by Nicety
“You son a bitch! Fuck you!” Mink screamed at the top of her lungs resembling that of nails to a chalkboard.
“Hey bro, sorry about all that earlier. You know we were just doing our jobs, right?” Detective Rich said giving me a playful jab to the shoulder.
“Yeah, I guess.” I responded side eyeing his ass.
Momma Pearl flagged me down to come over to her. The look on her face was even more distraught than the one she had just had before she answered her phone. She was talking to someone but most of her answers were simple, not really giving any detail about whom she was talking to. But once she placed her hand on her forehead, I knew it couldn’t have been good news. I watched as the squad car carrying Mink drove off with her still pitching a bitch in the backseat, good riddance. I turned back towards Momma Pearl as she hung up the call noticing her demeanor wasn’t getting any better.
“You okay, Momma Pearl?” I asked placing my hand on her shoulder.
“We need to get to the hospital. Doctors wanna talk to me about Flava.”
“Is everything okay?”
“I don’t know, honey. I don’t know.”
She walked over to the detectives with her arm straddling mine for strength to walk. I knew she would never make through this drama without me so I had to remain strong no matter how bad I felt inside. The detectives immediately halted their conversation to tend to her.
“Detectives I’m on my way to the hospital with my grandson and they’ve agreed to rush him to the same one my daughter is at so that I might check on them both at the same time. So what did you have to tell me about my daughter’s case?” Momma Pearl asked sighing heavily, crossing her hands.
“Um, well ma’am given the events I think it’s best to continue this conversation at the hospital.” The detective said escorting her to the ambulance.
“Okay, Cesar will you ride with CJ and I’ll drive behind?” Momma Pearl asked as she pressed the remote on her keys to pop the lock on her car.
“Of course.” I responded headed for the back of the ambulance.
I hopped in just before the guy closed the second door. He tapped the back of it to signal to his driver that the back was safe and secure. We were off in no time jetting down the streets and flying around corners, sirens buzzing and all. I placed CJ’s young hand in mine to let him know that I was still here for him and would never leave his side. He was just barely alive but his little body was determined to fight it. It was almost unbearable to watch him lay there with such a large burden sticking out of him. It pissed me off to my core but I was happy he would get the justice he needed.
We made it downtown in ten minutes flat, which was record timing in my book. They unloaded CJ quicker than I’ve ever seen any paramedics move and for that I was most grateful. They seemed like they really cared for my son’s life and were definitely going to do everything in their power to preserve it. I appreciated that since I felt helpless to that fact. There was nothing that I could do to save my child and it stained me.
I followed behind them as they wheeled him through the Emergency room doors and down the hall as the paramedics prepped the doctors with his status and situation. I would have followed him into the operating room and held his hand too if it were not for the attending nurse that stopped me in my tracks before I could get inside. She gently placed her hand on my chest and stared deeply at me with her chestnut shaded eyes.
“Sir, you will have to let the doctors do their job from here on out. You can’t go in there no matter how badly you want to.” She said calmly escorting me to the waiting area.
“Cesar, is he going to be okay? Did they say anything yet?” Momma Pearl said rushing up to me as I made it around the corner.
“No. They just took him in. They are prepping him now.” I said lowering my head trying not to let tears fall.
“Oh my Lord. Please save that little boy. He’s all I have Lord.” Momma Pearl began to pray. “You stay here Cesar. I’m going to go upstairs and find out what’s going on with Flava.”
I agreed. My movements did not seem like my own, feeling like my mind was trapped in this alternate universe where things went bad for no reason. I needed to figure out how to snap out of it and get back to the reality I used to know where none of this shit took place and my son didn’t have a long ass knife sticking out of his chest while he fought for his life on a doctor’s slab. All kinds of feelings came over me as Momma Pearl patted my shoulder for comfort then turned and walked away headed for the elevator.
“Um, excuse me. Ms. Pearl?” A doctor said bumping into her before she walked on.
“Yes, Doctor Foster. I was just on my way up to see you. Is everything alright? Is everything alright with my daughter?”
“Ms. Pearl” Dr. Foster began sighing seriously. “I’m sorry to inform you that earlier today, Flava passed away. We tried to call you—“
A loud screech rang out from Momma Pearl’s mouth as she collapsed against the wall. I ran over quickly to grab her before she went down to the floor and made sure to hold her as tightly as possible. I hadn’t heard the news but I didn’t need to. I already knew what she was told. Flava was gone and there was nothing no one could do about it to bring her back. It was the one thing that made CJ’s injuries a reality. It kicked it in full force for me forcing me to deal with that very fact that a doctor could come out of those sliding glass doors and tell me the exact same thing. Two deaths in one day, neither Momma Pearl nor I was prepared for any of that.
“How? How?”
“She went into shock right after she woke up from her coma and we were unable to bring her back.” The doctor continued. “We did however get one thing from your daughter, ma’am.”
“What’s that?”
“Her justice. Your daughter was strong enough to write down on a piece of paper who had done this to her and one of our nurses was able to record that message on her phone. Here it is.” The doctor said showing us the brief video footage from his Iphone. “I’m declaring it her dying declaration since she was very much coherent at the time of this footage. She answered all questions and was even emotional towards them and her husband.”
“Oh my God. Does that say—“ Momma Pearl covered her mouth in disbelief.
“Mink! I can’t believe that says Mink!” I huffed. “She did this too!”
“You know who this person is?” Dr. Foster asked placing the phone back into his medical coat pocket.
“Unfortunately, I do. That’s my other daughter, her sister.” Momma Pearl responded her face riddled with tears.
“I’m sorry to hear that ma’am. But I’m asking the medical examiner to rule her death a homicide and I’m turning this video over to the proper authorities. When you’re ready you may go downstairs to the lower level to see identify her remains. Your daughter will get her justice.” Dr. Foster said as he placed his hand on Momma Pearl’s hand for comfort before walking away.
We watched as the detectives walked in headed straight for Dr. Foster. They spoke for a few minutes before heading down the hall to us as I had just gotten Momma Pearl in a seat to calm down. She was in an almost cataclysmic state, rocking back and forth gently and staring down at the white-checkered pattern floor unable to speak or blink. I intercepted the detectives’ path towards her feeling like she needed to be left alone for a little while before she was bombarded with things to sort out from all of this.
“We just wanted to say that with this evidence we’d be able to put your daughter away for a very long time, ma’am.” Detective Rich began. “And if there is anything we can do please don’t hesitate to call us. We’ll call you as soon as we’ve brought formal charges against your daughter.”
“Yeah. You do whatever you want with her!” Momma Pearl yelled hysterically.
“We’ll be in touch, ma’am.” Detective Rich replied.
I didn’t even have to shut their asses down. They knew she needed time especially now that we were waiting on the results of CJ’s surgery. The detectives
walked away headed out the door probably on their way to the station to interrogate a confession out of that ruthless coldhearted bitch they had in custody. The lobby was noisy as ever and the nurses’ loud talking added to that as they sat behind their station talking about their sexual conquests the night before. As bad as it irked me, I sat down quietly next to Momma Pearl wrapping my arms around her to console her as she sobbed into my armpit. She was stricken with grief and nothing that I could say right now would be good enough to bring her out of what she was feeling.
Hours seemed to go by. I was literally itching to jump up out of my seat and beat the shit out of one of those cackling bitches behind the desk. I was beyond impatient and no one had bothered to come out and talked to us about CJ’s condition. Momma Pearl had calmed down, her lips looking dry as ever like she hadn’t eaten or drank in days. I leaned her back against the seat feeling my adrenaline rush. I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Momma Pearl, I’m gon’ get you some water. Okay?” I said patting her knee.
“Cesar, I have to tell you something.” Momma Pearl said tugging at the bottom of my shirt, tears still streaming excessively.
“Yeah. What’s up?”
“It’s true. Everything she said. It’s true.” She blubbered covering her mouth.
“What are you talking about, Pearl?”
“Mink. She was telling the truth for once in her miserable life. CJ…he isn’t your son.”
“What?” It felt as if the wind had been knocked out of me. “How do you know that?”
“Cesar, she was already six weeks pregnant when she met you. She lied and told you that CJ was a premie but he wasn’t. She was already pregnant. He’s not yours.” She cried harder. “I’m so sorry. I went along with it cause you were so good to them and then you went to jail I didn’t think you were ever getting out. That baby didn’t deserve to grow up without a father.”
“What?”
“I’m so sorry, Cesar. I’m so sorry.” Momma Pearl balled.
“Why didn’t you just tell me from jump?” I asked with a disheveled expression. “I’m gonna go get you that water. Stop crying.”
She didn’t respond, just looked into my eyes knowing that I was partially lying as she buried her tear soaked face into her hands. That information was a big ass blow to my stomach but I had to admit that I was mildly fazed. CJ had always felt like my son. He carried my entire name. He thought and acted like me, I even thought we looked so much alike so for her to tell me that he was not mine at all made me feel like shit inside. I chocked it up. I loved that little man with every fiber of my being. He was my son, he was mine, despite of others said. Despite the truth. I walked over to the nurse’s station grabbing a cup from the water cooler before filling it with Ice Mountain Water.
“Um excuse me sir, you can’t use that water cooler. You have to use the water fountains on the other side of the station.” A dark skinned nurse turned out of her conversation to address.
“Don’t worry about this funky ass cup of water.” I said walking back to hand the cup to Momma Pearl.
“Excuse me, sir?” The nurse bellowed again.
“Listen, we have been here for two hours now and no one has come to talk to us about my son. So either you walk back there and find out what hell is going on with my son or you leave me the hell alone about a got damned cup of water.” I snapped snarling my teeth at her like an angry Doberman.
The nurse rolled her eyes in silence. I turned away knowing that all she would do was sit on her ass and continue her conversation leaving us sitting there wondering even longer about CJ’s condition. As I sat down Momma Pearl leaned her head on my shoulder as she finished her water silently. My leg tapped rapidly. I tried to calm down but it was the waiting. It was killing me. A doctor busted through the sliding glass doors where they wheeled CJ in and behind him the dark skinned nurse appeared.
“They just finished up with your son, sir. Here’s the attending surgeon.” She said before rolling her eyes and walking away.
I would have said thank you but that bitch was a nonfactor. It was her job to do these things so if she wanted to be praised she needed to look to her superior for that shit cause she wasn’t about to get it from me especially not with that damn attitude. I turned to the surgeon who removed his cloth like cap and extended his hand out to greet me.
“Are you the father?” The doctor asked.
“Uh, yes sir, I am and this is his grandmother.” I said without hesitation as Momma Pearl joined the discussion.
“Okay well, your son has lost a lot of blood. We had to do a blood transfusion. That’s what was taking us so long. The knife barely missed his right lung but the good news is that it didn’t knick any major organs or arteries. So he’s going to be just fine. He will be wheeled up to recovery in a little while. He’s being stitched up right now.” The doctor said as he shook both our hands.
The smiles on our faces as we thanked him for a job well done resonated throughout the room. The nurses, even the waiting visitors of other patients smiled happily that we received good news. The doctor walked on to the doors grabbing a chart from one of the nurses then paused to write something in it. The weight lifted off of my shoulders was immense. In my mind, I was praising the Lord for hearing our prayers and even though Momma Pearl was still saddened by the loss of her daughter she was thrilled by the recovery of her grandson. Her smile was priceless as she hugged me tightly.
CODE BLUE CODE BLUE! SURGERY ROOM NUMBER 2!
A woman’s voice blared through the intercom. The surgeon who had spoken to us just moments before turned, locking his eyes with mine almost in pure dismay and disbelief. I knew that the emergency was in CJ’s room. He dropped everything he was doing and ran back through the sliding glass doors and down the hall to the room. Momma Pearl dropped to her seat hyperventilating and rocking hysterically. Her joy had been stolen from her that quickly. A gang of nurses ran in that direction as well and as they did my legs followed.
I was unable to stand there but I couldn’t run as quickly as they. My legs seemed to move in slow motion as I made my way through the doors. No one was there to stop me and even if they had they wouldn’t have been able to. Time seemed to speed up and the hall seemed to grow longer and further away like I was in some sort of warped universe playing a sick mind game on me.
Biologically that boy may not have been my son, but in my heart he belonged to me. I didn’t give a fuck who said differently. It was my name on his birth certificate. It was my knowledge flowing through his brain. The only thing that separated us was DNA and there were families out there who had a matching set and still couldn’t measure up to the amount of love I have for that little dude. No one was about to take him away from me. No one. I was not prepared for him to go before me. No parent should have to bury his or her child.
My mind was going forty miles a minute. I tried to remain positive but everything the devil kept sending me got through in order to fuck with me the way he wanted it to. I kept having visions of me having to put this gentle soul into the ground before his time. I kept feeling like my best friend was being ripped from my hands forcefully. I didn’t care who was around and who wasn’t. My emotions were pouring out of my face even if there were no tears to show it. My face hurt so badly from praying so hard.
“God, take me. Don’t take my son. Take me!” I whispered angrily as I approached the surgery door gazing into the window at all the people working to help CJ.
He had flat lined, that long beeping sound resonated in my brain like it was about to be printed there in red ink forever. They electrocuted his tiny heart over and over again and every time they pumped it up on him I felt every bit of the shock. Every bit of the pain he was feeling was sent to my heart like God had heard my prayer and decided to switch our souls in our bodies. I felt nauseated and light headed all at the same time for what felt like days but was only a mere few seconds. My breathing slowed and my eyes closed and as the sound of repetitive steady beeping fil
led my ears they opened again, watching as the lines bounced lively on the heart monitor. Thank you God for giving my son a second chance at life.
Epilogue
CJ fully recovered 2 weeks later and went to move in with Cesar. He likes to show off his scar to his classmates but lies and says he fell on a stick in a mountain climbing accident. Cesar got his old job back at Home Depot and they even promoted him to assistant manager, realizing his expertise was invaluable. He also let go of the fact that CJ was not his biological son, his love ran too deep for that little boy.
Since Flava’s funeral, Momma Pearl has visited them every weekend to keep her mind in a positive place. She as well as Cesar and CJ, have cut all ties and communication to Mink and have never went to visit her in the county. Mink is currently in Cook County jail awaiting trial and has been officially charged with First Degree Murder and Attempted Murder. She was appointed a public defender.
