Hoodwinked

by Desiree Granger

  “Who thinks they can call you at this time in the morning?” I heard Ryan ask in her usual delicate voice as I watched one honey arm reach over me. Opening both eyes against the pillow, I stared at her with a drained expression. She cut her hazel green eyes at me while showing me the screen. Pink, and green silk scarf wrapped around her pinned curls as she pinched her full lips together with a pointed look at me. Expecting me to react to the name on the screen.

  “It’s your brother,” she said.

  “I can read,” I said before turning my head the other way. I could hear her suck her teeth in annoyance before she laid back down.

  “You can read, but do you have zero intuition? You’re always telling me how you feel and see things before it happens… How, when you were able to see my brother’s car accident before it happened, and---.”

  “Baby please go to sleep… I just sexed the living soul out of you, I’m tired. My body and mind is tired. I know he calling me about some bullshit I don’t wanna deal with right now,” I complained, pinching my eyes down with my fingers. I could just tell Ryan was festering over there beside me. She wasn’t able to sleep because she was nervous about meeting my mother for the first time tomorrow. Only my mother, and nobody else in the family. Granted, I wasn’t as close to Carol Skye as Homer, I felt bad for her having to find out about Ryan through her husband.

  It needed to happen though because I was about to propose. Been through everything with this woman, and through the lies, and minor mistakes like cheating…. Something light. You know. I had my weak moments where I stepped out, but no girl was worth losing Ryan permanently over, and the thought of another nigga even in her face smiling would set me off, and she had niggas at her door boi… So I had to get right, and eventually calmed the fuck down for about a year until I got used to just being with her. Now, I was ready to wake up and go to sleep with her every day for the rest of my life.

  “Hello?” I heard her answer as I whipped around and glared at her.

  “Is you crazy Ry?” I snapped, snatching the phone from her.

  “He texted and said it was an emergency, and begged for you to answer the phone---.”

  “It’s always an emergency!” I fussed before slapping the phone up against my ear. “Nigga hello?! You know what time it is? You know how I don’t like to be woken up out my damn---.”

  “Michael, listen to me. Where you at?” He asked in a panicked whisper. When he didn’t even question who the woman was on the phone, I knew something was up. “I need you to do a favor for me until I get back in town.”

  “Wassup?” I asked, slowly sitting up as I glanced at the clock. It wasn't even five, and I’ve gotten all of two hours of sleep. Despite wanting to snap on him, I could tell this was urgent so I wasted no time.

  “I’ma send you the address or road Fowler texted me, and I need you to go over there, and see if you can find Pia’s brother.”

  “Nigga what?” I let out with a strained neck like I couldn’t hear. “Find her brother?”

  “His car, anything that belongs to him. All they were supposed to do was scare him. I just wanna make sure they did just that and nothing more. Just… Shit, lemme call you back. Violet is at the door.”

  The phone clicked but I see he already sent the text message asking me to look for Pia’s brother or his belongings.

  “What is it?” Ry asked from behind as I looked back at her.

  “He said find somebody or something at this address… I’on know. He sounds scared so I’m not gonna question it. Just wait till he call me back,” getting up with a bad sinking feeling hitting my gut. “Where my shoes at?”

  “By the door,” she pointed as she laid back down. “Call me if anything comes up…”

  I looked back at her pretty self, seeing she was laying back down with the sheets close to her chest, not even covering up her breasts that spilled out from the sides. One look at her, and she already knew what it was. Nah, you answered the phone, you get yo ass in this car with me.

  …

  “Doesn’t she have two brothers?” She asked as I pulled out of the hotel parking lot. She sat her phone down with her GPS up and crossed one leg over the other.

  “Yeah, but I know which one he’s talking about,” I sighed, leaning against the door with one hand on the wheel. The roads were bare, and the lights were low. Hardly anybody out or awake at this time so it gave me too much room for my mind to wander.

  “Michael?” She let out softly, picking at her nails. I looked over at her.

  “Yeah baby?”

  “If I told you I was pregnant----.”

  “Laaawd,” I groaned. “I can’t---.”

  “You didn’t even let me get it out without turning the idea down,” she snapped. “I’m not but I don’t feel right either so I’m going to the doctor on Monday when I get back home.”

  “Just take the test.”

  “I did. One said positive, the other said negative.”

  “Where was I when you was taking the test? Huh?”

  “Sleep,” she said, innocent hazel green eyes looking at me. “Just saying if I am, we need to really sit down, and think about things. I don’t… I know neither of us are ready.”

  Before she could say anything else, my phone rang throughout the car as I quickly answered with a glance at the GPS to follow.

  “Yuh?”

  “You on the road?” Homer asked, voice sounding nervous. “I fucked up bruh. The worst way possible.”

  “You slept with Pia,” I said bluntly.

  “You remember the first Moon Run I went through? That vision of the two boys, and the fire? You know that’s what happened to Pia when she was younger. Percy, and Piru set her on fire while she was asleep when she was little. I remember the scar burns on her body when we first met. My vision was two boys, brothers that set this lil girl who looked just like me in the face, just like Violet on fire, and I remember hearing her scream… It was Percy’s idea to do it.”

  “Turn left,” the GPS let out as I came up on a row of trees and long fields that stretched out for miles.

  “I didn’t know what any of that shit meant until we was walking in those same fields, same two niggas and they was telling me the story on how they set her on fire. How Percy had to go through all this therapy ...”

  “Uh huh,” glancing at Ry to see she was listening closely.

  “He’s been fucking with Nasia. Shit started clicking to me all at once from her screaming his name out at Atlantic Station like she knew him. Like she was ready to defend him or get him to stop fighting me… She’s been cheating on me this entire time, and she got pregnant with my child… I knew. I knew something was off… Shit starting to make sense----.”

  I looked at Ry to make sure she was still good, but she just shook her head.

  “You think he…”

  “I texted Nasia and told her to tell me straight up, and she said he paid for the abortion of my first born. She told me everything. She said he forced her to get an abortion. Since he didn’t want her to have my child, meaning they would stop fucking with each other? He convinced her to have the baby aborted or he was gonna tell Jasmine. Boi… I swear… I ain’t neva… I couldn’t explain how I felt when she said that. This man killed my baby because he didn’t want…”

  “How you know she telling the truth?” I questioned.

  “Do it fucking matter?! He killed my baby, and him saying so easily that he started the fire on Pia’s stomach set it off for me. You know my temper man, you know how the fuck I am. I’m hard headed, and don’t think. I just do it. I told Fowler and them to handle this nigga. I’ma fuck his sister one time just for the fucking fun of it. Just because I know I can. I know I could get Pia if I wanted, and I did. I’m thinking, fucking her while yo brother getting dragged. Send her and that pussy ass nigga Piru on their way afterwards. Mind was clouded.”

  I already knew what was coming. Homer was a psychopath, but he was predictable in a sense. I blamed our mother for that.
He thought he was a lot stronger mentally than what he was, and that will always be his downfall. He’s sensitive to every little thing that happens to him or around him, and this was a prime example.

  “So you thought you could fuck Pia, and be done with it. Now guilt is setting in because you starting to think you may actually like Pia. Like the idea of being a family, and sleeping with her only made it worse. Instead of claiming you was sleeping with her just to prove a damn point, just admit that you like her. Maybe, just maybe she was the woman you were meant to be with all along, and that’s what your vision was supposedly about. Maybe you saw yourself being set on fire, and not a damn child. Granted, that’s some fucked up shit about the abortion, but you too old for these games bruh… I told you, putting a root on that child was gonna make shit worse, but don’t nobody listen to the shortest nigga in the family though!”

  We came up to the destination in the middle of nowhere. Nothing but trees and fields that stretched for miles. Ryan slowly sat up with her hand on the dashboard, staring so hard before she gasped.

  “Babe!” She let out, unclicking her seatbelt as she got out of the car in nothing but her shirt, and sleep shorts.

  “You there? You see him?” Home questioned over the phone.

  “Him? Him?! I thought it would be his car or shoes, or… Maybe yall dumped all his shit out here. The fuck you mean him, and why you got me out here like I’m the one that committed murder!” I snapped, getting out as I watched Ryan nearly kneel over with her hand covering her mouth to keep from screaming.

  “He’s dead?!” I whispered loudly in the open space. “Ry?!”

  I came up, praying to the Gods, the spirits, the ancestors alike for me not to see no damn dead body, but instead I walked up on bare feet sticking out of the muddy grass where a pair of legs laid flat.

  “I’m calling the police,” Ryan panicked before I snatched her phone out of her hand. “Are you serious?! Are you kidding me Michael?! This! This is a body!”

  “Be quiet!” I snapped.

  “I’m on the way,” Homer said before hanging up.

  “Nigga you shoulda been on the fucking----.” I looked at my phone, beyond pissed that he had already hung up before stepping further into the swampy grass. Using my flashlight on my phone to hover over the bloody body, and face. My mouth dropped at the broken glasses by his face, and the small slit of an eye that was open, and moving ever so slowly. It was him. Percy was barely recognizable, but it was him, and he was alive. He started to move his busted lip, but it was obvious he’d been laying here for hours, and lost a lot of blood.

  “Aye, you… you good man?” I asked hesitantly.

  “Really?! Really Michael?! He looks like he’s been attacked by fucking wolves and you’re asking if he’s okay?!” Ryan hissed just as a ray of headlights from the other end of the road began to shine. It took only a second of a glance to see it was a cop car riding down at this convenient damn time.

  “Baby?” I let out. “This is where you shine, ride or die for me. Help me push this body behind the car---.”

  “I’m not---.”

  “That’s a cop car! Just hurry up!” I started, hearing her inwardly scream before attempting to drag a moaning Percy by the arms while she grabbed his ankles. We quickly carried him off beside my car before she reached in the car window to pop open the glove compartment, and grabbed a dirty towel to wipe her hands. Casually, Ryan walked back to the front of the car, and attempted to play it cool, but I can tell she was freaking out. Never had to do no shit like this before in her life, but she was with it. She popped the hood of the car up while I kept low with my hand on Percy’s forehead. Eyes closed, saying a small chant in prayer just as the sound of tires slowed, and the ray of lights came to a stop in front of my car.

  Percy’s head began to slowly move, but I kept him still. Attempting to keep him alive as I grabbed a scoop of dirt beside us, and pressed my hand down again on his forehead. One of these mothafucking spirits better answer my call for this nigga.

  “You got car trouble ma’am?” I heard the officer ask.

  White male, middle aged. Pig shit.

  “Nothing I can’t handle,” Ryan said coolly.

  “Oh yeah?” He asked as I looked up at the sky with a tight mouth. “Where you headed to or coming from? You not drunk is ya?”

  “No sir,” she laughed. “I don’t drink.”

  “Really? Pretty girl like you looks like she knows a good time.”

  “I’m a God fearing woman, and walk in the path of Jesus Christ. Only fun I know is bible study every Wednesday at Mt. Pisgah Baptist.”

  There you go baby. There you go…

  “Where’s that at?”

  I looked down at Percy, seeing blood coming out of the corners of his mouth. Shit!

  “In Augusta. Small town in Augusta, Georgia. I’m headed home now. Just thought I would get a headstart.”

  “Engine trouble?” The officer asked as I heard him open his door. My heart began to pound as I peered underneath my car to eye his black shoes walking up to Ryan’s slides. Bare manicured feet tensing up with each step he took.

  “Nothing I can’t handle. My daddy worked on cars,” she said, hearing the nerves in her voice as I strained my neck to see his feet standing too close to hers until I heard her sharp intake of breath. “Sir, please…”

  “Just trying to help you figure out what’s wrong with your car,” he pouted innocently as I began to shake.

  “I’m not that kind of girl---.”

  “I never said you were. Just here to help a woman on the side of the road in the middle of the night. You’re by yourself are you not?” When she didn’t say anything, his voice became a low… faint whisper. “So let me help you.”

  When she let out another sharp breath, I could hear her suddenly mutter in constraint.

  “Please don’t touch me----.”

  “Are you high?”

  “Sir no---.”

  “Are you drunk? I smell alcohol on your breath,” he said suddenly as I nearly stepped on Percy, ready to kill for mine when another ray of headlights came through from a passing car. I kept low against the window, seeing nothing but the popped hood until she closed it shut with tears in her eyes cutting towards me. That one look told me everything I needed to know, she’d been violated in the worst way possible, and I felt helpless. I wasn’t able to do shit for her because I’m protecting my own family.

  “You have a good night, and be safe,” the officer suddenly said, walking back to his car after hearing a voice come over on the walkie talkie. I waited until he was long gone before rushing over to Ryan, trying to grab her arm but she pulled back.

  “Don’t touch me Michael.”

  “Did he---?”

  “Don’t touch me!” She snapped angrily. “Just get the… freaking body in the car.”

  “We can press charges, we can go after that nigga. Tell me what he look----. Ryan?” I let out, watching her walk around me as she grabbed Percy’s ankles.

  I couldn’t even think straight with Percy staining my back seat, and Ryan not speaking to me, but I drove like a bat out of hell to the only place I knew I could go to. Mind was imagining over and over this cop violating Ryan who didn’t ask for none of this shit! She didn’t ask for any of this and the moment I get her in the same state as my family, she’s already dragged in some bullshit, and I can’t lose this girl. I can’t lose this woman after everything, but when she tried her hardest not to cry in front of me, I knew my chance of talking her out of breaking up with me, just before I proposed to her was slim to none.

  “What he do Ry?” I asked again, pulling into the driveway of my parents’ house. “What did he---.”

  “He just pressed his hand against me, that’s all,” she muttered. I shut the car off and looked at her, seeing her hand was protectively covering just between her legs. Keeping her face covered towards the window, I got out, and slammed the door shut.

  I may pop off slick at the mouth, but
it was nothing compared to what my temper can get to. Walking up the porch steps, I yanked the screen door open, and began to bang on the wooden door.

  “WAKE UP AND OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!” I screamed angrily, just thinking about what that cop did to mine. “OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR!”

  I began jiggling the lock as all lights popped on, and I could hear heavy footsteps rushing throughout the house before all lights suddenly shut off in the windows. I began to pace, mouth tightening in budding rage before I slammed my foot against the door with a hard pound, screaming until it swung open, and Kenneth Skye came right at me with a 9 mm aimed directly at my face, eyes bloodshot red from his sleep. PTSD kicking in, it took him a second to realize it was me, and I wasn’t moving. Even with a gun aimed at my face.

  “Michael?” He let out, dropping his arm in confusion.

  “Get this nigga’s body out the back seat of my car, now. WAKE UP MA! MAMA!? WAKE THE FUCK UP!”

  “Boi if you don’t get yo crazy ass from off my porch with this shiiiat!” He snapped with a shove at me. “The fuck are you talking about?!”

  Didn’t take long for him to help Percy into the house after mentioning it was Pia’s brother that was found damn near dead on the side of the road.

  “He needs to go to a hospital,” Carol said. “This isn’t the place----.”

  “Where’s Homer? This is his doing?” Kenneth asked as I stared at Ryan who sat across from me on the couch. Trying to keep herself, her composure together. “Hand me the phone, and lemme call my mama, and sisters over here,” pulling at his shirt to reveal the internal bleeding and bruises all around his body. “He done fractured a few ribs. That much I can see.”

  “He needs to go to the hospital,” handing Kenneth a warm towel, and his phone to call 911. Carol looked at Ryan. “Are you okay----?”