hand to his neck to stop the blood, as I grabbed my daughter’s hand and tugged her up the steps. She was moving too slow so I picked her up. At the top step, Gideon pulled my foot from under me and I let go of my daughter and slammed against the dining room floor.
“Run, Kylie!” I screamed, as he yanked me back down the steps, my head bouncing against each step on the way down. Halfway, I turned over and kicked him in his chest and sent him tumbling to the concrete floor.
I scrambled back up the steps and saw Kylie struggling to turn the knob on the front door. I turned it for her, snatching it open—but it caught. The chain was on. I closed it back, fumbled with the chain and got it off, then there was a loud blast and the door’s window shattered and my ears were buzzing.
Snatching Kylie off her feet, I ran into the living room as another bullet nearly took my head off. I cut around to the kitchen where Gideon, who must have took a short cut, appeared at the other end. I doubled back and ran up the stairs carrying my daughter. Needless to say, I was panting heavily at the top.
“Kylie, go in the bathroom and lock the door,” I said to her. She ran inside and I heard the lock click.
Gideon was leaping up the steps. I made sure he saw me as I ran into the nearest bedroom and closed the door. I locked it and stepped back.
Gideon barged into it and the door crashed open. I screamed as he smacked me across the face with the pistol and I fell to the floor.
He stood over me and put the gun to my lips. “You stabbed me,” he spit-growled in my face. “And you ran from me like you don’t even know who I am. I fuckin’ loved you!” He thumbed the hammer back with a
“Wrong,” said someone from behind.
Suddenly, Gideon was pulled off of me and bodyslammed against the floor. It knocked him out cold.
I should have been happy but I wasn’t. I was even more terrified as I stared into the face of Ladykiller.
“I saw your message and I came to save you,” he explained. “I kept driving until I saw your car on the side of the house. It’s okay now.” He extended his hand to help me up. “C’mon. I think I heard Kylie in the bathroom.”
Hesitantly, I took his hand, and when he helped me up I kneed him square in the balls. He dropped to his knees as I raced out the room. I beat on the bathroom door.
“Kylie, open up, hurry!”
“I can’t,” she said from the other side, the knob rattling.
“Tyesha, I’m here to save you.”
I turned. Ladykiller was walking towards me holding his crotch.
“Don’t come near me!” I screamed with my back against the door. Kylie was still rattling the knob. I tried the knob myself while keeping my eyes on Ladykiller.
He got within ten feet of me when I saw Gideon appear in the doorway behind him. He shot Ladykiller in the back, twisting him around, fired again and he collapsed to the floor. Bleeding badly, Ladykiller pushed himself against the hallway wall. He stared down at the blood weeping out of his stomach, when Gideon put the gun to his head.
“So you’re in love with her too, huh?” Gideon asked him.
“No,” Ladykiller wheezed out.
“Why are you here then, nigga?”
“I came to save her.” Ladykiller looked at me, letting out fast pants of breath. “She’s my big sister.”
My brow furrowed at his claim. The first thing that popped in my head was that he was lying. How could that be? Was he that delusional?
Gideon chuckled. “You hear that, Tyesha? He thinks he’s your brother?”
“I am,” he said. “Your father, Leeland Fenty, is my father. He got my mother pregnant, and your mother wanted nothing to do with him when she found out I was born…” He swallowed his own blood. “I just wanted to meet you, Tyesha… to be your friend. I wanted to meet my niece. But your mother wanted me to stay away from you.”
My mouth dropped in shock. I could see the striking resemblance now between Ladykiller and my father. Their dark brown eyes were unmistakably the same. No wonder I had an uneasy feeling the first time I saw him. All my life my mother had kept to herself about the true reason surrounding why she left my father. All I knew was that he was a cheater, but I knew deep down there was something more she was hiding from me.
“Well I’ll be damned,” Gideon said. “I guess I wasn’t the only man that loved you, Tyesha.” He stepped back and aimed down at Ladykiller with precision. “But I am now.”
“No!” I screamed. Without thinking, I charged toward Gideon. He swung the gun at me as I plunged into him.
We broke the wood railing and fell together, smacking the hardwood below. The fall banged us both up— me a lot more. I could barely move and my vision was blurry but I saw Gideon already crawling over the broken pieces of the railing toward the gun.
Then the front door opened and let in blinding light.
“Hello?” the woman who stuck her head in asked. “Tyesha?”
Gideon paused, but only for a moment. He crawled faster toward the weapon but the woman at the door quickly picked it up and pointed it at him.
“Don’t move, motherfucker,” she said to him. “Tyesha, I’m Rita Gibson. Are you okay?”
-
Tyesha816: Thank you to everybody who showed me support in finding my daughter! She’s HOME!—
September 1st, 8:00 a.m.
CHAPTER 20
Momma bounced back and forth from the stove to the sink, preparing another one of her famous meals. I was leaning against the doorway of the kitchen, occasionally glancing up at her between reading the comments on my phone from the status update I made this morning. It took me over a week to make another post. I didn’t want anything to do with The Site. I was too busy spending time with my daughter. But I had missed the interaction with my internet family—the ones that supported me, anyway—and I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold out for long.
Quita Wheeler: I had faith that you would find her!
Diedra Murberry: I’m glad she’s home. I hurt every day she was gone.
Atlanta Baby: Give that pretty girl a hug for me!
Project Life (Patrick Henson): Now I know why white people keep they kids on leashes. I just bought one for my son.
Tyesha816: @Project Life. I think I might head to Target tonight! Lol!
Lataya GrindGirl: God is good all the time!
Renae MyPerogative Watson: The whole time she was gone I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t imagine how you felt. Thank you for posting that she’s home. Now I might be able to get some rest.
God’s Angel: ^^same here.
