Vexed 3

Genres: African American Urban

Synopsis

In the third installment of the King Family series, Jay is still in prison with severely declining health, she is bitter and nursing a vengeful heart. Instead of accepting responsibility for her sins and seeking God’s forgiveness again, she plots how to inflict pain on those who she believes have done her wrong. Taking a page right out of Satan’s playbook, she makes her move on an unlikely ally, the weakest soul in the family, the child she never wanted and refused to accept until now.

Driven by lies and pure deception, Nahima, almost sweet 16, is on the fast track to self-destruction. The frequent letters and jailhouse phone calls from Jay only fuel her anger. The radical teenager lashes out at those who truly love her and are concerned about her well-being, including her mother, Venus. Even her innocent baby brother, Jalen, is a victim of her wrath.
 
Nahima is romantically involved with a much older man named Santana, who has introduced her to a world of sex, drugs, and manipulation. God seems to have turned a deaf ear to Aunt Jackie’s desperate prayers on behalf of her wayward great-niece, but Uncle Zach prefers the no-nonsense approach of tough love and forced accountability.
 
With Jay inside her head, Nahima is about to make the biggest mistake of her life, unless someone steps in to save her from herself. Is it too late to pull her back to safety and serve her a healthy dose of reality? Who will save her from the sins of her mother?
 

Release date: April 27, 2021

Publisher: Urban Books

Print pages: 288

Sample

“I’m about to lose my damn mind, Zach!” Venus wiped the heavy flow of tears from her eyes with a crumpled napkin and sniffed. “I swear to God I don’t know what’s going on with my baby. It’s like she’s possessed or something. All of the talking back and cussing—”

“Cussing? Who the hell does she be cussing at?”

“Me, of course. It’s like she hates me, Zach. And I can’t figure out why. At first I blew it off, thinking it was just her little teenage hormones going wild and maybe she had boy fever. But now I believe it’s much deeper than that. What if she’s on drugs or caught up in some crazy-ass cult? Oh God! My . . . my poor baby girl!”

Zach reached across the kitchen table and squeezed Venus’s hand tenderly. “Be strong, sweetie. I got you. We’ll get through this together as a family like we’ve always done. I promised you the day Nahima was born that I would always be there for you and her no matter what happened between you and Jay. That was almost sixteen years ago. Have I failed you yet?”

Venus shook her head as tears continued to stream down her face over a weak smile.

“Damn right I haven’t, and I never will. That’s why I’m sitting up here in your kitchen at seven thirty-six in the morning after pulling a twelve-hour shift. My ass is tired as hell, too. But Uncle Zach is about to fix this shit.”

“I hope you can. But Nahima ain’t the same little girl you used to bounce on your knee and give piggyback rides to around the block, Zach. She don’t even look the same. That child came in here the other day with all of her long, thick, beautiful hair chopped down to an Afro. I almost had a heart attack. She’s so damn disrespectful and defiant. It’s like she’s channeling—”

The double chirp from the security system, followed by the sound of the front door closing, interrupted Venus. She and Zach turned toward the entrance of the kitchen.

“Go get her, Mommy,” said Zach. “I’ll chill right here. Holla if you need me.”

“Okay.”

Venus stood up, seemingly nervous, and tightened the belt on her paisley bathrobe. She dabbed her eyes with the napkin again and swallowed hard before she made slow steps toward the kitchen door.

Zach couldn’t imagine raising a child—biological or adopted—who he’d one day be afraid of. Zach Jr., Zion, and Jalen were no angels, but he would kill them dead before he’d allow them to rise up and go rogue on him and his wife, Jill. Oh, hell nah! That was why when Venus sent him a text message right after midnight, informing him that his niece, Nahima, hadn’t returned home from school since she’d dropped her off that morning, he decided to head straight over to their house after completing his shift at Grady Memorial Hospital.

Zach felt kind of bad that he hadn’t been more involved in Nahima’s life in recent months, but the job promotion he’d busted his ass to get was so stressful that sometimes he barely had the energy to spend time with his own kids on his days off. It was true that success brought pleasure and pain for a brother in America. But the mega pay raise, new benefits package, and the authority that had come along with the upward move were worth it.

After completing the pediatric nurse practitioner program at Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Zach had been promoted to third-in-command at Grady, under only the two doctors overseeing the neonatal intensive care unit. That was when the vultures and demons had come out bold and fierce. A little redheaded, green-eyed “Karen” had been his stiffest competition for the promotion, and she probably would’ve scored the damn bag if her little anorexic ass hadn’t been so evil and temperamental. Hardly anyone in the unit liked her because she was a young girl from old Southern money with an Ivy League education who looked down her nose at the older and more experienced nurses, especially the black ones. The little bitch didn’t think her shit stank.

Cool, smooth, and always the professional gentleman, Zach, with his years of experience and great rapport with not only the other nurses but with the unit’s support staff as well, booted her ass right out of the game. And when she landed on her flat ass, her white privilege fueled her rage. Now she was on a mission to make Zach’s life pure hell. But she had the right one, because boss brother number one was that nigga. Not even his three degrees and nearly fifteen years of experience on the same job had erased the hood from his blood. Hell, Zach’s street cred was still good. Money and success hadn’t changed him one bit. One could just ask all of his homies around the way. They had mad love and respect for Zachary Sean King because he’d stayed faithful to his roots and his peeps.

Zach had the same barber, Jaterrius “Jatty” Walker, who was still serving up fresh cuts six days a week. He’d been in the same shop in the Ridgewood community since the late eighties. Zach’s dry cleaner, mechanic, favorite soul food restaurant/pool hall, and lifelong church were all located in that same neighborhood. Zach knew every dope boy and street hustler on the blocks. If he were a snitch on the police’s payroll, he’d be one rich motherfucker because he could point out all the traps and bootleg houses. But he wasn’t that type of cat because the Ridgewood street code was very much a part of his DNA. And it always would be.

A lopsided smile crept across Zach’s face even as exhaustion tugged hard on his eyelids. Thoughts of the neighborhood his aunt had raised him and his sister, Jay, in always gave him a warm and fuzzy feeling on the inside because of the fond memories. He had come a long way, and he was proud of all he had accomplished over the years in spite of his circumstances.

As visions of Zach’s childhood flipped through his mind’s eye like pictures in a family photo album, he drifted off to sleep. It was a brief doze, though, because the sound of Nahima’s voice on high volume calling her mama a bitch slapped him fully awake.

“I am your mother! You better stop talking to me like that!”

“You ain’t my real mama! You turned your back on her, you selfish-ass bitch!”

Zach was on his feet, through the kitchen door, and in the front foyer with superhero speed that shocked even him. He blacked out for a few seconds after that, but when a fragment of his good sense returned, his hands had a death hold on Nahima’s neck, squeezing the life out of her with her back against the wall. “Who the hell do you think you’re talking to, huh? Have you lost your goddamn mind?”

“Zach, please let her go!” Venus tugged on his right arm. “She can’t breathe! Lord, have mercy! You’re going to kill her! Please let her go! Let her go, Zach!”

Zach was in a tunnel zone. No one else was in the room but him and the spawn of the evilest creature to roam the earth’s surface. The eyes his eyes bore into held wickedness from the deepest pit of hell. She had no soul. Decent humanity escaped her. Only death could save her from herself.

“Before I allow you to become like Jay, I will kill you!”

Zach was so spazzed out that he had no idea that Charles, wearing only a towel on his lower body, had rushed downstairs to help Venus save their daughter from death by asphyxiation.

“God, please don’t let him kill my baby! Let . . . let her gooo!”

“Zach, let her go. Come on, buddy,” Charles said calmly in an even tone directly in his ear, grabbing him from behind.

By nothing but the grace of God, Zach’s sanity fully returned, and he allowed Charles to pull him away from Nahima. The sea of red rage that had temporarily blinded him was replaced by white walls covered with pictures, sunlight shining through the windows, and the little girl he had loved since the day she was born gasping for air in front of him.

“Uh . . . ah.” Nahima doubled over with saliva dripping from the corner of her mouth. “Uuuh . . . ah huh.” She broke out in a coughing fit.

Venus wrapped her arms around her child and kissed her beet red face. “It’s okay, baby. Just breathe in and out slowly. Don’t try to talk. Just take deep breaths.”

Nahima fell to her knees and pressed her palms on the hardwood floor, still struggling to take in air. Venus was right there on the floor with her, rubbing her back and shedding tears that matched hers.

After the blur of his fury had subsided, Zach was remorseful, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel that there was a hint of justification for his actions. Maybe if someone had choked the shit out of Jay when she was younger, instead of spoiling her out of sympathy over the absence of their parents, she wouldn’t have turned into the hellacious monster she was. She wouldn’t be in prison rotting away in sickness and self-pity, either. Zach didn’t want that kind of life for Nahima, but if she didn’t get her shit together, she would end up just like Jay. He couldn’t allow that to happen, could he?

“I . . . I’ma call the . . . the police.”

Zach removed his cell phone from his hip pocket and kneeled down next to his niece, who was still gasping for her every breath. “Use my phone. But you might want to change out of that THOT outfit and take a shower before they get here, because you smell like two grams of strong weed and stank-ass pussy. Ain’t no badge going to arrest me or feel sorry for a disrespectful fifteen-year-old girl who busted up in the crib reeking of Kush and raw sex after staying out all damn night without her parents’ permission.” He placed his phone on the floor an inch away from her hand and stood. “Call five-o, Nahima. I want you to.”

The penetrating glare she gave Zach when she lifted her head didn’t faze him at all. He wondered who the fuck she thought she was giving him the evil eye with her nostrils flaring like a raging bull. Her little defiant ass needed to concentrate on breathing before she passed out. If Nahima wanted to do grown-folk shit, he was going to handle her like an adult. That didn’t mean he didn’t love her, because he actually did. He was just tired of her funky-ass attitude and the shitty way she treated her mother.

“Look, I’m sorry I got carried away,” Zach finally said to Venus as he stood up with his phone. “I snapped when I heard her call you a bitch, I guess. I don’t know, but I’m here for you and Charles whenever y’all need me. Right now what I need is a hot shower, some food, and my bed. I’m out.”

Venus nodded and smiled even as tears continued to spill from her eyes, but she didn’t speak. Zach knew it was best that she not say anything, because it might set Nahima off when it seemed like she was in the grips of reality about what she had done.

“Thanks for coming, Zach,” Charles said, following him to the front door.

“She’s my niece, man, and I love her. I’m trying to keep my word to Venus. I promised I would help her raise Nahima until she turned eighteen, but I’m not sure if I can now. I might catch a case fooling with that girl. I think I’m going to have to step back for a little while.”

“I understand.”

Nahima rolled over onto her side in bed so she could look out the window. “And Charles with his punk ass didn’t do a damn thing. All he said was some lame-ass shit like, ‘Let her go, buddy.’ Can you believe that shit?”

“That’s foul, bae. Your family is fucked up for real.”

“Yeah, they’re all fucked up except for my birth mom and my nana. The rest of them can eat shit and die for all I care, especially Uncle Zach and fake-ass Jill. I can’t stand that mud black bitch. She’s the one who ruined our family. How the hell you go from licking pussy to deep-throating dick? And that nasty ho kept it in the family, hopping from my mom to her brother! Who the hell does ratchet shit like that?”

“Hold up now, bae. Your birth mom switched from clit to dick, too. I’m just sayin’.” Santana laughed.

“Whatever.” Nahima sucked her teeth. “That was a whole different situation, and it didn’t involve relatives, either. Anyway, since you got jokes, I’ll holla at you later.”

“Oooh, so now you big mad at a nigga for shootin’ it to you straight? Fuck that shit.”

“Nah, fuck you!” She ended the call and tossed the phone on the other side of her queen-size canopy bed.

Nahima was brain-dead in love with her boyfriend, Santana, but she didn’t appreciate him talking shit about Jay. In her eyes, her only living biological parent could do no wrong. She was a victim of an unfair God and an unjust legal system. Five years ago, Nahima learned that Jay and Uncle Zach had lost their mother when they were very young because their father had shot her in the heart after catching her fucking his best friend in a motel room. And the dude had been a pastor at the time when he killed his wife.

Then, later on in life, Jay had fallen in love with Venus, who had only used her for her eggs so she could have a baby because her own eggs were all dried up. Sadly, that baby was her. And as if that weren’t enough bad luck, after her mom had tried to start a new life away from all the pain she had survived in Atlanta, the poor bitch she’d taken off the streets of Kingston, Jamaica, and placed in the lap of luxury betrayed her. Yeah, when Jay was busy trying to provide for Jill and send her to school once they moved to Atlanta, the ungrateful slut fucked her brother, Zach. Now, he and Jill were married and living their best life with three children in the ’burbs in a phat crib they’d built from the ground up four years ago. Their shady asses even had a vacation home in Jamaica and four late-model whips parked in their garage.

It wasn’t fair that Zach and ho-ass Jill were enjoying wealth and good health while Jay was in prison serving seventeen years on some bogus charges as she battled kidney failure and cirrhosis of the liver. What was worse was that the whole damn family had hidden all of this information from Nahima. For years, she’d been led to believe her birth mom was a monster who had put out a hit on her own brother and kidnapped Jill in Jamaica with the intent to kill her. In fact, everybody in her family believed all that bullshit, as well as the DA and jury who had convicted her. All of them busters and the judge must’ve been hella stupid to have fallen for all the lies Zach, Jill, the phony-ass hit man, and a bunch of other evil witnesses had told to trap Jay. Nahima couldn’t believe her family had helped the system convict their own blood. What the fuck?

Well, not everybody had turned against her mom during the trial. Her nana, Jackie, had stayed in her corner, and so had her grandfather, the gun-toting preacher. They had told the judge about the hardships Jay had experienced growing up without her parents in the hood. Yet their testimonies weren’t enough to convince the wack-ass jury to return a not-guilty verdict. Now Jay was in prison fighting for her life with no family support except the letters and emails she got from Nana every now and then. She put money on her books, too, from time to time, which was cool. But four months ago, when Nahima asked Nana for her mom’s address at Leesworth Women’s Federal Corrections Facility so she could start a relationship with her, she’d refused to give it to her.

“Your mother made some bad choices regarding you, Nahima. Jay doesn’t have a relationship with you because she chose not to. I’m afraid she’ll hurt you by not responding to your letters if you reach out to her without a heads-up from me. Let me ask Jay if she wants to hear from you, okay?”

Nana wasn’t a liar. Nahima knew that for sure. If Jesus was real, and she strongly doubted He was, Jackie Dudley Brown was His ride-or-die, period. She prayed a hundred times a day, went to church twice a week, and read her Bible more than anybody Nahima knew. Nana sang praises to her God every Sunday at church, too, with her beautiful voice. And no matter what was going on in the family with her sisters, their crazy kids, or Uncle Zach and Jill, she always spoke the truth and stood on the right side. However, she never gave Nahima Jay’s address at the prison, nor did she tell her if her mom wanted to receive letters from her. Maybe she forgot to ask her. Nahima would never know because she didn’t bother to follow up. Instead, she took matters into her own hands.

One Saturday when Nahima was at Nana’s house helping her set up her new smart TV, she took a break to eat a Philly cheesesteak sandwich and check her social media pages and school email account. Since her phone was on the charger, she decided to fire up Nana’s laptop computer to shake the dust off of it. She hardly ever used the damn thing except to email Jay whenever she reached out to her from the prison. But Nana was in love with her Dell UltraSharp touch-screen computer because it was a Mother’s Day gift from Uncle Zach.

After Nahima finished scrolling through the Gram and Twitter, she decided to be nosy and check Nana’s browser history. It was right there in plain sight in her Gmail account like she was supposed to see it. Jay had sent Nana a message thanking her for the money she had sent her earlier that week, and she updated her on her failing health. Nahima jotted down Jay’s email address at Leesworth and put it in her pocket.

Although she wouldn’t reach out to her right away for many reasons, when she finally got up the nerve to do just that, the world as she had known it all her life would change. Nahima would no longer live in the darkness of her family’s lies and grimy secrets. Jay would shed light on all of them motherfuckers and their sins.

“What’s up, Kang? You feelin’ a’ight today?”

Jay brought her electric scooter to a stop in front of the commissary and secured the brakes. “I ain’t dead yet, so I must be okay. Why are you worrying about me, old lady?”

“Damn, a friend can’t be concerned ’bout you? I know you saw Dr. Dalrymple yesterday, and I want to know what’s up.”

“My bad, Gracie. You know how it is around here. Everybody’s got an agenda, including Warden Sheftall with her shady ass. Major Herndon ain’t no better, but at least he’s real about his shit.”

Gracie leaned over the counter and looked Jay dead in her eyes. “Forget about these corrupt people in here and tell me what the doctor said. How is your liver, and what’s up with your kidneys?”

“Ain’t nothing changed. The kidneys are maintaining between twenty-five and thirty percent even with dialysis and meds, and as far as my liver goes, I might as well not even have one. Cirrhosis is eating it up.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Kang. I was hopin’ for better news. But how come your kidney function is so low? I thought your brother gave you one of his.”

“He did, but lately it’s been showing signs of rejection for some strange reason. Plus, it’s overworked because the other one is so badly diseased. The damn thing don’t work at all.”

“Damn! Kang, I’m so sorry.”

Jay waved her hand dismissively and sucked her teeth. “It is what it is. But don’t worry about me, because I’m at peace. My daughter is in my life, and my little boy is doing fine. If God calls my number today, so be it, as long as my children are all right.”

“Well, I hope God will let you hang around a li’l bit longer so you can have some time with your kids outside of this hellhole.”

“That ain’t happening, Gracie. I’ve served almost nine years of my sentence, but I’ve got eight more to go. Do you really think I’ll still be alive in eight years? Honey, please.”

Gracie checked her surroundings before she came around the counter and kneeled n. . .