by Nikisha Mock
“What?” I yelled into the phone.
“Damn girl, who pissed in your cornflakes today?” Eva laughed.
“Oh, I’m sorry girl. I thought you were Jay again. He has been calling me nonstop so today I finally answered. He had the nerve to question me about Darren. Girl I let him have it. Jay has the game twisted and I never did like that game anyway. I’m sick of him and I am enjoying life with Darren so wherever this leads me then fine but no matter what, Jay will not be the reason I miss out on a potential good thing with Darren”
“I know that’s right girl. They stay thinking the grass is greener on the other side and then they want to come running back once they realize quality over quantity is always better.”
“You can say that again. How you doing, boo? Things at home with Ty any better since all that club mess?” I asked. We hadn’t really talked about all that much since she told me it happened. I couldn’t believe Ty though. He seemed so true to Eva and her kids and their relationship.
“Not really. I’m not really talking to him about it. He tried to brush it off saying she was just some chick from the club but it was more than that Ciara. You know how sometimes we just know? Well, that’s the feeling I got when she approached our booth. Jay knows something too because he tried his best to deflect the heat from Tyler to himself but it didn’t work. So I am just real lost right now. And the good doctor is beginning to look better and better by the way,” she concluded and laughed real hard.
I laughed too. “Oh no ma’am. Please don’t go there with the doctor, Eva. He knows all your dirty little secrets!”
“No, not all of them. Some of them I just have to show people. I think he might like that, though.”
“I can’t with you. You talked to Yanna?”
“Yeah a few minutes ago. She told me Lana came to the club the other night trying to confront her and said a lot of stuff about Cam. But you know Yanna, she’s not the one to get all hostile over some he-said, she-said stuff. I just told her to keep her eyes open. The truth always comes out. It’s only a matter of time.”
“You can say that again.”
“Well, I just wanted to give you a ring. You spending time with Darren today?” she asked.
I smiled at the thought of it. “Yeah I am. He’s taking me shopping!” I said that and we giggled like schoolgirls. Eva was rooting for the good guy in this scenario.
“I am glad that you are moving on, Ciara. No matter what happens with Darren, it’s good for you because you are breaking a potential cycle with Jay. Don’t be like I was and continue to be a glutton for punishment over him. You deserve better than that.”
“Aww, I love you too, Eva,” I said and blew kissing sounds into the phone.
“I guess I love you too. Bye!” she said and we ended our call.
I continued getting ready for what Darren said would be a day of whatever I wanted and I smiled to myself just thinking about it. When my phone rang again I saw that it was Jay and I hit ignore. He immediately sent me a text saying that he was out of line and apologizing. He was singing the same old tune and I was tired of listening to it. I went to the bathroom to freshen up a little and I just happened to glance over at the box of tampons that I had on a stand in my bathroom. Now, when was the last time my redheaded friend had shown her face?
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ayanna
I sent Cam a text telling him that I was tired of the bullshit. Of course, he wanted to know what I meant and I told him to ask Lana. That shut him up because I didn’t hear anything else from him. I laughed at Lana saying she’ll be seeing me around. Well, let that hoe try it. As long as I have Roxy, I’m not worried about getting jumped. I hadn’t ever really considered using it but here lately the threats seemed to be coming at me from all angles so I figured it was only right that I protect myself.
I made a mental note to have a girl’s day soon at the local gun range. I needed Eva and Ciara to be able to protect themselves too. Star had been real supportive when the whole stupid situation happened earlier. Maybe I’d invite her to the gun range too. No, scratch that. She got too much pent up aggression. Star might not need to be around any guns anytime soon. I giggled to myself and she caught me.
“What you over there laughing at? You still thinking about lame ass Lana?” she asked.
“Nope. Not at all. I was thinking that it was time for me to plan a girl’s trip to the gun range and then I evaluated all the reasons why you can’t come,” I laughed real hard this time.
“Oh word? What you think I might go postal in that bitch?” Star laughed too but tried to look indignant.
“You said it not me,” I laughed.
“Oh that’s cold. Just when I think we’re about to be good friends.”
“Whatever. Oh my. Here comes trouble. See? This is why you can’t be around guns right now. You got too much going on.”
I noticed that Indigo was approaching the bar and did not look happy at all. Star turned around. When she saw what I was talking about, she turned right back around and continued talking to me. Indigo looked pissed though.
“Star! Star! I know you hear me and I know you saw me walking over here,” Indigo yelled. Star casually looked over her shoulder at Indigo, looked her up and down, and then turned her back on her again.
“Yanna, will you please tell Star to quit being so childish?” she pleaded to me.
“I’m not sure I want to get in this one, Indigo,” I said, putting my hands up as if to say I’m not in it.
“Alright then fuck it. I came over here to talk to you in private but since you insist on doing things the hard way, here goes. I just went to the doctor today. I have herpes. You might want to go and get yourself tested.”
Indigo flipped her bluish purple hair and walked off. Desyre was waiting for her at the entrance to the back room. She looked over at the bar for a minute then she put her arm around Indigo and they walked into the room.
Star was just standing there. The expression on her face was blank. I wanted to say something but just couldn’t find the words. Herpes? Of all the STD’s in the world, Indigo just casually told Star that she has an incurable one and walked off.
I opened my mouth a few times to say something but damn, what do you say to something like that? I could not imagine being in Star’s shoes. She started screaming at the top of her lungs and then picked up a bottle of rum and threw it at the mirrored wall behind us.
Reno came running over to the bar asking what the hell was going on. Star just kept screaming but I blocked her from grabbing any more bottles. I put my hand up to tell Reno to just hold on a minute. I put my other hand up in front of Star and started talking to her in a calm voice.
“Now, Star. Focus baby. I know what she just came over here and told you was fucked up. I don’t have any good words of wisdom or anything like that. But I know you are going to have to calm down girl. Take some deep breaths, concentrate on calming down. How do you know you even have it? What you need to do is make an appointment and worry about the results later. Don’t claim something before you even know if it’s real. Come on Star, please. You’ve been doing so well. Don’t mess it up now over a scandalous broad like Indy.”
I tried my best to be the voice of reason but I had a feeling it was going in one ear and out the other. Star kept pacing back and forth and she was crying but the only reason I know this is because of the constant stream of tears running down her face. It was a silent cry. She wasn’t screaming anymore. She just kept pacing and crying. She had her fists balled up and down at her sides.
I noticed Al walking over to the bar. Now this was a sight because Al never came out of his dungeon as we called it. He rarely showed his face. But he had cameras all over the club and he watched everyone and everything like a hawk. Al was a huge man and I mean huge in every sense of the word. He was tall and weighed about three hundred pounds. He had corn rolls and they were real thin in the top. His old ass needed to give it up but sometimes money won’t allow peop
le to leave the so-called spotlight. When I saw Al walking towards us, I knew it meant that he was pissed off.
“What in the entire hell is going on over here? Star, have you lost your mind? Scaring the customers and my girls, breaking shit? What the hell is wrong with you? Somebody better start explaining right damn now!” Al was started to get winded and spit was flying from his mouth with every word. He had removed the toothpick from his mouth long enough to go on his rant and his forehead was sweating so bad I offered him a couple napkins which he snatched from me.
“It’s okay, Al. I’ll pay for the bottle she broke. Luckily, it was almost empty so it didn’t crack the glass in the wall. Just let me take Star out back for a few minutes to calm her down. Reno, can you cover for us back here for a minute?” I tried real hard to make the bad situation a little better before Al had a damn heart attack.
“I don’t give a damn what you gotta do, just make sure Star gets her ass in check or the both of ya can stay outside and don’t come back! Messing up my establishment, fucking up my money. Don’t nobody mess with Al’s money. That’s trouble for yo ass, baby!” Al mumbled and cussed and spit all the way back to his dungeon. I looked at Reno and we both laughed but not loudly because we were not trying to have Al wobble back over there fussing.
“Come on, Star. Let’s just go outside for a little bit,” I said as I grabbed her hand and made her walk outside with me. When we got outside I handed Star a cigarette and she looked at me like I was crazy.
“Don’t ask me no questions just smoke the muthafucka,” I said laughing. Star actually smirked at that one and I passed her a light. She smoked about half the cigarette before she finally spoke. I stayed quiet until she was ready.
“This is some extreme bullshit. Life just keeps shittin on me, man. What have I ever done to anybody that wasn’t already doing me wrong first? I’m tired, Yanna. I’m so fucking tired of everybody always taking advantage of me or trying to fuck up my life. Herpes? What the fuck? I’m going to the doctor ASAP. For Indigo’s sake, I hope the test comes back negative.”
There was something in the way Star said that last part that gave me chills. I had always wondered if Star’s temper ever went completely out of control would some blood start to flow. I really didn’t want to ever find out for sure though. I shook my head.
“Star, come on now use your head. Don’t go doing nothing that will cost you your freedom. They got enough of us locked up. Don’t just give them the key to your life so they can lock you away like a slave. If, and I do mean if, the test comes back positive then you will deal with it and I will be there for you. We can’t change certain things in our lives so we just gotta keep rolling with the punches.”
“Yo, I’m not with your philosophical ass on this, alright? Indy better hope and pray that my test is negative. Because if it ain’t, she better get the hell out of dodge. That’s all I’m saying. Tell Al fat ass I’m out. If he fires me, cool. But I can’t go back in there. If I look at Indigo right now I might choke the shit out of her nasty ass.”
“I get it and okay, I’ll cover for you inside. But go home, Star. Don’t go nowhere else. Your mood is jacked and you might hurt somebody.” I said that out of concern because I really was afraid of what Star might do. I’d seen her mad before but not like this. Something big was about to happen. I really wasn’t prepared for what that something might be.
I went back inside to clean up the mess and to my surprise Indigo was on stage, shaking it for the world to see like she hadn’t just told us her coochie was contaminated. I shook my head and went back to serving drinks. There was no telling how many others would be infected by Indigo because from the looks of things she really didn’t have a care in the world. I reached down and looked at my phone. Cam had sent me a text that said he would be at my house tonight and to wait up for him. I sent a short and sweet Okay text back. I wanted to talk to him anyway. I needed to know what was really behind Lana all of a sudden being so concerned with me. I noticed I had a missed text from Eva too. She said she had some things to tell me about the good doctor. Judging from all the smiley faces she put behind that I could only imagine what Eva had been up too now. I giggled at the thought of it and made a mental note to call her in the morning.
The club was a little dry that night so we had no problems closing at a decent time. I finished up with the bar, Mal walked me to my car, and I headed home. When I got there, I noticed Cam’s car in my driveway. Try as I might, I couldn’t hold back the smirk. He was always ready for some late night action when I got home.
Before I could get out of my car, I noticed something moving off to my right. I looked up just in time to see a big girl dressed in black walking down the street. I was thinking that it was odd for someone to be walking at this time of night, especially a girl and dressed in all black. Then the driver side door of Cam’s car opened but I wasn’t focused on him at the moment. Something wouldn’t let me take my eyes off the chick in the black. She was getting closer to my house and was walking real slow.
Cam stood up and yelled to me, “Aye girl? What’s taking you so long to get out the car?”
I just kept looking at the girl in black. I reached into my bag and fingered Roxy. I had a good grip on her. The girl was getting closer. Then she did something odd. She stopped right beside my mailbox. That’s when I noticed something shiny and silver in her hand. I didn’t even get the chance to scream before the pop was heard.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Eva
“Eva! Oh my God, Eva! She shot him! I can’t believe she shot him!” Ayanna was frantic, yelling in the phone. I was all set to say hey girl and cut up with her until I heard all the commotion.
I tried to calm her down. “What? What happened, Yanna? Calm down and please tell me what happened. Who got shot?”
“Cam! Some chick walked up to him and shot him in my driveway! Oh my God, Eva, all this blood! I am freaking out!”
“Okay, okay, I am on my way. Is the ambulance there yet?”
“Yes! They’re working on him now. I’m so scared Eva!”
“Ask them what hospital they’re taking him to and you ride with him. I will meet you there.”
She obtained the information and I was already putting on my shoes. Tyler woke up and wanted to know what was going on.
“Cam’s been shot. I have to go be with Yanna,” I said while looking all over for my keys.
“Baby, you better slow down. The last thing we need is for you to run out of here all crazy and get yourself hurt trying to be there for your friend.”
“I know it’s just that you should have heard her on the phone. I can’t believe someone shot him. She said it was a girl.”
“A girl? Oh man, that shit is mad crazy. Let me know what’s up when you get there okay?”
“Okay, I will.”
I got to the hospital in record speed. I was being careful but I was still a nervous wreck. I walked into the emergency room and immediately felt faint. Yanna was sitting in a chair, rocking back and forth. Her cream-colored shirt was covered in blood. I took off my jacket and handed it to her.
“Why did this happen, Eva? I don’t know who that girl was but I feel like I’ve seen her before. She just walked up, all calm and cool, and shot him. Then she ran. I got off two shots but she was ducking and dodging plus my hand was shaking so bad because I was so in shock! Cam never saw it coming. He hit the ground hard right beside his car. Why do these crazy things just keep happening to me?” Ayanna cried.
“Shhhh. Let’s worry about Cam being okay. No one knows but God what the outcome of our lives will be. We always have to remember that,” I said as I held her and let her cry. Just then, Ciara ran in.
“Oh my God, Yanna, are you hurt too?” Ciara said, reacting to all the blood.
“It’s okay, Ciara. She’s okay. We’re just waiting on the doctor to come and tell us about Cam. And where is his family? Where’s Fallon?”
“That’s a good fucking question,” someone said from o
ut of nowhere. All of our heads snapped around to see none other than Lana, standing there with tears in her eyes and holding the hand of a cute little girl who looked scared.
“Lana, don’t nobody have time for no drama tonight. You can sit over here with us and wait for the doctor like you got some sense or you can get the hell on over there,” Yanna said and we all knew she meant it.
“I didn’t come to start no drama. All I want is to make sure Taylor’s father is alright. That’s it,” Lana said, actually sounding like a rational girl. Yanna just put her head down again and didn’t say another word. I smiled at little Taylor and she smiled back at me. I could tell she was scared so I reached into my bag and pulled out a lollipop.
“Can she have this?” I asked Lana.
“Sure. What do you say, Taylor?”
“Thank you,” she said as I handed her the candy.
“The family of Camron Davis?” A tall slender doctor said as he came in from behind some double doors. All of us immediately stood up. Taylor stood behind her mother, obviously shy and a little scared.
“Yes! How is he doctor? When can I see him?” Yanna said a rapid fire.
“Mr. Davis lost a lot of blood. The bullet went it through his side but just missed major arteries and his abdomen. We expect that he will make a full recovery. We need to get him stable and situated into a room and then no more than three of you at a time may go back and visit with him.” This was great news to all of us. Yanna cried even harder but this time they were tears of happiness.
“Oh thank you Jesus he’s alright! You hear that, Tay? Your daddy is alright!” Lana said as she hugged her daughter. Yanna looked over at them. I think we all noticed it at the same time. There was a lot of love in Lana’s eyes for Cam. But when a relationship is truly over it should be over. If it isn’t, you have to leave others out of your messy equation. Life would be so much simpler that way.