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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright © 2013 by La’Tonya West

  Side Chic 4

  (Forever Ratchet)

  By

  La’Tonya West

  Prologue- Lala

  It feels like no matter what I do or how hard I try I can’t get this shit right for nothing. I left Boykins and Tre behind and tried to move on because I felt in my heart it was the right thing to do. I felt like as a woman I deserved more than what he was willing to give. Hell, I’d tried everything to get him to see my love for him and realize that what we had was deeper than sex or some side affair but it didn’t work. I called myself moving on to someone who knew what he wanted and wasn’t about the games and bullshit only to find out that this nigga was never here for me. He’d been preying on me from day one! Pretending to care about me and my kids. I should’ve known something was wrong when he continued to hang around even when I wasn’t answering his calls. He was what people would call “too good to be true” but I just couldn’t see that shit. All I saw was how nice, kind and understanding he was. It never once crossed my mind that he could be capable of some shit like he did to Lola. As a mother that is some hard shit to digest. I feel like this was my fault! How could I have put my daughter in a situation like that? Why would I leave my babies with him? The more that I think about it the more upset I become with myself. I wonder if this was the only time that he’s touched one of them. What about all of the nights that he’s spent in my home? I suddenly feel sick to my stomach!

  When I’d called Tre to tell him what happened. I could barely get the words out of my mouth. I really didn’t want to tell him that I’d been so careless and stupid but I knew that I had to.

  “Tre, I am so sorry.” I’d cried when he answered the phone. “I swear I didn’t mean for this to happen. I’m so sorry.”

  “Lala what’s wrong? What are you talking about?” He’d questioned. I could hear the fear and concern in his tone. I could only imagine how fast his mind must’ve been racing wondering what was wrong now, never once thinking something like what I was about to tell him. “Are the babies alright? Stop crying and talk to me! What’s going on?”

  “That sick motherfucka touched Lola!” I sobbed loudly into the phone.

  “What sick motherfucka? Who touched Lola? What do you mean?” He asked question after question.

  “Reggie. I’d left them with him so that I could go to the grocery store…” I explained. “I’d left my pocketbook so I had to turn around and come back to the house. I used my key to let myself in and that’s when I saw him on the sofa…” I paused for a second because it felt like my words were caught in my throat. I swallowed hard trying to remove the large lump that had seemed to form in my throat. “He was…touching her…touching her down there…in her private area.” I finally managed to reveal.

  “What? What in the fuck do you mean, touching her in her private area?” He roared. “Where’s that nigga at now?”

  “He-he’s…in the house…lying on the floor. I think I may have killed him. When I saw him touching Lola, I lost it and hit him in the head with a candleholder.”

  “He’d better hope like hell you did because if he’s not dead when I get there, he will be.”

  “How could he do something like that to my baby, Tre? Why would he do that? Tre, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left her.” After he didn’t reply, I’d taken the phone from my ear and noticed that my screensaver was showing on the front of my phone…he’d hung up. I wasn’t sure how to take him hanging up but I assumed that he did it because he blamed me for what had happened and he had every right to.

  Now as I sit inside of this officer’s car answering question after question about what happened, the only question that keeps running through my mind is…I wonder if I killed that sorry motherfucka? And to be completely honest, I’m praying that I did.

  Lala

  I kept my eyes fixed on my front door waiting to see if the paramedics were going to bring Reggie out on a stretcher or if he was going to walk out. All I knew was that if he walked out it was going to take every officer that was present at the scene to keep me from killing that motherfucka and no that wasn’t some angry thought. That was some real shit!

  “Ms. Chambers, did you hear me?” Officer Donaldson asked me from the driver’s seat. He was a black man and looked to be in his early thirties. He had cocoa brown skin, dark mysterious brown eyes that damn near looked black, with a thick black mustache just above his top lip and a bald head.

  I tore my eyes away from the house to look over at him. I knew that I must’ve look like some deranged crazy woman with my hair all over my head and my eyes puffy and red. “No sir, I didn’t.” I admitted truthfully. My nose was running and I used my hand to wipe it.

  Officer Donaldson noticed it and reached for the box of Kleenex that sat on his dashboard and handed them to me. “Use as many as you’d like.” He offered a sympathetic smile.

  I took the box from his and snatched a few tissues from the box and cleaned my nose. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He replied. “Now if you don’t mind could you please answer my question?”

  “Do mind repeating the question?” I looked back up at my front door.

  “I asked, how long have you have known Mr. Wade?”

  “I’ve known him for eleven months.” I answered him thinking back to how I’d first met Reggie’s no good ass on the day that I’d gone into labor with the girls.

  “And how did the two of you meet?”

  I glanced over at him again. “I was on my way back home from Boykins, VA, that’s where I am originally from. I was pregnant then. I started to feel sharp pains in the bottom of my stomach, back and even my private area and so I pulled off the road at a gas station, which just so happen to be the gas station that he worked at. He must’ve seen me through the window in the store because he came outside to my car and asked if everything was okay. I informed him that I was pregnant and may be in labor. He called 911 for me and then went with me to the hospital. While I was in the hospital, he came to visit me. He said that he wanted to be sure that my daughters and I were okay. I thought that was very nice of him. You don’t find a lot of people who will take the time out to check on a person they don’t know and genuinely be concerned but Reggie was different, at least I thought he was. During the time that I was in the hospital the two of us started a friendship and exchanged numbers. He lives in South Boston, VA. So I didn’t see him that much after I was released from the hospital but we talked on the phone a lot and became pretty good friends. During the time that we were friends he visited a few times. Three months ago, we began dating. He’s been coming here spending the night every now and again. We had a pretty good relationship. He’s always been so nice and respectful…until today.” I paused and looked back up at my front door just in time to see two paramedics and an officer leading Reggie outside. He had blood on his face and all over hi
s shirt. I noticed that he was in handcuffs.

  I heard Officer Donaldson ask. “What happened today Ms. Chamber?”

  I didn’t respond. I reached for the door handle, my eyes fixed on Reggie. I could still hear the sound of Officer Donaldson’s voice but I had no idea of what he was saying. I got out of the car and started running towards Reggie. I was seeing red and had death in my eyes. I wanted him dead. I didn’t want him to go to jail. Jail was too good for him after what he’d done to my baby. Just as I reached the sidewalk where he was Officer Donaldson and another officer grabbed me.

  “Calm down Ms. Chambers or we will have to arrest you!” The other officer barked at me. “From the looks of things, you may already be in a lot of trouble if Mr. Wade decides to press charges against you for assault.”

  “I don’t give a fuck! Do whatever you have to do!” I yelled outraged as I struggled against them. “This sorry motherfucka touched my baby! I did what I had to do as a mother! I was protecting my child!” I continued struggling.

  “Calm down Ms. Chambers!” Officer Donaldson said to me a lot more calm than the other officer had. His eyes were sympathetic and so was his tone. “I understand your anger. You have every right to be upset. I don’t know anyone in their right mind who wouldn’t want to do serious damage to him if they’d caught him doing to their child what he was doing to yours but you still have to try and gain control of yourself.”

  “I want him dead.” I cried tears pouring from my eyes like water from a broken dam. I kept seeing Reggie stroking his erection and touching my baby. It played over and over in my head like a movie as I stared Officer Donaldson directly in the eyes. I trembled with anger. “He doesn’t deserve to live after what he did. She’s only a baby.”

  “Yes ma’am, I know that but you can’t keep saying that either.” He held onto me with a tight grip that I couldn’t move from no matter how much I wanted to.

  “It’s true.”

  “Lala, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to. You have to believe me. I never meant to hurt you or your kids.” Reggie called to me as the officer and paramedic led him past me towards the ambulance. He wore what appeared to be a guilty expression as tears streamed down his cheeks. “I have an illness. Do you think I want to look at little kids in that way?”

  Hearing his voice and seeing those fake ass tears only infuriated me more. I started to struggle against the officers again. “Please let go of me!” I begged. “Motherfucka, do you really want to cry? I can give your nasty no-good child molesting ass a reason to cry!”

  “No.” Officer Donaldson told me and then yelled to the officer that was assisting the paramedics with Reggie. “Hurry up and get that sack of shit out of here before I forget that I am an officer of the law and harm him myself! Scum like him disgust me!” He barked.

  “Hmph, you aren’t the only one.” The other officer commented shaking his head. He looked at me. “We are going to allow you to take your daughter to the emergency room and have her checked out. Someone from Social Services will stop by to talk with you. I don’t know who or when but they should be there shortly.”

  “Social services?” My heart dropped to my feet. I was confused. Were they trying to say that I was an unfit parent because I’d made one bad decision? “No…no one is taking my babies from me! This wasn’t my fault! I had no idea that he was a pedophile! I would never have left them here with him if I’d thought that he would do something to hurt them. I had no idea, still that doesn’t make me a bad mother!”

  “Ma’am it is standard procedure when something like this occurs.” Officer Donaldson told me. “After you are done at the hospital, you will need to come down to the police station.”

  “The police station?”

  “Yes, I need to finish speaking with you about what happened. Can I trust you to come in on your own or will I be having to make a trip back here to pick you up?”

  “No sir, I will come in on my own.” I promised.

  They turned me a loose and I went inside the house. Inside Nisey was sitting on the sofa holding Lola. She’d put some clothes on her. Laila was in her walker. I walked over and took Lola from Nisey’s arms. I hugged her tightly rocking from side to side and just cried.

  Lala

  At the hospital the doctor did a complete examination of Lola and determined that there had been no penetration. I was thankful for that. He assured me that she was fine and let me know that it was okay for me to take her home. After dressing Lola, I walked out of the examination room headed to the waiting area where Nisey was with Laila to inform her that Lola was fine and that we could go.

  When I walked into the hallway there was a petite black woman dressed in a brown pants suit standing next to the door holding a briefcase. Her thick coarse hair was pulled back into a bun. The silver hair around her hairline hinted her age. She wore a serious expression as she eyed me over the rim of her thick bifocals.

  “Hello are you, LaQuela Chambers?” She pursed her thin lips and waited for my response.

  “Yes ma’am, I am.” I eyed the woman suspiciously wondering why she’d been waiting outside the door and more importantly how she knew my name.

  “Hmph, I see. My name is Marlene Reynolds.” She extended her small hand to me and I slowly reached out and shook it. “I work for The Department of Social Services.” She informed me. I immediately became nervous. “I am here to speak with you about the incident that took place earlier involving your daughter.”

  “O-Okay.” I replied holding onto Lola a little tighter. I wasn’t sure what I should expect but no one was taking either of my babies.

  “We can go over there in that little area right there.” She pointed to a small waiting area next to the nurse’s station. “There’s no one in there and we can have a little bit of privacy.”

  “Okay.” I replied. That seem to be the only word that my brain could form at the moment because I was so distracted with wondering whether or not she was there to try and take my daughter.

  She took the lead and I followed her into the small waiting area and took a seat in one of the comfortable leather chairs, placing Lola on my lap. She took a seat next to me leaving one seat empty between us. She placed her briefcase in the empty seat, opened it and took out a yellow pad and a pen.

  “Okay, let’s get started.” She told me. “First could you please tell me your daughter’s first and last name and her age?”

  My mouth felt dry when I opened it and tried to speak. The first attempt nothing would come out. My nerves were getting the best of me. I swallowed hard and cleared my throat before attempting to speak again. “Her name is Lola Jefferson and she’s eleven months old.” My voice was low and shaky.

  I sat and watched as she scribbled down the information that I’d just given her. Without looking up, she asked. “And you are the child’s biological mother?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “Father’s name?”

  “Tremaine Jefferson.”

  She looked up at me. “Reginald Wade is your boyfriend, correct?”

  “Incorrect.” I corrected her. “Reginald Wade was my boyfriend.”

  “At the time that this incident occurred earlier, Reginald Wade was your boyfriend. Correct?” She snapped.

  “Yes but…”

  She held up her hand. “Ms. Chambers all I need is a yes or a no and I believe that you have given me that.” She scribbled something else on her notepad before looking back at me. “So tell me how long have you and Reginald been together?”

  “Three months.”

  “How long have you known him?”

  “Eleven months.”

  “How did the two of you meet?” I told her how we’d met when I’d gone into labor. “I see…and does Mr. Wade live with you?”

  “No ma’am, he lives in South Boston, VA. He comes to visit me every other weekend.”

  “And where is the father of the child?”

  “He lives in Boykins, VA?”

  “Does he know about the
incident that occurred earlier?”

  “Yes ma’am, I contacted him after I called the police.”

  “So tell me what happened earlier today.” I told her the story from beginning to end. By the time that I was done, I was crying again. “Why didn’t you take your daughters with you or why didn’t you leave them with your best friend instead of both of you going to the store and leaving them with Mr. Wade? Has he ever babysat the girls before?” I wasn’t sure of how I should take the disgusted look she was giving me or the snappy tone that she used to speak but I knew that things weren’t looking too good for me.

  “No, he’s never babysat the girl’s for me before. Today was the first time.” I sniffled and used the back of my hand to wipe my runny nose. “I was going to take the girl’s with Nisey and me to the grocery store but Reggie volunteered to watch them. He suggested that it would be better for me to leave them since Laila was asleep and I would be able to go and return a lot quicker without having to juggle the girls.” I paused and took a deep breath, staring up at the ceiling I continued. “Ms. Reynolds…”

  “It’s Mrs. Reynolds.” She corrected me in the same snappy tone that she’d been using since we’d sat down.

  I took another deep breath. I was already frustrated and nervous. I really didn’t need her judgmental ass attitude on top of everything else. “Mrs. Reynolds...” I began again finally tearing my eyes away from the ceiling and looking her directly in her eyes. “I know that you don’t know me and all you have to go off of is this one incident. I totally understand. I get that you are doing your job and I can respect that but while doing your job try to remember that as humans we sometimes make mistakes. We sometimes misjudge people’s character because of what they show us. Reggie never showed me a bad side of him. He was always kind and respectful. I’ve never even witnessed the man raising his voice. That part of him he kept hidden very well. I realize that in this situation, I was very naïve. I was fooled by a wolf in sheep’s clothing. That man has been preying on me since day one but I couldn’t see it. I opened my door and allowed him into my home giving him access to my children. That is something that I will have to live with for the rest of my life. However, everything that has happened today has taught me a very valuable lesson and nothing like this will ever happen again. I love my daughter’s more than anything. Anyone who knows me can verify that! I would’ve never left them with Reggie if I’d had any idea that he would do anything to harm either of them.” I paused and wiped my tears and also repositioned Lola on my lap. “You can’t imagine the relief I felt when that doctor told me that there had been no penetration. It was worse enough that he’d even touched her but I thank God that I’d left my pocketbook and went back when I did because this could’ve turned out so much worse. I look at this as a learning experience and you best believe I have learned my lesson. I hate so much that this happened…”