Lucy folded her arms across her chest and frowned. Jasmine stood up and wrapped her arms around Lucy.
“I’m so sorry for being a jerk. Yes I did use you as a punching bag, but that’s only because I knew you’d still love me. I will never do it again.”
Lucy was a softie so she just wrapped her arms around Jasmine and mumbled, “Forgiven.”
Lucy grabbed Jasmine’s face.
“Are you going to be okay?”
Jasmine nodded.
“I’ve never fought with Blake so I can’t say how long it will take us to get through it. I know it won’t be today.”
Lucy laughed but her response was interrupted by Jasmine’s phone ringing. Jasmine picked up the phone from her desk. She didn’t recognize the number but she answered anyway.
“Hello. Yes, this is she, who is calling?”
Lucy watched as Jasmine’s face went from light hearted to confusion.
She asked, “What is it?”
Jasmine shook her head as she listened intently.
She gasped, “Oh my God! Is he okay? Is he conscious?”
Now Lucy’s heart began to race. Someone they knew was hurt.
“Okay, we are on our way right now. I will contact his next of kin.”
Jasmine pressed the button to end the call. Her hands were shaking as she tried to call the first person that came to her mind, Blake.
“Jasmine what happened, what’s going on,” Lucy asked.
In a shaky voice Jasmine answered, “Ahmed is being rushed to the emergency room.”
Lucy shrieked, “No! Was he in an accident?”
Jasmine was fumbling with her phone trying to call Blake again. He’d sent her to voicemail and brought her anger back with a vengeance.
“No he was attacked in the grocery store parking lot.”
Lucy began to panic and Jasmine tried to dial Blake again while going to her desk drawer to get her purse. Lucy grabbed hers from her desk and headed out of the office. When Blake had sent her to voicemail for the second time her temper flashed so strong it gave her an instant headache. He knew she would never call him back to back unless it was important.
She quickly sent him a text telling him Ahmed had been attacked and was in critical condition at the ER. He was to meet them there ASAP. Lucy was already out of the shop, before Jasmine made it out she yelled for the remaining stylist to lock up because they had a family emergency to see to.
∞∞∞
It was approaching seven p.m. Blake did not want to go home. The fact that all of his friends lived in the same house with the one person he absolutely did not want to see made it even worse.
He never thought he would see the day he regretted not living alone. He was sitting in his office feeling like a man with no control over his own life. It wasn’t like he was actually doing any work. He just couldn’t bring himself to go home.
Maybe he’d call Damon and have him meet him for a beer. On second thought maybe a drink. He could not wait for this day to end, but tomorrow was not promising to be any better. He’d walked around all day with a heavy weight on his chest.
It was very hard to focus on other people’s lives when his was in shambles. He was so infuriated with Jasmine. He knew she would never apologize first because she was too stubborn to be the first to admit error.
Now that he’d had time to calm down he realized she didn’t mean it. She couldn’t have. There was a reason she was pushing him away. He just couldn’t figure out why. He was sick about throwing her abortion in her face. He still couldn’t believe he’d let that come out of his mouth.
She was by no means an angel that deserved any mercy but still he would never forget the look he’d put on her face as long as he lived. He knew that was still an open wound for her. It was for him too. He didn’t understand this wedge that was growing between them. He also knew she wouldn’t get over this anytime soon.
He wasn’t ready to talk about his change of feelings for her, but she was pushing him away like she blamed him for her break-up. Was that it? Was she regretting her decision to choose him over Derrick? The thought of that was too hard to bear. Nah, it didn’t sound like Jasmine, but what could it be?
For the first time since he’d known her he couldn’t figure out what was bothering her. Why was she avoiding him? Her resistance almost seemed like it was driven by fear. He had never known Jasmine to be afraid of anything. Somewhere something was foggy in the back of his mind about not having fear. He just couldn’t remember where he’d heard it.
His phone rang. It was Jasmine. He didn’t want to talk to her because he was still hurt. He sent her to voicemail. A few moments later she called back. It made him mad. He didn’t want to talk to her. She usually didn’t call back to back, but he was giving her the space she so desperately needed. Let her call someone who wasn’t suffocating her for whatever she needed. His phone beeped signaling a text message. He wanted to ignore it but curiosity won out. When he’d read the message his heart hit the floor.
“Oh my God!”
He was up and out of his seat, reaching for his suit jacket as he ran out of his office in a panic.
∞∞∞
Damon was still in his office. His work was actually keeping him there. He was managing his first major project and wanted it to be successful. His bosses were putting a lot of faith in their youngest architect. He vowed he wouldn’t disappoint. He was a little off his game today though. Everyone at the office was talking about the tragedy that happened on the college campus not far from his office.
The mood was very somber as he imagined the mood was all over the city. He’d heard countless anti-Muslim remarks by co-workers. It made him think of Ahmed.
He was glad he’d put his nine millimeter in Ahmed’s glove compartment. He knew he would find it as soon as he got in because that is where he kept his sunglasses. He could be annoyed about it or he could be smart about it.
He could also attribute his dismal mood to Blake and Jasmine being at each other’s throats. He couldn’t believe how it went down between them that morning. He was more shocked at Blake. It was like Jasmine to pull out the dirty punches because she couldn’t stand to lose, but for Blake to push whatever button he pushed meant his temper had to be well beyond his control. In all the years he had known him Blake protected Jasmine, he never hurt her. As a matter of fact, he threatened bodily harm to anyone who might try to cause her pain.
For years they had been trying to figure out what happened on June 8th between those two, but they wouldn’t budge on the secret. Whatever it was it was definitely the wrong card of Jasmine’s to pull. He honestly didn’t know if they would be able to get past this. Jasmine was the queen of stubborn and Blake could be prideful when it wasn’t smart to be.
He was wrapping up the last of the day’s work. He had just locked his file cabinet when his phone signaled a text message. It was from Blake. He opened it. When he read it his heart stopped. He had to read it twice to make sure he’d read it right because it was a forward. When the reality of the text set in he hurried to the elevator. Wasting time wasn’t an option.
∞∞∞
Carmen was at the house by herself trying to relax. Her shift at the restaurant was brutal. She had been in a sullen mood all day long. It was too much negative energy all around her. Everyone at the restaurant talked about the horror that plagued their college campus until she finally had to pull rank and tell them not to talk about it anymore in her kitchen. Being the head chef had its privileges.
Carmen plopped down on the couch in her sweats and propped her feet up on the ottoman with a buttery, salty bowl of popcorn to veg out in front of the TV. She avoided all the news channels like they were deathly contagious. She hadn’t really watched the news with any consistency since 9/11. She tried again, but after Hurricane Katrina she was done with reality playing out on the news.
It made her physically sick to see such senseless death. She was struggling with her disdain for religious fanatics. She
had some choice words to say when they first heard about it, but she bit them back because she didn’t want to offend Ahmed or make him uncomfortable in his own home. Ahmed was one of the sweetest people she had ever met. She knew he didn’t think like those zealous nuts, but she could definitely understand people’s aversion to the Muslim community.
Ahmed was the only one she knew up close and personal even though she was acquainted with others. Carmen was an avid reader. She loved spy novels and political thrillers. They probably didn’t help her paranoia for terrorists. If it hadn’t been for her close friendship with Ahmed she would likely not give any of them the benefit of the doubt. She didn’t want to add to the tension in the house because Blake and Jasmine left it ice cold that morning. It hadn’t warmed up since.
She didn’t understand the depth of the buttons they’d pushed for each other but she knew it was pretty bad. One thing about Blake and Jasmine, they protected each other’s secrets like they were state secrets. They had always been fiercely loyal to each other.
She didn’t think they would give up each other’s secrets if they were tortured. She believed the only reason they heard what they did was because the two were unaware anyone was listening. She really hoped they could find a way to deal with whatever was going on between them. She just thought the tension between them was sexual. They should just bounce on each other and be done with it.
She didn’t want the image of them getting their freak on in her mind so she nixed that thought process. She was about to change the channel when her phone vibrated on the couch next to her. She popped a hand full of popcorn in her mouth as she picked it up.
She opened the text from Lucy and began to choke on the popcorn that was now awkwardly lodged in her throat. She began to cough violently. Her mind was on what she’d just read. She thought meeting her demise because of a popcorn kernel was too much to fathom. She got down on her hands and knees and continued to cough.
Her eyes were beginning to water. She started to get scared that she would choke to death. She didn’t have time to choke to death. She had to go and she had to go now. She knew she couldn’t panic because she was all alone and she was her only hope. She tried to think.
She put her finger down her throat and made herself vomit up the popcorn. She plopped down on the floor trying to catch her breath, but she was still coughing. She put her head between her legs and took slow deep breaths.
The words from the text message were like a flashing billboard in her head. She knew the feelings of guilt would surface any moment. She got up to get a wet paper towel to clean up her mess. When she finished she shoved her feet in Lucy’s flip flops by the door and headed out.
Chapter 32: In the Blink of an Eye
Ahmed was waiting for the clerk in the seafood department to hand him his order. It was the last thing on his list. He was more than ready to leave. His confidence in people had once again been tested. As he walked through the aisles of the grocery store minding his own business he got a variety of nasty looks from every race and every gender.
There was even a woman who actually pulled her kid closer to her when he walked by. That was the last straw. He would never harm a kid. The assumption that he would completely destroyed his faith in his fellow human beings. He could feel the bitterness settling in. That couldn’t be a good thing because he would be just like the people that were ticking him off.
At least the clerk in the seafood department who handed him his food was pleasant enough.
He grabbed it and said, “Thank you.”
When he turned to leave there was an African-American woman standing not too far from him. He made eye contact with her.
She said, “You might want to hurry up and get home. It’s probably not safe for you.”
His mouth went slack. Was she threatening him or warning him? He didn’t respond, just walked toward the check-out lines. He was so irritated he just wanted to go home. When he got to the front of the store there were quite a few short lines but he chose the long one because it was the lane of his favorite cashier Alyssa. He needed to see a friendly face and hear a friendly voice to restore his faith in humanity. As he patiently waited for his turn he purposely ignored everyone around him because he wasn’t sure how much longer he could contain his resentment.
Alyssa didn’t disappoint. Her beautiful smiling face was just what he needed.
She greeted him, “Hi Ahmed. How are you today?”
“Not so great, but I’m sure it’s about to get better.”
Alyssa looked at his purchases.
Her gray eyes sparkled with mischief, “Looks like someone has a hot date.”
Ahmed smiled genuinely for the first time all day long.
“Looks like.”
“Well, when you come in here next week I want to hear all about it.”
“Well maybe just the PG highlights.”
She laughed, “Ahmed you so are crazy.”
He grinned and paid for his purchases.
She said, “Get home safe. See you soon.”
“Bye.”
He walked out feeling slightly better. He remembered his night promised to be amazing. He couldn’t wait to see Victoria. Even though his day royally sucked he walked out the store with a smile on his face. He was crossing the parking lot to get to his car. As he began to pull his keys out of his pocket something struck him hard in the back of his head.
He dropped the bags and automatically reached back to touch his head. Fighting hard to keep his balance he saw the can of soda laying on the ground near him spewing out its contents. His head began to throb. He turned around slowly to see three young men quickly approaching him. He saw them in the store a few times. Had they been following him? Panic began to set in. He couldn’t figure out exactly what was happening.
His car was only three parking spaces away. He knew he had to get there and fast. His keys never made it out of his pocket. He reached to grab them and started moving as fast as he could towards his car. He remembered the gun in his glove compartment. God help him because he would use it today.
He heard three sets of footsteps approaching behind him. He was trying to fumble for his cell phone in his breast suit pocket. He looked around to see if anyone was in the parking lot that could help him. He pulled his hand away from his head because he needed both hands and saw his own blood stained them. He really began to panic. There was no one in the parking lot except him and his attackers.
As he approached his door his keys slipped from his hand because it was slicked with blood. He was also starting to feel dizzy. He bent down to pick them up and saw the kick coming for his face. He went down. He felt fists and shoes hitting him all over his body.
All he could do at this point was try to protect his head. He heard and felt something snap. The pain was a hellish burn that caused his consciousness to initiate retreat. He was slipping quickly.
He heard a scream coming from a distance yelling, “Stop! Stop! Somebody help him please!”
It was the last thing he heard before everything went black.
Alyssa had noticed the three guys loitering outside the door as Ahmed was heading out, but her attention was taken by the toddler in the basket screaming at the top of his lungs. When she looked back outside she saw one of them throw something. She couldn’t really see what it was or where it landed. Something felt off to her so when she finished ringing up that customer she excused herself to get a closer look. That’s when she saw it.
She ran out of the store screaming for them to stop. She couldn’t believe it. They were beating Ahmed. She had never seen anything so horrid in her 21 years of life. She fumbled for her cell phone in her pocket and dialed 911.
The dispatcher answered.
“Yes hello. They’re gonna kill him.”
“Ma’am, can you calm down and tell me what happened?”
Alyssa felt helpless.
“My customer is being beat up in the parking lot. He’s not moving. Help him, someone please,�
� she screamed into the phone.
“Ma’am what is your location.”
Alyssa yelled out their location and said, “Please hurry.”
The three young men were running away from Ahmed’s limp body. Alyssa rushed over to him. She had to stop herself from vomiting. There was blood everywhere. She could barely recognize his face. With great effort she reached down and touched his neck to see if she could find a pulse.
“Ma’am are you still there,” the dispatcher asked.
Alyssa took a deep gulp.
“Ye…Yes, I’m here.”
She was crying now and seeing his blood on her hands was a bit too much for her.
She softly said, “He has a very weak pulse. You guys need to hurry.”
“The paramedics and police are on their way ma’am. Can you tell me your name?”
“My name, uh…my name is Alyssa.”
Alyssa was terrified and she didn’t know CPR. She was afraid to even try to move him.
She whispered a silent prayer and said, “Hold on. Help is on the way. I’m so sorry I didn’t get out here sooner.”
“Ma’am can you describe the people who assaulted him.”
She reached out and held Ahmed’s bloody hand because if it had been her she would want to know someone was there.
“Um yes, not good though. There was a white guy and a black guy and I’m not sure about the other guy.”
“Can you give any other additional descriptions?”
Alyssa was getting annoyed. Who cares, Ahmed was literally dying in the street.
“Um, no I can’t I was trying to help my friend not get details.”
“I understand Alyssa. We just need to get all the information we can to help your friend.”
Alyssa could hear sirens in the background heading her way.
She whispered, “Hold on Ahmed. They’re almost here.” An idea occurred to her. “Wait, we have cameras that monitor the parking lot. You can have them pull the tapes.”
Color Me Blind (A Divine Love Story Book 1) Page 19