by Jade Jones
My heart rate sped up once the driver of the truck inched his vehicle closer to mine as though he were planning on side swiping it.
“Chill the fuck out!” I screamed before veering to the right to avoid a collision.
“Woo! Woo!” Tiffany cheered in the backseat, completely oblivious to what was happening.
Suddenly, the truck swerved into my lane practically running me off the road!
“Fuckin’ stop!” I screamed. Flashbacks instantly came to mind from when Kevin had rear-ended me and Pocahontas the night she had been killed.
The guy on the passenger side found the entire situation comical but I was scared for my damn life! It was obvious that I was dealing with a bunch of drunken idiots.
“Whew! Cameron, do it again!” Tiffany sang from the backseat.
“Tiff, shut the hell—Ahh! Fuck!”
The truck jerked back into my lane and I quickly veered over to my right, driving on top of the curb to avoid an accident!
“What the hell is wrong with ya’ll?!” I screamed.
The truck slowly pulled back into their appropriate lane and I hesitantly pulled back onto the road. I instantly noticed the red light up ahead but I had no intentions whatsoever to stop. I didn’t trust sitting at a red light with those idiots.
Pressing my foot down on the gas pedal, I quickly accelerated and sped through the red light, leaving the truck behind—
Beep!
“Shit!” I screamed after nearly colliding with a Dodge Caravan!
“Cameron?” Tiffany groaned. “Cameron, I don’t feel so good. I think I’m gonna be sick.”
“Come on, Tiff! You can’t hold that shit in ‘til we get home?” I asked clearly frustrated. I was still quite shaken up from the bullshit those guys had just pulled.
Tiffany ignored me as she opened up the back door and stuck her head out.
“Tiffany, what are you doing?!” I yelled.
There was no response, only the guttural moans of her emptying the contents of her stomach. She didn’t even give me a chance to pull over.
Once she finished, she slammed the door shut and plopped back into her seat. “You gotta mint or something?” she asked.
***
The following morning, I had called a local mechanic shop to have my car towed from the hospital—luckily it wasn’t already towed off the premises having been there overnight. Driving Jude’s Fisker Karma, I decided to visit him today. I had to really get down to the bottom of this whole “Ericka thing” because I didn’t know how far the bitch was planning on taking things in order to have Jude all to herself. I wasn’t for the unnecessary drama.
I prayed Jude wouldn’t have any visitors so that I could get some quality time with him, but to my dismay, I was met with the unexpected sight of Ericka sitting in the visitor’s chair beside Jude’s bed.
Before either one of them could notice my presence, I darted alongside the doorframe in order to eavesdrop on their conversation.
“She is the reason you’re in here to begin with. Listen to yourself, Jude—”
“Every couple goes through shit, E,” he argued. “I’m not finna leave my girl cuz that’s what you want.”
“Your mother hates her,” Ericka continued. “In case you didn’t know that.”
“My mother ain’t gotta date her,” Jude joked.
“Jude,” Ericka whined. “This is serious,” she said. “I’m sure you know by now that I came back just for you. I want things to be the way they used to be. Remember those days?” Ericka reached over to touch Jude’s cheek, but he quickly grabbed her hand in mid-reach. “Let me take care of you, Jude—”
“Look, E, I appreciate you comin’ here. I’m diggin’ the support. I really am. But real talk, shit ain’t going down between us the way you want it to. And if you can’t respect my relationship, then maybe you shouldn’t come around anymore. I’m just saying.”
Ericka looked offended as hell. “But—”
“Look, it ain’t gone never be an us, E. Period. I’m not giving up on my girl, flat out—”
Ericka folded her arms. “Oh, you mean like how you gave up on me?” she spat.
Jude sighed in frustration. “Man, don’t go there.”
“Like you gave up on our future. You put the money in my hand and told me to get the abortion. Remember that?” Ericka’s voice cracked as she spoke. “You gave up on me and our child. Why is this ghetto bitch so important to you? What the hell does she have that I don’t? Huh?”
“Ericka, I’m not about to go there with you—”
“You know what? Fine! Alright, it’s cool. Sooner or later, you’ll start thinkin’ with your head instead of your dick. And then you’ll see what a big ass mistake you’re making.”
“Yeah, I hear you, E,” Jude said nonchalantly.
Ericka snatched her purse off the plastic hospital nightstand and stormed out the room. She practically ran into me on her way out.
I couldn’t help but to crack a smirk after she realized that I had been standing there all that time eavesdropping. “Obviously the better woman has won,” I stated bluntly. I knew I was behaving childishly but I couldn’t resist the urge to rub it in her face.
“Yeah whatever, bitch. You’re just something to do for now. Believe that.” She looked me up and down with disgust before walking past me, brushing against my shoulder slightly.
I watched Ericka disappear inside the elevator before walking into Jude’s room.
“Hey, baby,” I greeted sweetly.
“’Sup babe,” he smiled.
I had planned on telling Jude about Ericka slashing my tires, however I realized now wasn’t the time.
“So…um…I couldn’t help but to overhear,” I paused. “I didn’t know you and Ericka’s past was so deep—”
“Whatever you heard…that was me then…I wasn’t ready to settle down. I was still a kid myself, you feel me?”
I walked over towards Jude and took a seat on the edge of his bed.
“I understand,” I said.
Jude sat up in bed a little and motioned for me to come closer.
I eased up in bed and lied beside him. “Ericka is determined to get you back,” I simply said.
“That chick hasn’t been the same since the abortion.”
I looked up at Jude in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Well…she really wanted the baby to begin with. We went back and forth over the pregnancy for a while,” he explained. “By the time she went through with the abortion, she was five months.”
“Sheesh,” I commented. “I didn’t know they could do it that late into the pregnancy.”
“Yeah,” Jude sighed. “She was really fucked up afterward. Mentally…emotionally…And then six months later she lost her baby sister, Elise to leukemia…”
“Oh wow”. Poor girl, I thought. Suddenly, I felt sympathetic towards Ericka and understood her odd behavior a little bit more.
“She fell into a deep depression afterward. Started taking all types of pills and anti-depressants…” Jude looked out the hospital room’s window. “Shit got too real after she tried to commit suicide—”
“She tried to commit suicide?!” I asked in disbelief. Oh hell no, I thought.
“She overdosed on prescription pills,” he said. “Spent a little time in a mental facility…once she was released she enrolled herself in the Air Force. That was almost three years ago,” he explained. “We stayed in contact for the most part, talking to each other on the phone and shit…”
Smirking slightly, I asked, “Were you selling her dreams, Jude?”
“What do you mean?” he asked dumbfounded.
“You know damn well what I mean,” I said.
Jude shrugged. “I mean we talked about maybe getting back together and shit. But as time went on, I just lost interest in rekindling what we had.”
“In other words, you met Pure Seduction.” I was being a smart ass now.
“Don’t go there, bay,” he w
arned me. “I mean, shit…we—”
“Sshh,” I whispered before placing my finger against Jude’s lips. “You don’t even gotta talk about it anymore. That’s the past,” I told him. “We’re the present and the future.”
Jude smiled. “The future, huh?”
I slowly leaned over and kissed him.
“I like the sound of that,” he said.
The sudden sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted our passionate kiss. Jude and I focused our attention on the nurse standing in the doorway.
“I hate to interrupt you two, but visiting hours will be ending soon.”
“Okay,” Jude and I said in unison. I turned to face my man. “Well, I guess I’d better get going.” I gave him a peck on the lips. I also decided to withhold the fact about Jude’s account being frozen. For now.
“Alright. Love you, babe,” Jude told me.
“Love you too.”
After giving him one last kiss, I made my way back to the car. I prayed Ericka hadn’t slashed my damn tires again…or keyed the car for that matter. After everything Jude had told me about her, it was obvious that the chick had some serious problems, issues, and concerns. Honestly, I felt sorry for the girl.
Luckily, when I reached the car everything looked in order. I hit the automatic door unlock button—
“Aye, bitch?!”
I quickly turned around at the sound of the familiar voice—Suddenly Ericka launched a Burger King cup full of hot ass orange soda at me!
The beverage splattered all over my expensive Gucci drape dress. “Oh, hell no!” I screamed.
Ericka quickly skirted off in her Camry, but I was hot on her heels, as I hopped into my car and pulled off.
Chapter 9
I was in hot pursuit as I followed Ericka’s silver Toyota Camry out the hospital’s parking lot and into traffic. Ericka and I were pushing over forty miles per hour as we flew up Madison Avenue! We were in adjacent lanes shouting out threats and obscenities at one another through our lowered windows.
“Bitch, pull over!” I threatened.
“Kiss my ass!” Ericka retaliated as she accelerated ahead of me.
Her little Toyota Camry was no match against my sports car. I floored the gas pedal and we were once again side by side.
“Bitch, why don’t you go back to whatever projects you came from?!” Ericka yelled.
“Hoe, I swear when I catch your ass—”
Screeeeeeecchh!
Boom!
My forehead instantly collided with the steering wheel! The impact was so hard that my car instantly launched backwards sending the Cadillac Escalade, I had just rear-ended, forward a few feet.
I was so caught up arguing with Ericka that I didn’t even realize I was driving in a right turn only lane.
Ericka quickly sped through the yellow traffic light but not before tooting her horn twice as if mocking me.
Jude is going to freaking kill me, I thought.
I touched the center of my forehead where I quickly felt a speed knot beginning to form. My neck was sore from the instant whip lash, and I could taste blood in my mouth from when I had bit down on my tongue.
“Shit,” I cursed surveying the damage from the inside of the car. The windshield was cracked. The driver and the passenger side windows were both shattered. “This is not happening,” I said before trying to open up the driver door.
The driver of the Cadillac Escalade quickly hopped out his vehicle in order to survey the damage I had caused.
I instantly noticed the driver door wouldn’t budge after the first few attempts but after ramming my shoulder against it a couple times, it finally pried open. Broken glass littered the street as I stepped out.
A red Honda Civic quickly pulled behind me and a white woman jumped out. “Oh my God! Are you alright?!” she asked in a concerned tone.
“I am so sorry,” I expressed compassionately to the driver of the Escalade. His back was still turned to me as he looked over the damage I had caused. “I…I wasn’t paying attention,” I slowly made my way over towards him.
“What the fuck?!” he cursed. He would need a whole new frame, I assumed.
“I am so sorry,” I repeated. “I have insurance. I—”
The guy turned around and faced me and my heart instantly sank into the pit of my stomach! My mouth was wide open as I stared into the dark, emotionless eyes of Pocahontas’ killer!
“Kevin…” His name came out as an inaudible whisper.
When Kevin realized it was me who had rear-ended him, he looked just as surprised as I did.
Suddenly, I did the one and only thing I could think of at a moment like this. I quickly turned around ran off—however, Kevin unexpectedly grabbed my forearm before I was able to flee.
“Let me go!” I screamed. His grip was on my arm was firm. “Somebody help me!” My heart raced uncontrollably as fear coursed through my veins.
The crowd of onlookers quickly pulled out their cell phones, preparing to dial the police. Kevin probably thought I was crazy. After all, I was the one who had hit him, but I couldn’t help the fact that I was scared as hell.
Flashbacks suddenly came to mind from when he had let loose two bullets into Pocahontas’ body without so much as blinking an eye. I thought about how he stood over me as I laid in the middle of the street, with his gun aimed at me…
The moment I blinked I heard a single gunshot go off!
“Get off me!” I continued to yell.
“Yo, what the hell is wrong with you?!” Kevin yelled before releasing his grip.
I didn’t stick around to answer as I hopped into the crashed up Fisker Karma—skidding the side of Kevin’s truck as I frantically pulled off.
***
“What do you mean I need a police report?” I yelled into the receiver. I was on the phone with Jude’s insurance company and they were giving me the runaround on the process of getting his car repaired.
“Yes ma’am. It’s imperative that we have a police report. We also need to speak with the other person involved in the accident’s car insurance company. Your settlement claim can take as long as two months—”
“Two months?!” I repeated. “I don’t have two months.”
“Well, ma’am, once you acquire the proper—”
I didn’t give the customer service agent time to finish her sentence before I rudely disconnected the call.
“Jude is going to kill me,” I told myself for the hundredth time. “Why the fuck did I just pull off like that?”
Tiffany was seated at the breakfast bar watching me practically throw a fit because of the dilemma I was in.
“Girl, you are acting like you can’t scrape the money up to get his car repaired. You made six hundred last night and you told me that was a slow night. So how much are you raking in on a good night?” Tiffany asked. “Eleven…twelve hundred?” she said. “I don’t even know why you’re sweating it. Today’s Friday. We’ll make a killing tonight—”
“We?” I asked sarcastically.
Tiffany sat up in the bar stool and pushed her glasses up. “Yeah. Me and you. Who else?” she asked.
I snorted. “Girl, you are not going back to The Shakedown.”
“What do you mean I’m not?” she asked.
“Tiff…,” I sighed. “You ain’t about that life, girl,” I joked.
“What are you talking about? I did good last night.” Tiffany sounded like a little child trying to convince their parents that they were now a big kid. “I did good,” she stated again.
“Girl, good and drunk,” I teased.
“I may have been drunk but I made pretty good money,” she noted. “You can say what you want, but you’re not about to stop me from shaking this ass.”
I burst into laughter. “What ass?”
Tiffany tried to keep a straight face, but she quickly burst out laughing seconds later.
***
“Hold on,” Tiffany quickly spoke up. “Can you stop at that store? I w
anna grab some gum real quick.”
I made a face. “Gum?”
Tiffany craned her neck to look at me. “Yeah. Gum. Can’t be up in no guys’ faces with funky breath,” she laughed.
“Girl, the club owner does not want us chewing no damn gum. He said it looks ghetto,” I told her.
Tiffany snickered. “Well, how the hell are we going to make sure we have minty breath?”
“Girl, you better pop a damn Altoid before you leave the dressing room. That’s what I do.”
“Well, pull over I need some mints,” she said.
Sighing dejectedly, I pulled my truck into the 7-Eleven parking lot straight ahead.
Tiffany hopped out the truck before me. “You want something from inside?” she offered.
“Nah, I’m coming in too,” I told her.
The minute we walked into the store, I went into the back and fetched a twenty ounce Pepsi from the beverage cooler. Making my way towards the checkout line, I suddenly felt someone grip my elbow. Yet, it wasn’t a firm or forceful grip.
His touch, however, felt very familiar. “Hey, what’s up, Cameron?” Klimaxxx greeted.
It had been quite a few months since we had last run into each other and sadly it was under unfortunate circumstances. Silk had been shot in the parking lot of Pandora’s Box after a brutal fist fight between him and Tank. Klimaxxx and I had rushed him to hospital that night; Silk was barely hanging on to an inch of his life. That was the last time we had seen one another.
“Hey. How have you been?” I asked.
Klimaxxx was dressed trendy wearing a Dolce and Gabbana Muhammad Ali t-shirt and a pair of gray cargo shorts. On his feet was the latest pair of Nike LeBron 9 shoes.
Klimaxxx was definitely an attractive guy. Standing at six feet two inches, he was dark-skinned with chiseled facial features. Full sleeve tattoos adorned both his arms and neck.
“I’ve been pretty good.” He paused. “Aye, listen, I’m sorry about what happened—”
“It’s fine,” I waved him off. I really didn’t want anyone else’s sympathy because of Silk’s death. I just wanted to move on with my life.
“Yeah, I didn’t get a chance to make it to his funeral,” he said. “I don’t really do too well in settings like that. But I chopped it up for a minute at the Passover. I didn’t see you there though,” he acknowledged.