in that big bed by myself,” Kendra smiled, revealing her pearly whites. She pulled into the gated apartment complex. After pulling into their parking unit, Kendra helped Wiz out the car.
“Thanks, babe, but I got it. I’m not crippled, boo. I don’t wanna be fully dependent on you,” he said. To prove his point, he tried carrying his bags with his injured arm, but the weight from his bag caused him a lot of pain. “Ah, shit!” he yelled out, dropping the bag down on the ground.
“So, you were saying?” Kendra laughed, picking the bag up off the ground.
Wiz was quiet. Kendra opened the door with the key that Wiz had had made for her. To his surprise, the way he’d left his home that day was how it had been kept. Nothing looked like it had been taken out of place or touched.
“Ken baby, the house is just the way we left it. Are you sure you slept here at all? I know women snoop,” Wiz teased, looking around the house.
“What do I need to be nosey for? I knew where my man was at every day. Besides, I slept on the couch every night, so why should I be snooping?” she asked.
Wiz smiled and kissed her on the forehead. Then, Kendra helped Wiz bathe. After his bath, she propped him on the bed, handed him the remote to the TV, and laid down beside him.
Trent wondered if Nicole had made it or not, or if the shots were lethal enough to put Wiz out of his misery. His mind wandered from Nicole to Wiz. Trent wanted to go see Nicole, but his better judgment said it was best to stay clear of the hospital.
“Hey, Mom,” Trent said, kissing his mother on the cheek and helping her out of her coat. Trent was a thug in the streets, but he knew how to separate the two when dealing with his parents.
“I went to see Nicole in the hospital. She’s showing some progress. Anyone that would beat on a poor, defenseless woman like that doesn’t deserve a second chance in this world. By the way, they weren’t able to save the baby,” Mrs. Moore said, looking to see her son’s reaction.
“Mom, why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.
“Boy, you know damn well that girl had some strong feelings for you. I don’t need to confirm with you if the baby was yours or not, but what I do know is how you keep hurting the women who love you. I’m glad Kendra’s moved on. I know like hell, if it was me, I probably would’ve killed your dumb ass by now.”
Trent was stunned that his mom was speaking to him in that way. He could never pull the wool over her eyes. She continued lecturing him, saying, “I swear you weren’t cut from the same cloth as your dad. He wasn’t all about that player mentality. He had a girlfriend when we met, but he said things were rocky, so I told him, before he could pursue anything with me, he had to handle his business at home first. I never had to worry about your dad cheating or creeping.” Just then, the door bell rang. When Trent answered the door, he was greeted by the Los Angeles Detectives and a UPS delivery guy. Trent decided to deal with the delivery guy first.
“Yeah. Delivery for Trenton Moore,” the UPS guy stated. Trent took the package and signed off on the clipboard. “Thank you.”
“Now, gentleman, I’m guessing you’re here with some kind of news about my sister, or, at least, I hope you are,” Trent said as he invited the detectives into the house. They took off their hats and greeted Mrs. Moore. She offered them a seat.
“And to what do we owe this visit?” she asked, smiling at the detectives.
Trent took a seat adjacent to his mother and placed the package on the ground beside his feet.
She asked, “What’s that you have, son?”
Trent shrugged his shoulders. He looked at the box. It had his name and his parents’ address on the box but no return address. The package was extra big and kind of heavy. Everyone turned their head to Trent as he grabbed a box cutter off the table.
What was in the box was never be to be expected. After he saw what was inside, Trent yelled out, “Nah! Not my sister!”
The contents of the box confirmed that his sister was dead. Tears poured from Trent’s eyes. Mrs. Moore tried to grab the box, but the detectives intervened, stopping her from viewing the contents. She fought them and desperately grabbed at the box. The box flipped on its side and out rolled a female head wrapped in plastic.
Mrs. Moore vomited all over the place and screamed, “Oh, God! No! Not my baby!”
The detectives called the station and changed the Treniyah Moore abduction case to a homicide investigation. They also put a track on all UPS trucks that had made deliveries within the hour.
Within minutes of the detectives calling the station, all kinds of news people from Channel 11 to Channel 13 were camped out on the Moore’s front yard. Channel 34 KMEX, the Latino Channel, had even claimed a space outside, but the detectives tried to shun them away.
Trent’s father had seen the news from his job and rushed home to be by his family’s side. The streets were blocked off within a four block radius. No one could enter or leave. The officers stopped Mr. Moore’s car when he tried to turn down his street.
“I’m sorry, sir, but no one’s allowed to enter this street.”
Mr. Moore got out his car as if to challenge the officer.
“That’s my fucking family down there. I have to be by my family’s side,” Mr. Moore demanded.
The officer radioed a detective. They spoke briefly and then, he lifted up the yellow tape. “I’m sorry, Mr. Moore. Have a good one.”
Mr. Moore sucked his teeth at the officer and made his way to his house. All the news reporters turned in his direction, hoping he would give a statement.
One reporter yelled out, “Is it true that your daughter was a prostitute?”
Aggravated, Mr. Moore yelled at the reporters, “Go to hell!”
Everyone was appalled. Mr. Moore made his way inside the house to comfort his wife and son as the detectives asked Mrs. Moore and Trenton tons of questions: “Did Treniyah have a boyfriend? Did she use any type of drugs? Were there any problems at home?”
Mr. Moore looked at the crowd growing in front of his house. His eyes were bloodshot red as he whispered to one of the detectives, “Please. The family would just like to be left alone at this time. This is a private matter. Thank you.”
The detective complied. He tipped his hat and had everyone to exit the Moore’s house.
Kendra watched the news with Wiz as the words BREAKING NEWS flashed across the screen. Wiz was talking, trying to divert Kendra’s attention away from the TV.
“Shhh, babe,” Kendra said, gesturing for Wiz to be quiet. She grabbed the remote to turn up the volume. Kendra covered her mouth when she heard the news anchor say, “A missing twenty-year-old woman has been confirmed dead in the city of Long Beach today when the UPS delivery truck came to the Moore home and delivered a package that contained the head of Treniyah Renee Moore.”
The news anchor continued with her report, saying that the streets had been blocked off and that it was going to be a long investigation to solve this crime. Kendra’s jaw dropped. She raced to her cell phone. Simultaneously, her phone rang.
“Ken, oh my gosh! Did you see what happened?” Nia cried which made Kendra cry, also. She collapsed on the floor and cried in the fetal position. All of this was too much for her.
“I have to get over there and talk to Trent. I have to be there for him,” she cried.
Wiz looked on in amazement. He wondered if the police had any leads.
Kendra ended the call with her sister. Next, she tried calling Trent to check up on him, to see if there was anything that she could do. Wiz, upset, lashed out and said, “I know you not calling that nigga in my house.”
Kendra froze momentarily. She was speechless. She couldn’t gather her thoughts. She just sat there with an empty expression on her face.
“You know what? I’m just going to ignore what you just said. Do you even have a heart?”
When he saw how upset she was, he tried a better approach.
