Around the Way Girls 10

by Ms. Michel Moore

  “So what you gonna do, girl, fuck with him or not?” Wanda quizzed Rissa.

  “I don’t know what to do, but I got a lot of issues going on in my life right now.” She looked over at the plastic garbage bag sitting over in the corner of the room containing her stuff. “Plus, he cool and all but his baby mama drama ain’t for me because I’ll drag that bitch from east to west if she don’t stay in the baby mama section where she belongs. You feel me, bitch?” Rissa said, looking Wanda dead in her eyes, signaling she meant business about the entire situation.

  “I heard that, girl. ’Cause if I were to ever be in them shoes, I’m not going to hold a ho up,” Wanda said as she glared at Chad. He didn’t say a word in regard to her remarks. He was still acting as if he wasn’t paying them any mind.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Chad was relieved to hear a knock at his girlfriend’s mother’s front door. He got up to see who it was. The girls ceased their conversation and focused on the door waiting to see who it was. Chad unlocked the screen and stepped to the side. Bobby came through the door with a brown paper bag clutched under his arm and a fat blunt dangling between his lips. He said, “What up, bro,” to Chad as he grabbed hold of his hand shaking it firmly.

  “What up, big head one and big head two?” Bobby referred to Rissa and Wanda. They sounded like a couple of schoolgirls as they said hey to Bobby simultaneously. Then the girls gave each other a sour look.

  The blunt in his mouth bounced up and down as he walked a few feet to the coffee table and put the brown paper bag on it. “Y’all dead up in here. Turn up in this bitch.” Bobby tried to emulate Future, halfway singing a bar of one of his songs. “‘We got that good kush and alcohol.’”

  “Boy, please stop messing that man’s song up and pour me a drink. God knows I need one after that failed attempt you just made to carry a note.”

  The four of them burst out laughing together and so the night began to be filled with enjoyment among the four friends. For Rissa it was a temporary distraction from the real-world issues she held deep within: molestation, family betrayal, and being homeless. The music was loud, drinks were flowing, and kush stayed in the air.

  The later it got, the higher they all got. At around a quarter of 2:00 a.m. Wanda and Chad announced it was a wrap for the two of them and that they were going to bed. Wanda gave Bobby the “go ahead” look to crash at her crib. She was secretly rooting for him to finally give Rissa some dick. She thought the two of them would be great for one another. He and she already had a bond that couldn’t be broken. Time had proven that Bobby was always there for Rissa in her most difficult times. Basically he had been her young knight in shining armor.

  Chad and Wanda stumbled to her bedroom not to be seen until the next morning. Rissa and Bobby were straightening up the living room as best they could due to the blitzed condition they were in. Out of nowhere Rissa was ready to confess what had become an unspeakable subject. Yet it was tearing her up inside. She had to tell someone and next to Wanda he’d always been her confidant.

  “Bobby, I wanna tell you something but I don’t know how you’ll look at me afterward.” Rissa sat on the sofa and put her head down.

  Bobby sat next to her and held her hand telling her to look at him. “What’s the matter? What going on?” He could see the hurt in Rissa despite all the weed and alcohol she had put in the air and taken to the head. Bobby put his hand under her chin, lifted her head back up, and turned it toward him. Tears slowly steamed down her flawless brown skin. Seeing her crying made him grow even more concerned. “Shorty, what’s the deal with you? Talk to me. You know you always can talk to me,” he pleaded.

  She wiped her face with the back of her hand and stared at Bobby for a long time before she spoke. “I don’t got nowhere to live. Wanda said I can chill here with her ’til her mom get back from outta town, but after that I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”

  Bobby was perplexed. “What? I don’t understand. I thought it was all good at your aunt’s crib. You’re not living there anymore? What happened?”

  Rissa shook her head from side to side and covered her face with her hands. She was ashamed to tell him for fear he wouldn’t want her anymore or he would think she brought the situation with Mackey on herself. “Promise me you won’t look at me any different if I tell you. Swear to God, Bobby.”

  Bobby’s heart raced. His thoughts were all over the place fearing the worst. The first thing that came to mind was Rissa was going to tell him she was knocked up by some bum-ass nigga. He had already come to the conclusion that if she was pregnant he still wanted her and he’d step up and help her with the baby.

  “Promise me, Bobby. Promise me,” Rissa repeatedly begged him.

  “Just fucking tell me, girl. I promise I won’t look at you some type of way. If you don’t know by now, I’m not your average dude you used to talking with or dealing with. We’re better than that dumb shit,” Bobby scolded her for not trusting in him and their longtime bond.

  Rissa dropped her head once more and the tears flowed even harder down her cheeks. She shook her head back and forth, closed her eyes, and pictured Mackey doing the unthinkable things to her he’d done. “He raped me,” she blurted out, sobbing so hard Bobby was in denial of what he had just heard.

  “What?” Bobby jumped to his feet. He paused briefly before speaking again. He couldn’t believe the words that just came out of her mouth. “Who did it?” he demanded to know as he grew angrier. Rissa wouldn’t say who raped her. She had wrapped her arms around herself and rocked back and forth. She was ashamed to tell him who had violated her as he kept at her for an answer. “Who in the fuck did it, Rissa? Who?”

  Bobby grabbed her firmly and stopped her from rocking. He wanted her to see his eyes and know he was not in the mood for stalling. “Look at me, Rissa, look at me!” he shouted, enraged. Reluctantly, Rissa looked up at Bobby. “Who hurt you, baby girl? You can tell me.” He then changed his facial expression and spoke in a caring, soothing tone as tears of anger began to form in his eyes.

  “Mackey,” Rissa said through clenched teeth as she pulled away from Bobby. She began to tell him everything that had happened, from beginning to end. Bobby wanted to collapse out of anger and disbelief. He sat next to Rissa, hunched over with his elbows resting on his knees like a prize fighter waiting for the bell to ring. By the time Rissa was finished confessing to Bobby the terrible truths that had happened, the hurt tears in his eyes had turned to blood.

  The alcohol and fury inside of Bobby mixed a dangerous cocktail. “Did you go to or call the police?” he questioned Rissa as if he were the police himself.

  Rissa explained that no, she didn’t go to the police because she was afraid of being taken by the state and bounced around group homes until she turned eighteen. Bobby shook his head that he agreed with her reasoning. He assured her everything would be okay and no matter what, as always, he had her back. At the same time he was formulating a plan of revenge. Mackey and her aunt had to pay dearly, and soon.

  Rissa and Bobby both were emotionally drained. Blazing up, they decided to blow another blunt and try to get some rest. Rissa had drifted off to sleep in Bobby’s arms on the sofa fairly quickly once they had gotten comfortable. Bobby, on the other hand, was restless and still seething. All he could think about was how he could kill Mackey and not catch a case.

  Bobby wasn’t a stranger to doing dirt. He had his fair share of run-ins with the law, because he had to fend for himself most of his young life. He would shake a bag to eat if need be. He’d even hit licks here and there when the block was slow or hot. Having been through so much he knew how to be grimy and tonight was one of those nights.

  Bobby tried not to think about all the garbage Rissa told him Mackey did to her. But every time he closed his eyes, images of her being raped tormented him. Bobby recalled what Rissa told him what Mackey had said to her, that nobody would believe her, not even her aunt if she told her. Bobby thought, I believe her, you sick motherfucker, as
he eased off the sofa carefully so he wouldn’t wake Rissa.

  Knowing she would stop him from acting on the evil intentions racing in his head if she woke up, he grabbed a blunt that was already rolled and the almost empty bottle of liquor off the coffee table. Ready to go on a mission, he crept out of the house. Once outside he got in his car and fumbled around in his pocket until he had found his keys. He started the car, put his foot on the brake, then put it in drive.

  He shook his head from side to side trying to correct his blurry vision before he pulled away from the curb. Halfway up the block Bobby swerved from right to left. He straightened the car out and then guzzled down the rest of the liquid courage. Not giving a fuck, he tossed the empty bottle on the passenger side floorboard. When he reached the main street he didn’t give a damn about traffic lights or stop signs. Intoxicated and determined to act a fool, he only stopped when he had reached his destination. Bobby sat two doors down from Rissa’s aunt’s house, watching it like he was expecting Mackey to walk out at any time, even though it was 3:21 a.m.

  * * *

  Dawn had just broken when Rissa began to stir. Her head was pounding, her mouth was dry, and she reeked of weed and alcohol. She rubbed her eyes with the tips of her fingers to clear the sleep out of them both. Her hair was a mess all over her head. She sat up on the edge of the sofa keeping her back to Bobby who was asleep behind her. She tried to remember what all happened the night before. Rissa knew one thing for sure: they all got shit-face wasted. Then she recalled telling Bobby everything about Mackey and her aunt. Her heart thumped in her chest hard. Oh, my God, he’s still here. Does he still want me? Does he think I’m ruined? She panicked, never looking back at Bobby.

  Suddenly Rissa realized the back of her blouse was sticky and moist. Damn, I’m sweaty as fuck, she thought as she reached her hand back to feel herself. When she drew her hand back in front of her all she saw was red. Rissa stared at the colored, sticky substance, puzzled. Turning slightly and looking behind her, she saw Bobby covered in the red as well. Suddenly it hit Rissa hard like a ton of bricks falling from the sky. There was blood on her back and blood all over him too.

  Stunned, she fell to the floor and tried to call his name but the words were stuck in her throat. Rissa was having a panic attack. Her eyes were bucked wide open. She couldn’t breathe. She looked like she was going to go straight into full cardiac arrest. Is he dead? Is he shot? What in the entire hell happened to Bobby? were her thoughts but her mouth couldn’t formulate the words.

  After a few tense minutes, she gathered herself. Now able to breathe she eased over to Bobby lying on the sofa. As Rissa got closer she could see he wasn’t dead because his chest moved up and down. A sense of relief came over her. “Bobby,” she yelled in his face as she shook him again and again until he responded.

  “What? Huh? What’s the matter? Why are you yelling in my face?” Bobby fired back with agitation growing in his tone.

  “Boy, what’s wrong with you? Is your ass hurt or what? What happened to you?” Rissa bombarded him with question after question, not waiting for an answer to the first one.

  “Slow down, ma. What are you saying?” Bobby replied groggily, having no clue what she was talking about. Yawning, he sat up slowly as if he had gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson. He wiped his face with both his hands, trying to make sense of what was going on with Rissa and why was she so frantic.

  “Look at your hands, Bobby.” Rissa spoke in a whisper with a shocked facial expression.

  Bobby looked at his hands and then his bloody clothing. “What the fuck?” he questioned himself out loud not knowing what to think or say. Then, suddenly, flashes of the night before came to him in bits and pieces like a bad movie with poor reception. Oh, shit! Then he remembered everything: where the blood came from and whose it was. “Damn, I fucked up, Rissa. I fucked all the way up. But I did it for you. I swear on everything I love, I did the bullshit for you,” Bobby declared, still bewildered, holding his face downward.

  “What do you mean you did it for me?” Rissa demanded to know what he was talking about while deep down inside she really was afraid to know the truth.

  Bobby sat on the sofa with both of his hands on his head trying to remember everything that took place step by step. Once he put it all together he began to tell Rissa how he got the blood on himself and who the blood belonged to. “He needed to be dealt with. He can’t keep walking God’s green earth. If he’ll do it to you he’ll do it to somebody else. Ain’t no telling how many others he done victimized throughout the years.” Bobby tried justifying his actions.

  Surprised and shocked, Rissa gasped for air with her mouth wide open. “No, you didn’t, Bobby. Tell me you lying.” Secretly Rissa was more than pleased to know Mackey got what he had coming. But she acted like she was upset. “You just hurt him real bad; that’s why you got blood all on you, right?” Little by little she was trying to draw details out of Bobby.

  “He might be just hurt. I really don’t know; well, not for sure,” Bobby stated, rubbing both hands over his face.

  “Well, damn, tell me from the beginning. Start from when you got there.” Rissa wanted to hear the story blow by blow.

  “Okay, Rissa, I remember sitting in my car smoking a blunt; then it was like something came over me. I was so damned pissed off when you told me what you told me. I was just gonna go and bang on your aunt’s front door and when he came to answer it I was gonna snatch his bitch ass out the door and beat his nasty ass. But the next thing I remember is being up in the house.”

  “Bobby, how did you get in?” Rissa confusedly asked.

  “I think I went in through the bathroom window. Yeah, yeah, I did,” Bobby stated, remembering much more clearly. “I crept to their bedroom, your aunt and Mackey ho ass, and I saw them both ’sleep.”

  Rissa swallowed the lump in her throat. “Oh, my God, Bobby, no, you didn’t!”

  Bobby started to regain all his memory of the fatal night before the more he exposed. “Yeah, girl, I remember noticing how huge his ass was compared to you. I thought of you not being able to fight him off and how you must have felt. A nigga got straight beyond irate. I was creeping around looking for something heavy to bust him upside his head with but I ain’t see nothing. It was darker than a motherfucker in that son of a bitch. But anyway, I went in the kitchen and I think grabbed a butcher knife out the dish rack. Then I tiptoed back in the room and that shit was crazy as hell. Neither one of them woke up.”

  Rissa was almost speechless. She couldn’t believe her ears. “Bobby, no, you didn’t. Please tell me you lying to me.”

  “Nope. That shit was wild now I think about it. I stood over Mackey then I gripped the knife tight with both hands and held it up high over my head. I swear it was like my heart was beating so hard and loud in chest, I thought they heard it and was gonna wake up. I kept expecting your aunt to wake up and scream or some cornball horror movie shit like that.”

  Rissa was captivated by Bobby’s step-by-step account of what happened. She stared at him not blinking an eye. In her mind she could see everything clearly just like she was in the bedroom with the knife in her own hand.

  “Just before I plunged the knife down I thought should I put it in his chest or his neck. My mind was racing. I knew if I hit him in the chest he might eat it. You know he might take the blow and fight hard if I miss his heart. And in the middle of the night in the next man’s crib, ain’t nobody got time to be fucking tussling.” Bobby’s face was contorted as he talked, clenching his teeth together. “Rissa, I promise. Before I knew it, with everything I had in me I gave it to his chomo ass right in his throat. I got him good while he was lying on his back all open to the elements. Shiddd, I felt the knife hit a bone or something. I couldn’t see all that good ’cause, like I said, it was dark in the room. But I know for sure for sure, he grabbed his throat and made gurgling sounds. At that point, I just kept stabbing him over and over again until I was tired. The blood on the blade was seriously flying b
ack on me.”

  Rissa took her hand away from covering her dropped jaw. “Tell me this shit ain’t real, Bobby. Tell me you just making this up to make me feel better.”

  “Naw, this shit was real as hell. Blood squirted out his neck. He was trying to get away from me; that’s when she woke up and started screaming.”

  Rissa made a gasping sound out of surprise. She was wondering what her aunt was doing while Bobby butchered Mackey. Now she was about to find out. Bobby went on in detail. “Your aunt was yelling, ‘Get out of my house,’ ‘Oh, my God,’ and all that holier-than-thou shit. I told that bitch as I leaped across the bed on her, ‘God can’t save your ass ’cause it belongs to me.’ She screamed my name out loud, Rissa. She knew who I was. By that time Mackey was done. He was hanging halfway off the bed, face down. So I grabbed your aunt by her hair when she tried to get away. We both ended up on the bedroom floor. I was all on top of her. Yeah, for real she fought me but I knew and she knew it was a done deal for her ass. I stabbed her I don’t know how many times, but it was a lot. She kept screaming, ‘Why, Lord? Why?’ I said, ‘Because you’re a sorry, lowdown piece of shit harboring this fuckin’ rapist.’ I asked her how many people she let him rape, before I slit her throat to the bone. Then I just watched her bleed out.”

  Bobby turned to face Rissa and looked her in her eye letting her know how deep his devotion was to her. “Look, I did it for you. I’d do anything for you. I hope you know that.”

  Rissa was astounded. She didn’t know what to say as she just stood there, blank-faced.

  “Well, okay, Rissa, say something. I mean, what do I do now?”

  Rissa finally snapped out of her trance and she knew she had to think fast. “Okay, first we gotta get you cleaned up.” Rissa went and looked in the room where Wanda and Chad slept. Seeing the pair were both still asleep she went back to the living room and got Bobby. Hand in hand they went into the bathroom.