin this day for you. I’m very proud and happy for you, and I wish you a lifetime of happiness.”
She looked on, confused. “Why are you saying this, Arie?”
I sighed. “You know the man Uncle Lamont ordered the hit on?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s Messiah’s father.”
There was a pause before she spoke. “How do you know?”
“He was here… at the wedding. There is no mistaking that man is his father. They look too much alike.”
“Is he still here?” she asked, alarmed.
“No. I saw him leave not too long ago. I don’t think he knows who I am. I can’t be with him knowing that I’m about to order a hit on his father…”
“Arie… that’s Harvey’s family too. Why would you put this on my conscience right now?”
“Because I’m your sister, and I’m in a fucked up situation?—”
“You don’t have to go through with it, Arieana. Fuck Uncle Lamont! His ass didn’t even show up to my wedding to walk me down the aisle. Let him handle it if he wants the job done. I already told you to call that shit off with him. What happened with that?”
“The nigga is scared they’re going to kill him if he doesn’t get them first. He doesn’t have access to the AA anymore, so he needs me to get access to the shit I’ll need to take him out.”
“Fuck that AA shit. You’re not doing it, Arie. No one told him to steal from them! That’s his fucking problem. Don’t fuck up what you have going on with Messiah. This is the happiest I’ve ever seen you. Are you willing to risk your happiness and freedom for a man who’s willing to throw you in front of a bullet?”
“How are you saying he’s throwing me in front of a bullet when we’ve been hitting motherfuckas since college?”
“Don’t go there. This iswaydifferent from what we were doing! We were taking calls from outside sources, not from our family!”
“So, what if his father kills him? Then what?”
“Then you let it be what the fuck it will be. He. Stole. From. Him! What part of that aren’t you getting? This isn’t your beef.” She walked up to me, looking me in my eyes. “I’m going back to my husband, and we’re going to celebrate, then head to ourhoneymoon in Belize. When we return, I’m packing up and heading to South Carolina to live out my happily ever after. I don’t want any more parts of this shit any longer.
“Too many lives have been lost behind the shit we did. I’m ending this shit here. As your best friend, your sister… someone who loves and cares for you with my whole heart, I encourage you to move on and do the damn same.” She walked away from me and out of the door, leaving me even more fucked up than I had been.
She was right.
Uncle Lamont should have never stolen from that man, but as his niece, I couldn’t just let him die behind this. The phone vibrating in my wristlet brought me out of my thoughts. I reached inside, pulled it out, and saw an unknown number on my screen.
“Hello?”
“Arie…” the familiar voice spoke solemnly.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah, it’s me… It’s your uncle. He’s gone, Arie…”
The phone slipped from my hand, my body hit the floor, and I wept.
