Raunchy (41 page)

After ten minutes, I stood up and was getting ready to leave, when Antoinette called. She had been acting weird ever since she set up my trip to Mexico.

After hanging up with her, I decided to call Paco because I hated niggas keeping me waiting. Although our meeting wasn’t paramount, it was important enough to deserve my attention.

I had asked him at Trip’s to get some information on that girl I saw Shaggy with. If she was who she said she was then so be it, but if she wasn’t I needed to know that, too. Because I swear she looked like Harmony did when we were younger. She had the same eyes, same hair and same smile. It seemed like every time I found her, she got out of my hands.

I got in contact with some nigga Harmony was keeping time with in Houston, a nigga named Ramsey. But right before I got there, they were gone. The nigga she was staying with said he didn’t know where she went. But I didn’t believe him, so I had my men murder him and his girl. Some bitch name Marisol.

When I called Paco his phone rang one time before he answered. “Man, I’m sorry I’m not there. But you gotta get down here to Spring Grove. Your cousin Tony might not make it tonight.”

“He beat himself in the head with his hammer. The gash is so thick, he cracked his skull and punctured his brain. They don’t know if he gonna make it this time, man. I’m sorry.”

“I’m on my way,” I said hanging up. “Push it, Kevin!”

Black Hole

Madjesty

Madjesty hadn’t eaten any food or drank any water in two days. Her stomach growled often and her mouth was severely dry. What she didn’t know was that Harmony stayed so drunk, that she actually forgot she was under the stairs.

When Madjesty heard a constant rolling sound approaching the crawlspace she was in, she moved deeper into the hole frightened. But when the door opened, she saw Cherry in the wheelchair with a bowl of soup and green gelatin on a trey.

“Are you okay?” She asked peeking inside the darkness. The space was not big enough to stand up or to move around. And Madjesty didn’t move to the right, because she had defecated on that side. So the places she could move were limited. “Can you hear me, Madjesty? Are you okay?”

Madjesty not trusting her slowly said, “Yeah…I…I think so.” She then looked around from the inside, to see if her mother was there.

“Did you want to come out for a little while? Your mother is gone to the bar with Kali.”

Madjesty crawled out of the space and the bright lights hurt her eyes. She couldn’t believe that her mother went ahead with life like nothing mattered. After crawling out of the hole, Madjesty sat on the couch and devoured the hot soup and Jello. The smell from her body was sickening as Cherry held onto a cold glass of milk.

“Eat slowly, Madjesty, I don’t want you to hurt your stomach.” She smiled weakly. “When was the last time you ate?”

Food hung from the sides of her mouth as she said, “Two days.” Madjesty saw the sadness in her eyes and said, “How do you know my mother? I mean, why is she so mean?”

“Your mother grew up alone pretty much. She didn’t have a mother to tell her she loved her, or even a grandmother for that matter. When the streets raise you, it is what is is.”

“It is what it is?” Madjesty said evilly. She knew Cherry was not the one to take her frustrations out on but who else could she do it to at the time? “My mother locks me under her stairs and you tell me it is what it is?”

“I’m telling you that’s life. You need licenses for everything else in America, but how to be a parent.” She said. “She can’t love you because she don’t know how to love and she don’t love herself.”

When the silence was too uncomfortable, Cherry shifted around in her wheel chair a little. She hoped she didn’t make a mistake by bringing her the food. But unlike Kali and Harmony, who had suddenly been fucking nonstop for the past few days, she alone thought about Madjesty being trapped under the stairs.

“Here, drink this, too,” she said handing her a glass of milk.

Madjesty held the cup with two hands and downed all of the ice-cold milk. Some of it poured out the sides of her mouth, and damped her shirt. Her stomach rumbled and she figured milk was probably not the best idea after not having anything to drink for days.

“So now what?” Madjesty asked. She was becoming mean, cold and heartless the more she saw how life went on without her. “What’s your plan now?”

“My plan?”

“Yes. You fed me and now what?”

“Well, I haven’t spoken to your mother since I’ve been here. So I’m going to do it today. Hopefully I can talk some sense into her, but I can’t make any promises.”

“How do you talk some sense into someone who could care fucking less? Please let me know.”

“I know, Madjesty, and I understand why you’re upset. All I can say is that I’ll try.”

“Well that’s not good enough!” She yelled. “And where is my sister?”

“She left here a few days ago, with her new friend. She hasn’t been back since.”

“So she gave up on me, too, huh?” Madjesty thought out loud. “I really am in this shit alone.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yes you are,” Madjesty said more enraged now than ever. “But you never answered my question, how do you know my mother?”

Cherry was growing increasingly uncomfortable with how Madjesty looked at her and was starting to feel that she made a big mistake by opening the door. “We grew up around each other. I was only four years older than her, but the streets raised both of us. And, when I was high one day, I did something I should not have. I…I took you and your sister out of her womb, when you were just babies.”

“It was you?” Cherry nodded her head. “I always thought my mother was lying about that story.”

“She wasn’t.”

“And they let you out of prison?”

Although she was released, Cherry didn’t understand how Kali got out so quickly. There wasn’t any articles about him so she didn’t think he escaped.

“Yes. They let me out.”

“
The way I feel, I wish you would have killed me. It would be a whole lot better than staying here.”

“
Don’t say that, Madjesty. I’m fucked up because of the lifestyle I led. I won’t ever be able to walk again and I have Hepatitis…Which basically means my liver is almost fucked.” A tear fell down her face but Madjesty could give a fuck. “But when I see kids like you and your sister, who have a chance, I wanna tell them if I can. And I wanna say I’m sorry for what I did to you.”

Madjesty stood up, looked down at her and laughed. “Bitch, please. The only reason you helped me is so that you can rest easier at night.” Cherry moved a few times in her chair not knowing if Madjesty would hurt her or not. “If you allow that bitch to treat me like this, then you no better than she is. How can you be?”

“That’s not true. I do care about…”

“No one! You care about no one but your own self, GIMP!” She spat. “All of you are fucking crazy! And the moment I turn eighteen, and can take care of myself, I’m done with this shit. But ya’ll just betta hope I don’t kill a few of ya’ll on my way out the door.”

“Madjesty,” Cherry said in a soft voice, “please. I want you to understand. If I could do anything to help you I would, but I can’t. This is out of my hands.”

Madjesty wiped the anger off of her face, smirked and walked back to the crawlspace. “Thank you for the food. But personally, I hope all of ya’ll rot in hell.” Once inside she said, “Do yourself a favor, and forget about me like my mother.”

Cherry wheeled her chair up to the crawlspace and locked the door. But she thought long and hard about what Madjesty had to say…And she wondered what if there was anything she could do to help her.

Into Her Own

Jayden

Jayden was sleep in the Holiday Inn in Laurel, Maryland until she heard a knock at the door. She jumped up, looked out the window and saw Shaggy outside. Always sleeping naked, she grabbed the sheet off the bed, wrapped her body up and let him inside. When he walked in, she flopped back on the bed.

“Please tell me you’ve left out of this room at some point.” He said bringing in a McDonald’s bag filled with two hotcakes and sausage meals. He placed the bag on the dresser next to the bed and sat down. “I gotta know that you didn’t stay in here an entire week, Jayden.” When he saw the money he gave her for shopping still sitting on the dresser, in the exact same place he left it, he had his answer.

“I’m not hungry, Shaggy. I don’t want to do nothing but sleep and die.”

“Why would you say some shit like that?”

“Because it’s true.”

“Don’t wish nothin’ into your existence you not ready for.” He said seriously. “’Cause that shit most definitely can happen.”

“And how do you know I’m not ready to die?” She said crying as usual. “My sister is probably still in that hole even though it’s been almost a week. I’m scared to death for her and don’t know what to do. I feel all alone.”

“
You not alone.”

“
How you figure? You come by every two days which leaves me with nothing to do but think.”

“Look, I’m just tryin’ to help you get on your feet, but I ain’t never say we were together.”

“I know that,” she said. “You keep telling me the same thing over and over again. I know we not together, trust me. Can’t you have friends without it being anything else?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Exactly, so just because I say I want to see you, doesn’t mean I want to see you like that.”

“
That’s how you carry shit when I don’t call you back. I still gotta work, Jayden. This paper I be droppin’ on you don’t fall off trees.”

“
Then why do you help me? If I’m such a burden why bother?”

“
I hate when you ask me that shit. You need to toughen up and stop actin’ like a kid. I hate that shit about you.”

She hated the weakness part about her too. “Well answer the question? Why do you help me?”

“
I don’t know yet. But I can tell you this, you better get all you can out of this situation while it lasts.”

Silence.

“
Understand this, Shaggy, you don’t have to do any of this if you don’t want to. I’m not looking for a boyfriend or your money. Right now, all I give a fuck about is my sister.”

Shaggy thought about what she said and replied. “This is what we gonna do. We gonna take you shoppin’ for some new gear, and then I’ma have Olive go with you to get your hair and toes done. Definitely them toes because them things ripped up these sheets.” He laughed. “I can’t get down with girls with banged out feet.” He paused.

“
We only friends right?”

“
Right, and I don’t like my friend’s feet lookin’ fucked up either.”

“
Whatever,” she said hitting him playfully. She really was glad he was there because already he made her feel better.

“
Then I’ll take you by your mother’s house to check on your sister.”

She jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you soooo much! Thank you!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Jayden knocked on the door, she looked like a million bucks. The angels were with her because after being out on her own for only a week, she had already made a major come up. Secretly the life she fell into, was the life her mother always wanted.

Before she knocked on the door she could feel her heart racing and thought she was going to pass out. Her mother could be loud, confrontational and embarrassing and she wasn’t sure if she was tough enough to handle her, although she was desperately trying to. The problem was, she didn’t have a plan, but seeing Shaggy parked in the driveway waiting on her, made her feel slightly more confident.

So she swallowed, took a deep breath, exhaled and knocked on the door. Her mother opened it wide and Jayden was surprised to see her looking like a new woman. Not to mention the smell of alcohol on her breath was non-existent. Her hair was even combed and she was wearing the red dress Olive had given to her. That part fucked her up but there was no way in hell she wanted the dress back after her mother’s rotten pussy had been all in it.