Jaicyn tried to remain calm but dealing with Ramel was dangerous. There was a small crowd beginning to form so she hoped that Sandy or one of the cooks would come and kick Ramel and his crew out before things got out of hand.
“You told your boyfriend that my uncle touched you! Rayshawn put Mario in the hospital for two days!”
“He did!” Jaicyn yelled. “Mario is a creep! If I hadn’t stopped him, his perverted ass probably would have raped me! I’m glad Rayshawn kicked his ass!”
Jaicyn didn’t even see Ramel’s hand shoot out until she felt the sting as he slapped her in the face. Her hand held the left side of her face and tears stung her eyes. Highly charged irrational anger flooded her mind and took over. Instinctively her right hand balled into a fist. She swung and missed. Ramel laughed.
“You don’t want to fight me, Jay-Jay.”
Jaicyn swung again and her fist connected with Ramel’s jaw. Shock that she had actually hit him prevented him for moving…momentarily.
“Hit me again, bitch!” Jaicyn yelled. “I swear, Ramel, I will fuck you up right here!”
Before the situation took a turn for the worse, Sandy, followed by one of the cooks came running into the dining room.
“Get out of here!” Sandy screamed. “Ramel, if you don’t get the hell out of my place, I’m calling the police.”
Ramel laughed at Sandy’s threat. He wanted to bring Rayshawn out of hiding. Word would spread like wildfire that Ramel was on the south side and that he’d bitch slapped Rayshawn’s girlfriend. He was bound to retaliate.
“Jay-Jay, you can’t stay away from me forever,” Ramel laughed and walked out of the restaurant with his cousins. Jaicyn ran into the bathroom. Autumn followed.
“You alright?” she asked, handing Jaicyn a towel she’d filled with ice.
Jaicyn looked in the mirror. Her left cheek was beginning to swell. She took the ice pack and pressed it against her face, already contemplating a plan to make Ramel pay for messing up her face.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Are you going to tell Rayshawn?” Autumn asked, thinking that would be the smart thing to do.
“No,” Jaicyn stated calmly. “Ramel did this shit to get back at Rayshawn. I’m going to take care of his punk ass myself. What kind of fucking coward slaps a girl? Nope, Ramel is going to get his. I’ll tell Rayshawn later.”
Autumn knew that Jaicyn thought she could hold her own in a fight against anyone but going up against Ramel, who was older than her and had guns, was just stupid.
“Don’t even think about that,” Autumn said. “Let Rayshawn handle it.”
“No,” Jaicyn insisted. “This shit between me and Ramel has gone on long enough. I’m not afraid of him,” she lied.
“So this is a Puerto Rican thing?” Autumn asked sarcastically.
“As a matter of fact it is. I shouldn’t have ever told Rayshawn about Mario. I wasn’t thinking. I gotta get out of here.” Jaicyn handed Autumn her apron and slipped out the back of the restaurant.
Sandy’s was about four blocks away from Jaicyn’s apartment. As she walked, Jaicyn thought about how she was going to take care of the mess she’d made without getting Rayshawn killed. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t hear the car pull up beside her or Ramel hop out of it.
“Jay-Jay,” Ramel called.
“Get away from me,” Jaicyn ordered.
“Don’t play with me,” Ramel said. “Get in the car.”
There was a cold glint in Ramel’s steel gray eyes. Jaicyn had seen that look before. She knew that there was no way in hell she was getting in the car with him.
“Ramel, chill out,” she said calmly, trying to step around him. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Ramel blocked her path. “Get in the car, Jay-Jay.”
“No.”
Ramel lifted his shirt, revealing the butt of his .45 that was stuck in his pants. Jaicyn stepped back, keeping her eyes on the gun.
Fuck! Rayshawn had given her a small handgun a few months ago but she never carried it. This would be the perfect time to have it on her. Ramel wouldn’t be so quick to pull out his gun if she had hers.
“Get in the fucking car, now!” he growled.
“Come on now,” she said nervously, wishing that someone would come and help her but the block was unusually quiet. “Just leave me alone.”
Ramel wasn’t having it. He stepped closer to her and grabbed her by the hair with one hand and pulled his gun with the other.
“Let’s go,” he demanded, pressing the gun against the small of her back and pushing her into his black Monte Carlo.
As hard as she tried, she couldn’t keep her fear from showing. She was being kidnapped and there wasn’t anyone around to help her! She had no idea where Ramel was going to take her or planned on doing to her once they got there. Her heart pounded in her chest as she searched frantically for any sign that anyone may have saw him force her into the car. No one was on the street.
“Let me out of this fucking car!” she screamed.
“Shut the fuck up!” Ramel yelled back at her. “Don’t make me shoot you in my car, Jay-Jay. You know how much I love my car.”
While Ramel sped through the streets, Jaicyn tried to conjure up a plan to get away from Ramel but her mind was blank. Fear had clouded her mind and she couldn’t think straight. She bit down on her lip trying to keep her composure. When Ramel turned the car down a street that Jaicyn knew led to the west side, her stomach started to ache.
“Where are you taking me?” she whispered, trying to fight back the tears that were welling up in her eyes.
“Where you belong,” Ramel answered. “You’re gonna apologize to my uncle for lying on him.”
“Ramel,” Jaicyn said angrily, “Take me home.”
Ramel didn’t answer as the car sped down the street. Jaicyn looked out the window as they drove past her grandmother’s house. Juanita’s car was in the driveway. If she could figure out a way to get out of the car, she could go to her grandmother’s. She’d be safe there.
Ramel turned the corner and pulled to a stop in front of an abandoned house. There were boards on the windows. Jaicyn stared at the graying paint and rusted paneling.
What the hell was she going to do?
Ramel slid out of the driver’s seat and one of his cousins took his place. He opened the back door where Jaicyn was and ordered her to get out of the car.
“I’m not going in there,” Jaicyn said defiantly. “You’re out of your damn mind.”
“Get the fuck out of the car, Jaicyn,” Ramel screamed.
Jaicyn didn’t move until Ramel reached in and punched her in the stomach. She doubled over in pain as Ramel pulled her out of the car by her arm. It felt like he was trying to pull her arm out of the socket.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Ramel asked innocently as he forced her to walk up the raggedy porch. “All you have to do is apologize to Mario. Ain’t nobody gon hurt your dumb ass.”
If that was the case they’d have went to Mario’s store or his house perhaps, not some abandoned crack house. She knew better than anything that Ramel and Mario had every intention of hurting her and possibly more.
Mario was alone in the house when Ramel pushed Jaicyn through the door. He was sitting on a tattered and dirty sofa smoking a cigarette. He smiled when he saw Jaicyn.
“Well, don’t you look cute?” Mario said, standing up and walking towards her. When he got close enough he ran his fingers through her hair.
“You cut your hair. Too bad, I liked it long.”
Jaicyn tried to turn and run but Ramel had a firm grip on her arm. She tried to wiggle out of his grasp but he tightened his grip. Her arm ached where his fingers where, no doubt, leaving large finger sized bruises.
“You’re not going anywhere so don’t even try it,” Ramel said. “If you try to run, I will shoot you.”
“Why are y’all doing this?” Jaicyn yelled. “What did I do that was so wrong?”
“
You forgot you’re one of us,” Ramel answered loudly in her ear.
“Bullshit!” Jaicyn yelled back, trying to stall the inevitable.
The look on Mario’s face as he eyed her short skirt and tight tank top made her stomach do back flips. The first time he touched her, she’d forced herself not to vomit. If he touched her again, she wasn’t going to hold back.
“Let me go!” she yelled again.
“Apologize to my uncle!” Ramel ordered. “Tell him you’re sorry being such a bitch and getting your boyfriend to beat him up. Tell him!”
Jaicyn glowered at Ramel defiantly. “Fuck you,” she said slowly.
She wouldn’t show him how afraid she was. She was tougher than Ramel knew. Whatever they had planned for her wasn’t half as bad as what she was going to do to them as soon as Ramel let go of her arm. She looked past Mario and around the room searching for anything she could use as a weapon. The house was full of broken beer bottles, garbage, and remnants of all the crack that was smoked there. Nothing she could use as a weapon except for the beer bottles.
“Jay-Jay,” Mario cooed, “don’t be like that. You don’t have to act that way. We’re alone now.”
He reached up like he was going to grab her breasts. Jaicyn slapped his hand away and pushed at Ramel, loosening his grip so she could get away.
“Get the fuck away from me!” she screamed. She turned and tried to run out of the door again. She stopped running when the sound of a gunshot echoed through the small room. She turned. Her eyes met the dull dark barrel of Ramel’s gun pointed at her forehead.
“Come here,” Ramel said in a softer but more threatening voice.
“No,” Jaicyn answered. “You think I’m just about to let you fuck me? You’re going to have to shoot me, Ramel.”
“I don’t want to shoot you, Jay-Jay. We just want to have a little fun.”
“Rayshawn is going to fuck you up if you don’t let me go!” the words left her mouth before she knew it.
Ramel laughed sadistically. “I want him to try. When he comes over here looking for you, I’m going to blow his muthafuckin’ head off! Don’t worry, I won’t make you watch.”
Even though she was scared for herself, Jaicyn was even more scared for Rayshawn. She knew that Ramel had every intention of doing exactly what he said and she couldn’t let that happen to Rayshawn. She’d die first.
“You’re not going to do shit to Rayshawn!” Jaicyn cried. “If you don’t let me go, he’s gonna fuck-”
Before she could finish her sentence Ramel hit her in the head with the butt of his gun. Skin ripped apart and blood gushed from the gash in her head as Mario grabbed her and ripped her red tank top and bra.
Jaicyn tried to fight him but she was no match for both Mario and Ramel who kept hitting her until she fell on the floor. Her head was throbbing and bleeding as blood mixed with tears streamed down her face. She kicked and screamed as Mario tried to lift up her skirt. She kept fighting, punching and wiggling, trying hard to get away. When she felt Mario rip her cotton panties Jaicyn screamed again and made a final attempt to get away. Ramel kicked her in the ribs. Bones snapped like twigs when the force of Ramel’s steel toe boots met them. Jaicyn’s body went limp. She couldn’t fight anymore. Pain in her arms, chest, and head became too unbearable. The room went dark as her consciousness faded due to the pain.
Chapter 11
Something was off. The sun hadn’t completely set but Rickie, Bobbie, and their little friends weren’t outside playing. Their bikes weren’t even sitting on the stoop. Something had happened.
Rayshawn walked into the townhouse. He tossed his keys on the flower stand by the front door and walked into the living room. Autumn was sitting on the sofa with Rickie and Bobbie on her lap. All three girls were crying. The two little girls hopped off Autumn’s lap and ran over to Rayshawn. He picked them both up and walked over to the couch.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Jay-Jay,” Autumn said but her voice was so low that Rayshawn could barely hear her.
“What?”
“Jay-Jay’s at Belleview, Rayshawn. It doesn’t look good.”
All of the blood running through Rayshawn’s body went cold. What the hell was Jaicyn doing at the hospital? Better yet, why?
“What happened to Jaicyn?” Rayshawn practically yelled.
Autumn hesitated to open her mouth, partly because she didn’t have a lot of information but mainly, the information she did have was too horrific to tell.
“Autumn, don’t play me,” Rayshawn said. “What happened to Jaicyn?”
“I don’t really know, Rayshawn,” Autumn cried. “Something really bad happened to her over on the west side. Her grandmother called an hour ago and told Angelina to meet her at Belleview. I haven’t heard anything else yet.”
Rayshawn’s fingers flew over the buttons on his cell while he typed a message to Little Man. His lungs struggled to take in air as he waited for the “on my way” text from his sidekick. It was almost impossible for him to keep his cool in front of Jaicyn’s sisters. Something had happened to his girl! Nothing should ever happen to Jaicyn in Washington Heights!
A long fifteen minutes later Rayshawn heard Little Man’s Explorer pull in front of the apartment building. He ran outside, telling Autumn that he would call her as soon as he found out what happened to his girlfriend.
At the Emergency Room entrance of Belleview Hospital, Angelina was standing outside smoking a cigarette when Little Man and Rayshawn pulled up. Rayshawn had the passenger door open and was halfway out of the car before Little Man had a chance to pull to a complete stop.
“What happened? Where’s Jaicyn?” Rayshawn asked Angelina.
“She’s in her room with her grandmother,” Angelina answered.
“What happened to her?”
Angelina took a deep drag of her cigarette. It was hard to hear the details from Juanita after Angelina had gotten a look at Jaicyn’s battered and bruised body. She hadn’t heard much of what Juanita and the doctor was explaining to her.
“I don’t know all of the details, Rayshawn. But some guys beat up Jaicyn and I think Juanita said she might have been raped.”
“What the fuck are you saying? That’s your damn daughter and all you can say is that you think she got beat up and raped?” Rayshawn yelled at Angelina. “Where’s Juanita?”
“She’s up there with Jaicyn. Room 403.”
Rayshawn and Little Man went into the hospital and impatiently rode the elevator to the fourth floor. Rayshawn’s hands were shaking. He kept his hands in his pockets, not wanting Little Man to see him lose his cool. A nurse pointed them in the direction of Jaicyn’s room. Rayshawn knocked softly. Juanita stepped out into the hallway to talk to Rayshawn.
“Hey baby, I knew you’d come. She’s been asking for you,” Juanita told him
“Juanita, what the hell happened?”
“She’s going to be okay but she’s hurt really bad.”
As Juanita described Jaicyn’s injuries, including three broken ribs, a serious head injury, a dislocated shoulder, Rayshawn slumped against the wall. He almost lost his dinner when Juanita confirmed that Jaicyn had been raped repeatedly.
After Mario and Ramel left her, bruised and bloody, lying on the filthy floor of an abandoned crack house, Jaicyn managed to stumble her way around the corner. She was bleeding and could hardly breathe through the pain in her chest. Every time she took a breath it felt like she was inhaling glass. Even with her clothes ripped and blood soaked, no one on the street helped her. When Jaicyn finally made it to her grandmother’s house, she could barely stand up.
During the ambulance ride, Jaicyn managed to tell the EMTs what happed to her, information that was then relayed to the police, Juanita, and now Rayshawn. Rayshawn remembered being this mad only one other time; when he found out that his mother was dead.
“Go on in there,” Juanita said. “She asked about you before she fell asleep. She won’t be sleeping long. She keeps having n
ightmares and wakes up. I’ll wait out here.”
Rayshawn walked into the darkened hospital room and over to his sleeping girlfriend. He sat down in the chair and looked sadly at Jaicyn. Her left arm was in a sling but her right arm was stretched out on top of the blanket. Rayshawn leaned over and kissed her hand. He ran his fingers over the bandage around her head. Tear came to his eyes. All he felt was rage. He was going to kill whoever did this to her!
When he touched her swollen face Jaicyn’s eyes fluttered open.
“Rayshawn?” Jaicyn whispered, afraid and unsure because the room was so dark.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
At the sound of his voice, the only voice that she wanted to hear, Jaicyn started to cry.
“Don’t cry, baby,” Rayshawn said soothingly but she wasn’t able to stop.
“I’m sorry,” Jaicyn kept repeating. “I’m so sorry, Rayshawn.”
“You don’t have anything to be sorry about. Mario and Ramel did this?”
“Yes, but…”
“No buts, Jay-Jay,” Rayshawn said tightly. “Which one raped you?”
Jaicyn closed her eyes. She hadn’t wanted anyone to tell him about the rape. It was embarrassing enough that she had to tell the police and doctors. She didn’t want to her boyfriend to know that another man had sex with her, no matter how hard she tried to fight them off.
“Both,” Jaicyn whispered after a very long pause. “Ramel had a gun and he kept kicking me and hitting me. I tried to fight them, Rayshawn. I really tried.”
Rayshawn wiped the tears from her eyes. He knew that Jaicyn was hurting and he wanted to be able to comfort her but he was so mad that he couldn’t see straight. He knew he couldn’t say the right words to her because all he wanted at that moment was information.
“You told the police?”
“I didn’t have a choice,” Jaicyn answered, feeling like she violated the sacred street mantra; no snitching.
“Well, they better hope they get locked up tonight. If they’re walking the streets, I swear I’m going to kill them both. They won’t get away with this!”
“No, Rayshawn.” Jaicyn reached out with her good hand and touched his arm. “Ramel did this because he’s trying to get at you. He said he’s going to kill you.”
A Hustler's Promise: Some Promises Won't Be Broken Page 9