by Tia Hines
I walked up alongside the road with my thumbs out. Within a few minutes, a black two-door Lexus with tinted windows pulled over. I ran alongside the car.
The driver rolled down the windows. “What you treatin’?”
“What?” I asked, confused, bending over with my head in the window.
“You got some money?”
“How much you talking?”
“’Pends on where you going?”
“Boston.”
“I’m headed that way too. We can work something out.”
I got in the car anxious about the fact that I had a ride home. I was too ready to get there.
“How old are you?”
“Nineteen.”
“Cool. Long as you ain’t under eighteen.”
“Oh, never that!”
“A’ight, shawty. So what’s in Beantown?”
“Oh, I’m going back home.”
“Where you coming from?”
“South Carolina.”
“Oh word? Who you was seeing?”
“Just fam, you know.”
“A’ight, a’ight.”
“Yeah, I was on that broke down bus back there. I couldn’t wait any longer for it to get fixed though.”
“I hear dat.”
“I’m surprised they didn’t send another bus.”
“Yeah, I don’t know, but I wasn’t waiting.”
“I don’t blame you.”
We were silent for about a half an hour, and I fell asleep. Then, well into my nap, I heard these police sirens. I woke up and looked out the back window. Yup, it was the damn police right behind us.
“Are they chasing us?” I inquired.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“They want you to pull over? Why they want you to pull over?”
“Chill out. I got this.”
He sped the car up zooming through traffic, and I held on for dear life. Homeboy was not trying to pull over, and I just knew we were going to crash.
I went into prayer mode yet again. I was like, Please, Lord, please don’t let us crash. I vowed to never hitchhike again if He just let me get out in one piece.
My prayers were answered ’cause homeboy pulled over almost instantly. You don’t know how much of a relief I felt.
I grabbed my chest and took a deep breath as the sirens continued to sound. I turned around to look out the back window and saw two officers standing outside their cruiser with their weapons drawn, yelling for us to get out of the car with our hands up.
“Here, put this in your bra.” Homeboy handed me two clear bags of white stuff.
I looked at him confused.
“Here, take it before they start shooting. And hurry up.”
I looked behind us again. I did not want to get shot, nor did I want to go to jail. Shoot, I didn’t want to take the white stuff either. I panicked and wanted to forget all about taking what homeboy was trying to give me.
“You don’t want to go to jail, right?”
What kind of question was that? Who ever wants to go to jail? Ugh, I had to do it. I snatched the bags from him and quickly stashed them in my bra.
“They won’t check you, but if you wanna get home, it gotta go down like this. Say you’re my girl if they ask, but don’t volunteer any other information. Let them ask the questions. And if they ask you who I am, my name is Mike. Come on, let’s get out.”
I thought, Okay, that shouldn’t be so hard, but at the same time, I was like, Aw, man. What the hell did I get myself into?
“Step out of the car with your hands up now!”
We both stepped out of the car, hands up and all.
“Is there a problem, officer?” Mike asked.
“Keep your mouth closed, and keep your hands where I can see them.”
We were instructed to get on our knees. Holding us at gunpoint, one officer stood and watched us while the other searched the car. I was shitting bricks, y’all. I didn’t know what to expect.
“Whose car is this?”
“It’s my car, officer,” Mike answered.
“Let me see your license.”
Mike reached in his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.
“And an ID from you, miss.”
“I don’t have one,” I answered.
“Why not?”
“I lost it,” I lied.
“Stand up, young lady.”
After I stood up, the officer walked me over to the cruiser, reaching for his handcuffs in the process. My legs trembled, and all I kept thinking was, My black ass should have waited on that bus.
“What’s your name?”
I wanted to give the wrong name, but I remembered the last time I got caught up. “Desire.”
“Desire what?”
“Jones.”
“Desire Jones, what’s your relationship to that man over there?”
“He’s my boyfriend.”
“Is he really?”
“Yes.”
“You wouldn’t be lying to me, right, Miss Jones?”
“No, sir,” I answered, frightened.
“Wait right here.”
The officer walked over toward Mike and the other officer. He stood with them, talked for a while, then made his way back over to me.
“What’s your boyfriend’s name, Miss Jones?”
“Mike.”
“Mike what?”
Cat had my tongue then. That was it. I was screwed.
“Miss Jones, do I look stupid to you?”
“No, sir.”
“Are you holding anything?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to ask you one more time. Are you holding anything?”
“I swear I don’t have anything,” I replied, nearly in tears, scared as hell.
He opened up the back door of the cruiser. “Here, sit tight for a second.”
Another cruiser pulled up with two more officers, one male and one female. The officers got out of the vehicle.
“Hey, Paula, I need you to search this young lady right here for me. I think she’s holding. Mr. Baker tipped us off. She said she doesn’t have anything though.”
Of course, two seconds later, it was confirmed that I did. Officer Paula checked my bra and found the mini bags of cocaine. Yeah, you heard right, cocaine. She patted the rest of my body down but found nothing.
The handcuffs followed.
Oh, I boohooed. I boohooed. I boohooed.
“No, no those bags weren’t mine. He gave them to me. I don’t even know the man. He told me to hold them. I swear.”
“Just like you swore you didn’t have anything on you.”
“No, I was lying then. I was scared, but I’m not lying now. I promise you that.”
“We’re going to the station. Watch your head.”
Over my dead body. I wasn’t getting back in that cruiser. I started acting a fool.
“Miss Jones, stop resisting and calm down!”
“No, I’m not going to jail. I told you he told me to hold that for him. I don’t know that guy.”
“You heard the word jail, and now you’re scared. You should have thought about that before you decided to transport drugs and get Mr. Baker in trouble.”
“Those drugs are not mine. I’m not lying,” I cried.
The lady continued to restrain me. I wanted to make a run for it, but where was I running to on the side of the highway?
I looked over at homeboy. That bastard had set me up. He was leaning against his car with a smirk on his face when I looked over at him.
“Where’s your proof of identification, Miss Jones?”
“I’m only thirteen years old. I don’t have an ID. I was on the broken-down Greyhound. I got my ticket in my pocket.”
The lady officer searched my pockets and found my bus ticket receipt. It had my name on it, and it indicated that it was purchased for a child.
“So, Miss Jones, you were telling part of th
e truth. But help me understand how you got in the car with this young man and not on the bus you’re supposed to be on, ’cause this ticket says Boston.”
“I was in a rush to get home. I didn’t want to wait anymore for the bus to get fixed. So I hitched for a ride, and he was nice enough to stop.”
“You know hitchhiking is illegal.”
“Yeah, I guess,” I answered, unsure.
“You should have known better. Hitchhiking is dangerous, especially for a young girl like you.”
I was silent waiting for the rest of the lecture ’cause I knew it was coming.
“That man is a well-known drug dealer from Providence, Rhode Island. He exploits young girls too, and you were about to be his next victim. You know he had no plans of taking you to Boston, right? Had he not been speeding, you may not have been so lucky. It is very dangerous to hitchhike—Drill that in your head. I’m pretty sure you have family back at home expecting you, right?”
“Yes.”
“Imagine how they would feel if you didn’t show up.”
I imagined and thought, They wouldn’t feel shit ’cause they didn’t know I was coming.
“Think about it. You almost got in some serious trouble for making a bad decision.”
She was right on the money with that one. I definitely needed to be making better decisions. I was on the verge of tears from the lecture. My mind surely shifted to staying on the bus. That bastard boy tried to set me up. Could anyone ever be on my side?
The police arrested the driver, Jeremiah Baker. He had several warrants, and he was wanted in another state. They didn’t pull him over knowing this though. They’d pulled him over because he was speeding. Then when they ran his license plate, it was a different story.
As far as with me, I give the Lord all my praises. He bailed me out on this one. The lady officer felt sorry for me and decided to just put me on another bus home. There was no song and dance about contacting my parents or anything of the sort. She told me it was a lesson to be learned and she was giving me my one and only get-out-of-jail-free card. Somebody was finally on my side. Yes!
I got dropped off at the nearest bus station. The officers watched me get on the bus and didn’t leave until they saw the bus pull off. I waved to them, appreciating the fact that I was not going to jail and they weren’t going to call home. I was saved by the bell, and hell yeah, I was very thankful.
When the bus arrived in South Station I smiled, happy to be back in Boston. I felt like a new person. Shoot, I felt like I had just gotten out of prison. This was going to be a new start for me, and this time, it was going to be for the better. I had no setbacks, no baby, no worries, no nothing. All bad memories and drama suppressed. I wasn’t dealing with it. I was pushing it back, way to the back of mind.
I arrived at my old domain in no time. The moment I stepped onto the porch, I got jitters walking to the door. I started thinking about the length of time it had been since I had seen or even talked to my aunt and uncle. It was well over six months. Woo! Time flew by.
The cold feet definitely began to settle in, but I pushed it aside and motioned to ring the bell. I laid my finger on the buzzer and waited patiently.
The door opened, and my heart dropped. I was speechless. My happiness had escaped and hurt filled the space. In one swoop, her appearance killed every high spirit I had conjured up. My mind went into a time warp, and I was back to square one. The feeling of being released from prison changed to knocking on prison’s door.
Chapter 20
I stumbled in the house stunned to see the lady in front of me. The lady that threw me out as if I was a chunk of spoiled milk in her fridge. She pulled me forward for a hug, and I stood unreceptive while she embraced me. I nearly melted from disgust, like a vampire chewing garlic. I’m surprised I had let her touch me. I’m getting the chills thinking about it. It was as if the devil had embraced me.
How could she? How could she have thought everything was okay between us? She was showing me love, y’all. Why? Why was it okay on her time? I hated her. She’d lied to me. She’d never come back for me. She’d abandoned me.
I walked in the living room unenthused and emotionally shut down. It was no longer a delight to see my uncle, since he didn’t notice me walk in the room anyway. My aunt looked up at me surprised like she saw a ghost. That’s when he saw me.
He wheeled around to face me. “Desire, oh . . . oh God, Desire! Come here. Come hug my neck. Oh my goodness, girl.”
I hugged my uncle without any emotion until his high spirits took over and uplifted mine. Then I had no other choice but to hug him as if there was no tomorrow. I had missed him dearly.
“Your father let you come visit us?”
“Ah, yeah.”
My mother walked over and put her hand on my shoulder. I nudged her off by giving my uncle another hug.
“When did you get up here?” Uncle Frank inquired.
“Huh?”
“When did you get up here? You were down South, right?”
“Oh . . . yeah, I got in about an hour ago,” I answered confused that he knew I was down South.
“Who told you I went down South?”
“Your mother told us.”
I gave her a dirty look and wondered how she knew what was going on in my life.
“When do you go back?” Uncle Frank asked.
“I’m not going back.”
“So where’s the baby?” my mother asked.
“Yeah, where’s the baby?” Uncle Frank followed up.
My mind paused, and my body screamed. I was lost for the moment. My entire plan was shattered. When did they find out? I had to think quickly now. I didn’t know they knew I had a baby. My father wasn’t supposed to tell.
“Ah . . . he’s at my father’s house.”
“What’s his name? How much did he weigh? When was he born?”
I was unable to answer any questions because of how quickly they were coming at me.
“Sorry for all the questions but give us some kind of info,” my uncle commented, excited.
“Yeah, sit down and tell us how it was down there. You finished school, right?”
I sat down next to my aunt, who was mute since I’d walked through the door.
“Yeah, I’m going to be a freshman this year,” I answered.
My aunt got up, sucking her teeth. I knew she still hated me, and the feeling was mutual. I wasn’t there for her though. I was there for Uncle Frank, but some part of me hoped that she had missed me a little.
“My girl has grown up so fast,” my mother exclaimed.
I wanted to say, “Shut up, bitch!” but I was trying to show that I was a different person, you know, a bit more mature.
“Your mother just told us last month that you were pregnant. I must admit, I was a bit disappointed, but I had to get over it. I was especially upset your father told your mother but not me, but I guess he figured your mother was the best person. I’m happy to see you alive and well though. I’ve missed you. Your father took very good care of you, I see.”
I didn’t know what to say. I do know I was mad that my big-mouth mother had the nerve to tell my business. How dare she? Where did she even come from? She’d been communicating with my father. What the hell? Then my father had said he wouldn’t tell. He lied. It baffled me though. When did he speak to my mother? Because he never told me. He got a hold of her, and I couldn’t. She knew about my situation and didn’t reach out to me. Wow! She was really here in my face with knowledge of what I was going through and never tried to reach me. Something was wrong with this picture.
Anyway, it was a bad idea to go back to the place I called home. I had left my baby for nothing. If I knew my uncle was aware of my pregnancy, I would have brought the baby with me. Hell, I would have gone back home way back when. Damn, my life was a mess.
“So when do we get to see the baby?”
“Maybe I’ll bring him by later.”
“So your father is babysitting already
?” Uncle Frank asked.
“Ah yeah. He said I needed a break.”
The telephone rang. I was about to get up and answer it, until I realized no one would be calling for me.
“So is your father letting you stay here, or are you going back to South Carolina?”
“I want to come back home, here.”
Silence fell through the room. My hope for a happy welcome was answered in a nutshell. They didn’t want me back. I don’t know why they bothered to make me think they did. The silence didn’t last long though. Auntie Linda made sure of that.
“Desire, where is your baby?”
Her intimidating voice made me stutter even more. “At, um, my father’s.”
“You lying little heiffa. Your father just called and said you left the baby at the hospital and they’re looking for you.”
All eyes were on me.
“Desire, don’t start this again please,” Uncle Frank cried.
Tears welled in my eyes. “I don’t want him, okay. I don’t want him. I’m too young to have a baby. I don’t know what to do with a baby. So I left the hospital, left him there and came back home. I wanna come back home.”
“You left your baby? How can you leave your baby?” my mother pleaded.
“Bitch, you left me here and never came back. I never got that so-called big surprise. You just up and left me, so don’t you dare fix your lips to tell me shit about leaving my baby.”
“Don’t talk to me like that, young lady! I may not have raised you from eleven on, but I did put in some work. And I’m still your mother, so don’t you dare disrespect me!”
“You ain’t shit to me, Christine. You walk up in here like you never left me, trying to be all friendly. You left me! You left me! You left me! Remember that. ‘I’ll be back, baby. I’m going to get your surprise ready.’ Where’s the fucking surprise? Did you just finish putting it together?”
She charged at me, but my aunt blocked her path.
“Not in my house! Both of you, stop it. Just stop it!”
“Desire, the surprise I had for you fell through, and then I had to rush to this meeting. I got a job offer. I gladly accepted, and I had to leave town. It was always my dream to be a writer for a magazine, you know. The opportunity arose, so I didn’t let it pass me by.”