Army of One

by A. K. Henderson

  Ashley was amazed at his response. But as she looked deeper into his eyes, she saw through to his soul, and there lay the true hurt he was feeling. “Wow, Shamar, she really hurt you, huh?”

  “Naw, not really. I’ve just seen so much and lost so much over the last year that I’m not going to let it bother me. So it is what it is; you know what I mean?” Shamar’s nonchalant response said it all and Ashley knew his mind was set.

  “So, what’s next? I mean, you can stay here with me and K.D.; it would do him some good to have a man around. Plus, he knows you. He looks at that picture of you and Kaduwey every day.” Hearing that put a smile on Shamar’s face, leading him to agree to stay.

  * * *

  It was getting late, and Ashley had just put K.D. to bed. Shamar didn’t realize how comfortable Ashley was around him until she walked past him in a wife beater and boy shorts. He looked on as she paraded around the house, flaunting every curve on her body. Ashley stopped in front of him and bent over, picking up K.D.’s toys. All Shamar could think about was her slipping out of her shorts and jumping on his lap.

  Standing up, Ashley noticed Shamar adjusting himself in his pants. She looked at him and smiled, saying playfully, “You see something you like? I guess that year was pretty long, huh?”

  Shamar grinned, slightly embarrassed, but he reminded himself that she was supposed to be like his sister. That wouldn’t be a good look. “You playing, huh? Go on somewhere before you get us both in trouble,” he said jokingly.

  “Um hmm,” Ashley said as she disappeared into her bedroom.

  Shamar figured she was just feeling lonely and he didn’t want to cross the line with her. He set himself up in the spare room and prepared himself for his encounter with Jelisa. He had no idea how it would go, but it had to be done.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “I can’t believe this bastard is still after me,” Jelisa said to herself as she packed up her and Mya’s things.

  She had to hurry and leave town before Reggie made good on his threat. There was no telling what he would do if he was going to the lengths he was to get to her. She heard a knock at the door and her heart skipped a beat. With Mya asleep in her room, Jelisa crept next to the door and grabbed her pistol out of her purse. Her mind began to panic, wondering who it might be. Cautiously, she opened the door, holding her pistol at her side. When she opened the door, Donny stood there, smiling like he had just won the lottery. She quickly tucked the pistol in the pocket of one of her jackets that was hanging on the wall behind the door.

  “Donny, what are you doing here? I thought I told you about popping up unannounced. What’s up?” she said, hurrying him inside.

  They had been so careless lately that Donny felt less like a visitor at her place and more like he belonged there. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I had something I needed to tell you. How you doing?” he asked, hugging her and kissing her on the cheek.

  As they sat down in the living room, Jelisa was puzzled by his sudden visit and curious about whatever it was he needed to say. She was more concerned about leaving before Reggie caught up to her than anything. “I’m good, Donny. What’s so important that you couldn’t call me? You got me nervous. What’s up?”

  Donny was trying to find a way to say it without sounding so happy. “So I know it’s none of my business, but do you know a girl named Chrissy?”

  “Chrissy who? What’s her last name?” Jelisa said, slightly irritated that he came over this late to ask her about another female. She rolled her eyes and checked the time on her watch before continuing, “Donny, seriously? It’s almost midnight. Couldn’t this have waited until tomorrow?”

  Donny’s attention was drawn to two suitcases sitting by the front door. “Well, by the looks of things, it seems like tomorrow would have been too late. You planning on going somewhere?”

  Jelisa gave him that “duh” look. This fool here. Why else would I have suitcases packed? Ignoring his question, Jelisa said quickly, “What was it you needed to tell me, Donny? I don’t have time for this. It’s late.”

  “Oh, yeah, my bad. Chrissy, you know, the mixed one who used to live on the east side. I don’t know her last name. But, you should know her. I mean, y’all have so much in common.” He chuckled.

  “Donny, does it look like I’m in the mood for this right now? You play too much. Go on and spit it out.” Jelisa was beginning to become irritated, and the longer Donny kept her held up, the more time she lost.

  “All right, all right. So, word is your boy, Shamar, got a baby with her. As a matter of fact, I think she’s about the same age as your little girl. I just figured you should know that.”

  Right then, Jelisa’s irritation turned into outright anger. She snapped at him, saying, “Donny, are you serious right now? Did you really just come to me about some baby mama mess that has nothing to do with you?”

  “Well, now, I wouldn’t say it like that. You know I was trying to look out for you. For us.”

  Jelisa was irate. Did he really just say us? “Boy, are you serious right now? I swear you sound like a ho right now! What kind of man brings this kind of female drama to a woman? Huh? You got to be kidding me,” she said under her breath.

  Donny was embarrassed, and his pride was hurt by the way she spoke to him. He had no idea what she had been going through, so it took him completely by surprise.

  “Donny, what the hell are you talking about ‘us’? There is no us.”

  Donny stood to his feet and began pacing back and forth. “What you mean ain’t no us? Are you crazy? I haven’t been spending all this time with you ’cause I didn’t have nothing else to do with my time! I thought we had something going here. How you gon’ try to play me?” Donny pouted.

  Apparently, he’d developed the illusion that Jelisa had genuine feelings for him. To her, that was definitely not the case, and she had no problem correcting his thinking. “Donny, get the hell out of here with that. You knew from the beginning that I wasn’t trying to go there with you. What didn’t you understand about that? Man, I am married; don’t you get that?” Jelisa was past her boiling point. She wanted him out of her apartment and out of her life. She never expected for things to go this far.

  Donny was just supposed to be a temporary fix to keep her mind off of Shamar. Somehow she lost sight of that, and now she was stuck trying to dig herself out of this hole. Donny was becoming furious with her toying with him. Standing before Jelisa was an insecure wannabe thug who had just had his pride crushed. As his eyes became moist, his face turned beet red. Donny had worn out his welcome and Jelisa was getting antsy.

  “Look, Donny, you need to go. I don’t have time to deal with this. Just leave. It was fun while it lasted, but there is nothing between us, okay?”

  Not willing to be disrespected any longer, Donny stepped past Jelisa as if he was going to leave. Without warning, he spun around, backhanding her in the mouth. She belted out a scream as her head snapped back and blood spilled from her mouth. The force of the hit sent her flying across the room onto the floor. Donny was relentless in his assault as he hovered over her, pounding away at her face.

  “Stop! Get off me!” she screamed repeatedly.

  Suddenly, the door was kicked open and in the threshold stood Reggie. “Hey, young’un, anybody ever teach you not to put your hands on a lady?”

  Donny was stunned and motionless as he stared into the barrel of a chrome .357. Before he could get a word out: bang! Fragments of Donny’s head splattered on the wall.

  “Oh my God!” Jelisa screamed as she jumped to her feet and tried to run to Mya’s room.

  Reggie tripped her, sending her crashing to the floor. “No, no, no, angel. Where do you think you’re going? I don’t get a thank-you or anything? Now how rude is that?”

  “Oh my God, Reggie, don’t do this!” she pleaded, struggling to stand to her feet.

  All of the commotion had finally awakened Mya. As her daughter cried out, Jelisa’s heart sank. She had to keep Reggie from t
urning his attention to Mya. This meant she would have to give him what he wanted.

  “Jelisa, I told you we didn’t have to do this the hard way; but I guess you learned to like it rough.” He laughed.

  “All right, Reggie, I’ll do whatever you want. Please don’t hurt my baby!” she cried.

  “Finally, you’re starting to come to your senses. But we’ll take care of that later. I guess it’s a good thing you are already packed. Unless you plan on explaining this body to the law, you might want to pack up baby girl and come with me.”

  Jelisa knew he was right. With her track record, the police were sure to put that body on her. As much as she didn’t want to do it, she had no other choice. She went and grabbed Mya from her room and put her coat on her. By now, the lakefront air was nippy as the temperature was dropping. Police sirens played in the background as they packed their things into Reggie’s trunk. They loaded the car and sped off down the road, barely missing the police. Jelisa had no idea where they were going. As she pulled her coat closed, she remembered that she had tucked her pistol in the pocket earlier. At least now she had some sense of security.

  * * *

  The next morning, Shamar decided to finally go and settle things with Jelisa. When he turned onto her street, there were police cars and yellow tape everywhere. Immediately, worry invaded his mind, and he found it hard to breathe. He slammed on his brakes and threw the car into park when he realized the police were in front of Jelisa’s house. Shamar jumped out of the car and ran toward the apartment.

  “No! Jelisa! Jelisa! Where is my wife and my daughter?!” he yelled as the police restrained him.

  “Sir, please calm down. Do you live here?” one of the officers said.

  “Man, get the hell off me! Where is my wife?” Shamar barked at the cop.

  “Sir, are you related to the victim?”

  “What victim? Oh my God, man, come on! Fam, where is my family? Stop asking me all these questions.”

  “Are you related to a Donald Strong, sir?”

  Shamar was confused; he didn’t know anyone named Donald. “Man, I don’t know who you’re talking about. Where is my wife, Jelisa?”

  The officer showed him Donny’s picture and everything started to make sense. But where were Jelisa and Mya? When he realized that Donny was the victim, Shamar turned and walked off, heading to his car.

  “Sir, do you know this gentleman? Sir, come back here!” the officer shouted.

  Shamar looked back and replied, “Man, I don’t know no Donald. I have to find my wife!” He got in the car and drove off, heading toward Sandra’s house, hoping she was there. He frantically tried calling Jelisa’s cell, but it kept going to voice mail.

  Racing down the road, blowing through stop signs, Shamar made it to Sandra’s house in minutes. The tires screeched as the car came to a halt in front of her house. He got out and ran up to the front door. He pounded on the door repeatedly, and Sandra came to the door with panic on her face.

  “Who the hell is this banging on my door?” she asked as she swung the door open. She was shocked to see Shamar on the other side. Just as she began to smile at this sight, she was unnerved by the look on Shamar’s face. He stood there breathing heavy and sweating profusely. “Shamar, what are you doing here? When did you get back?”

  “Hey, Sandra, have you seen Jelisa and Mya?” he asked, struggling to get his words out.

  “No, I haven’t seen or heard from her since yesterday. Baby, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me.”

  Shamar entered the house and made his way into the living room, where Shawnie was sitting. “Hey, Shawnie, how you doing? Have you seen or heard from Jelisa? Something happened at her apartment, and nobody can tell me anything. I need some answers.”

  Shawnie had a confused look painted on her face. “Shamar, I don’t know. I haven’t heard from her since yesterday. Did you try calling her?”

  “Of course I did!” he snapped. “This can’t be happening right now.”

  Shawnie sat up and moved to the edge of her seat. “Shamar, what are you talking about? What happened?”

  Shamar covered his face with his hands, wiping off the sweat. “I don’t know, Shawnie. They found that fool Donny laid out at her apartment. There was blood everywhere, and Jelisa is nowhere to be found. This here is crazy, man. What the hell has she been doing while I was gone? Shawnie, that’s your sister; you’ve got to know something,” Shamar begged her for some answers.

  “Shamar, um, look, I hate to tell you this, but Jelisa and Donny were creeping. That’s all I know, I swear. I guess that was why he was over there, but I hope Jelisa didn’t do it. Let me try to call her.” Shawnie tried calling, but she too got Jelisa’s voice mail. “Mama, why are you just sitting there? Have you heard from Jelisa?”

  Sandra sat in silence, contemplating.

  “Sandra? Sandra? Do you know something we don’t?” Shamar asked, tapping her on the leg.

  “I don’t know nothing, but I’m sure going to find out.” Sandra got up and grabbed her coat and car keys.

  “Mama, what are you doing? Where are you going?” Shawnie yelled. Sandra didn’t respond; she just stormed out. The next thing the two of them heard were her tires screaming as she drove off.

  In her mind, Sandra always knew this day would come. She had a strong feeling that Reggie had something to do with Jelisa disappearing. Regret set in as she thought back to the day that her daughter tried to tell her what Reggie had done to her.

  That morning, she went into Jelisa’s room to wake her up for school. When she opened the door, she found her and Shamar fast asleep in the bed. She went ballistic at the sight of them, as she had always had her reservations about him. The thought of her child being in love with this gang-banging dope boy turned her stomach. Sandra wouldn’t have it; she protested against their relationship from the first day Jelisa brought him home. She felt so disrespected looking at the two teens curled up under Jelisa’s comforter.

  Sandra went in to the kitchen and grabbed a pitcher of ice cold water out of the refrigerator. She returned to the room furious and, without thinking twice, she doused the both of them. Simultaneously, the couple jumped out of bed in shock.

  “Mama, what are you doing? Oh my God, seriously?” Jelisa screamed as water and chills ran down her back.

  “How dare you bring that bastard in my house without my permission? Get the hell out of my house now!” she shouted.

  Shamar was speechless. Soaking wet, he hurried and gathered his things and ran out of the house.

  Sandra stood over Jelisa, breathing heavy with her hands on her hips. “Little girl, you have a lot of nerve bringing that hood into my house. So now you think you’re grown, huh? You having sex in my house?”

  As Sandra laid into her, Jelisa sat silently with her head down in shame. Not because of what her mother was saying, but because she obviously had no clue the kind of torment she had just endured the night before.

  “Don’t just sit there looking stupid, answer me! Why would you have him in my house?”

  Jelisa held back as long as she could until she finally broke. “Mama, why don’t you ask Reggie?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Sandra countered, offended at what she was suggesting.

  “Mama, if you don’t know, then nothing I say is going to make any difference. Just forget about it.”

  Sandra knew what Jelisa was referring to. But she was so in love with Reggie and afraid of losing him that she wouldn’t allow herself to believe he was capable of hurting her child.

  From that point on, Jelisa resented her mother. And when she found out she was pregnant, she was happy that she finally had someone to love her unconditionally. The news of her pregnancy solidified her and Shamar’s relationship but caused a permanent rift between her and Sandra.

  As Sandra journeyed down memory lane, her dreaming was interrupted by the blaring of car horns from the people behind her at a stop sign. She continued driving, heading to the one place she
figured Reggie would be if he did indeed have something to do with Jelisa disappearing.

  Shamar left Sandra’s house hell-bent on finding his family. He drove to the west side to meet up with Block and Tamika, hoping they would be able to help. When he turned the corner onto Willard Avenue, he could see Block’s Chevy parked near Pullman Field. It was close to noon. Block stepped out of the car and greeted Shamar with a handshake and head nod.

  “What’s good, homie? I hear you got problems,” Block said, standing with his arms folded and leaning against a telephone pole.

  “Man, Block, everything is crazy right now. They found ol’ boy Donny with his head blown all over Jelisa’s apartment. Worse than that, I can’t reach her. I don’t know if something happened to her and my daughter or what. Hell, for all I know, he came after her, and she did him in. Either way it goes, bruh, I need to find out something. Block, tell me something,” he pleaded.

  “Bro, you know I got you. I told you the other day that I was going to hold you down. My connect on the south side hit me with the business about this cat from out of town cruising around here in a black Cadillac. I don’t have a name, but my guy said you can’t miss him; he sticks out like a sore thumb. It’s a long black old-school ’Lac with blacked-out windows. I don’t know if that helps, but they say he’s holing up at the ABC Motel, so I would check there first.”

  Shamar nodded and gave Block some dap. “All right, bet! Check it out, though. I need to hold some heat.”

  “Say no more. I got you,” Block said, motioning for Shamar to follow him to the back of the car. He popped the trunk and looked at Shamar with a smirk. “Whatever you need, homie. Pick your poison.”

  Shamar didn’t hesitate, choosing from the small arsenal Block had tucked in a black duffel. After grabbing a black 9 mm, he stashed it under his hoodie and thanked Block. They bid each other good-bye.

  Block called out as Shamar walked toward his car, “Holla at me if you need me, homie. Be safe!”