RedBone 2 (20 page)

 

 

After being robbed and given pictures by some unknown person, Farah lay in her room, crying her eyes out. She hadn’t even seen the members of the Fold, because she couldn’t concentrate on anything but the fact that someone knew more about her than she did them. Missing the unconditional love of her grandmother, she decided to call her for support, because as much as she hated to admit it, she needed her love.

The phone rang once before Elise answered in a sleepy voice.

“Grandma, it’s me. Farah.” She paused. “You have time to talk?”

Elise yawned. “Of course I do, baby. And there ain’t no need in you saying who you are. I know my children’s voices when I hear them.” She giggled. “I’m glad you called, because I was going to call you myself.”

“Really? What about?” She rolled over on her back.

“Tell me what’s going on with you first. How do you feel? You sound sad.”

“I’m awful, Grandma. I don’t feel like myself.” She looked at the dark skies through her window. It was her favorite time of day. “I can’t really explain it.”

“You’re probably exhausted. You have to get the right amount of rest, Farah. Lately you’ve been running around nonstop.”

“How do you know that, Grandma?” she asked, irritated. “This is the first time I’ve talked to you in a while.”

“Just because you don’t call me doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s going on with you, Farah. And I know you’re out a lot because every time I call, Mia or Shadow answers and tell me you’re not home. A mind can’t rest if a body doesn’t.”

“I’m trying, Grandma. I have so many things going on. You just don’t understand.”

Silence.

“Grandma, are you there?”

“Yes, baby, I’m still here,” Elise responded. “I’m sorry if I was quiet. It’s just that I want to say something to you, but I don’t know how. I’m old, and sometimes my words come across the wrong way. You know what I mean?”

“Maybe you should just say it.”

Elise sighed. “I know, but I wish I could take some of the pressure off of you. I always told your mother before she died to watch you. If only she would’ve listened.”

“I don’t want to talk about Brownie. She was your daughter, but she wasn’t my mother.”

Elise fought hard to bite her tongue. “Farah, I want to talk to you about that night. The one when you called me and told me what you did to make yourself feel better. Do you remember that night?”

Farah immediately had an attitude. “Of course I remember. You told Dr. Martin about it too.”

“Farah, were you really drinking—”

“Grandma, please don’t say that over the phone. Why can’t you just leave that day alone? It’s old news now.”

“I’m not trying to upset you. You know that. It’s just that Dr. Martin came over here again the other day. He said something I didn’t like, and I want to see where your head is at. Are you drinking blood?”

“You just had to say it over the phone, didn’t you? Why can’t you ever respect my wishes? What is it about me that you don’t like? It’s like you never loved me!”

“You know that’s not true!”

“Then what is it?” She sobbed. “I told you what I said because I thought I could trust you. I believed you when you said you were in my corner.”

“Farah, I’m concerned now more than ever, because when I asked you later, you told me you were drunk and didn’t mean any of it. And I don’t know if you realize it or not, but he’s not letting up on his quest to catch you in the act. If you are doing anything to hurt other people, I advise you stop now, while you still can.”

“What are you saying?” Farah frowned. “Is he trying to get me locked up or something? Because if that’s the case, I already know.”

“Farah, I’m begging you to stop doing whatever you’re doing. That’s all I’m going to say. You can choose to listen to me or not, but keep in mind that I warned your mother, too, and she didn’t take heed. Now I can only pray that God protects her soul.”

“You know what? You always talk about family this and family that! Why did you tell Dr. Martin in the first place? Whatever happens because of it is all your fault!”

Silence.

Now Elise believed maybe Dr. Martin wasn’t so far off. “Farah, you need long-term help. I think you should come over here so we can discuss more options.”

“Long-term help?” She sat up straight in the bed. “Just what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Farah—”

“I knew I should’ve never trusted you! I hate you, you old, stinky bitch!” She threw the phone against the wall and stomped around her room. Her face started itching, followed by her arms. Needing some fresh air, she threw on her sweatpants and a white T-shirt. Before going out, she grabbed her spare keys.

The moment she opened the door, Nadia Gibson and another officer greeted her. “Farah Cotton, just the person I wanted to see. I hope you’re not about to go anywhere special, because if you are, it’s gonna have to wait.”

Farah swallowed. “What do you want with me, Nadia? I got shit to do.” She moved to walk around them, but they blocked her path.

“I won’t be ignored, Farah,” Nadia said. “And I know you know I’m not here for my health.”

“Well, what the fuck do you want with me then?”

“We need to talk to you at the station.” The grin on Nadia’s face was beyond irritating. Every tooth in her mouth was present as she anticipated taking her archenemy down. She observed Farah’s outfit. “Judging by your current choice of clothing, you weren’t going anywhere special anyway.”

“Am I under arrest?” Farah questioned.

She grinned. “That remains to be seen. But what do you have to worry about? You’re innocent, right?”

Farah sat in the police station, shivering. She wasn’t sure, but she had a feeling Nadia kept turning the air conditioner down so that it would be cooler in the room. Although she was uncomfortable, she was trying her best to save face. She knew this moment would either make or break her, so she had to play it smart.

“So, Farah, as you may know, sixteen people went missing after visiting or while living in Platinum Lofts.”

“Why would I know that?”

Nadia grinned. “You’re good.” She pointed at her. “Really good.”

Farah knew immediately she was an amateur. After all, she hadn’t done anything yet. “And you’re telling me this because?”

“I’m telling you this because several witnesses say that either you or somebody in your apartment was last seen with the missing victims. Considering the amount of people who have come to us, some of whom are very close to you, we find it hard to believe that you don’t know anything.”

“Some of them like who?” she asked as if she had no idea. “There is no use in beating around the bush, Nadia. I’m here now, so you might as well shoot it to me straight.”

“Well, for starters, Amico Glasser, whose family hasn’t seen him since he left the movie theater, is missing.” She scanned through the documents in her folder as if she didn’t know the information already. “The last his mother was told, he was with Lesa. Of course, we verified it with her and know she never met him before.”

“Is that all?” She sighed.

“Not even close.” She laughed. “Then we have Kirk Griffin, who police officers arrested after an attempted rape on you in your apartment. It was during some party or something.”

“He did try to rape me,” she shouted. “In the closet in my bedroom. If my sister Mia hadn’t come in, he would’ve gotten away with it.”

“So you say.” She paused. “Anyway, then there’s Vivian Baker’s son. His name is Antonio. He also went missing. Last but not least, a really close friend of yours, Rhonda Marshall, was found with her throat slit.” She placed the folder down. “I don’t know, Farah, but if you ask me, it seems like you are either bad luck or responsible. Which one is it?”

Farah tried to remain calm. She considered the fact that if they had anything concrete, she’d be in jail already. So, she took two deep breaths, folded her hands on the table in front of her, and said, “I don’t know anything about any of the people you just listed, and it’s not my responsibility. I am my own person, Nadia. I’m not a killer, and I’m not a suspect. Now, you have bothered my grandmother, my ex-roommates, and even my doctor with all of this shit, and I want it to stop. If it doesn’t, you will pay for it. Trust me.”

Nadia grinned, although she was horrified. “What you gonna do, get rid of me too? Or have your friends threaten me again at a gas station?”

“You know, the funny thing about my friends, if you were in the right that night, why did you pull off?” Farah asked. “You seem very guilty.”

“I’m going to bring you down,” Nadia promised.

“I’m warning you, Nadia. Leave me alone.”

“Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to do that.” She paused. “Furthermore, if you don’t have any information about these or the other cases, why was this handed off to us as evidence that you do?” She slapped a piece of paper on the table.

Farah’s skin crawled. Farah observed the pink stationery with green flowers embedded on the sheet. It belonged to Lesa. “This stationery belongs to my ex-roommate, who would have plenty of reasons to lie on me.”

“I know how you feel about your roommate. Remember? I was there. In fact, after you showed up at her house, she moved out of the state.”

Farah tried not to smile. “What can I say? For some reason, people get angry with me when I kick them out of my life. You know about that feeling all too well, Officer. Don’t you?” She slid the sheet back over to Nadia.

She placed the paper back in her folder. “You think this a game, don’t you?”

“No, but I think you’re ridiculous, and I’m not going to allow you to take up much more of my time.” She stood up. “Now, is there anything else? Because if not, I’m going home.”

“You think you’re so smart, don’t you? You think you’ve got everybody fooled. Well, you don’t. I know what kind of person you are, Farah Cotton, and when it comes out that all of this is your fault, there won’t be anything anybody can do to save your ass from going to jail. I don’t care what I have to do. You will go down as being responsible for this crime.”

Farah had a moment of clarity. There was no way Nadia would ever leave her alone. “I don’t know about saving my ass from jail, but I would like to save my ass from this tired-ass interrogation for the time being.”

“Always the jokester. You’re going to go down for these crimes, Farah Cotton. Believe that.”

“You have one problem, Officer.”

“And what’s that?”

Farah leaned in so that only she could hear her voice. “First you have to prove it.”

 

 

Slade was on the way out of his apartment to go to the bar with his brothers and cousins. At first he didn’t want to be bothered, because the guilt of not finding Knox always stayed in his mind. But he figured he needed a break, and it might as well be with family.

They were all headed for the door when Slade tapped his pockets. “I forgot my wallet.” He looked at them by the door. “I’ll meet y’all outside.”

“Hurry up too,” Killa joked. “You take longer than a bitch to get ready.”

“Fuck you, nigga.” He laughed.

When they left, he dipped back into his room to grab his wallet. When he opened the door, he saw Farah talking to some dude in long dreads. She was crying and looked frazzled. The last time he saw her like that, she had gotten into a fight at a baby shower. His temperature was so high that if it was taken, it would be over one hundred degrees.

“You sure you okay, Farah?” Bones asked, pulling her toward his body as they walked down the hall. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“No . . . I just wanna go home.” She sobbed lightly, holding on to him.

“Farah!” Slade roared, stopping their movements.

She turned around slowly, knowing immediately whom the voice belonged to. “What do you want?”

He took two steps closer. “Are you okay?” He observed the nigga in all black with the red watch.

“Even if she wasn’t, I got her,” Bones said, standing in front of her. “You go ’head about your business.”

Slade ran up to him quicker than a star athlete on his way to a touchdown. He was so close to his face that if Bones would’ve moved forward, he could’ve kissed him. “What you just say to me, nigga?”

Bones stepped back, but Slade saw something different in his eyes. The move he made wasn’t out of fear. It was something darker. Slade knew a killer when he saw one, and he would bet money that Bones felt the same way.

“Bones, just go in my house,” Farah said softly, handing him her house keys. When he seemed to be more interested in Slade than her, she raised her voice a little louder. “Bones, please.”

“You sure you okay?”

“Nigga, you heard her?” Slade added. “Kick rocks.”

Bones smirked at Slade as he walked backward all the way to Farah’s apartment. Slade didn’t take his eyes off of him until he disappeared inside. He would have problems with him in the future. He was sure of it.

“What do you want, Slade?” Farah asked, crossing her arms over her chest. She’d just left the precinct and was worried about her freedom. The last thing she needed was to be fussing with a nigga who dumped her. “I’m busy right now.”

He gritted his teeth and focused on her eyes. He loved her more than he was willing to let on, but he had no right to come at her sideways when she didn’t belong to him anymore. If only he could get his heart to listen.

“Slade, what do you want with me? I got company.”

Still thinking about the chemistry he saw between her and Bones, he said, “I don’t have shit else to say to you. Go fuck that nigga you was just with. I’m glad I dumped your ass.”