A Hustler's Promise 2 Promises Kept
Page 19
“What you’re asking me to do is kill him.” Jaicyn shook her head. “I won’t do that.”
“You’re not killing him. Little Man killed Rayshawn outside of his baby mama’s house a week ago. This isn’t Rayshawn.”
Jaicyn looked up at Blaque sharply. “Are you fucking kidding me? Little Man?”
Blaque nodded. It suddenly made sense to Jaicyn. Little Man was in prime position to take over what King left behind if Rayshawn wasn’t around. Since he’d always been loyal to King so no one, especially Jaicyn, ever though he would do something like that.
“He was plotting on Johnny too,” Blaque added. “King knew. He told Rayshawn that Little Man was the snitch. Rayshawn was going to handle it. Little Man got him first.”
“And Little Man is…?” Jaicyn said coldly.
“Floating in the lake,” Blaque replied. “I personally saw to it. Me, Corey, Marcus, and Slim.”
“Just like old times,” Jaicyn said snidely.
“No,” Blaque raised his voice. “If it was like old times, then Rayshawn would have been there, but he wasn’t. And now you have to let him go. Rayshawn was a solider. He was strong. No one wants their last memory of him to be like this!
“I can’t do this, Blaque,” Jaicyn wept. “I don’t want to see him like this but I can’t…I can’t let him go.”
“At least you get what a lot of women don’t get in this game, a chance to say goodbye. You get one last kiss and one last I love you. But don’t put yourself or the rest of his family through the pain and false hope that you have any longer. Think about it while I get the doctor.”
Blaque left the room feeling a little guilty. But he’d only done what was asked of him, one final favor to Rayshawn and the man he’d worked for practically all of his life. When King called and asked him to speak to Jaicyn, it was because Blaque was the only other person that she’d listen to. He didn’t want her to hurt any more than she already was, but King and Dayshawn were right. Rayshawn wouldn’t have wanted life support.
Dayshawn was the only person who could sign the papers. He had faxed the documents days ago but waited until Blaque got a chance to convince Jaicyn what was the right thing to do before allowing the doctors to shut down the machines.
Jaicyn listened to the mechanical sounds of the respirator that was breathing for Rayshawn and the steady pump that was continuously draining fluid from around his heart. She ran her hand along the side of his face and cried.
“They’re right,” she cried softly. “You’re a soldier. This isn’t living.”
Jaicyn rested her head against Rayshawn’s chest, listening to the slow beat of his heart. She cried against his chest. Her tears were quickly absorbed into the thick blanket covering Rayshawn.
“I know you tried,” she wept. “You did everything you said you were going to do. I wouldn’t have made it without you. I love you so much.”
Blaque stood in the doorway as the Cardiac nurse and doctor entered the room quietly. The nurse patted Jaicyn on her shoulder but Jaicyn didn’t move. She squeezed Rayshawn’s hand tighter as the tears poured out of her eyes. She could barely breathe and could not watch the doctor and nurse begin to shut down the machines.
A sharp pain in her heart increased every time another machine shut down and the beeping heart monitor began to slow.
“I love you so much,” she whispered. “I will always love you.”
The doctor pulled out the final plug and the beeping began to slow until it became just one long flat line.
“I’m so sorry, Rayshawn.”
Epilogue
“What the hell is taking so long?” Rickie asked, irritated by everything.
“Oh, stop all your complaining,” Juanita said. “You know how your sister is. You keep it up and she’s going to start yelling. You know how stressed she is.”
“Why can’t we go to the beach and you can text us when they get here?” Bobbie asked as she struggled to keep her eight month old nephew from dumping his cheerios all over Juanita’s new carpet.
“Both of you shut up,” Jaicyn snapped. “Autumn just called. They’re on the way. So stop complaining. This is huge moment for us.”
Jaicyn was anxious to see Dayshawn and Autumn again. She hadn’t seen her best friend since she packed up her sisters and moved to Puerto Rico almost a year ago. She hadn’t seen Dayshawn since the day he walked out of Rayshawn’s hospital room.
The two of them had even missed the birth of her son. Dayshawn was going to flip out when he saw Ray-Jay. His nephew was the spitting image of the twins.
After everything that had happened, Jaicyn wanted to be around people she loved and trusted and Dayshawn wasn’t answering her calls. Juanita was thrilled to help her granddaughter make a new start. Jaicyn loved living on the island and the girls were happy living right on the beach.
No drugs…no King, nothing from her old life had followed her to San Juan. All she had to do was focus on being a mother, a better mother than her own had been. Ray-Jay was eight months old and Jaicyn still hadn’t gotten used to it.
Bobbie looked out the window and squealed. “They’re here!”
Jaicyn opened the door and watched her friends walk up the stone pathway to Juanita’s front porch. Dayshawn looked like a black version of Matthew McConaughey in his cargo shorts, tight white t-shirt, and man sandals. Autumn looked radiant in her yellow sundress and matching sandals.
“Hi,” Jaicyn squealed. “I’m so glad you made it.”
Autumn and Jaicyn hugged like long lost friends. Ten months wasn’t that long but for the two lifelong friends, it was an eternity.
“You look so good girl!” Jaicyn exclaimed. “I love that dress.”
Autumn laughed. “And you are the only girl I know who can pull off a tube dress at five months pregnant!”
Jaicyn laughed and rubbed her stomach and laughed. “You know I look cute in anything, pregnant or not.”
Jaicyn stepped over to Dayshawn and hugged him tightly. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too,” he said and stepped back. He did once over of her and his eyes stopped at her small protruding belly.
“You’re pregnant? By who?” he asked. She hadn’t been in Puerto Rico long enough to be serious enough with anyone to be having another kid.
“What you mean, by who?” Rayshawn asked from the doorway. “Your brother, fool.”
Dayshawn’s mouth dropped open and his eyes practically popped out of his head when his brother walked outside carrying his eight month old son. “What the fuck?”
“I told you he would wake up,” Jaicyn said smugly. “No one believed me.”
“Why…why…why,” Dayshawn stuttered. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You gave up on me,” Rayshawn said. He walked slowly with a slight limp. He needed to have surgery on his knee but he wasn’t in a hurry to visit another hospital any time soon.
“When I woke up and you weren’t there,” Rayshawn explained. “That hurt more than any bullet. I couldn’t forgive that shit. That’s why she didn’t tell you. I told her not to.”
“Rayshawn,” the other twin started to say, but Rayshawn shook his head.
“You don’t have to explain it. I know why you did it. It took a minute to understand but I would have made the same decision. We’re cool.”
Dayshawn, still stunned, made his feet move and walked towards his brother, the brother that he thought was dead for the last eight months. He grabbed Rayshawn’s shirt and pulled him into a tight hug.
“I’m sorry,” Dayshawn said. “I am so sorry.”
“Don’t be. We’re all we got,” Rayshawn grinned. “Besides, there’s going to be a wedding on the beach tomorrow. Thought you should be here for it.”
Jaicyn smiled at the twins. It had taken months for Rayshawn to begin to understand why Dayshawn had agreed to remove the life support. No one was expecting his heart to start beating on its own. Dayshawn had made the decision that was best for the family and R
ayshawn. Still, Jaicyn had a huge task on her hands when she tried to convince him to talk to his brother.
But she’d gotten it done. She promised herself, Autumn, and her sisters, that before she and Rayshawn walked down the aisle and made their marriage legal, Dayshawn would know that his brother was alive.
And she and Rayshawn always kept their promises.
####
Published by Bold As Love Media
Copyright 2012 Jackie Chanel
All rights reserved
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales or, is entirely coincidental.
Acknowledgements
“The story of life is quicker then the blink of an eye, the story of love is hello, goodbye.”
That is a lyric from The Story of Life by Jimi Hendrix.
I chose that particular lyric because it sums up what I write, especially the A Hustler’s Promise books. The story of Jaicyn and Rayshawn was special to me and I really enjoyed writing it, because growing up where I’m from, I knew a ton of Rayshawn’s but not as many Jaicyn’s. I love writing strong female characters and that’s what you’ll always get from me. I promise.
I’m not good at thank you’s because I want to thank EVERYONE! Although I have been practicing my Oscar speech for years. All I know is that I woke up the other day with a heavy heart, thinking about the two people that were really important to me and I lost them; my cousin DJ and my grandmother, Lavonne.
I miss them, but I know that with four published books and being an Amazon Bestseller, they are looking down on me and smiling. I hope they are proud.
None of this would have been possible without the support of my mother and sisters. I often think that I’m my biggest fan but my mother comes a close second every day of the week. It’s her belief that I can actually do this that makes me keep pushing forward. My older sister Brandy, I thank for being my voice when I just don’t want to talk and only want to write. Thanks for signing on to manage my career. We’re going to the top!
This journey is just beginning and so far, it’s been the best rockiest time of my life! I wouldn’t trade one moment of stress for anything in this world. To my fans, you are truly ROCKSTARS! Thank you so much for accepting me and enjoying my work.
About the Author:
Connect with Jackie Chanel online:
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Twitter Handle: @JackieChanel
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Jackie Chanel is a contemporary romance author and self proclaimed writing ninja. When she's not writing, arguing with her muse (McKenzie) or daydreaming, she can often be found drooling over the latest Chanel shoes or playing around on her tumblr blog with a cup of coffee in hand and a little John Mayer or Jimi Hendrix in the background.
Also from Jackie Chanel:
Untitled
Change of Heart
A Hustler’s Promise: Some Promises Won’t Be Broken
Coming Soon:
Unsung
Caprice
Back In One Piece
Friends, Lovers, or Nothing (A Broke in the City Novel)
Table of Contents
Copyright
Acknowledgements
About the Author