Chapter 6
“Baby, please take your medicine,” Nurse Johnson requested. Exhaustion was written on her face as she said, “I’m sleepy and not in the mood tonight, and you know I don’t want to have to call Ron and Joe and have them take you down.” She held a small paper cup that contained one yellow pill and one blue pill in her left hand and a small bottle of water under the same arm.
Baby stood with her right foot and left shoulder leaning against the wall of her room. She had a crazed look on her face.
“Are you serious, Baby? Okay. Suit yourself!” Nurse Johnson said as she backed out of the room. She closed and locked the door behind her. Baby gave her the finger as she exited the room. When the door shut, she took a deep breath and prepared herself for what was to come next.
It only took five minutes before Baby heard the key sliding into the lock. The two orderlies stepped into the room. Nurse Johnson followed them.
Without wasting any time, Joe smiled at Baby. Then, he charged at her. He made a failed attempt to grab Baby by the waist, but Baby sidestepped him and delivered a powerful blow to his temple, causing him to buckle slightly. While Orderly Joe was trying to keep from hitting the floor, Orderly Ron tried to slip behind Baby to subdue her. Baby quickly spun around and locked horns with the orderly who was nearly twice her size.
“Calm down!” Orderly Ron spat as he tussled with Baby. Baby could feel him overpowering her with his strength. She dropped her head into his chest and opened her mouth wide. Orderly Ron screamed in agony as Baby bit through his uniform and into his flesh. The pain was enough to make him release his hold on her. Nurse Johnson stood frozen in horror at the sight. There was no doubt in her mind that she was no match for Baby, which was why she stood clear of the battle between Baby and the orderlies.
Baby tried to finish Orderly Ron off by swinging a wild right hook. She just missed him but connected with the chin of Orderly Joe, who was trying to grab hold of her too, since he had regained his composure.
“Shit! You bitch,” Joe spat.
Baby was still swinging her arms and kicking her feet in an attempt to fight them both. At fifteen years old, 120 pounds, and with a great deal of inner strength, she had done a superb job against two grown men, but she was bought to a halt by a migraine headache that appeared out of nowhere. That was the break the orderlies needed. The excruciating pain caused Baby to drop to her knees. In a matter of seconds, the two men were able to get a firm hold of Baby.
Orderly Joe roughly snatched her up and threw her on to the bed like a rag doll. Her body bounced on the thin mattress. Her head just missed the iron rail that served as a headboard. Baby was still kicking and screaming, trying to land a blow anywhere that could possibly hurt, while trying to fight off the throbbing pain inside her head. The only thing that finally stopped both Baby and the pain was when Orderly Joe used his body weight to pin her down. Nurse Johnson ran over and stuck her in her left arm with a needle the size of a pencil. The injection served its purpose. Baby became numb as the liquid flowed through her veins. It felt like heat on the back of her neck as it moved straight to her brain, halting her movements.
The medication made Baby drowsy. She went in and out of consciousness. Baby gazed at her caretakers as they filed out of the small space. She closed her eyes. She could hear the door being closed and locked.
Once she heard the final click, she slowly opened her eyes and saw Orderly Joe staring at her through the small block of glass. The sight of him made the pit of Baby’s stomach boil. She closed her eyes tightly to block the image of the monster at the glass.
That was fun! Baby thought as a tear formed in the corner of her right eye. She turned her face to the wall. As the teardrop slowly slid down the side of her face, images of her parents’ faces, standing in a courtroom, appeared.
Baby had been committed to a mental institution until she turned eighteen, after a judge deemed her temporarily insane. As the thought of her parents replaced the pain that she felt from the fight, more tears surfaced. Not because of the hurt she knew she had caused them but because she wasn’t sure why they were hurt. Baby didn’t know if it was because she had been convicted, the fact she had been labeled insane, or the embarrassment she was supposed to have caused them. They were clear that what she had done was a reflection of them somehow. At least, her mother had made that very clear. According to her mother, she had brought humiliation to her father, who was a decorated police officer, and shame to her, being viewed as an ideal wife, exceptional mother, and a pillar of the community. Baby’s mother’s tears brought on a sense of confusion as the judge sentenced her to the mental institution. In her heart, she hoped that her mother was crying for her, but she knew that that was probably not the case. Her father just mumbled for the most part, claiming that he didn’t understand where he had gone wrong. The words “My family was supposed to be damn near perfect” were the knives that pierced Baby’s heart ever since her father had spoken them.
Even as she lay on a thin wool blanket with springs sticking her in the back, Baby wasn’t sure how her nightmare had started. Her world had been almost perfect. She was an only child who had wanted for nothing. Her father had given her everything she wanted, and, even though her mother hated that she got whatever she wanted, she had spoiled her too.
Slowly, exhaustion set in. Baby’s eyes grew weak. Then, the dreams followed. Sleep slipped past the wall Baby had tried so fiercely to hold up. Not even the drugs could have stopped them as she drifted off.
“Stay still and relax,” were the opening words that had haunted Baby in her dreams repeatedly over the last five years.
“That hurts,” Baby said. Her voice was tiny and confused.
“Come on now. Just stay still,” the voice whispered. “Just let me see.”
Some nights, the dream would go further. At times, Baby felt as if she was unable to wake herself from them. Sometimes, she would wake up screaming and sweating profusely. As bad as she wanted someone to come to her rescue, she knew that no one ever would. When they had first started, she thought it was going to drive her crazy. Then, she realized how to stop the nightmares or, at least, slow them down.
Chapter 7
From afar, Baby could hear the morning bell and the doors opening along the hall.
“Time to get up,” Orderly Joe stated, opening Baby’s room door.
Five minutes later, Orderly Joe entered Baby’s room. Joe was a big Spanish man who stood around six two or maybe taller. What stood out about him was that his arms appeared to be way too big for his body, and he always smelled of stale cigarettes. Baby never liked being around Joe for too long. He made her feel that familiar feeling that Baby was constantly running from, and it made her skin crawl.
“Get your stuff. You know the routine by now,” Joe said.
Nurse Johnson came in behind him and asked, “How are you feeling this morning?”
Baby, barely awake, slid her legs off the bunk and placed her feet on the floor while using both of her hands to brace herself as she attempted to stand. She searched the room for her flip-flops, as they had been tossed around during the fight. One was in the far corner of the room under the writing table while the other had landed under the bed. As Baby bent down to get the flip-flop, she felt lightheaded. She didn’t want Nurse Johnson to notice, so she stayed down until her head cleared.
“Let’s go! I don’t have all day to play with your ass,” Joe said, still upset behind the injuries from the previous night.
“Can you stand?” Nurse Johnson asked.
Without answering, Baby stood to her feet.
“Well, I guess so. So, here are your meds. Let’s take them without a problem today, okay?”
Baby and Nurse Johnson had been playing the same game almost every day since Baby arrived at her unit. On the first day, while she was attempting to give Baby her meds, she made the mistake of taking her eyes off the newbie for just a second, and, before she knew it, Nurse Johnson found herself stumbling backwa
rd from a punch to the eye. The hit from the tiny teenager dazed her just long enough to allow Baby to get in a kick to the knee and an open hand smack to the face. All of this was done before the orderly was able to get into the room. Baby, then, grabbed her by her ponytail and flung her to the bed before she was finally subdued by the orderlies.
This day was no different than the others. Baby felt a little weak from the shot and some minor pain around her ankles and across her thigh.
“I brought you some new toiletries,” Nurse Johnson said pleasantly as if nothing had ever happened the previous night. She waited for a response from Baby, but, as always, there was nothing.
Baby glanced at the package that the nurse had brought and nodded her head. That was the most communication that could be expected from Baby, outside of the violent behavior that seemed to come whenever the thought crossed her mind.
As Baby started the walk from her room to the shower, she thought she was going to be sick as she dragged herself down the musty hall. Her feet felt heavy. She felt as if she was lugging them along instead of them assisting her in her movements.
Each morning, Baby’s routine was the same. She took the same walk to the showers. Each morning she would notice the freckle-faced girl with the deep red hair. Today was different. The redheaded girl who had always greeted Baby with her smile through the glass block window of her cell door whenever Baby walked by was not there that day. Baby had no idea who the redhead was or why she was in that place, but, each day, as Baby walked past her cell, the redhead would smile at her. The smile was a comforting one. It seemed as if the girl knew Baby from somewhere. Realizing that the redhead was not there created a feeling of sadness in Baby that she did not know she could feel. Baby couldn’t remember ever feeling sad at the loss of anyone or anything.
When Baby was eight years old, her father had gotten her a kitten. It was a pretty, white kitten they had named Silly. The reason for the name was that, as a kitten, Silly liked to roll herself down the twelve or so stairs in Baby’s house. The first time she did it, Baby and her father thought the kitten had hurt herself, but she got up and attempted to run up the steps to do it again. Silly was too small to climb the steps. Baby and her father had laughed so hard that day just watching the kitten trying to climb the first step only to roll herself back down them. They thought that was so silly that they decided that that would be the kitten’s name.
When Baby was eleven, she and Silly, who had flourished into a beautiful cat, were at the top of the stairs. Baby watched with a smile on her face as Silly began her famous roll down the stairs. She had no way of knowing her mother had been hanging pictures and had left a hammer on the edge of the very last step. When Silly rolled to the bottom, all Baby heard was Silly’s cat cry, followed by the sound of a sickening crack. By the time Baby made her way to the bottom of the steps, Silly lay there with her green eyes open and blood seeping from the side of her head, staining the beige carpet. The hammer had crushed her skull. Baby’s parents, along with both her aunt and uncle, thought she would be heartbroken, but she felt nothing. All she wanted was a new cat.
As Baby entered the recreation room, she scanned the room as she always did, taking note that the redhead was not in the recreation room either. As usual, the room was filled with teenagers. Some were playing games, and some were just walking around as if they were lost.
Baby always went directly to her favorite spot: the bay window at the far end of the recreation room. Baby loved that window. It reminded her of a window that was in her Aunt Jazelle’s house. Her aunt’s house was located on the outskirts of Richmond. The windows in the front of her house were stained the same way the one bay window in the recreation room was. The only difference was the color. It was stained yellow at the top and had a sky blue design, and her aunt’s windows were stained with colorful flowers that created a rainbow in the house when the sun hit them. Baby had spent every summer since she could remember at her Aunt Jazelle’s house, riding horses and swimming in the lake or just plain chilling. She had looked forward to it until her aunt had banned her from the house when she was eleven and a half.
At the ward, Baby spent most of her time in the dayroom looking out the yellow and blue stained window, daydreaming about better times. It made her feel calm for a change, even amid all the noise around her. Those stolen moments made the later moments when her head seemed cloudy easier to deal with.
That day, Baby’s moment was interrupted by the reflection she saw in the window. Baby could feel and see him watching her as she looked out the window. It wasn’t the same feeling she got when Orderly Joe watched her. It was something different, and it made her feel different. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it and didn’t take much time to figure it out. She knew he didn’t realize she could see him in the window. She thought about turning around to let him know, but she decided against it. Instead, she acted as if he wasn’t even there.
Baby spent the last thirty minutes daydreaming about what seemed like a past life. The life she had before she became what the newspapers called “a teenage killer.” She recalled a time when she was the highlight of her father’s day, his pretty baby girl he’d taught to ride a motorcycle and drive a car before she could even touch the pedals of either. She was the honor roll student her mother bragged about to the various committee members, the black belt at the age of eight, and the medal-winning gymnast at age nine. She thought about her life when the walls of her bedroom were painted pink and her pillows and sheets were yellow with pink roses. There was not a stain to be found. Her new life was not of her choosing, and she did not know how to turn back the hands of time, and no one seemed to know how to help.
A tray that fell to the floor to the left of Baby broke her thoughts. When she returned to the real world, Nurse Johnson was standing in front of her.
“It’s that time again,” Nurse Johnson said, holding a tiny white paper cup and a clear plastic cup.
Baby rolled her eyes.
“Why must you be so difficult?” Nurse Johnson asked frustrated.
Baby responded by sucking her teeth.
“I don’t understand how someone with your background can be so messed up in the head. It makes no sense to me, having such good parents and all, and all you want to be is a disappointment!”
Nurse Johnson was so engrossed in chastising Baby that she never saw her rise up from the wall. All in one motion, Baby smacked Nurse Johnson, the cup of pills, and the plastic cup of water. The cup of pills spilled to the floor, while the cold water splashed in Nurse Johnson’s face, cooling the sting that Baby’s blow had caused.
“You don’t know shit, you fat bitch!” Baby cursed before storming off.
As she spun on her heels to head in the direction of the door, she was met by a pair of eyes. A sense of nervousness swept through her body, and she didn’t know why. As she walked in his direction, Baby quickly turned her head and looked straight ahead. As she headed for the door, she made sure not to look his way. She could feel his eyes on her with each stride as she got closer to where he sat. She had a feeling that he was going to say something to her once their paths crossed. She knew if she acknowledged his presence, and if he said something to her, she would take her anger and aggression out on him, and she did not want that to be the case. Despite the fact that she had done her best to avoid him, when she walked past, she could still feel his presence. Why is his vibe so strong? she wondered as she exited the dayroom.
Chapter 8
Treacherous stood at the top of the dayroom for a moment and took in the scenery. Kids of all ages, sizes, and colors filled the dayroom. Some sat in front of the television watching a rerun of The Woody Woodpecker Show, while others walked around or played together or separately with toys provided for them. Treacherous noticed how some of the kids had on regular clothes like him, while some wore hospital gowns. He wondered why.
As he made his way into the dayroom, he noticed the same golden honey-toned girl he had seen when he first arriv
ed, standing by the same window, staring out of it.
Treacherous studied her from afar. Although her tight black tee and denim jeans made her seem tomboyish, from a side profile, Treacherous thought she was pretty. The way she wore her hair gave him a full view of the side of her face. Thoughts of his mother came to mind as he stared at the girl. Her hair was wavy and pulled back in a ponytail, which was the same way he last remembered his mother wearing her hair before she was taken away from him.
He shook the eerie feeling off and found his way over to one of the unoccupied sofa chairs. Treacherous wondered what was wrong with the girl. Judging by the other kids in the facility, he figured she was crazy, retarded, disturbed, or all of the above; but, to him, she looked normal. Treacherous couldn’t help but stare in her direction every other minute.
He watched from afar as one of the nurses approached the girl. He could tell by the nurse’s body language that something wasn’t right. The girl’s next move only confirmed Treacherous’s assumption. He watched in admiration as she smacked the small paper cup and clear plastic cup out of the nurse’s hand and stormed off. Treacherous couldn’t help but let out a chuckle as the pills poured out of the paper cup and onto the floor. The water splashed all over the nurse’s face. From where he was sitting, it appeared she had also slapped the nurse, but he wasn’t sure. Treacherous’s eyes followed the girl as she hastily walked in his direction. He was about to say something to her, but, once she had reached the area he sat in, her demeanor made him change his mind. Instead, he watched as she headed out of the recreation room. Moments later, he watched as Orderly Ron and Orderly Joe rushed past him and ran in the girl’s direction. For a brief moment, a thought entered his mind to get up and follow them, but, just as quickly as it came, it went.
Chapter 9
The sound of the unlocking metal door caused Baby’s eyes to shoot open. Despite being drugged up, she knew she was no longer dreaming. She tried to lift her head but it felt like a ton of bricks.
Carl Weber Presents Ride or Die Chick 3 Page 4
