to question him for his actions, Candyce watched Dig a Hole walk out their bedroom door without a word or resistance. As soon as she heard the front door close, a tear fell from her eye and she said a silent prayer to her Savor pegging him to allow her children’s father and her world to come home safely.
She couldn’t quite explain it but she couldn’t help but think that her two little babies inside her started to toss and turn in the same rhythm that her worried heart was rampantly beating. This started to alarm her even more; although she was extremely concerned for her man, she knew she had to calm herself down and relax her babies. If she were ever to lose his two precious babies, she would never be able to live with the disappointment of letting Dig a Hole down knowing that she couldn’t control herself and deliver his babies safely into his world.
Candyce shook it off and quickly went downstairs to the kitchen and prepared a soothing cup of tea to help relax herself. When it was ready, she sat at the kitchen table and began rubbing her babies, singing “If You Can’t Come, Send One Angel Down” a song her mother used to sing to her when she was a young girl.
Dig a Hole was all she had in this world, her only family. As she sat there singing and rubbing her belly she wished so badly that she had her mother to talk to. Even though he treated her so well and made her feel like she was the most important person on the earth, it was so lonely when he was gone, especially now that she was soon to become a mother.
So many things were running through her mind, she was an only child and didn’t have any experience with babies. Not being able to share her feelings, concerns and happiness with her mother weighed heavy on her heart. She found herself more and more lately speaking out loud to her mother, asking her for her advice on motherhood.
Feeling more at ease, Candyce started to clean up the kitchen and decided to call it an early night.
CHAPTER FOUR
Candyce was Dig a Hole’s better half; they met after his brief incarceration in Oak Park Correctional Prison. One day while checking out his trap houses, he saw her. He knew her father from previous encounters, and he knew he was raising her on his own due to her mother’s death from a drug overdose. Dig a Hole made passes at her daily to which she resisted.
See, Candyce had a huge dislike for drug dealers. Her mother at one time was a registered nurse working at North Memorial, a local hospital, for fifteen years; her father worked for the City. She never knew how or when their drug usage started, but what she did know is that when she did discover it, it was a lil’ too late. They had slowly, but surely, slipped into full-blown dope fiends. Her mother was terminated for missing too much work; and when she was there, she was either scratching or nodding off. Her outward appearance became that of a junkie. With no further options, her Supervisor of ten years gave her an ultimatum: seek help or she would be immediately terminated. She chose to walk away from fifteen years of service.
Her father, Big Jerry, was a strong man. Half Cuban and the other half Black. He seldom spoke and when he did it was barely understandable due to his strong accent. After refusing two on-the-job UA’s, he too was unemployed. With both of them jobless, the whole foundation they had built prior to their drug use quickly crumbled.
Little did Candyce know her parents were at one time Dig a Hole’s drug testers. When he bought or came up on dope from various robberies, he would give them a small portion to test for him. It was during the time he first jacked Maurice for the ten bricks that he really started using them for his personal genuine pigs, giving Big Jerry a half gram of the uncut dope to see how many times he could cut it. Knowing the dope had to be cut, Big Jerry tried to hide it from Becky. He went to the store to get some Manitol so he could cut the powerful drug, but she couldn’t wait; when he returned home he found her on the floor, needle still in her arm.
At that point Big Jerry went somewhere in his mind, never to return; never again speaking another word, thus leaving Candyce to take care of both him and the house. Dig a Hole, seeing her relentless efforts to provide for herself and father by working at Harold’s Chicken on West Broadway, would come in and tip her an extra fifty bucks, leaving his cell phone number. Although she never had any intentions on calling him, she accepted his number out of respect and the need to keep him giving her the tips he gave.
One day as Dig a Hole was pulling up to his spot he noticed an ambulance in front of Big Jerry’s house. He pulled over after seeing Candyce on her knees crying her heart out and got out to check on her. Quickly he discovered that her father had died in his sleep. Feeling somewhat responsible for the destruction of her family, along with his own personal desire to tap her young pussy, he went over and kneeled down next to her and held her while she cried. He let her cry it out, but shortly after stood them both up and guided her towards his car. After putting her inside he proceeded to take her to his place.
He left her alone for a few days. She stayed there having feelings of uncertainty of what her next moves were going to be, barely eating and at first refusing to talk. Dig a Hole was a patient man, he gave her all the time and space she needed. During this time he went out and bought her a trunk load of designer clothes. Fendi, Donna Karan, Fetish, Yves St. Laurent - you name it, she had it along with fifty pairs of open-toed shoes due to his foot fetish.
This would be the first time in her life she wore name brand clothes. Still not sure what his intentions were, she remained reluctant to even try them on. Seeing her resistance, he felt it was time to break her in on his intentions. Ya know, lay down his rules.
He started off by saying that the first agenda was to give her father a respectful burial; this he knew would capture her heart and attention. Seeing her lift her sad brown eyes toward him, he noticed a slight smirk.
He then had her attention and continued on saying, “Look, I know that right now you’re going through a very difficult time in your life and feel trapped, maybe even cornered. But listen Ma, I’m not here to take advantage of your situation. I just want to show you how good I can be for you. See, I, like you, don’t have any family. I lost both of my parents to a car accident at the age of fifteen. As you see, I live in this huge house all by myself. I don’t want to put any pressure on you, it’s just the opposite. I want to release some of it to make you feel better, loved, appreciated, and respected. This you deserve Ma. Look, all I ask of you for now is to get yourself together. You can have one of the empty rooms upstairs, I’m barely here myself. What I do ask is that you keep some food cooking and have me a plate in the microwave.”
Smiling she replied, “When I cook, you better be here to get it hot out the pan.” This was the start of their relationship.
After her father’s burial she seemed to come out of her shell more as Dig a Hole constantly showering her with an abundance of everything she never imagined was possible. He gave her jewelry, cars and shoes and she got star treatment at all the hottest beauty salons in the city. He had them give her the makeover of a lifetime. When she walked out she was captivating.
Realizing the change in herself, she understood it was partly because of Dig a Hole and his unwavering dedication to making her both happy and understood. It was at this point she made a promise to herself to never allow anything or anyone to come between the only family she had left. She knew that the many men that approached her while she was out and about couldn’t and wouldn’t make the sacrifice he did, thus earning a permanent spot in her heart forever.
Realizing her growth and the change in her outward appearance, Dig a Hole felt the need to secure his position in her life by impregnating her. Not only was his plan successful, it was more than he anticipated. Candyce became pregnant with twins and with the news that she was indeed pregnant he felt the need to buy a bigger house. She picked out a lovely five bedroom home with three bathrooms and a three-car garage. It had a swimming pool, basketball court, and video game room as well. The area was safe and secure in Edina, Minnesota. A town where the upper class white folks and niggas with money lived.
Despite all the beautiful things he bought her, it never stopped her from wanting him to leave the street life alone. She had such a hatred for drugs, and because he didn’t want to keep hearing it, he made the mistake of promising her he’d stop selling drugs - which was seventy five percent true