Nookie (Nookie Series) (7 page)

“Get out of my bathroom!” Joy screamed, banging on the door.

“Oh shit. Who is that?” she heard the man ask.

“That’s just Joy,” her mother answered, as if it was no big deal.

A minute later, her mother walked out completely naked and dripping wet. “Come on out, Curtis,” she said, motioning with her hands. A man walked out wrapped in a towel. He looked just like her father but a little lighter, younger, and a lot taller. He glanced at Joy then walked swiftly from the room. Joy heard her parents’ bedroom door close. Her mother stood there, looking at Joy with a stupid-ass smile on her face.

Joy went to her drawer, grabbed a shirt and threw it at her mother, who caught it and put it on, neither of them saying a word.

Finally, Barbara spoke. “Joy, have you met your Uncle Curtis?” she asked.

“What? That man is my uncle?” Joy asked, thinking her mother was just making it up, like when Joy was little and she would come home from school and find a strange man leaving. When Joy would ask who it was, her mother would always say, “That’s your uncle.”

“Yes, dear, he is your father’s brother. He will be staying with us for a little while,” she said, all of a sudden acting motherly.

“Mom, what is wrong with you? You fucked your husband’s brother. Was that your way of welcoming him?” Joy screamed.

“Joy, no need for you getting upset. Everything is fine,” she said, smiling.

“Why were you in my shower and not your own?” Joy asked.

Her mother shrugged her shoulders. “You have the most room in yours.”

“Does dad know he’s here? Why are you smiling like that?”

“No, he doesn’t know. They don’t get along too well. But he’s family and doesn’t have a place to go. Your dad will understand,” she said, completely convinced.

“What do you think dad will do when he finds out?” Joy asked, smiling for the first time.

“Nothing, because you’re not going to tell him. Right?” her mother said, now looking a little worried.

“Yeah? What makes you think that?” Joy asked, looking down at her nails. She badly needed a manicure.

“Look, you little bitch, I’ll let you have my credit card. You can only spend a thousand, that’s it,” she said, her true colors showing. She left the room, quickly returning with her Capitol One card.

Joy took the card, happy her mother wasn’t crazy enough not be afraid of her father. She decided to call Kevin so they could go on a mini shopping spree.

Chapter Ten

Joy searched for Kevin’s business card but couldn’t find it. Then she remembered she had saved his number in her phone. She searched for her phone for five minutes, before she remembered she broke it. Needing the house phone to call information, she went down stairs to get it. On the way back up, she heard her mother’s laugher, and her hate for her grew even stronger. She hated both her parents, especially for bringing her into this world. Sure, they provided her with material necessities such as clothes, a roof over her head, and food. But never had she felt love from or for either parents. It was like her father barely lived there. He only came home to sleep and shower. He barely spoke of her or to her, and she didn’t understand why.

She continued to her room, trying to shake the sad thoughts from her head. Closing the door behind her, she sat on the bed and pushed the talk button. Not hearing a dial tone, she pushed end and then talk again. Still nothing. She threw the phone on the bed and decided to just go to his store, since it wasn’t that far. She left the house, slamming the door behind her. She hoped her dad came home early just this one day and caught them in the act. That would be funny, she thought as she walked to the bus stop. As each day passed, Joy noticed her heart grew colder and colder.

Before she made it to the bus stop, she saw 18 pass by. “Shit, now I have to wait,” she said out loud. Sitting down on the bench, she hoped she wouldn’t have to wait too long. She let her mind wander, thinking about the things she was going to buy on her mother’s credit card. She was so preoccupied that she didn’t notice a black car pull up in front of her. By the time she looked up, it was too late.

Josh grabbed her, putting a hand over her mouth and pulling her to the open back door of the car. He got in and pulled her beside him. He then reached over and closed the door as the driver sped off. Josh let go of Joy’s mouth but still gripped her arm. She prayed someone had seen what happened and would call the police or something. This was unlikely though, she then thought, because people were so unaware sometimes, and when they did notice things, they tended to ignore them.

“Joey, you can slow down now,” Josh said to the driver.

Tears rolled down Joy’s face as she tried to think of a way out. “Josh, look, I’m sorry for what happened earlier. I didn’t know he was going to act like that,” she said, trying to soothe him.

A white bandage covered most of his nose, but what she could see of it was a purplish black color. Joy didn’t think it was broken, though.

“Yeah, I bet you thought that shit was funny. Having a dude hit me like I some punk. But I’ve got something for you, and I definitely got something for him,” he said with a sick smile on his face.

“Don’t be like that. What do you want?” she said, crying harder.

“You know what? Just shut da fuck up,” he snapped, clenching and unclenching his jaw.

Joy closed her eyes and hoped that Josh would just calm down and let her go. She knew that wouldn’t happen, though. She was going to have to save herself. She cursed herself for destroying her cell phone. She felt stupid because she now realized she should have started fighting as soon as he grabbed her. Looking out the window, she didn’t recognize her surroundings. She sat back, hoping Josh would loosen his grip, thinking she wasn’t going to resist. Which he did. She pulled her arm away from him with all her might, at the same time balling up her fist and hitting him in the face. She aimed for the bruise already on his nose and kept hitting it.

“Arggh, you bitch,” he screamed, trying to grab her arms.

Joy reached the door handle and tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. She tried to pull the lock up but Josh’s arms were around her waist, pulling her back to him. She got one hand loose again and started scratching at his face and arms, anywhere she could, trying to get him to let her go. It didn’t seem to faze him, though. He backhanded her. She brought a hand to her face and rubbed the spot that stung from his hit. He pulled her closer to him and she didn’t resist, even resting her hand in his lap. She looked at the clock on the dash—2:46 pm. She didn’t know how long they’d been riding around.

The car eventually slowed to a stop, and that’s when Joy made her move. She bit down hard on Josh’s thigh. This time she didn’t try the handle, just pulled the lock up, opened the door and jumped from the car. She fell to her knees but quickly got up. She thought she heard Josh tell Joey to go after her, but she didn’t slow up. Her chest started hurting as she ran harder. She looked for street signs but didn’t see any she recognized since she only left her neighborhood when going to school.

She slowed to a fast walk. Looking behind her, she realized that she would be easy for them to spot if they rode around looking for her. She moved a block over, seeing nothing apart from some kind of warehouse building. Joy was at least glad she had decided not to carry a bag that day and had her money, Transpass and her mother’s credit card in her pocket.

Joy decided to just keep walking straight. She continually looked over her shoulder but didn’t see the black car, or any other car, just big trucks. At the end of the long row she saw a street sign—Richmond St. The street was lined with houses. Joy saw a lady unlocking her car and moved towards her, trying not to scare her. She turned her head slightly, trying to hide the bruise she knew must have been on her face from Josh hitting her.

“Excuse me, Miss, but can you tell me how to get to the bus stop?” Joy asked.

“What? I can’t hear you. Are you okay?” the lady asked, looking at Joy as she moved closer towards her.

“Yeah, I just need to get to a bus stop.”

“Well, you don’t look okay. What bus are you looking for?” she asked, now standing only a few feet away.

“Umm, I’m not sure, exactly,” Joy said, now regretting having asked this lady who was becoming too nosey.

“Well, I don’t think you should be walking out here by yourself. I’ll drive you to Frankford terminal, where you can probably find a way home, or at least find out from there how.” The lady studied Joy closely as she spoke.

“Thank you,” Joy said. She didn’t hesitate to follow the lady back to her car.

As she was walking, she looked down at her clothes. There were tiny spots of blood on her shirt, probably from Josh. Her clothes were wrinkled and her shoulder-length hair was all over the place. As soon as she was secure in the lady’s car, she looked in the mirror in the visor. The left side of her face was red and swollen, even her chin, and that was the side the lady could see now.

The lady didn’t say too much more once they were driving, other than asking Joy if she wanted to go to the police, to which Joy replied she didn’t. So, like promised, the lady dropped her at the bus stop, then told her to be careful and that she would pray for her.

Joy thanked her and got out of the car. She knew she could get home from here; there were so many buses to choose from. She touched her face lightly, wincing at the tenderness of the bruise.

She quickly looked around to find someone to ask about what bus to take to get home. She continued to walk down the little sidewalk, passing people waiting for a bus. Some of them stared at her, while others paid her no mind. She sped up her walk, though. A 26 passed by, going to pick up people further up. She knew the 26 could get her to the 18, so she went in that direction. By the time she reached the bus it was crowded and she had to stand. She stood by the back door the entire ride, until she reached Chew Ave, where she got off, got on the 18 and rode that all the way to her destination.

She didn’t know what time it was but Kevin’s shop was closed, so she went around the back and knocked on the door. As she waited, she tried to brush down her hair with her hand. Kevin was taking a long time. Though his car was parked in his spot, she thought that maybe he wasn’t home. Just when she turned to leave, his door opened and a girl walked out. She looked Joy up and down as she walked past her, leaving the door open.

Kevin came to the door and shouted, “Karema, wait.” He stopped short when he noticed Joy. “What happened to you?” he asked, instantly hype.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t have nowhere else to go,” she said, looking in the direction of the girl and then back at him, wondering why he still had her standing outside.

“Tell me what happened,” he said, finally pulling her to him and leading her inside.

Joy told him everything that had happened, from how she caught her mother with her uncle to how she wound up here.

“You know where dat nigga at?” he said, getting hype.

“No,” Joy said in a quiet voice. “Who was that girl I seen when I got here?” she asked.

“Oh, that was some girl I use to date. Nothing happen. She said she was having problems where she stay and wanted to stay here,” he explained, leading Joy into the kitchen.

“What did you say?” Joy asked, getting worried.

“Well, I told her no because I need my space and I can’t have her and her six kids in a one-bedroom apartment.” He handed Joy some ice for her face.

“Six kids? Is she crazy? Where do you find the girls you date?” Joy asked, laughing.

“That is a long story, but basically I didn’t find out she had kids right away. I pick up all my girls at the bus stop,” he joked. “Anyway, I offered to help her by lending her some money. She was mad, but she took the money and left.”

“Man, some people,” Joy said, shaking her head.

Joy was glad she had come here; she actually felt better. She just didn’t know what to do about Josh; but she knew she had to do something. He was proving that he wasn’t just going to leave her alone.