by Ivory B.
Carlos jolted from his semi sleep when he heard the sound of a phone. He had closed his eyes only seconds ago and felt himself floating into that dream sleep when he heard ringing. Los froze and listened intently for the next ring. He sat up straight looking over at the nightstand where the phone sat on its cradle. The ringing phone threw him for a loop because he hadn’t heard the phone ring since Lucky left home. A thought crossed his mind that maybe this was an emergency so he needed to pick the call up. “Hello,” there was no response nor sound the other end of the line was completely silent. On the first sound of his voice Lucky completely lost it. She broke down bawling hard really having a tantrum, it was a good thing she had her phone on mute. She covered her mouth trying to minimize the sounds of her own cries. Missing him was one thing but to actually hear his voice was almost too much. Carlos couldn’t hear anything but he knew someone was on the other end of the line, he could feel it. “Yo!” he repeated in a harder tone, still no answer. For some strange reason Carlos didn’t feel alarmed or uneasy about the call.
He thought fast on his feet, the only people who had this unlisted number was family and close friends. Then it hit him, could it be? “Lucky! Is that you ma?” Lucky’s eyes bulged in shock and she suddenly felt a chill run up her spine. She reacted without thinking and pressed the end button terminating the call. Carlos looked at the phone in his hand hearing the buzz from the dial tone. A slow smile spread across his lips. The hang up answered his question he knew without a doubt that it was Lucky indeed.
The very next day Los made it home early. He wanted to make sure he was there in case Lucky called again. He found himself falling into the same pattern showering then tuning into his nightly radio show. He lay on the couch in the separate sitting area in his bedroom with anxiety coursing through his body as he began to think the phone call wouldn’t come after all.
Lucky sat on the bed with her knees pulled to her chest and arms wrapped around her knees. She stared at the phone with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Should she? Or should she not? The urge to hear his voice just one more time overtook whatever reservations she had about not calling, like an addict she got a taste the previous night and now she was about to go into a full relapse. These damn slow jamz she was listening to wasn’t making her situation any better. Blocking her number she dialed the numbers once again then put the phone on mute as she listened to the phone ring.
Carlos heart sped up once he heard the phone ring. He looked at the phone and noticed it was a blocked number again. “Hello.” Lucky took a deep breath trying to gain her composure. This time Carlos told himself he wouldn’t scare her off by calling her out. He wanted to be as close to her as possible; if it meant just sitting on the phone with her that was good enough for him. He lay back down and listened to the silence, the only sound was the music playing in his own background. About an hour and a half later Lucky lie there listening to his breathing, she listened as it got heavier then transformed into light snoring. That sound was strangely comforting and soothing to her, so much so that she ended up falling off to sleep as well. Carlos awoke the next morning to the dial tone. Lucky had hung up sometime throughout the night, it didn’t matter though, what did matter is that she was finally calling home and that could only mean she was thinking about him. He went about his entire day with a little extra swag in his step and optimism running through his veins, maybe just maybe there was hope for them.
That third night, same shit different day, Lucky called and Los sat on the phone listening to nothing but dead air. He was tired of this cat and mouse game. He wanted her home and he wanted her home now. Listening to the same love songs every night was killing him. Some reminded him of his relationship with Lucky while others not so much but all of them having an effect on his mental though. Carlos lie on his back with his eyes closed tight. He bit his bottom lip before saying what he had to say.
“Come home to me ma. Please just come home…I can’t lose you over no bullshit Luck. We been rockin wit each other for awhile now, we been through so much that I know we can make it through this. We got so much more to do but we can’t do it being apart. Lucky Charms we’ll work it out baby girl I swear. I don’t care about anything that happened before I just wanna start over, come back to me.” By the time Carlos finished with his plea Lucky knew it was a wrap. Her hiatus from home to get over Los was an epic fail. Lucky hung up nearly an hour later feeling exhausted and more confused than ever.
There was no doubt about it she loved Los and needed him. At times it actually scared her when she thought about how deeply her love ran for him. She knew Los’ love ran just as deep for her she didn’t doubt that at all. But was love really enough when he had hurt her so deeply in the past that it left permanent scars on her heart that were now manifesting through distrust and insecurities? Lucky wanted so badly to love him again with that blind love she used to, when she only saw him through rose colored lenses, when Carlos could do no wrong in her eyes. Then Shyanne came along and killed that façade she had of their perfect love. She knew they had to get back to that place of love they once shared or else they wouldn’t make it. And right now it was safe to say she was miserable without Carlos and she could only guess that if his plea was as sincere as it sounded he was miserable without her too.
Carlos went to bed that night feeling anxious. He had laid his cards out on the table and told Lucky how he felt. Now he could only wait to see what her next move would be. Although he was confident she would be back in no time. He just knew Lucky would be home probably as early as tomorrow morning. Unfortunately for him day 1 went by no Lucky. Day 2, still no Lucky, by the third day he gave up. He was feeling like a lame; he’d pulled a sucka for love ass move by begging Lucky to come home and she showed exactly how she felt about their love when she didn’t show up.
Lucky was curled up in bed feeling dejected; “God please give me a sign, if I’m not supposed to be with this man please let me know. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do. I love him so much,” Lucky sobbed. In the midst of a crying fit while lying on her back her saliva went down the wrong pipe sending her into a coughing frenzy. She jumped up out of bed barely making it to the bathroom where she threw up. Geesh I asked for a sign not death. Looking in the bathroom mirror she couldn’t say she was looking her best. In fact, the image that stared back at her startled her.
The puffy eyes with subtle dark rings around them were evidence that not only was she crying her eyes out she wasn’t getting much sleep either. Her hair showed the results of a head that hadn’t been taken care of lately. Not to mention her weight had taken a dip since she hadn’t had an appetite to eat regularly. Being away from Los seemed to be killing her softly and she knew then that she had to go back home to him.
Carlos walked through his bedroom into the huge walk-in closet his face displaying his disapproval with the progress the housekeepers were making. “Aida this all you got packed up so far?” Los asked with attitude. Usually he would never take that tone with her but today he was in rare form. Aida didn’t take it personal, she’d known Carlos since he was a little kid so she was used to him being temperamental. Today however was different, he was just mean. In all actuality Carlos was hurting and taking his hurt out on the wrong people. There he was the other night on the phone pouring his heart out begging Lucky to come home and she ended up shitting on him by never showing up. To say he felt stupid was an understatement.
“It’s a lot of things to pack up Mr. Johnson,” Aida pleaded. He watched as she took a pile of Lucky’s neatly folded jeans and put them inside one of the many big moving boxes that were strewn all over both the bedroom and closet floors. He hadn’t realized how much things Lucky had, all evidence of how much he spoiled her. The boxes were neatly labeled in categories shoes, bottoms, shirts etc. He sighed exhaustedly when he looked over at the multiple shelves of shoes that hadn’t even been touched, not to mention the boxes of shoes lining the closet floor that didn’t fit on the shelves. “Y’al
l didn’t even get to the shoes yet? Damn! I could’ve packed this shit up faster myself.”
Nice had just entered Los’ house with his key after he rang the doorbell twice and no one answered. He had been calling Los non-stop but he wasn’t picking up his phone either. As Nice climbed the stairs he could hear his brother’s voice trailing from his room and he already knew from the tone in Los’ voice he was in one of his infamous moods. Nice walked into the room shocked to see moving boxes scattered throughout the bedroom and the closet. What was even more shocking was the image of Los carelessly tossing Lucky’s belongings into one of the large moving boxes. Nice was stunned. “Los I been calling ya ass, you had me ride out here cause you wasn’t pickin up…Bruh what is you doin?” Nice questioned the obvious. “What it look like, I’m packin Lucky shit up and having a moving company bring it to her Aunt’s house.” Nice shook his head back and forth in disbelief. Los’ business cell rang causing him to stop what he was doing and leave the closet to take the call.
“Aida you and ya daughter were supposed to be at my house two hours ago.” Aida had been with the family for many, many years. She started off doing housekeeping for Los’ parents when Nice and Los were young. Now that they all had their own homes she split her time amongst the family giving them each specific days and times. “Yes I was but… Mr. Johnson has me doin this,” Aida stammered. Nice picked up on the fact that Aida was being formal with Los something she rarely did with any of them. He could only guess it was Los’ mood that had her acting strange. “You can leave that right there and go help Ty with the house.” Aida hesitated, “Well I don’t wanna get him upset and lose my job.” Nice chuckled lightly “No one’s losing their job. C’mon Aida you know us better than that. Don’t you think Lucky’s gonna be mad when she comes home and see all her things packed up?” It only took Aida a couple of seconds to think on that, “Let’s go,” she told her daughter as she prepared to leave. Nice walked to the front of the house and watched as they hopped in their cars and pulled off. Aida was the only maid he knew pushing a Benz. She was even smart enough to bring her daughter in on the business. Aida straight gettin it off Lysol and Clorox bleach Nice thought to himself with a chuckle. Los brought Nice out of his thoughts when he came in and noticed Aida had left. “Where they go?” Los asked thoroughly confused, he’d walked back into the closet to see both women had disappeared. “I told them to leave.” “What you mean you told them to leave?” “Like I said I told them to leave. It was my turn to have them over at the house anyways, they was supposed to be at my crib hours ago. Furthermore, yo why you up in here packin Lucky’s shit up? You already know she gon dumb out when she see this.” “Fuck I look like sitting around here waitin on a chick? It’s been two months! Two fuckin months and she ain’t back yet. I’m tired. Yo on some real shit I can’t do this wit her no more, she too much. I’ma let her be the next nigga’s headache. I’m done,” Los spat angrily. “Los c’mon Bruh, you know she’ll be back home sooner than later.” “Be back where? Mannn I done already told you she ain’t got no home here,” Los said in a hyper tone with his face all screwed up. Nice chuckled at Los’ reaction he could see just how serious Los was. Honestly Nice didn’t blame him. What did Lucky expect him to do after pulling a stunt like this? The disappearing act wasn’t cute or funny anymore. “A’ight, yo why don’t you come take a ride wit ya boy? C’mon, the day still young. Smoke somethin, get ya mind right and off this bullshit for right now,” Nice suggested. Los agreed reluctantly seeing that it was a good idea since he would otherwise be cooped up in the house for hours trying to pack up the rest of Lucky’s belongings.
Lucky showered her aching body giving herself a thorough cleaning which included shampooing her hair and shaving her body. She stepped out of the shower and wiped the fog from the mirror to stare at her reflection. Looking at herself in the mirror she could see how much of a toll the stress had taken on her. All she really wanted was a good night sleep and she hadn’t had an uninterrupted comfortable sleep since she’d left home. Drying off Lucky was careful not to irritate the new addition to her body as she patted the area dry. I still can’t believe I did this she thought to herself as she dabbed a generous amount of ointment along the tattoo that adorned her lower back right above her ass crack. The tattoo was healing considerably fast although her skin still showed a hue of redness around the area it was almost totally healed. Lucky couldn’t quite figure out what made her do it. She was passing by a swanky shopping plaza during a drive to clear her head when she saw a sign that read ‘We do Tattoos Here’ On impulse she walked in and got her very first tattoo. Carlos is what she got tatted on her lower back. After tending to her tattoo she ran her fingers through her wet mane looking at the split ends and turning her face up. Lucky tried desperately to calm her anxiety as she pulled her hair into a ponytail. Her heart started beating extra hard and she was second guessing her next move. It was apparent that she had lost a bit of weight right after she slipped on her dark blue slim leg jeans that she had worn the day she left home. The jeans that once fit like a glove were now a little baggy, especially in the butt area. “Oh my god, I look like a fuckin crackhead,” she spat while looking in the mirror. After doing a second and third sweep of the room to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything she exited what had been her escape for some time now. The checkout was fairly fast after paying the bill for her room she hopped in her rental car and headed back home to Philly! Philly!
Everything was going without a hitch so far. She had returned the rental car and waited at the rental car company for a taxi to come and get her from there. While waiting on her taxi Lucky had come up with a full proof plan to return home. It was a Saturday night so she knew Mika would be at her shop. There she could get her hair done and try to get a feel of how bad her situation with Los was. She knew if anyone knew anything it was Mika, Lucky knew Los well enough to know he was pissed. After the night he begged her to come home she took a few days to ponder if she really wanted to go there again or just start a new life without him. She knew the answer when she went and got the nigga name tatted on her back. Hell no! She wasn’t letting him go. Really how could a person survive with only half a heart, Carlos had the other half and without him it felt as if not even the most skilled heart surgeon could keep her ass alive, so she was running back to get the piece of his heart to be complete once again. The question was would he give his half up that easily?
Lucky fiddled with the charm bracelet on her wrist as she got closer and closer to the city. Once she was driving down those same familiar streets she had walked damn near all her life the realization that she would have to face the music head on hit her. She rolled down her window taking deep breaths trying to calm her nerves. “You okay back there?” the taxi driver asked looking concerned. “Yeah I’ll be fine; I’m feeling a little car sick is all.” “Please don’t chuck in my truck. If you do it’ll be triple the fair,” The driver said suddenly losing the concerned tone in his voice. Lucky shook her head only in Philly she thought while smiling.
Lucky instructed the cab driver to pull into the back of Mika’s shop that was in the Center City area of Philly. This was Mika’s second shop she’d opened and it was a world away from her shop near South Street. The salon was closed to customers at this hour; being that Mika had to follow merchant and business regulations in the area she shut down the salon around 7pm. Which was totally different from her other shop that would stay open till way after 1AM sometimes. Mika’s shop out here was upscale, swanky and polished; client’s got served Mimosas and Fruit-tinis while getting their hair, pedicures, and manicures done. Whereas the shop off of South Street had turned straight hood as fuck; especially since Mika left her ghetto head stylist in charge of that shop while she focused on the success of this new location. Even the clientele at both shops were a far cry from one another. The clientele in this shop was multi-cultural, sophisticated, and classy. It was highly unlikely that you would see two females coming to blows over their Baby Daddy in thi
s shop, no way.
Usually the girls would all meet up here after salon hours where Mika could pay personal attention to their hair. Most importantly they could kick it with each other, gossip and have their girl bonding time. It seemed as if none of that had changed in her absence as Lucky suddenly became excited when she saw Nice’s Range, Keema’s Beamer and Mika’s Benz. There was also a new Acura TL amongst the cars that she wasn’t familiar with. After paying her rude cab driver his fair she hopped out of the car with a new found energy, anxious to get in and see her fam. She used the key Mika had given her awhile back when Mika went on a trip to Hawaii and wanted Lucky to do periodic check-in’s on the shop. Lucky crept in through the rear and could hear her girls’ chit chatting away. When suddenly she stepped from the shadows into the salon area, “What the fuck is da deal bitches?!” Everyone froze. Ty turned her head and screamed like a mad woman; she jumped up running over to Lucky nearly knocking her over when she hugged her. Keema was right behind Ty as she slid from the chair she was sitting in and wobbled over to Lucky getting emotional. Keema pushed Ty out of the way and hugged Lucky hard enough to stop her breathing. Mika dropped her styling comb immediately and rushed over to Lucky hugging her just as tight as the other women did. Nikki got up from Mika’s styling chair and fiddled with her hair as she watched the charade in back of her through the mirror she was looking in. She rolled her eyes discreetly as she reached for her Michael Kors handbag to pull her MAC lip gloss out to coat her full lips with. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Lucky, it was that she thought everyone made too much of a big fuss about her. In Nikki’s opinion, yeah Lucky was beautiful but shit pretty bitches came a dime a dozen. Not to mention she was a little envious of how good Lucky had it with Los.