“
WHAT ARE YOU DOING, ESTELLE?! LEAVE MY DAUGHTER OUT OF THIS!” Cornell Phillips yelled.
Harmony knew what was happening without Estelle saying a word. From the argument she overheard earlier between her father Cornell and her mother Estelle, she knew that he was caught cheating with his Spanish mistress, the beautiful Irma Cruz. What Estelle didn’t know was that Harmony favored Irma more than she did her, and had been with Cornell to visit her in L.A on many occasions. It was their little secret and she liked it that way. Besides, Estelle was too busy spending Cornell’s money on million-dollar shopping sprees to notice his infidelities.
When Harmony was half dressed, she was startled again when her father crept into the room and locked the door behind him. Cornell’s honey-colored complexion was reddened and his neat processed wavy hair was now scattered all over his head. Even though his hair was in disarray, he was strikingly handsome.
“
Open the door, mothafucka! You ain’t got shit to say to me or my daughter no more! Go back to that bitch!” Estelle yelled banging on the door.
KICK! BANG! KICK! Were the sounds heard against the door. “Estelle, give me a minute with my daughter! Just one damn minute!”
“
Go back and stick your dick in that bitch,” she persisted.
Cornell shook his head in disgust at how she was talking around Harmony.
Silence.
“
You didn’t stick to the plan!” She cried leaning against the door. “Why didn’t you stick to the plan?!”
“
Fuck you!”
“
I’m tired of your shit, Cornell!” She stood up straight. “I’m not riding with you no more! Do you hear me…I’m not taking your shit no more!”
The yelling scared Harmony and Cornell was trying to spare her as best he could.
“
Come here, princess,” he continued sitting on a chair in her room. Estelle quieted down but he knew that she was a hateful bitch and was undoubtedly doing something to get back at him at that very moment.
Harmony rushed toward him and he spoke in a heavy whisper, her light skin was flushed from all the excitement. But every time she saw his face she felt safe because he treated her like a princess. Up until that point, life had been a dream and somehow she knew all would change.
“
I gotta give you life in a hurry, princess, because you might not see me again.”
“
No, daddy.”
“
Just listen…Whatever your mother says about me when you leave, don’t believe her. You hear me? I want you to remember our good times together, and how much I love you. And when you meet someone, if he can’t afford you, I don’t want you wasting your time on him.”
“
Daddy, I’m scared.”
Harmony began to sob uncontrollably until he caressed her back softly.
“
I’m sorry but your life is getting ready to change and you need to be ready.” He paused. “I’m gonna send somebody to bring you something. When you meet him, he’ll talk to you alone. Don’t worry, you can trust him.”
“
But you said never to trust anyone.”
“
I know, but we don’t have a choice.”
“
But where is mama taking me, daddy? What about my things? I don’t wanna-”
“
You’ll probably go over Shirley’s house.” He interrupted, speaking of her grandmother. “And you betta never trust that old bitch ‘cause she’ll smile in your face and stab you in the back the moment you turn around.” The idea of her nana being so hateful frightened her. “Be smart, princess. It’s important that you always do a good job in school and be smart, don’t be anything like Estelle.”
“
You said you’d never leave me. And now you makin’ me go with mama.” A short jolt of unease pierced her stomach.
“
There ain’t shit we can do about that now, princess! I need you strong!” He said wiping his own tears away this time. “I’m sorry I exposed you to this lifestyle…because now the bar is set high for you, and you’ll always want more. But always remember that when you’re in pursuit of money, that you should never sell your soul."
"Okay, daddy."
He smiled weakly although his heart was breaking by the second. “Listen, before you go I have to tell you somethin’ ‘bout Estelle. She’s…”
“
POLICE! OPEN UP!” Loud knocking on the bedroom door scared Harmony and rattled her father. He stood up straight and shoved her toward her white bedroom closet door. She fell on her knees scraping them terribly.
“
Get in the closet, and close the door! No matter what you see, don’t come out here!” He said grabbing her up by her arms.
“
Daddy, no! I’m scared.”
“Harmony Phillips, you do what I say this instant!” He opened the closet door. “Now get in that closet and don’t come out! Do you hear me?”
“Yes, daddy.”
Whenever Cornell called her by her full name, he was serious, and she knew better than to disobey him. So she ran into the cold dark closet and looked through the wooden slits. Cornell could see the shine of her eyes against the dim light in her room and he stepped back and smiled.
“
I love you,” he whispered. She waved and wiped away the last few tears that crept upon her face, they were useless and she knew it. She’d made a promise to be strong and that was exactly what she was going to do, no matter what.
“
OPEN THIS DOOR NOW! WE HAVE YOU CORNERED!”
Seconds later, the bedroom door came crashing in and five police officers wrestled Cornell to the floor.
“STAY DOWN!” One of the officers yelled striking him on his head with his Billy club. “Don’t move!”
The other four officers joined in the abuse and struck Cornell multiple times in the face, neck and upper body.
“
We finally got your ass,” one of the cops said. “We have the dope and everything right in your house. You see, you not as smart as you thought you were.”
“
Get that mothafucka! Don’t let him get up!” Estelle yelled, walking into the room. Her jaw flexed and her eyes formed tiny slits. She wasn’t the slightest bit upset at how the officers were treating her long term boyfriend…the only thing on her mind was revenge. “He got all kinds of drugs and money underneath the house too! And me and my baby ain’t no nothin’ ‘bout it either!” Then she directed her attention to Cornell. “And just so you know, nigga, you ain’t neva seein’ your daughter again! Ever!”
“
Bitch, I will kill you first! She ain’t even…”
“
Shut the fuck up,” an officer said hitting him again.
Seeing the violent officers hurt her father, and hearing Estelle’s evil threats about never seeing her again, Harmony rushed out of the closet and hit one of the policemen on the leg with her tiny fists. She figured if she helped him, that her father would be able to escape and they could leave together. But the officer kicked her off and she tumbled against the blue wall hurting her head. Enraged and not thinking straight, Cornell mustered up enough strength to tackle the officer to the floor. Once in his grasp, he gripped his throat tightly. Spit escaped his mouth and his hair was drenched in sweat. It took all four officers to attempt to pull Cornell off of him.
“
You fuckin’, cracker! I know you just didn’t hit my baby girl! I know you ain’t that fuckin’ crazy!”
Veins popped out of his forehead and neck as he continued to crush the officer’s windpipe. Seconds later, the officer’s eyes rolled up in his head and he was no longer able to fight him.
For as long as Cornell had been selling and transporting drugs in DC, Maryland and New York, he never took a life himself until now. Sure he handed down orders for hundreds of men to be killed, but never had he done the work himself until that night. After all, Cornell was a boss and bosses rarely got their hands dirty. Too bad for him that his first blood drawn, belonged to a white Maryland, police officer.
Being so close to death, his mind raced briefly to the past. Cornell was not a man who regretted much, but he did regret the day he participated in a high stakes Poker game. Had he not, maybe he would not be in the predicament he was in, but at the same time, Harmony may never had been in his life either. And he loved her more than life.
Seeing their partner’s body go limp, one of the other officers shot Cornell in the shoulder and he dropped to the floor.
“
For your sake you betta hope he’s alive, nigger!” He said pressing his foot heavily on the fresh wound to keep Cornell penned to the floor. The other officers rushed to their partner one by one making the same determination, that he was dead.
“
Mam…you better get your daughter out of here.” One of them said giving her an evil glare. Then he leveled a dark look at Cornell. “I don’t think either of you will want to see what’s gonna happen next.”
Harmony’s jaw dropped when she saw the blood escaping her father’s body. She contemplated hiding in the house until everyone left. Her favorite place was a crawl space under the stairs and sometimes the large basement. She figured after the cops left, she could still be there with her father. She didn’t understand the repercussions of killing a white police officer.
No sooner than that thought entered her mind, Estelle grabbed her by the arm and whisked her away. Harmony’s body was pulled down the beautiful spiral staircase, through the foyer with the large crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling and into Estelle’s blue Mercedes Benz, with the engine running. Police cars sat in the elegant stone driveway and blaring sirens indicated that more were on the way. Estelle didn’t want to be anywhere near them.
“
Mama, please! We gotta help daddy!” She was crying hysterically.
“
Ain’t nothin’ we can do but help ourselves!”
Estelle removed a bottle of vodka from her purse, opened the back door and threw her bag inside, it landed on the floor. On the back seat sat a large duffle bag filled with so much money, hundred dollar bills peaked from the sides and floated softly to the floor.
“
Get in the car! Now!” Estelle yelled at Harmony. “We got to get out of here!”
“
But I don’t wanna leave daddy!”
“
Get in the fuckin’ car you spoiled, little bitch!”
Harmony wiped the tears from her face and quickly opened the passenger door. Once inside, she put her seat belt on and waited for Estelle to enter the car, too. When she did, Harmony looked at her hoping she’d explain why the police were in their home, and more importantly, why she allowed them to shoot her father. Instead of giving Harmony answers, Estelle twisted the cap off the bottle of the liquor, downed half of it, and pulled out of the driveway.
“
We’re stayin’ with mother for a couple of days. And you betta stay out of her way when we get there, too.”
“
Yes, mam.”
“
What did your father say to you?” She paused. “Huh? Did he tell you anything about me?”
“
No, mama.”
“
You betta not be lying to me!”
“
I’m not, mama.”
Harmony swallowed hard and looked out ahead of her. Everything in her spirit wanted to know what was going on, but she also knew questioning her mother could be bad for her health.
Looking at the sign that read, “Thank You For Visiting Concord Manor”, as they exited the multi-million dollar mansion, she felt faint. At Concord she had everything, including friends and a father who cherished the ground she walked on, now she would have nothing.
“
Ma.” She whispered filling her tiny chest with enough air to handle Estelle’s response.
“
What?!”
“
Why did the police hurt daddy? Is he…Is he…Dead?”
Irritated, Estelle pulled erratically off the road and threw her car in park. “You wanna know the truth?”
“
Yes, mam.”
“
They hurt him because he is a fuckin’ drug dealer! He hurt a lot of people and now he has to pay for his actions! That’s why!”
Harmony could hear her father’s voice in her mind say, ‘Whatever your mother says about me when you leave, don’t believe her.’ She wondered if he was talking about being a drug dealer.
Harmony knew her father was far from an angel, but she also knew her mother had shit with her too. She was young, but she knew for a fact that Estelle was fully aware of what Cornell did for a living. She remembered seeing her on numerous occasions packaging the powder Harmony knew as Sugar on their kitchen table.
“
But…I thought you knew what daddy did. I thought you said it was okay because what he was doin’ he was doin’ for us.”
Estelle’s lips pressed tightly together and her brows creased. Then she looked at Harmony and said, “Hussy, if you ever tell somebody that shit, I will kill you. You betta neva repeat that shit again, you understand me?” She yelled, squeezing her forearm so strongly she could feel the bone. “I will kill you.”
“
Okay…Mama.”
Estelle slowly let her go and said, “I didn’t know ‘bout none of that shit he got goin’ on back there! But I’m glad I found out. We don’t want to be anywhere near there when they lock his cheatin’ ass up!”
In that instance, as if it were even possible, Harmony hated her more. She couldn’t understand why she was always so moody and most of all, so fuckin’ fake. One minute Estelle would be boasting to her friends and family about how beautiful her daughter was and the very next minute she’d tell anyone who would listen that she was a spoiled and ungrateful red bitch. Now she had committed the ultimate crime as far as Harmony was concerned, by turning her back on Cornell.