by Twyla T
While Bertha was gone, Malcolm was forced to have a counseling session with his assigned therapist. He declined about three times, but was finally told that if he continued to refuse, it would only make his stay longer. He hopped up with the quickness after he heard the therapist say those words. Staying past the mandatory forty-eight hours was not something Malcolm was wanting or willing to do. Calming himself, he quietly followed the therapist to her office.
With his mind set on not saying much of anything, Malcolm finally broke the ice when the topic on anger emerged. “Anger is a common emotion that can help individuals relieve stress, motivate them to solve problems, and provide a way, through healthy expression, for people to discuss their negative feelings. It is normal to experience anger, and at times, anger is the appropriate response to the actions of others. Anger sometimes arises because we unconsciously think of past experiences. What causes you to become angry, Malcolm?” the therapist asked.
“People. People who don’t do what I say make me angry, but I’ve been working on it,” Malcolm said, trying to choose his words wisely.
“Would you consider yourself to be an angry person or do people just make you angry?” the therapist asked.
“I SAID PEOPLE MAKE ME ANGRY! DON’T BECOME ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE, PLEASE MA’AM!” Malcolm screamed. The therapist was a bit frightened, but she wasn’t about to let him stop her from doing her job so she continued.
“Have there been times when you wish you could have reacted to your issues of anger differently?” she asked.
Malcolm sighed and began thinking about something he had done recently out of anger that he really regretted. He felt like he had to get to someone before they got to him, but now he wished that he could change how things had turned out. He would never tell a soul about what he had done because it would cost him his life.
“Do you have any anger issues, ma’am? Are there things that you have done that you wish you could change?” Malcolm asked the therapist nicely. The therapist was taken aback by his questions and straight forwardness. Being that she had just had a rough couple of days of arguing with her live-in boyfriend, she stepped out of her comfort zone and started venting about her boyfriend of six years not marrying her yet.
She fussed and talked for about five minutes before finally catching herself. Clearing her throat, she tried to regain control of the session. It was difficult to do, so she had to excuse herself for a few moments. “I’ll be right back,” the therapist said while she was getting up to go step outside for a few moments. She knew that she would have to give Malcolm a good recommendation because of her slip up and she was already regretting it because that was not normal for her to do.
When she left out of the office, Malcolm leaned his head back on his chair and closed his eyes and starting thinking about what he was gonna do as soon as he got released. The first thing that popped into his mind was making sure Cameron didn’t leave him. He decided he would buy her more gifts like he did before spontaneously while she was mourning the loss of her brother. That really made her happy. Yeah, I’ll get her some more gifts. Maybe we can build a new house too and have a baby, Malcolm thought to himself while smiling from ear to ear, just as the therapist was walking back into the room.
“What are you smiling about?” she asked pleasantly while sitting back down in her chair.
“I was just thinking about ways to make my wife happy again. I know I have messed up in the past, but I know exactly how to make it right now. I’m gonna start by asking her to expand our family,” Malcolm said while continuing to smile. I wonder if Kingston is really my son. When I did that DNA test, I told them to make sure that the results turned out in my favor. If we have another baby, it really won’t even matter, but I think I’ll do another test on Kingston, just so I will know for sure, Malcolm thought to himself. Malcolm didn’t hear any more words that the therapist was saying; his own thoughts had consumed him, so he was only nodding his head when she asked him a question or made a statement. The session ended about ten minutes later and he went back to his room.
As Bertha was driving back to the hospital, her heart went out to the young woman that she had just let vent to her for the past two hours. “I hope her sister, well, cousin or whatever, can forgive her for her mistakes because we all make mistakes. That boy that’s in the middle just needs a real good ass whooping. He just played on her weakness. I wish I could give it to him myself,” Bertha said to herself. “Lord, I didn’t even get her name so that I can lift her up in prayer. Her entire family needs prayer, but I can pray without calling any names because God already knows,” she continued talking to herself.
After Bertha made it back to the hospital, she was told that she could visit Malcolm in ten minutes, so she sat down and waited. While waiting, she decided to call her daughter because she couldn’t get her on the phone before she left. When she finally answered, Bertha explained to her what was going on; the little details that she had anyway. Her daughter asked her if she needed her to come, but Bertha told her she didn’t that it would be necessary. When she saw Malcolm walking towards the visitation room, she hurriedly told her daughter that she would talk to her later and ended the call.
“Hey there son,” Bertha greeted Malcolm with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “How are you doing? Are they treating you okay in here?” she asked.
“I’ll be better when I can leave here and get home to my wife. I have to make things work,” he replied.
Bertha fell silent for a moment, trying to carefully gather her thoughts and choose the right words to say. “Don’t you see that little tramp, I mean, that girl is the root to all of your problems? I think it’s time for you to let her go,” Bertha said.
“She’s my wife, mom. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that,” Malcolm replied.
“Well, she doesn’t have to be. She is going to be the death of you,” his mom told him. Not wanting to upset him, she decided to change the subject. “I went and ate at Denny’s while waiting to see you and I met this poor girl. She said after the day she had yesterday, she couldn’t believe she was even out, but she just didn’t want to be at home. I hate that she is going through so much, but it made me realize that we all have problems and there is always someone worse off than you. That poor girl just found out that her mom left her with her sister to raise. Poor thing hated her sister all her life for no reason and just found out the girl is her cousin and her sister. Isn’t that just sad” Bertha said.
Malcolm had been looking down, but he looked up when his mom said all of that. “What was her name?” Malcolm asked, thinking that there was no way it could be who he was thinking about.
“I realized that I didn’t even get her name while I was on the way back here,” Bertha said while shaking her head. “I’m gonna be praying for her and her family though,” she continued. Malcolm grew quiet as he wrecked his brain trying to figure out if the lady his mom had met could have been Charlotte. “What’s wrong baby?” Bertha asked.
“Oh nothing, I’m just ready to get back to work,” he replied.
Chapter 10
Keith dropped everything he was doing when his phone rang and Cameron’s number displayed on the screen. “You finally decided to call me back huh,” he said when he answered, trying to act like he had an attitude, but he was happy as hell on the inside. When he heard her crying, his mood instantly changed and he began to think the worse. “What’s wrong bae? Where are you?” he asked. The only words that he could make out were mom, hospital, and Tupelo. He let her cry into the phone as he made a detour and headed towards the hospital. His initial plans were to go check on one of his spots, but that could wait until later on. Just having her on the phone made all the feelings that he had for her rush back and hit him like a wave hitting a surfer. He just wanted to hold her in his arms and never let her go. Cameron told him to hold on for a second and, as soon as she did, his phone beeped and it was his dad. He clicked over with hopes that whatever his dad had to say, he w
ould say it and get it over with quickly. When he noticed that his dad was just wanting to make small talk, he hurriedly told him that he was on the phone with Cameron and something was wrong with her mom and they had to rush her to the hospital in Tupelo from Starkville, so he was headed that way.
“Do you need me to drive you or meet you there?” his dad asked.
“Nah, I’m good pops. I’m already headed that way because I was in West Point, but I’ll call you back,” Keith said and clicked back over just as Cameron was coming back on the line. Keith didn’t really give a fuck about Malcolm, but he didn’t want to cause any problems, so he asked Cameron if he was at the hospital with her.
“He’s at a hospital, but not this one. It’s a long story. You didn’t get my call and text message last night?” Cameron replied. Keith shook his head and instantly got pissed off at Phebe before he told her he didn’t get them. She told him she had to go check on her dad, but she would text him with an update and also fill him in on everything later. After hanging up with Cameron, Keith decided to call Phebe, but she didn’t answer.
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Phebe didn’t answer Keith’s call because she didn’t want him to hear the monitors beeping in the background and have to come up with a lie explaining where the hell she was. She swiped up on the screen and set a reminder to call him back in an hour. As soon as her and Luke finished eating and were heading to the mall about an hour and a half ago, he began to sweat and said he felt dizzy. Pulling over to the side of the road just in time after swerving in and out of traffic, Luke opened his door and spilled his guts. It seemed like he threw up everything he had eaten not just that day, but all week long. Once he finally finished, he looked completely out of it and Phebe was scared shitless by his facial expression. His eyes were rolling into the back of his head and Phebe started to panic. Slapping his face lightly to try to keep him conscious was barely working, so she grabbed her phone and dialed 911.
Thanking God that they were in a bigger city, the ambulance came within five minutes and Phebe followed them to the hospital. Luke had to be given fluids, so he was hooked up to an IV immediately. The doctor said that it seemed to be a severe case of food poisoning, but they had to run more tests to confirm it. Phebe looked at him and fussed because she had told him not to order a rare cooked steak, but he just wouldn’t listen. They had been there for over two hours now and it didn’t look like they would be leaving anytime soon. Phebe texted Keisha to make sure she was still up on game. It’s not like Keith to call around checking up on me, but you can’t ever be too careful, she thought as she was sending the text message.
Phebe: You know I’m still with you all day today right?
Keisha: Yeah, I gotcha. Where y’all end up at anyway?
Phebe: Girl, we in Tupelo. How about we at the hospital tho. I think he got food poisoning.
Keisha: Damn. Did you ever tell him you pregnant?
Phebe: Not yet. I’m still tryna see how I’ma play this out. I know Keith knew I was ovulating last night and thought I was tryna get pregnant, so depending on what I decide, it could still work out either way. I just gotta weigh my options.
Keisha: You gon fuck around and get somebody killed.
Phebe: The only person who knows this shit is you. I’ma figure it all out though.
Keisha: Well, what about the other situation with Luke? This is some crazy shit y’all doing and I don’t know why you still dragging Keith along.
Phebe: You know the plan won’t work if I just up and leave him. I still gotta play the role. Keith don’t really want me anyway; it’s all about that bitch Cameron, so I’ll just get all I can before I leave his ass.
Keisha: Well, I hope you know what you doing girl. This shit is dangerous.
Phebe: I do. I’ll talk to you later though; the doctor just walked back in.
“Well, the good news is you’re gonna live. The bad news is you’re gonna have to be here until this whole iv bag is gone,” the doctor said.
“And just how long is that gonna take doc?” Luke sighed and asked. He hated hospitals, doctors, and everything similar.
“Probably another three to four hours and then with this prescription, you should be good to go, if nothing else goes wrong,” he answered while writing a prescription for a high dosage of antibiotics. After he talked for a few more minutes, he left back out of the room.
“Well, it could have been worse than this so smile,” Phebe said to Luke once they were alone again.
“You’re right, but who wants to be in the hospital at any time?” he said in response.
“The time will fly by. I’m about to go find a vending machine and get a drink and a snack right quick,” Phebe said while getting up.
It took almost ten minutes, but Phebe finally found the vending machines. Someone sent her in the wrong direction when she asked, instead of just saying they didn’t know. After she grabbed a Coke and a bag of sour cream and onion chips and was turning to leave, her phone rang. When she reached in her purse to get it, she bumped right into someone while looking down. It was Cameron. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t paying attent…,” Phebe started saying before she recognized it was Cameron who she had ran into. Cameron looked at her with puffy red eyes from crying and didn’t even know who she was until she heard her voice.
“Bitch, if I would’ve known it was you, I would’ve knocked your ass down,” Phebe said.
“Listen, you better go on about your business and leave me the fuck alone. Today ain’t the day,” Cameron said while walking off. Making sure her mom was fine was the only thing she was worried about for the moment. Phebe just stood there looking crazy after Cameron walked off. She expected Cameron to cuss her out and be ready to fight, but she didn’t even take the bait.
“Yeah, you better walk off. I know you don’t want your ass whooped again,” Phebe called behind Cameron, but she never looked back. After she noticed a few people looking in her direction, she got pissed off and decided to head on back to the room while thinking about the messages she had deleted out of Keith’s phone from Cameron. I wonder if she has talked to him yet? Phebe thought to herself. Seeing Cameron had changed her whole mood and she was really ready to go now. When she walked back into the room, her attitude was clear, so Luke asked her what was wrong with her. She told him nothing, but he wasn’t going for that. After asking her four more times, she finally told him she ran into Cameron. Still not feeling his best, he decided to say what had been on his mind for a while now.
“You need to drop that Cameron shit. I’m not about to keep playing second to Keith much longer anyway. We both know this shit is wrong and the longer it goes on, the worse it will be. It’s about time to do what we been planning, Luke said.
“So, you don’t feel bad about what you’re trying to do? Not even a little bit?”
“Do you have a better plan? You couldn’t get him to take the job offer and go legit, so I could just take over that way. That would have been much easier, but I gotta do what I gotta do. I’m tired of being the man behind the man who is doing all the work,” Luke said.
Phebe just remained quiet, not knowing exactly what to say. She was pissed off that Keith wouldn’t just take the job she had lined up for him, but she didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. Damn, I gotta figure a way to make this shit work without anybody dying, Phebe thought to herself.
Chapter 11
Cameron felt somewhat relieved after she heard the doctor say that her mom had only threatened a heart attack, but they still wanted to keep her overnight for observation. She felt her phone vibrating in her pocket and hesitantly pulled it out and smiled when she saw Keith’s picture on the screen. Malcolm had been calling non-stop from the facility and she assumed it was him calling again. When Keith asked her what room they were in and told her he was outside, she started smiling genuinely from ear to ear. Her mother was resting, so she decided to walk out and go meet him instead. Outside of the room door, Cameron
ran into Crystal. Not really knowing what to say or how to feel about her being there, she wanted to ignore her, but she told her what the doctor had just said and kept walking. We have way too much shit going on and it’s not gonna get sorted out overnight, Cameron thought to herself as she headed for the front door.
Just as she made it to the front lobby, she ran into Mr. Edwards. “Mr. Edwards, hi, what are you doing here?” Before he could answer, Keith walked in and asked the exact same question he had just heard Cameron asking his dad.
“Son, I didn’t think I was gonna beat you here. You sounded worried on the phone and I wasn’t too far away, so I decided to meet you here anyway, Mr. Edwards said. “How’s Cookie? I mean, how’s your mom, Cameron?” he continued. Keith and Cameron both bucked their eyes, wondering who the hell was Cookie. There was an awkward silence, so Mr. Edwards asked Cameron how her mom was again.
“She threatened a heart attack, but the doctor said she should be fine. They are going to keep her overnight for observation,” Cameron answered him while staring directly into Keith’s eyes.
“That’s good news. Is someone with her? I’m just asking since you’re down here,” Mr. Edwards said while trying to correct his statement.
“My dad is up there. Oh and her sister is up there somewhere too,” Cameron said.
“Crystal is here?” Mr. Edwards asked in shock.
“You know Crystal?”
“Who is Crystal?” Cameron and Keith both asked those questions at the same time.
“How long are you gonna be up here?” Mr. Edwards asked Keith, trying to change the subject.
“I don’t know yet, pops; it just depends on how everything is going. I need to get Luke on the phone since I’m away though. I know he said he had some business to take care of the first part of the day, but hopefully he’s wrapping it up,” Keith said more to himself than to anybody else.
Cameron couldn’t resist any longer; she walked up to Keith and wrapped her arms around him, just about squeezing the life out of him. She started crying when he whispered how much he had been missing her. It felt as if all of her problems had vanished into the air while she was wrapped up in his embrace. Neither of them knew that Mr. Edwards had walked off. He was headed to try to find Carla’s room, hoping that no one would be in there. After holding each other for what seemed like an eternity, they finally broke the embrace, but didn’t let go of each other’s hands. “Phebe bumped into me earlier. I was too out of it to even argue with her after she called me a bitch and pretty much a coward,” Cameron said.