Black Widow by Nikki Turner Read Free Book Online Page A

can just call a funeral home and get them to do it.”
    “But they gonna want to get paid, and I don’t have no money to pay for a funeral right now.”
    “We’ll figure out something. Remember, one thing at a time.” Phoebe thought for a moment. “Maybe we should call Scott’s Funeral Home; they are the ones that my momma called for Daddy.”
    “That’s a thought,” Isis said, feeling even more melancholy than before.
    Phoebe made the call for her sister, asked for the owner, and pleaded their case. A meeting was set up with the funeral home for 1 PM the next day to discuss payment. For now, Scott’s Funeral Home was on the way to the Medical College of Virginia to pick up the body.
    Later that night, exhausted after such a stressful day, Isis decided to open the letter that she had received from Dave.
    My dearest Isis,
    By the time you read this, the day would have come and gone, the day that we both have been dreading yet anticipating. The day that we both knew was inevitable, the day that my death will be carried out by the State of Virginia.
    You’ve been everything to me since the first time that I laid eyes on you, when you were only 15 years old. You were the most beautiful girl I’d ever met, seen, or read about. I knew that we could never be together for long. Girls like you grow into the kind of women who don’t have guys like me show up on their radar. So the day that we would grow apart was also inevitable. It had nothing to do with the execution.
    I’m not writing this letter in an attempt to make you feel bad or guilty for anything; you have nothing to feel guilty about. You’ve been great to me. Better than any of my so-called friends, better than my family, better than my own mother. You’ve given me everything and asked for nothing in return. For that, I just want to say thank you and I love you for it. But now I must say, “No more.”
    During our last visit together, when I looked into your eyes, I saw the future. I saw your future and I wasn’t in it; and that’s the way it should be. You’ve wasted enough time on me. You were my wifey, girlfriend, sister, and best friend when everyone else got ghost (including my mother), before the ink even dried on the death warrant. Now it’s time for you to move on. From this point on, I want you to forget that I ever existed.
    I want you to give the same love and dedication that you have given me for all these years and put it toward your future and career. Live for yourself for a change. Let someone serve and wait on you. You deserve it. But always remember this one thing: No one’s going to give you anything in this life without a price. It may cost a little, it may cost a lot—but it will cost you.
    Dave
BKA The Phoenix
    P.S. Just so that you know, those crackers are going to have to bring the noise, because I’m not going to just roll over and die for them. Mu’fuckas best pack a lunch.
    See ya in the next life!
    Isis was standing with a blank look on her face, staring at the letter she held in her hand, when Phoebe walked into the living room carrying the house phone with the mute button activated. “It’s Bam,” she said. But after looking at her sister’s bloodshot eyes and vacant stare, she asked, “Do you want me to tell the nigga you busy and to get at you another time?”
    Bam was an old acquaintance of Dave’s. They had gone to school together, and he always called Isis to check on Dave or just to see if she needed anything.
    Isis wiped her eyes. “Nah, he might need information on Dave or something,” she said, reaching for the phone. “Give me the damn thing.” Isis shut off the mute function. “This is Isis,” she said, slowly wiping her eyes, chasing the tears that were trickling down her face.
    “Hey, gorgeous, how’re you feelin’?” Bam said cheerfully, trying to lift her spirits.
    “Not so good, but I’ve been done worse by better.” She tried to sound confident. “What about you?”
    “You know