by Linette King
Lisa
I’ve been so messed up behind losing my daughter that all I want to do is end it all and join her. I didn’t even have anyone to help me with the funeral arrangements, so I didn’t have one. The night I found out she died and it was my fault that she couldn’t be saved, I linked up with a group of people that shared the same enemy. Tamia and Rashard must go, it’s just that simple. About a week after my daughter was cremated, I had finally started feeling like my old self again.
I called Andre and he came over to my house and helped me move all of my things into his because I did not want to be there whenever Amere was released from the hospital. I moved in with him but now I see the grass isn’t greener on the other side. Every time I turn around, Twan is there and he has a key, so I can’t walk around like I’d like too because he’s always there. It’s bad enough that he’s always looking at me. Then on top of that, physical abuse has come out of nowhere.
Twan called a meeting today and it’s going to be here at Andre’s house and from what Andre told me, he’s pissed off. Apparently, he gave everybody a job to do and so far, nobody has gotten anything done. “Babe, you gone cook for the meeting?” Andre asked.
“Now you know I don’t cook,” I said as I gave him the side eye. I could see him clench his fist as he stared at me. “I’ll order pizza,” I said, as I walked away and grabbed the phone.
Whap! Andre slapped the cordless phone out of my hand and it slid across the floor with the battery hanging out of it. My hand throbbed as my bottom lip began to tremble. He hasn’t always been abusive; it didn’t start until he got the news that Steve was dead. Steve was his only connection to his dad and the only person who kept his dad on the right track. With Steve gone, there’s no telling where his dad is or what he’s doing. I tried to tell him everything would work itself out and I realize now that I shouldn’t have said a word. Maybe if I had just allowed him to have his moment, the beatings wouldn’t have started.
“I don’t want no damn pizza! If yeen gone cook, go get some damn Popeye’s or some shit!” he snapped, as he stood directly over me. He was breathing like a dragon and I could feel his hot breath on my forehead as he peered down at me.
“I… I… I don’t… I don’t-”
“DON’T WHAT LISA, DAMN!” he screamed and I jumped so hard that I bumped into him slightly.
“I don’t have no money,” I rushed out barely above a whisper.
“What?” he asked with his eyebrows crinkled as he frowned.
“I don’t have no money,” I said a little louder.
“You ain’t worth shit,” he said, as he stuck his hand in his pocket and handed me a wad of cash.
I grabbed it, slipped my shoes on, and headed to the car he got for me. It’s an old beat up Volkswagen that doesn’t has a key. It has a screwdriver stuck in it that I have to jam in and turn while pumping the gas to get it to crank. “I should have stayed my ass on the coast,” I said out loud to myself as I got in my car. To close the driver’s side door, you have to lift it up and pull hard or it will fly open while you’re driving. I cranked the car up and pulled off as I wished like hell I had a seatbelt but there weren’t any anywhere in the car.
When I pulled up to Popeye’s, I began to dread the line that I knew would have me sitting there forever. Surprisingly, I ordered and got our food in a timely manner. I was about to pull off when someone caught my attention.
Everything about her looked so familiar as I pulled up slightly to allow the car behind me to move to the window. As she got closer, the smile on my face got wider. “Why the fuck is Tamia walking?” I asked myself out loud. She looked paranoid out of this world as she continued to walk while looking back. I looked past her to see if anyone was coming, but I didn’t see anyone. I watched her like a hawk until she was directly in front of my car. Without a second thought, I pushed the pedal to the metal and my tires screeched as I took off towards Tamia.
*** Back at the house ***
I pulled up to the house a complete nervous wreck. I have no idea how to explain the damage I just caused to my car. I pulled the door latch and used my shoulder to ram the door open. I walked cautiously up the steps with the food in my hand. I took a deep breath once I was outside of the door before I walked in.
Twan, Andre, Bo, and Daphney were all present. She didn’t look as dusty as she did the first time I met her outside of the hospital, so I figured Twan had been helping her out like he was helping the Michelle chick. “Are ya’ll ready to eat?” I asked, as I walked in with my arms filled with Popeye’s.
“Fix everybody plate and bring it to em,” Andre demanded. I nodded my head and walked into the kitchen.
“Damn boy, you got her trained good!” I heard Daphney say and everybody laughed. I quickly fixed everybody plates and spit in all of their red beans and rice. I grabbed Andre’s chicken and dropped it on the floor and put it back on his plate then carried it to him.
“Thanks babe,” he said with a wink.
“Anything for you,” I said with a smirk.
I returned to the kitchen to get Daphney’s plate and took her wing and licked it then put it back and gave it to her. “Fix me some juice,” she said rudely, as she snatched the plate from me. I looked over at Andre, who had a frown on his face. I could tell his anger was directed towards me because he was staring a hole in me.
“Do you want ice?” I forced out.
“Well, ion want no damn hot juice,” she replied.
“Anyone else want something to drink?” I asked. Andre and Twan nodded their heads but Bo said no.
I walked in the kitchen to get Bo’s and Tre’s plates then returned to fix their juice. I poured Andre’s juice then dropped his ice on the floor, put it in the glass, and took it to him. I went back to fix Daphney’s juice, grabbed her ice, and slipped the ice cube as deep as I could in my pussy. Then I used my pussy muscles to push it back out before it melted and dropped in her glass. I repeated it then poured Twan a glass and took it them.
“You ain’t gone eat?” Andre asked, after I took my seat.
“Oh shoot, forgot about me,” I said, as I went to the kitchen and grabbed two wings and a biscuit and returned to the living room. Everyone ate in silence then I cleaned up. I could hear someone knocking on the door as I finished wiping the counters off.
I walked in the living room and everyone was sitting around like they didn’t hear someone knocking. “Who is it?” I asked with my ear to the door.
“Michelle,” she answered. I snatched the door open and allowed her to enter. I looked at her in shock as she walked through the door with bloody clothes on. She had dried blood all over her arms, legs, and face.
“Are you hurt?” I asked her, as I closed the door. She shook her head no.
“What do we need to talk about?” she asked, addressing the group. Everybody looked at her like she was crazy as she stood there bloody like the shit was normal. “The fuck ya’ll looking at like that?” she snapped in a different tone of voice, then apologized shortly after. She was using two different voices when she did it and I think everyone noticed it.
“Lisa, take her to get cleaned up and give her something to change into,” Andre said.
“Fuck,” I said softly to myself. He would send me to help this deranged ass girl. “C’mon Michelle. Let’s get you cleaned up sweetie,” I said, like I was talking to a child. She smiled softly and followed me in the bathroom. I turned the shower on after she walked in and closed the door.
“You can hop in and I’m going to get you a change of clothes ok.” I said, but she didn’t respond. “Michelle, are you ok?” I asked her. I touched her arm to get her to open her eyes.
“Don’t fucking touch me bitch!” she said and pushed me into the mirror. It shattered all over the floor as I slowly tried to stand. “I’m so sorry,” Michelle said.
“I’m ok now,” she said and helped me to my feet.
I know you’re wondering why I didn’t hit her back but I’ve never been the
fighting type. I’ve never had a fight a day in my life, so I’m not sure if I would know what to do. After she helped me up, she got in the shower fully dressed and my mouth hit the floor. “You can go get my clothes now,” she said without looking at me.
I slipped out of the door and peeked around the corner into the living room. I waved my hand frantically until Andre looked at me and excused himself. “What the fuck you want?” he asked, as he stood over me. I looked up at him, trying to figure out where this guy came from and when the guy that I was falling for would come back.
“Michelle is fucking looney!” I whispered. His facial expression softened and his shoulders relaxed.
“What she do?” he asked.
I took a step away from him because I knew what I was about to say wouldn’t sound like the truth. “She keeps turning into someone else and then back to herself. I don’t know, she’s crazy,” I said, as I looked away from the angry glare he was giving me.
“Bitch, if you don’t get yo gah damn ass back there and get that bitch some clothes, clean her up, and bring her back in here, so we can get this meetin ova wit ima sucka punch yo ole stupid ass!” he snapped at me with spit flying from his mouth. I turned around quickly and got her some clothes.
Tamia
After I made sure Candy was straight and in good hands, I snuck out the side entrance. I still had the gun Rashard had given me but I was not about to allow his sister to get hurt because of me. I wouldn’t have blamed him had he dropped Candy off and then took me to Brandon to get his sister out safely, but he didn’t do that.
As soon as I was out the side door, I sprinted to the street and didn’t stop until I was a block away from the hospital. My phone started to ring and when I looked at it, I didn’t recognize the number. “Where you at?” I asked, as I answered the phone because I thought it was Brandon.
“Just left the projects. Where are you because we need to talk?” a familiar voice said. I pulled my phone away from my ear and looked at the number again, but still didn’t recognize it.
“Armani?” I asked, after I put the phone back to my ear.
I continued to walk and look back occasionally to make sure Rashard hadn’t realized I was gone and came looking for me. “Yea. Where are you? We gotta talk,” she said.
“Meet me at Popeye’s down the street from the hospital.
“Ok, I’m about five minutes away,” she said and disconnected the call. I wonder what she need to talk about, I thought to myself as I continued to walk. I kept looking back to make sure Rashard didn’t come out the door and to look for Armani.
A few minutes later, I’d made it to Popeye’s but I saw a bench right next to it. I decided to walk to the bench and wait, instead of going inside of Popeye’s. I didn’t know what she wanted to talk about but if it was private, then we wouldn’t have privacy inside of one the busiest fast food restaurants I’d ever eaten in.
As I was crossing, it felt like someone was watching me. I began to look around but didn’t see anybody until I was passing the exit sign. I looked to my right and saw Lisa in an old beat car. I’m not good with cars, so I can’t tell you what she was driving. I focused my attention on the ground in front of me because I didn’t have time for an altercation over a man I didn’t want. I did want to give her my condolences for her daughter though, I thought to myself as I heard tires screech.
I didn’t even look up. I just dove out of the way and rolled into a tumble. When I made it safely in the grass, I clenched my chest because it was beating so hard. “Bitch tried to run me over,” I said, as I stood up to catch my breath. I looked at the car she was driving and laughed to myself as I went to sit on the bench. I would beat her ass but judging by the car she’s driving, life is already doing just that.
I watched her back away from the pole she hit while trying to hit me and smiled at her. The front of her car was dragging as she pulled off with an unreadable expression. “That’s what that bitch get,” someone said. When I looked up, it was one of Popeyes’ employees. “Are you ok girl?” she asked, as she walked closer to me. I nodded my head in response. “Girl, do you know her because she was trying to get you!” the girl exclaimed. She couldn’t have been older than 16 years of age, which wasn’t much younger than me, but I still felt old talking to her. I shook my head as I checked my elbow for bruises because it was burning. When I looked at it, the skin was gone and it was bleeding. “Well, my manager called the police,” the girl said and my heart started to race. I got up and walked off down the street because talking to the cops would only slow me up from getting to Myra.
“You leaving?” the girl asked, but I kept walking. I felt my phone vibrate in my hand and noticed it was Armani’s number, so I answered the phone.
“Is that you walking?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said, as I stopped and turned around. When she pulled up, I hopped in and she pulled off.
“Life doing ya bad, got ya walking huh?” she asked. When I looked at her, I saw the serious expression on her face.
“Naw, I got some things I need to handle. What’s up though?” I said because I’m not about to just let her in and go back to besties or no shit like that. I looked over at her again because she hadn’t responded yet, and Armani is never at a loss for words. She gripped the steering wheel tighter and that’s when I noticed the dry blood and sores on her knuckles.
“What happened to you?” we both asked in unison then laughed.
“You first,” I said, as I turned my body so I could look at her.
“I got in a fight. Fucked around and linked up with a crazy bitch. She fucked around and killed her cousin over a nigga that don’t want neither of them, then tried to kill me! I beat the fuck out that hoe and left,” she said and my mouth hit the floor.
“I guess I’m not the only person with crazy shit going on,” I said as I turned back to face the road.
“Your turn,” she said, as she continued to drive.
“I started dating this guy, Brandon, and now he done kidnapped Rashard’s sister and will only let her go if he can have me. So, that’s where I was headed,” I said to sum it up for her.
“Bitch, is you stupid? Fuck that nigga sister! What if he kill you?” she asked, as she looked directly at me. I glanced between her and the road to make sure we weren’t going to hit anybody because she obviously didn’t care about either of our lives.
“No, but she has nothing to do with it and I don’t want that blood on my hands. Can you take me?” I asked her after she finally put her eyes back on the road.
“Take you where?” she asked me, like I didn’t just break everything down to her.
“To Brandon!” I said with a slight attitude.
“Bitch, you buggin! Where he at?” she asked. I pulled my phone out to find out.
“I’ve been waiting on your call,” Brandon said, as he answered the phone.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Nothing. I wanna see you,” he replied.
“Are you home?” I asked.
“Yea,” he answered.
“I’m on my way,” I said and hung the phone up. I gave Armani directions to his house and she headed in that direction.
She didn’t say anything to me until we pulled up to his house and she didn’t pull in the driveway. “Take care of yourself Mia,” she said, as she opened her arms for a hug. I hesitated but leaned over and gave her a hug.
“Ok,” I said, as I stepped out of her car and watched her pull off.
I shook my head as I said a silent prayer, asking God to continue to cover me because I didn’t know if this was a good decision or not. Brandon swung the door open with a huge smile on his face before I made it halfway up the driveway. He ran towards me full speed and scared me half past dead as I watched him run up to me. I didn’t know if I should run away from him, towards him, or just stand still. I stopped walking and watched him run up to me. When he reached me, he scooped me up and spun me around in circles before running back towards
the house with me in his arms.
As soon as we crossed the threshold, I began looking for a weapon I could use to knock him out. The problem was, I didn’t know how I would get away from here other than walking, considering that, once again, I didn’t drive. I’ve been making some of the dumbest decisions ever! I thought to myself as he sat me down on the couch. I had never been inside of his house before now. Normally, he would stop by and just run in and get something, and then we would leave.
“Do you want something to eat or drink?” he asked, then the smile vanished. Fear set in as he rushed to my side and grabbed my hand. It didn’t take long for me to realize he was inspecting my body because of the blood on me.
“It belongs to Candy,” I said, as I forced my eyes to well up with tears.
“Why are you crying if you ain’t hurt?” he asked in a compassionate tone of voice.
“Because I lost my sister. I’ll never forgive myself because I wasn’t there to help her,” I said and let the tears fall. I didn’t have to fake it anymore because I really did feel like Candy’s in the predicament that she’s in because of me.
“It’s not your fault. You don’t know who she pissed off,” he said to me. “Maybe she deserved to die,” he said in a cold tone. My hand flew to my mouth as he sat on his knees in front of me, telling me that someone who has done nothing but be there for me deserved to die!
I’m glad she’s not dead, I thought to myself. “Why you do it?” I asked with my head tilted slightly to the side.
“She tried to break us up. I told her to get us back together and she didn’t even try,” he explained with desperation laced through his voice.