by Chunichi
His eyes bugged out of their sockets. “Too bad. Not everyone tips as good as you. If you ever need a cab, you know who you can call.” I watched him as he drove off down the street. The block was quiet, not a soul around. I looked at Lisa’s house and took a deep breath. I tried to keep calm as I walked up to the front door. No use in starting this thing off in a pissed-off mood.
Here we go, I thought as I knocked on the door. I nervously rubbed my hands together as I waited for Lisa to answer. After waiting longer than normal with no answer, I banged on the door a little harder. I looked through the window and didn’t see any movement in the house. I went around and looked through the windows of the garage door and saw both Lisa’s car and mine. Why ain’t this bitch answering? I thought.
I circled the house and peeked in all of the windows. Still no sign of Lisa. I had no choice. I was going to have to enter without her permission. What else could I do? She was holding my property, and I needed it back.
Luckily for me I didn’t need to break any windows to get in. I knew where Lisa hid her spare key. I was happy not to attract the attention of the neighbors. I reached up and felt around the top of the window frame for the key. Damn, it’s not there!
I stepped back and looked at the window. I realized I had been feeling around on the wrong one. It was the one closer to the front door. I went to the right window and felt the key immediately.
The key easily slid into the keyhole, and I cautiously and quietly opened the door. Standing just inside the door, I listened carefully but didn’t hear anyone moving around the house.
“Yo, Lisa,” I yelled.
No answer.
Jackpot! I was going to get my car and all my shit back without having to deal with her crazy ass.
I quickly moved further into the house. My first stop was the kitchen. My car keys were sitting on the counter right where I had left them. I couldn’t believe she hadn’t even touched them since I had left. In one motion I grabbed the keys and dashed upstairs. I was under a time crunch. I needed to gather all of my belongings and get the hell out before Lisa came home.
The bedroom was a mess, with clothes strewn all over the floor and bed. I opened the door to the equally messy walk-in closet. All of my shoes were under a pile of Lisa’s clothes. I threw the clothes into the bedroom and stared at my shoes. I realized I didn’t have anything to put my stuff in. The thought of using one of
Lisa’s suitcases quickly left my mind. That bitch was likely to say I stole her property and hit me with a burglary and theft charge.
I ran back downstairs and grabbed a few garbage bags from the kitchen. Bounding back up the stairs two at a time, I got a little winded. I paused for a brief moment to catch my breath at the top of the stairs. While standing there, I thought I heard a noise downstairs. I quieted my breathing to pay close attention to the sounds of the house. Satisfied that I was still alone, I continued on, easily filling up two trash bags with my clothes and shoes.
I popped the trunk of my car and threw the bags in and immediately rushed back inside to retrieve the rest of my shit. I still needed to get the flat-screen TV and Blu-ray player I’d bought. Once they were packed in the trunk I slammed it closed. I was just about to get in the car when I remembered the bag of weed I had left behind. Can’t leave the kush behind. So I went back in one more time.
I came running back down the stairs with the bag of weed in my hand, excited at the thought of getting the hell out of that house and getting high. As soon as I hit the floor at the bottom of the steps, I was attacked from behind.
“What the fuck are you doing in my house?” Lisa jumped on my back like a lioness attacking a gazelle.
I felt my skin break and the blood flow as she sunk her claws into my neck. Caught off guard, the force of her attack knocked me over, and the weed went flying as we both struggled against each other.
Lisa was grabbing, pulling, kicking, clawing whatever she could, to inflict pain. I was trying to regain my bearings and get her off me. She was fighting with the strength of an elephant and the fury of a rabid dog. I was having trouble containing her, and she was getting some solid blows to my head and face. Not only had she scratched my neck, but she drew blood from my ear and ripped my shirt open.
I was finally able to get a good angle on her, and I hauled off on her. The force of my punch sent her flying back.
“You fuckin’ crazy?” I screamed.
“What you expect me to do? I go to the store and when I get back there’s someone in my house. How you think I’m gonna react?”
“It’s me. Not some filthy crackhead breaking into your place.”
“You look like a crackhead to me.”
“You ain’t got to be like that,” I said, trying to calm her down.
Her breathing was getting back to a normal rhythm, but she still had a wild look in her eyes.
“Like what? You broke into my house. Fool!” She tried to smooth her wild mane of hair.
“I didn’t break in. I used your key to get in. I wanted to surprise you.” I took a step toward her.
“You surprised me, all right. I almost killed your ass.”
I looked at her seductively and said, “I’d like to kill that ass. Why you think I came over here? I couldn’t stand being away from you.”
“Oh, yeah?” She smiled.
“I was hoping we could drop all this bullshit between us. Get back to some good lovin’ like we used to.” I stepped right in on her and stroked her hair.
“We might be able to drop all this. You gonna show me how you want to kill this ass.”
I slapped her ass. “You know I do.” “Come on then.” She started walking upstairs, and I followed. When we got to her bedroom, she started walking toward her closet. I needed to stop her before she got inside and saw my shit gone. “Where you going, babe?” I grabbed her hand.
She pulled away. “I want to put on something sexy for you.”
“What for?” I reached for her hand again. “I’ll just be taking it off.”
“It makes me feel sexy.” She avoided my grasp and went to the closet. It took a second, but then I heard it. “Oh no, you didn’t. You muthafucka.” She came running out of the closet with a shoe in her hand.
I spun on my heels and darted down the stairs, with Lisa in hot pursuit. I went straight to my car and jumped in.
Lisa came running into the garage with a poker from the fireplace. “You gonna pay, you piece of shit!” she screamed.
I put the car in reverse and was halfway out the garage when Lisa swung and smashed the passenger side window. My tires screeched as I swung out of the driveway and slammed the car into drive, but she was able to smash the rear window as well before I could hit the gas. Her neighbors started coming from their houses.
“You’re gonna regret this, Touch! You fucked with the wrong woman! Just you wait!” She threw the poker at my car as I sped down the street.
I looked in my rearview and in the distance saw Lisa still throwing a fit in the middle of the street. This bitch was legit crazy. There was no telling what she was going to come back with. But, at least, I had my car.
Chapter 9
“Taking the Law into Your Own Hands”
Lisa
The color bark brown does my body good in this suit, I thought, admiring myself in my full-length mirror. It’s a shame this is the first time I’ve ever worn it. I was dressed professionally with a touch of sexiness. I had to have my boobies hanging out just a little. Give them a little glimpse of what they can’t have.
Before I left my apartment, I dabbed Versace Blue Jeans perfume behind my ears and my neck. I got a glimpse of my ass as I walked off. Hell, if I didn’t go super-duper psycho on Touch, he’d still be giving it to me from the back. That nigga was only good for sex, which was what I craved.
When I walked into the courtroom, the most important eyes I cared about was Touch’s. I wanted him to see what he had created and pay for what he had done. No one fucking hits me and gets
away with it. He didn’t even have the decency to apologize to me. That would have eliminated most of this. On top of that, his dumb ass had made it worse by antagonizing me and breaking into my house. I wanted him to get on his knees to beg for mercy and for my forgiveness. I fell asleep easily at night, knowing Touch wouldn’t sleep as he constantly thought about what his new life would be like behind bars.
When I arrived in the courtroom the district attorney with his tuna fish breath pulled me to the side. He wanted to go over some last-minute details. I didn’t listen to a word he was saying. I was searching the courtroom for Touch, who was nowhere to be found.
“All rise,” the bailiff announced. “The Honorable
J.B. Gordon.”
I was glad this show was finally starting. I was hoping Touch would be the first to go before the judge, so he could be the first to go to jail. I knew the look on his face would be priceless as soon as the judge announced his guilty verdict. And, after it was all said and done, I had plans to visit him in jail just to laugh and gawk in his face. He had to learn he’d fucked with the wrong one. There was no way he could get away with what he did to me. Touch treated me as if I was a piece of shit. No man had treated me like that, and I wasn’t about to allow a man to treat me like that. I had been sitting on the court bench for over two hours, and my case still hadn’t been called. Getting impatient, I looked at my watch. It was eleven-fifteen, and I still hadn’t seen Touch. For a minute, I’d begun to think he’d bucked on court and decided to be on the run and leech off another chick, like he’d done me.
I decided to give him another fifteen minutes to show. No such luck. I gathered my things. I wanted to check the docket to be sure I was in the right courtroom.
Just as I was about to stand, the court doors opened, and Touch and his attorney walked through the doors like they owned the place. Touch was decked out in a suit. He walked toward the front of the courtroom with his hot-shot attorney. Our eyes met, and he looked away immediately. He was trying hard not to look my way. I knew he saw me because I was sitting at the end of the bench, near the aisle. I figured he was still pretty pissed off about the baby doll incident and our last altercation at my house.
We weren’t called until after the lunch break. Sitting through all that court bullshit wasn’t fun at all. And I was anxious to get it over with.
“The Commonwealth calls Lisa Platow to the stand,” the bailiff said.
I stood up and walked to the stand like I was walking the runway in Fashion Week. I positioned myself on the witness stand then looked at Touch with piercing eyes. My eyes were glued on him when the bailiff said his spiel about telling the truth, nothing but the truth, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, I agreed and even nodded my head. But I was agreeing to tell my own version of the truth. Like they say, it’s three sides to every story, your side, my side and the truth.
“Ms. Platow, would you explain to the court how you received your wounds?” the Commonwealth’s Attorney asked.
“The defendant, Trayvon Davis, beat me, punched me, and kicked me, eventually causing me to have a busted nose,” I explained through cries. The night before I’d rehearsed this part over and over in the bathroom mirror, hoping the judge would believe me.
“Is this the first time you have been abused by the defendant?”
“No, it isn’t.” I pulled a handkerchief from my purse and wiped my tears.
“How often would this occur?” The Commonwealth’s Attorney was setting it up to go in for the kill.
“He would assault me in some form at least once a week. The simplest things would trigger it. If the defendant had a bad day or I did something that he didn’t like, then he would punish me,” I lied.
“No further questions, Your Honor.”
Next, it was Touch’s lawyer’s turn to question me. I knew he was about to attempt to dig into my ass, but I was determined not to lose my cool. The last thing I wanted to do was appear as the mad black woman I knew he was gonna try to make me out to be.
“Ms. Platow, how many times have you filed a police report for these so-called occurrences of domestic violence?”
“I’m not sure,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders.
“Well, maybe I can help you out. The only police report I see is the one recently filed along with your stolen vehicle. Never once, prior to this incident, did it mention physical violence. Nor did you go to the hospital. There are no hospital reports at all.” Touch’s lawyer was really making me out to be a liar.
“I told the cop what happened to me. What more do you expect? I was afraid to call the police prior to this incident, and I was too ashamed to go to the hospital.” My palms had suddenly become sweaty.
“Ms. Platow, it’s clear to me that you’re just a scorned woman trying to get back at a man who you’re in love but who’s not in love with you.”
This lawyer was getting under my skin. Because I was afraid what may come out of my mouth, I remained silent, but I was sure my thoughts were written all over my face as I rolled my eyes.
“Your Honor, based on the huge lack of physical evidence, I move to dismiss this case. This case is frivolous and an obvious fraud.” Touch’s lawyer walked away. “Ms. Platow, you may step down,” the judge ordered.
As I started to walk back to my seat, I realized I had just lost this battle. My hands couldn’t stop shaking, not to mention my sweaty palms. Before taking my seat, I cut my eyes at Touch one last time, who sat calmly with a smirk across his face. The mere sight of his smug little ass made my blood boil.
“Please rise for the verdict,” the judge announced.
I listened as the judge announced a not guilty verdict for the assault charge and guilty for the stolen vehicle charge. He was sentenced to one year supervised probation. I couldn’t believe my ears. Even if Touch was found not guilty on the assault charge, I at least expected him to get time for stealing my damn car.
I grabbed my purse and began to storm out of the courtroom. I met Touch at the courtroom door. “After you,” he said then began to laugh.
“Fuck you, Touch!” I yelled, totally losing my mind.
That laugh in my face was the last straw. I took off my five-inch stiletto heels and started beating Touch with it. I got in a few good jabs in his dick and face. Before I knew it, he had begun to bleed, and the bailiff was all over me. Before he was able to pry me off him, I’d managed to bite Touch in the face. The bailiff had saved him this time, but it wasn’t over. This was just the beginning. I had it in for Touch, and he was gonna pay. I’d decided to take justice into my own hands. After I made bail and got myself out for contempt of court. Now I was doubly pissed.
Chapter 10
“Woman of Destruction”
Jewel
My hands were starting to cramp as I sorted Touch’s money into stacks of ones, fives, tens, twenties, and hundreds. It seemed like the stack of ones was always the smallest. Although I knew it wasn’t right, and to some it may even be stealing, I would always take most of Touch’s one-dollar bills for myself. By the time I was done, I’d have at least two hundred dollars in ones alone. Believe it or not, he never even missed them. As far as I was concerned, Touch owed me, and I deserved a little gift. Over time those extra ones added up to designer handbags, jeans, and shoes that I loved. And I never once took a fifty or a hundred-dollar bill. I knew my limit, and I wasn’t about to push it.
After I separated the money and marked the large bills with a counterfeit pen, I slid it through the money counter. I thought back to those times I used to count each bill by hand. Talk about carpel tunnel and some major hand cramps! It took quite a bit of begging, but Touch finally bought a money counter.
Once I verified the amount and strapped it, I placed the money aside. Then I pulled out all the bills for the month and totaled them up. Things had really gotten behind, with Touch being on the run and then locked up. I was slowly getting out of debt with all the money coming in and was grateful that our bills were finally getting caught up. We would
have been out of debt much sooner, but you know I needed to pamper myself. A girl needs her bags, shoes, jewelry, and clothes.
With Touch being in the drug name, it wasn’t wise to put anything in his name, so everything fell on me. As soon as we stopped paying the bills, collectors were after me like I’d stolen something. My credit was ruined, and my bank account had a lien.
So I nearly jumped for joy as I grabbed enough money to pay all our past due bills in full. I counted out bills money and put the rest of the money in the vault in the basement. I walked to the vault with a permanent smile on my face.
I know people say money can’t buy happiness, but it sure does make things a lot easier in life. Which in turn gives happiness. Not only that, money is the number one reason marriages fall apart, so what does that tell you? I noticed since Touch had been making a little money, things between us were getting a little better.
Our relationship wasn’t the best, and we definitely still had our issues, but things were a little brighter. At least we had hope at this point. I still didn’t feel we had gained back that love we’d had in the past, and we still weren’t quite that dynamic duo of a team as we were in the past either. But I was grateful and hopeful that we were slowly making progress.
Rico had stopped calling and harassing me. Plus, those crazy-ass anonymous calls had ceased as well. I was no longer afraid to go outside to get the mail anymore or packing my gun just to go to the grocery store. I was even starting to feel safe without Touch in the house. I was feeling so good that I’d decided to do something special for him.
I whipped up a T-bone steak and scrambled eggs with cheese, his all-time favorite meal. I purposely had a grill built into the kitchen stovetop. It was nights like these that it came in handy. I popped open a bottle of Moët to enjoy with our meal and lit candles in the dining room, kitchen, bedroom, and even the stairs. Then I turned on some jazz music to create a relaxed mood in the house.
I didn’t want to say much to Touch, except how much I truly loved him. Enjoying our food and riding the shit out of him was what both of us needed.