Page 25 of Fraudulent Beauty

My cell phone vibrated on the counter, and my brows dipped when I saw that my mother’s friend, Brenda was calling. Brenda never called me. It felt as if my heartbeat was in my throat as I cleared my throat and answered the phone.

“Hey, Tahli, baby, how are you doing?”

She didn’t sound like she was crying, so that was good news. “I’m fine. What’s going on?” I cut to the chase.

“Earl was found in his truck this afternoon. No one is for sure what happened, but they think it was an overdose. Your mother isn’t taking it well. She’s been here with me for the past three days. I just wanted to let you know.”

I hate that I felt so relieved. I wasn’t glad that Earl was gone, but I was happy that it wasn’t my mother. Even if I was mad at her, I’d never wish death on her. “Whatever he was doing do you think she was doing it too?”

“I don’t think so. For the past six months or so, I’d been hearing that Earl was on heroin, but I didn’t know for sure until she confirmed it. He lost his job, and she helped him to get that truck. I think he did that on his own, and she just drank as she normally did. In less than six months, he lost everything, and she was right there with him.”

I pushed out a deep sigh. “Do you know what she plans to do about her living situation?”

“I told her she’s good here for as long as she wants. You know I’m alone since Alex moved out.”

“I’m going to send you some money through Zelle. You can give some to my mom, but I want you to keep most of it. Put food in the house. Household supplies. Whatever you all need, but I don’t want her drinking all the money up.”

“Okay, Tahli, I appreciate that. I’m not charging your mother anything for staying with me. That’s been my friend since elementary school, but I’d be lying if I said I could afford to carry both of us.”

“I get it. I’m about to send the money now, and thank you for calling me.”

I ended the call and sent Brenda $2,500.

“Everything okay?” Sheniah stared at me with eyes full of concern.

Khalif had gone to give Sierra a bath while the brownies baked because it would be her bedtime soon.

“They found Earl in his truck. They think he died from an overdose.”

“Oh my God,” Sheniah’s eyes bulged out. “I know your mom is fucked up.”

“Yeap. I’m sure she’s somewhere right now drinking the pain away, but she’s good with Ms. Brenda. They’ve been friends forever. I sent her some money and asked her to look out for my mom.”

I knew my mother loved Earl, and she wouldn’t take his death easy at all. I was sad for his kids and his grandkids. Prior to his addiction, Earl was a hard-working man. My mother wasn’t the only person he looked out for. His kids were always coming to him for something, and he never hesitated to help them. His grandkids adored him.

Whatever issues I had with my mother, I was going to put to the side and go see her at Ms. Brenda’s house the following day. The doorbell rang.

“Go get the door for your boo,” I smiled at Sheniah and went to the email app on my phone. I had a habit of checking my emails every few hours.

When I saw that my attorney had sent me an email two hours ago on a weekend, my heart drummed in my chest. I opened it, and my eyes darted back and forth across the words. My heart was so loud in my eardrum, I almost didn’t hear Tony speaking to me. I loved and trusted Sheniah. I trusted Khalif as well, but I wasn’t about to reveal my news with Tony present. My knees buckled, and I grew warm.

According to my attorney, the police department didn’t want a public scandal, and they were willing to settle out of court. Once my lawyer got her cut, I was going to get $1,250,000. I literally couldn’t breathe. My ass wasn’t even thirty, so no, I wasn’t set for life, but I had a major ass head start. With the cushion that I had, I could pay off all my debt, and plan on buying a house once my lease was up. I could also focus on more creative content and even getting someone to professionally edit my videos, so I could gain more followers and make more money with social media. Shit, I was going to create a YouTube channel.

I was so worried about being embarrassed and talked about for being arrested at the mall, and it turned out to be the biggest blessing ever. Maybe Mack’s lil’ trifling ass was good for something after all.

Khalif sighed and tossed his phone to the side. It landed on the couch, and I watched him run his hands over his locs. I was searching his face for signs to try and decipher his mood. “You okay?” I asked.

It was a week after we watched the fight at my apartment, and Sierra was with Gina’s mother. Sierra had just called Khalif and asked him if she could spend the night with her mother. Of course, he didn’t want to say no because Sierra seemed excited.

“I’m good. I just don’t want Gina on that wishy washy shit. Sierra has been doing good. She barely even asks about her mother. Now, for whatever reason, Gina remembers she has a kid, and she wants to pop back up. I just hope she has her shit together.”

“Hopefully, she does.”

Khalif looked over at me, and the expression on his face was a serious one. “I’m not going through this shit again. Once we have our baby there is no breaking up.”

My brows hiked. “And when are we having a baby? I missed the memo.”

Khalif gently grabbed my arm and pulled me into his lap. I straddled him and wrapped my arms around his neck.