CHAPTER 15
By the time the sun rose and Nico still wasn’t home, I knew he was going to stand me up and not make it to the spa date I had planned for us. Regardless of the comfortable lifestyle that being with Nico afforded me, I was getting so tired of the blatant disrespect, I had been seriously considering leaving him.
Many people thought I was just with Nico for his money. Was his money a good thing? Absolutely it was. But I was with him because I sincerely loved him. Now I was getting to the point where I was going to have to make a decision. Either leave and do me, or stay and tolerate his cheating ways and his lack of respect for me.
At seven in the morning I was still laying in bed, feeling a bit depressed. I flipped on the television. I was thinking about calling my girlfriend Sharmel and telling her that something had come up with Nico, and asking her if she would take his place and go with me to the salon. I was sure Sharmel was probably comfortable and cuddled up next to her man and probably didn’t feel like going, but if I called her, I knew she would have agreed to go with me, since she understood how I often felt like a lonely widow.
Before I could make up my mind on what to do, I heard the doorbell ringing. Immediately I got nervous and started to think back to the break-in that had occurred. My cell phone started to ring, and I felt at ease when I recognized it was the armed security guard that Nico had hired. He was calling to tell me that it was safe to answer the door.
I smiled and quickly hopped out of the bed. I threw on my slippers and ran downstairs to open the door. Although I only had on a nightie, I didn’t bother to throw on a robe because I was certain it was Nico at the door, making good on his promise and surprising me with roses or something. When I got to the door, I didn’t even look through the glass partition to see who it was, and I just opened it with a smile and eager anticipation.
My smile quickly evaporated when I saw two white guys in suits standing at my front door.
“Can I help you?” I asked as I quickly positioned myself behind the door to hide my body. Only my face was exposed as I peered around the door.
One of the white men slid his suit jacket to the side and exposed his gold badge that was clipped to his belt buckle. He introduced himself and his partner and told me that they were detectives with the New York City Police Department and that they were looking to speak with Nicholas Carter.
“What is this about?” I asked.
“Miss, is Mr. Carter available?” the lead detective asked.
“No, he’s not.”
“Is he home?”
“I just said no,” I replied with an attitude.
“Do you know when you can expect him home?”
“You asking a lot of questions, and I’m just trying to find out what this is in reference to.” I chuckled, out of nervousness and disgust.
“His fingerprints were found on spent shell casings at a crime scene in Queens, and we just want to ask him some questions with regard to that,” the detective explained to me in a matter-of-fact manner.
“What?” I said, a frown of confusion on my face.
“Miss, do you mind telling me your name?” the detective asked.
“Mia,” I replied short and crisp.
“Can you give me your last name and your relation to Mr. Carter?”
“You know what? I’d rather not because I don’t know what the hell is going on.”
The detective nodded his head. He reached inside his pocket and handed me his card. “Can you give that to Mr. Carter and tell him to give me a call?”
I looked at the detective’s card and nodded my head, answering his question.
“Thank you. Sorry to disturb you so early. You have a good day,” the detective said to me, and him and his beefy muscular partner turned and walked off to their unmarked car and left.
After I locked the front door, I went up to the kitchen, grabbed the home cordless phone, and dialed Nico.
Nico didn’t pick up. I kept calling him repeatedly for ten minutes straight, and he still didn’t pick up.
“This is what I can’t take!” I said out loud to myself.
I opened up the refrigerator, got a bagel, and put it in the toaster. While I waited for it to finish toasting, I picked up the home phone, and again I started to blow up Nico’s phone. And still I got no answer. I refused to leave a message that he wasn’t going to even listen to.
After my bagel finished toasting, I put some butter on it and a little bit of jelly, and I put it on a small plate and took it upstairs to my bedroom, where I started to eat it. I grabbed my cell phone and called Nico, and he still wouldn’t pick up. I took another bite of my bagel. I was about to slam my cell phone down, but I maintained my composure and sent him a text message.
I’m not calling you about our spa appointment if that’s why you are ignoring my calls. Just trying to tell you a detective was just here at the house. CALL ME!
After I sent that message I finished eating my bagel and then I went back downstairs to my kitchen and put the dish in the sink and poured myself some orange juice. Just as I took a sip of the orange juice, I heard my doorbell ringing again.
When I went to open the door, I saw the security guard standing there.
“Nico wants to speak to you,” he said and handed me a cell phone.
“What?” I shook my head as I took hold of the phone. “Hello?” I said.
“Mia, what’s up?” Nico asked, sounding a bit nervous.
“What do you mean, what’s up? Why do you never pick up your phone? I’m so tired of that, Nico!”
Nico was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, “A cop was at the crib?”
“Not a cop. Two cops were just here looking for you. And that’s what you care about, right? Fuck me and fuck our spa date that we had. It’s all about you.”
“Mia, I’m sorry, a’ight?”
“No, it ain’t a’ight! Sorry don’t keep me safe and warm at night. And sorry don’t make up for all your broken promises and lack of attention.”
Nico shouted into the phone, “Mia, you know I’m out here scrambling. I’m handling business. I ain’t out here bullshitting!”
I kept quiet because there was nothing else really for me to say.
“Now what did the cop say?”
I sighed and sucked my teeth. “He said that they had your prints on spent shell casings that were found at a crime scene in Queens and that they wanted to speak to you about it. I didn’t answer none of their questions and when they saw that they were annoying me, they gave me their card to give to you and then they left.”
“What the fuck?”
“I’m sorry,” I said to the security guard, who was standing there the entire time, since it was his cell phone that me and Nico were talking on. I was sure that Nico didn’t want to use his phone or call me on the house phone out of fear that those phones were tapped.
“You said they left you a card? What does it say?” Nico asked.
I walked over and retrieved the card from on top of the fireplace mantle where I had placed it.
“It says, ‘Detective Peter Schwartz, NYPD Homicide Division 103rd Precinct,’ and it has his contact numbers on it.”
“Homicide?” Nico asked out loud. “What the fuck is that about?”
“Just call him and see,” I said.
Nico didn’t respond.
“So where are you anyway?”
“In the city.”
“Where at in the city? So you wasn’t even planning on coming home or even calling me? Unreal!”
“Mia, if there was ever a time when I don’t need to hear your mouth, it’s now! You see all the shit I got going on and that I’m dealing with and you beefin’ over a fuckin’ spa appointment? Calm the fuck down!”
I shook my head and sucked my teeth.
“Well, it ain’t no sense in running up the minutes on this man’s phone. I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”
“Go the fuck on with that bullshit, Mia! Hand the nigga his phone back then.” Nico hung up without saying bye or anything.
“Thank you. Here you go,” I said to the security guard as I handed him his phone. I started to tear up and cry.
“Is everything OK?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said, nodding my head and wiping tears from my eyes. “I’ll be OK. Everything is OK. Thank you,” I said before closing and locking my front door.
I went back upstairs to my bedroom, got in my bed, turned off the TV, and pulled the covers over my head. There was five thousand dollars in cash sitting on my dresser. I knew I could spend that money on myself however I pleased. But as I cried myself to sleep, I really didn’t care about that money. All I cared about was being happy, and I knew that money couldn’t buy me happiness.