Karma's a Bitch (29 page)

“I know but, you know, it’s a little crazy when you get around some Christians. They think they know everything. And that shit – I mean, that stuff get’s
sickening
,” Quanisha said.

“I know. That type of thing turned
me
off of church a long time ago. But I realized that I shouldn’t let that stop me from having a relationship with God. I still don’t go to church all the time because sometimes it can be a negative experience with all the gossipping and self-righteousness, but I do talk to God all the time, and that’s good with God so it’s good with me,” Stephanie said as she gazed over at Quanisha on the couch.

“Okay, I feel that,” Quanisha said and then took another long sip of her tea. “So you don’t curse or none of that?”

“Girl please. Once in a while I slip up, when I’m mad. But I just gotta catch myself. I’m human. But I ain’t gonna be correcting you all the time you’re here, all I ask is that you watch what you say around Michael. He is very impressionable.”

“No problem.”

“Another thing Nish, you are truly welcome to stay out here as long as you need to get yourself together. Trust me, I understand what that’s like,” Stephanie said as she closed her eyes and smiled.

Quanisha soaked in Stephanie’s words and tried to analyze whether she was being sincere, or if she was just trying to be nice. She had only been in Stephanie’s house for a few minutes, and already she felt so comfortable and peaceful. She felt as if she could just fall asleep right now on the couch. If Stephanie
was
just trying to be nice, she was doing a heck of a job at it.

Chapter 21

Tony was a shell of himself. Nothing could make him happy. He was feeling like he had a ton of bricks hanging from his shoulders.

Every corner he turned, he was worried about Rock being right there waiting for him. He had been rolling with his other friend Rob a lot more lately. They weren’t that close, but he needed somebody to have his back.

The only good thing was, he still had money left after robbing Rock. He had been sure that the money would be lost, the same way all the rest of his money had slipped out of his grip lately. But it was a week after the incident and he still had over $100 in his pocket. He wasn’t even trying intentionally to hold onto it; it had just lasted.

“Don’t you wanna eat somethin’? Damn, we been driving around for two hours!” Rob complained.

This was the reason why Tony hated hanging out with Rob. All he thought about was food. “Nigga tuck in your belly. I ain’t hungry yet.”

“Well I am! I ain’t eat since noon,” Rob nearly whined. “I’m sick of your stupid ass tellin’ me when it’s time to eat. I wanna eat
now
.”

Tony rolled his eyes up into his head and sighed. “You sound like a bitch man. Where you wanna eat?”

They went to McDonald’s on 52
^nd
street and pulled into the drive thru. Rob leaned over Scoop and ordered himself. “Lemme get a number five, super sized, an order of chicken nuggets, a double cheeseburger and a strawberry shake.”

The girl on the McDonald’s speaker paused. “Anything else?”

“Yea, anything else? Damn,” Tony looked at his nearly obese friend in disgust. “You know they got chicken sandwiches too,” he mentioned sarcastically.

“Yea, matter fact, let me get another small fry too,” Rob answered, ignoring Tony’s attempt at insulting him.

Tony and Rob sat in the parking lot and ate their food. Rob wolfed his food down, while Tony just picked at his fries. He wasn’t that hungry. He hadn’t been able to get the image of Scoop out of his mind. The sad look on Scoop’s face at the bar while he was drinking, in contrast with the animated look on his face right before he died was etched in Tony’s mind. He wished he could take back what he said to incite Scoop in the first place.

Look at that nigga, got the nerve to come in here grillin’ you.

Maybe if he would have kept his big mouth shut Scoop would still be alive.

If he were honest with himself, he would have to admit that it was his own mortality that was really scaring him. Death by the hands of Rock was not so distant a possibility. Rock had never gotten picked up by the police, and as far as Tony knew after what happened at the bar, Rock was seven-thirty. He wouldn’t hesitate to shoot Tony’s ass too.

“Why ain’t you eatin’?” Rob asked. Rob obviously knew what had happened to Scoop, but Tony didn’t tell him anything about his involvement, or the fact that Rock was probably looking for him. If Rob knew everything that was going on, he probably wouldn’t step within two feet of Tony.

“Just ain’t hungry,” Tony said dispassionately. The fries were crispy and hot fresh out of the oil, but they tasted as bland as cardboard to Tony. Rob on the other hand was eating as if this were
his
last meal.

“You ain’t gonna eat that? Let me get that then,” Rob said, grabbing some of Tony’s fries.

Tony looked at Rob as if he had lost his mind, but didn’t say anything.

“You can’t be wastin’ food like that, these fries is hot!” Rob said between chewing. Tony was starting to wonder if it was really worth hanging around Rob all this time just for the sake of having a partner. Rob had been grating on his last nerve.

“The food’s wasted when it goes to your fat belly,” Tony said as he shoved the rest of his food at Rob and started up his car.

Tony needed a drink badly. But he had been trying to avoid the bars like a plague in fear of running into Rock. He decided he would be safe at the little bar that he and Scoop had visited a while back in Germantown. As he pulled onto 76 West, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. When he looked he saw that it was an unknown 610 number.

“Yo,” Tony said as he leaned back in his seat with his hat pulled down low over his troubled eyes. He was getting ready with his standard six word answer if this was someone for Jenny: “This ain’t her number no more.”

“Uh, hello? This is Dr. Stephens calling from Mercy Hospital. May I please speak to Jenny Storms?” a male voice asked.

“Doc? Yooo, how you? This Tony!” Tony said, and something inside of him sparked back to life for a moment.

“Tony Jackson? Oh hey, young brother! What’s goin’ on?” the doctor said cheerfully. He was surprised to hear Tony’s voice.

“Ain’t nuffin, just chillin’. How’s everything over there at the prison – I mean the hospital,” Tony joked. “I bet the Nazi Nurse is still terrorizing the other inmates – I mean patients.”

“Very funny. It’s going great. But I need to be asking you that – how are you doing? You know you were supposed to come in and let me check the bandages after a week.”

“Yea, I know. But it’s cool,” Tony said, slowly setting back into his reality.

“What about your hearing?”

“It’s fine. Much better.”

The doctor paused as he took in the tone of Tony’s voice.

“What about otherwise? You don’t sound too hot,” he asked intuitively.

“I’m aiight.”

Dr. Stephens paused again for a while. “So you and Jenny are still together I see? How is she doing?”

Tony couldn’t help but laugh. He knew that as long as he kept this phone he was never going to be rid of Jenny’s memory. “Uh, no offense Doc, but hell naw. I ain’t never been with Jenny.”

“What’s that?” Doctor Stephens asked curiously. “She told me you all were engaged the last time I saw her. And isn’t this her phone number I called?”

“Let me tell you something Doc. Ya’ll should seriously think about getting Jenny 302ed, cuz she got a screw loose. We ain’t never been engaged.”

“Hmmm. That’s interesting. Well, I was actually calling because her supervisor told me that Jenny hasn’t been to work in weeks and she hasn’t been able to get in touch with her. We’re all a little worried about what happened to her. She hasn’t even called to check in.”

“Well I don’t know nothing about that Doc, she must be doin’ her own thing. Last I saw her she was tryin’ to stab me in the back with a butcher knife,” Tony mentioned nonchalantly.

There was an awkward silence as Dr. Stephens struggled to process what Tony had just said and find something to say in response.

“I told you she was crazy Doc,” Tony said as he pulled off the Lincoln Drive exit. “But look I gotta get off this phone.”

“Look Tony I gotta tell you something that’s been on my spirit to say for a long time now. I think –”

“Oh no you about to get spiritual with me Doc?” Tony said lightheartedly, trying to make it into a joke.

“Just listen to what I have to say. I’ll be quick. I’ve been wanting to say it since you left the hospital, but didn’t think I’d ever get the chance. After all our talks, I believe that you are a very smart, insightful young man with a lot of potential. I just hope you think so too. I remember a lot of what you used to tell me when you were staying here, about the women, and your friends and the streets. I just hope that you’re not falling victim to the negativity. You can do so much better with your life. I just wanted to let you know that I think you’re a special young man, and no matter what happens in life, just know that God has a hope and a future for you. And that’s it.”

Now Tony was the one who was speechless. He stared emptily at the road passing in front of him as he drove the intricate twists of Lincoln Drive with his mouth half open in thought. Nobody had ever said those type of things to him, other than his grandmother. It was strange and different hearing it from a man that he respected like Dr. Stephens.

“Thank you Doc,” is all that Tony could say in response.

“Alright, I’ll talk to you soon son. And don’t be a stranger, you can talk to me anytime you want. You have my number now,” Dr. Stephens said, and then hung up the phone.

Tony closed the phone and went into a trance of thought as he drove the rest of the way to the bar. Now he
really
needed a drink.

Chapter 22

“Aaaahhh!!” Quanisha screamed as she was dropped 100 feet from the sky. Her heart raced with a vengeance against her chest as she closed her eyes and waited for her inner organs to return to their normal places.

Stephanie’s friend Michelle laughed hysterically at Quanisha when they settled down at the bottom of the Free Fall.

“Oh my God! I’m never doin’ that again!” Quanisha said assuredly with a frown on her face as she pushed against the railing to free herself from the ride. She, Stephanie, Michelle, Karl and the baby had taken a trip down to King’s Dominion, an amusement park in Virginia. Michelle had convinced Quanisha to ride the Free Fall with her. Quanisha had already changed her mind by the time the ride had risen halfway up into the air, but it had been too late.

“That was fun!” Michelle said excitedly as they exited the ride. Quanisha’s legs felt like jelly underneath her, and they almost buckled when she started walking. “Whoa, you okay?”

“No!” Quanisha said seriously, but then laughed. She couldn’t believe she had actually just done that.

Stephanie ran up to them and hugged Quanisha tightly as she laughed. “I saw you up there! You looked like you were gonna cry!”

Quanisha couldn’t help but laugh too. “I shoulda kept my ass – I mean my butt down here with ya’ll! That shit was crazy!”

They had been at the park for over five hours, and it was definitely time to go. Feet were hurting, stomachs were growling and the baby, Michael, was crying to be held. But it had been an absolutely beautiful day. Quanisha had had a good time.

Karl was a medium height light skinned brother with a goatee and reddish toned thinning hair. He was good looking in the way that Malcolm X was, and very distinguished and serious looking. Quanisha had been afraid that Stephanie and Karl would be one of those couples that were inseparable and disgustingly affectionate with one another all the time, even in front of other people. She hated being around a couple that flaunted their relationship among single people.