I'll Never Love A Dope Boy Again 2

by Twyla T.

  “Come on, we gotta get out of here,” Trish told D’Mani when she walked to the back and found him crying and sobbing softly in the corner. He was terrified and tried to take off running. She swiftly grabbed him around the waist and he tripped trying to get away from her, causing him to hit his head on the end table and passing out instantly. “Fuck!” Trish swore. She grabbed her things and lifted D’Mani up like he was sleeping and exited the apartment. Knowing if she took him to the hospital, she would be questioned and arrested, she decided to take another route. “I should have planned this shit out better. What the hell was I thinking? Dammit!” Trish confessed and she suddenly got an itch that she hadn’t had in a year. After watching D’Mani for the past two years, she made up in her mind that she wanted her son and decided to get clean and become the mother that she had failed to be. Tears streamed down her face, and she drove around and decided to head to the Brookhaven Historic District.

  D’Mani began to stir when Trish got close to her destination, which would work in her favor to keep her from getting out of the car. D’Mani woke up crying and coughing and bleeding from the head gash above his temple. Noticing the blood running down his head, Trish sped up so that she could drop him off and leave. “I’m sorry I did this to you. I only wanted to love you. I wanted to be your mama again. I’m so sorry… so sorry,” Trish spit out when she stopped. “Get out. Don’t tell anyone anything,” she pleaded with him.

  Dazed and confused, D’Mani was too weak to move, so she had to reach in the back and open the door. Once he looked up and saw he was home, he cried harder, found his strength and energy, and hurriedly got out of the car. Trish sped off and never looked back to see if he made it inside or not. Not looking back, D’Mani tried to run as fast as he could to get to his mommy… Kamora.

  Chapter 17

  When Brook told Coco about her engagement, she sensed an attitude in her voice. The attitude was clear as day when Coco shrugged her off mid-sentence and told her she was going to call her back. She hadn’t heard from her since then, until today. Coco texted and asked her if she wanted to grab some breakfast at Copeland’s and she told her sure, so Brook was headed there bright and early on Saturday morning.

  Brook arrived at the restaurant pretty much the same time as Coco did; she saw her backing into a parking space. Brook made it inside and decided to wait on Coco at the front door. “Hey boo!” Brook spoke when Coco walked in.

  “Hey girl!” Coco replied, trying her best to sound cheerful.

  This bitch on some other shit, Brook thought to herself when Coco requested a booth for two. After they were seated, the waitress came and took their drink orders. Both of them ordered orange juice and told the waitress they would be eating from the buffet. They were told to help themselves and their drinks would be on the table shortly.

  Brook and Kamora used to eat at Copeland’s often and because of Kamora, Brook piled her plate with cheese grits, shrimp, sausage, and French toast. Coco had grits, eggs, sausage, bacon, and smothered potatoes. They both grabbed a plate of fruit with a mixture of strawberries, pineapple, grapes, cantaloupe, and watermelon. “So, what’s been going on with you?” Brook asked, breaking the awkward silence.

  “Not shit, just been reevaluating shit in my life, ya know,” Coco said.

  “You seemed like you had an attitude when I told you about my engagement,” Brook responded, not wasting time getting the point. Coco shook her head and sighed before replying.

  “You got so much to learn about Jay’s grimy ass,” Coco squealed. “Don’t be a dumb bitch all ya life,” she continued.

  “I got the ring on. Now, who’s the dumb bitch?” Brook asked while holding up her big ass rock. Coco stopped eating and reached into her purse and pulled out a ring that was almost identical to Brook’s.

  “You think you the first bitch to get a ring? You dumber than I muthafuckin thought” Coco said loudly. The people at the tables surrounding them were now tuned in to their conversation.

  “You know what? Yo ass is just jealous. You the dumb bitch who wants a man that don’t want you. He told me you was gon be jealous and I see he was right. Fuck you!” Brook yelled while standing. “I’ve been tryna change for the better, but bitches like you gon make me revert back to ass kicking days,” Brook said before grabbing her shit and walking out of the restaurant.

  By the time Brook made it to her ride, Coco was storming out of the restaurant, telling her she better reimburse her for the food she just had to pay for. “Fuck you! I didn’t even enjoy the shit because of your bitch ass, so I ain’t paying for shit,” Brook hollered. Coco walked up to Brook’s vehicle and opened the door. As soon as it was wide open, Brook kicked Coco right in the stomach and caused her to fall back. “You a grimy bitch. You think I didn’t know?” Brook asked after she jumped down on Coco and threw punch after punch right to her face. Coco maneuvered her legs and kick Brook with the left one, which caused her to fall back. Coco got one good lick on Brook after that, but Brook regained her composure and beat the fuck out of Coco. When she heard sirens in the distance, she jumped back in her ride and took off, thankful that she had already crunk up before delivering that ass whooping.

  Brook was able to get away without getting stopped by the cops. “Damn! He gave that bitch a ring too… I wish I woulda had time to really drag her ass,” Brook sputtered to herself. She thought about calling Jay but decided against it. Instead of going home, she headed towards Kamora’s house, since it was closer. Her phone started ringing and she saw it was Coco calling, so she let it connect to Bluetooth and answered. “What bitch?” Brook sneered.

  “You got me fucked all the way up if you think I’ma let you sneak me and get away with it!” Coco yelled into the phone.

  “Sneak? Bitch, ain’t nobody snuck you. You opened my got damn door and I opened a can of ass whooping just for yo stankin’ ass,” Brook chuckled.

  “This ain’t over bitch!” Coco screamed.

  “If you knew what was good for you, then you would leave me the fuck alone,” Brook replied then disconnected the call. “Dumb bitch,” Brook mumbled to herself.

  Chapter 18

  “You hear that baby?” Demetrius quizzically asked Kamora, while jumping up from the bed and heading towards the living room. When he made it closer to the front door, he knew his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him. Just as he opened the front door, D’Mani had his hands up to knock, and he was still crying and screaming loudly. Kamora came rushing into the living room and, when she saw D’Mani, she almost broke her neck trying to get to him.

  “My baby! Oh my God! My baby!” she screamed with tears rolling down her face. Demetrius scooped him up and tears ran down his face. Looking at the blood running down his head, they both yelled “Shit!” simultaneously.

  “We gotta get him to the hospital. He looks weak as fuck; plus, look at these scars on him,” Demetrius said through clenched teeth. Kamora took D’Mani out of Demetrius’ arms and held him tightly while continuing to cry. Demetrius went and grabbed the car keys and their cellphones. When he came back into the living room, Kamora was still standing in the same spot holding D’Mani, crying and thanking God for bringing him back.

  “Come on baby! Let’s go, so we can get him checked out,” Demetrius said in a hurry. On the way to Hughes Spalding Children’s Hospital, Demetrius called the detective and informed him of what had just taken place. Detective Johnson agreed to meet them there. Kamora rocked D’Mani in her arms. He still hadn’t spoken any words. Feeling his heart return back to normal after these gruesome weeks without D’Mani, Demetrius was thankful and grateful that Dee was back because even though he had only known him for a short period of time, Demetrius had grown to love him as if he was his own. However, he was silently pissed the fuck off that he still didn’t know who had taken him and why. He told himself it couldn’t be no drug shit because it wouldn’t have ended like this. He wanted to make sure that everything was fine with Dee before he brought up the situation, but there was no wa
y this case was going unsolved. He put that on his life.

  They made it to the hospital about twenty-five minutes later and pulled up to the emergency entrance. Detective Johnson beat them there and had the staff ready to receive and treat D’Mani. Kamora broke down crying when they took him from her and told her that she couldn’t go to the back while they ran a few tests on him. D’Mani spoke and reached for both her and Demetrius and called their names while crying louder, as the doctors took him away. That was the first time he had spoken since he showed up out of the blue at home.

  “I know this an emotional time for the both of you, but you know I have to take notes of the full story,” Detective Johnson said to Kamora and Demetrius after they were seated and somewhat settled. Since Demetrius was the one who opened the door, he gave his story first, then Kamora chimed in.

  “So, just a couple of days after he calls, he shows up at home. Also, after the reward is increased, but no one has called to claim it yet. This is a crazy story,” Detective Johnson reflected. “I must be honest and admit I thought this was some street related beef or something, but I’m not so sure anymore,” he continued. He was saying everything Demetrius had been thinking while on the way to the hospital. “I did hear about the fear that has been put into the streets, so we can’t mark that scenario completely out,” Detective Johnson said, looking at Demetrius. He continued by saying that hopefully D’Mani would be able to give them some clues, but he wasn’t going to pressure him to talk right away because this was a traumatic experience for him to have gone through.

  About an hour and a half later, a doctor finally came out and found Kamora and Demetrius. “He’s going to be fine, but we are going to have to keep him a day or two for observation and to give him plenty of fluids. If you guys will follow me, I will take you to his room and we can discuss this in detail, and I can answer any questions you may have,” the doctor told them while ushering them up. Demetrius put his arms around Kamora’s waist and held her up. They were both relieved to know that D’Mani was going to be fine, but they were still worried. Detective Johnson left about thirty minutes ago and told them that he would be back soon.

  They walked into D’Mani’s room and were pleasantly grateful that he was sleeping peacefully. “We gave him some pain medication to relax, so he will probably be sleeping for a few hours,” one of the nurses said when Kamora and Demetrius walked over to D’Mani’s bedside. Kamora rubbed his forehead and lightly touched both of the bandages that covered the gashes they had seen on him. Tears rolled freely down her face as she looked down at her baby boy looking so helpless. The doctor left the room and allowed the nurse practitioner to take over. She called them over to where she was standing and looking through D’Mani’s chart.

  “Your little man was severely dehydrated, which is why he has the IV connected. The bleeding was from a head gash, but we got his wounds cleaned up and bandaged. He screamed for quite some time, which is why we sedated him. When he wakes up, we will be able to monitor his actions more. Therapy might be needed. In fact, it would be helpful for all of you. I noticed he has the rarest blood type among African Americans, which is AB-,”

  “My blood type is AB,” Demetrius said, cutting the nurse off.

  “Well, that explains it. He got it from his dad,” the nurse said while chuckling. Both Kamora and Demetrius looked shocked and the nurse noticed their expressions but decided to ignore them. She ran down everything in the charts to them and told them that D’Mani had to have about six stitches in one of the wounds on his head. Kamora gasped and Demetrius became angry. She assured them he would be okay. “If you all need anything or have any questions, just hit the button on the side of the bed and ask for me. I’m going to do everything to take care of this sweet little man y’all have here,” the nurse said before exiting the room.

  Kamora’s cellphone started ringing and she noticed that it was Brook. She stepped away from D’Mani’s bedside and answered. “Hello!” Kamora answered.

  “I’m at your house, where are you?” Brook asked.

  “At the hospital. D’Mani was returned this morning,” Kamora told her cousin.

  “Oh my God!! Which hospital, I’m on my way,” Brook replied. Kamora let her cousin know that they were at Hughes Spalding Children’s Hospital, the room number, and hung up.

  Thirty minutes later, Brook walked into the room. “Damn, did y’all know all of those news reporters were outside?” Brook asked before rushing over to see D’Mani. When she looked at him, she immediately started crying. “I’m gonna fuck whoever did this up,” she swore. Demetrius turned the TV on and the first thing they saw was breaking news.

  “A one-million-dollar reward that was recently raised to two million dollars for the safe return of D’Mani Whitfield was offered. To our knowledge, the child was returned this morning and he is now being monitored right inside of this hospital, but no one has come forth to claim the reward. Many speculations were floating around about the kidnapping being revolved around street beefs, but nothing was ever confirmed. We will continue to follow this story and keep you up to date. You heard the breaking news here first at WZLV.”

  Demetrius turned the TV right back off after watching that news segment and seeing all of the people outside. “Damn! This shit is stupid crazy!” he said. Kamora and Brooklyn both agreed. A few seconds later, Kamora noticed the rock that Brook was wearing and grabbed her left hand.

  “You got something you wanna tell me?” Kamora asked her cousin. Brook smiled from ear to ear.

  “With everything that’s been going on, it wasn’t the right time to mention it but, yes, I’m about to be a married woman,” Brook beamed.

  “Is this the Jay guy?” Kamora asked and Brook told her yes.

  “He makes me happy. I’ve been trying to make a change for the better like you have been telling me to, and he’s helping me,” Brook replied.

  “That’s good Brook. I just feel some type of way because this is the same dude that left you at the hospital. That shit didn’t sit well with me,” Kamora replied.

  “I know, but you just don’t understand the whole situation. He’s a good guy. You’ll get to meet him soon,” Brook told her protective cousin.

  “Well, I hope to meet him very soon. I love you and only want what’s best for you,” Kamora said.

  “I love you too,” Brook replied.

  **********************

  “Damn! That was so stupid of me. I should have just kept him and disappeared forever… but I couldn’t take much more of that crying anyway. He’s not gonna tell anything. I know he’s just happy to be back home. Yeah, everything will be okay,” Trish murmured to herself while sitting in her car on a familiar street. She was right down the road from a trap house she used to frequent in the past, trying to fight the urge from continuing forward. “Maybe I should try to get that reward. No! I can’t do that. I’m gonna let this die down and file for custody of my son the right way. Yeah, that’s what I’m gonna do,” she continued talking to herself.

  Trish sat in the same spot, going back and forth about what she had done and what she could have done differently for the next hour before finally driving off. She knew that if she didn’t leave at that exact moment, she was going to relapse, and she was trying very hard not to do so. When she made it back to her apartment, she saw two police cars and decided to keep riding and come back later. I’m sure no one saw me, but I don’t wanna take any chances, she thought as she turned the opposite way and drove away.

  Chapter 19

  It was Friday night and almost a week later, and Coco was still pissed the fuck off that Brook had gotten the best of her. She was plotting on ways to get revenge on her and wouldn’t be able to rest until that happened, but she was on her way to spend some time with Peanut now, and the plan was to relax her mind. He told her that he appreciated her for the information she had been giving him, and he wanted to take her out later. She was out shopping with her friend Shonta and filling her in on what happened. “I str
aight drug that bitch all around Copeland’s parking lot and, please believe, she gon have to square up every got damn time she see me,” Coco said to her friend. Shonta was crying laughing at her friend.

  They pulled up to Lennox Mall and Coco pulled into one of the expecting mother’s parking spaces. “Bitch, are you really parking here?” Shonta asked.

  “Hell yeah! How the fuck can they tell me I ain’t pregnant? Fuck them,” Coco replied and turned her car off. Coco wanted to go to Bebe first, so that’s where they went, and they both found some bad ass dresses that they copped. Next, they hit up Steve Madden, Neiman Marcus, and Victoria’s Secret before heading to Chipotle to get something to eat.

  Later that night, Coco and Peanut were turning up at Compound. The original plan was to go to Halo, but the parking lot was empty, which pretty much meant it was dead on the inside, so they changed their plans. Peanut was so used to grinding; that it was hard for him to relax and have a good time. Since D’Mani was safe, it took some of the stress off of his boys, but none of them would be able to relax until they resolved the problem that was lingering. He was being careful and playing his cards right with Coco because he needed her to keep the information coming. When she hinted around about going out, being the smart man that he was, he went ahead and took the bait.

  2 Chainz ‘MFN Right’ was blasting through the speakers and the crowd was going wild. Even Peanut was bobbing his head because that was his shit. The DJ was on point, keeping the crowd in a zone by playing hot ass songs by Future, Kevin Gates, Jeezy, and so on. Coco grinded her ass on Peanut and felt his hard dick poking through his Balmain jeans. She was rocking a white Bodycon dress with red Steve Madden heels. Peanut pulled her down onto his lap after he threw back another shot and nibbled on her left earlobe. “You must be ready to get outta here baby,” Coco leaned back and whispered in his ear.