by Jade Jones
It wasn’t until I heard the sounds of Tank’s tires screeching, that I peeled myself off the pavement.
Before I could gather my thoughts, I heard the distinct sound of Silk crying out in pain several feet away from me. His white t-shirt was drenched in blood as he lay on his back on the cold pavement.
“Silk?!”
Chapter 18
“Hurry up! Open the door!” Klimaxxx ordered as he carried Silk over his shoulder. Blood dripped and left a trail along the ground as Silk was partially dragged towards the truck.
I hurried over to the back door and swung it open. After Klimaxxx carefully placed Silk in the backseat, I climbed in too. Klimaxxx ran around the truck and jumped in the driver seat.
“Come on baby, you’re gonna be alright,” I cried. “Hurry up ‘Max!” I screamed.
Klimaxxx quickly peeled out the driveway as we headed towards the nearest hospital.
I was in a state of panic and shock as I watched Silk spit up mouthfuls of his own blood. I didn’t know where exactly he had been hit, but I did know he was losing blood fast. “Come on, hurry!” I screamed at Klimaxxx.
“I don’t...,” Silk coughed up more blood. “I don’t wanna...die.”
Tears streamed from my eyes and the only thing I could think about what losing him. “You’re not gonna die,” I sniffled. “We’re gonna get you to the hospital right now--Klimaxxx come on! Hurry the fuck up!”
“I’m driving as fast as I can!”
He sped through several red lights and within minutes, he pulled crookedly into St. Vincent’s drive through.
Silk was unresponsive by the time the nurses came and placed him on a stretcher and I couldn’t help but fear the worse.
After speaking with police detectives and giving them our statements, Klimaxxx and I were left in the waiting room to await the verdict of Silk‘s health. The moment had to be one of the tensest I had ever experienced in life.
“I don’t see this nigga for four months and then when I finally do, he fucks around and gets shot!” Klimaxxx said pacing the floor of the waiting room.
I stopped biting down my fingernails long enough to ask, “You haven’t seen him in four months?”
“I just got back from Miami two weeks ago,” he said. “He wanted me to fly up here and do this show with him tonight, so I did.” He shook his head. “Little did I know some shit like this was gonna happen. Tank’s hoe ass was on some straight trash!”
I decided to keep my thoughts to myself even though I had a dozen questions I wanted to ask. Like why did Silk say he was doing shows with Klimaxxx out of town, when Klimaxxx had claimed he hadn’t saw him in several months? It was apparent that some slick shit was going on, but I couldn’t put my finger on it just yet. Besides, now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. Right now, Silk’s health was the only thing that mattered.
After sitting in the waiting room for three excruciating hours, a doctor finally came out to speak with me and Klimaxxx. My heart instantly felt like it had sank to the pit of my stomach. All I could think about was losing someone else close to me.
The doctor’s sodden expression didn’t help matters at all. As Klimaxxx and I approached the him, I said a silent prayer to myself before he revealed the news.
“Okay,” he clasped his hands together. “We removed two bullets from his body. One was lodged deeply near his shoulder blade, while the other had impaled his abdominal muscle. Right now he’s in the Intensive Care Unit and will remain there for the next twenty-four hours. Thankfully, Terrence will be making a full recovery.”
Klimaxxx and I sighed in relief at the exact same time. “Thank God,” I added.
“Now he has lost a lot of blood and we had to give him a blood infusion. So we will be keeping him over the next few weeks to monitor his progress as far as making a speedy recovery.”
I was so elated by the news that I pulled the doctor into a full embrace before hugging Kimaxxx.
“Right now he’s resting but you can come back tomorrow during visiting hours,” he explained.
Silk was okay and I couldn’t have been happier.
***
I was leaving the Communications building, when Pocahontas had called me. I hadn’t spoken to her since yesterday and usually when we fell out, she knew to give me my space for a few days. So immediately I wondered why she was even calling me up. Since the shit she pulled the other night, I didn’t expect for us to ever be on speaking terms ever again.
I ignored her call the first two times, but after the third, I finally decided to answer to see what she wanted.
“What, Poca?” I asked agitated.
“Girl, I heard Silk got shot! What the fuck happened?!”
“How did you know he had got shot?" I asked. “The shit just happened last night."
Poca sucked her teeth. “Now girl, you know the stripper community is a close knit one," she said. “So what happened?”
I really did not feel like recounting last night’s events but I did manage to give her a brief rundown without going into too many details.
“Damn,” Poca said. “So he gone be straight or what?” She sounded genuinely concerned and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was just pretending to care or was her concern actually sincere.
“He’s gonna be okay,” I told her. “They have to keep him in the hospital a few weeks to monitor him, but aside from that, the doctor said he’s gonna be just fine.”
“Okay, that’s what’s up.”The line was silent for a brief moment. “So...um...we cool now? Or are you still mad at me?”
I sighed into the receiver as I debated her question. Although, I was still upset about what had happened, I had bigger things to worry about. Like Silk’s recovery and getting my ass off Academic Probation.
“Hello? Cameron? You there?” Poca asked.
“Yeah, I’m here.” I paused. “And no...I’m not mad.”
“Good. That’s a relief,” she said. “You know you my girl. I would never play you like that.”
Yeah, sure, I thought. “Well, I gotta go now,” I told her. “Got some studying to catch up on.”
“Alright, girl. Talk to you later.”
***
Silk looked almost unrecognizable sitting in the hospital bed with this collar bone and torso bandaged. He was messing with his cell phone when I tapped lightly on his door.
“How you feeling, bay?” I asked stepping inside his room.
He placed his cell phone on the hospital nightstand. “Hell...like I been shot,” he chuckled.
“They gave you some medicine for the pain?”
He sighed. “Yeah, but it don’t be doing shit for real.”
I took a seat in the patient arm chair beside his bed. “You scared the hell out of me last night.” I tried to laugh the comment off but Silk truly had no idea how afraid I was of losing him.
He held his hand out for me and I placed my palm in his. Slowly bringing my hand to his lips, he placed a soft kiss on the back of it. “I’m never gonna leave you,” he assured me.
His words made me feel warm inside. I was loving the moment all up until I told him that I had spoken with the police.
“Why’d you tell them mothafuckas he shot me?”
I looked at him like he was crazy. “Why wouldn’t I?” I asked. “I know you didn’t want him to just get away with the shit.”
“I wanted to deal with that mothafucka myself.”
“Silk,” I said. “Let the police do their job--”
“Man, I just can’t believe this nigga had the nerve to pull out a fuckin’ gun on me. Don't let me catch up with this mothafucka, I swear--”
“Silk, could we just drop it please?”
Silk cut his eyes at me. It was evident that he didn’t appreciate me raising my tone. “I just don’t want you to get all worked up,” I quickly added. “You need to relax. Take it easy, you know?”
Silk sighed dejectedly. “Yeah, I guess you right.” He shook his head. “I’m just so fuckin’ mad right now-
-”
“I understand,” I told him. “But the important thing is you’re okay. That’s all that matters.”
Silk gave me a loving look before bringing my hand up to his lips and brushing a kiss over my knuckles. “You know when you graduate, a nigga gone marry you, right?”
Smiling bashfully, I said, “You’d better.”
***
An entire week had quickly elapsed with me juggling school and visiting Silk in the hospital. His doctor had assured us that after another week of close observation, Silk would finally be released.
I was finishing up an essay for my African studies class when Poca called me out the blue. After hitting the SAVE button, I answered on the fourth ring. “What’s up, Poc?”
“Come downstairs,” she said quickly.
“Downstairs, downstairs?” I repeated.
“Naw, bitch, upstairs!” she said sarcastically. “Yeah downstairs.”
After disconnecting the call, I took the elevator downstairs to the lobby. I found Pocahontas standing at the front desk, dressed in a form fitting leopard print dress and red platform pumps. The entire basketball team gawked at her as they strolled by obviously on their way to practice.
“Took you long enough,” she said. “And I want my ID back. Last time ya’ll mothafuckas lost my shit,” Poca said to the student working at the front desk.
The young girl rolled her eyes at Poca.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
She sped walked in the direction of the elevators as if she feared someone was pursuing her.
“Girl, I just left this nigga’s house,” she said once we walked into the elevator. There were several other students inside and I immediately hoped she wouldn’t get too detailed....but knowing her she did just that. “He was an ole funny actin’ ass nigga too,” she continued. “I kept thinking he might steal my money or some shit. I didn’t even wash my pussy after we fucked ‘cause I was just that paranoid!”
The students inside the elevator instantly looked in our direction and made a face. My cheeks flushed in embarrassment and I really wished Pocahontas would just shut the hell up.
“Anyway, I ended up snagging that nigga’s wallet,” she laughed “You should’ve saw this nigga, Cam. By the time he realized his shit was gone, I had already pulled out the driveway. This mothafucka chased me halfway up the street butt ass naked!” She burst into a hysterical fit of laughter.
Suddenly, the elevator chimed just before the doors opened. The students inside quickly hurried out and I honestly couldn’t blame them.
“Okay,” Poca went on. “He wasn’t butt ass naked. He had on some boxers. But girl you should’ve saw his ass. It was so funny!”
“I done told your ass you’re gonna get enough of that shit.”
“Girl, bye!” She waved me off. “I’ma beast. I ain’t gone never get caught up.”
Suddenly, the elevator chimed signaling we had arrived on the eight floor. My floor.
“So, anyway, how’s Silk doing?” she asked as she followed me towards my room.
“He’s making good progress. They should be releasing him next week.”
“Okay. That’s what’s up.”
Once I opened the door, she immediately began stripping her clothes. “Where’s your wash cloths?” she asked placing her phone and purse down on my bed.
“Bitch, don’t act like this is your first time here,” I said.
She sucked her teeth and strutted over naked to the dresser. After looking through the first two compartments, she finally found the wash clothes and towels in the third one. She stuck her tongue out at me before stomping into the bathroom.
I laughed before picking up my copy of Into the Wild. A true story based on the life of a young guy who gave up his entire life to live in the woods like a damn animal. I had to read the book and write a three page report on the significance of the main character.
Taking a seat on my bed, I opened the book up to the page I had book marked. Just as I was getting into the read, Poca’s cell phone began ringing. Rick Ross featuring Nicki Minaj’s “You Da Boss” began playing. Subconsciously, my eyes drifted over towards the screen of her cell phone--I did an instant double take at the ten digit number displayed on her screen. Blinking twice (to make sure my vision wasn’t playing tricks on me), I reached over and picked the phone up.
Why the fuck is my man calling her, I thought.
Sure enough Silk’s number flashed across the screen. And she had the nerve to assign him that specific song. “What the fuck is going on?” I asked myself.
I wanted to answer the phone and demand why he was even calling Poca but deep down inside I already knew what the answer was. My hand trembled uncontrollably as I held her Windows phone in my hand. Seconds later, the voicemail picked up but this nigga had the nerve to call right back. After the voicemail picked the call up the second time, I did the one thing any female in my situation would do. I went through Pocahontas’ call log. As expected, Silk’s name was all throughout her call history. Tears clouded my eyes and I had to blink them away to see clearly.
Suddenly, Pocahontas began singing in the shower, completely oblivious to the fact that I had caught her treacherous ass red handed. I hurriedly, scrolled through her incoming text messages. Clasping my hand over my mouth, I had to keep myself from screaming. Most of her text messages were from him. The date and time on some had proved that he’d been texting her while with me. The last one received from him was dated just two days ago. It read: Why you ain’t come see a nigga yet in the hospital? I thought as soon as I told you, I’d been shot ya ass woulda rushed down here. I guess since a nigga ain’t breakin ya ass off no more, you aint got shit for ya nigga, huh? The message had cut off then and I quickly fumbled with scrolling to the next message to continue reading. It read: It’s all good tho. I miss ya. But it’s all good. I see how it is. If I aint got no dick or no money for ya ass, then you aint got no words for me. I guess I’ll holla at you when I’m released. Love u.
If this was a damn cartoon, I would’ve crumbled up Pocahontas’ cell phone in the palm of my hand. The last two words I had read felt like a dart had impaled my heart. My man loved Pocahontas?! No. No. No. No. No. This could not be happening! He barely even told me, he loved me. I didn’t know why, but I reread the message again to be sure I had read it right the first time. Unfortunately, none of the words had changed and neither did the way I felt right then.
Suddenly, I thought about the time when me, X-Rated, and Pocahontas were in the mall. I reflected on the wide grin Poca had pasted on her face when I approached her. Anger coursed through my veins as I realized Poca and Silk had been fucking behind my back all this time. All the calls, all the text messages...I was so damn blind!
I quickly noticed the shower water had stopped running. Slowly climbing out of my bed, I made my way towards the bathroom...but before I could open the door, Poca swung it open first. Wearing a white terry cloth towel around her damp body, she was brushing through her long wavy weave with my wig brush--The same hair I had found in Silk’s bathtub!
Hatred was all I felt, as I held the phone up for her to see that she was busted. She didn’t even pretend like she didn’t know what was happening as her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. She opened her mouth to say something, but I quickly launched her cell phone at her head. It struck her right in the nose and she stumbled backwards and screamed in pain.
I didn’t give her a chance to recuperate before I jumped on her ass like a damn monkey. All the pain and grief she had caused me instantly came out. I punched her square in the mouth. She dropped to floor and the towel unraveled from her body but I didn’t care. I stomped and kicked her naked body until I realized that I wasn’t satisfied.
Grabbing her by her weave, I dragged her out the bathroom. “Bitch, you told me I was like your lil’ sister, but you been fuckin’ my man?!”
Poca screamed and cried as the carpet burned her skin from being dragged. Her pleas went ignored as I dr
agged her into the hallway of my dorm. Students instantly stepped out their rooms to see what the hell was going on. I didn’t care. I wanted her to feel as hurt and embarrassed as I felt right now. I had nearly dragged her to the elevators when a male student quickly grabbed me. That didn’t stop me from getting in a few last kicks.
“I can’t believe you, hoe!” I screamed as tears ran from my eyes. “Doing niggas dirty ain’t enough for your ass?! You had to go and play me too, huh?" I wiped away the perspiration that had formed above my upper lip. “You ain’t shit, Poca!" Snatching away from the male student, I stormed back to my dorm, where I retrieved all of Poca’s clothing. When I made it back to where she was, an entire crowd had formed around a crying Pocahontas. Her nose was bloody and half her weave was all over the floor. A female student was nice enough to place a sheet around her nude body.
“Come on, she’s had enough,” one of the students said to me, blocking my path.
“Yeah...me too,” I said before throwing her clothes on the floor.
Chapter 19
Fortunately for her, Pocahontas was long gone by the time I exited my dorm. Anger and frustration coursed through my veins as I walked to St. Vincent’s Hospital, which was located only two blocks from the university.
So many thoughts ran through mind as I walked. How long had Silk and Poca been fucking with each other? Did he truly love her? Did she love him? Did they have a past relationship that existed before Silk and I even got with each other? All this damn time, I thought Poca had been in my corner as far as supporting my relationship with Silk but I was the one standing in her way. I felt like such a fool.
I thought about how I had resented Pure Seduction, when the real snake was right by my side all along. I quickly wiped away the tears that slid down my cheeks. No matter what Poca and I went through, I really did consider her a real friend. She had been my “right hand girl” ever since my first night of auditioning at The Shakedown. When all the other dancers were too busy hating, she actually made me feel comfortable and welcomed. Hell, she even came up with my stage name.