by J. Gail
Scoop’s mind wandered back to why he was still dealing with Shaquita as he drove past the Sunoco station at 45th and Baltimore Avenue. Why? She wasn’t even the best looking out of all the women he messed with.
The truth was, he had found a comfort level with Shaquita that he just couldn’t achieve with any of his other chicks. With them it was all about the wild sex, but he loved to curl up in a warm bed with his Quita and just hold her. They had been together for eight years and there was no turning back now for Scoop. Shaquita’s presence filled a need within him that he didn’t even know he had. He was in love with her, and didn’t even know exactly why. She was both the poison and the cure.
Scoop had been headed to his number four girl, LaToya’s, house before he had those thoughts about Shaquita. Even though his nose was killing him, he softened as he thought about his wifey, and decided that instead of going to LaToya’s, he was going to go visit Tony in the hospital. It was only right. How could he even consider going to get some quick ass, when his best friend was laid up in the hospital. As he approached the threshold between Philadelphia and Lansdowne where his favorite Jamaican restaurant was located, he decided to stop there and get a large Jerk Chicken platter to bring in the hospital. He was tired, hungry and frustrated, and could only hope that Quanisha was not sitting by Tony’s bed. He didn’t need anymore drama from women that day.
When he finally reached Tony’s room, he peeked inside first, to see if Quanisha was anywhere in sight. When he didn’t see anyone, he breathed a sigh of relief and looked around behind him before finally going inside.
“Tone!” he said excitedly, as if Tony was going to respond the same way. Tony was barely able to open his eyes, but he definitely looked better than he did two nights ago. They had patched up most of the wounds on his face and head, and had him drugged up on painkillers, so he looked alright, but was very unresponsive. Scoop already figured that much. He pulled the curtain separating Tony from his roommate, who was fast asleep as well, and sat down on a chair that was already pulled up next to Tony’s bed. He then started to pull out his food so that he could dig in.
Before he had a chance to eat the first bite of the steaming hot chicken and rice, a middle aged black male doctor came to the already open door and knocked lightly.
“Oh, come in,” Scoop said putting his fork back in the box and closing it up. “What’s up Doc, you here to do some tests or something?”
“No, actually, I came in because the nurse paged me to let me know that the brother to this patient came in. I’m Doctor Stephens. I’ve been trying to talk to one of his family members, but I haven’t been available over the last couple of days when his wife came in. You are his brother, correct?”
“Oh, yea, Scoo - I mean my name is Eric. So what’s going on?” Scoop said getting up from his chair and reaching his hand out to shake the doctor’s. Seeing the distinguished black doctor in his crisp white coat gave Scoop an instant level of respect for the man. He immediately tried to talk more formally with the doctor, instead of his usual slang and colloquialisms.
“Well, things could have really been worse for this young brother. We feared brain damage when he first came in. We did a Cat Scan, and the results were good. He only suffered a mild concussion, he has some broken ribs, and we’re hoping it’s only a temporary hearing loss in his left ear. We won’t know if it’s temporary or not until about two months from now. Let’s just pray for the best.”
“Oh damn. When do you think he’ll be getting out of here?”
“I’d say about another week or two. He has to fully heal. He’s gonna be out of it for a couple of days. We might be moving him out of intensive care to a regular room the day after tomorrow.”
“Okay. Well I’ll definitely be here when he gets better.”
“But that’s not the only reason I wanted to speak with you Eric. One of the security personnel told me that the patient’s wife came in here and assaulted one of my younger nurses. I don’t know if she thought my Nurse was too close in handling the patient, and I really don’t want to get into the semantics of the whole situation. All that I know is she came in here and caused a big commotion, and that’s something that the patient really doesn’t need at this time. He needs peace and quiet as he heals. So, if you can, I’d appreciate it if you would personally notify his wife that she has been excluded from the restricted list of visitors to this patient’s room, until she comes and speaks with me directly. Can you do that?”
“Uh, sure. You say she attacked somebody?”
“When the security officer came in the room she had Nurse Storms pinned on the wall. In the interest of my patient, and the safety of my nurses, I can’t allow her back. Also, now that Mr. Jackson has a roommate, he needs his peace too.”
“Alright, I got you,” Scoop said as he thought about how crazy Quanisha could get. She must have been really distressed about Tony being in the hospital.
“Great, I’ll be going now. Enjoy your visit, but just so you know, visiting hours are over at 4pm,” Doctor Stephens said as he took a few steps towards Tony’s bed to check his vital signs.
“Okay, thanks Doc,” Scoop said as he turned back to the chair where his food was sitting. He sat down just as the doctor left the room.
“Whoa Tone, what the hell is goin’ on with these women. They straight trippin’.” Scoop paused as if Tony would respond. When he didn’t, Scoop just shook his head and started eating.
Chapter 8
“Ma I don’t know what the hell is going on! All I know is Tony is fucked up in the hospital, and some crazy nurse is thinking that that’s her man! She hit me in the head with a phone, but they gonna take me out like I’m some criminal and tell me not to come back. Ain’t that some shit!? I can’t even get in touch with Scoop, and he’s the only person that knows anything!”
“That’s what you get for messin’ with that knucklehead. I told you a long time ago to leave that fool alone. But here you go, still supporting his sorry black ass…” Quanisha’s mother Netta said in a monotone voice through the phone.
“Ma don’t even go there, cuz you didn’t do much better with that bag of bones so called father of mine. He ain’t paid a dime of child support in 22 years but you still letting him lay up in your bed— “ Before Quanisha could finish her statement, there was a click and a dial tone.
“Stupid bitch,” she said, cursing her mother. “I’m tired of her ass, gonna tell me about my relationship. She ain’t never had a good nigga in her lifetime.”
Then her subconsious kicked in and a thought crossed her mind that made her even angrier. Trifling niggas or not, at least she got some kids out of the deal. The truth was Quanisha couldn’t relate or talk to her mother, on any level. Especially since her mother had done everything wrong in her life. She had lived on welfare all her life, getting pregnant for the first time at age 14. At one point she had abandoned all of her five kids when she was strung out, and wasn’t sure who the father of three out of five of her children were.
Quanisha strived everyday to be the exact opposite of her mother. It was the reason she had all of those abortions when she was young, because she didn’t want to be a teenage welfare mother like Netta. But as soon as she entered her twenties she wanted to have kids. It was more of a mental thing than a common sense thing for her. Being a teenage mother was repulsive to her, but having a baby at age 20 would have been okay.
Quanisha also refused to be on welfare, no matter what her situation was. She worked over 45 hours a week to pay her rent, her car payment and all of her other bills. She earned an honest living, but unfortunately most of her leftover cash went to helping out Tony.
Tony always had some catastrophe going on. One time it was his grandmother’s 61st birthday, he was dead broke, and she had supposedly been begging him to get her a new microwave. Another time his car broke down and he needed a new muffler. Not to mention all the times he had a big money scheme, where he was supposedly guaranteed to make three times his investm
ent in a matter of days, but of course it fell through and Quanisha was the only loser.
The cordless phone next to her started ringing again. “Oh Lord, now I bet she wanna apologize or somethin’,” Nisha said rolling her eyes as she grabbed the phone.
“Hello?” she said with an attitude.
“Nish, it’s Scoop.”
“Scoop? Man what the hell is going on, why ain’t you—”
“Nish, what happened at the hospital? They came in there tellin’ me you beat some nurse up or something.”
“What? Hell no I ain’t beat nobody up!” Quanisha yelled as she stood up from the couch. “That bitch got me with a phone!!”
“What?”
“I went in there to see Tony, and this nurse bitch is all kissing up on Tony! She hit me over the head with a phone, but when I grabbed her ass up the security guard came in. They told me I can’t go back there!”
“That’s what I was callin’ to tell you. I went by there today, they said you can’t go back up to see Tony ‘til you go talk to his doctor. Ummm. Man I forgot his name?”
“What? What the hell I got to speak to some doctor for, it wasn’t my fault! He need to go talk to that loony ass nurse they got working there. I swear if I see her little skinny ass again Imma fuck her up real right this time!”
“You can’t do that Nish, don’t you want to see Tone?”
“Yea. But…”
“Go back up there, and ask to speak to Tony’s doctor. Matter fact, call them before you go in to make sure he gonna be there,” Scoop told her.
“Aiight, but I swear if I see that bitch…”
“Just tell the Doc what’s up aiight? He’ll handle that. Right now they thinkin’ you a nut, so you gotta clear that up, yah mean?”
“Aiight, Scoop, could you please tell me what happened?? Who did that to him?” Quanisha asked, softening up now that someone was finally talking to her about Tony.
Scoop and Nisha talked about everything that happened that night, but Scoop conveniently left out the part about it all starting because they were doing a weed run. Nisha immediately realized now how everything had went down. Scoop gave her his new cellphone number, and she promised to call and update Scoop on Tony’s condition.
Chapter 9
It was Jenny’s day off from the hospital. She normally would have still gone in to check on Tony, but today she had some very important plans. It was a perfect 70 degree day, not a cloud in the sky – no better afternoon to do some very special shopping for her special day.
She walked into the small quaint shop, and heard the bells ring, signaling the sales woman that someone had entered her store.
“Hello ma’am, how are you doing this beautiful day?” the pretty young saleswoman asked Jenny.
“Oh I’m doing so well. Thank you so much.”
“My name is Sarah, and I’ll be helping you today. So, you’re looking for a dress huh? What is your style?” the sales lady began. “Wait, let me guess.”
Sarah hustled over to a beautiful dress in the corner near the register. It was strapless and had sequins covering the front. The lower part of the gown was full and perfectly satin. “Classic and elegant. Am I right?”
“Uhhh, no. Actually, I was looking for something more along these lines,” Jenny said as she opened up a Today’s Bride magazine and pointed to a more simple chiffon sleeved dress with a well defined torso wrapped in lace, a straight gown with a long train running behind.
“Oh now that is absolutely gorgeous. Hmmm,” Sarah put her finger on her chin and thought about what she had in stock. “You know I think I might have something with a lace torso. When is your date?”
She guided Jenny over to an area at the center of the store. She showed her several dresses of that style and let her know that as a dressmaker she could tailor the dress Jenny chose to look almost exactly like the picture within a week. Jenny put her hand on her stomach and rubbed it affectionately.
“What if I needed a last minute modification to the abdomen area? Woud you be able to do that?” she asked.
“Ummm, yes I can do that.” Sarah’s eyes roamed down to Jenny’s hand, and she immediately knew what Jenny was talking about. “And you know what? I would even do that at no extra charge.”
Jenny left the store less than an hour later having bought a $2,000 wedding dress on her credit card. Ecstatic at her purchase, she got in her car and headed to the jewelry store to pick up the two carat engagement ring she saw on sale for $2,500 at the Jewelry Factory in Norristown.
She only hoped that by the time the wedding happened, she wouldn’t be needing that last minute dress modification.
* * *
Quanisha didn’t know why she was so nervous as she walked through the automatic sliding hospital doors and headed to the front desk. She had rumbled with the worst and argued with the best over her 22 years. But something about Dr. Stephen’s voice over the phone made her feel anxious about this meeting. Fortunately he was in that day, and had a free appointment at 10:30am. He said that their discussion shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, so she would be in time for work at 12 noon.
“Can I help you miss?” the receptionist asked as Quanisha approached her desk.
“Ummm, yea. I’m supposed to be meeting with Dr. Stephens at 10:30. I’m a little early.”
“And what is your name?” the receptionist said, eyeing Quanisha as if she were there to blow up the building or something.
“It’s Quanisha,” she replied with a slight attitude with an accent on the ‘ish’ part of her name. She was tired of people judging her as some type of hoodrat whenever she walked into a professional atmosphere. She was working a steady job just like this receptionist.
“Dr. Stephens to the front waiting area. Dr. Stephens, please come to the front waiting area.”
Quanisha sat down without another word to the receptionist. About five minutes later, a good looking older black gentleman with salt and pepper hair stepped up to the front desk and said something to the receptionist. She pointed over to Quanisha and he looked over at her with a smile. Quanisha stood up as the doctor approached and saw the warmest look in his eyes.
“Mrs. Jackson?”
“Uh, yea. That’s me,” Quanisha said. She had lied to the hospital about being Tony’s wife, which is why this doctor was referring to her by his last name.
“Come this way.”
The doctor led Quanisha down the hall to a row of small offices, until he reached the one with his name on the door. She felt like she was going to the principal’s office.
“So Mrs. Jackson, sit down.” He didn’t waste any time getting to the point. “I’ve been told that you were involved with an incident with one of my nurses—”
“It wasn’t no incident! Your nurse attacked me with a phone! When I came in there she was kissing Tony and I told her to get out. Then she came from behind me and bashed me in the head with a phone! I’m still getting’ headaches from it. I should sue this hospital!” Quanisha lost control over herself and became agitated.
“Okay, slow down Mrs. Jackson. So you say she hit you with a phone?” Dr. Stephens asked. This was new information for him. The security guard had only told him that Quanisha had Jenny pinned on the wall.
“Yes! Listen, doctor, I don’t got no reason to be coming in your hospital and fighting folks. I do what I’m supposed to do. I work hard at my job and I take care of my business. Now, I come in here to see my man, I get attacked by Nurse Ratchet in there, and I’m getting punished? I can’t see my man now? I’m just now hearing about why he’s here in the first place! And he’s the only family I got!”
Suddenly Quanisha put her head down in her hand and broke down in tears. She looked as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders.
“Mrs. Jackson. Mrs. Jackson, it’s gonna be alright.” The doctor looked at Quanisha with compassion. Then he finally got up; he couldn’t stand to see a young sister in distress.
“Come here,” the doctor comm
anded as he walked over to her and opened his arms to give her a hug. Quanisha hesitated for a minute, but then found herself melting in this stranger’s arms. He reached over to grab a tissue off of his desk and gave it to Quanisha.
“Thank you,” she said as she finally let go of the doctor to blow her nose. She didn’t want to leave the doctor’s embrace. His presence was so warm and loving. She could feel the positivity, compassion and genuineness oozing from him. He had an almost fatherly presence. A father figure was something that Quanisha had never had in her life.
“Now look, I’m going to talk to Nurse Storms and sort all of this drama out. I know that there are always two sides of a story, and I’ll get to the bottom of this Mrs. Jackson. I promise you that. But as far as the visitation situation, you can feel free to visit your husband now. Just try not to get into any other confrontations like before. If you are having any type of problem with a nurse, or any other personnel, just come right here to my office and talk to me directly. Matter of fact, let me give you my pager number,” the doctor said as he grabbed a card from the small holder on his desk. He handed the card to Quanisha and smiled.
“Thank you Dr. Stephens, Imma definitely call you if that happens, cuz I’m telling you the truth. That nurse is crazy, and somebody needs to put her in her place,” Quanisha said.
Something about what Quanisha had just said made Dr. Stephens think back to a bit of office gossip he heard while eating lunch in the cafeteria about a year before. Someone had told him that Nurse Storms was off from work that day because she was going to court to fight a restraining order that someone had put against her. He thought nothing of it at the time, but now he was analyzing that information with the story that Quanisha had just told him.