by Miss KP
“Hold on, I’ll call Javier, but don’t say anything,” Marisol said, clickin’ over.
Javier answered on the first ring.
“Oh, so now I hear from you. It’s mighty funny I’ve been callin’ you ever since that night we met up and you been duckin’ my calls. What let me guess…yo’ boy Rich called to tell you he seen me wit’ your roommate?”
“That’s not my roommate asshole, that’s my daughter. How the fuck did you meet her?”
“I came past yo’ house and Naomi told me she was your roommate.”
“Her fucking name is Denie. Are you fucking my daughter?” Marisol questioned.
“Man, I ain’t about to be interrogated when you can’t even stand up for yo’ so called friend. Did you find out if yo’ dude Rich knows what happened to my sister?”
“Jade don’t have shit to do with what we’re talking about right now,” Marisol shot back.
“Well, I’ma continue seein’ Denie, Naomi, whoever, so don’t call me wit’ that nonsense. Oh, and tell yo’ boy Rich, she got some good ass pussy.” Javier cracked up laughing.
“Nigga, when I catch you, you’re dead!” I yelled, hopin’ he heard me before hangin’ up.
My temper was at a point where it couldn’t be controlled. Now that Javier knew Denie was my daughter, I feared for her life.
If he suspects that I killed his sister, there’s no tellin’ what his plans for Denie will be.
Chapter 11 Lisa
God must’ve heard my prayers. After all this time, Cornell was finally coming to visit me, which I couldn’t have been more excited about. Not only did I miss him dearly, I also wanted him to give me another chance. He was all that I had left in this world, and I definitely needed him to know that. Maybe if he saw me trying to get help in this place he would see the person that he once fell for.
Making my way over to my mirror, I looked at myself and frowned. There was no way he was going to see me like this. I had to make a way to get myself in order before he got there and I knew just the person to call to get me all glam and fabulous. Grabbing my cell phone from my top drawer, I decided to give Jermaine a call.
“Chello sista!” he greeted.
“Hey Jermaine, how did you know it was me?”
“Your number came up silly. Girl, you ain’t been here in a month of Sundays. What’s going on with? What’s going on with your hair?”
“I’ve been through some things. I was admitted in a hospital. It’s a long story that I don’t feel like getting into right now, but I need you, like in the next twenty minutes.”
“Are you serious? I’m twirling right now. I had me a good night at Tradewinds and then came home with the trade. He’s fine as wine and I’m not trying to leave him. You lucky I answered my phone for you this early on a Sunday.”
“Jermaine, please do me this favor. My hair hasn’t been done in months and Cornell is on his way up here. There’s no way he can see me like this.”
“But girl, I’m all the way out Gaithersburg.”
After a little more begging and pleading, I finally convinced Jermaine to peel away from his date and come to my rescue. He took over an hour to get to me and I was stressed out the entire time thinking Cornell was gonna get to the hospital first. Jermaine walked in my room colorful as ever. He looked so cute with his red and white Gucci outfit. Of course he couldn’t walk in the building without his matching Gucci sunglasses.
He studied me and the room a few seconds before giving me a huge hug.
“Okay, Boo-Boo, what’s really going on? This is a crazy house. How in the world did you end up in here?”
“Like I said, it’s a long story and I really don’t wanna talk about it.”
“Well, I know you ainٙt letting that fine- ass ball player come to see you up in here are you?”
“Jermaine, how am I gonna be able to see him if he doesn’t come up here?” I asked.
“I guess you right.” Jermaine played with my hair that had grown almost to my shoulder. “Oh my goodness. Look at this head of yours. When’s the last time you washed it? Before I could reply, he was already on another question. “Girl, why didn’t you tell me Denie wasn’t really your daughter? Denie’s been coming to get her hair done over the past two months and always be running her mouth like crazy. She’s going around telling all your business.”
“Jermaine, I hate to be rude, but I really don’t feel like hearing what that bitch Denie or anybody else has to say about me. I’m already under enough stress.”
“Chile, I understand.” He walked over and grabbed his bag, then pulled out some Influance shampoo, conditioner, his flat iron and other hair necessities. “Girl, it’s like Fort Knox up in here. They weren’t even trying to let me bring this stuff. Luckily, they didn’t see the shears or my razor that I hid,” he advised.
After giving me a hard time about taking better care of my hair and filling me in on the shop drama, Jermaine definitely came to the rescue and had me looking like a million bucks forty-five minutes later. He’d cut my hair into a really cute choppy bob. I loved it and I was sure that Cornell would, too.
“Thank you so much Jermaine. You know I’m good for the payment as soon as I get out of here.”
“Yeah, don’t be trying to skip town when you get out,” he joked.
After Jermaine left to go back home and finish entertaining his company, I was already starting to feel better about myself. As I looked in the mirror, my self esteem instantly lifted. There she was, the old Lisa. Even though I’d lost a lot of weight, I felt better about how I looked. I wanted Cornell to remember me the way I was before he caught me pumping poison into my body. Cornell was what I needed to get better. Maybe he could even help me get out of this place.
As I envisioned happy thoughts of me and Cornell, I suddenly drifted off to sleep. Nurse Betty woke me up to have some lab work done about twenty minutes later, and as my luck would have it, Cornell knocked on the door while I was having my blood drawn. I was pissed that he had to see that. Since I wanted him to have a vision of me being healthy, I was disappointed.
“Hey, Lisa,” Cornell said, peeking in the doorway to see if it was okay to come in.
I was so happy to see him. “Hey, Cornell. You can come on in, she’s just about done,” I said giving Nurse Betty the ‘hurry the fuck up’ look.
Cornell looked better than ever. He’d let his beard grow, which made him look quite handsome. He also looked damn good in a white Burberry polo-style shirt, distressed jeans and Louis Vuitton patent leather tennis shoes. He had a fresh scent that made me want to pull the needle out my arm and grab him.
When Nurse Betty was finally done, she quickly lurry the room and closed the door behind her. Almost immediately, I got up off the bed and gave him a hug. His embrace was something well overdue and strongly needed. Before we unlocked, I gazed into his eyes and tried to give him a kiss, but he backed away. It was an awkward silence for a few moments until he finally spoke.
“So, how you feelin’?” he finally asked.
“I feel really good,” I lied with a smile.
“Well, you look good?”
“Thanks babe. So, I see you’ve been playing well. I’ve been watching your games. I’m so excited that you all won the other night. It’s actually surprising. The Celtics are a good team.”
“Thanks. I’ve actually been talkin’ to a couple of other teams and might be movin’ when the season is over. It’s really not workin’ for me here.”
“What do you mean it’s not working?” I questioned. In my mind I was asking, what about us?
“I’m not really feelin’ my coach and let’s face it, that shit was pure luck that we won that game. Everybody knows we’re not gonna advance any further. I’m tryin’ to get a ring, and I can’t get that here.”
I wanted to say, ‘nice confidence in your team’, but he was probably right.
“Stay here. I can give you a ring,” I said jokingly, but he knew I was serious. I guess that’s why he
didn’t find it funny.
He avoided the question. “So Lisa, how have you been holdin’ up now that Juan’s gone?”
I’m sure that was his way of addressing the elephant in the room. He really wanted to ask me, why I was in a mental institution.
“Cornell, if you really want to know why I’m in here just ask.”
“Okay, why are you in here? First you snortin’ coke, now this? Man, I just don’t get it. When we met you seemed so strong.”
I sat back on the bed. “Cornell, don’t judge me. You have no idea what I’ve been through in my life.”
“I’m not judgin’ you. I’m just bein’ real with you. All I ask is that you do the same.”
“Cornell, after we broke up and Juan died I had a mental break down. I’d experienced so much with Rich that I was on my last straw. I’m in a better place now though.”
“Well, let me just get to the point and cut through the chase. The reason why I came is because I wanted to let you know that I’ve moved on with my life and you can’t keep callin’ me like you have. Reachin’ out to any and everyone to try and get my attention is causin’ issues for me.”
“What do you mean? Don’t try and make me out to be some type of stalker or something!”
height="0" width="48"> “Come on Lisa. I ain’t never in my life had a woman call up to the Wizard’s head office requestin’ to talk to me. Not even a fan. I don’t need the organization in my business gettin’ caught up in your drama.”
“My drama? Are you kidding me?”
“Let me finish Lisa…”
“No, I’m not gonna allow you to paint me as this obsessive…”
“Well, what do you call it? Man, the media is havin’ a field day with me dealin’ with you. Because of you and your husband’s drama, I’ve lost business deals. It’s not worth it to me. What we had I enjoyed, but all this has to stop.”
My heart was full of pain. Me getting dolled up and trying to look the part didn’t matter to him. He obviously had his mind made up, but I wasn’t gonna let him dismiss me that easily. I loved him. My mother and Rich didn’t give a fuck about me anymore, so there was no way I was gonna allow all of the good times we shared just go up in smoke.
“Cornell, I love you, and I’m not trying to destroy your life. I just need a friend. I need you, Cornell. You’re all I have left.”
“Come on Lisa, don’t put that all on me. You have family. If I’m all you have, then I don’t know what else to tell you.”
“How am I supposed to take that? Remember when I didn’t want to give us a chance and kept pushing you away. Now, do you see why? I love hard and I’ve lost everyone that I care about. Both of my children died in one year.”
“And I’m sorry about that, but do you know how much my life has been turned upside down with headlines like…NBA Star Involved with Drug Lord’s Wife and Cornell Willis Drives his Jump-Off to the Crazy House.”
“That’s enough!” I screamed.
“Don’t you think I took a risk comin’ to see you today? But out of respect for Juan, I thought it was best that I came to have this conversation face to face.”
“Don’t you dare speak my son’s name! I looked for you at the funeral, you weren’t even there! And you called yourself a fucking friend!”
No longer able to hold back my pain, my eyes suddenly started to fill up with the tears. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, the devil herself walked in.
“Hi Lisa, am I interrupting something?”
My face immediately turned cold. “As a matter of fact you are Marisol.”
What the hell was she doing here? I hated her even more now for what she’d done. Making me look like a fool all these years by raising her disrespectful-ass daughter while she played Auntie Marisol the entire time was fucked up. I could never let her back in my life again. That bitch was the last person I wanted to see me in a mental hospital, but I promised myself that before it was all over, I was going to show that bitch crazy.
Lisa, are you gonna introduce me to your friend?” As Marisol smiled with her straight teeth that shit made me want to knock all them motherfuckers right out of her mouth.
Who the hell got all dolled up to come and visit somebody at a hospital? She had on a pair of black leggings with a cropped studded shirt that stopped just above her hips. I’m sure she’d worn the Nikki Minaj inspired outfit just to expose her ass. The six-inch spiked Christian Louboutin heels were a dead giveaway that she needed some attention or she was on her way to the club. With her hair really wild and curly, she had a nerve to have on the same oversized diamond hoop earrings that Carlos and Rich bought both of us while we were on vacation in St. Thomas.
“I guess you didn’t go to church today, dressed like a hooker,” I stated with a devious smirk.
“Wow, Lisa. Let’s play nice.” She reached over to shake Cornell’s hand. “Hi, I’m Marisol, and you are?”
“I’m Cornell,” he said, admiring Marisol’s physique.
“Oh, so you’re ‘The Cornell Willis?’ I didn’t know you and Lisa were still dating.”
“Umm, well we’re not, I just came to visit,” Cornell informed.
“Mind your business, whore. What the hell are you doing here anyway?” I snapped.
“Well, I’ve been trying to call you, but you haven’t been accepting my calls. I was gonna ask if you didn’t mind getting me tickets for the next playoff game, but I guess since Cornell is here I can ask him myself.”
I quickly shook my head. “Oh, hell no, bitch you’re delusional if you think Cornell is gonna give you anything.”
“Well, what’s your name again…Marisol?” Cornell asked. He ignored the face that I didn’t approve.
“Yes,” Marisol answered.
“Put my number in your phone and I’ll make sure I get my assistant to get you a couple of tickets.”
“Are you serious? Thank you so much. Lisa, I wish you could go. Do you think you can get a pass to come out on Wednesday?” Marisol taunted. She quickly grabbed her phone and typed in Cornell’s number.
“Bitch, I can’t believe you’re gonna…” I tried to say.
“Look, I ain’t tryin’ to be caught up in any drama, so I’ma bounce. I’ll be in touch for the tickets Marisol, and Lisa take care of yourself,” Cornell said, then turned around.
I held out my hand. “But wait Cornell. We still need to talk. I’m not done.”
“Well, I am,” he continued.
Just as Cornell left the room, he took my heart with him. I wanted to kill Marisol with my bare hands for ruining my last chance to fight for the man I loved. The bitch even had a nerve to grin as she watched the door slam. When s directed her attention back to me, for some reason I knew by her body language what she was here for.
Chapter 12 Marisol
“Let’s just cut to the chase, Lisa. Were you fucking my husband?”
“Oh, like you were fucking mine.” She stared at me for a few seconds before continuing. “How dare you question me after you had me raise your pain in the ass, deranged daughter?”
“Well, I had to do what I had to do. Besides, what you fail to realize is that everybody knows you never gave a fuck about Denie, so stop saying you raised her. All you cared about was your precious Juan.”
“So, how’s it going with Denie now anyway?” Lisa laughed as if she was trying to hit me with a cheap shot.
“It’s actually going really good. Denie will be enrolling in school at F.I.T. for the fall semester. She won’t be fucked up like you. Look at how your thirsty-ass fucked up your son’s life. No matter how much we tried to tell you not to let that boy get involved in the streets when Rich got locked up, you still had to get all that material shit just to keep up with the Joneses.”
“Fuck you bitch! Don’t even speak my son’s name out of your mouth!” Lisa shouted.
Knowing I’d hit a nerve, I went in for the kill. I wanted to push every button I could to get the truth about Carlos out of her. She was
so weak, I knew exactly what to do to get the information I needed.
“So, how does it feel now since you don’t have anyone, and I have everything you want? I have my kids, your ex-husband whenever I need some dick, and money.”
It looked like she wanted to cry. “I’ll be alright.”
“Yeah, looks like your life is going swell. I mean, think about it…I just gave your little NBA baller my number. He thinks I want tickets, but I’ll have that little boy eating out the palm of my hands in a week.”
“You’re so fucking desperate.”
“Never desperate sweetheart,” I replied. “Now, you still failed to answer my question. Were you fucking my husband?” I made sure to get a little closer so she knew I was serious.
“You damn right, I was fucking the shit out of him. Actually, he spent his last day on Earth with yours truly. When you needed your husband while your daughter’s hair was falling out, he was fucking me.”
She definitely caught me off guard with the comment about Mia. The old Lisa would’ve never said such an evil thing about my daughter. As I looked around the room I laid my eyes on a corny-ass snow globe sitting on Lisa’s table that someone must’ve bought her during the holidays. I envisioned it in my hand and then smacking it across Lisa’s head. That bitch had to go and if it wasn’t for the nurses knowing I was in her room right now she would be dead. I had to work out a plan to make that happen, but couldn’t be sloppy Even though her words stung, I had to play it cool in order to get the information I needed about my husband, at least as cool as I could be.
“So, fucking you got my husband killed, huh?”
“Here you are responsible for my son’s death, and now you are trying to put Carlos’ blood on my hands.”
“You just said he spent his last day with you, you dumb bitch. So if you were the last person he fucked that means you were the last person he saw. Now, I’m gonna ask you again, did you have anything to do with my husband’s death.”
“I’m the wrong one to be interrogating,” Lisa responded.
