Snapped (Urban Renaissance) Read online

  Snapped

  Tina Brooks McKinney

  www.urbanbooks.net

  All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE - GINA MEADOWS

  CHAPTER TWO - GINA MEADOWS

  CHAPTER THREE - TABATHA FLETCHER

  CHAPTER FOUR - TABATHA FLETCHER

  CHAPTER FIVE - TABATHA FLETCHER

  CHAPTER SIX - GAVIN MILLS

  CHAPTER SEVEN - GAVIN MILLS

  CHAPTER EIGHT - MERLIN MILLS

  CHAPTER NINE - COJO MILLS

  CHAPTER TEN - MERLIN MILLS

  CHAPTER ELEVEN - GINA MEADOWS

  CHAPTER TWELVE - GAVIN MILLS

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN - GAVIN MILLS

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN - MERLIN MILLS

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN - COJO MILLS

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN - COJO MILLS

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - GAVIN MILLS

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - COJO MILLS

  CHAPTER NINETEEN - GAVIN MILLS

  CHAPTER TWENTY - MERLIN MILLS

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - COJO MILLS

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - GAVIN MILLS

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - MERLIN MILLS

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR - MERLIN MILLS

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE - GAVIN MILLS

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX - GAVIN MILLS

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN - ANGIE SIMPSON

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT - GINA MEADOWS

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE - MERLIN MILLS

  CHAPTER THIRTY - COJO MILLS

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE - COJO MILLS

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO - MERLIN MILLS

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE - GAVIN MILLS

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR - GINA MEADOWS

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE - MERLIN MILLS

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX - MERLIN MILLS

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN - GINA MEADOWS

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT - MERLIN MILLS

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE - GAVIN MILLS

  CHAPTER FORTY - GINA MEADOWS

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE - GAVIN MILLS

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO - ANGIE SIMPSON

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE - GINA MEADOWS

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR - COJO MILLS

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE - MERLIN MILLS

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX - GINA MEADOWS

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN - GAVIN MILLS

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT - ANGIE SIMPSON

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE - MERLIN MILLS

  CHAPTER FIFTY - GINA MEADOWS

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE - MERLIN MILLS

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO - COJO MILLS

  CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE - GAVIN MILLS

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR - GINA MEADOWS

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE - COJO MILLS

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX - COJO MILLS

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN - MERLIN MILLS

  CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT - GINA MEADOWS

  CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE - MERLIN MILLS

  CHAPTER SIXTY - GAVIN MILLS

  CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE - MERLIN MILLS

  CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO - MERLIN MILLS

  DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Notes

  Copyright Page

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  This book is dedicated to the people who surround me with support and love. First and foremost, God; without Him, I would not have the inspiration to create these novels. I can’t believe that He has gifted me with such a warped mind and I thank Him. Next, I would like to give thanks to my family who continue to put up with my crap while I’m writing: my husband, William, who I love with every breath in my body, and my children, Shannan and Estrell, who I’m sure are sick of me! My mother, Luetta, and my father, Ivor, who’ve been married forever! My sister, Theresa, she is my graphic designer and my lifeline. She gets things done for me so I don’t have to worry about them. Visit her site at www.preservinglastingmemories.com. .

  Next my editor, Docuversion. He has helped mold the words that I put on paper into something sensible and I love this man. He’s my ridedownthere.com guy. Next I want to thank the book clubs and I swear I don’t want to start mentioning them ’cause I know I’m going to leave out some and I do not want to hurt anyone’s feelings but I will mention the top five that have supported me from day one. Between Friends Book Club, Queens Book Club, Svvay Book Club, Books & Beignets Book Club, Baltimore Readers, Words of Inspiration Book Club. Online book clubs Raw4all, Black Expressions with Carol Mackey, Sexy Ebony Book Club, and Urban Reviews. This is a short list, folks, so please don’t hate me if your group is not mentioned. I didn’t get to mention anyone at all in my last book and I ain’t trying to get my list cut from the book’cause I said too much.

  I would like to thank my friends who have supported me unconditionally: Angela Simpson, Valerie Chapman, Andrea Tanner, my Keough Crew (you know who you are), Talisa Clark, Ricardo Mosby—I’ve got mad love for you, Maceo Hay-wood (thanks for all your help, you’ve been a great promoter), Wayne Albert (I’m so glad to call you a friend now), Muriel Broomfield, Vanessa Yearby, Lasonji Strickland, Christina Fannin, Kim Robinson, and Kim Flyod.

  My author friends, Black Writers With a Purpose, Gayle Jackson Sloan, Theresa Gonsalvas, Nane Quartay, Rodney Lofton, Nicole’ Mitchell, Terra Little, Perón Long, Maxine Thompson, Dwyane Burch, Lee Hayes, Darrien Lee Debra Phillps . . . There are more but I can’t recall them all right now. Please charge it to the head and not the heart.

  Last, but not least, I’d like to thank my new Urban family. Thanks for welcoming me into the circle. Special shouts out to Carl Weber. Thanks so much for giving me a chance! Also I’d like to thank Natalie Weber and Brenda Owens for all that you’ve done for me. And M.T. Pope for reaching out to me. (He got a great book, y’all.)

  PROLOGUE

  Tabatha looked at me as if I had just sprouted wings and was about to fly away. The expression on her face was almost comical. She paced the living room of my apartment and shook her head in disgust.

  “Gina, we’ve been down this road before. How many times do I have to spell it out for you?”

  “I don’t want to hear it, Tabatha. That’s my husband and I’m sticking by him.”

  “He’s not your husband. Y’all didn’t walk down the aisle in front of friends and family and recite vows. You didn’t vow to love each other through thick and thin or sickness or health.”

  “Whatever.” Tabatha was starting to get on Gina’s nerves. She didn’t need to have her best friend count down all the haves and have-nots in her relationship. Gina was well aware of those things.

  “And he damn sure didn’t promise to forsake all others, or you wouldn’t be in the situation you’re in now.” Tabatha walked over to the other side of the room, suddenly interested in looking out the window.

  It was a good thing she put some distance between them because Gina was ready to reach out and touch her.

  Placing her fists on her waist, Gina stood up to face her. “Why did you have to take it there? That’s water under the bridge.”

  Tabatha turned around, anger etched on her honey-brown face. “Because someone needs to take you there because it appears as if you’ve forgotten the gritty details of the life you actually live. You’ve been looking at your life through rose-colored glasses; it’s time to take the shades off and see shit the way it really is.”

  “And what way is that?” Gina felt the blood rushing through her veins. She struggled to hold on to her anger.

  A look Gina never recognized before crossed over Tabatha’s face. “Uh—”

  Gina said, “Don’t get to stuttering now.” She was trying real hard not to call Tabatha out her name.

  They had been friends since
high school, but Tabatha was wading in troubled water now. As quickly as the look appeared, it disappeared, and Gina saw a resolve that scared her.

  “Fine, I’ll say it. You’re a fucking fool.” Tabatha folded her arms across her chest and stuck out her chin. Her look was defiant, as if she dared Gina to challenge her.

  “What . . . I . . .” So many words struggled to get out of Gina’s mouth at the same time, she couldn’t get any of them out.

  “Who’s stuttering now, Gina?” Tabatha taunted.

  Even though Gina was pissed at her, she felt the humor in Tabatha’s jest and it took the sting out. Gina sat back down, and Tabatha sat next to her.

  She grabbed Gina’s hand. “Girl, I wouldn’t say that shit if I didn’t love your stinkin’ drawers.”

  In Gina’s heart she knew that, but it still hurt. “Tabatha, regardless of whether you approve of Ronald, I can’t help who I love. We don’t need to practice that type of rhetoric to recognize our commitment. In my heart, we are married. Anyone who can’t respect it can kiss my natural black ass.”

  “Thanks, but no thanks. Kissing your ass is not on my list of things to do—ever! All jokes aside, I hear what you’re saying. But in the eyes of the law, he’s not even your common-law husband, and what he’s asking you to do is a felony.”

  “To quote a phrase that I’ve heard you say about a million times, ‘fuck the law and the horse it rode in on.I’m doing me.”

  “Don’t misquote me. When I said fuck the law, I was talking about a parking ticket I got. I wasn’t referring to something major like filing a false friggin’ tax return. Not to mention claiming children you’ve never had. Hell, y’all done stepped over to the out-of-control side. This type of behavior is scaring the shit out of me.”

  “What are you talking about, Tabatha?”

  “Don’t make me spell it out for you, heifer. You know what I’m talking about.”

  “No, I don’t, and I’m not a heifer.”

  “That is a matter of opinion.”

  Tabatha was joking, but like most jokes, it held some element of truth. Gina had a habit of trying to change the subject when she was called on her shit, but this time Tabatha wasn’t willing to let it go.

  Gina rolled her eyes and sighed. “If you got something to say, say it.”

  “Okay, you asked for it. When it’s all said and done, you are setting yourself up for failure. This man you claim is your husband can and will walk away from you, and you will be sitting in the same spot looking stupid.” Tabatha really hurt Gina’s feelings with this remark, and she had to struggle not to completely tune her out.

  “Do I detect a little haterade?”

  “Bitch, please. What is there to hate on?”

  “You hatin’ because I have a man and you haven’t had one since Jimmy Carter was president.”

  “Say what you want, I’m not changing my mind on this.” Now Tabatha let out a deep sigh.

  Gina had hurt her feelings, but she refused to back down. Tabatha was tired of having this argument with a woman she loved like a sister. In Tabatha’s mind, Gina was a idiot. She had wasted years on a man who had no desire to marry her. She was raising two of his children from a prior relationship. Ronald was fucking her doggie style and riding bareback while doing it.

  “Okay, I give up. It’s your life and I’m going to let you live it, but don’t bring your ass to my door crying when the motherfucker ditches you too.”

  “I got it. If, and I stress the word if, that happens, you will not be on my list of people I call to have my back.”

  “Girl, stop trippin’. I didn’t say I wouldn’t have your back. I just said I’m going to shout I told you so before I offer one iota of sympathy.”

  Tabatha could tell by the way Gina threw her head back that she was through with her opinions about her relationship, but Tabatha was tired of seeing her get used. For years, Gina had been faithful to a worthless man. He had children by other women, disappeared for months at a time, and always brought those outside children into Gina’s home as if it were okay.

  In the beginning, she said she accepted them because she didn’t have children herself, but it was a new day and Tabatha wanted her to wake up and recognize it. She was more of a mother to Ronald’s bad-ass children than their birth mothers. That bugged the shit out of Tabatha. It didn’t seem fair that Gina should bear the responsibilities of being a mom without the benefits of having the biological father present and accounted for.

  CHAPTER ONE

  GINA MEADOWS

  When I woke up, the room was spinning as I rushed to the bathroom. My stomach and my intestines were battling it out; it was only a matter of time before one of them won. Frankly, I didn’t give a flying fuck which one won as long as my pain stopped. I just wanted to be able to lie down and rest. I was so tired most of the time.

  As I emerged from the bathroom, Tabatha loomed in my way. Obviously, I had fallen asleep at Tabatha’s house because I was still wearing the same clothes I’d had on the day before. I felt grimy, dirty, and sick as hell.

  “Move.”

  “Negro, please. You need all the support you can get.” Tabatha slipped her hands under my arms to even my weight.

  “Support? What kind of support do you give me?” If Tabatha was looking to piss me off, she was doing a good job.

  “I am the fucking godmother, not a fucking cash cow.” Tabatha swelled up with pride.

  I knew this would be the first time that Tabatha had been designated for such a high honor, and she wasn’t going to let my pissy attitude ruin it for her.

  “Godmothers provide financial support and you ain’t done none of that shit.”

  Tabatha all but allowed me to fall on my ass. “Hold the fuck up, heifer. Merlin and Gavin did not come from your pussy. I don’t want no parts of them, but this one that you are carrying, that’s another story. Are you trying to say because I didn’t financially support Merlin and Gavin, I can’t be a godmother to this one?”

  “Hell, yeah. I need someone who is going to spoil my baby rotten.”

  “That’s not fair, Gina. It would be different if those were your children. I never thought you would take total responsibility for children you didn’t have. Besides, money ain’t everything. When you need me the most, I come through, and you can’t put a price tag on that shit.” Tabatha made a good point.

  She was always around when I needed her, and I didn’t have to worry about my words coming back to me in the form of malicious gossip.

  “You’re right. I’m trippin’. I value your friendship and I need to start acting like it.”

  “’Bout time you recognized.”

  Tabatha was gloating, but she should be. If she weren’t such an extraordinary friend, she would have drop-kicked my ass to the curb a long time ago. I was the stupid one in this friendship, and I was woman enough to admit it.

  She said, “I have to ask this. How are you going to manage with another mouth to feed?”

  “Tabatha, you know how long I’ve been trying to have a child of my own. The pain I feel because I haven’t had one is changing me. I’ve become such a bitch.”

  “You ain’t even lied.” She smiled when she said it, but she was only stating the obvious.

  “You didn’t have to agree so readily.”

  “Hey, it is what it is. I understand how you feel, but you’ve already opened your home to two illegitimate children from Ronald who he isn’t helping with. How are you gonna take on this additional expense?” I thought about my sparsely furnished bedroom and understood where Tabatha was coming from. It wasn’t the worst furniture in the world, but none of it matched. They were all pieces I had picked up at garage sales or thrift stores.

  “Maybe this baby will make Ronald change. This baby will link us together forever.”

  Tabatha knocked on my forehead. “Damn, what kind of dope are you smoking? People, like animals, don’t change their spots. They are what they are. You either deal with them or leave them alone. He
doesn’t take care of the babies he already has, so what makes you think he is going to take care of this one?” She gestured to my stomach, even though I wasn’t showing.

  “I don’t need his help. This is my baby and I’m keeping him.” A look of pure horror crossed Tabatha’s face. If I didn’t know before how she felt, I knew now.

  “Have you told Ronald about the baby?”

  “No, not yet. He is coming home for Christmas, and I’m going to spring it on him then.”

  “Girl, you know I’ve got your back . . . but I have a bad feeling about this.”

  “Well, I don’t. He’s been looking for a reason to come back to Atlanta to live and this is it. I want to get married for real and raise his child.”

  “That sounds all good, Gina, but Ronald’s track record doesn’t support what you’re saying. How many baby mommas does he have out there?”

  “This ain’t about them. I’ve done the work that they didn’t. Being pregnant by him has to count for something,” I lamented, banging my hand down on her mattress for emphasis.

  “Hey, in my book it counts, but I’m not the one making the decisions. It’s Ronald, and, as I’ve said before, his track record ain’t that good.”