I supposed to do? The nigga needed to be got. The bitch did, too. So what? As far as I’m concerned, I did the right thing.”
“But it wasn’t the right thing, Jaz,” I cut in.
“Red!” Kaylin motioned for me to shut up once again. I turned my head and began to rub my hands together. I was ready to slap the shit out of both of them.
“Angel, I know you ain’t talking! You forgot that you did a nigga before? You felt as if it was the right thing to do. And Kaylin, you were down with her. You had her back.”
“So what, you think Faheem ain’t gonna have yours? Is that what this is all about?” I asked her. “Why would you even think that?”
When she got all choked up, I knew that’s what the whole thing was about. Faheem had such a temper. And whenever Jaz did anything he didn’t like, he would punish her as if she was a child. And now it looked as if she was petrified. She was more worried about Faheem when she should have been worried about some drug dealer shooting up her house and coming after her whole family.
“Angel.” Jaz started crying. “He is going to flip. If I could do it over, I would have let him handle it, but I can’t. It’s done. Please don’t leave until you talk to him, Kay.”
I got up and hugged Jaz. I could feel her body trembling. I knew that she was scared shitless. “I’m here for you, Jaz. And I’ll be here for as long as you need me.”
TASHA
My sister had been blowing up my phone. This was her third time calling me tonight.
“Tasha, something’s up. Why would he leave his truck in front of the house? His neighbors say it hasn’t moved in days. And where are those damned dogs?”
“Trina, chill out. You said yourself that he was getting rid of them.”
“But he would have told me first. Tasha, he’s not even answering his phone.”
I tried to put her mind at ease before I hung up. I didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Trae got to him already. But for now, I was on a mission. I had to do this. This would complete the deed. I concentrated on the click of my stilettos against the shiny hospital floors. As I got closer to Room 311, the gentleman sitting outside of the room became more attentive. He finally stood up.
“Can I help you?”
“Hello. I’m Rosalind, a friend of Charli’s. I just wanted to drop these flowers off and to see how she was doing.” I tried to get a peek to see if anyone else was in the room with her.
He stepped in front of the door and pulled out a phone. I began to get nervous. This was exactly what Trae meant when he said you were supposed to think things through. What if they take me away and kill me? Trae would never know. I was out here all willy-nilly, walking right into the hands of the enemy. And why? Because of my emotions. I understood why a bitch shouldn’t run the country. Just because I was feeling catty, there I was, jeopardizing my life and the possibility of my children and husband never seeing me again.
Right when I was about to turn my ass back around and leave, he hung up. “You can visit, Mrs. Macklin, but please be respectful, and stay no more than ten minutes.”
When he called me by my last name I could have shit myself. He knew who I was. I should have hauled ass out of there right then, but noooo. I had to go and see this bitch. I needed to see my handiwork. But why would he allow me to visit?
“Thank you,” I told him.
He bowed his head slightly and moved from in front of the door. I stepped inside the flower and gift-filled room. The curtains were drawn, allowing the glaring sun to shine in. The television was on, but there was no sound coming out. I laid the bouquet of flowers with the card attached across the foot of the bed.
I stood there for a minute looking down at my nemesis. I felt a sense of empowerment. Here I was alive and healthy. There she was head, face and arms bandaged up, breathing through tubes, hanging on for her life. Life was sweet.
I leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Oh, poor little