Single Ladies 7 & 8: " That's What Friends Are For" (3 page)

“Hey ladies. If you’re looking for Lisa, she’s…”

“Boy if you don’t move out the way,” Falisha said, pushing right by Ralphy.

“We just got off the phone with her,” Tammy smiled, smacking Ralphy in his gut with the back of her hand, as she too brushed by him.

Ralphy’s shoulder hurt too much to even play around with the girls. Besides, Falisha was already at the top of the steps before Ralphy got the front door shut.

“Hey bitch!” Falisha yelled out playfully when she walked into Lisa’s bedroom.

“Hey crazy,” Lisa responded, giving Falisha a kiss on her cheek. “I thought you and Tammy was going shopping?”

“We were,” Tammy cut in as she entered the room. “We just came to chill out wit you for a minute,” she said, leaning in to give Lisa a soft hug and a kiss.

Lisa reached over and grabbed the joint that was sitting in the ashtray. She wasn’t too big on taking pain killers, or any kind of pill for that matter, so she turned to Ms. D’s remedy, which was the cannabis.

“Oh, you gangsta. You got shot and you smokin’ weed now,” Tammy said, sitting on the bed next to Lisa.

Lisa took two pulls then tried to pass it to Falisha. “Nah I’m good,” Falisha said, waiving the smoke from in front of her face.

Lisa put an eyebrow up at her, then looked over at Tammy who looked off, trying her best not to blurt out Falisha’s business. It only made Lisa even more curious.

“What’s wrong with you?” Lisa asked, taking another puff of the weed before putting it back in the ashtray.

Falisha took a seat on the bed on the other side of Lisa. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to let the whole world know that she was with child, but after considering the fact that she was going to keep it, it wasn’t going to do any harm letting her girls know. She only wanted to keep the news away from Lamar.

“Girl, I’m pregnant,” Falisha announced to her, shocking the hell out of Lisa.

“Pregnant? Who in da hell is crazy enough to knock you up?” Lisa chuckled through the pain in her stomach.

“It’s by Lamar, but please don’t say anything …”

Falisha got quiet when she heard Ralphy coming down the hallway. He had Lisa’s baked Tilapia fish and sautéed vegetables on a tray, along with some apple juice and Patron. He also brought fresh bandages for Lisa’s wound. He had Lisa covered.

“A’ight, we ain’t gonna interrupt y’all little family time,” Falisha said, jumping up from the bed, not wanting Ralphy to hear anything about her pregnancy. “You want something from the mall while we’re out?” she asked.

Lisa shook her head, still smiling from the news. She got her hugs and kisses and watched as Falisha and Tammy made their speedy exit. If it wasn’t for Ralphy standing there looking handsome as he wanted to, Lisa would have gotten some more of the juicy gossip she’d missed out on while she was laid up in the hospital.

__________

Johanne walked out of the supermarket with two bags of groceries in her arms. When she got to the car and put the bags in the back seat, she pulled out her phone to call Ralphy and see if he’d be coming home for dinner tonight. He hadn’t been there for a few days, but Johanne was optimistic about tonight, because he gave her his word that he would.

“Yo shawty,” a deep voice said from behind while Johanne was leaning up against the driver side door.

She looked back and saw a young black guy, leaning against the passenger side door, looking right at her. He was rough looking too. He was black as motor oil with two missing teeth in the front and a scruffy beard to match the nappy hair he had on his head. Before she could say anything, another rough looking man walked up to her from the side. He was a little more clean cut, but the scar running down the center of his eye made it look like he’d been through some things in the streets. Johanne looked around to see if anybody else was coming out of the woodwork.

“Where’s ya lil boyfriend at?” the man that walked up from the side asked. “Think about it,” he warned, lifting his shirt up slightly so Johanne could see the butt of his gun.

“Hello! Hello!” Ralphy yelled into the phone.

Johanne forgot that she had dialed Ralphy’s number and still had the phone to her ear the whole time. She thought about dropping the phone and running across the parking lot, but decided against it, not wanting to risk being shot in the back. So Ralphy could hear what was going on, Johanne let the call run, but took the phone away from her ear.

“I don’t know where Ralphy’s at. I haven’t seen him in a few days. Please don’t hurt me,” Johanne pled.

“You think it’s a fuckin game. Bitch I’ll blow ya fuckin head off,” the man said, pulling his gun from his waist and resting it on the side of his thigh.

“I swear, I don’t know where he’s at,” she cried, looking around to see if somebody would notice she was in danger and come to her aid.

Where she was parked at, nobody could see what was going on. Ralphy sat there listening to the whole confrontation, wishing he could jump through the phone and start blasting. All he could do was sit and listen, and hope that they would let her go.

“Next time you see ya boyfriend, give him this message for me.’

“Please, I’m pregnant,” Johanne yelled.

The gunman let off a single shot, hitting Johanne in her shin. She fell to the ground, dropping the phone and her car keys in the process. She held on to her leg, yelling out in pain as the gunmen walked over and stood over top of her. She knew for sure that this was it, and in what she knew was her last moments on earth, she called out the only name she could think of, “RALPHY!”

The phone went dead before Ralphy could yell back into the phone.

Lisa looked over at him standing by the bedroom window with a distraught look on his face. She knew that something was wrong and wanted to ask him what it was, but by the time Lisa finished swallowing her food to clear her mouth out, Ralphy was headed out of the room, only saying that he’d be back in a couple of hours.

__________

Lamar pulled up to the block, only to see Ralphy’s Range Rover driving down the street. He beeped his horn at him a couple of times, but Ralphy kept moving. Lamar wanted to get the opinion of a once married man, to see if the whole husband and wife thing was as good as some people say. When he got in the house, Kim was lying down in the bed, balled up under the sheets. She wasn’t exactly asleep, but was more day dreaming about how her life would have changed if she had kept the baby.

“What? You got off work early today?” Lamar said, diving into the bed next to her.

“Yeah, I took off a half day. I’m not feeling good,” Kim said, closing her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at Lamar.

“Awwwweeee! My baby sick right now,” Lamar said, in a playful manner, leaning over and kissing her. “You know, I been thinking about a lot of stuff as of late and I wanted to run a few things by you to get your take,” he said, reaching into his back pocket and grabbing the small suede box containing the ring he’d just bought.

“Not right now, babe. My period is on, and I don’t feel like doing anything but lying here and going to sleep,” Kim said, turning over and giving Lamar her back.

Lamar could see that now it probably wasn’t the best time for him to pop the question. It was frustrating, because he’d waited all day and rehearsed his words a thousand times, hoping that they would come out the way that he’d planned. Now that he was lying beside her, the mood was the only thing that wasn’t right, and instead of trying to force the issue, Lamar placed the little suede box back into his pocket, scooted up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. They both eventually fell asleep without saying another word.

“Mommy, Mommy, whose
house is this?” little Anthony asked as he got out of the car.

“Why do you have to ask so many questions, Anthony?” Tammy said, as she unstrapped Sinniyyah from her car seat.

“I wanna know who’s house it is. Mommy,” Anthony continued, looking around at the unfamiliar area.

It was a far cry from where he was used to living. It had to be about twenty kids out on the street, riding their bikes and running up and down the sidewalk. Anthony had never seen this many white kids in one place before, although there were a few black children amongst the crowd. This definitely was something new for him.

Darious, who was in the garage with the door up, walked out to the driveway, surprised that Tammy had the kids with her. She walked up to him with Sinniyyah in her arms, waiting to see what he was going to say.

“Are you sure?” Darious asked, wondering if she was ready to bring her kids into his life.

“Mmmm-hmmmm,” she nodded, leaning in to kiss him.

This was a big step for their relationship, but Tammy felt comfortable enough to have Darious around her kids on a more permanent note, plus she was tired of always having to find a babysitter in order to spend some quality time with her man. Tammy felt that if they were going to be together, then Darious might as well get to know the kids. He’d only seen them a couple of times, and that was due to Tammy trying to give Chris some respect by not having his kids around another man. That way of thinking had run its course, and it came by way of the fact that Darious wasn’t just another man, he was Tammy’s man and the person she planned to spend the rest of her life with. Darious being a part of her kid’s life was inevitable, and that was something Chris was going to have to learn how to respect.

__________

When Ralphy pulled up to the block, Scoop was in the cut, sitting on some steps a nice distance away from the heavy dope-fiend traffic heading for the workers. The moment Scoop saw Ralphy pull up, he removed the gun from his waist and set it on his lap. He wasn’t sure what type of shit Ralphy was on, or if he’d put it together that he had something to do with the shooting at the dentist office, but just to be on the safe-side, Scoop had his gun at the ready.

“What it do, big homie,” Scoop greeted, extending his fist for some dap, which Ralphy returned.

“Yo, I think we might have to go to war with these niggas on the West Side,” Ralphy said, easing his arm out of the sling.

“War? Niggas don’t go to war like that anymore,” Scoop chuckled. “Especially when the beef is personal. And what makes you think it was the niggas from the Wet Side?” Scoop asked, trying to see where Ralphy had come up with that idea.

“Man, it had to be. Them niggas came for blood not money. I don’t know how, but I got a feeling Dre’s people know I had something to do with his death.”

Ralphy didn’t sound all that sure,
which made Scoop feel like he was in the clear.

“Yo, my nigga, you ain’t been out here in a while, and I tried to warn you.”

“Warn me about what?” Ralphy shot back with a little attitude behind it.

“This street life ain’t you anymore. You’re a family man now, and that’s where you belong. Shit gets ugly out here if you’re not careful,” Scoop told him.

Ralphy was a little shocked by what Scoop had said. It was as if he didn’t have any respect for Ralphy’s G card anymore. The more Ralphy sat there and thought about it, it also sounded like Scoop didn’t want him out there on the streets at all. It wasn’t what he said, it was how Scoop said it that caught Ralphy’s attention.

“So you’re gon’ put dis work in wit me or what?” Ralphy asked, but only to check Scoop’s temperature on the matter.

“Homie, I really don’t got the time for war. I’m trying to make some money right now,” Scoop said, turning his head away to look down the street.

“Just let that shit die down before you get yaself killed,” Scoop said, before getting up from the steps and walking off down the streets toward his workers.

Ralphy knew right then and there that Scoop was no longer on his side. He didn’t know if or to what extent Scoop had something to with the shooting, but if it came out that he did, Ralphy wasn’t going to hesitate in putting a bullet through his head, so called friend or not.

__________

Just about every Sunday, Ms. D had a dinner, and it was a guarantee that everybody would show up. She fried chicken breast, fish and a few other seafood creatures like shrimp and crab cakes. Mash potatoes with gravy, macaroni and cheese, greens, corn, and white rice were also on the menu. Her house smelled like a soul food restaurant, and in the midst of the great smell, the aroma of her specially made apple pie blended in the air. Mrs. D could cook her ass off.

“All right, somebody clear this table off,” Mrs. D yelled out from the kitchen.

Lamar wasn’t getting up from in front of the TV and nor was Ralphy. The football game had them locked in, so it was up to the females to get the job done. Lisa couldn’t do much of nothing with her wound, and Falisha was upstairs in Mrs. D’s bedroom talking on the phone. Tammy and Kim were left to take care of the dinner table.

“Are you okay?” Tammy asked, seeing the blank look on Kim’s face as she sat at the table.

Unlike many women, Kim still had the abortion on her mind, and she wanted to tell Lamar what happened so bad. She just didn’t know how he was going to react to it. She loved him, and didn’t want to risk losing him. At the same time, she didn’t like hiding things and keeping secrets from him. It just felt wrong all the way around the board.

Mrs. D finally got everybody to the dinner table. Little Anthony, Sinniyyah and Naomi all sat at the kitchen table, with Mrs. D going back and forth to check up on them. As soon as everyone was seated, Falisha said grace.

“Heavenly Father, thank you for this food you have provided for us, and thank you for allowing friends to come together and enjoy this meal. God, I ask that you protect us from the evil plot of the devil, and to make us all strong enough to move on. God knows that strength is what we’re gonna need. And please protect us from these wolves in sheep’s clothing. In the name of Jesus. Amen!”

Lamar looked up at Falisha knowing that after that sarcastic prayer ,there was more to follow, and nine times out of ten, it wasn’t going to be good at all.

Mrs. D even gave her a look as if to say, “Don’t start ya shit.”