Blackout: Stand Your Ground (6 page)

           
She took off the top layer of her shirt and wrapped it around
Jawan’s
arm as tight as possible. She knew she wasn’t going to be able to stop the bleeding, but she knew anything was better than nothing at all. She said a small prayer, and then she took off headed to her best friend’s house, Nay-Nay.

***

           
Nay-Nay took one look at
Jawan’s
arm and shook her head. “Alright look
Meesie
.
I’ma
need you to figure out how you’re going to get this man his Phenobarbital. He is going to need that medication or he is going to paralyze himself, or worse! He could-”

           
“O.K! O.K. Nay-Nay! Don’t say it! I’m going to go figure out how to get his meds. I can’t go back by the house, so I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I do know that I’m going to do it! Please do me a favor and take care of my fiancé! Please! I consider you my very best friend Nay-Nay! I’m so serious when I say that! You mean the world to me; you’re the only friend I have. I know you got me, right?”

           
Nay-Nay hugged
Meesie
gently. “You know I got you baby. We’ve been friends our entire lives, and we’ll be friends when our lives are no more! I got you baby! Go and handle your business my love. I’m here waiting on you. My keys are on the counter, so you can take my car and leave yours in the garage. That way you won’t have to drive like a maniac. Ain’t nobody looking for my got damn car.”

           
Meesie
closed her eyes while listening to Nay-Nay speak. She needed to hear comforting words like that more than anything in the world. She was tired of running, and just wanted a safe place to rest, even if for one night only. She was sick of
Jawan
not having his seizure medication, and she would not be going an hour longer without him having it. She didn’t know what she would do with herself if he happened to die from seizure complications.

           
She turned and ran out of the house.

***

           
As soon as she saw
Meesie
turn the corner and head up the street, Nay-Nay picked up her house phone. She couldn’t help it. The people on the news were talking about
Meesie
and
Jawan
possibly facing the death penalty. There was no way in the world that Nay-Nay was about to go down with them for killing three people.

           
“Yes, I would like to report that I have
Meesie
Hall and
Jawan
Louis in my residence.”

           
“Are you ok?”

           
“Yes, I’m fine.
Jawan
has had a seizure and he’s bleeding from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the arm.”

           
“What is your address ma’am?”

           
“It’s-”

           
“
Heyyyy
Nay-Nay! Where is
Meesie
at?”
Jawan
asked abruptly. He had awoken from his unconscious state and was looking around the house frantically for his fiancé.

           
“Let me call you back Mama.” Nay-Nay said into the phone as she hung it up. “
Meesie
went outside, she’ll be back in a minute
Jawan
.”

           
Jawan
sat there for seven seconds and jumped straight up off of the sofa. “Bitch please, I don’t trust you. Ever since you tried to set my fiancé up with your brother. Talking about she needed to try some new dick out before she married me. I don’t motherfucking trust your ass at all!”

           
Jawan
turned and exited the house, leaving a crimson trail of blood with every step he took. He went outside and ran right back in the house, breathing hard. “Where the fuck is
Meesie
? And what the fuck are you doing on the motherfucking phone?” He yelled.

           
Nay-Nay quickly hung the phone up and looked at
Jawan
. “I-
uhm
- well… she took my car because that car was too hot. I thought-”

           
“Shut up!”
Jawan
screamed as he scanned the living room for the keys. He grabbed the keys and went for the pistol, then realizing he didn’t have it. He quickly looked up at Nay-Nay. “Throw me the fuckin phone!” He was sick of people trying to play him like he was stupid, and really wanted to teach Nay-Nay a lesson. He wanted to teach her a lesson not just for trying to call the police on him, but teach her a lesson for trying to have his fiancé have sex with her brother.

           
“You better be lucky I don’t have my pistol on me or I would shoot your ass dead right now, Nay-Nay! Take care! Hopefully one day you realize all the good that I’ve done for the black race and our community. Nothing like how your brother is riding around in his luxury vehicle and selling dope all day to people who think it’s hope. I actually care about our people, but you wouldn’t know that because you don’t see me riding on rims!”

           
Jawan
took a deep breath and left out the house with the phone in tow. He started up his vehicle and took off. He had no idea where he was headed because he had no idea where his fiancé was. He would have to put himself into her mindset, and in order to do that; he would have to relax and think logically. Thinking about everything that had taken place, he realized that there were only a few things that she could be out doing; but he also knew that he had a small window, and that he would have to make sure that he picked the right activity; otherwise, Nay-Nay was going to send his pregnant fiancé to prison.

           
He wasn’t feeling the idea of the white people getting ahold of his
Meesie
, and just the thought of it disgusted him. He would die for her, would trade his life in if he knew that hers could and would be good. But in order to do that, he needed her freedom and safety guaranteed. He would have to speak to her first, because there was no way he could just turn himself in without seeing her
already
safe. That was backwards, and the shoe wouldn’t fit on anyone’s foot that way.

           
“Let me find
Meesie
.” He said as he drove onto the main highway. Blood was pouring out of his arm, and he felt weak on the right side of his body; being he hadn’t taken his seizure medication since the trial started, he was all messed up.

           
“Please God. I know I have sinned, and sinned greatly. But please forgive me and reunite me with my fiancé. That’s all I ask God, and I will make it right.”

***

Meesie
rolled the window down about halfway and allowed the summer air to flow into the car. She was sitting on the block a few houses down from where she and
Jawan
shared their little home together with her hands folded heavily across her chest. It wasn’t much, but it was a little better than the projects they once lived in.

           
She hadn’t planned on going back to the house, but how else was she going to get
Jawan’s
medication? The probability of him not waking up from the next seizure was growing each day that he went without.

            She looked down at her oversized t-shirt and frowned at how bad it looked. There was various spots of blood, some old, and some new. Some belonged to her and some she was sure belonged to
Jawan
from his accidental gunshot wound.

           
Meesie
ran her hands over her shirt and cleared her throat before stepping out of the car. She looked around before crossing the street and walking down the sidewalk. Her chest rose and fell at a rapid pace and she felt weak in the knees. She was still a little sore from the beating that she had taken from that ridiculous guy that tried to hand down a citizen’s arrest, but being able to rest the past couple of days had her feeling a lot better.
Jawan’s
health was all that mattered to her at this point.

            As
Meesie
got closer to her home, she looked around once more before breaking out into a run. She quickly inserted the key and unlocked the door. Everything was calm inside, calmer than she expected it to be. For some reason she halfway assumed that SWAT would come jumping out and tackle her down to take her in.

           
Meesie
took in a deep breath to calm her nerves and then rushed into her and
Jawan’s
room. She ran over to the closet and pulled out a clean pair of jeans and shirt to change into. Quickly she pulled the oversized t-shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor. She replaced it with the clean one and pulled the jeans up over her thin legs. She also grabbed a clean pair of tennis shoes from underneath the bed and placed them onto her feet. She felt a whole lot better now that she at least looked decent.

            She went into the bathroom, pulled the medicine cabinet opened, and grabbed
Jawan’s
Phenobarbital. After closing it back, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror and frowned at what looked back at her. There were cuts and scrapes all over her once beautiful skin and her eyes were all puffy and swollen. She shook her head and quickly looked away. There was no time for her to go feeling bad for herself when her fiancé’s life was at risk. She needed to get back to Nay-Nay’s and get him his meds as quickly as possible.

            She laughed nervously as she thought about how close she came once again to losing her life. She couldn’t believe that
Jawan’s
seizure had become so violent. Literally. Thankfully she was still breathing and he’d only suffered a minor flesh wound.

            Exiting the bathroom, she ran toward the front door to leave when she realized that she hadn’t gotten
Jawan
any clean clothing.

           
How selfish of me? I’m sure he doesn’t want to walk around in that bloody mess all day either.
She removed her hand from the doorknob and turned to go back into their bedroom. Going back into the closet, she hurriedly grabbed something for
Jawan
to wear and turned to leave when she heard the front door slamming.

           
“Shit. What the fuck?”
Meesie
said under her breath. “Damn police. I knew one of the nosy neighbors would go snitching,” she cursed.

            “Yea
bruh
! I’m telling you I seen
ol
’ boy and his bitch on the news saying they wanted for murder and shit. The police say they’re on a serial killing spree.”

Meesie
heard someone say. She brought her hand up to her chest to stop her heart from leaping out. Her breathing became erratic and her armpits began to sweat.

“Damn, they out there acting a damn fool, huh?” she heard another say.

“Hell yea. I
seen
the police come through here looking for them, but when they start walking my way, I just took my ass in the house. Trying to come ask me some questions. I ain’t no damn snitch!” the first guy laughed. “That’s some bullshit though cause
ol
’ boy always looking at me and my niggas crazy and shit ‘cause we be out there
dranking
and smoking. We be minding our own damn business and the nigga act like he better than us. Come to find out this fool a damn serial killer.”

“Living next to a maniac and U.O.E.N.O.”

They both cracked up laughing at the irony.

Meesie
shook her head and swallowed the lump that formed in her throat as she looked around the room wondering what to do next. She’d left the gun in Nay-Nay’s car because she didn’t want to get caught with a murder weapon in case the police had ran up on her while she was in the house.

She backed away and attempted to calm herself down and control her breathing before they heard her. She recognized one of the guy’s voices as her neighbor. He and
Jawan
always had words about the constant loud music, and always blocking their driveway whenever they had company over.