Pandora's Box

by Coffee

  “No, hoe. A mermaid, you cross-eyed ug-ga-lay bitch! And you betta.” There was so much bass in her voice that had she not hung up on him, he would have definitely hung up on her.

  Even though Skittles had a way of tap-dancing on his nerves, he was so happy his plan was in motion he could kiss her.

  He needed to do something different and what his cousin just put in motion was that something.

  Before now, G’Corey sent a bouquet of red roses, her favorite, to her office along with a note that had a love song dedicated to her every Friday for the past month.

  Alverda discarded them without mentioning it to Minnie but there was no way for him to know if she was in receipt of any of it. He had a gut feeling Alverda would block but that didn’t stop him. He couldn’t stop showing his effort, just in case Minnie was there to intercept them.

  However, he had a deadline in his mind as to how long he’d tiptoe around the situation. He wanted to hear her voice, to see her, for her to know that he wasn’t going to give up on them. He couldn’t. He needed her too much.

  He was anxious to get his girl back and square business up on behalf of himself and now Hakeem. But he knew they were expecting him to make a move and his steps were not to be calculated.

  All he had to do was keep reminding himself that slow and steady wins the race.

  ***

  Elias and Blu were in the food court at The Mall at Lakeside sharing a Chinese plate. They had a long day of shopping because Eli wanted to see Peaches with it all. If it was manufactured for a girl, he was buying it.

  He couldn’t help the urge to spoil her. She was the sweetest baby he ever laid eyes on. And the more time that passed was the more accepting Eli was of his new role.

  He developed the same magic touch both Blu and Samiyah had when it came to putting her to sleep and he just about perfected changing her diaper without her poopie escaping from the sides.

  Blu was feeding him a piece of beef and broccoli when her text alert went off. She checked it. It was a message from her mom asking what time they were coming over to the house.

  “Bae, this is my mom. She wants to know what time we’re going to pass over on Christmas Eve.”

  “To do what?”

  “To spend the night. It’s gonna be soooo fun. We watch movies, play games and eat of course. Then come morning, we open gifts while we’re sipping on something nice and cooking the rest of what will be dinner.”

  Elias wasn’t trying to be uncomfortable in the same house as La’Tasha. But that wasn’t his main reason for his lack of interest in going.

  “Boo, I told you I wanted to celebrate Christmas with my daughter. It’s gon’ be her first.” Elias grinned at the thought of seeing her adorableness in the red and white dress he picked out by himself.

  “For how long?” Her smile went south.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, but we gon’ kick it up until you go by your peoples and then when you leave from by them the next day, we’ll get up and do our own thing.” Eli felt that was a good compromise.

  “You’re not gonna come by my family’s house at all? You’re going to be busy the whole day? She’s only four months. It’s not like she’ll remember you being there for an hour or at all.” Her aggravation reared its ugly head.

  Elias leaned back and uglied his face. She was talking reckless. “She don’t have to remember. I will! What the hell’s wrong with you? I know you not jealous?”

  She was beginning to feel like the side chick when it came to Peaches and her mama because over the last few weeks the world stopped for them, but she wasn’t going to put it to him like that just in the event she was overreacting.

  “No, I’m not jealous. But I’m concerned with how much time you’re spending over there with them.”

  “I’m not spending time with them. I’m spending time with Peaches.”

  “But Samiyah is always in the picture.”

  “Is that what this is about? Samiyah? She’s her mother. Where else is Peaches supposed to be?”

  “You know what I’m saying.”

  “No, I don’t ‘cause you not making sense to me. What you thought? I was gon’ be a weekend dad or some shit? I thought you was on board with this.”

  “I am but it just seems like we never get a moment to ourselves no more.”

  “We have a moment to ourselves right now but look how you wanna spend it.”

  The more Blu tried explaining her points were the crazier she sounded, even to herself. Maybe it was her imagination, but she wasn’t certain if Samiyah was using the baby to get closer to her guy. She had no proof of it but she couldn’t understand why else he felt a need to put her on a backburner just to see a child who slept most of the visit.

  With her whole heart, she wanted him to spend time with his baby but as selfish as her thoughts were, she wondered, Did it have to be every single day?

  “Baby, let’s go to the movies.”

  “We gon’ hafta reschedule because I got Peaches tonight.”

  “Baby, I’m horny. Let’s make love?”

  “Damn, that’s tempting, but you gon’ hafta keep it hot for me. I promised I’d pick up Peaches’ medicine and drop it off in twenty minutes.

  “Baby, come over to my place.”

  “In a second, boo. Let me finish feeding—”

  “Let me guess. Peaches.”

  Blu decided against speaking her mind because she didn’t want to be made the villain. “Never mind.”

  Eli was no longer hungry. “Pack up your food and let’s go.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m not feelin’ your attitude.”

  “I can’t voice my feelings?”

  “Not about no dumb shit like that. Look, boo, I have a kid now. And you chose to stay with me so that means you’re gonna have to make some adjustments to your thinking.”

  “My feelings are valid, even if you don’t understand them.”

  “Well, get out your feelings for a minute and let me explain something to you. I done fucked a plenty women with daddy issues. They didn’t get what they needed from him so a dude like me was able to swoop in and handle my business without so much as buying her a burger. So, I ain’t missin’ nothing when it comes to her ‘cause I need to be the first man to love her enough, so no smooth talking, slick cat can get up in her head and then her drawers. You, yourself, are a daddy’s girl, so how you don’t understand my position?” He stood up and collected all of their shopping bags. He was ready to drop her off at her house.

  Every player felt God paid them back for their mistreatment of women by giving them precious little girls. So, there was no such thing as too much of anything when it came to his daughter. He wasn’t going to let Peaches pay for the sins of her father.

  Blu, on the other hand, still felt entitled to her feelings but she didn’t have an argument after hearing him put it that way. And moreover, he was right. Her family came packaged under one roof so it made it normal and expected for her daddy to be present for everything. She couldn’t expect less of Elias when it came to his own.

  She reached for his hand to motion him to have a seat. “Sit back down. I do get it, Eli, and I don’t want you thinking I’m trying to block you. I was just thinking selfishly. It’s not like we won’t spend both days together, so there was no need for me to go there. Do you accept my apology?”

  “You good,” he answered casually.

  Blu knew he was heated because he always switched to his nonchalant mode when he was. And since he didn’t want to sit down, she stood up and whispered in his ear. “Can I show you how good I really am? You know to make up for being so bad.” He didn’t bat a lash. “I’ll do the disappearing trick you like so much.”

  That got him to look her way.

  “You dirty, yea.” Eli shook his head at her. She knew how much he immensely enjoyed seeing his shit in her mouth balls deep.

  “Well?”

  “Well, come the hell on and show me what that mouth d
o.” Eli nodded his head in the direction she was to walk.

  Blu didn’t bother wrapping up the food. She just dumped it and walked with her boo thinking how she should be praising him for being the kind of father she would want for her own.

  That put a smile on her face and she was all too anxious to put one on his the moment they got home.

  Chapter 23

  Two weeks later…

  It was the middle of January and the city was experiencing the coldest day since winter began. However, that didn’t stop G’Corey from carrying out his mission, for today was the day.

  G’Corey had spent enough time becoming familiar with the routine of Angel Heart Homecare Service to know the ins and outs, the comings and goings.

  And as suspected, Minnie didn’t physically go into the office on any of the days he had staked out the place. With Alverda, her trusted field supervisor, coming in every morning at 5 a.m. and leaving every evening at 5 p.m., it wasn’t necessary for her to do so.

  The office only needed to be manned by one person to handle potential clients or the employees, who’d come in every Friday to collect their weekly paychecks.

  This Friday was no different.

  Bonita pulled up in front of the building for 6 a. m., parking alongside the curb as she always would.

  “Right on time,” G’Corey said under his breath.

  The skies were robed in darkness, providing him the added cover he needed to go about his mischief undetected.

  As she was reaching into her backseat, grabbing her walking stick to deter strays that were often out and about, G’Corey quickly studied both directions of the quiet, one-way street before coming out of the bushes and running up on her. He slapped his gloved hand over her mouth so she couldn’t scream.

  Bonita’s eyes bulged out of her head when she felt the stronghold grip yank her from her vehicle at her waist. She began moving about wildly, trying to stomp his feet or anything that would get him to release her. Then with the thick stick she had in her hand, she swung it forcefully over her shoulder, connecting it against his face.

  The whap against his eye caused his lid to balloon. Nonetheless, he released his hand from her mouth and snatched the weapon out of her hand, throwing it down.

  “Hel—” She attempted to yelp but was cut short with a punch to the side of the head.

  She fell to the ground woozily. She tried to call out for help again, but G’Corey kicked her so hard in the face her mouth started pouring blood like a running faucet.

  Bonita clawed for his leg but he stomped her hand, rendering it useless just like her ability to fight back.

  Woof! Woof! Woof!

  G’Corey looked up and spotted a mangy dog barking huskily at him, putting a stop to his vicious attack.

  It was time to leave before someone saw what happened. He spun around in a circle looking for the stick he threw down and the purse she had on her shoulder. He managed to find them both and jumped into her car.

  Alverda opened the door and peeked her head out. Mutt, as she named him, needed to be told to stop or he’d keep woofing. She was surprised Bonita didn’t do it, but she’d handle it. He was too loud to ignore.

  “Quit your yapping, Mutt!” Alverda sharply told him but unlike any other morning, it didn’t work. She went back to her desk and grabbed her coat from off of her chair to put it on and go out to shoo him away personally.

  G’Corey hustled to search through her junky hobo-sized purse for the keys. His nerves were getting the best of him because the ruckus from his relentless barking was going to draw attention his way.

  “Shut the fuck up, stupid dog!”

  Alverda reopened the door and started walking to her employee’s car, not paying attention to the driver. “Shut up, Mutt. Nita, get your dog,” she said the closer she got up on her car.

  G’Corey looked to his right and saw the image of who he knew to be Alverda approaching his way. He pulled his gun off of his waist. If he didn’t find her ignition starter and pull off soon, he would have to kill Alverda because she knew who he was, easily.

  “Go on somewhere. Get!” She persuaded Mutt to trot off. Alverda stopped at her passenger side, tapping on the window and then pulling on the handle. The second the door opened, Alverda said, “Nita, what are—Aaahhhhh!” She jumped back and clutched her chest. She was taken by surprise when the car sped off abruptly.

  She watched her car zoom away in wonderment. She couldn’t believe she’d do something like that. Then she looked off to the side at what appeared to be someone laying on the ground and realized Bonita didn’t drive off at all. That was her sprawled out before her.

  “Nittttaaaa!” Alverda cried out as she rushed over to her.

  ***

  Minnie was sleeping comfortably in the nook of Yuriah’s arm when she heard her business phone ringing. She opened one eye and saw 6:17 a.m. flash across her digital clock. She knew it was Alverda, she’d be the only one calling at that time.

  I’ll call her back in an hour.

  Minnie had been up with Yuri all night and she was bushed. But when Alverda called her right back, she knew something had to be wrong. She didn’t call back to back, ever.

  Minnie cleared the sleep from her voice. “Good morning.”

  Alverda’s anger could be heard through her words. “It’s not a good morning. Bonita was car jacked and beat up real bad.”

  “What?” Minnie shrieked her one word reply so loudly Yuriah immediately got up from his sleep.

  “Baby, what’s wrong?” He turned on the lamp to illuminate the dark room.

  Minnie pulled the covers off of her, bolting out of bed. “My worker just got assaulted,” she addressed Yuriah. Turning her attention back to Alverda, she asked, “Where are you and where are they taking her?”

  “I’m with her in the ambulance and we’re on our way to West Jefferson.”

  “I’ll meet you up there.” Minnie snapped her phone shut and tossed it on the bed.

  She began stripping out of her pajamas and into regular clothes. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Yuriah doing the same.

  ***

  Early morning traffic jams coming from Mid-City and crossing over into the Westbank of New Orleans had them arriving at the hospital thirty minutes past the usual half an hour drive it would take normally.

  “You mentioned a man stole her car? What type of wheels was she riding?”

  “Ummm, a Nissan Maxima. Why?” Minnie was looking for a parking space as she questioned him nervously.

  “Just curious to know, baby.” Yuriah scanned the lot with the eye of a hawk, looking for anyone that looked like G’Corey because his street sensibility told him he may have had something to do with it because he knew a set up when he saw one.

  In the game of Chess, a pawn was easily scarified to get to the queen and ultimately the king. Yuriah quickly surmised it wasn’t a random robbery. Off top, no dude, not even a crack fiend, would seek to take that type of vehicle off of anybody’s hands. Then the neighborhood where Minnie’s office front was located sat on an isolated road where the only people who walked or drove down that strip had purpose to do so.

  They parked, exited Yuriah’s truck and headed into the lobby of the emergency room.

  A police officer was taking Alverda’s statement when Minnie saw her. After the cop concluded his questions, she walked over to Minnie and Yuriah and told them what little she knew.

  Hours later…

  The nurse advised that only two people were allowed to go in to see Bonita.

  “Go ahead. Y’all check on her. I’ll wait right here.” Yuriah kissed Minnie’s forehead.

  When she disappeared behind the curtain, Yuriah reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone. He called Kamal and from there he’d put Munch in the know.

  Kamal picked up on the fourth ring. “What up, bro?”

  Yuriah spoke on low volume. “I’m not sure, bruh, but I believe G’Corey made a play.”

  “Straight up?”


  “Yea, straight up. Look, we gon’ meet up and talk about this fuck shit later but I’m at West Jeff right now with Minnie, checking on her people. Anyway, I need you to do me a solid.”

  “Anything.”

  “Get on the horn with a top notch security company. Have them set up in and outdoor surveillance cameras over at Minnie’s building. I want the type of shit the CIA use and I don’t care how much money it takes to make it happen. I want it done today! Can you handle that?”

  “This me. Where the keys to her spot?”

  “At my crib, in one of my top drawers. It’ll be the only set in there.”

  “A’ight, dawg, I’ll catch up wit’chu later.”

  Yuriah hung up the phone and then called his little cousin, Munch. He was going to need him for something else.

  Meanwhile, Minnie was doing her best not to cry. Bonita’s face was badly bruised and her lips were so swollen she couldn’t open her mouth to speak.

  Minnie had to turn away from her for a moment so Bonita couldn’t detect how horrible of a beating she sustained from the astonishment screaming from the look in Minnie’s eyes.

  The nurse informed them that she had two broken ribs and a fractured hand but she didn’t prep them for the visual effect of the awful assault.

  Minnie and Alverda stood on the same side of her bed, wearing smiles to mask their concern.

  “The nurse said you’re under a lot of medications, so we won’t stay long. We just wanted to let you know we are here for you, okay?” Minnie squeezed her leg gently.

  Bonita lightly nodded and then closed her eyes.

  The ladies stepped off to the side and had a conversation.

  Minnie placed a hand on her hip and head. “I can’t believe this. I hope they catch whoever did this.”

  “I wish I would have caught him.” Alverda looked over at the battered girl. “You don’t do no stuff like that to no woman.”

  Minnie blew out hard. “Not to sound callous but what are we going to do about her clients?”