Take My Hand (Interracial Erotic Romance) (6 page)

A girl does have needs, after all.

*

Gracie was buried under her comforter and enjoying a pleasant dream involving Tyler when her house phone began ringing off the hook.

“What the hell?” Slowly, Gracie pulled herself from her slumber and
shuffled to the phone in the living room. She glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand and saw it was only 8:30am. Who could be calling her this early? Few people had her home number and everyone who did knew she worked nights. She reached the phone and wiped the crust out of her eyes.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Gracie Johnson?” The voice was male and he was calling from a loud environment.

Gracie gasped. “Yes, who is this?”

“This is Nurse Engle at Manhattan Memorial Hospital. Your sister Tamika has overdosed and she’d currently in our care.”

*

“What are we going to do Lamar? She could have died this morning!”

Lamar shook his head. “I think it’s time we talked about long term, secure care. We need to get her off the streets, for as long as possible.”

The cousins were sitting in the cafeteria and sharing a bland turkey sandwich. Gracie had called Lamar in terror and he picked her up and drove her to the hospital. The ride over was solemn and silent. Upon arrival in the emergency room, the doctor on duty, Dr. Agricola had pulled them aside and informed them Tamika suffered a drug overdose due to
intravenous cocaine use. When Gracie had asked to see her, the doctor told her she was sleeping and it was best to let her rest. So Lamar and Gracie merely peeked their heads in her room to catch a glimpse of Tamika and then satisfied she was alive, headed to the cafe for coffee and some food.

“How are we supposed to get her off the streets?”
Gracie asked. “She doesn’t have insurance and you know we can’t afford private care.”

Lamar shook his head. “The city has to have publically funded drug rehab programs, no?”

Gracie shook her head. “They do, but the wait list is usually very long. Plus, from what I’ve read anyway, most addicts to go into county care programs don’t make it out sober. Those places are crawling with ex-convicts and supposedly it’s easier to get drugs in there than out on the street.”

Gracie had spent more time than she cared to remember scouring the
Internet for information on treating drug addiction. Most of what she had learned had terrified her. It seemed being an addict in the United States, well a poor one anyway, was one of the worse afflictions you could have. Private care cost too much to be of use to the average addict and public care was usually nothing more than pit-stop for the hardest of users and a place for the younger addicts to learn the tools of their trade. She knew the situation Tamika was indeed a dire one, but wanted to do her best to remain in good sprits for Lamar’s sake. And Tamika’s. Soon she would wake and the last thing Gracie wanted to do was make her feel even worse.

Lamar stood and drained his coffee. He looked down at Gracie and shrugged. “I’m out of answers, Cuz. C’mon let’s get back to the emergency room and see if Tamika has woken up yet.”

“Good idea.”

Gracie picked up the empty sandwich wrapper and coffee cup and handed it to Lamar. Together they walked towards the exit. Lamar placed the trash in the wastebasket and wrapped his arm around Gracie’s back.

“Don’t worry, Gracie. We will find a way to work through this. I promise you.”

Gracie wrapped her arm under Lamar’s and hugged him. “I hope so, Lamar. I really do.”

When they returned to the emergency room there was a nurse waiting for them outside Tamika’s door.

“Are you two family member of Tamika Johnson’s?”

Gracie nodded. “Yes, I am her sister and this is her cousin, Lamar. Is she okay?”

The nurse smiled and clutched a clipboard against her chest. “Yes, she’s fine. As a matter of fact, she was just waking up when I was in there.”

Gracie looked over the nurse’s shoulder and saw Tamika’s feet moving around at the end of the bed. It appeared she was still in the process of waking up.

“I need to go see my sister, please excuse me.” Gracie attempted to move past the nurse but the woman cut off her path.

“Can I have one second of your time before you do? We need to talk about what she’s going to do once she’s discharged.”

“And when will that be?” Lamar asked.

The nurse frowned. “Well, since Ms. Johnson doesn’t have insurance and her life is no longer in danger, we will have to discharge her within the next six hours or so. I’m sorry, but we need the bed.”

“And what exactly are we supposed to do with Tamika?” Gracie snapped. “Doesn’t the county have any detox beds?”

The nurse shook her head. “I’m sorry ma’am but the waiting list for a detox bed is by priority only and like I said, Ms. Johnson’s life is no longer in danger.”

“Oh, it isn’t?
" Gracie snarled. "What, you think she’s just going to stop using, all by herself? What’s wrong with this place? Don’t you people have any compassion?”

The staff behind the ER desk looked up and Lamar placed a hand on Gracie’s shoulder.

“Relax, Gracie. It’s not the nurse’s fault. Please, calm down before we go into the room.”

“I’m sorry for you folks and I hope everything works out,” the nurse said before walking away.

Gracie closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. “See what I mean, Lamar? What are we supposed to do? It’s us against the world.”

Lamar hugged her. “It will be ok, we will figure something out.” He hugged Gracie and whispered in her ear, “Now, pull yourself together and act strong for your sister.”

Gracie closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing. The last thing she wanted to do was upset Tamika. As pissed as she was at the girl, Gracie knew she was fortunate her sister was still alive and the last thing she wanted to do was make Tamika feel even worse than she already did.

*

“I’m sorry,” Tamika cried. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

Gracie wiped a tear from her face, bent over and hugged her sister. “You don’t have to apologize, baby. The important thing is your still alive.”

Tamika lay back on the hospital bed and sobbed. “At least Mama isn’t alive to see me like this. I don’t know what happened to me. I didn’t want to end up like this, one thing just led to another.”

Gracie gripped her
sister’s cold hand and smiled. “I know baby, I know. How you ended up here isn’t important right now though. We need to figure out a way to keep you clean.”

Tamika pulled the sheets up close to her mouth. “I’m afraid, Gracie. I don’t want to use anymore, but I don’t know how to stop.” Her eyes danced from Lamar back to Gracie.

Lamar stood in the corner with his arms folded and a stern look on his face. “When did you start using needles? Have you been sharing them with other people?”

Tamika shook her head. “No, tonight was the first time, I swear. John gave me a fresh needle for my shot, I saw him take it from the package.”

Lamar snarled. “Who is this John motherfucker? Some rich white boy?”

Tamika looked to Gracie for help but Gracie just looked down and shook her head. “He’s just some guy, Lamar, a friend. Please don’t hurt him.”

“Why are you defending these people?” Lamar barked. “Look at where your
friends
have led you. Is this the life you want to lead going forward? I can assure you if you continue down this path you will end up dead, and sooner rather than later.”

Tamika curled into a ball and began crying. Lamar looked at Gracie and shrugged. “Hey, she needs to hear the truth.”

Gracie shook her head. Lamar was usually so calm and collected but she’d seen this look in his eye before. It was obvious he wanted to punish those he felt were responsible for the condition Tamika was in. There were more important matters to deal with first, however. Namely, what were they going to do with Tamika?

“Lamar, would you please wait outside?” Gracie asked. “I need to talk to Tamika alone for a few minutes.” Gracie did indeed want to talk to Tamika, but she also wanted Lamar to calm down. All he could seem to think about was tracking down those responsible for Tamika’s current state. The only problem was, in Gracie’s estimation
anyway; the person responsible for Tamika’s current state was Tamika.

Lamar grunted and made his way towards the door. “I’ll be right out front if you need anything.”

Gracie nodded and looked down at her sister, who was peering up at her from underneath her blankets. “We need to talk about a few things, Tamika.”

“I don’t want to talk about anything,” Tamika cried. “I just want to stop doing this to myself, but I can’t stop! Please, help me Gracie, I don’t know what to do!”

Gracie leaned forward and kissed Tamika on the forehead. “Calm down, baby, calm down. We will figure something out.”

“Does the hospital have a detox wing? I’m so scared that I will use again, Gracie, I think I need to be kept off the streets.”

Gracie took a deep breath. She couldn’t think of a way to break the news to Tamika without scaring the shit out of her so she decided to be blunt. “There are no beds available in the detox wing and the hospital wants to discharge you within the next few hours.”

Tamika’s eyes widened. “Gracie, I can’t stop on my own, I just can’t. I need to be off the streets, for as long as it takes.”

“I know baby, I know. Lamar and I spoke with the nursing staff and they gave us some rehab options, but with all the cutbacks by the state there is a long waiting list.” Gracie left out the part of the conversation with the nursing staff. The conversation that centered around the fact that even if Tamika found a bed in a public drug rehab center, the places were crawling with the worst of the worst. Finding drugs in those places was apparently easier than scoring on the street. Vultures, everywhere.

Tamika frowned. “And we can’t afford private care, of course.”

“No, unfortunately we can’t. As a matter of fact, from what the nurses told me about the prices for quality private care, I’m not sure many people can.” When the nurse at the front desk had told Gracie how much it would cost to get Tamika quality treatment, she’d nearly fainted. Who could afford such astronomical prices? Weren’t these places built to help people? Or perhaps it was just rich people they were built for.

“So, where am I going to go?” Tamika asked. “Can I stay with you? I know you don’t have the space but I think Lamar is fed up with me.”

Gracie shook her head. “Lamar is just angry. You know as well as I that when push comes to shove, that man would lay down his life for us.”

“So am I going to stay with him? He’s never home Gracie, I’ll be by myself all the time. I’m scared.”

Gracie took her sister’s hand in hers. “I’ll be there with you. I’m going to move in with Lamar and share his spare bedroom with you.”

A puzzled look spread across Tamika’s face. “But what about your job? Your poetry? You’re even busier than Lamar is.”

“I’m going to quit my job, Tamika. And I’m going to put my poetry on hold, for now at least. We need to focus on what’s important.”

Tamika shook her head. “No Gracie, I can’t do that to you. I don’t want you to give up on your dream just to babysit me.”

“This isn’t up for debate, Tamika. If you feel bad about me putting my life on hold for you, then focus all your attention on getting better. As long as you get clean, and more importantly stay clean, then it will all be worth it. Plus, I will have all the time in the world to work on my poetry, so don’t you worry.”

Tamika cracked a smile. “I love you so much Gracie. And I’m sorry for putting you through all of this, I really am.”

Gracie patted her sister on the head. “I love you too, Tamika, and so does Lamar. Everything is going to be ok.”

At least Gracie hoped it would be.

*

Gracie entered her apartment armed with a moving box. She still had a few weeks left before she had to be out of the place but she needed a few essentials in the meantime. For the past three days she’d been wearing Lamar’s old college sweats and wearing cheap underwear she’d picked up at a CVS near Lamar’s place. Now that Tamika was settled into Lamar’s place, however, Gracie wanted to get her own grooming products and her usual undergarments.

The past few days had been rough on all three of them. Tamika was depressed, Lamar was still edgy and Gracie was mourning the loss of her job. She’d called Patty at Steak Exchange and informed her of her current predicament. Patty was gracious and told Gracie she was disappointed to lose her and that when Gracie was ready to work again she could call back and see if their were any openings available. Gracie thanked her for the kind words and told her she would indeed call back, once Tamika was safely back on her feet, whenever that was.