by Yoshe
Now that her relationship with Devin was officially over, she could work on her and Sean. She felt that they could finally be with each other now that she had removed the number one problem from her life and that was Devin. Brandi should have caught the hint when Yadi ran up on her in the garage that morning. The next time Yadi wasn’t going to be so nice. Sean was hers and hers only and she was determined on letting bitches know it, especially Brandi.
Her phone rang and she looked on the caller ID at the familiar number. It was her parents’ house. Yadi sighed loudly and answered the phone.
“Hi, Mommy,” said the small voice on the other end. “When are you comin’ to get me?”
“Hi, angel!” Yadi beamed. She knew that the love from her only child was unconditional and she relished that. “Mommy will be there soon. Where’s your granny?” Yadi asked.
Yadi’s mother came on the phone. “Yadira? Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yes, Mommy, I’m fine. How are you and how’s Papi?”
“We are okay. Devin was here earlier, visitin’ Jada. I didn’t let him take her anywhere, just like you told me to.”
“Oh, really? What did he have to say?” Yadi asked.
Mrs. Cruz sucked her teeth. “Now you know he didn’t say anything to me, child. I just don’t wanna be involved with this mess. Seems like you two are always goin’ through some craziness with Jada bein’ in the middle!”
Yadi rolled her eyes in her head. She couldn’t have a five minute conversation without her mother putting her two cents in her affairs.
“Mommy, could you please? I’m gonna get Jada soon and you won’t have to be in the middle of our craziness!”
“Well, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Why not let Jada stay with us for a little while? Let us help you, Yadi.”
“Help me with what? Jada and me are goin’ to be fine—.”
Mrs. Cruz cut her daughter off. “Now, Yadira, you and I know why me and Papi need to have Jada stay with us. You’ve been down this road with almost every man you’ve dealt with. Now that you have a daughter, it’s a whole different ball game! It’s only a matter of time before you meet your next victim!”
“Victim?” Yadi balked. “Victim? What about what they do to me, Mommy? What about them?”
“Well, Yadira, if these men treat you so bad, why do you always have a new one? Why do you go through these different relationships one right after the other? Give yourself some time to re-group before you get involved with anyone else but, but if I know you like I do, I know that as we speak, you are gettin’ all wrapped up in somebody else! That’s why Jada is stayin’ here with us! Do I need to take you to court and get grandparents’ rights?” her mother threatened.
Yadi began to cry. “Yadira, I’m not tryin’ to hurt you, I’m tryin’ to help you. I love you and I love Jada very much but you need help. Who knows you better than me?”
“Mommy, I have to go. I can’t discuss this right now!” Yadi hung up her cell phone. One of the moving men came over with the receipt and he stopped when he saw her crying.
“Miss Cruz, are you okay?” he asked. “Do you need a moment to yourself?”
Yadi shook her head and signed the receipt. She gave the man a money order and they left immediately after. Yadi put fresh sheets on her bed and lay down. She stared at the ceiling for a moment, trying to fight her demons.
Years ago, Yadi had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and dependant personality syndrome. She had taken medication for a while, which she had grown weary of, and in one of her manic episodes, she decided that she was well. Unbeknownst to her, she wasn’t well and she was only getting worse. She felt the blood boiling in her veins as her mind obsessed over Sean and Brandi, as well as Devin and Vanita.
From Yadi’s standpoint, she didn’t know anything about being alone and equated that with being lonely. She knew that men clamored for her attention because of her unique looks and with her visions of grandeur, she just couldn’t understand it when someone she wanted didn’t want to be with her. In her mind, a man should have felt honored to be with her and that no other woman could compare. Unfortunately, Yadi’s mental condition was going to be her downfall. It was only a matter of time.
Chapter 32
The visit area wasn’t too busy that Wednesday afternoon. A few inmates were seated with their visitors and the correction officers were free to relax, as opposed to the weekend, when the visit area was crowded. Afternoon visits were a hassle, due to the rush hour and excessive traffic on the Grand Central Parkway at that time of the day.
Yadi remained calm throughout the day, going on as though nothing had ever happened on her days off. Sean watched her closely, preparing himself for the storm. They had maintained their professionalism toward each other while they were at work, because, after all, enough people were in their business as it was.
The male officers who were once attracted to Yadi were beginning to shun her. After hearing about Sean’s situation, they were happy that they were not the object of Yadi’s affection. They empathized with Sean and kept their distance from Yadi.
Yadi didn’t care about the male officers not giving her the attention that they used to. Her eyes were on Sean and no one else. She was going to get him, no matter what it took, even if she had to put her self-respect on the line to do it.
Vanita tip-toed around Yadi, even though Yadi still attempted to converse with her while on post. Vanita had not forgiven Yadi for accusing her of trying to maintain a secret rendezvous with Devin behind her back. The assassination of her character had affected their friendship, with Vanita being unable to erase their prior conversation from her mind.
Unknowingly, Devin had finally managed to break the bond between the two friends and Vanita was saddened by it. No more would she be the social worker to the stubborn Yadi, who had apparently digressed and was in a losing battle to win Sean Daniel’s heart.
Yadi waited until Vanita left the post to make a phone call. She had hatched a plan to get back at Brandi for trying to get smart the day that she approached her in the garage. Now the plan was to get to Brandi through her jailbird son. She looked on the roster and saw that Shamari Wallace was being housed in the Four South housing area, which was the Bing. Yadi called up Four South and used her fingers to press her nostrils together, disguising her voice.
“Four South. CO Taylor,” the officer who picked up the phone announced.
“Hello, Officer Taylor?” Yadi said, in a nasally tone. “This is Captain White. I’m gonna need you to get an escort to bring Inmate Shamari Wallace to the visit area.”
A rookie officer and eager to please a supervisor, Taylor jumped at the opportunity. “Oh, um, yes, ma’am, that’s fine. Um, when should I bring him?”
“How long have you been on the job, Mr. Taylor?” Yadi asked, trying to keep from laughing. She couldn’t stand “New Jacks,” a nickname that tenured officers used for rookie officers.
“I, I been on the job, for, let’s see, five months. I just came out the Academy two months ago!” he said proudly.
Yadi smiled. This was going to be easier than she thought. “And your partner? How long has he been on the job?”
“Oh, he came out with me. So we’re both kinda new!”
“Okay, that’s fine. Here’s what I need you to do, Officer Taylor; I need you to bring Mr. Wallace to the general population visit area.”
“But, wait, with all due respect, ma’am, isn’t he supposed to go to the Bing visits? He’s a Bing inmate.”
Yadi sighed. Dumb-ass rookie! Swear they know the job she thought. “Look, Officer, this is a direct order! Cuff Wallace and bring his ass down to the visit area on the general population side. Upon your arrival, you uncuff his ass and put him in the visit pen with the rest of the fuckin’crooks, is that understood?”
Taylor hesitated. “Yes, ma’am. I mean, Captain White.”
Yadi hung up the phone and put her feet up on the desk. She chuckled as she thought about how much t
rouble Taylor was going to be in and how Brandi’s precious little angel was going to be in some hot water, as well. After doing some research, Yadi had gotten wind of the little tiff Shamari had with some G.P. inmates and she hoped they would be around to pound his ass out real good.
Some minutes passed and Yadi watched as CO Taylor came down with Shamari. Taylor uncuffed Wallace, who looked as if he didn’t know what was going on, and Yadi opened the gate to the pen. She pretended as if she didn’t see Shamari getting uncuffed, just in case anyone would ask her. Shamari walked in the visit pen looking around at the other inmates. They looked familiar to him, not realizing two inmates from Five North were waiting for a visit. Unfortunately, for Shamari, they were Born’s cronies.
“Yo’, ain’t you that nigga, Shamari?” the taller one asked. “You used to be in Five North and Five West, right?”
Shamari posted up. “Who wants to know?” he asked.
The smaller one stepped in. “Nigga, we wants to know! You the lame-ass nigga we knocked out in Five North, that’s why! Punk motherfucker!”
Suddenly, the taller guy punched Shamari in the face and he fell back against the metal gate. The smaller inmate kicked Shamari in the stomach and Shamari caught him with a left hand, causing the inmate to fall the other way. Another inmate got involved and pushed Shamari, who lost his footing and fell to the floor of the pen.
While on the floor, Shamari covered his face with his arms, not wanting to experience too much damage to his face. Luckily, all the inmates wore plastic slippers to visits so he wasn’t hurt, but his pride was as they beat him mercilessly. As they were stomping Shamari out, a smirk came across Yadi’s face. She even waited a few seconds before she pressed the personal body alarm and alerted the response team.
The response team came suited up with vests and batons and requested the gate to be opened, rushing into the visit pen to gather up the fighting prisoners. The three inmates, including Shamari, were led out of the visit area with plastic flex cuffs pulled tightly around their wrists.
The visit supervisor, Captain Phillips, responded to the area and threw a fit after she found out Shamari Wallace was a Bing inmate.
“Who in God’s name bought this inmate into my area?” she shouted, as she gathered up her staff in the visit control room. “Wallace is a bing inmate! Why the hell was he in general population visits?”
Everyone looked at each other. They were clueless. Captain Phillips called up to Four South.
“Who bought this inmate down here?” she asked the unknown person on the other end of the phone. “Who? CO Taylor? Who the fuck is Taylor? He’s a what? Why did he leave . . .? Forget it! I don’t even wanna kn . . . Who the fuck is Captain White? We don’t have no captain named White in this jail! Stupid . . . Yeah, okay. Thanks. Bye.” Captain Phillips hung up the phone with a disgusted look on her face.
“I hope that none of y’all is responsible for this shit! I hope nobody ain’t play no trick on this rookie because he is in a lot of trouble!” she exclaimed.
The visit staff shook their heads, knowing that it was very dangerous to do what Taylor did. He should have notified his immediate supervisor before moving Shamari out of the area. Next time, he would know better, if he had a second chance.
Captain Phillips dismissed everyone and they all went back to their respective posts. Sean looked at Yadi strangely, as she stood there with an innocent look on her face. He made his way over to her.
“I know you had somethin’ to do with this shit, Cruz!” Sean whispered, through clenched teeth.
“I dunno what you talkin’ about, Daniels!” she replied. “Why would I do a thing like that?”
“’Cause you don’t like Brandi, that’s why! ’Cause I don’t wanna be with you, that’s why!” he announced.
“Sean, please! You wanna be with me, you’re just frontin’ ’cause you tryin’ to impress your girlfriend, Brandi. It’s all right, boo, you’ll come around.”
Yadi walked over to Sean and threw her arms around him. Her embrace was so tight, he had to practically force her arms from around his neck. Yadi had a hollow expression on her face, looking like she was supposed to be in a rubber room with a straitjacket. He began backing up from her. Sean was determined to stay away fromYadi before he had to kill her ass, or even worse, she kill him.
A few moments after the disturbance in the visit area, Shamari sat in a pen in the intake area after coming from the clinic. Trying not to dwell on what had just occurred in the visit pen, he was anticipating returning to his cell in the Bing, hoping to get a glimpse of Miss Jones before her shift was over. He put his finger on his busted lip and rubbed his blackened eye while he watched the supervisors and tour commander discuss what happened. He could hear the other inmates who were involved in the melee talking junk about him and complaining about their canceled visits.
Shamari shrugged his shoulders after realizing that he probably had no visit. It just felt good to get out of that lonely cell. Shamari overheard the other inmates call out his name and he felt compelled to scream back. Before he could open up his mouth to do that, he looked up and was surprised to see Sean Daniels standing in front of his pen.
“Yo’!” Sean yelled over to the other inmates in the cell. “Y’all wanna know what a real ass whippin’ feel like? Lemme grab this key and show y’all!”
The inmates grew silent, with one replying, “Yo’, Daniels, man, we ain’t got nothin’ with you, son! It’s just that nigga over there . . . .”
“Just shut the fuck up! The fight is over now so on the noise!” Sean looked at Shamari’s swollen face through the bars of the holding pen. “What’s up, Wallace?” Sean asked. “You okay, shorty?”
Shamari shook his head. He was somewhat relieved to see Sean. “Yeah, I’m good. What are you doin’ in here?” he asked.
“Just checkin’ on you, man. Makin’ sure you was all right. I’m sorry about that, man. Sounds like somebody pulled a fast one on that rookie officer and you got caught up!”
“Oh, that’s what happened? At first, I thought my moms was here to see me then I realized that it was probably a mix-up. I woulda been extra tight if my moms was here and I couldn’t see her, man!”
“Nah, son. You didn’t have a visit. Somebody pulled a prank, that’s all. Just checkin’ on you and I’m gonna make sure I check on you all the time from now on.”
Shamari was silent but he was happy on the inside. He had been through a lot since he got to the jail and now he was tired of it. Sean only meant well by wanting to look out for him before and he had chased him away. Shamari wasn’t about to let that happen again considering the chain of bad events that had come into play since then.
“Thanks, D. I appreciate that. Yo’, how’s my moms, anyway?” he asked.
Sean hesitated. “She’s fine, I guess. Why you ask me that?”
Shamari smirked. “C’mon, man. I know you feelin’ my moms! I mean, she’s the baddest . . . well, you know what I mean!” Shamari held his head down and paused. “Man, D, do me one solid. Just look out for Mom Dukes, man. I love her to death and I know that you’re feelin’ her too. That’s my bad for actin’ like a jackass toward you, son. I guess ’cause I lost my father when I was little, I don’t wanna lose my moms too. She’s all I really got.”
Sean shook his head and gave Shamari a pound. “No doubt, shorty. I’ll look out for your moms. She’s a class act, for real.”
Sean walked away but not before Shamari called him back. “Yo’, Daniels!” Sean walked back to Shamari’s pen. “Yo’, man, do me a favor and call me Shaki. Only my family calls me Shaki, man. And you’re officially my family now.”
Sean shook his head and walked way from Shamari before the young man could see a tear fall from his eye.
Chapter 33
The next day, after the brief exchange with Sean, Shamari looked at the calendar on the wall of his cell and thought about his father. He wondered what really happened to him because he never could get the full story from his
mother. It was all a mystery to him and it was something that haunted him most of his life.
Brandi was a very secretive person and he always imagined her not being the saint she always proclaimed to be. There was no point in asking his grandmother and uncles because they wouldn’t bother to tell him, but what was the real truth?
Shamari came to the cell window and saw that it was business as usual in Four South. He witnessed select inmates being escorted to the shower in handcuffs by random officers and the recreation crew walking in to take random inmates out to the yard area.
The bing yard consisted of several “cages” where inmates would be escorted in handcuffs by correction officers and locked inside. Once the bing inmate was locked inside, the officer would open the slot and uncuff the inmate. Although they would be outside, these inmates were still locked in the pens. Shamari felt like a caged animal in those pens and the whole Bing yard experience made him feel like he was in a zoo, but that day, he needed some fresh air to try to clear his head, so he stood at his cell window with his jumpsuit on, waiting for a recreation officer to walk by and put his name on the yard list.
“Yo’, shorty, are you ready for the yard?” a big, burly CO asked him. Shamari looked at his nametag and saw that his name was Oldman. He listened as the other inmates screamed the officer’s name.
“Yo’, Old Man, come get me, son, I’m ready!” an inmate in cell number forty-eight yelled out.
“Nigga, calm your nerves, I got you! Stop callin’ my fuckin’ name! Damn!” screamed Oldman. He opened the slot on Shamari’s cell. Shamari turned around, with his back facing the cell and put his hands out the slot to be cuffed.
“So what up, Shorty?” Oldman announced. “You good?” Shamari shook his head. “Yeah, I see that you mad quiet, not like all these other niggas in here. They always fuckin’ screamin’ like little bitches about the yard. They ain’t goin’ anyway! Open cell twenty-eight!” Oldman yelled at one of the officers at the desk.