A Hustler's Promise: Some Promises Won't Be Broken

by Jackie Chanel

  “That’s style…flash…pizzazz. And a little coke money never hurt nobody.”

  Manny Ribera

  TWO YEARS LATER

  Chapter 15

  Jaicyn stepped off the bus at the Greyhound station in Washington Heights looking and feeling like a new woman. At eighteen, she was very different from the sixteen year old girl who had boarded the same bus two years ago. Going to Job Corps was the best decision ever made, even if she didn’t make it herself.

  Being away from her family and friends had been hard, but as the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, she met new people and learned new things. She was actually happy in West Virginia. Now she had her high school diploma, her Job Corps completion certificate, and was a certified Administrative Professional.

  She was thankful for the two years that she spent away from Washington Heights, but she was happy to be home. She missed her friends and sisters a lot. She hadn’t talked to most of them in at least a year. She’d taken Job Corps very seriously since it was the only way she had to better herself. She would have walked right off the campus if she got distracted by her friends and family wanting her to come home.

  Jaicyn’s transformation while she was away was more than just mental. She looked different too. She’d grown out her hair and lightened it. She loved being the guinea pig for the girls in the cosmetology program. They all played in her hair and tested their makeup application skills on her. She’d learned a lot from them and now walked through the bus station with perfect skin and flawless makeup. In her Norfolk State University t-shirt and black shorts, Jaicyn resembled a younger Jennifer Lopez. Juanita almost didn’t recognize her when Jaicyn tapped her on the shoulder.

  “Don’t tell me you were going to let your only grandchild walk right past you.”

  “Jesucristo, te ves tan hermosa!” Juanita squealed.

  “Thank you. You look good too,” Jaicyn answered in near perfect Spanish. She’d been working on her Spanish for two years and finally sounded Puerto Rican. Juanita beamed with pride.

  “Do you want me to drop you off over Autumn’s?” Juanita asked once they were in her car and driving away from the bus station. “I know you’re anxious to see your friends.”

  Jaicyn shook her head while staring out the window. The familiar streets of Washington Heights passed by in a blur. Washington Heights hadn’t changed at all. Seeing the same bodegas, the same liquor stores and gun shops…the same crackheads did nothing to excite Jaicyn. Heading back to the south side was the last thing on her mind. There’d be plenty of time for catching up with friends. Besides, there wasn’t anyone that she was in a hurry to see. Autumn was away at college and was coming home for the weekend. No one else even knew that Jaicyn was home, not even Rayshawn.

  Over the last year, her communication with her boyfriend had dropped off drastically. His letters came less frequently and he stopped returning her phone calls. Although it hurt more than leaving him did, Jaicyn threw in the towel and stopped calling him a few months ago.

  There was no logical reason for Rayshawn to diss her the way he had. She’d taken a charge for him! The least he could do was answer the phone when she called. Jaicyn had spent the last few months struggling to understand why he just stopped speaking to her. Every time she thought about it, she grew more pissed off at him. When she would confront him, it wasn’t going to be a pleasant scene. In fact, she’d been practicing the cussing out he was going to get the minute she laid eyes on him.

  That would come at a later date. The only thing that Jaicyn was interested in doing was eating some of her grandmother’s cooking and relaxing in her tub after the exhausting eight hour bus ride from West Virginia. Rayshawn could and would wait.

  Saturday morning, Jaicyn woke up to loud banging on the front door. She stumbled out of bed and down the steps.

  “Who is it?” she yelled before pulling back the curtains to check.

  “Open the door,” came the familiar voice of Jaicyn’s best friend.

  Jaicyn swung open the door and hugged Autumn. “Oh my God, you look so different!”

  Autumn had changed too. She’d finally relaxed her hair and had gained a little weight but in all the right places. Her normal stick figure had rounded giving her grown woman curves. In two years Autumn went from looking like a regular hood chick to looking incredibly like Nia Long.

  “I know you weren’t sleep?” Autumn asked. “It’s eleven in the morning.”

  Jaicyn laughed. “Girl, I’ve been getting up at 5:30 in the morning for the last two years. I deserve to sleep in.”

  “Whatever girl,” Autumn teased. “Why are we still standing here? I know your grandmother cooked breakfast.”

  Seeing Autumn in person was so much better than talking over the phone or reading letters. There wasn’t anything Jaicyn wanted more than to sit down and reunite with her friend. The realization that the time they spent apart hadn’t changed their friendship made Jaicyn incredibly happy.

  For hours, Jaicyn and Autumn sat in the living room, snacking on Juanita’s beef empanadas and BBQ chips, and talking about everything that Jaicyn had missed. It wasn’t much.

  “You didn’t spend two years in West Virginia just to come back here so what’s your plan?”

  “You think you know me so well,” Jaicyn laughed, “but yes, I do have a plan. I have a decent job that I start next week and I’m going to work until I can get my sisters away from my mother and we can get the hell out of here.”

  Autumn nodded. “Are you going to get your own place?”

  “Yeah, but first I need to find out where my mother and sisters are.”

  “So tell me about the prom?” Jaicyn said, changing the subject.

  As Autumn talked going to the prom with Dayshawn, Jaicyn felt a stab of jealousy. She was supposed to have been there. No girl should have to miss their prom. Autumn noticed the sad expression on her friend’s face and stopped talking.

  “It wasn’t that great,” she promised her friend. “You really didn’t miss anything.

  “Yeah, but me and you were supposed to go with the twins. That would have been hot!”

  “Maybe. Or we would have gotten in a fight. You never know,” Autumn laughed. “Speaking of the twins, where’s Rayshawn? Has he been over since you been home?”

  Jaicyn inhaled and let out a long sigh. “I haven’t heard from Rayshawn in months.

  “What?” Autumn frowned.

  Autumn was simply confused. What the hell was going on? Jaicyn and Rayshawn belonged together. Everyone knew that. Jail or death was the only thing that could keep them two apart and Rayshawn wasn’t dead or in jail.

  “I just saw Rayshawn so I know he’s fine. I can’t believe you haven’t talked to him.”

  “I don’t know what happened,” Jaicyn said. “I wrote him letters but he rarely answered them. Next thing I know I’m leaving messages on his cell phone, but he’s not calling me back. So I just stopped calling.”

  “I wonder what the hell his problem is,” Autumn frowned. “He’s been telling everybody that he can’t wait for you to get back. I thought everything was good.”

  “Well, it’s not,” Jaicyn mumbled.

  “Then let’s go talk to him and find out what the problem is.”

  Jaicyn shook her head adamantly. “I’m not going over his grandparents’ house. They’re the ones who called DFCS and got me in trouble. If I go over there, I'll end up in jail.”

  “Rayshawn doesn’t live there anymore,” Autumn advised her friend. “Paul let the twins and Little Man stay in your old place. Shit, Rayshawn might even know where your mother is. Go get dressed.”

  Jaicyn looked down at her torn denim shorts and tank. “I’m not dressing up for Rayshawn. He doesn’t deserve it. Let’s go.”

  Chapter 16

  Rayshawn heard female voices outside of his door. He turned down the volume of his television and listened to the two female voices arguing over who was going to knock on the door. Rayshawn’s eyes widened
when he recognized Jaicyn’s voice.

  What the hell?

  He got off the couch. It couldn’t be her. He hadn’t heard a peep from her in months but she wouldn’t have come home without calling him. He checked himself out in the mirror before opening the door. He didn’t want Jaicyn to see him looking raggedy.

  “What are you two arguing about?” Rayshawn joked when he answered the door.

  Both girls looked completely embarrassed and none too happy to see him. Jaicyn glared at him but Autumn spoke first.

  “What the hell is your problem, Rayshawn? Why are you dissin’ my friend?” Autumn demanded

  Rayshawn couldn’t take his eyes of the girl he hadn’t seen for two years. Jaicyn looked even more gorgeous than she did the last time he saw her.

  “What is she talking about, Jay-Jay?”

  “Don’t act dumb,” she answered icily. “How come I haven’t heard from you in months?”

  “What?” Rayshawn was confused. He was thrilled to see his girl. She wasn’t happy to see him at all. “When did you get back? Why didn’t you call me?”

  “Seriously!” Jaicyn raised her voice and folded her arms across her chest. “I can’t believe you’re asking me that. You would have known when I was coming home if you had answered your damn phone.”

  “Yeah,” Autumn cosigned.

  Rayshawn shot Autumn a cold glare that immediately shut her up. It did nothing for Jaicyn.

  “You have a lot of nerve, Rayshawn. You don’t have the right to question me about shit. You just quit talking to me and now you want to act stupid, like I’m losing my damn mind.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? You’re on some whole other shit, Jaicyn. You have a lot of nerve coming to my house with this bullshit.”

  “Your house?” Jaicyn questioned angrily.

  She couldn’t believe that Rayshawn was trying to play the innocent role, like she was the one in the wrong. She did her part and if it wasn’t for him she wouldn’t have had to leave in the first place.

  “Last time I checked, this is my damn house,” Jaicyn yelled. “If it wasn’t for your ass, I would still be living in it.”

  She hit a nerve. Rayshawn had spent the last two years afraid that Jaicyn would blame him like he did himself. He didn’t like Jaicyn’s attitude but he knew that he needed to check his own temper if he wanted to have a real conversation with her instead of a screaming match.

  “Baby, calm down,” Rayshawn started but that was the wrong thing to say. Jaicyn didn’t calm down, she got more pissed.

  “Don’t baby me,” she yelled. “I want to know why you tried to play me. Did you get a new girl or something? Because I don’t believe you would just stop talking to me for no damn reason.”

  Rayshawn looked at Autumn for help but she’d lost interest in the argument when Dayshawn walked up the stoop. Rayshawn wasn’t expecting him but he was definitely grateful to see his brother.

  “What’s going on?” Dayshawn asked, looking at Rayshawn then Autumn then at the stranger glaring at his brother like she wanted to murder him.

  “Jaicyn? Whoa girl! You look great!”

  “I know,” she replied, still looking at the other twin.

  “Damn, Rayshawn,” Dayshawn chuckled. “What did you do to her?”

  “Nothin’!”

  “Bullshit!” Jaicyn cold as steel tone stopped Rayshawn mid-sentence. “Try that innocent act on someone who actually gives a shit. You know exactly what you did.”

  Rayshawn knew Jaicyn well enough to see exactly what his brother and Autumn did not see. Jaicyn wasn’t being loud and acting pissed off because she was mad. She was having a temper tantrum because she was hurt.

  For some odd reason she felt that he’d hurt her and it didn’t sit well with Rayshawn. He would never intentionally hurt her. He still loved her.

  “Jaicyn, just come in the house and talk to me. If you think I did something wrong, tell me.”

  Jaicyn shook her head. Rayshawn stared at her, trying to ignore the hurt in her eyes as a multitude of emotions crossed her face.

  “Go,” Autumn mouthed.

  Jaicyn’s shoulders tensed but she pushed past the twins and walked into her apartment. Rayshawn followed and shut the door behind them. Jaicyn stood in the foyer, remembering the last time she’d been in the townhouse. She didn’t like the memory and tried to shake off the bad vibes it was causing her to feel.

  “What?” Rayshawn asked.

  Wrinkling her nose, Jaicyn looked around and said, “You changed everything.”

  Gone was the shabby furniture that she hated. The dingy walls had been painted too. The apartment was clean and modern with lots of black, white and glass. Black and white paintings hung on the walls and a huge entertainment system with a big screen TV was against one of the walls. The place definitely looked like a bachelor pad.

  “Is that pleather?” Jaicyn asked, pointing to the couch.

  “Hell no, baby,” Rayshawn bragged. “That’s pure Italian leather. I don’t do cheap.”

  Jaicyn rolled her eyes. “Since when?”

  “Since I started making real money. I’m not the same guy that I was when you left. I’ve moved up.”

  Jaicyn was still standing in the foyer so Rayshawn walked over to her and put his hands on her waist. Jaicyn pushed them away.

  “You want to touch me now? You haven’t been thinking about me for months.”

  “Jay-Jay,” Rayshawn said, exasperated. “You’re trippin’. I’ve been busy, that’s all. I never stopped thinking about you.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Jaicyn muttered, losing some of her aggressiveness. “I wrote you dozens of letters and I left message after message. I haven’t heard one peep from you in all this time.”

  Rayshawn felt bad about her going to jail but she was only there for one day. He felt even worse that Rickie and Bobbie were sent to a foster home. He didn’t spend time feeling bad about the situation because only he could right the wrong that had been done to his girlfriend and her family.

  He had to make money and to do that he had to be out on the corners. He didn’t have time to be checking in with his girlfriend all the time. It wasn’t like Jaicyn didn’t know how he made money.

  “You know my time is precious, Jay-Jay. Do you see all of this shit in this house? I didn’t get it by sitting on my ass.”

  “Talk that shit if you want to,” Jaicyn replied shortly. “I wasn’t sitting on my ass either. I still found time to keep in touch with my boyfriend. What you’re doing is trying to make excuses and I didn’t come here for that. I could give a damn about your excuses.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  “Because I want to know which one of these skanky ghetto bitches made you forget about me!”

  “I didn’t forget about you!” Rayshawn yelled in frustration. “I didn’t hook up with anybody the entire time you were gone.”

  “Do you have any idea what the hell I went through down there?” Jaicyn shrieked. “Do you know how often I thought that something horrible had happened to you?”

  Rayshawn quickly reached his breaking point. Jaicyn was talking out of her ass and she knew it.

  “That’s bullshit! You know damn well that Autumn would have told you if something happened to me. Besides, none of that shit matters. You’re home now. That’s the most important thing to me. Leave the last two years back in West Virginia.”

  He tried to put his arms around Jaicyn’s waist again. For the second time, she pushed him away.

  “You don’t get it. I didn’t come over here to get back with you,” Jaicyn stated angrily. “I just wanted to see what the fuck your problem was.”

  “What do you mean get back with me?”

  Jaicyn gawked at him like he had an IQ of zero.

  “Get back together means be in a relationship again,” she explained slowly. “Do I need to use it in a sentence?”

  Rayshawn took a few steps back in disbelief. All it took for Jaicyn to not want to be
with him was a few missed phone calls and some unreturned messages? If it was that easy for her to toss their relationship to the side, he wasn’t going to fight her on it.

  “You know what,” he paused. “If you think that not returning a phone call was me not wanting to be with you, then you should just leave. If all we’ve been through doesn’t matter to you, then fuck it. You know where the door is.”

  Rayshawn walked back over to his couch and sat down. He refused to say anything else about it. Arguing with Jaicyn always had been pointless. Nothing had changed.

  “Rayshawn,” Jaicyn started to say, “are you saying-”

  “Don’t ask me anymore questions,” Rayshawn said coldly. “You don’t want to hear shit I have to say. If you think we’re done then we’re done.”

  “You’re not even going to look at me?” Jaicyn asked but Rayshawn kept looking past her.

  “Rayshawn,” Jaicyn pleaded, “look at me.”

  Still he averted his eyes, refusing to make eye contact with his now ex-girlfriend.

  “It’s not what I think; it’s what you’ve shown me. If you didn’t mean it…if you really care one fuckin’ inch about me,” Jaicyn challenged, “then look me in my eyes and tell me that I’m wrong. Tell me that you really do love me and haven’t been creeping with any of these hoodrats out here.”

  “No,” Rayshawn finally answered after a moment of tense silence. “I’m not playing this game with you.”