of foundation, heavy eye liner and clear lip gloss. His long hair was pulled back into a ponytail and his uniform was way too tight.
“Excuse me. Is everything alright?” he asked after hearing the commotion.
“Yes, she’s fine. Can you bring her something to drink?” Cruze answered.
The flight attendant stared at Skye for a second with his hand on his hip. “That type of disturbance can alarm the other passengers. Are you sure everything is okay?”
Cruze turned and looked at him with an attitude. “Look, RuPaul, I told you she was good, now can you please go do your job.”
It looked as if the flight attendant wanted to come back with some type of catty response, but instead he rolled his eyes and sashayed away.
Cruze looked over at Skye. “How much longer can we keep this up? I’ll be so glad when you divorce Sandino’s ass and put the past behind you for good. It’s been almost a year and a half since you left him. You were just starting to be yourself again, smiling, happy and enjoying life. Now, Sandino and his bullshit ass lawyer are trying to pull you back into the madness. I refuse to let anyone hurt you again,” he said, squeezing her tight.
It came to a complete surprise to everyone that Sandino had managed to survive a gunshot wound to the back of his head. With the amount of blood he’d lost, they assumed he was dead that night. That is until the paramedics rushed in and announced that he still had a pulse. They later found out that he had surgery and survived. Keeping up with his condition had become top priority to both Cruze and Skye. They wanted him dead, he needed to be stopped but Sandino had proved once again that he wasn’t going anywhere.
Cruze rubbed Skye’s arm delicately. “I love you so much.”
When Skye looked at Cruze her heart fluttered. She loved the way his big arms felt around her because he made her feel so safe. She grabbed one if his dreads and twirled it around her fingers. They were growing really fast. Although he’d picked up weight and didn’t have the once rock hard one hundred and eighty pound body, Skye still found him irresistible. But who was she to talk. She no longer had her toned one hundred thirty five pound body either. All the good eating and loving contributed to both of their weight gain. Luckily she’d gained it in all the right places so she still was able to turn heads whenever she entered a room.
“Are you sure you up to this meeting?” Cruze asked.
Skye could still remember the first time she received the phone call from Sandino’s lawyer’s relentless assistant. Every time the assistant called she insisted that Skye meet with Sandino’s lawyer to discuss a very important matter, one that couldn’t be discussed over the phone.
The thought made her nervous. She should’ve followed her first instinct and not come at all, but she felt she had to. If for nothing else, to strangle the assistant for calling her every day for a month straight. Skye never once talked to Sandino’s lawyer, which seemed quite odd.
“I might as well get the shit over with. I wonder how they even got my damn number? I have to admit though. I do have some concerns.” Skye lowered her voice to make sure no one could hear what she was about to say. “What if this meeting is because they suspect that Sandino didn’t really come to my apartment that night threatening to commit suicide? What if they don’t believe that when Kareem and I tried to stop him the gun accidently went off? What if they try to charge me with attempted murder? This could be a set up,” Skye whispered.
“Lawyer’s are crooked as hell. They have ways of getting phone numbers. Baby just relax, the way we decided to cover everything up that night already convinced the police months ago,” Cruze whispered as well. “They have no idea that I shot Sandino, got rid of Justice’s body or was even in your apartment that night. If that was the case, the police would be calling you, not his lawyer. Everything will be alright, trust me,” he reassured her.
Thoughts of how Cruze and Kareem had thrown Justice’s body out the back of Skye’s first floor bedroom window, then managed to get the corpse into the car without being seen still shocked him. If Skye had lived in a more upscale neighborhood and the police would’ve arrived in a more timely manner, things may not have gone so smoothly. Even the neighbors didn’t come outside until the police arrived.
“Are you sure no one saw you that night? You know…putting Justice in the car?”
Cruze shrugged his shoulders. “I guess not. But even if they did, you know the code in the hood. No snitching.”
“I just wish Sandino had died and wasn’t still hanging on in some damn rehab center. Sometimes I feel like that man will always be a thorn in my side,” Skye said.
“Not as long as I’m here, he won’t be. I should’ve never stood back all those years without helping you. That’s why I shot him that night he came after you. I couldn’t let him hurt you and the kids anymore. But let’s forget about that night. We’re moving forward,” Cruze said, kissing her on the lips.
Skye forced a smile even though she was still concerned.
“I gotta go piss. I hope I see that punk ass flight attendant who still hasn’t bought you the drink I asked for.” Cruze unbuckled his seat beat and headed towards the back of the plane.
Skye didn’t even have time to be with her own thoughts before realizing the older lady sitting in the aisle across from her was staring a little too hard.
“That’s why I always take me a sip or two before I fly to calm my nerves. Just pray and ask God to get rid of those demons in your dreams. I’ve been watching you, and trust me when I tell you this, God has a plan for you,” the woman advised.
Skye smiled at the lady, who was dressed in an expensive suit and also had an old vintage Chanel bag clinched tightly in her lap. She missed buying all the new designer bags before they hit the stores. But she could only reminisce about shopping now. Her days of going to the rack and grabbing what she wanted without even looking at the price tag was now replaced with looking for the rack with the bright red sale or clearance sign on it.
Skye was determined that nothing or no one was ever going to send her back to that dark place she’d come out of just eight months ago. She was deeply depressed from the betrayal of her ex-boyfriend, Justice Mitchell, the man she thought really loved her. Not only did she find out he was married, but the fact that he led Sandino to her apartment that dreadful night was even worse. Thinking back to the horrible incident once again, Skye still couldn’t believe that Justice had been killed. She trusted him, but felt as though he’d gotten what he deserved after leading Sandino to her just for the money.
She remembered how her, Cruze and Kareem frantically ran around the apartment getting rid of the evidence that night after Justice and Sandino got shot. They were shocked when Jordan, who was over at the neighbor’s house came running inside the apartment. He was frightened and yelling that he’d called 911 after looking out the window and seeing his father in the parking lot. At that moment they realized they didn’t have time to get rid of Sandino’s body. That’s when they decided to come up with the plan that Sandino came over in a rage threatening to kill himself. Cruze then fled the scene to get rid of Justice’s body just in the nick of time.
After she was continuously interrogated by the police and harassed by the press who posted up outside her home hours later, Skye and the kids eventually moved from Marietta to another small town outside of Atlanta called Lawrenceville. She could no longer stay in that apartment where everything had taken place. She also cut herself off from the world refusing to deal with anybody or take any phone calls. At the time, it was just too much for her to bear. She became distant from her own kids, stayed in her room for days and just cried. She even tried to get a job shortly after the shootings to get her mind off of things, but she couldn’t focus and eventually got fired. Thank God Cruze stayed around to help out and paid the rent so her kids could continue to have a roof over their heads.
After Skye got herself together and things calmed down, Cruze confessed his love for her. It took a while for him to win her over though because she didn’t trust men anymore. She was very hesitant about going into another relationship, but the whole ordeal with Sandino that night made Skye and Cruze form a bond. After all, he wasn’t a stranger. He’d been Sandino’s best friend for years, and always wanted her to be happy.
Skye had to admit, she’d always been attracted to Cruze, but knew Sandino would’ve killed her if he ever found out. After two months of Cruze confessing his love for her and the kids, Skye finally gave in, but told him that before they could even talk about being together he had to give up the streets. She didn’t want to deal with the drama or risk him getting locked up or even killed. He agreed, and although money was tight for once in her life she was truly
