BFF'S 2

Book 0: Best Frenemies Forever Series

by Brenda Hampton

Genres: African American Urban; African American Women's Fiction; Literary Fiction

Synopsis

Essence bestselling author Brenda Hampton’s sequel to the sexy BFF’S reintroduces a trio of catty, backstabbing girlfriends that readers love to hate.

Kayla thought that her best friends, Evelyn and Trina, were supposed to always have her back, but when she discovers that Evelyn has been creeping with her husband, Cedric, and Trina has known about the ongoing affair for quite some time, Kayla is ready to cut ties and leave her so-called friends behind. Their actions have shown how scheming they truly are.

Of course, they are no more manipulative than Cedric, who lies in a hospital bed, clinging to life. The person who attempted to silence him is now behind bars, but just because one scorned woman is out of the picture, it doesn't mean he's in the clear. He may not be able to utilize his joystick for a while, but his millions are still in play.

Evelyn is eager to get her hands on his money, and pregnant with his child, she envisions a bright future ahead. She has a serious need for greed—greed that also makes her hungry for Trina's beau, Keith. He displays a deep concern for the troublesome BFF's, but his involvement may have him confessing to Trina that whatever Evelyn wants, she will eventually get.

Release date: January 31, 2017

Publisher: Urban Books

Print pages: 288

Sample

I was a nervous wreck. Jacoby’s phone call about Cedric being shot had me driving like a bat out of the devil’s lonely hell. I swerved in and out of traffic, trying to get to the place I once called home. Tears streamed down my face. I could barely see the road through my blurred vision. My heart raced like I was on the verge of a heart attack, and so many thoughts swarmed in my head.

No matter what Cedric had done to destroy our marriage, I didn’t want him to die. He had been the worst husband ever, but in no way did I want to be a widow. I still had much love for him. Someway or somehow, I thought we could piece our marriage back together. But after today, that would be difficult. If he survived his injuries, I didn’t know how I would be able to forgive him for having a relationship with my best friend, Evelyn. How could I forgive the lies and betrayal of what they’d done? It wouldn’t be easy, but for now, I had to focus on Cedric.

When I spoke to Jacoby earlier, he said that someone called 911 and the police and ambulance were on their way. I couldn’t stop thinking about who could’ve wanted to kill Cedric. Why would they want him dead? I had my issues with him, no doubt, but I’d never thought about killing him. I should have, though, especially after the way he treated me; kicking me out of the house, removing money from my bank account, and fucking my friend—that was a sure way to get me stirred up.

I couldn’t say that I was totally surprised by Evelyn’s announcement today, but I couldn’t get that smirk she’d had on her face, while making her confession, off my mind. We were at Trina’s apartment, and Evelyn claimed to have something on her mind that she needed to say.

“I don’t know where to start,” Evelyn said. I wanted to slap her. “But I owe you an apology too. This is so hard for me to say, but as your best friend, I have betrayed you.”

I was so out of it because of an earlier conversation I’d had with Cedric. He admitted to not loving me anymore, and for the first time, I was convinced that he wanted our marriage to end. The affairs hadn’t convinced me, but hearing him say he’d fallen out of love did. While in a daze, listening to my so-called BFF, I bit my nails and stared straight ahead. I mumbled a bunch of hateful words underneath my breath then spoke clearly so that Trina and Evelyn could hear me.

“I . . . I saw you at my house today,” I stuttered, referring to seeing Evelyn. “I went there to get Cedric to change his mind about our divorce, but he didn’t want to do it. He said that he didn’t love me anymore. I can’t believe that he . . . just . . . does not love . . . me . . . anymore.”

There was no question that I was out of it. Knowing that my marriage had failed really hurt, but my hurt was about to sting even more. I could feel it, especially since Evelyn appeared ready to spill her guts. Her news would surely send me over the edge, and I wouldn’t have wished this feeling on my worst enemy.

“What have you seen going on between him and Evelyn?” Trina was trying hard to get me to come to the light. “When you stopped by his house, did you see anything? You had to see something.”

I rubbed my hands together and stood. As I paced the floor, I squeezed my aching forehead then wrapped my arms around my waist to comfort myself. “I didn’t see anything today, but something is going on. I can feel it. You know how you have this eerie feeling inside that something is wrong? He said Evelyn was therefor money, but I think there’s more to it. I really do, but I can’t put my finger on it.”

“Well, put your finger on it and touch it,” Trina shouted.

I was rattled by her loud mouth, but why didn’t she just tell me? She knew. All along, she knew what the hell had been going on behind my back.

She continued, “Open your eyes and see it. What are you feeling? Say it, Kayla. Don’t be afraid to say it and don’t lie to yourself anymore. Don’t ignore what you know. Your gut has been telling you things, but you’ve been ignoring it. Rewind the tape and play those images in your head. Ask yourself: what do you see?”

I removed my arms from my waist and slowly shut my eyes. A flood of tears cascaded down my face. It was time for me to release all that I’d felt inside, and when I opened my eyes, I did. They locked right on Evelyn who sat with glee in her eyes, waiting for my response.

“I see Cedric and I see you, Evelyn. I’ve seen the way he looks at you, and I’ve seen the way you smile at him. I saw him at your place one day.” I paused to suck in a deep breath, and then I released it. “And . . . and I saw your earrings and nasty panties in his car. I saw his account where he transferred thousands and thousands of dollars into your account, and I . . . I smell the scent of my husband when I walk into your home. So the questions are: Are you fucking my husband? If so, why didn’t either of my best friends tell me what in the hell has been going on behind my back?”

I could sense Evelyn’s fakeness. She swallowed hard and sat with teary eyes. After blinking to wash away her tears, she scooted to the edge of the couch. “I’ll answer your question, but for the record, you have never seen my nasty panties in Cedric’s car. Those panties must have belonged to someone else. As I said before, I do owe you an apology—not for fucking your husband, but for allowing him to fuck me and use me to hurt you. For that, I am deeply sorry. I truly hope that you will one day forgive me for interfering in your marriage when I shouldn’t have.”

The room fell silent. I gazed at her without a blink and was ready to beat that bitch’s ass! But for whatever reason, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t open my mouth. All I could do was stare in disbelief. I wanted to be wrong about the two of them, but her acknowledging the affair proved me right. Seconds later, my cell phone rang. It was Jacoby, crying hysterically and telling me that Cedric had been shot.

After Jacoby’s call, I left in a hurry. I was on my way to see what was up. My car was moving at high speeds, but I needed to call Jacoby, again, to see what was going on. Unfortunately, he didn’t answer. I called back several times, but got no response. I was only fifteen minutes away from Cedric’s place, but I needed to know his condition. I needed to know if Jacoby was okay. Maybe he had done something to Cedric. They didn’t get along that well, and these last few months had been hell for all of us. I hoped that he hadn’t done anything this horrific, and the thought of it made my stomach turn. I was in deep thought, until I heard loud sirens. When I looked on the other side of the highway, a speeding ambulance had zoomed through traffic. That wasn’t good. Was Cedric’s dead body in there? Were the paramedics working hard to keep him alive? More tears fell, and I prayed all the way to my destination.

Upon arrival, I could see several police cars and plenty of my neighbors standing outside being nosy. Yellow crime scene tape squared the well-kept property and no one was allowed to cross the line. The front door was wide open. And when I looked around for Jacoby, he was nowhere in sight. I jerked the car in park and rushed to the first officer I saw. My legs wobbled and my heart raced faster, as I pulled on the officer’s arm to get his attention.

“Where is my husband . . . my son? Please tell me what happened.”

The officer could see how unstable I was. He pulled me closer to the house, as my neighbor, Betty, shouted to ask if I was okay.

“I hope so, and let us know how Cedric is. Meanwhile, please get Rich out of this. He didn’t do anything but try to help, but the police keep questioning him.”

I frowned because I was clueless to what she was talking about. That was until I looked into the back of a police car and saw her husband, Rich, sitting on the back seat while talking to an officer who sat in the front. Jacoby was inside of another car, and in another car was a white woman with dingy, blond hair. Her head hung low, and I couldn’t see her face.

The officer held my arm and shook it. “Do you need an ambulance?” he said.

I shook my head, trying to come out of the daze I was in. “No, no, I don’t. I need to find out what has happened to my husband, and why is my son in the back of the police car? I need to go see him.”

I turned to walk away, but the officer grabbed my arm. “Come inside for a few minutes. If you’re Mrs. Thompson, I need to speak to you.”

“But I . . . I need to go see about my son. Why is he in the police car?”

“He’s just speaking to one of the officers about what he saw. He’ll be fine.”

I moved my head from side to side and snatched away from the officer. I wasn’t sure why he was trying to keep me away from Jacoby, and with him being seventeen the police had no right to question him without my consent. I stormed away from the aggressive officer who followed after me.

“Ma’am, I need to speak to you about your husband.”

That got my attention, so I swung around to address him. “My husband? Where is he? Would someone please tell me where he’s at?” I pounded my leg and started to cry even more.

“He’s on his way to the hospital. We don’t know his condition yet, but he was pretty bad when he left here in the ambulance.”

I held my chest, squeezing it. That was when Jacoby got out of the police car and came up to me. He appeared frightened. The confusing look washed across his face upset me.

“Mama, this . . .” He paused to embrace me. And as my son who stood six two held me, he started to break down on me. “What has happened to our family?” he cried. “I thought you were the one who shot my dad, but I was wrong. I pray to God that he lives. God, please don’t let him die. This is all my fault because I wished him dead, Mama. I prayed for his demise.”

I looked around at the officers who were tuned in to Jacoby’s every word. I didn’t want him to incriminate himself, so I told him to be quiet. I rubbed his back and did my best to comfort him, considering how messed up I was.

“This is not your fault. I had my issues with Cedric too, but neither of us wanted him dead. As for our family, we’ll be fine. Trust me, we will be fine, so don’t you worry, okay?”

Jacoby nodded and backed away from me. He smacked tears away from his face then wiped down it with his hand to clear it.

“Rich saw her do it,” he said. “He told me she did it, and I could’ve stopped her, Mama. I figured she would do something like this, especially after I talked to her that day.”

My mind was going a mile a minute, trying to figure out what Jacoby was saying. But I couldn’t comprehend anything because the officer behind me kept taking notes, and grabbing at my arm, asking me to come into the house. More sirens kept blaring, as more cars showed up. My nosy neighbors looking on didn’t help either, and why were everybody’s dogs barking? Maybe it was a good thing for us to go into the house, after Jacoby cleared himself of any wrongdoing.

I turned to the officer. “Officer, I will answer any question that you want me to, after I’m done speaking to my son. You say my husband is at the hospital, so we need to get there soon. Please allow me to get out of here to go see about him.”

“Yes, we do need to get out of here,” Jacoby said. “I’ll fill you in, in the car and tell about what happened. But for now, let’s go to the hospital to see what’s up with my dad.”

For whatever reason, the officer didn’t want us to leave. “I’ll arrive at the hospital in about thirty minutes,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to talk in private then.”

“Sure,” was all I said then rushed to my car with Jacoby.

On our way to the car, I took another glance at the white woman sitting in the police car with her head hung low. This time, two officers stood outside of the car, talking. I could barely see her, but when she swooped her frizzy hair behind her ears, my eyes grew wide. My mouth dropped open, and then I squinted to be sure that the woman was Cedric’s receptionist, Paula Daniels. As I started to move in her direction, Jacoby called out to me.

“Let’s go, Mama. Cedric needs us. I will tell you all about her in a minute.”

I kept my eyes on her then slowly got into the car. As I drove off, she turned her head to look at me. Our eyes stayed connected, until she rolled hers and lowered her head again.

“Keep your eyes on the road, please,” Jacoby said. “We will discuss her, but before we do, I want to ask if you’re okay. You seem a little off.”

“That’s because I am. It’s been a crazy day. The truth is, I don’t know if I’m coming or going.”

“I understand exactly how you feel. But before we get to the hospital, I need to tell you that Paula was the one who attempted to kill Cedric. She’s been seeing him for quite some time, and he pushed her to the edge. He kicked her out of the house he purchased for her, and he also made promises to her that he failed to keep. I saw them together, numerous times—more recently in a parking garage getting it on. After that, I reached out to her. She told me what Cedric had done to her, and she threatened to kill him. I didn’t take her seriously, but I should have.

“When I got home today, all I saw was Cedric’s bloody body on a gurney. I thought he was dead, and at first, I assumed you had killed him. Forgive me for thinking that, but I knew how upset you were with him too. The truth is, Rich witnessed Paula walking toward our house with a shotgun in her hand. He followed her and called the police. By then, it was too late. Cedric had already been shot.”

I was speechless. So much anger was inside of me. I couldn’t believe that Cedric had been also having an affair with the receptionist, and then to buy her a house was crazy. I guess that explained why she always looked at me with envy in her eyes whenever I visited his office. It explained why she always had an attitude when I called to speak to him, and it explained why he always worked late hours. Then there were the Christmas parties, the company picnics, and the company milestones and celebration parties I attended with Cedric. I could always sense how fake Paula was. Deep inside, I always felt as if she was watching me, and for some reason, she seemed to hate me. I questioned Cedric about her attitude toward me, but he claimed that she treated everyone that way. He made it seem as if Paula had been dating one of his partners, not him. I believed him because she didn’t seem like his type. But then again, what was Cedric’s type? I really didn’t know because me, Paula, and Evelyn were like night and day.

Thinking about all of this, yet again, I felt like a fool. First Evelyn, now Paula. I was starting to feel as if Cedric dying wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.

“Mama, I know what you’re over there thinking, but you may want to speed it up so that we can get to the hospital. Going twenty miles an hour, we’ll never get there.”

“All of a sudden, I feel as if there is no rush. I hate to say this, but Cedric had this coming. I don’t wish him bad, but you must understand how betrayed I feel. And his receptionist hasn’t been the only woman. I just found out that he’s been screwing Evelyn too.”

Jacoby sat quiet. He looked straight ahead then lowered his head to look at his lap.

I slammed my hand on the steering wheel. “Please tell me that you didn’t know about that too. Did you know that he’d been seeing Evelyn?”

There was a crisp silence for a few seconds then Jacoby spoke up. “Yes, I knew. Found out awhile back. I confronted her about her actions too, but she didn’t see things my way. I wanted to tell you but, as your son, I didn’t want to see you hurt. I felt relieved about the divorce, but you kept pushing to make things work. Then there was a part of me that wanted things to work out, too, because our family means everything to me.”

I felt horrible inside. I understood how Jacoby felt, but no words could express how disgusted I was about the whole thing. Everybody had been keeping secrets from me, including my other friend, Trina, and now my own son. Something inside of me wanted to turn this car around, park it somewhere, and get the hell out of dodge.

“If you knew about Cedric’s affair with Evelyn, I wish you would have said something. I always had my suspicions too, but it seems as if everyone wanted me to make a complete fool of myself. When I kept defending Cedric, all you had to do was tell me what he’d been up to.”

“I did tell you.” Jacoby raised his voice. “But you wouldn’t listen, remember? I may not have been specific about Evelyn, but I told you Cedric was no good. I told you he’d been with other women, but all you did was yell at me. You told me that I was . . .