by Tiece
Rayne reluctantly took the shot and wished she hadn’t as soon as the Tequila set her stomach on fire. Her face scrunched up as she slammed the glass down onto the bar.
Winter was pleased to see her sister letting loose. It was never fun being the main one drinking. The real reason she was at the club was to clear her head and hopefully stop thinking about James. He had made plans for them to go out to eat, but he suddenly canceled on her without giving her much of a reason. They saw each other earlier and everything was fine. Now, he was putting her off and she kind of wanted to know the reason why. At this point in their friendship, he didn’t need to go into specifics with Winter; it wasn’t necessary, but it would have been nice if he did. Winter was left with no plans for the night, so she opted for the one place that was full of entertainment, the club.
Both sisters were feeling the liquor and they stayed at the bar joking around with each other like two kids for almost an hour. Rayne was about to tell Winter she was ready to go when a pair of hands tugged at her shoulders.
Rayne turned her head and came face to face with Yung Gunner. Hours later, the two of them were placed together once again. Rayne jumped off her bar stool. “What are you doing here?”
Yung Gunner licked his lips as Rayne’s beauty had him speechless for a second. He just saw her earlier but she was dressed like a diva now, and his view from her in the VIP didn’t do her justice. Rayne was looking good enough to eat. Her hair was hanging and the white jumpsuit and matching red bottom heels had him looking at Rayne like he wanted to fuck the life out of her.
Winter was eyeballing the tall chocolate bar grinning at her sister like a school girl with a crush. It was obvious that there was an unspoken attraction between the two of them and that would have been perfectly fine, if Rayne wasn’t already spoken for.
“I’m Winter, you are?” Winter loudly made her presence known, as she looked at the perfect stranger in her space.
Yung Gunner broke his stare and his eyes met Winter’s. “My bad, this young lady here just gets me all caught up. I’m Yung Gunner.”
Winter’s eyebrows furrowed. She couldn’t believe that this fine ass specimen was the one that her twin spent the day with. Winter had no idea how Rayne could focus on music with this man standing in front of her. If Chase didn’t peep the attraction between the two of them, something was terribly wrong.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt y’all night. I just had to come over here and say hello. I was up in VIP telling a few of my niggas about the heat that you got when I glanced around and spotted you here.”
“How crazy is that?” Rayne shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair.
“Maybe it’s fate. But, let me get going. I want the two of you to drink all you want. I got the bill.” Yung Gunner was gone just as fast as he came, but he already had Rayne feeling flustered.
Winter saw the look on her sister’s face and she knew that the attraction between her and Yung Gunner would be noticeable to Chase soon. She wanted no parts of ruining her sister’s new relationship, so she made the decision to get Rayne the hell up out of there and home to her man.
******
Charlotte staggered out of the bar at two in the morning, as three security guards berated her.
“Keep your ass out of here Charlotte!” the ring leader of the trio yelled at her back.
After a failed attempt to keep her promise to Rayne, Charlotte found herself bar hopping at some of her favorite hangout spots. Things were going well until she spotted a woman she had beef with back in the day cackling loudly. In her drunken stupor, Charlotte had it set in her mind that she was the butt of the woman’s jokes. The way she handled that was by throwing a drink at the innocent lady before raining sloppy slaps all over her face.
Charlotte ignored the men that had lifted her out of the small hole in the wall bar. Rayne’s car was parked right in front of the establishment; she pulled Rayne’s keys from her purse and struggled to unlock the car doors. A wise person would have called a taxi but Charlotte didn’t have the money for a taxi; she had spent it all drinking her worries away. Of course, she could have called Winter but then she’d be forced to hear her daughter’s criticism and that would completely ruin her whole buzz.
Charlotte threw her purse in the back and fell into the driver’s seat.
“You don’t need to be driving Charlotte. Let Bobby take you home,” one of the bouncer’s said, as he stepped towards the car door as Charlotte attempted to close it. He had been knowing her for over twenty years and he didn’t want her to get behind the wheel and fuck up a car he didn’t believe was hers, let alone her life.
Charlotte flicked Ray off and slammed the car door. If he really cared about her well-being, he wouldn’t have thrown her out the bar for no reason.
“Damn man, she’s really about to drive,” Ray said, as his head shook in disbelief. Charlotte started up the car and reversed out of the parking space.
She casually looked out the window and smirked at the three assholes that ruined her night, before skirting down the street like a racecar driver. It was dark outside and Charlotte hadn’t bothered putting on her lights as she swayed in and out of two lanes. Her mind was replaying the little showdown she had in the bar. It angered her that she was embarrassed in front of all of her bar buddies for no reason, in her opinion.
Charlotte huffed and tapped the steering wheel. Her heel clad foot was pushing down on the gas hard as she drove to no particular destination. The thought of meeting up with one of her male friends for the night entered her mind. Charlotte lifted her right hand from the wheel and reached for her purse to get her phone. The purse fell over and all of its contents spilled onto the floor of the backseat.
“God damn it!” Charlotte cut her eyes to the back to see all her shit on the floor. Her foot remained on the gas as she used her right hand to reach for her phone.
***
Yung Gunner was laid back in the backseat of a rented black Range Rover as his driver, Willie, drove. His eyes were closed as he enjoyed the wet mouth that was wrapped around his dick. He was getting some fire head from a groupie he had met at Compound. Yung Gunner was given the pleasure of fucking her in the backseat of his ride; luckily for him, Atlanta was full of ratchet women willing to do anything just to be around a nigga with money. Yung Gunner’s driver, Willie, was chauffeuring him as he set out to drop the young lady off. Yung Gunner enjoyed her company, but he wasn’t spending the night with her. She lived in the hood, but he didn’t have a problem dropping her off.
Charlotte didn’t even see the Range Rover coming as it collided to the front of Rayne’s car. The airbag in the steering wheel blew up in Charlotte’s face and instantly knocked her out.
Chapter 5
An hour later, Charlotte slouched in a chair inside of the emergency room at the hospital. Her head was hung low as she sat there trying to figure out a way to call Rayne and tell her about the accident. Each time she picked up her cellphone, she’d put it back down. Her head was already banging from the impact of the airbag. There was no way she was looking forward to hearing any kind of scolding from her daughter.
“Damn Charlotte, what have you done?” she questioned herself with a disappointed shake of the head. “I’m never going to hear the end of this.” She sighed with thoughts of just needing a drink on her mind.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” the nurse said, as she tapped lightly on the door while walking in. “You can go ahead and leave now. Everything checked out just fine.” She glanced down at Charlotte’s paperwork. “Besides having that nasty bruise on your head and a blood alcohol level of .30, you’re fine. I suggest you put an icepack on your head for the swelling and take two extra strength Tylenol’s for the pain. But, please don’t drink while taking medication.”
Charlotte smacked her lips, as if the nurse was starting to get on her nerves. The nurse didn’t care as she continued. “Luckily, the guy that was driving the car that you were in wasn’t drinking and didn’t get hu
rt.”
“Yeah, he doesn’t drink,” she said as she remembered Bobby sliding her over on the passenger seat, as he took the blame for driving the car. “How are the people in the limo?”
“They’re fine. Only a female was injured, but it was nothing too serious. We’re still running tests on her, but she should walk out of here within the next couple of hours.”
“It’s a good thing that you weren’t driving or you would’ve gone to jail. We had to make sure that you weren’t the person behind the wheel. That’s why we had you wait,” she explained.
“Oh, so I guess y’all was just going to send me to jail, huh?” she questioned with a frown on her face. “Without even giving me a chance to get away,” she added.
“Well, now that we know you weren’t driving, you can go,” the nurse said, as she handed Charlotte a clipboard with her release papers attached to it. Charlotte didn’t hesitate to sign the paper.
“Thank you,” she said, while quickly standing to her feet. She staggered just a little, but quickly caught her composure.
“Are you okay, ma’am? Do you have a ride home?”
Charlotte nodded her head. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she responded.
“You know you’re lucky. A young woman lost her life about three hours ago. She was hit by a drunk driver.”
“But I wasn’t driving,” Charlotte said in her defense, even though she was lying through her teeth. “I don’t need a lecture.”
“I didn’t say that you were. I just only mentioned it so that you’d think twice before you get behind a wheel intoxicated.”
Charlotte shot the woman a mean mug while handing over the clipboard with her signed papers attached to it. “I called Uber to come get me. I know not to drive while drinking.”
“Thank God,” she uttered under her breath. “Well, okay ma’am. Take care of yourself,” she added, as she exited the room.
“Talking to me like I’m some child or something. I got daughter’s her age. Who do she think I am?” Charlotte gruffed, as she put on her Old Navy blue jean jacket and stood up to leave. The minute she stepped foot out of the room, she quickly headed for the exit doors. She needed to make her way over to Luther’s house. He was the only bootlegger in town that carried the good stuff, and she needed a stiff one as fast as possible.
As Charlotte neared the exit doors, she could hear a man praying in the palm of his hands as he softly wept. She glanced over out of the corner of her eye, somewhat feeling saddened by the man’s presence. Out of nowhere, her heart sank as her stomach turned the minute he wiped his tears and looked in her direction. She stood as still as could be. Her feet were planted solid as her mouth slightly opened in awe. It was almost as if she was a part of a cruel dream and she wanted nothing more than to wake up from it. Her eyes widened just as the man stood to his feet.
The tall, handsome man stared, as if he was in a daze. What were the odds that, at a time like this, he’d run into an old flame?
Charlotte shook her head, as if she was trying to clear the image of the younger, Billy Dee Williams look-a-like walking towards her. He had a neatly trimmed goatee with a thick beard that fit him perfectly. In her eyes, he was definitely still sexy as ever, not looking like he’d changed or aged one bit.
This can’t be real. she quickly thought while blinking her eyes, still hoping that it was all a dream.
“Charlotte,” the man said, as he walked up to her.
“Grant,” Charlotte said back. “You dirty muthafucka!” she quickly added with a serious attitude. “Why are you here? I haven’t seen you in years,” she said, now trying to sober up and get her thoughts together. “Better yet. I don’t give a fuck why you’re here!” she said, as she slapped him across the face.
Grant grabbed his face feeling humiliated as he glanced around at the silent people sitting nearby just watching and whispering. “I’m sorry,” was all he could get out as the confusion, guilt, and pain from every bad thing he’d done hit him again all at once.
“You right! You are sorry!” she spat. “The sorry muthafucka that left me and my girls to save your marriage. You’re the same sorry muthafucka that did me wrong and made sure that I didn’t have a career to take care of our girls. The same girls that you walked out on with your SORRY ASS!! Damn right, you’re SORRY!” She said to make sure that he understood just how sorry his ass was. “That’s the smartest thing I’ve heard a dumb nigga say thus far.”
“Please Charlotte. Forgive me?” he somberly asked, as the tears fell down his face.
Charlotte stood there watching the man that she once loved. The man that held the key to her heart, and from the looks of things, he still did. She hadn’t seen him since she was pregnant with the girls, and to see him now was almost unbelievable. A part of her just wanted to wake up. The other part just wanted to know why the hell was he there? Why had he come back?
Charlotte shook her head from one side to the other. She batted her eyes to hold back the tears. It felt as if she’d drifted back into time. A time when she thought that he loved her. A time when she thought that he needed her. A time when she thought that he’d leave his wife for her. Oh, how she wanted them to make great music together and just travel the world, while raising a family. But, she was only eighteen fucking around with a man six years older than her. He also had way more experience than her. She was naïve and blinded by love. A love that had stripped her of everything, including her dignity.
She shook her head from one side to the other, refusing to give him the pleasure of seeing how broken she’d been since then. But, ironically, he stood before her seemingly the one that was now broken. At that moment, she didn’t care how pitiful he was looking and before he knew it, she’d smacked him as hard as she could across his face again. It sounded off in the emergency room lobby like a hot firecracker.
Grant grabbed his face again, just as the clerk stood up from behind the desk. “Ma’am, please don’t do that in here. Y’all need to calm down or I’m going to call security.”
“Sit your fat ass down,” Charlotte mumbled under her breath, as she glanced back over her shoulder to give the clerk the side eye. She then faced Grant for what she was hoping would be the last time. “I don’t know what brings you to town, but you need to take your ass back where you came from. My girls and I don’t need you.” She turned to walk off, but then stopped shy of reaching the exit doors. “Oh,” she said, while clearing her throat. “Whatever you’re dealing with deserves you right,” she said and, with that, she quickly vanished into the night.
Grant sat down with a saddened expression on his face. He was hurt and starting to feel like everything that had happened in his life was for a reason. He’d denied his twin girls from the moment he realized that they were conceived. He was never there for them and for years he’d felt bad for the way that he treated their mom. He’d heard through the grapevine that Charlotte had become an alcoholic. And even though she still looked good, he could smell the liquor on her breath a mile away. She’d had more than a few drinks and, from the bruise on her head, he was hoping that she wasn’t about to drive anywhere.
He glanced up to see a nurse coming his way. Quickly, he stood to his feet while remembering why he was there. “How is my daughter?”
“Calm down sir,” the nurse cut in.
“Don’t tell me to calm down. My daughter has been in an accident. How is she? Talk to me! Please!” he begged. He’d driven an hour to make it there, not knowing what to think. He was only told that his daughter had been in a car accident and that he needed to make his way there. The numerous calls he’d made while in route were all for nothing because no one would tell him anything. And now seeing the blank expression on the nurse’s face was definitely not helping. “Please, just tell me if my baby is okay.”
“Calm down, the doctor is going over her x-ray results. It seems that she is okay, even though she’s complaining of pain.”
“Thank God,” Grant let out with a sigh of relief. He’d had enou
gh problems over the years with his daughter. Being a single father to a rebellious daughter had its share of ups and downs, but more downs than ups. However, he loved her with all of his heart and promised his wife on her death bed that he’d take very good care of the baby girl that she’d just given birth to. After all, it was only two things that she was concerned with, and both things he promised to keep for as long as he lived. He just wished that he could keep his daughter locked away in a house out in the country to keep her out of trouble. “Please, take me to her. I need to see her,” he said to the nurse.
“Follow me,” she responded.
***
“Are you sure that I’m okay?” Monica asked, as she held the back of her head. “Because my head sure as hell hurt.”
The doctor shook his head with a soft chuckle. “Your ribs are bruised and you have a small bump on your head, but it’s nothing life threatening. You just need to rest and stay off of your feet for a couple of days. Here is a prescription for the pain. Take it twice a day or as needed,” he recommended.
“Thanks Doc,” Monica replied with a smile. The doctor smiled back while thinking that she was certainly a pretty young lady, even in distress.
“Just sign right here and you’re good to go,” he said, handing over the prescription that he’d written out, along with the clipboard that had her release papers attached to it.
Monica quickly signed the release papers. “Thanks again Doc,” she said, just as Grant entered the hospital room.
“Monica!” he called out, as he rushed over and hugged her. “Are you okay baby girl?”
“Daddy, I’m fine,” she whispered as she hugged him back.
Grant glanced over his shoulder at the doctor standing there, as if his job was done. “Is she okay?” he worriedly questioned.
“Yes, she’s fine. However, her ribs are bruised on her right side and she has a small bump on her forehead, which I’m sure you can see. She needs to keep an icepack on it or it’s going to be much bigger than that by the morning. I just need her to get some rest and stay off of her feet.”