Donnie stared silently at the wipers removing the falling snow like she had something on her mind. “Pumpkin, are you really sure it was him?” she asked sounding desperate.
“As sure as government cheese is hard.” Pumpkin said. Donnie sighed and Pumpkin rubbed her friend’s shoulder. “I’m sorry sis, but it’s better you found this out now before you became too emotionally involved.”
“Too late for that.” Donnie frowned.
“Look, I know you’re upset but you’ve got to be strong. And above all don’t let him sweet-talk you. Because trust me he’ll try to give you some bogus ass reason for his skeezing. They all do-Oh here he comes. Now Donnie remember, Do-not-let-him-sweet-talk-you!” Pumpkin advised squeezing her hand.
“Okay, Okay!” Donnie said vexed with her friend’s advice. She got out her car and came over to Tommy. He had changed out of his wet shirt into a warm turtleneck and long green overcoat. When he leaned in to kiss Donnie she backed away.
“So what’s going on baby? Why are we standing out here in the snow? And why’d you bring Anita the beast with you?” Tommy asked pretending that he did not just get dissed trying to steal a kiss.
“She’s here for moral support.” Donnie said straight-faced.
“I’m confused. Why would you need moral support from her, when according to you she was the one having problems in her relationship?”
Donnie sucked her teeth at the irony of his question then inhaled deeply and exhaled, “Refresh my memory Tommy, where’d you go when you left my house late last night?” she asked in complete earnestness.
“Last night?” he repeated wide-eyed.
Donnie folded her arms across her chest and cocked her head. “It’s not a difficult question. Where did you go after you left my place? And more importantly, whom did you go see?”
Tommy realized she knew where he was and blew steam, then placed his hands on Donnie’s shoulders. “Now baby before you start jumping to conclusions, let me explain-”
Donnie snatched back like he was burning to the touch. “Explain? You don’t have to explain I already know! After you left me you went to be with another woman! Now I see why you didn’t want me to come with you.”
“No it’s not like that. The woman I was with was my ex-wife,”
“It gets better.”
“No it’s not like that-” Tommy paused and lowered his voice speaking almost in a whisper so Pumpkin who was all ears could not hear. “For the past week or so I’ve been followed around town by somebody in a black Mercedes with tinted windows. I don’t know who it is. All I know is whenever I look over my shoulder there’s this damn car! Close enough to be threatening, yet far enough that I cannot see who’s behind the wheel. It could be out here right now. Watching in the shadows.” Donnie folded her arms across her chest and twisted her lips like she was not buying it. “Look at my eyes. I got this a couple of hours ago from some other unrelated beef. That’s why I left last night. I didn’t want to bring this type of shit to your doorstep. Trust me I never wanted to leave you. I swear it.”
“Trust you? You lied about where you were going. And why didn’t you tell me about this Mercedes before? And how does your ex-wife fit into all of this?”
“I didn’t tell you because I don’t have all the facts yet. Not even a driver behind the wheel. Just a car.”
“And your ex?” Donnie repeated.
“On the way home, I saw Nicky heading into this little dive. I went in to check on her because it’s a rough neighborhood.”
“How convenient!”
“Nothing happened I swear-wait a second. How’d you even know where I-” Tommy spun at Donnie’s car and his eyes went dark. “YOU!” He growled.
Pumpkin’s eyes bugged out as Tommy angrily stormed her way. “Oh shit!” she screamed then quickly locked the doors. Not that he would have actually used his guns. But he was glad he left them upstairs.
“Fucking instigator! What’d you tell her?” Tommy demanded.
“The fucking truth!” Pumpkin yelled back.
“What do you know about the truth? You lie so damn much you could uncork a bottle of wine with that tongue of yours!”
“Whatever Tommy! Your problem is that you fail to recognize that my home girl Donnie is an educated black woman! She ain’t stupid!” Pumpkin boldly shouted back safely behind locked doors and raised windows.
“I don’t need you to tell me that!” Tommy based.
“Look at you perpetrating the fraud. You talk about me but you can’t even keep your own lies straight!” Pumpkin snapped with a head roll.
Tommy turned to Donnie. “C’mon baby she doesn’t want to see us together. Think about it, she wants you to be alone. Bitter and miserable just like her!”
Pumpkin gasped. “So Tommy is you saying that it wasn’t you I saw last night outside of The Future, arguing with some Pocahontas looking girl?” Donnie turned to Tommy hoping he would say something to vindicate himself. But his normal jovial manner turned quiet. “This ain’t Jeopardy. Answer the question!” Pumpkin snapped spitefully. Tommy could have strangled Pumpkin until her eyes popped out their sockets but instead let out his frustration by roaring to the top of his lungs and slamming his hands down on the roof of Donnie’s car. “You see this mess here Donnie? Do you need another Sam? An emotional violent liar in your life? Instead of beating up on your car he should’a beat up whoever it was that gave him that eye-jammie!”
“Would the both of you just chill-out for a second! God, I’m getting a damn migraine!” Donnie stressed, massaging her temples. “Tommy would you come here please.”
Tommy came back over and met the hurt gaze of his beloved. Unsure of what to say he raised both eyebrows, which then seemed to fall under their own weight with a sigh. “I feel like the guy in the movies who has to cut either the red or the blue wire on the bomb,” he smiled attempting to lighten the mood.
“Why don’t you cut the crap wire,” Donnie snapped.
“Ouch,” Tommy flinched.
“So it’s true?” she asked.
“Of course not! -Well the part about me seeing Nicky is true. But there’s nothing going on.”
Donnie shook her head feeling stupid as Stacy and Johnny fittingly asked her where do they go from here or do they keep on trying? “Why is it men always want the unattainable and are willing to sacrifice what they have to get it.” she said then dug into her pocket. “Here.”
Tommy let out an exasperated sigh and frowned at the keys to his crib. “Aw c’mon babe don’t do this.”
“Tommy I’ve always known you had a lot of nerve but you proved it by leaving me to meet your ex-wife. I am well aware of the fact that I have not exactly tried to stop you and to some degree I have encouraged this selfish behavior.”
“But Donnie-”
“No buts. I have distanced myself from people for far less than what you’ve been doing. I don’t have the time or the energy to deal with your bullshit any longer. Fucking with my head and emotions will no longer be your favorite past time. Tommy, I love you dearly but I need to be free of this farce of a relationship. We’re both wasting our time and have nothing to gain by continuing.”
“I disagree.” Tommy whispered.
“That’s on you. I’ve said far more than I needed to and I truly wish you the best and hope you have no worries…Now can I have my key back?”
“Donnie I’m not a perfect man and I’ve made my share of mistakes. Perhaps it was a bad judgment call but I sincerely thought I was doing the right thing.” Tommy said, but the look on Donnie’s face told him he was only talking and not saying anything. Reluctantly he handed Donnie her apartment key.
“Thank you.” Donnie said.
“C’mon baby we can get through this, I love you and you love me.” Tommy pleaded folding her in his arms and kissing her forehead. Donnie caught herself feeling weak and pushed him away.
“No! There’s a time to admit failure and a time
to keep on trying. I’m tired of trying.” Donnie said then leaned in and kissed Tommy. “Take care of yourself.”
Tommy took her hand making one last attempt to get her to rethink this. The awful pain in his face from his fight in the parking lot, was replaced by the awful pain in his heart when he looked deep into Donnie’s hurt eyes. She got into her car before the tears building could fall.
“Don’t do this baby.” Tommy banged on the window. Donnie ignored him and keyed the ignition and began to drive off as Tommy kept up with the car. “Donnie please!”
By now the tears were rolling down Donnie’s cheeks. When she got to the corner she pulled off into the night. “Not one word.” She sniffled as Pumpkin opened her mouth. Pumpkin respected her wishes nodding and kept her comments to herself as she glanced at Tommy in her side view mirror standing in the street and a smile formed in the side of her mouth.
Tommy stood there in the snow watching Donnie’s car drive away as the taillights grew smaller and smaller missing her already. He sagged like a puppet with its strings severed. After a few moments had passed he was about to head upstairs when he heard a car horn and looked to see where it came from.
He couldn’t believe his eyes. “Son-of-a-bitch!” he said at the sight of the infamous black Mercedes Benz with its illegally completely covered, tinted windows that was responsible for all his woes as it boldly cruised down his block mocking him.
Without a thought Tommy took off like lightning. “Hey Asshole!” he shouted chasing after the car. “Yo you hear me Jack-off? Pull over! Where are you going? Here I am!” The car continued at an even pace. Slow enough so that he could keep up, but fast enough that he had to work to do it. Tommy began to tire of the cat and mouse shit and stopped to catch his breath as the car continued on down the street. “Yeah that’s right, keep booking! You’d better stay in your bitch mobile if you know what’s good for you! Cause if you come back, I’ll flyy that head coward!” Tommy threatened in between gulps of air.
Suddenly the car hit the brakes grinding skid marks into the street as if to say, ‘Oh really?’ Tommy stood in the middle of the street stooped over resting on his knees as the car sat there idly with its motor humming. The abrupt screeching of tires startled him as the car peeled off backward coming directly at him! “Oh shit!” Tommy shouted and tumbled off to the side into a pile of slush and ice before he was run over. Back on his feet he squinted as the car’s high beams cut the darkness of the night while its engine roared ferociously. Tommy dipped back onto the sidewalk as the out-of-control Mercedes jumped the curb accelerating at him like a land shark intent on mashing him into road kill. Running frantically, he spotted a half-lowered fire escape ladder outside a faded two-story brick building on the edge of the block and went for it. With the Benz hot on his heels, he leap-frogged up to the ladder and tucked his legs into his chest as the car missed his legs by a fraction of an inch and collided head-on with a garbage dumpster. Dangling above the car, Tommy observed the dumpster’s mangled handles were twisted around the car’s fender. He let go of the ladder and his boots dented the hood. With a twisted snarl he looked back at the dumpster and snatched out a long metal pipe and began bashing the windshield with it. As he went to work, the car’s back tires furiously spun out of control trying to free itself from the dumpster’s hold.
“Your timing’s impeccable! Where the hell were you fifteen minutes ago huh motherfucker?” Tommy shouted at whomever was inside as his wild swings decorated the glass with cracked marks. “So who are you? A pimp? A drug dealer? A pedophile? Or some other piece of shit low-life whose ass I stomped into a mudhole and now you want revenge? Well come and get it tough guy! Stop hiding and get out the car pussy!” he said as he switched to kicking and stomping on the glass while the car continued its tug of war with the garbage dumpster. Tommy’s heated efforts were beginning to take their toll as the windshield began to collapse and he held the pipe up and stabbed it through the window. Exactly where the driver would be sitting. The back wheels suddenly came to a dead halt and the car calmed down. He squinted at the black tinted window wondering if he struck oil, in the driver’s head. He kicked at the windshield. Nothing. “Hello? Hey asshole! You dead in there?” he called out. Nothing. He clenched his teeth and placed shaky hands on the pipe then yanked it out and studied it. There was some blood on the end. Suddenly the car roared back to life! “Oh shit!” he yelled startled as the cars back tires grinded black stripes into the asphalt struggling furiously until the fender finally ripped free and the ebony car flew backwards. Tommy’s feet were snatched out from under him and he slammed hard onto his back like a safe tossed out of a six-story window. The Benz flew backwards into the street spinning into a screeching 360 and made a hasty retreat into the night.
The snow stopped but his problems were just beginning. Tommy sat up and sighed. “…Well, at least my Mama still loves me.” he told himself then climbed to his feet and limped across the street. Brawling with a pack of vicious street punks in a parking lot, being dumped by the love of your life and nearly being the victim of a hit and run all in the same night might be Earth shattering to most. But for the Trouble Consultant, it was a regular Sunday night.
Havoc and Mayhem Page 36
