“From that day on, my mom never reached out to him.”
And for that, Tenikka was mad at her mother. Yeah, she was mad a Bobby too, but Tenikka felt like she had been lied to her whole life. Keisha had made a choice. She chose not to have Bobby in her life. She chose for me not to have a father.
“He told me that when she stopped saying that he was my father, he thought that meant that he wasn’t the father and I grew up without him.”
He still could have tried to find out if I was his daughter.
“I’m sorry,” Barbara said, and
meant it. Her father meant the world to her. Barbara couldn’t imagine growing up without her daddy. She looked at her sister and couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for her.
Without any support from Bobby, Keisha raised her daughter the best way she could. It wasn’t like Tenikka wanted for anything. If there was ever anything that she needed, her aunt, Connie always knew where to find Wanda to get money for the things she needed.
But over the years, the need for money, and the hustle to get it, became a way of life for Tenikka. She wanted more out of life and the neighborhood that they lived in, and that mindset led her to make choices.
“I wanted to go to college, and I didn’t have the money, but I had this ass,” Tenikka tapped her hip as she drove. “And I could dance. So I got a job dancing and that’s where I met our daddy.”
“You used to dance?” Barbara asked.
“I used to dance at a spot called Grant’s until Rain set the place on fire.”
“Aunt Rain?”
Tenikka laughed hard. “Aunt Rain, as you call her, is one dangerous bitch.”
“She set the place on fire?” Barbara asked.
“Word is that after the club closed that night, her and The Purple Gang went in and killed everybody and then Rain set the place on fire and stood outside and watched it burn to the ground.”
“You serious?” Barbara asked as they pulled up in front of Destiny’s house.
Tenikka shook her head. “You don’t know nothing about nothing, do you? You just pampered princess, growing up in your ivory tower for real, aren’t you?”
“Apparently, I am,” Barbara said sadly.
“I’m gonna come get you one day and show you the world that our Daddy and Uncle Mike and Aunt Rain and everybody else, including R.J., been hiding from you.” Tenikka paused. “If you ain’t afraid.”
“I’m not afraid!” Barbara said louder than she needed to.
Tenikka laughed. “Naa, you just don’t know nothing.”
“Yeah, but I wanna know everything,” Barbara said.
“Okay.” Tenikka nodded her head. “Now come on, let’s get your girl inside.”
Day Four
Chapter Twenty-nine
Despite her promise to Jada, Carmen slipped out of the hotel like a thief in the night while Kamau was still asleep. When she got home, Carmen took a shower and then she had coffee and yogurt while she tried to figure out what to do next. Not only with the case, that was important, but about what happened between she and Kamau the night before.
It wasn’t that Carmen had any regrets, she wanted it and it was so good, but that wasn’t the point. She was involved in a relationship with Marcus. An on again, off again, and back on again long distance relationship, but a relationship all the same.
“I love Marcus,” Carmen said to herself and took a sip of her brew.
You sure couldn’t tell it last night, her mind reminded her.
So, once she was dressed, Carmen left the building. She looked around and was surprised that she didn’t see Kamau anywhere. I halfway expected him to be in the lobby waiting for me, she thought as a cab stopped for her. Carmen got in and headed for the office. When she got to the station, the first person she saw was Dan.