A BROKEN GIRL’S JOURNEY 2 (A BROKEN GIRL'S JOURNEY)
Page 7
“Goodnight”, Lakea said as she lay her head back on the seat and drifted off.
She wasn't sleep long because soon Mesha was banging on the truck window to get in. Lakea opened her eyes and unlocked the doors as she moaned because her headache was now a full on migraine. She got out of the passenger seat and got in the back to stretch out across the seat. All she wanted to do was to get home and into her soft, warm bed. Lakea sunk into the backseat as Mesha started up the truck and bolted off the lot.
“You okay?” Nika asked Lakea, while reaching in the backseat and touching her shoulder.
“Girl I feel awful”, Lakea said looking at her friend.
“It was probably those rolls and that liquor. You just need to go sleep it off”, Nika said.
Just then the girls went under an over pass and Lakea caught a glimpse of a woman lying under the bridge and she had on the same clothes as the girl she had just saw passed out.
“She dead!” Lakea yelled so loud Mesha quickly stopped the car.
Lakea described to Nika and Mesha what she had saw earlier. Nika called the police on her cell phone and they waited until they heard the sirens approaching. At home Lakea still felt bad, not only was her body acting stupid and she had this nagging feeling in her heart, now she couldn't get the memory of the girl laying on the ground under the bridge out of her head. It was a sign that the lifestyle really wasn't for her, but like many times in the past she never followed the signs.
“We gone spend the night with you June”, Mesha said walking into Lakea's room and sitting on the bed.
“I already called my mama and told her. The boys are fine. You need to go to sleep though cousin, you look bad,”
“I feel bad too”, Lakea said weakly.
“Well goodnight”, Mesha said as she got up and turned off the lights, exiting the room as she closed the door behind her.
Those were the last words that Lakea heard before she fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning Lakea woke up to excruciating pain all over her body. The pain in her body was so overwhelming it took her breath away. She tried to yell for Mesha or Nika to help, but she couldn't. Lakea decided to try to make it to the bathroom, but as soon as her feet hit the floor and she tried to take a step she got dizzy. The whole room started spinning and Lakea reached out trying to catch her balance on the wall. Instead she fell into the nightstand causing her lamp to fall to the floor with a loud crash, and shatter into a thousand pieces. The noise from Lakea's breaking lamp woke Mesha and Nika up out of a sound sleep and they both came running to Lakea's room.
“KEA”, was the last thing Lakea heard before everything went black and her limp body hit the floor.
Lakea woke up what seemed to be three months later, but it was only 45 minutes. However, when she tried to move she was still in a great deal of pain and she felt dizzy. She was in the hospital once again with Mesha, Nika, Quan, and to her surprise, Ray-Ray at her side. Lakea didn't know it but her big brother Ray-Ray was never far away. He would always come by the house without her knowing it to check on them and get a glimpse of his boys. He wasn't so far gone on drugs and sorrow that he didn't care. He just didn't know how to deal with his grief.
“Ray-Ray! Hey big bruh!” Lakea said attempting a smile.
A tear ran down her face as her big brother took her hand in his and kissed it.
“You gone be okay lil sis, they really don't know what's wrong other than you're dehydrated and they say you may have a stomach virus. They supposed to send you to a specialist soon”,
Ray-Ray said taking a seat next to Lakea.
“You gotta take it easy though lil sis, and I'm gone help you. I signed up for rehab last week, I go in tomorrow. I’m gone get my shit together lil sis and help you again. Be the big brother I once was,”
Those words made Lakea feel so much better in her spirit; however her body was still in pain. Lakea had waited for the day to hear her brother say those words. There was nothing she wanted more than to have her big brother back. Lakea began to cry as Ray-Ray and Quan hugged her.
“Oohhh, I'm hurting”, Lakea cried out as she lies back on her pillow.
“Push this button for morphine”, Nika said pressing the button attached to the cord coming from Lakea's IV drip.
“Your ass fina be high as fuck in a second”, Mesha said with a smile.
Suddenly Lakea felt a wave of calm rush over here. Finally, no more pain and she drifted off to sleep; dreaming about her life, from the outside like she was watching a movie. She saw all of the tragedy, all of the pain, the scared, hurt little girl she used to be and the broken young woman she now was. She saw all the bad times and the good times; her love for Jeremy and his love for her, her beautiful son, and her nephew. The dream played out just like a movie, except she couldn't see her future, only silhouettes of this happy family. Lakea woke up in a cold sweat hoping that was her happy family in the dream. Maybe in the future she wouldn't be broken.
Lakea was released from the hospital that evening, and she went home feeling better than she went in. However, she still had an aching pain all over her body and would get tired very easily. The pain and stiffness Lakea had in her joints caused her to start missing work at the cable company as each day was a struggle to get out of bed. It took her to noon each day to reduce her pain enough to go to the bathroom on her own. Felicia and Mesha were there a lot to help Lakea with day-to-day things, and to watch the boys. After about two weeks Lakea began to find a balance between the pain meds she was popping and Kush she was smoking that allowed her to go to work part-time at the Cable Company and weekends at the club. She had to pay the bills. However, in the process of self-medication, working, sorrow, and uncertainty, Lakea began to lose herself. Everything had become a blur between the drugs, the pain, the bills, dancing, her job, and a horrible past that always found a way to manifest itself in her current situation. That broken girl was trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life, but she was going about it all wrong.
Ray-Ray came home from rehab after 30 days and he was even better than before. He was clean and dealing with his grief, and he had started back being a great father to his kids. Once out of rehab he had gotten a job as a garbage man driving the truck and was bringing in a stable income, helping Lakea with the bills. Things were okay for a change. Quan was leaving in a couple of weeks for school after a short delay and despite the occasional tiredness and the constant pain, Lakea was doing well. In her spirit she had a little peace. She was sleeping more, smiling more, and she even started back writing songs.
“It's time to change”, Lakea said out loud as she sat on the porch with J-J in her arms and Ray-Ray pushed Ray-Jay and Rahiem on the swing set next to the porch.
“What you say?” Ray-Ray asked Lakea as he looked at her.
“Big bruh I'm 20 years old and I have nothing to show for it other than being a damn stripper”, Lakea said in a somber tone, kissing her son on his head as he played with his Elmo doll.
“I gotta stop this shit. We doing better now, so I'm done. If it wasn't Benzi's birthday, I wouldn’t be going to the club tonight. I'm just gone make a quick appearance then I'm leaving. I'm tired of that shit!” Lakea said in a serious tone.
Ray-Ray smiled a huge smile. He was so proud of his sister. Although he never liked the fact that she was dancing he never told her so. He wanted her to make her own decisions. Now he was just happy she had come to the point in her life where she was ready to let go of the negative things and stop letting the past influence her decisions.
“Well you know I'm behind you lil sis 100%. You can always depend on that”, Ray-Ray said walking over and hugging his sister.
“Go out tonight and have fun, not work. I'm taking the boys to mama over Aunt Violet's house, and me and Quan going out. I'm coming back over her afterward though. I know you hate to be alone, witcho shaky ass”, Ray-Ray said laughing and pushing his sister.
“But forreal, go have fun and say goodbye to that club forever an
d then come home and let's start our lives over. That type of shit ain't you anyway”, Ray-Ray said.
“I know bruh, besides I can feel something bad happening if I stay my ass in that club”, Lakea said getting up and preparing to go into the house.
Lakea didn't know how right she was, but she would soon find out. As Lakea pulled up to the club that evening she had a feeling in her soul that something wasn't right.
“I'm just gone run in, give Benzi her gift, and be the fuck out”, Lakea said to herself as she applied her lip gloss in the rear view mirror.
“Alright, let's close this chapter”, she said as she got out of the car and walked towards the front door of the club.
Just then she felt someone grab her arm and a male voice say, “Yeah wasup now baby. I got my bank up so I know I'm fucking tonight”, the guy said as he slapped Lakea on the ass as hard as he could.
It was the dude from the first night Lakea had danced. The creepy nigga she had told to holler at her when he got his bank up. Seems he had done just that. Lakea's reflexes, training, and past trauma reacted before she could think and she spun around fast delivering a hard chop right across the due's throat. The impact of the lick sent him flying backwards on to the ground holding his throat and gasping for air. The crowd of guys standing at the entrance watching it all go down laughed and yelled as Lil Mitch rushed Lakea into the club, and other security guards beat the creep's ass all the way to his car.
Lakea was irritated when she finally got into the club so after giving Benzi her gift, having a few drinks and dancing off stage with her friends, Lakea was ready to go. Lil Mitch walked Lakea to her car at about midnight; she had only been in the club for an hour and a half. Driving home Lakea began to feel tired and the pain in her legs started up again. She also had an eerie feeling like she was being watched. That was the same feeling she had on stage the night she met the creep. Lakea quickly dismissed the thought that someone was watching her and just blamed her symptoms on the alcohol she had consumed. When Lakea pulled into her drive way she was so happy to be home. She was exhausted both mentally and physically.
The house was completely dark when Lakea got out of her truck and walked up the drive way. Lakea figured Ray-Ray and Quan were still out. She hoped that they would come home soon because she hated to be at home alone. She had been alone enough in her life. As Lakea walked to her door she heard a car door close somewhere a couple of houses down. Lakea didn't know why but the sound of that door slam made her feel scared. Her head suddenly began to throb and she felt sick. Her hands shook as she put her key in the door and began to turn the knob. She couldn’t' wait to get inside where she was safe, and lay down. Just then the hair on the back of Lakea's neck stood up. Lakea slowly turned her head to see who was coming up behind her. Before she could think or her eyes could even focus she was being tackled to the floor. Whoever pushed her was now on her back straddling her with his hand over her mouth. He kicked the door close and then delivered four punches to the back of Lakea's head and back. She moaned and yelled out in agony from the vicious blows. She was already in so much pain.
“Noo, please stop”, Lakea pleaded as the guy turned her over so that she was facing him.
“Stop begging bitch. You was tough as a muthafucka when you was at the club talking shit and chopping niggas across the throat, now yo funky ass begging”, The dude said.
Lakea's eyes widened as she stared up into her attacker's face. She recognized him instantly, it was the creep.
“It's you, please…” Lakea began but the creep cut her off.
“Yeah bitch it’s me”, he yelled as he began to punch Lakea in her face and choked her until she blacked out.