Hitta's Tea Maker 2 Read online

  Hitta’s Tea Maker Part 2

  Hitta and Angel’s Tale

  Edwina Fort

  Copyright © 2019 by Edwina Fort

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below:

  Griots Garden Publications 2533 Bert Kouns Ind. Lp.203 #187 Shreveport, LA 71118 www.authoredwinafort.com

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Hitta’s Tea Maker/Edwina Fort. – 1st edition ISBN

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  The Epilogue

  The End For Now…

  Afterword

  Taming the Brat

  Taming the Brat

  The Prologue

  Mean Tucker

  The Prologue

  Also by Edwina Fort

  Social Media

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  First and foremost, I would like to thank the Heavenly Father for once again using my hands as a tool. I would like to thank Team 2019 for putting in that work and helping this book to come about. And finally, I’d like to dedicate this book to my little cousin, Angel, who is out there grindin’. The world sees you, boo…do yo’ thang! I am so proud of you!

  When I was little girl, my mama told me that God is a Master Weaver and that life is His tapestry. She said no one knows what in the end the picture will unfold, but that we are all threads intertwined in His divine masterpiece. Some threads are dark, and some are bright, but one can’t exist without the other because then the picture wouldn’t be precise. She says balance is needed in order to bring God’s plan into sight, but that in the end, everything will be alright. For it is written that Yah spoke into the darkness and said, let there be Light.

  Edwina Fort

  Chapter 14

  It’s Too Late

  Time, Time is Ticking By, And I Can Feel an Explosion Inside, And Time, Time is Ticking By, And I Can Feel An Explosion Inside…

  As in The Days of Noah, There Will Be Drinking, Marrying, Laughing,

  As in The Days of Noah…

  What a Fool They Say, To Build a Boat on Sand, What a Fool They Say…

  And Many, Many Scoffers Will Come and Say... "It's Never Rained Before..."

  But When the Rain Starts Falling, It's Too Late,

  It's Too Late…

  Misty Edwards

  Angel

  By the time I’d gathered Jessie and said my goodbyes to Barbara, the police had taken Hitta away and there was a tow truck towing the Hummer.

  “Tee-Tee, what’s the matter? Why are we leaving without Unc?” Jessie asked as I nearly dragged her down the street toward the bus stop. My heart raced as the only thing I could focus on was getting her as far from Stan as I could.

  I couldn’t believe Trina was dead! Dear God, how was I going to break this news to Jessie?

  “Tee-Tee!” she cried when I still didn’t answer her or slow my steps. My longing gaze went back to Hitta’s truck that the driver had gotten hitched up and tears filled my eyes.

  I needed him right now. I needed to feel his strong arms wrapped around me as his deep voice assured me that everything would be okay.

  But everything would not be okay…

  Trina was dead and Stan had threatened to take Jessie away. I looked back at that tow truck one more time but nearly crashed into my mom who was hurrying around the corner.

  “Mom! What are you doing here?!”

  She gasped as her gaze flew up to mine. “Angel?”

  “Hey, Cheryll…” Jessie said waving, excited to see her.

  “Hey, baby…” She reached for Jessie’s hand, but I snatched my niece back before their hands could touch, there was just no telling where my mother’s hands had been.

  “What are you doing here?” I repeated, past shocked to see her here of all places.

  She looked towards the ground reminding me so much of myself when I was trying to avoid answering a question.

  “Mom!?”

  “I- I can’t tell you.”

  “What do you mean you can’t tell me?” This was just too much. The last thing in the world I needed right now was my mother throwing her kind of drama into the mix of all the other disasters happening in my life at this moment.

  She went to walk around me, but I stepped in her path.

  “He told me not to tell you,” she hissed trying to step around me again.

  I didn’t allow it. “Who told you not to tell me?”

  She exhaled. “Westly, okay?!”

  And then she tried to walk around me yet again as if she didn’t just rock my world. On the verge of a nervous breakdown, I let go of Jessie’s hand and grasped my mother’s shoulders so I could get her complete attention.

  “You- talked- to- Westly?”

  My system was being attacked by too many known unknowns. Trina was dead, Hitta was in jail, Stan was threatening to take Jessie…

  My mother had talked to Westly!

  “Damn it! Angel, you hurting me, sh*t!” she said slapping at my hands, but I didn't let her go. In fact, I shook her, needing her to know how important this was.

  “Mom! Focus! Where is Westly? It’s important that I find him!”

  She shook her head. “Naw, baby girl, he told me not to tell you.”

  “What?! Why?”

  “He said something about yo’ boyfriend wanting to kill him.”

  When my fingers flexed to dig into her thin arms, I snatched them away not wanting to hurt her. Instead, I raked them through my braids trying to get control of my emotions so I could think. Although it felt like my head would explode from being crammed with so much, the one thing I knew without any doubt was that I needed to find Westly.

  As Jessie’s only remaining parent, he held power to fight Stan that I didn’t. Maybe if I could find him and tell him that his stepfather was threatening to take Jessie, it would be the one thing that would finally convince him to clean up his act. Maybe now, he would stay in rehab and see it through till the end, knowing that if he doesn’t, his baby could end up in the hands of a pedophile.

  I whipped back around to stare at my mom causing her to jump, startled at my sudden movement.

  “For once in your life, can you not be selfish and be there for me?!” For a moment, it looked as if I’d hurt her feelings, but then she swallowed and nodded.

  “Yeah, what you want to know?”

  “Where is Westly?”

  Her gaze went to Hitta’s truck. “Where yo’ boyfriend?”

  “Gone!” I snapped, trying hard not to lose my patience.

  “He stole the keys to his parents’ beach house in California, he been staying there for the last two months.”

  My mouth dropped…
<
br />   Why the hell hadn’t I thought about that? The beach house had been one of Westly’s favorite places to go when we were kids, but after Diana had found out he’d been going there to do drugs, she’d forbidden him to return. And I’d assumed he’d honored her wishes because I hadn’t heard him mention the beach house for years.

  “Look, Angel, you can’t tell yo’ boyfriend. Westly is scared to death of him. Fo’ some reason he believe he want to kill him.”

  I frowned. “But why did he tell you all of that?”

  As far as I knew, Westly and my mother’s contact was over. Every now and again they ran into each other and got high together, but as far as them being close enough for him to call her instead of me…

  Yeah, that was just crazy.

  She shrugged. “I was just as surprised as you. One of our old friends found me and said that Westly had been calling around looking for me. He gave me a number to return his call. You know, I thought he was trying to contact me and tell me something had happened to you. It had been a minute since you and I talked.”

  Yeah, it had. I hadn't seen her since the day she borrowed twenty dollars from me. But I knew it was only because I had moved and she didn’t know where. Although, I’m surprised that she hadn’t shown up to the Tea Shop by now.

  “Anyway, when I got him on the phone, he said that his ma had died and he needed me to come to the house and give Stan a message.”

  “Why does he need you to do it? Why not just call himself?”

  She shrugged, getting irritated with me. “Look, Angel, I don’t know all the details. Only that he’s too afraid to come back ‘cause yo’ boyfriend want to kill him and he need Stan to wire him some money.”

  If I wasn’t so distraught, several things about her story would have stood out as suspicious to me, the main one being my mother did nothing without there being something in it for her. So the fact that she came all this way to tell Stan that Westly needed him to wire him money out the kindness of her heart was off. But because my mind was all a mess, I took her words at face value.

  “Okay look, do me a favor and hold off on telling Stan what Westly said.”

  She frowned. “You sure? ‘Cause it sounded like he really needed the money.”

  I grabbed Jessie’s hand, knowing what I needed to do. Although it grieved my heart to walk away from Hitta, I needed to get Jessie secured. He was a big strong man, capable of protecting himself. If Stan got a hold of Jessie, after they threw me in jail for trying to kill him, there would be nobody to protect her.

  I needed to get to Westly!

  “Yes, I’m sure!” I told my mom as I headed for the bus stop.

  “Where you going?” she called after us.

  “To the airport!”

  “Thank you for calling the Tea Shop, this is Summer speaking, how can I help you?”

  “Hey, Sum, it’s me.”

  “Angel… How are you, sweetheart? I’m so sorry to hear about your loss.”

  I exhaled, wishing I could tell her just how I was. Summer was the exact opposite of Carmen. She was a gentle steady strength whereas Carmen was an in-your-face-take-charge strength. Between the three of us, Summer was the most experienced and level headed. And more than anything, I wish I could tell her what was going on and get her advice.

  But now just wasn’t the time. “Honestly, I’ve been better. However, now isn’t the time to go into that. Can you do me a favor?”

  She didn’t answer right away. And I knew it was because she was trying to process my words. “Sure… anything.”

  I gazed around the crowded airport from where I sat in my seat, waiting on my flight. Jessie was asleep with her head in my lap, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being observed.

  Stan said that he would have someone watching us. I just prayed that if he does, they will relay the message to him that I was in fact leaving town so that he can leave Hitta alone.

  “I have to go out of town for a few days. Can you and Carmen look after the shop for me?”

  “Of course… you don’t even have to ask. What’s going on? You don’t sound so good… Have you talked to Carmen?”

  “I can’t call her right now.”

  Summer’s gasp came through the phone. “Angel, what’s going on? Now, you have me worried!”

  I wiped away tears as I tried to get myself together. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was worry Summer, she was already going through so much. I should have never called her…

  It’s just that she was the only one I could call that wasn’t loyal to Hitta, and I knew she would keep my secret. Carmen would not… She loved me, but make no mistake, her loyalty went to her uncle first.

  “Don’t worry, Summer." I tried to keep my voice even so she couldn't hear that I was crying, but I knew I was failing miserably.

  “Where are you going? Do you need me?”

  “I can’t tell you where I’m going, but I need you to call Carmen for me and tell her that her uncle is in jail and that she and Wayne need to make sure he gets out okay.”

  “Oh my God, Angel! What happened? Maddox just left to get dinner for us, do you need me to call hi—”

  “No! Please… Don’t call him! Hitta can’t find out where I’m going.”

  “Why not?! I don’t like this!”

  “I know, but I need a few days and then I’ll be back, I promise. Tell Carmen I just need a few days. I will fix everything. Thank you, Summer… I love you!”

  And then I hung up before I gave into my tears. I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. Being forced to walk away from Hitta was the worst feeling I’d ever felt, but I knew I needed to see this through.

  Once I told Westly what Stan was up to, he would take it from there. My brother was not the father of the year, but I knew he loved Jessie and would do anything he could to keep her from falling into his stepfather’s hands.

  He’d had to battle him to protect me, his sister. There was no way he would let his daughter go through what I did.

  Please God, let Westly do the right thing!

  My phone rang in my hands startling me. I dried my eyes so I could see the number. However, when I saw that it was Carmen, my tears only increased as I turned it off and removed the battery with hands that shook so badly that I nearly woke up Jessie.

  More than anything, I wanted to answer that, but Carmen was almost as boguardish as Hitta. She would insist on coming with me and telling Hitta so he could bring the goons to bust up Stan’s house and kneecaps no doubt.

  I loved my people, but they didn’t understand that not all battles could be fought with their fists. And Stan was one of those battles that needed to be fought with the pen. We needed to get Westly here and get him cleaned up, that way when Stan comes with his bullsh*t, we’ll be ready for him…

  There was no way I would be able to stay away from Hitta. They had only separated us for a few hours and already my soul felt like it was being split in half. When he got out, he will be pissed that I’d left to do this without him, but once he finds out that I’d gone to find Westly, he’ll be all right.

  At least I prayed…

  Dear God, please make this all right…

  The park was alive with activity today…

  There was a happiness in the air that was contagious. I exhaled as I strolled through it, taking in all the beautiful sights.

  To the left of me, a small wedding was taking place in the community garden connected to the park. The couple must have chosen red and purple for their colors because all of their guests were dressed in the most brilliant shades of scarlet and magenta. I smiled at the love I saw in their eyes for each other as they held hands and spoke their vows.

  Across the park, small children stood and cheered as several white horses pranced through the street. One little girl cried out when she made a mistake and dropped her strawberry ice cream, her mother went down to her knees to soothe her.

  On the same street, booths were set up where different artis
ts displayed their works to sell from paintings to statues and everything in between. The brilliant colors of their creations contrasted beautifully against the lush green of the trees and the grass.

  I don’t know why, but everything seemed to be in multi-color today. Or maybe I saw things that way because I was deliriously happy.

  I settled down in my favorite spot underneath the huge maple tree and pulled out the new book I’d just bought on the Tibetan tea culture. I’ve always dreamed of eventually traveling there to visit their famous herb bazaar. For as far as the eye could see, there are stalls and stalls of herbs… Every plant known to mankind could be found there, so at least I’ve read.

  “Look, mommy, that cloud looks like an hourglass,” a little boy said pointing up at the sky from where his mother pushed him on the swing.

  I cupped my hand over my eyes to block out the intense glare from the sun to see what he was pointing at and sure enough, there was a giant cloud shaped like an hourglass.

  All the people who were at the wedding and the art fair began to look up and take pictures of the phenomenon with their phones. I placed the book I was reading on my chest as I took it in amazed at the sight. I’d never seen anything like it… It looked so real. There were even small specks of clouds that looked like falling sand.

  The festivities seemed to pick up as the people looked away forgetting about it. I watched as the sand continued to rapidly fall, frowning when it got down to the last few granules. Sitting up the book fell from my chest as a strong urge to warn the people to stop celebrating and pay attention to the hourglass came over me.