by Eric Pete
“Shhh. It’s okay, baby. We all make mistakes. I’ve made my share of them.”
Renika was nodding her head. “Lance, do you still love her?” she asked.
“Of course.”
“Val?”
Looking into my eyes, she replied, “Yes.” She smiled and I counted the faint freckles on her face as if for the very first time. I wiped the tears from her eyes and kissed her lips.
“Damn. I should get paid for this,” Renika chimed in. “At least a TV show or somethin’.”
Val was kissing me back more and more passionately. She was finally free. A kiss seems so different when it comes with freedom.
Renika interrupted, “I think I’m done here, so I should go start packing.”
“Packing? Going on a trip?”
“A permanent one. I’m moving. Going back to Lafayette, where I attended college. Things are a little slower out there and a lot less hectic. My aunt is living there now and she promised to hook me up with a job.”
“No, you can’t leave,” Val urged.
“Relax. I’m not that far away, so y’all can come visit me once I get situated.”
Even though I was thinking it, Val asked, “Have you told Vaughn?”
A wistful smirk crossed her face. “No. Not yet. I’m going to break it to him soon. It’s for the best.”
“You got that right,” I chided. “If you need me there when you tell him, just let me know.”
“You’ve got your hands full, Lance. I’ll be fine. Now, why don’t you turn off your car and y’all can finish this talk alone.”
I chuckled. “Okay. Thank you for this.”
“Hey. You’re my boy. And you’re my girl, Val. Now . . . be happy.”
After thanking Renika several times more, Val and I walked off into the park to be together. Renika, forgetting something, called me back.
“What’s up?”
Fumbling in her purse for something, she said, “I thought you might need something if this worked out like I’d hoped.” Sticking her hand out, she said, “Here.”
A dirty, battered black case was given to me. Inside I knew what it held. “I threw this away.”
“Yeah, I was there. Remember? Besides, you never could throw far.”
Giving her a hug, I said, “Thank you. I owe you.”
“No, I owe you,” she whispered in my ear. “You’ve been telling me about not putting up with things. I’m just taking your advice.”
“Before you leave . . . I have a request.”
“What?”
“Now that I have this again,” I said, clenching the case tightly in my fist, “Val’s going to need her maid of honor.”
Renika grinned. “You’ve turned into quite the man, Lance.”
Val and me sat at the park and talked until the sun went down. By the time we left, we had agreed to be wed and more importantly . . . that we would always be honest with one another.
43
“Yes, sir. We have those monitors in stock and can deliver them to you today. Uh-huh . . . uh-huh. Okay. We’ll be here. You can check, but you won’t find anybody to beat our prices or service.”
“That’s my boy!” Akhet shouted as I hung up the phone. This was one of those days when the store was packed, but I had called him over. Some things you just don’t do over the phone. My boy was keeping Kyne close by his side for safety, but had dropped her off at the beauty shop on the way over.
“How you do it, bruh?”
“What?”
“All smooove ’n professional ’n shit. I should hire you as my business manager.”
“Thanks, but I’ll pass. That can be dangerous to your health.”
“So you called me over to crack jokes, huh?”
“Nah, bruh,” I said, clicking on an icon to begin down-loading a program on the computer in front of me. “I just want to know if you would be my best man . . . again.”
“The chickenhead?”
“Bruh, stop that.”
“You know I can’t stop!” he laughed. “So it’s really gonna happen?”
“Without a doubt.”
“Then it looks like you got a best man . . . again.”
We embraced like true brothers and Akhet put his wisecracks aside long enough to genuinely congratulate me. I was filling him in on the details when the work phone rang. I started to ignore it, but with the upcoming wedding expenses, I needed all the business I could get.
Akhet was ignoring the call at first, but then caught on to the tone of my voice as the gravity of what was being spoken set in.
“What’s wrong, bruh? Who was that?”
“It was Val,” I said as I stared blankly. “I gotta go.”
“What? If she’s canceled again, I’ll wring her neck personally. You better believe.”
“No, no.” I waved my hands to get him to be quiet. “It’s not about her. She called to tell me Renika’s in the hospital. She’s been beaten up.”
“Look, bruh. You need to stay calm. We don’t know what happened yet,” Akhet said as he drove up to the ER entrance of West Jefferson Medical Center.
“I’m calm.”
“Yeah, but this kind of calm is scary,” he responded as he waved his cigar at me. “I don’t want you getting in any trouble. I remember how you used to be.”
“No, no. I’m fine. Just let me out here.”
I knew Akhet would catch up once he parked, so I ran down the hall after getting directions from the information desk. I heard voices inside as I knocked softly on the door. The voices hushed immediately. Val answered the door and called me to the hallway to talk first.
“Look, she’s shaken up pretty bad, so I don’t want you going off.”
“What happened?” I asked as I began to pace back and forth. “Vaughn did this, huh? Is he up in there?”
“Renika’s in there alone and I need you to calm down. I don’t know who did this.”
Realizing my answers were inside the room, I barged in past Val. The sight stopped me dead in my tracks. Renika tried to crack a smile, but it was hard to do with her face swollen like a beet. “Hey, Lance.”
I tried to smile and pretend she didn’t look that bad, but I never was good at concealing my emotions. “How are you feeling?”
“It only hurts when I laugh, so I’m saving my jokes.”
Valerie stood on the other side of Renika’s bed, arms folded. “I was trying to see if she remembers what happened,” she said as she guided me, “but she has some blanks. The doctors think it might be a head injury.” I now understood that what I had heard outside the door was arguing as Val was trying to pull the truth out.
“How’d you get here?”
“I drove,” she said through a busted lip. The sadness in her eyes broadcast louder than the black circles that surrounded both of them. How could someone do this to a woman? I felt that rage surging back.
“Are your people on their way?”
“No. I haven’t called them yet. I just called Val.” When she motioned, the sheet slid down. It revealed her right arm in a sling. On her forearm was a light blue cast.
“You told us the other day that you were moving out. Vaughn did this?”
“No . . . no, it wasn’t Vaughn. I was mugged. I think they wanted my purse.” Her purse was hanging off the room chair and appeared to be untouched. Renika was obviously scared. “Vaughn wouldn’t do something like this.” She became agitated and began crying.
Valerie reached for a tissue and was handing it to Renika when there was a knock at the door. I was thinking Akhet had found the room, when Vaughn walked in instead. It took every ounce of composure not to lunge at him. Val, sensing it, moved to my side of the room to put a barrier between us.
“Neek, what happened, baby?” he asked in an uncharacteristically concerned manner.
“What does it look like? Somebody beat her.”
“Last time I checked she was my girlfriend, man. Why don’t you get outta here and leave us alone?”
> “I’m not going anywhere. Want to try and move me?”
“Will everybody calm down,” Val shouted over our yelling. “Fighting in here isn’t going to help a thing. Vaughn, we’re trying to find out what happened to Neek too. How’d you get here so quick? Do you know anything about this?”
“I don’t know a thang. I was on duty, but I have people keep tabs on Neek when I’m away. I got a call on the radio from a pawdnuh o’ mine saying there was a report of an assault on Neek and that she was here.” Looming over Renika, he turned his attention back to her. Giving her a kiss on a swollen cheek, he spoke again. “Baby, I toldja to be careful. Did you see who did this? Just tell me and I’ll make ’em pay.”
Renika wriggled uncomfortably in the bed and tried to smile again. “No, I didn’t get a glimpse of him. I was just telling them that when you came in.”
“Renika, where’d this happen?” I tired of the game Vaughn was trying to run.
“I . . . I don’t remember too well. . . .”
“Did Vaughn do it?” I continued. “Just tell us. He can’t hurt you here.”
“No . . . no.”
“Man, you been trippin’ since we moved in by you!” Vaughn screamed. “She just said she don’t know who did this!” Val was probably the only reason he held his wrath in check.
“Stop! Stop! Stop!” Renika pleaded as she openly wept. “I said I don’t know who did it, now stop. Please.” Vaughn cut his eyes as he smiled at me. She was going to continue with her refusal.
Hearing the screaming, Akhet barged in. “What’s goin’ on in here? Oh shit!” he blurted at the sight of Renika. “Damn, bruh. You beat on your woman like this?” Akhet had to have seen Vaughn’s uniform, but even with his current situation with NOPD, he still didn’t give a fuck. I guess that’s why he was my boy.
An argument broke out as Vaughn went at Akhet and Val tried to keep everyone separated. Everyone had forgotten about poor Renika, who was at the center of this all. During all the screaming and shoving, I looked to her. My eyes pleaded with her one last time to tell the truth. It was something subtle, just an eye blink and a nod on her part. She then turned away and slowly, painfully reached for the call button.
In less than a minute, a nurse and several orderlies were in the room to sedate Renika. The nurse had everybody leave the room immediately. Vaughn tried to use his position to stay in there, but it fell on deaf ears.
After making sure things were defused, all but one of the orderlies left. On one side of the hallway was Vaughn. On the other side were the three of us.
“You knew she was leaving your ass,” I said.
“Fuck you. I have to go back on duty.” And with a dismissive wave of his hand, as if we weren’t worth his time, Vaughn strode down the hall.
Val began explaining to Akhet what had just gone down. I watched the orderly for a second, then went back to knock on Renika’s door. I pretended to have forgotten something and the nurse told me to be quick. My friend was having her pulse monitored, but was still conscious enough for her eyes to follow me. By the chair, I slid one hand in her purse and lifted her keys and driver’s license. Before leaving, I gave Renika the same subtle nod she had given me before.
Renika claimed somebody mugged her for her purse. Who’s to say something wasn’t taken from it? I thought to myself.
44
No, that wasn’t the one. Maybe the one on the right. Nope. There. That was the one. I had worked my way through the parking lot of Oakwood Mall for the past hour, trying not to attract attention to myself. In the old days, I would have done the damn thing by now. Nerves were making me question my actions.
The sun was just going down and it was now or never. The Dodge Intrepid was calling to me. The little popping sound from underneath told me it had just been parked and was cooling. Making sure the real owner wasn’t suddenly returning, I stopped by the driver’s door with my bag over my shoulder. From out of my jacket, I pulled out a screwdriver and popped the lock. Clean and not too much damage. The touch was still there.
It was a different time and things felt a little out of place, but I couldn’t think about that now. Instincts kicked in as I went to work on the steering column. All the while, that little mental timer was ticking away. When the car started, I smiled like an old jeweler admiring his craftsmanship. A Dodge was still the easiest one to steal.
I quickly put the car into reverse and backed out. With the screech of the front tires, I sped away. What I was doing was crazy, right? No. Not even close. The insane part was where I was going in a stolen car . . . and what I was about to do.
While stopped at a red light on Terry Parkway, I almost talked myself into turning on the radio to comfort myself. Now wasn’t the time for comfort though. My bare hands gripped the steering wheel, reminding me of my time away even more. If I had thought things through instead of just reacting, I would’ve brought gloves.
The streetlights were about to come on when I drove up. I eyed the familiar surroundings and had to catch myself as I almost drove to my usual spot. I backed into a different parking spot to block anyone from seeing the plate and waited patiently for the sun to go down.
When the time was right, I reached into my bag and pulled some insurance out. With a quick glance to make sure there’d be no surprises, I stowed it in the small of my back under the dark coat I wore. Holding the key I had lifted earlier, I left to do my dirt.
I’d hoped an alarm hadn’t been installed since the last time I’d been around, but still held my breath when I inserted the key and turned the knob. I hastily went inside and closed the door shut, remembering to lock it back. The apartment was pitch black and it took a minute for my eyes to adjust. Half-packed boxes were all over the living room with a few pieces of clothes spilled onto the carpet. I checked my watch then found a comfortable spot to sit and wait.
Wait I did, for it was another hour before I checked my watch again. Nothing was going on and I was considering backing down. I then remembered that I needed a pair of gloves.
Going against common sense, I decided to look for some gloves in the bedroom and risk turning the light on for a quick second. In one of the dresser drawers, I found a pair on top, as if waiting for me. I slapped them on then pushed the drawer shut. I turned around and was reaching for the light switch, but my hand never made it.
I yanked the mask off my face in disbelief. The black satin sheets that normally went on the bed were ripped halfway off. A couple of pillows had been busted, their foam contents yanked out. The picture of the lovers was cocked to the side and barely hanging from the wall.
I blinked my eyes several times as I resisted acknowledging the war zone I was standing in the middle of. Something caught my attention on the mattress pad and I walked carefully over the pillows and sheets to get a better look. Blood. It was dried blood. It wasn’t hard for me to guess whose it was. There appeared to be other dried stuff on it and the whole pad was wrinkled as if someone had been struggling on top of it.
As I walked over to the light switch again, I could only imagine what terrible things were done to Renika . . . besides what I already knew. I had already been waiting in the dark for over an hour. But as I turned off the light switch to the bedroom, I was prepared to wait several more.
I sat there trying to control my blood that was boiling. I was getting hot and thirsty as the time slipped by, but kept my seat on the carpet near the washing machine. Then I saw them—headlights. It could have been anyone parking, but I wanted it, I needed it, to be him.
As if my thoughts gave will to action, I heard the footsteps as they got closer and closer. When I heard his key in the door, I smiled, then slid the mask back down on my face.
Vaughn was coming in, having come off duty, and was probably feeling invincible. Everything was as he left it and his nonchalant whistling told me he was pretty proud of himself. The plan was for me to just rush him and beat his ass down, but something told me to stay put for a while. I slowly slid back into the corner w
here he couldn’t see me.
Vaughn turned on the living room light and undid his uniform shirt before tossing it along with his gun belt on one of Renika’s boxes. I waited for him to walk by on his way to the kitchen, but instead he went straight to the bedroom after turning the lights out again. I heard things being moved around and peered around the corner. Vaughn was bent over trying to quickly gather up the bedding and pillows in a large bundle. Guilty as charged.
I wanted to say something, but this wasn’t about me. He was completely oblivious until I flipped the lights out on him.
Funny. I would have figured someone as juiced up as Vaughn would’ve had more fight in him. I guess his muscles were more for looking good and for beating women.
“C’mon, man. Stop,” he pleaded. I stood over him with my fists flexing inside his own gloves. He was trying to get up off his back and was slowly sliding away from me. He was going to back right into the nightstand and I hoped the lamp would fall over right onto his thick skull.
“Is this how she begged you?” I asked. Stupid, stupid move.
“Huh?” he said before I saw him attempt to form a smile. “Ha ha!” he broke out. “Why you hidin’ behind that mask, neighbor? You still mad that Neek’s my woman, huh?”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Or what? You gonna sneak in my house again?”
I swiftly stomped down on Vaughn’s nuts, which caused him to scream out. I think he may have cried for the first time in his life. Vaughn curled up into a ball as he scurried back, writhing in pain. The nightstand halted his path. He reached up and pulled the top drawer out in an attempt to shield himself.
“What do you want me to do?” he asked as he gasped for air. “Say I’m sorry?”
I had no answer, no snappy response. I just wanted to beat him some more and hope that he felt at least half the pain he had inflicted on Renika and who knows who else. It wasn’t until I heard a sudden click that something told me to move.
From out of the drawer Vaughn had been clinging to so dearly, he had reached inside and pulled out a gun. The first shot missed me as I dove to the floor and used the bed to block his aim. Two more shots quickly rang out and hit the wall just above me. I knew I was no match for him in a shootout and jumped across the bed at him. The drawer he had pulled the gun from was still hanging over him. I landed on top of the drawer first, which sent it crashing down on Vaughn’s head and shoulder.