Dante waited as Dr. Adair rushed back behind the swinging double doors. He then walked over toward the elevator. He pressed the DOWN button, watching as the lights for each floor lit up. Dante then thought more strategically: the elevator would be a bad choice right now. With his luck, the metal doors would open and he would be looking into the eyes of a police officer.
Before the elevator arrived to this floor, Dante turned around and looked for the doorway to the staircase. It was just to the side of the elevator doors. Quickly, Dante rushed into the stairwell and headed down the stairs. The sound of the door slamming behind him echoed in the concrete corridor. Dante, not having walked down so many flights of steps in years, rushed down the few levels until he came to the ground floor. Just as he was opening the door, he saw police officers walking through the emergency room doors. Realizing that some of Edric’s blood was on his hands and clothes, he knew that there was no way he’d be able to walk by the officers without raising some red flags. He ducked back into the stairwell and waited a few moments. Once he peeked out into the hospital hallway and saw that the officers had gotten onto the elevator, he rushed past the receptionist desk of the E.R. and out into the parking lot.
“It’s on now,” Dante said, to himself. “That nigga is a dead man walking... and his little bitch too.”
Dante climbed back into his minivan and turned the engine over. As he pulled out of the hospital parking lot, he dug his phone out of his pocket and called Trell. “Yeah?” Trell answered.
“Nigga, you ain’t get my text?” Dante asked. “Your uncle got stabbed. Head over to the house right now. I’m on my way. Get there quick.”
Dante hung up and tossed his phone onto the passenger seat. He leaned back as he drove back into the south side, his nostrils flared. The rules of the game had changed.
CHAPTER 3
Still on edge, Gracelyn let herself into her and Nikki’s apartment after working a shift at Kroger’s. Her plan was to take a shower and change into some clothes before heading over to visit with some family. The first night after Nikki’s kidnapping, she’d gone to her cousin’s house to spend the night. Once she’d gotten the call from the apartment complex that the door had been fixed, she came back home only to find that she didn’t feel totally comfortable yet. Furthermore, she was worried to death about what had happened to Nikki. Feelings of guilt had come over her for not coming out and doing something. Then again, if she had come out of her bedroom that night, she could have been a victim like Nikki or, worse, shot dead.
Gracelyn closed the door and headed toward the bedroom hallway. There, she was scared upon seeing out of the corner of her eye that Nikki was sitting on her bed. With wide eyes, not having realized that anyone was in the apartment, she rushed into the bedroom. “Nikki!” she screamed, wrapping her arms around her body. She then backed away and looked Nikki up and down. “What happened, girl? Oh my God! What happened to you?”
Nikki, who had been sitting on her bed in thought as she allowed her body to thaw, looked at Gracelyn with somber eyes. “Girl, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she said, shaking her head. “I swear, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Tell me, Nikki,” Gracelyn said, sitting down on the bed next to Nikki. “Tell me, girl. I’m so sorry for what I said and for not coming out to help.” She patted her own thighs nervously. “I swear, I’m so sorry. It’s my fault. I coulda came out and helped you or did somethin’. I was just so scared and stuff.” Gracelyn put her hand over her mouth. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.”
“Naw, naw,” Nikki said. “Don’t be.”
“Girl, do you need to go to the hospital?” Gracelyn asked. “When did you get here? When did you get home? Your mama is so worried about you.”
“I bet she is,” Nikki said. “I tried to call her earlier at this gas station, but,” she sniffled, “I couldn’t remember her number. I just couldn’t remember it.”
“Okay,” Gracelyn said, knowing that she needed to stay calm for Nikki’s sake. “Tell me, what happened? What the fuck happened?”
“Girl, they busted in, like you know,” Nikki explained, “and just took me out to this van. They took me to this house and shit, somewhere over off of Sacramento is all I saw ‘cause it was so dark and I was so scared. After that, they took me to this store over by Wayne’s house.”
“Wayne’s house?” Gracelyn asked. “You mean the nigga whose house you was over on Friday night? And who is they? Who is you caught up with that they would be kidnappin’ you? Sorry girl, go on.”
Nikki continued. “These niggas that Breon is mixed up with,” she said. “Girl, I swear, I shoulda listened to you. You was so right. When them niggas had me hiding them guns for them, whoever they was hiding them for or from musta been watching or something, I don’t know, ‘cause they the ones who came in and took me. They thought that I was Breon’s chick.”
“Breon’s chick?” Gracelyn asked, shocked. She stood up and put her hand on her hip. “They really thought that you was his chick?”
“Hmm, hmm,” Nikki said, nodding her head. “I told them I wasn’t. I was like I just messed around with him a couple times and stuff, so then they was callin’ me the side chick.”
“Shit, if that,” Gracelyn said. “I mean, it wasn’t like you was fuckin’ around with him for months and stuff.”
“I know,” Nikki said. “I don’t know what I was thinkin’. I felt so stupid. Them niggas kept me at this old house that looked like it ain’t been lived in. I got knocked out and I guess I hit my head when I fell. All I know is that I woke up on the bed the next morning with a fuckin’ bruise on my head. They made me open my phone and call Breon and stuff and…” Nikki’s nostrils flared as she couldn’t get the bad taste out of her mouth. “And the stuff I heard that nigga Breon say about me I will never forget until the fuckin’ day I die.”
“Girl, what he say?” Gracelyn asked. “And why that nigga ain’t come get you? You told me that you called him or whatever, but why the fuck he ain’t come get you?”
Nikki looked at Gracelyn as if she’d just asked a question that had opened a can of worms. “Girl, I’m so mad about that shit,” she said. “I don’t remember what I told you or what, but when they took my phone and called him, he was basically like I was just somethin’ to fuck and stuff and that he wasn’t gonna get out of bed or whatever because his chick might notice him leave and shit.” She shook her head. “Basically.”
“He wouldn’t get out of bed because his chick might notice him gone?” Gracelyn asked in disbelief. “Girl, you cannot be serious. I mean, based on what you tellin’ me, it sound like he the reason that you was caught up in that shit.”
“What the fuck you mean sound like?” Nikki asked. Her lips then got tighter. “Girl, he was the fuckin’ reason that I got caught up in that shit. That shit was fuckin’ horrible. They even pushed me down some steps when we was goin’ down the steps in the basement at that store. They even killed somebody.”
“No!” Gracelyn said, putting her hand over her head. “Who they kill? Did they kill someone right in front of you?”
Nikki took a moment to imagine the store worker behind the counter. She especially remembered the way his limp legs stuck out on the side. Seeing that was part of what motivated her to find a way to get out of there, or else she could have been lying in that building as well. “No, not in front of me,” Nikki explained. “He was just dead when we got there… The worker or owner dude behind the counter.”
“Damn,” Gracelyn said. “What kind of niggas is he mixed up with?”
“I don’t know who these niggas are,” Nikki said. “I swear to you and on everything that I love that I told these niggas, or was try’na tell them, that I was just some chick he messed around it. I feel so stupid for lettin’ him put them guns over here. Girl, I should be apologizing to you ‘cause you coulda got caught up in that shit too. That’s what’s so messed up about this shit.”
“Girl, don’t think like that,�
� Gracelyn said. “Just don’t. That nigga knew exactly what he was doin’ and shit, I probably woulda did some shit like that too if he was dickin’ me down.” Gracelyn grabbed Nikki’s shoulder, trying to get her to stand up. “Come on, Nikki. You know that you need to get your black ass to a hospital and shit. What if you got some bones broken or something like that?”
“Naw, Gracelyn,” Nikki said, shaking her head. “I don’t. I could walk and stuff just fine. My head kinda throb sometime, especially when I’m out in the cold. I looked at myself in the mirror when I came in the bedroom just like a hour ago and I got a couple scratches, but I went ahead and put some alcohol on them with a cotton ball. I was fumin’; I was so damn pissed off when I was puttin’ them on my scratches and stuff. That nigga Breon really had me fooled.”
“And he let you go through all that when he coulda stopped it but he ain’t want to because his chick might notice that he’s gone?” Gracelyn asked. “I swear, that’s some fuckin’ bullshit. Niggas ain’t shit out here. I’d wanna fuck a nigga up for sayin’ somethin’ like that and he the damn reason that I got in this. You betta than me.”
“Awe naw, Gracelyn,” Nikki said. “He gon’ pay. I been sittin’ here, in silence and shit after gettin’ the lady over in the office to let me in here and stuff. I been thinkin’. The more I think, the more pissed off I get.”
“I know, Nikki,” Gracelyn said, sitting back down. “But don’t think too much about it ‘cause you’ll just make yourself even sicker.”
Nikki, feeling her blood boil with anger, glanced away and reflected. Staring down at light beige carpet she said, “That nigga had me out in the streets beggin’ like some simple ass bitch and shit, which you know I’m not. I had to fuckin’ stab a man.”
“What?” Gracelyn said, jumping up again. “You stabbed a nigga, Nikki?”
Nikki wondered for a moment if she should tell her friend. At this point, however, she knew she had nothing to lose. “Yep,” Nikki said. “I fuckin’ had to. I let that nigga think he was actually about to have me suckin’ on his dick and stuff and he sat right on up in that chair and pulled his stinky dick out of his pants. When he had went upstairs earlier to get me some food, I found this letter opener. Soon as that nigga put his head back like he was just so ready for some head,” she smirked and shook her head, “I put the end right in his stomach. That nigga ain’t even see it comin’. Girl, you shoulda seen the look on the nigga’s face. When I left that building and shit, all I remember seein’ down in that basement was him layin’ on the ground. For all I know, the nigga might be dead now,” she shrugged, “but betta him than me, you know?”
“Girl, Nikki,” Gracelyn said, “I don’t know what they said to you or whatever, but I really think you need to call the police.”
“Oh, I want to,” Nikki said, “but I thought about it, especially when I had to use the phone at that fuckin’ gas station on Halstead....the one that I think we be seein’ on the news every once in a while, and this was after this bus driver called me a fuckin’ crackhead and stuff and I got put off the bus. I couldn’t remember my mama’s number, so this dude took me here. This nice nigga…the kinda nigga that I should be try’na be with. But then I’mma get in trouble, you know.”
“Yeah,” Gracelyn said, connecting the dots, “’cause then they gon’ figure out that you was storin’ illegal guns or somethin’. And for all we know, them guns could have bodies on them or somethin’, like I said. Yeah, I wouldn’t tell the police either. You know they ain’t gon’ feel no type of sympathy for your black ass. Shit, even with you bein’ kidnapped and stuff like that, held against your will and pushed down steps and all that, they still gon’ find a way to put you behind bars for somethin’ you ain’t even do.”
“I know,” Nikki said, shaking her head. “That’s the fucked up thing is that I can’t call the police.”
“So, what you gon’ do?” Gracelyn asked. “I mean, you think that they gon’ come back over here once whoever get back and see that you gone. You said it was more than one nigga but you killed, or just stabbed, only the one nigga in the basement, right?”
“Exactly,” Nikki said. “That’s the shit I was thinkin’ about when that dude brought me back over here. I don’t want my name caught up in that shit, but whoever them niggas is are really gon’ be lookin’ for me, probably. And the ring leader dude, the Dante nigga that actually got that real beef with Breon, is probably the kinda nigga to feel shitty and scared. I made him think that I was gon’ help him get Breon, but, girl, you know I wasn’t gon’ be they puppet. Fuck them getting Breon.” She took a moment to feel the grief run through her soul. “I need to catch up with that nigga first. Where you been stayin’, girl? Gracelyn, I know you ain’t been stayin’ here. I know I wouldn’t.”
“Oh, no,” Gracelyn said. “I actually stayed at my cousin house. Girl, you need to call your mama ‘cause she was working with the police. I was at work, but I think they even put you on the news.”
Nikki’s heart skipped a beat. “On the news?” she asked. “Girl, is you for real?”
“Yeah,” Gracelyn said. “Your mama called me and stuff and the police is lookin’ for you and everything.”
“Damn,” Nikki said. “What am I gon’ tell them?”
“Girl, you betta come up with your story,” Gracelyn said. “And come up with somethin’ that don’t connect you to them niggas.”
“That’s the thing,” Nikki said. “I don’t know what I can say, because I gotta have a reason that they kidnapped me or would even know me. And shit, at this point, I don’t even know if I wanna connect my name to that nigga Breon. Whoever he hooked up with ain’t playin’ and will do whatever the fuck they feel like and wanna do to just get to that nigga ‘cause this was fuckin’ crazy if you think about the fact that I ain’t even been knowin’ that nigga again since high school for like more than one week or something. Girl, they really thought that I was his for real side chick. Askin’ me questions about this and that, and I’m like who the fuck is that and what the fuck is that?”
“Right,” Gracelyn said, “I mean, on the real, all you really knew was his dick.”
“Gracelyn, girl,” Nikki said, shaking her head and trying to not smile. “Why you have to say it like that?”
Gracelyn and Nikki continued talking for a few minutes more before Gracelyn asked Nikki what she wanted to do. Nikki took a few minutes to think about it before deciding that she’d go talk to her mother, so at least her mother didn’t have to worry. Even though she and her mother were often on different pages when it came to life, Nikki wouldn’t want to put her mom through the grief she must be feeling.
Just as Gracelyn had walked out into the hallway to go take her Kroger uniform off and shower, there was a knock at the door. She immediately turned around and looked into Nikki’s bedroom. Softly, Nikki walked over to the door.
“Who is that?” Nikki asked, trying to keep herself from shaking.
The two of them looked toward the living room, taking a moment to stand there and think. When they looked at one another again, Gracelyn whispered that she’d go look. Nikki backed into her bedroom as she waited for Gracelyn to come back.
“Girl, it’s that detective that was over here the other night when you was taken,” Gracelyn said. “What you wanna do?”
“Girl, just come up with something,” Nikki said. “Tell them that I ain’t here.”
“Okay,” Gracelyn said. She then turned toward the living room and announced in her polite voice. “Here I come!” She turned back and looked at Nikki. “Girl, go hide in my bedroom since they might come up with some reason to look in yours.”
“Okay,” Nikki said.
Nikki rushed down the hallway and hurried into Gracelyn’s bedroom. There, she lay on the floor between the bed and the wall on the opposite side of the wall. She had even tried to scoot under the bed a little bit, but her thickness wouldn’t allow her to do so. Gracelyn stood at the front door then opened it, appearing to be in a
rush.
“Sorry,” Gracelyn said, looking into the detective’s eyes. “I was just gettin’ home from work and I was about to take my clothes off and get in the shower.”
Detective Cavanaugh, which many would describe as stern yet efficient, was a 40-year old woman from Providence, Rhode Island, and was known for her New England accent. She was also pretty, as her family had roots in Italy and Greece. Crinkly, thick brown hair lay down to the sides of her head and over her shoulders.
“Sorry to bother you, Ms. Gracelyn,” the detective said, smiling. “We just got a call that Nikki had returned. She was let in by the woman who works in the office at the front of the complex?”
“Really?” Gracelyn asked, sounding surprised. “I just got here like, maybe, twenty minutes ago and I ain’t seen her.”
“Do you mind if I come in for a moment?” Cavanaugh asked.
Gracelyn could see no reason to say no, so she stepped out of the way and allowed the detective to step inside. “When was she sayin’ that she was here?”
“Well, dispatch got a call that she looked as if she’d been roughed up a bit,” Cavanaugh said. “Long story short, the department found out that it was her and she is still considered missing, as you know.”
“Yeah,” Gracelyn said, putting her hand over her mouth. “Have y’all found out anything yet?”
The detective looked at Gracelyn with a little suspicion. “Yes and no,” she said. “We’ve tracked her phone, but the signal is kind of weak. We know the area she is on, or was in, at least, but we still have the police out on the streets looking for her.”
“I see,” Gracelyn said. “I mean, so y’all sayin’ that she was here?”
Cavanaugh nodded and looked toward the bedroom hallway. “Yes, Miss Gracelyn,” she said. “And, therefore, I’ve come to investigate and see if we can talk to her.”
“She must’ve left before I got here,” Gracelyn said. “But, then again, when I pulled up outside when I got here, her car was still here.”
Wrath of a Side Chick 4 (Side Chick's Wrath) Page 3
