Turned Out Saga

by Angel M. Hunter

  It was then that it started to hit her and she knew. She knew that Thomas just might be the one.

  Chapter Sixty

  When you know it’s over, don’t look back.

  Shay was nervous as hell. She was going to tell Shamel that after working with him and being available to him for three months she was through with him; that she decided to live her life right and that she was worthy and could no longer be his play thing sexually or any other kind of way.

  He really shouldn’t have a problem with it. He can have any girl he wants. Shay tried to trick herself into believing this but she knew Shamel. She’d been dealing with him for over a year and she knew that he would give her a hard time just because he could.

  I have to try and better myself. Ms. Houston believes in me and truth be told, I believe in myself. She offered to help me in any way she could and the least I can do is take her up on that offer. If it doesn’t work out, if I fail for some reason, at least I can say I tried.

  Shay walked up to the club and stopped in front of the door. She had to go through with this.

  It’s his fault anyway. He’s the one that sent me to her, talking about “Go back to school. I want you to work in my office.” I can be a lawyer. Fuck working in an office.

  No one was standing at the door because it was still early, so Shay opened the door and stepped in. After adjusting her eyes to the dim light, she glanced around and saw the usual suspects. The only person she didn’t spot was Big Tone.

  She didn’t see Shamel so she asked the bartender, “Is Shamel here?”

  He looked toward the back. Shamel was walking out of his office with someone that looked familiar. Once they were up on one another, she noticed that it was Karen, this girl from her biology class. Karen looked up and saw Shay looking at her. She quickly looked away.

  Shay watched as Shamel popped her on the ass and told her he will see her tonight.

  He looked at Shay and told her. “Follow me.”

  She does. Should I tell him that Karen’s underage?

  Once in his office, Shamel closes the door. “Did you go to school today?”

  “Yes.” Maybe what I need to do is warn her.

  “Did you see Alexis?”

  “Yes.” Maybe I should tell Ms. Houston.

  Shamel can sense something is up. “Why the fuck are you giving me one word answers? What’s up?”

  “I’ve decided not to deal with you anymore.” There, I’ve said it.

  Shamel thought this was the funniest shit he’d heard in a long time.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You’re what’s funny. What are you going to do if you’re not with me? Go work in one of those hell-hole strip clubs where no one will look out for you? You need me Shay and you know it.”

  Shay looked at Shamel like he was crazy. “I don’t need you. Ms. Houston said–”

  Shamel got in Shay’s face. “Said what? That you got potential and that you could do better than being a stripper? Hah, that’s a laugh. That’s what she gets paid to say.”

  “She’s a good person, Shamel. I don’t know what you have planned to do with her or to her, but I don’t want to lie to her.... She told me that I don’t have to dance anymore and that she would let me come live with her and help me pay you all the money that I owe you.”

  Shamel grabbed Shay by the neck. “You . . . You told her my name? You told her you owe me money?”

  Shay put her hand over Shamel’s and tried to pull it away. “No, I just told her that I owed somebody some money and I was dancing to pay back the debt.”

  Shamel took one step back. The look in his eyes frightened Shay. She turned to walk away but he grabbed her arm and held on tight.

  “Let go of my arm Shamel. You’re hurting me.”

  “First of all, you silly little young-ass ho, I own your ass.”

  Shay tried to pull away but he was holding her too tight. “What the fuck is wrong with you Shamel? Are you crazy? Let me go!”

  He didn’t because something in him clicked. “I tell your dumb ass to do a simple task, go back to school, suck it up and act like a good girl. But no, you come back to me with this new life plan shit. I see you lack discipline, and it’s my job as head of the family to see to it that discipline is enforced. You disobeyed me, and for that you must pay.”

  What the hell is he talking about? Whatever it was, Shay knew it was going to be brutal because of the look in his eyes. She’d seen him react physically to men in the club before. She’d seen him grab the women forcefully and she’d felt his hands around her throat and there was a look each time. The look he had now was it.

  She started to scream but Shamel pulled her into him and placed one hand over her mouth and put his legs between hers in a way that she wasn’t able to move.

  He took off his thick leather belt with the other hand and raised it high. In doing so, Shay was almost able to escape but he grabbed her arm and started striking her over and over. He was hitting her everywhere, on her arms, her legs, and her face.

  “Stop! Please stop!” Some kind of way she got loose and tried to run toward the door but he grabbed her again and started smacking her in the face with an open palm.

  Suddenly he heard someone trying to get in the office with a key.

  The only person that had a key was Big Tone.

  Before he had a chance to stop him from entering, Big Tone walked through the door and noticed Shay on the floor bleeding with a belt next to her and Shamel with his arm raised.

  “What the. . . .”

  Shamel dropped his arm and looked at Shay then Big Tone.

  “What the fuck did you do?” Big Tone asked.

  “Get her out of here,” Shamel said after kicking her.

  “Get her out of here?”

  “Just what am I supposed to do with her?”

  “I don’t know and I don’t care.”

  Big Tone reached down to help Shay up. He looked at Shamel and told him, “You fucked up man, you fucked up big time.”

  Big Tone half carried her to the bathroom that was attached to the office and in a low voice told her, “You need to go to the hospital. I’m going to drop you off.”

  Shay could barely speak. She was in shock and in pain.

  “Just don’t say who did this to you because if you do, you know what’ll happen.”

  Shay knew that was a warning and it was one she wasn’t going to take lightly.

  Chapter Sixty-one

  Sometimes you have to get involved. Don’t think of it as a chore, think of it as a gift to the other person.

  Alexis was home sitting on her couch, relaxing and thinking about the conversation she and Thomas had. She was seriously considering giving this relationship thing a try again. That meant she was going to have to call Shamel who had left her several messages, and tell him they couldn’t go out anymore. As for Gavin, well, she enjoyed the time they spent together and she could see them being friends.

  She was also on the couch wondering if she should call the police and report that she thought she was being followed. She didn’t know what to do because she hadn’t seen anyone and she was just going off a hunch. Well, more than a hunch. When she arrived home from Thomas’, there was a note attached to her door that said, “How’s Thomas?” That shit scared the hell out of her. She tried to call him but the phone went right into voice mail. She didn’t leave a message.

  Alexis was supposed to be at work but she called out. She just didn’t feel up to going and had some things she needed to think about.

  She’d left a message with the secretary and with Maya, telling them if they saw Shay to have her call her cell phone and that it was very important.

  “Are you sure you want us to give a student your cell number?” they both asked.

  She was sure she told them.

  Alexis picked up the remote to turn the television on when her cell phone rang. She’d left it on the kitchen table when she made breakfast. She stood up to get it but it
stopped ringing. Before she had a chance to sit back down, it started ringing again. This time she made it into the kitchen. Not even bothering to look at the caller ID she answered, “Hello.”

  “Hey sexy.” It was Gavin.

  “Hey you.”

  “I’m coming by the school to drop something off for my sister. Do you mind if I come by your office?”

  “I’m not there today. I called out.”

  “Really? Well, how about having lunch together?”

  Alexis figured she’d say yes, because it would give her an opportunity to tell him about Thomas. “I’d like that. Where do you want to meet?”

  “How about I come pick you up?”

  She saw no harm in it. Plus, if someone was following her like she thought, they’d see a man coming to her door and maybe, just maybe they’d go away. That thought alone made Alexis go to the window and look out. “That’s cool.”

  “What time?”

  When she looked out, she saw a car drive by slower than usual. She quickly closed the curtains. “The sooner the better.”

  Gavin could hear panic in her voice. “Is everything okay?”

  “I don’t know, Gavin. I think I told you before that I think someone is following me.”

  “Yeah, I believe you did tell me that.”

  “Well, I think the person is on my street.”

  “What! Are you sure?”

  “I don’t know. I just might be paranoid. It’s just that I looked out the window and I could have sworn this car was driving by real slow like.”

  “What kind of car was it?”

  That was a question she didn’t have an answer to. “It was black.”

  Gavin waited to hear more but when she didn’t say anything he asked, “That’s all?”

  “I don’t know cars Gavin. The only thing I know about cars is how to drive them.”

  “I’m on my way over.”

  “You don’t have to come right now. I’m in the house. I’ll be all right.”

  Gavin wasn’t hearing that shit. He was on his way anyway. “I’ll see you shortly.”

  When they hung up the phone, Alexis looked out the window again and this time there was no car riding by and everything on the block looked normal. She also tried to call Thomas again but it went to voice mail. “Thomas, it’s me, your . . . your. . . .” She wanted to say your woman but the words were stuck in her throat. “It’s Alexis, call me.”

  She hung up and sat back down on the couch. While waiting she thought back to her childhood and her father, who she still had not called.

  She thought about how he would tell her that, “You determine your path and you teach people how to treat you.”

  Back then when he would drop those bits of wisdom, it went in and out. Now that she was older, she realized he knew just what he was talking about.

  She was here, in this place, unmarried, with no kids, and doing a job that she used to love, but now tolerated because of the choices she made.

  That’s right, the choices she made.

  She knew it was now time to make new choices and the first one would be to commit to Thomas.

  If she was honest with herself, she liked him all along, even when he was screwing a bunch of women. She just didn’t take it anywhere because she knew better. She didn’t want to set herself up for heartache.

  Alexis shook her head because that’s just what happened anyway. She ended up getting her heart broken by another man.

  Please God let this be it for me. Let Thomas be the one. He sounded sincere in his words and I do want to take this chance with him.

  Prior to meeting Khalil, Alexis was all into church. She attended every Sunday, went to Bible Study on Wednesdays and even attended prayer service. She was a Bible toting, scripture-quoting woman. Maybe I need to go back to church. Maybe Thomas will come with me. Although she tried to act like it was no big deal that she wasn’t in the church anymore, she knew it was. Her being a female player wasn’t really working for her the way she thought it would. She didn’t feel complete. She didn’t feel satisfied and she didn’t feel she was being true to herself. She knew she was playing a role.

  She thought about why she stopped attending church and what caused it. What happened? Khalil happened.

  Initially he was going to church with her. Then one Sunday he said he wasn’t going and asked her to stay home with him, which she did and then it happened another Sunday. The next thing she knew, she wasn’t going at all. There was some guilt on her part but she was in love and she believed or wanted to believe that God understood.

  I’m going to church this Sunday. I need to get back in the Word. God, I know you hear my thoughts. Please show me the right way once again. I promise I’ll come back to you.

  The difference this time would be that she wouldn’t go overboard preaching to everyone and trying to save everyone. There was a middle ground in religion and she was going to find it.

  There was a knock on the door, she looked out the window and saw that it was Gavin. She opened the door.

  “I told you it wasn’t necessary to come.”

  They gave one another a hug as he stepped in. He went to kiss her on the lips and she turned her head. It didn’t go unnoticed but Gavin figured he’ll leave it alone for now. “What kind of man would I be if I didn’t come running when you said you think someone is following you.”

  “I just might be paranoid.”

  “I always say if you think it, there’s a possibility it might be going on and that applies to almost everything.” He followed her into the living room. “I rode around your block a couple of times. Nothing stood out.”

  Alexis felt a little relieved. “No black car?”

  Gavin smiled. “There were a lot of black cars but no one was sitting in any of them.”

  Alexis sat down and Gavin followed her lead. “Gavin, I want to be honest with you about something.”

  Gavin did not like the sound of this, so he sat back and waited to see what she was about to say.

  Before she could say a word, her cell phone rang. “Excuse me,” she told him. She’d laid her cell phone on the coffee table after speaking with him. She reached over to answer it, but first she looked at the caller ID. It was the school calling. “Hello?”

  “Alexis?” Whoever it was sounded rushed or panicky.

  “Hello?”

  “Alexis, it’s me. Maya. Shay is in the hospital.”

  “What did you just say?”

  Because of the alarm in her voice, Gavin stood up.

  “Shay is in the hospital. They just called here asking for you. Something about her being beat up and they found your card on her.”

  “I’m on my way there.” Alexis hung up and stood. “I have to go.”

  “What’s going on? Where are you going? Is everything all right?” Gavin was throwing questions at her.

  “My student, Shay. Maya said she’s in the hospital and they found my card on her.”

  “That was Maya?”

  Alexis started looking around for her purse. “I have to go. Call me later.”

  “Let me drive you.”

  “I don’t know how long I’m going to be there.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m coming with you.”

  Alexis didn’t feel like putting up a fight. “All right then, come on let’s go.”

  While they were in the car, Alexis figured she’d let Gavin know where her mind was as far as a relationship was concerned.

  “Gavin?”

  “Yes. Thanks for being my friend.” She threw the word friend in there hoping he would get the hint.

  Of course he didn’t because he told her, “Well, I’d like to eventually be more than a friend.”

  Alexis turned in the seat to face him. “That’s just not possible right now.” She could see from the look on his face that he was hurt.

  “For real? You’re serious?” Gavin asked her.

  “Yes.”

  “Damn girl, you’re breaking my heart.
”

  “I’m sorry. It’s just that . . . Well, you know I’ve been dating other people.”

  He kind of figured he wasn’t the only man in her life.

  She continued. “There is one in particular that I’m thinking about seeing on a monogamous basis.”

  Gavin was disappointed but it’s been his experience that if he stuck around long enough, the woman just might come around. “I understand and like I told you before I’m here for you as a friend.”

  Alexis wanted to reach over and hug him but in the car that wasn’t possible so she kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks Gavin.” She hoped that they would be friends for a long time because she genuinely liked him.

  Finally they pulled up to West Point Hospital. As they were getting out of the car, Alexis said, “You know Gavin, this is probably all my fault. I asked her to change when she was not ready to change.”

  Gavin didn’t understand how that could be Alexis’ fault. “And? How is that your fault?”

  “I think she got beat up because she was trying to start a new life.”

  They started walking toward the entrance.

  “What are you talking about?” Gavin asked, still not getting it.

  “My student Shay, the one I told you about that was stripping. She came by the office yesterday and we had a heart to heart. I convinced her to stop living the way she was living and I told her I would help her.”

  “And?”

  “Maybe she went and told someone and they didn’t want her out. Shit, I don’t know.”

  “Damn, you really think someone would harm her because she wanted a better life?”

  “Stranger things have happened.”

  “Damn, that’s fucked up. Who would do some shit like that?”

  “I wish I knew. Hopefully we’ll find out.”

  Alexis and Gavin went to the front desk to find out what room Shay was in. After being given the information, they got on the elevator and pressed the appropriate button.

  Alexis was nervous as hell. She didn’t know what she was about to see. She looked over at Gavin. He told her, “I’ll be in the hallway if you need me.”