by Lucinda John
“Ouch,” I cried out in pain.
“Diego, take him home,” Mayhem’s mom said.
“Everything good in this bitch?” I heard Ramsey ask, as he walked into the house.
“Yes, did you drop Joie off home?” Mayhem’s mother asked him.
“I didn’t have to. We ran into her people and she decided to leave with them,” he replied.
“Good. I’ll stay with this bitch and make sure she’s good. All of you head out to the hospital and check in on Maleek. I’ll catch up later.”
“You sure, Ma?” I heard Ramsey ask.
“Yes,” she assured him.
“Don’t do nothing stupid,” he warned her.
“I won’t unless I have to. I just want to make sure she understands what just happened here stays between us.”
“Fuck that hoe,” Mayhem spat.
“Watch your damn mouth. I owe you an ass whooping for putting hands on this girl! I don’t know what I’mma do with y’all. Round here putting hands on women when y’all know I don’t play that shit!” his mother shook her head.
When the guys left, Mrs. Godfrey locked the door, then made her way to the kitchen. She was whistling as she did whatever she was doing, which scared me even more. I wasn’t sure what she was about to do to me and I wasn’t about to sit around and find out.
“Sit your ass down!” she yelled at me.
I sat there frozen in fear as she came closer to me.
“Here,” she handed me a cloth that had ice in it.
“I knew your ass was no good from the moment my son brought you home. I sat back and allowed him to marry you just because I saw how much he loved you. I ought to kick your ass for the hurting you put on my son, allowing him to believe that Mace was his. From now on, you go through me; I don’t want you contacting my son for nothing. Whatever you need for the kids, you call me. When it’s time for the kids to come back and forth, you call me. Leave my fucking son alone. He don’t want you! If you fail to follow my orders, or if the cops pick my son up on some domestic violence charges, then it’s your ass,” she said, revealing a gun to me.
“Understood?” she asked.
I nodded my head yes.
“No, I want to hear you say it.”
“Yes,” I said.
“Good. I’ll call you when the kids will be returning home. As far as I’m concerned, Mace belongs to Mayhem, so make sure his biological father knows that,” she said before getting up and heading towards the door.
Joie
I’ve been trying to get Maleek to talk to me for two days, but he wasn’t. He must have been sick and tired of me calling because he powered off his phone and all I was getting was the voicemail. I was so lost without Maleek that I sunk into a deep depression.
I allowed Jamie to go home with my parents while I sat home in my wedding dress, thinking of how fucked up my life was. For two days, I sat in this same spot on my living room floor, still wearing my wedding dress, with a bottle of Tequila in my hand. I refused to take off my dress. Taking it off meant things between Maleek and I were over for good and I wasn’t ready to accept that as my reality yet.
If it weren't for Macy’s messy ass, I would have been on my two-week honeymoon cruise right now. I would have been Mrs. Godfrey; instead, I’m drowning my sorrows in a bottle. Getting up off the floor, I walked over to the safe Ramsey had for our guns and punched in the code. I was hurting and I wanted to bring the amount of pain I was feeling to someone else.
Once I had the gun, I made sure it was loaded before stumbling to my car. I was a little tipsy, but I was able to make it to my destination. With my car still running, I got out and headed towards the door. Reaching in one of the decorative flower pots, I pulled out the spare key and used it to open the door.
As I made my way through the house, I noticed it was dark, except for the light in one of the bedrooms. Walking towards that room, I spotted Macy lying in the bed, sleeping with no care in the world. She was supposed to be my friend, but her hateful ass caused me the greatest amount of pain ever. While I was sitting at home, crying my heart out, she was lying in bed sleep, without a care in the world. She didn’t even have the decency to reach out to me to see how I was doing.
“Wake up, bitch,” I spat, hitting Macy with the butt of my gun.
“Ahhhhhhh!!” she screamed out in pain, as she grabbed her jaw.
“You thought it was cute to ruin my special day, huh?” I asked, looking at her through my tears.
“Joie, baby, I didn’t do it. She lied. I would have never done anything like that to you.” She sat there and lied to my face, further pissing me off.
“How did she know when and where I was getting married?” I asked.
“I don’t know, Joie, but it wasn’t me.”
“I knew you was nothing but a hating ass bitch from the moment I met you! I gave you the benefit of the doubt and befriended you. I would have never done anything like that to you!” I cried.
“You told Mayhem Mace wasn’t his,” she had the nerve to say.
“That’s only because you ruined my life!” I screamed.
“I hate you!!!” I wrapped my finger around the trigger.
“Joie, don’t do something you’re going to regret.”
“I won’t. I promise.” I wickedly smiled before closing my eyes and letting off rounds.
Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!
When I opened my eyes and saw the blood, I threw up everywhere. Picking up the bottom of my dress, I hurriedly ran out of the house and into my car. Tears clouded my vision as I tried my best to drive back home. I wasn’t paying attention to the stop sign as I ran it and ran into the back of a truck, hitting my head hard on my dash.
I sat there in a daze as I watched the driver that I hit get out of his car and walk over to me. I wanted to get out of the car and run when I heard the police sirens, but I couldn’t. My head kept spinning and I started seeing everything in doubles.
“Ma’am, are you ok?” was the last thing I heard before I passed out.
****
As I opened my eyes, I was hit with a bright light. It took me a second to adjust my eyes, but when I did, I realized I was in the hospital. I tried to move my hand, but I wasn’t able to due to it being handcuffed to the bed.
“Get me the fuck out of here!!” I yelled, trying to shake the cuff off.
“Ma’am, I am going to need you to calm down,” the police officer said, as he walked in the room behind a nurse.
“Why am I cuffed to this bed?” I asked, using my free hand to rub my head. I felt a bandage there, which explained my terrible headache.
“Joie, you’re under arrest for the murder attempt on Macy…”
Maleek
When Mayhem sent me a picture of the DNA results that proved MJ was my son, I decided to come out of hiding. Since the day my wedding turned into a ghetto episode of a soap opera, I decided to get away. I made a two-hour drive with no destination in mind before I decided to check into a hotel to clear my mind.
Learning that Joie deceived me, fucked my heart up. Even though she wasn’t my girl of choice, I’d grown to love her so much. The years I spent with Joie meant something to me; I truly loved and cherished her. I had plans on marrying her, having more kids with her, living that “till death do us apart” life, until I found out she wasn’t keeping it one hundred with me. If Joie had told me about the baby when she found out, I would have stayed with her. Yes, I would have been in my son’s life, but I wouldn’t have left her for Stacy.
Now, with Joie in jail on attempted murder charges, and my son in the hospital needing a kidney transplant, I was lost. For the first time in my life, things were beyond my control and it was pissing me the fuck off. I was the one who always had everything on point, but now my life was just as chaotic as Mayhem and Ramsey’s.
After taking a quick shower and dressing in a pair of jean shorts, a blue and white Nike t-shirt, with a pair of matching blue and white Air Max on my feet, I decided to make th
at drive back home. MJ was proven to be my son and it was now time for me to get to know him. I wasn’t going to front, a nigga was nervous as fuck, but I had no choice but to get over it.
Mayhem sent me a text with MJ’s room number earlier, so I was able to make my way there without stopping and asking a nurse for assistance. When I made it to his room, he was gone, but Stacy was in there, sitting on some nigga’s lap.
“Where’s my son?” I asked, causing Stacy to look up at me.
“They took him for some labs,” she replied, standing up. “He should be back in a few.”
“Get out!” I demanded.
“Excuse me?” Stacy asked.
“You heard what the fuck I said. I’m here to bond with my damn son. Now get the fuck out and take this square ass nigga with you,” I snapped.
“My nigga, I’mma need you to come with respect when you’re addressing my fiancé,” her lame ass dude said.
“My nigga, I’mma need you to get the fuck out my face. How I’m feeling right now, I would suggest you take your bitch and get the fuck out of here, for real,” I snarled.
The look Stacy gave me told me she wasn’t familiar with the Maleek she was seeing. I was always so calm, cool, and collected that folks thought I was soft. When fucked with, I turned ten times worse than my brothers. I was five seconds away from pulling out my gun and putting a hole in this nigga’s head until Stacy spoke up.
“Baby, let’s go grab a cup of coffee,” she suggested.
“I’m not going to sit here and let this nigga punk me out my seat. MJ is my son. Get the fuck outta here with that shit, pussy nigga,” dude snapped, causing my blood pressure to rise.
Mayhem may have been crazy, Ramsey may have been a lunatic, but I was a maniac, and the shit that went on in the mind of a maniac was enough to make the toughest person cringe. Chuckling, I pulled out my gun and shoved the nozzle in his neck. The nigga that was just talking shit was now looking as if he was getting ready to piss on himself.
“Fuck what you heard, MJ is my fucking son. I wasn’t there before, but I’m here now. If you know what’s best for you, you’d walk your ass out this room while I still have some sense left. I’m a fucking Godfrey, nigga. I’ll kill yo’ ass without having to lift a finger,” I spat.
“Maleek, please,” Stacy begged.
“Stacy, take your bitch with you. I think his dick untucked, ol pussy ass nigga.” I was amused, as I watched the tears form in this dude’s eyes. Everybody wanted to be tough until it came time to fuck with the toughest.
I watched as both of them walked out of the room before I tucked my gun back in the small of my waist. Taking a seat in one of the chairs, I sat and waited for one of the nurses. My plan was to see if I was eligible to give my son a kidney transplant. If not, I was going to use my money and power to get him one.
“We’re back,” the nurse sang, as she wheeled him back into the room. “Where’s Mom and Daddy?” she asked, looking at me.
“Mom went to get coffee with her boyfriend. I’m dad,” I replied.
“You’re his biological father?” the nurse asked for clarity.
“That’s what the DNA test said,” I snapped, feeling annoyed. “When you have the time, I need you to send a nurse in; I want to see if I’m eligible to give my son a kidney,” I said.
“I will send the doctor in when he’s done doing his rounds,” she replied with a smile on her face.
“Thank you,” I replied, diverting my attention to my son.
The nurse made sure he was good before she left the room. In the pictures, he looked like me, but seeing him in person, it looked as if I spat him out. This lil nigga was my twin; it was crazy how much he resembled me. He even wore his wild hair in a ponytail like I did mine.
“Are you really my dad?” he asked.
“Yes, I am,” I replied.
“Are you going to be here for good or do you have to go back to the army?”
“I’m here for good now,” I replied, hating that I had to lie to my son. I played along with the little lie his mother told him, only because he was too young to understand.
“Dad?”
“Yes, kid,” I replied, feeling proud to finally have my son.
“Just so you know, I never call Dre ‘dad’.”
“Who’s Dre?” I asked.
“Dre is my mommy’s boyfriend.”
“Is he treating you right?” I asked, ready to put a bullet in his ass if he caused my son any harm.
“Yes, I just never felt like he was my dad so I never called him that,” he replied.
“Kid, you’re smart,” I chuckled.
“My mom said I get it from you,” he replied. “Dad, am I going to die?” he asked, causing my heart to beat wildly in my chest.
“No. I’m going to make sure I do everything in my power to get you better. We gon’ be playing basketball together in no time,” I honestly replied. I didn’t care what I had to do; my son was getting a kidney.
“Do you play 2K?” he asked.
“Do I? Man, I’m the champ.”
“You wanna play? Mommy brought my Xbox; it’s hooked up already,” he said, pointing towards the TV.
“Let’s go,” I replied, getting up to grab the controllers.
****
“Mr. Godfrey, I understand you wanted to talk to me about donating a kidney to your son?” the doctor asked, as we talked in the hallway.
“Yes, I wanted to know if it was possible,” I responded.
“If you are the match, then yes, it is possible for you to donate a kidney to him,” he replied.
“How would we determine that?” I asked.
“First, I have to ask you some health questions to make sure you’re in good health, then you have to undergo some testing. If all is well, then we can start the procedure,” he replied.
“What happened to my son? Why is he sick?” I asked.
“MJ was born with a rare case of kidney damage. At first, it was just one and he was able to continue a healthy life. Now, it’s starting to affect the other. He needs to get a kidney transplant before the other one fails,” the doctor replied.
“How long does he have before that happens?” I asked, feeling my throat go dry.
“We can’t say for sure. Right now, MJ is a very vibrant kid; he’s doing really well,” the doctor replied.
“When can I get tested?” I asked.
“We can start right now. I can get a nurse to get you when we’re ready,” the doctor said.
“Thanks, Doc,” I replied.
I stood with my back against the wall as a few tears fell down my face. I felt like I failed my son, even though I had no control over the situation. I should have paid more attention to Joie and what she was doing. Maybe if I had stayed on her ass when she started acting weird, I would have figured all of this out. I felt like I was backed into a corner with no way to get out. For the first time in a long time, I turned to the Lord.
Closing my eyes, I silently prayed that I was a match for my son. I was just blessed with the opportunity to be in his life; there was no way in hell I was allowing anything to come between that. I was willing to go around snatching up kidneys if that meant my son could live a healthy life. When it came down to my kids, it’d be another John Q in this bitch.
“It’s going to be ok,” Stacy said, placing a hand on my shoulder.
“I should kill you for keeping me from my son,” I cried.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” she replied, wrapping her hands around me.
Stacy smelled like fresh berries as I snuggled my face in the crook of her neck. I thought back to the last night we spent together. I had just come home from a long day of trapping to her cooking dinner for me in nothing but a pair of red pumps. I thought back to all the memories I had and my heart began to ache. All the time I spent looking for her and her ass was somewhere living good with my money, not giving a fuck about me and my feelings.
“If it was about the money, I could have d
oubled the amount Joie gave you,” I said, pushing her away.
“It wasn’t about the money, Maleek. I was just sick and tired of the back and forth shit. If I had stayed, you probably would have had me and that bitch living like sister wives,” she replied.
“You was never my side bitch, Joie was. I admit I was young and fucking up, but I always knew you was the one I wanted to get it right with,” I honestly said.
“I’m sorry, Maleek. I never stopped thinking of you. Having MJ was like having you back in my life again, especially since he resembles you so much,” she chuckled.