“I thought you said the Ritz Carlton, so the Ritz Carlton it is. Why don’t you take this stack and do some shopping with your sister. Okay, babe?” Wiz kissed Kendra on the forehead.
Then, he left out the house. Kendra sat there, dazed. She couldn’t believe that she was a punching bag for a man who had said that he loved her. Then again, Kendra really didn’t know much about Wiz.
Kendra noticed the safe was open. She made sure that Wiz was gone before tiptoeing to the closet. She scanned everything inside. There were stacks and stacks of money. She guessed that there had to be over a million dollars in there. After seeing what it contained, she returned the door of the safe to the way that Wiz had left it.
Kendra grabbed the money that Wiz had given her and her keys and purse. She called her sister, but she didn’t answer.
“Fuck!” Kendra cursed.
She threw the phone on the passenger’s seat. She was eager to get to her sister’s house. She ran a few lights. She almost ran into a group of girls at an intersection. Luckily, no police were around for her to get stopped, just the young girls cursing at her.
“Dumb bitch, watch where the fuck you’re going,” one of the girls yelled out.
Any other given day, Kendra would’ve given it to them without a doubt.
When Kendra made it to her sister’s house, she received a call from Nia, so Kendra just ignored the call and knocked on the door. When Nia opened the door and saw Kendra’s face, she screamed, “What the fuck is wrong with your face?”
Kendra had already checked her face in the rearview mirror on the way over, so she knew her face was fucked up. She answered, “I realized that I don’t know nothing about this nigga Wiz. Something’s not right about him. He flipped out on me earlier because I went to Treniyah’s funeral. He was accusing me of shit, saying I was still fucking Trent. Funny shit is that I never told the nigga Trent’s name.”
Marcos overheard the conversation and stepped into the room. He said, “You said Wiz. What he look like? Where you meet him?”
He grilled Kendra with question after question. After comparing notes, Marcos realized that Kendra was sleeping with the enemy. Kendra learned about Wiz’s motives after she explained how they had met. After she learned all of this, she told Marcos that she was scheduled to marry Wiz at the end of the month.
“Damn, baby girl. You don’t know, do you? Wiz kidnapped Treniyah and murdered her. And Trent shot that nigga downtown.”
Kendra recalled that day and how she had believed Wiz when he told her that he was robbed. Kendra couldn’t believe she was being used as a pawn. Even though Trent was her ex, she wanted to get back at Wiz for using her. After Kendra told Marcos about the safe and all of its contents, the three of them devised a plan that would bring Wiz down. They planned on a robbery, but Kendra said that that would be too easy.
“This one is more personal for me. I’mma have that nigga still think we getting married and shit. Then, I’mma split his wig,” Kendra said with a smirk. She also informed them that she remembered the code from the safe, so opening it would not be a problem. “The day before we leave for Cancun I’mma drop the key to our condo. I will also give you the key card for the gate and the building number.”
Marcos shook his head in agreement.
“Fuck that! Bitch, if that nigga get outta pocket, you know to rock that nigga to sleep. Don’t be a fool about it. Fuck it. I’ll body his ass,” Nia said.
She was always ready for the cause. Nia thought that she could whoop on any man and bring a challenge. She never got any pleasure from fighting girls because that was too easy a task.
“Nah, I’ll be alright. Besides, if I stay the night out, that nigga will swear up and down that I’m fucking Trent, and I don’t need to give that nigga a reason,” Kendra explained. She reassured her sister that she was cool and would handle things her way. “Just make sure you’re ready to go in a couple of days. Everything should be on the up and up.”
Kendra gave her sister a kiss.
“Yeah, I just gotta make sure that other shit is taken care of. Would hate to have anything trailing back to us.”
Kendra nodded. Then, she got in her car and drove home. On the ride back, she thought about all she had to digest. She stopped at a flower shop and bought roses. Then, she headed to the Inglewood Park Cemetery where her mother was buried. Kendra walked past several burial plots, reading the names and making sure she watched her step. She didn’t want to disrespect the dead.
When she found her mother’s tombstone, Kendra unfolded a blanket and laid it down on the ground. Then, she took the roses one by one. She said a prayer. After she placed the roses on the grave, she took out the photo of her parents she kept in her purse. Kendra stayed at the cemetery for an hour just talking, laughing, and crying. Kendra sang one of her mother’s favorite songs, which was “His Eye Is on the Sparrow”. Kendra dusted her clothes off, folded her blanket. She blew her mother a kiss. Then, she headed back home. She didn’t know what type of mood Wiz would be in, so she braced herself in case Mr. Hyde was around.
To her surprise, Wiz wasn’t home. Kendra went into the room to where the safe was located. Seeing that the safe was now closed, she thought,
Chapter 17
Three days before the wedding, Wiz seemed to be on his best behavior, or so Kendra thought. This day was no different from the rest. Kendra woke up, brushed her teeth, and bathed like she usually did. Suddenly, Wiz burst through the door. His eyes were like fire. Without saying one word to Kendra, he pushed her head under the water like he was Sho’nuff.
“Bitch, you think I’mma fool, huh? I know that nigga Trent been calling your phone. You think I’m fucking stupid?” Wiz yelled.
He lifted her head out the water. When Kendra didn’t answer, Wiz became even more irate, calling her every name in the book.
Kendra kept calm the whole time which annoyed the hell out of Wiz. The room had turned cold, just like the water in the tub. Kendra fought her way out the tub, grabbing a hold of Wiz’s neck. She scratched him with her nails. Once Kendra was able to escape Wiz’s grasp, she ran out the bathroom, but he was right behind her. Kendra sprinted for the door like she was Jackie Joyner-Kersee going for gold in ‘88 Olympics. He was just about to grab her, but Kendra was quick. She grabbed a lamp off of a table and smashed it on Wiz’s head.
“Fuck!” Wiz yelled, holding his face. This gave Kendra enough time to run inside the second bedroom where she kept the majority of her clothing. She pushed the dresser in front of the door. She knew it wouldn’t hold, but it would buy her some time. She slipped on some shorts and threw on a shirt. Then, she grabbed her.357 Magnum from behind the dresser. Once she cocked it, Wiz burst through the door.
“I told you, nigga. Your mama’s gonna be wearing that black dress early.”
With that, Kendra squeezed the trigger. She shot Wiz five times. The fatal shot was the one that penetrated his heart. Kendra slumped down on the ground with the gun in her hands. Tears rushed down her face. Within minutes, neighbors were banging on the door, trying to get in the house, but Kendra just sat there, unable to move.
About five minutes later, a maintenance man opened the door. As he walked through the apartment, he called out, “Sir? Ma’am? Hello?”
He walked around until he saw Wiz lying between the doorway. He rushed to his body and checked for a pulse, but it was too late. Not far from where Wiz’s body laid sat a distraught Kendra. She was lying in a fetal position, rocking back and forth with the gun between her legs.
“Ma’am, are you alright?” the maintenance man asked.
Kendra didn’t say anything. She just stared off into space and continued rocking.
The maintenance guy ran outside and yelled for someone to call for help. Moments later, the ghetto bird was on the prowl as police arrived, followed by the paramedics. Detectives asked neighbors about what had happened.
