1 Night Stand

by Amaleka McCall

  “Can we see her?” Harmony asked.

  “Yes, but we ask that you keep the traffic to a minimum and keep things quiet so she can rest and her body can repair itself.”

  Melody held Harmony by the elbow as they slowly entered Lyric’s room together. Harmony gulped and froze. Her hands flew up to her mouth and she shook her head no.

  “All of that? I can barely see her face,” Harmony cried.

  “I know. I know,” Melody agreed, staring across the room.

  Lyric had tubes coming from her nose, mouth, neck, and both arms. Her head was wrapped in white gauze, and there were two more gauzy wraps—one on her right pointer finger, and one on the top of her right hand. The IV pole that loomed just behind the head of Lyric’s bed had four different clear bags hanging from it—some small, some large. There was a heart monitor at the left of her bed. The sound—blip, blip, blip . . . blip . . . blip, blip—made Melody’s skin crawl. From the looks of it, Lyric was in worse than critical condition.

  “Is she dying?” Harmony asked. Melody shook her head no.

  “Come here.” Melody comforted her, putting her arm around Harmony’s shoulders. “She is going to pull through, Harm. Trust me. I will make sure she gets the best care. She just needs us to be strong right now. You can’t break down, because all of these years, you’ve taken the best care of her.”

  Harmony looked at Melody like she couldn’t believe it was her saying those things. Melody parted a tiny smile and put her head on Harmony’s shoulder like a small child would lay on her mother’s.

  “I always thought you were the strongest, Harm.” Melody spoke directly into Harmony’s ear. Saying the words felt like a ten-ton weight suddenly lifted from Melody’s shoulders. “I always admired how you stayed so strong through it all. I know I wouldn’t have been so strong if it were me.”

  The hard spot in the center of her chest seemed to soften. “I am sorry for what Ava did to you . . . and to Lyric. You were better than me to be able to take that.” Melody’s voice cracked.

  More pressured eased in her head and her heart. She took a deep, cleansing breath. Melody felt lighter by the minute. It was the first time she had ever admitted to herself or anyone else that someone, namely her older sister, was better at something or more successful than her.

  Melody swallowed hard and shook Harmony’s shoulders in a show of support. “You’re stronger than all of us, Harmony. You’re stronger and better than me,” Melody said.

  For the first time in her life, Melody didn’t have to pretend. For the first time, something she said out of her mouth felt sincere and in line with what she really felt. For the first time, Melody felt free.

  Chapter 18

  Lyric

  “No. Please,” Lyric screamed. Her screams fell on deaf ears. Her head jerked back and pain daggered through her scalp.

  “Please, don’t,” Lyric screamed again, but again her pleas were to no avail. Lyric raised her hands to her head, trying to loosen the painful grip on her hair. Her defiance just made him clamp down harder, increasing the thunderbolts of pain that lit up her scalp.

  “I . . . I will obey,” Lyric whimpered. “I . . . I . . . promise this time, I will obey,” she cried.

  He roared, laughing maniacally, as if her pleas and her pain were amusing him. He pulled her head close to his. She saw fire flashing in his eyes. Pure evil.

  Lyric moaned and squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t stand to look at the rough mask that was his face—Andrew Harvey’s face. Tears spilled down her trembling cheeks. She felt something cold and wet on her lips. Lyric slowly opened her eyes and came face-to-face with a two-headed snake. It was coming out of his mouth, where his tongue was supposed to be.

  “Kissss me,” the snake hissed.

  “Ah,” Lyric screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed.

  * * *

  Lyric’s eyes fluttered open. Each part of her body seemed to come alive inch by inch. Her vision was blurry, but she could see and feel someone next to her. Lyric felt something in her left hand. She curled her fingers around it, one-by-one.

  Harmony’s head popped up from the side of Lyric’s bed. “Lyric? Baby sis?” Harmony squeezed Lyric’s hand in return. Lyric had to fight to keep her eyes open. She felt herself slipping away again.

  “Lyric, I’m here. Just like I promised, I’m right here,” Harmony said in a rush of breath. “I’m here, sweetheart. Open your eyes. Let me know you can hear me.” Lyric slowly opened her eyes again.

  “Oh, thank God.” Harmony lifted Lyric’s hand and kissed the back of it. “I’m so happy you’re awake. I’ve been here since it happened, and I’m not leaving your side. I swear it.”

  Lyric groaned and tried to lift her head. Something pulled her back down onto the pillow. Lyric lifted her bandaged right hand and touched the side of her head. She ran her hand down the side of her face to her mouth.

  “That’s helping you breathe,” Harmony told her.

  Lyric groaned again. She tugged on the breathing tube protruding from her lips, held in place at the corner of her mouth with white surgical tape. In response to the tugging, the monitors next to her bed rang off, squealing like a burglar alarm.

  “Lyric, don’t do that. You need that to breathe.” Harmony panicked. She stood up and tried to move Lyric’s hand from the breathing tube. Lyric kicked her feet and moved her head side to side.

  “Lyric, keep still. You’re going to pull out your IVs and make this much worse,” Harmony warned, her face crinkled with fear.

  Within seconds, a team of nurses burst into the room. “Ma’am, we’re going to have to ask you to step out for a few minutes,” a nurse said to Harmony.

  It took all of the strength Lyric had to hold onto her sister’s hand. She would not let go.

  “Lyric, I’m here. I am not leaving you,” Harmony called to her as the nurses tried to move her away from Lyric’s bed.

  “Miss, please,” a different nurse yelled at Harmony. “We can’t help her if you’re in our way. It’s for her own good.”

  “I am not leaving her. Do whatever you need to do, but I am not leaving her,” Harmony said.

  With that, Lyric stopped fighting to yank out the breathing tube. The nurses rushed around, checking her tubes, pushing buttons, and one injected Lyric’s IV line with something from a syringe. Lyric’s body went limp and her head lulled to the side. She was knocked out. Again.

  Chapter 19

  Harmony

  Harmony’s eyes burned, and her muscles ached in places she never knew existed. She had been holding vigil at Lyric’s bedside for over fifteen hours without moving to even go to the bathroom. When Lyric finally came to, Harmony was glad that she’d made the decision not to move.

  She eased her hand out of Lyric’s. Confident that the sedation meds they’d pumped into Lyric’s IV would buy her some time, Harmony slowly stood up. She bent over and planted a light kiss on Lyric’s forehead, took one last long look at her baby sister, and turned to leave the room for a much-needed bathroom and stretch break.

  Harmony tugged on the door handle, and just as she went to step through, she bumped into someone. “Oh.” Harmony clutched her chest. Her face immediately flattened and her eyes hooded over.

  “You have some fucking nerve coming here,” Harmony said through clenched teeth. She pulled Lyric’s room door closed behind her and blocked the entrance with her body.

  “I–I need to see her,” Rebel stammered. Harmony could tell from his eyes that he was high. He moved side to side restlessly.

  “How dare you?” Harmony gritted, pushing him hard in the chest.

  Rebel stumbled backward a few steps, clearly caught off guard by Harmony’s aggression.

  “You feed my sister so much drugs she almost lost her life, and you have the fucking nerve to show your little dirty, disgusting face?” Harmony backed him down, fire flashing in her eyes.

  Rebel shook his head no. “It—I . . . it wasn’t me. I wasn’t there. I didn’t
give it to her,” Rebel said, his hands shaking.

  Harmony stopped moving and squinted at him. “What are you talking about? She lives with you.”

  “Yes, but she went out with some friends. Said she needed to get away from me. We argued. She stormed out,” Rebel explained.

  Harmony’s scowl softened into a confused grimace.

  “Look, I know you all don’t think that highly of me, and yeah, I’m a stoner.” Rebel opened his arms wide as if to say “Look at me.”

  “But I love your sister,” he confessed in a shaky voice.

  Harmony swallowed the ball of emotion that suddenly lodged in the back of her throat.

  “We fight. We argue. And we get high together sometimes, but I’m telling you, I love Lyric. I really fucking love her.” Rebel broke down.

  Harmony was at a loss for words. Suddenly, her own situation sprang to her mind. She realized she was yearning to see Ron. She needed to feel his touch and hear him tell her he loved her. She wanted to tell him what happened to Lyric, and she wanted him to hug her and tell her it would be all right.

  “Would you stay with her until I come back? I don’t want her to wake up alone.”

  Rebel’s eyebrows shot up on his face. He nodded his head. “Yes! I promise I won’t move from her side,” Rebel agreed gratefully.

  “I’ll be back,” Harmony assured, stepping aside so Rebel could access Lyric’s room.

  Right before he entered the room, Rebel touched Harmony’s shoulder and nodded. “Thank you. I really meant what I said. I love Lyric.”

  Harmony cracked a weak smile. “I love her too.”

  * * *

  Harmony crept into the darkened hotel room and gently shut the door behind her. She stood inside the small foyer area for a few seconds, trying to find her nerve. She took a deep breath and moved further inside, stopping and smiling when she saw Ron asleep with Aubrey on his chest. A burst of warmth filled Harmony’s chest and stomach at the sight. She realized that Ron was right—being back in Brooklyn had made her lose sight of what was really important to her.

  Harmony stared at her husband and baby for a few long seconds. She walked to the bed and placed her hand on Ron’s forehead. Her eyebrows dipped, looking at Ron’s bruised eye and split lip.

  Ron’s eyes opened.

  “Hey.” Harmony smiled at him.

  Ron parted a lazy grin and pointed to the baby. Harmony picked Aubrey up, kissed her chubby cheek and put her down on the bed. Ron sat up. He stretched and yawned.

  “Are you okay? What happened to your face?” Harmony inquired, her head tilted.

  Ron waved his hand. “Just a little accident. No big deal,” he assured.

  Harmony didn’t press the issue. She didn’t have the mental fortitude to cause another argument.

  “I heard about Lyric on the news,” Ron said, changing the subject.

  Harmony knew that was his way of breaking the ice and moving on from their two big fights. She wanted to forget too.

  “Yeah, she’s in pretty bad shape.” Harmony sat down next to him. As a way of saying sorry, she placed her head on his shoulder.

  “I’m really scared, Ron. Everything seems to be out of control. I want to run and run and never stop,” Harmony confessed. Ron grabbed her hand. She recognized that it was his way of apologizing.

  “You can’t run, Harmony. That’s not you. I understand that now. I support you. I want you to take whatever time you need to care for her, Harmony. Whatever time you need to do what makes your brokenness heal,” Ron said.

  That caused Harmony to lift her head from his shoulder and look up at the side of his face. She placed her hand under his chin and urged his face toward hers. Harmony looked deep into his eyes for a few long, meaningful seconds.

  “No matter what, I will not abandon you and Aubrey,” she assured. “Even if I have to run back and forth between Brooklyn and Jersey, I will not let you down. I will find a way to do both.”

  Ron closed his eyes and nodded. Harmony knew that meant that, just like her, he knew better. They both knew that their lives would never be the same again, but at that moment, neither of them had the courage to tell the other the truth. Harmony and Ron both needed to pretend things were going to go back to normal in their lives, because pretending was easier than facing the truth.

  Chapter 20

  Melody

  “My hero. You are my hero. I can see my life through your eyes. My hero. You are my hero. Every breath that I take is because of you.” Melody held onto the side of the headphones that covered her ears and sang every note with heartfelt feeling. She didn’t need to read the words on the loose sheets of paper in front of her; the lyrics were etched in her mind now. The music filtering through the headset and into her ears touched her soul.

  Melody kept her eyes closed and held her last note as long as her diaphragm allowed. The music was soothing the aching spots in her heart. It was just what she needed.

  Although she was running on little to no sleep, Melody had rushed to the studio straight from the hospital. Seeing Lyric in such a horrible condition and having that heartfelt, touching moment with Harmony, Melody had become overwhelmed with all sorts of pent-up emotions. She had felt like the feelings were choking her. The guilt of it all weighed on her like someone had tied a chain with a cinderblock attached around her neck. Melody had told Harmony she would be back, and she ran away from the hospital like it was the deadliest place on earth.

  Melody had screamed at her driver several times as he tried his best to navigate the New York City traffic. Melody needed a release before she burst. The studio was empty when she arrived, just like she liked it. That was one of the times Melody realized how valuable it was that she owned her own studio. It had been her best investment to date. There weren’t many female artists who owned their own studio, music production company, and almost all of their songwriting publishing. Melody was a rare breed in an industry filled with pretty faces and empty heads. The entire building that housed her music studio, dance rehearsal studio, and business center belonged to her.

  Melody inhaled once she walked into the studio’s control room. Every single button on the control room mixing console and every piece of melamine foam in the sound booth belonged to her. Melody didn’t need her producers, her writing team, or any other artists to be there with her like she usually did. Instead, she got behind the large, multi-track mixing console and created a beat that spoke to her heart.

  The boom of the 808 fell in line with Melody’s heartbeat. The tune was reminiscent of an old school love ballad, but the words that were swimming around in Melody’s brain were different, more like a song of redemption. She wanted to let her feelings pour out of her until she collapsed. Melody had closed her eyes and let it carry her away. When she had finally stepped into the booth, she felt ready to conquer anything.

  Melody threw her head back and swayed. “Oh, my hero. You are my hero.”

  The tiny soundproof booth in the studio rocked with the sound of her melodic voice. Every single bar of the song held a strong meaning for her.

  “My hero.”

  Music and singing had always been Melody’s release. Shortly after Sista Love broke up, Melody had started missing Harmony and Lyric horribly. Sometimes the longing would make her hide in her enormous closet and cry at night. Melody felt she couldn’t confide in Ava, for fear that Ava would call her weak and stupid. Ava didn’t think Melody needed anything but the fame and the money.

  Even then, Melody would go to the studio and compose to make herself feel better. She would scribble her feelings—whether angry, lonely, sad, or happy—onto a yellow legal pad, and then she’d turn those feelings into beautiful, soul-stirring, chart-topping songs.

  Melody may have appeared to be a bitch on the surface or an unappeasable diva to the public, but she was really a broken girl inside. The sincerity and authenticity of her music was all that saved her from completely losing her mind. The music became all that she had that mattered to her. I
t was the reason she was so successful. Melody wrote songs and sang them based on her emotions—emotions that hundreds of thousands of women around the world could relate to—and they loved her for it.

  Melody realized that her music had saved her life on many occasions. On those days when she missed Harmony and Lyric so badly, she contemplated ending it all, but the music had brought her back from the brink. When she was in the studio and in that booth, Melody shed her tough-girl exterior like a snake shed its dead skin. It was a rebirth of sorts.

  “My hero. I want you always and forever. Oh, you are my hero.” Melody could’ve dedicated the song to so many people, but in that moment, she could only picture her sisters. Melody sang so loudly and the words were so powerful that she was shaking.

  Her chest filled with air as she prepared to belt out another verse, but an abrupt disruption caused her to go off key and choke back her words. The music had suddenly died. Melody opened her eyes to tapping on the sound booth glass. Her heartbeat quickened. Melody snatched the headphones from her ears and glared through the glass.

  “What the hell?” she snapped. How dare he? Her nostrils flared as she watched Sly waving at her, signaling with his hands for her to come out of the booth.

  Melody stood there, staring at him for a few long seconds, and felt her insides heating up. Sly wore that stupid, guilty grin that Melody had seen so many times. Now it made her stomach sick. Melody sucked her teeth and hung the headphones on the hook next to her. She pushed the microphone aside and closed her songbook. Clearly she was stalling. Melody hadn’t seen Sly in the three days since he’d snuck out of her bed like she was some sort of call girl.

  “’Sup?” Sly grinned as Melody stepped into the control room from the booth. “That beat was fire, ma. You still got it,” Sly complimented with his gorgeous smile.

  Be strong, Melody. Don’t let him sweet talk you, Melody. Be strong, Melody.

  The scent of Sly’s cologne made her stomach flutter. Melody knew she had to put her foot down, but looking at Sly in his sleek, fitted jeans, swagged-out dark green Buscemi sneakers, and black Givenchy shark tee was making it hard for her to keep up her attitude. That was the one thing Melody always loved about Sly—his swag.